Summer Lovin'

A little late... but that just seems to be my schedule this week! Joining Jamie for WILW! Even if it is almost Thursday!

There's so much to love about summer. This week has definitely felt like summer here in Northern CA and I am loving it! I rarely complain about the heat because we feel soo little of it! I have been working on a mean TOMS tan during recess time apparently because I actually wore "dress" shoes for a meeting today and realized that my tootsies have been getting some serious sun! Ha.. it was really attractive. In any event here is a super random list of what I'm loving so far this summer! Hope you enjoy!

I am LOVING my new summer purse!

Nice but not too expensive, durable for all of my "teacher stuff" and still cute enough to use after the school day is over!

I had been looking for the perfect "summer purse" since last summer! I couldn't make up my mind but knew that I didn't want to carry my giant black leather Coach around filled with sunscreen, water bottle, hand sani, and snacks! I like to have all of the necessary teacher items on me at all times but still want to look cute..hahah. This was perfect, I found it on DSW and I can use it for school and personal use. I also liked that it came in lighter tones for summer. NERD alert. I know.

I am LOVING that summer means field trips every week!

In awe of the giant aquarium at the Academy of Sciences!

Field trips can be a lot of work. But, at the end of the day it's a great feeling knowing that your kiddos had the time of their life... and sometimes, you do too..let me introduce you to...

Fairyland... aka Miss V's favorite field trip 2 summers in a row!

I ADORE this place. It's fairy tale/ storybook/ nursery rhyme themed. It's relatively queit, all of the rides are for little ones only, there is a puppet show with real marionette puppets and well I am totally still a little girl at heart and could spend all day walking around here!

Oh and yea.. the 5 year olds seemed relatively amused as well... hahaha


The most perfect little chapel ever built totally for me! It's teeny tiny! I could sit inside all day!

And one thing that will never change about summer no matter how old I am is ICE CREAM!

I am LOVING these skinny cow bars and Mr. Jones is crazy about the White Chocolate Magnum bars!

Nothing tastes better on a warm night with the patio door open and a breeze!

I told you it was random, but that's life right now, all over the place! A few other notable things to love this week is my new shorter summer hairdo! I don't have a pic yet but should get some at the wedding this weekend! And.... drum-roll... I have a teaching position for the Fall! I've known about it for some time but didn't want to say anything on the blog until I signed my paper work! Which I did today! It's part time, job- sharing with two teachers which I know sounds hectic, but I LOVE the school, I worked there a lot as a sub, and I LOVE my principal, which means a lot to me. I'll be in a 3rd grade classroom and a 1st grade classroom for this year, with hopes of having my own next year... fingers crossed. It's not the "ideal" situation but it's my ideal and total dream school, staff, and location so I'm really happy and so excited to see what the Fall has in store!

Can't wait for things to slow down a tiny bit so I can catch up on what everyone else is loving this week!

XOXO- Miss V

Precious Moments...

Between, fieldtrips every week, swimming with the kids, lesson plans, library trips, hosting friends, cooking, cleaning, running errands, planning events and one night out way past my bedtime, I have been a lady on the constant go. I apologize for my complete lack of posts as of late, but there honestly hasn't been time for me to sit down and really collect my thoughts. Amidst all of the busyness though it's so nice to slow down, and really enjoy the little moments that make up this busy life, spend time with loved ones, and remember that it all goes by so fast, in the blink of an eye, and maybe a moment to slow down every week or day really goes a long way.

We had a wonderful Sunday celebrating our fathers. As I imagine I always will, I missed celebrating in NYC with my family and Dad, but I do know that I will be seeing them very soon which makes it so much better. I am also lucky enough to have two "father figures" in my life and I get to spend family time with the Joneses which means so much to me. We spent the day taking it easy, with lots of talking, laughing, and reminiscing. It was the perfect remedy to a busy week.

Lots of time spent outside taking in the gorgeous weather and view...that was.. after the US Open was over... ;)

A perfect hideaway from city life...

Mr. Jones version of relaxing...

and working hard... ha!!!

Outdoor dining, the best part of summer!

The Joneses!

After a huge bbq dinner, a few fathers day gifts and lots of laughs we decided to look at some old family photos...I had only ever seen one picture of Mr. Jones as a baby in my almost ten years of knowing him!! And Fathers day seemed like a perfect occasion to drag out all of the pictures and look back at their family history.

When you've known someone as long as Mr. Jones and I have you hear a lot about their childhood from them and their parents. You hear stories of who their parents were before kids came along, what life in 1960's London was like, how they met, how they raised their boys, and what kind of a young family they were. To see so much of it in their photos was such a lovely moment in time that I will forever cherish. I'm so in love with this family and so happy that they share so much of who they are with me.

Melts my heart how precious he was!

I mean... seriously.

I just wish I could hear his precious little English boy voice.. omg I die. Sorry I know complete mushy overkill here. I just cant.help.myself.

Love making our own family memories now...while looking back on those precious moments of the past.

I may be a complete crazy lady with my camera on me 24/7 but it's moments like this that I think about almost every time I take a photo. I can't wait to share our history with our children and then one day with their children. Precious moments like these will always be the perfect way to celebrate family, a reason to slow down, and the perfect ending to a beautiful day.

Hope to be back in better blogging mode soon! We have a great weekend getaway to wine country ahead of us and a wedding to attend so I will definitely be posting about that soon!

Until next time!

XOXO- Miss V

Food Coma.

A little photo montage of the last two weekends. Food was a major theme. Pretty sure at least a long walk is in my near future. Especially since the gluttony only continues this evening, as Sunday at our house is known as Pizza Sunday. Hope your weekends have been just as yummy.

Weekends are for...

Pizza & Movie Dates with The Grinde's

kitchen photo shoots...

and cute dinner dates.

Weekends are for...

French cafes....and GIANT foamy drinks

Weekends are for...

Group dinner dates with the besties....near and far.

cocktails and getting dressed up...

Weekends are for...

Bloody mary's....

and sun drenched patios...

Weekends are for....

Greasy spoons...and fountain drinks...

Weekends are for...

Throwing the words diet... and calorie counting out the window.

Stuffed, happy, and rested.

Be well my lovelies!- Miss V

What I'm Loving Wednesday...shiny happy people.

Umm yes, I just quoted an R.E.M song... errr... it's a classic right? Anyhow what I'm LOVING Wednesday is kind of random and disjointed this week... and shiny and happy and people relate to all of these things.. thus the strange R.E.M reference in my title? ( i know you're all humming the tune now.. hahaha)

I decided last night to try and capture the most amazing sunset outside my window, the sky was vibrant hot pink, alas the actual sunset itself did not translate too well on camera but you can see my living room kind of had a warm pink glow about it... totally dreamy...totally happy... totally shiny.

The amazing-ness of this view is not lost on me... we got pretty lucky and lucky or unlucky for you I will continue to post completely gratuitous apartment "with my fancy view" shots...until the time comes that this little one bedroom is too small for us ;)

As I was loading the photos on my computer I realized that I never really take b&w shots of "home"...I wanted to see how it looked and I'm kind of in love with black and white house photos now...clearly I am easily entertained...

gratuitous photo #2...

Speaking of black and white...I am also LOVING that I framed some of the photo booth shots that we took at the wedding last weekend! It's fun to change up little things here and there in the apt. with new pics and these are so fun...

Shiny.Happy.People

And because they are my newest obsession... I had to share some new photos of the absolutely adorable Royal Couple... LOVING them.

Royal, Shiny.Happy.People

L.O.V.E
images via

And I'll end the post on one more shiny, happy, LOVE for the week...all the sparkling lights of the city...otherwise known as gratuitous photos number 3, 4, and 5, of my lovely view... this time on the balcony ;)

Summer in the City...

Happy & Shiny

There's always so much more that I'm loving but these are just a few that I have captured either on my camera or online stalk..err...perusing ;)

Here's to the rest of the week being just as lovely! (and yes I realize it is technically still Tuesday.. but oh well, it's field trip day tomorrow and the only thing I'll be doing after school is going straight to bed!)

xoxo- miss v

Countdown...

7 weeks... the official countdown to vacation has begun! We've booked our Carolina's trip, hotel, flights, rental car, alerted the family and I've started my search for the perfect beach accessories!

7 weeks until we get to spend time with family and squeeze in an extra five day solo vacation to Charleston for Mr. Jones and myself!

7 weeks until we get to peruse the great shopping and restaurants...beautiful Antebellum architecture and head back to the charming Francis Marion...

Homes along the battery in Charleston

Francis Marion Hotel

7 weeks until I can get my toes in the sand...

7 weeks until I can break out the beach towel ...

We can't wait! Looking forward to another memorable vacation in the Carolina's! The countdown has started!

Until then the next 7 weeks will be spent here...


With my summer school Kinders... having fun in our classroom,

Learning and Laughing...



And taking endless amounts of photos for Miss V.

Don't they look thrilled! Ha!

This was only half of my class! I love them to pieces already and it's only been three days together but I can already tell by the exhaustion I felt after our field trip on Friday, that I will be more than ready to hop on that plane and head off to vacation at the end of our 7 weeks together!

Here's to one week down, 7 more to go, lots of new memories to be made and one awesome vacation to wrap the summer up with!

XOXO- Miss V