Wednesday, February 22, 2012

What I'm Loving Wednesday... Walk with me.

It has come to my attention (thank you Eesh) ha! that I haven't posted since Valentines! I apologize for my absence. I've still been catching up on blogs here and there but the past two weeks have been a bit "off" for me. With my scheduling being funny last week, and this week due to a 4 day professional development workshop I guess the change in my routine has spilled over into my regular posting as well! I do love What I'm Loving Wednesday (thanks Jamie for keeping me on track every week!) so I wanted to share how I spent the glorious three day weekend that just passed!

My dear, darling, wonderful friend Cori was in town visiting from San Diego. Cori is such a special friend of mine that I met through my teaching credential program.

Here we are at our Credential graduation Dec. 2010

She ended up getting a job in San Diego and I am so proud of the amazing work she is doing with her students, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want her back in SF. One of our favorite things to do together when we were going through the program was just walk and talk for hours early Saturday mornings. Some of my favorite photos of SF were ones that I've taken just walking with her around this amazing city. You've seem many of them here on the blog in fact. We decided to take on one of her favorite walks this past weekend, we caught up on life, reminisced about where we were just a mere year ago and just savored every moment we had together on a beautiful Saturday morning.

The lovely and always enchanting Golden Gate Park


Buffalo in the middle of my city... never ceases to amaze me.

Winding through the park led us to this beautiful windmill and finally the ocean. Truly blessed to call this city home.



And since I totally failed on taking any actual pictures of us... I thought I would share this one of my friend in her soon to be new home. The girl obviously knows how to pick a good city ;)

As if San Diego wasn't far enough she's headed here, to Italy this summer to be with her love... sighh.. I guess there are worse places to visit your friend, right?

In keeping with my little theme of teacher friends and sightseeing... I headed across the Bay on Sunday to spend some much needed quality time with my friend Dana. The weather was glorious so we decided to brunch in the sunshine, chatting, laughing, and being thankful that we could put off the Sunday blues for one more day. LOVE Monday's off.



Thanks for walking with me this Wednesday and taking the time to see what I'm loving lately! Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting later in the week! Mr. Jones and I have a fun little Friday night planned that I'm looking forward to sharing ;) Hope all of you have felt loved by friends this week and have a moment to walk around your neighborhood, big or small, city or suburb and just be reminded of all that there is to love about your very own home sweet home.

XOXO- Miss V.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Love Day.

Just wanted to say Happy Valentines day to all my blog friends. Spreading the love all over the place today! Looking forward to celebrating with my students today, and with hardly any convincing at all Mr. Jones has agreed to a casual dinner and then a movie date to see The Vow. ;)  Wishing you all a day filled with love from friends, family and loved ones.

 Someone was extra prepared. I came home to these after work yesterday.
love him.


You were made perfectly to be loved - and surely I have loved you, in the idea of you, my whole life long.


- Emily Barrett Browning

My favorite love quote.
 
Happy Valentines lovelies.
 
XOXO- Miss V.


Friday, February 10, 2012

Weekend escape...

Happy Friday friends! We're escaping the hustle and bustle of the city this weekend to head up to a friends cabin in Lake Tahoe. I'm excited to get some quality friend time in and enjoy a slight change of scenery. How will you celebrate those two glorious days off?

Hoping for a little more snow but I'm more than happy to take in views like this one too ;)




 Adore these Knack Weekend covers would love to frame these!

(all images via pinterest)

Happy Weekending my loves!

xoxo- miss v.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Love is in the air.

Just a few loving touches around the house to spread the love before Valentines day.


 a little dish of sweets for my sweetheart

 cute little vases that I found while grocery shopping...

cheeky cards to decorate the windowsill...
 And mailing out some love to my family on the east coast... spreading love isn't limited to just your sweetheart on Valentines day! Excited to share some cute little v-day buttons with my students and celebrate with a class party next week as well!

Love is most definitely in the air!

Love is what I'm LOVING this week. What about you?

Hearts and kisses my lovelies.

xoxo- miss v.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tag you're it.

If you don't know Darci, you should. You'll love reading her blog for all the same reasons I do, her witty sense of humor, her cute style, and of course if you're partial to adorable babies then you'll probably squeal out loud like I do over the cuteness that is her little mini Jackson.  She was recently tagged in a little "getting to know you" post and left it open for anyone else to join in on the fun. Since my brain seems to be consumed with all things classroom this week I thought this would be a fun little way to think about something other than my impending observation and lesson portfolio. ugh.

11 "fun" facts about Miss V.

1.)  I am a serious bargain shopper when it comes to clothing, but yet have no problem buying something for my house just about any time I am in a store. For someone who cringes spending more than $20 on an outfit I can easily blow that much on party napkins in one shopping trip. It's a bad addiction ha!

2.) I am a total cooking convert. I used to dread the thought of having to cook dinner after a long day but now I LOVE it. I play jazz or listen to my "French Cafe" on Pandora while Mr. Jones and I chat or he finishes up work and I relax in the kitchen.

3.) I was in a sorority in College, AXO to be exact at San Diego State University ;) What they say in rush is true...I'll be in my second sorority sister wedding this summer, and we just booked a weekend in SD to celebrate the engagement of one of my sorority besties. I'm also attending an alumni Happy Hour tonight with my forever friend and sorority sister Tina! Yay for sisters in the bond ha!

4.) I bought an Erin Condren planner, because I am OCD about planning, and after all of the hype in blogland about it I used a coupon but still spent almost $50 on it. I like it, but I'll be honest.. it hasn't changed my life, and it was a waste of money in my opinion. Sorry ... just being honest.

5.) I watched SMASH last night and I am HOOKED! Not like I need another show to add to my ever growing list of favorites!

6.) I love TV. I know it's bad, but I will say that I do my fair share of reading, working and blog stalking that it doesn't consume my every hour at home but I also don't feel bad that it's probably my worst guilty indulgence. I mean come on, old lady over here if my favorite thing to do on a Friday night is cuddle up and watch TV.

7.) I also love anything sappy, romantic or just about any romcom. I'm dyyyyying to see The Vow, which I'm slightly embarrassed about considering I need to squeeze in a few Oscar nominated movies before the big awards show.

8.) If I could live anywhere else besides San Francisco it would be Charleston SC! Mr. Jones and I have loved vacationing there the past two summers and already plan on going again this year, we love that city and have joked that we'll convince our future children to go to College there so we can buy a retirement property ha!

9.) I talk too much when I speak and clearly when I write, omg I need to hurry this list up.

10.) After 8 years of having the same flip phone I finally upgraded to an iphone. I love it but I hate that I have totally neglected using my camera and rely on my camera phone for most of my pics these days!

11.) I love blogstalking... ha! I mean that in the nicest non creepiest of ways! I love this little community and getting to peek into my fav bloggers lives. I know it's only a small representation of each person, but it's inspired me to be a more introspective, grateful, and creative person which I am always thankful for.

Now for the "tagged questions"

1.) What is your profession? I am a first year teacher! My dream job, sad it took me so long to get here but loving every minute. Currently I only teach part time in a Job Share, I nanny the other days for friends kids. I am crossing every finger and toe though that next year I will be full time.

2.) How would you describe your style? Bargain chic...? HA! ummm since going back to school a few years ago and now with teaching I definitely lean towards classic staples and a few fun trendy pieces.  ( Mr. Jones might argue that all I wear are yoga pants however... so depends on who you ask ;) ( have you seen the yoga pants tide commercial? cracks me up!)

3.) What make-up product can you not live without? Sorry it has to be two.. mascara and blush, staples in my opinion, and I don't buy fancy brands. I used to, but honestly don't feel like I'm any less cute with the drugstore variety.

4.) If you could be besties with one celebrity who would it be? Duh Posh. If you know me in real life you know that I've had a looooong time love affair with her, her husband and her entire family. I own waaaay too many copies of magazines where she has graced the cover and refuse to throw any of them away.

5.) What is your dream vacation? As I mentioned before I LOVE Charleston. I could vacation there any time!

6.) What magazines do you subscribe to? Family Circle ( ummm wanna be mom in training) and US Weekly (which was on accident but I kind of LOVE it. )

7.) If you could have a special talent what would it be? Hands down I wish I could play the piano. Everyone else in my family is very musically inclined and I did not inherit that gene. I actually looked into piano lessons a few months ago but had a hard time finding them in a time slot that worked for me. I'm hoping I can do this over the summer break though ;)

8.) What is your favorite breakfast food? During the week oatmeal with honey, berries, flax and wheat germ yummm and super food healthy! However on Saturday it's always a vegan donut and eggs benedict if we head out for brunch.

9.) If you could do anything what is your dream job? I'm doing it finally!! Teaching is my dream job, although mommy is the ultimate goal, teacher/mommy would be the total package ;)

10.) What is your guilty pleasure? As I mentioned indulging in my favorite tv shows, would be a guilty pleasure... I feel guilty plonking down for my Thursday night marathon but I sure do look forward to it ;)

11.) What is the best piece of advice you've ever received and who gave it to you?

To be honest, it's a Thoreau quote which I knowwww is kind of cliche and maybe I was late to the game but I read it about 5 years ago and it seriously changed my life in that moment...I'm sure you've all heard it... "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

I strive to do this each and every day, and I can truly say that I am living and continually creating the life I have always imagined for myself. Being confident about what I want, who I am and what I want my life to be has been a lot of trial and error and hard work, but I have seen such an amazing outcome because I have a vision of what I want and where I'm going.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a little better on this Tuesday! If you decide to tag along I'd love to learn a little more about you too!

xoxoxo- Miss V.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Before and After...Kitchen edition

I know that you've probably seen enough photos of our teeny tiny 3 room apartment to last a lifetime, but for the purposes of memory's sake I really wanted to do a little post about a big change in our Kitchen. I really enjoyed seeing the little transformation that our living room has gone through in the almost 2 years that we've lived here so I thought I would document this as well. You can check out the living room post here if you're nosy like that. ( I know I am) ;) Over the weekend we were downtown running a few errands and I decided to peruse Crate and Barrel as I do. It just so happened that they were having a floor sample sale much to my delight. We bought our living room chair at their floor sample sale a little over a year ago for an amazing price so I was hoping I would score again! Lucky me, I found this beauty for almost 60% off...

It was love at first sight. Swoon.

Along with some of the living room changes I really felt like the art in the kitchen needed to be updated as well, but I spent a pretty penny on my beloved Rex Ray print so I wasn't sure what to do, and since I wanted something just as bold and dramatic I also knew that it would most likely not be in the budget for quite some time.


Our Rex Ray print hanging on the kitchen wall, which is also our dining room/foyer, it's San Francisco people space is limited so rooms are multifunctional;)

 One more time, this is our before....

When I spotted the gorgeous  canvas in the same exact dimensions at an unbelievable price I had to have it, thankfully Mr. Jones felt the same way so we snatched it up and we were off!
 

 
Literally we were off... as in we walked this beauty home. It's 54"x54" the last time we transported art this big we had to get a U-Haul. 

 
 Luckily we live about 10 min from downtown, and it's unusually flat for SF!

 
Mr. Jones was even sweet enough to get it up on the wall the very next day.


And here is the after my friends.... isn't she lovely.

I love how fresh and crisp it feels and I like how the white background ties in nicely with the stools and other white accents we have right now. This might sound strange but if I had to paint cooking/food/wine/entertaining and conversation I think this is how it would look, it even inspires me to be in the kitchen! Spoken like a true art critic I'm sure ;) 


Now.... where to store that other giant print? Hmmm next on the agenda.

Happy almost Friday friends, hope you too have been inspired this week!

xoxo- miss v.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

What I'm Loving Wednesday...Busy Bee.

Happy hump day friends. I always look forward to Jamies link up on Wednesdays. It's been very busy around here so it's nice to take a second to reflect and jot down what I'm LOVING this week.

I'm LOVING being a busy bee. It's true, even with what seems like a never ending checklist it feels so good to just get to work and cross things off. I have some classroom stuff that I've been working on, I updated my planning template and have been tackling some spring cleaning and organizing of my school stuff that resides here at home.

I'm LOVING that we had some nice "us" time this weekend in between all of the work and checklists! So nice to get some couple time in and slow down.

 Friday night was date night and of course we had to snap a quick prom pose before heading out. Bless him for putting up with me and my camera.  Reason number 58754749 why I love Mr. Jones.
 Saturday morning we strolled to one of our favorite sunny brunch spots to take advantage of the gorgeous weather. 









Sunny Saturday stroll. Heavenly.

I'm LOVING that Mr. Jones made brownies and filled my car with gas this week!!!! It really is the little things ladies.

I'm LOVING that I have a special surprise for Mr. Jones planned for Valentines day. He really does deserve the world for all that he does for me, so I'm hoping that I can shower him with a little love and appreciation to show him how much it all means.

Sappy but true. ;)

That's it for today time for this busy bee to close the agenda, make dinner, have a glass of wine and spend the evening relaxing!

Hope you lovelies have had a productive and busy week and don't forget to slow down and think about what you're loving on this Wednesday.

xoxo- miss v.