Love Bug.

BLATY (sounds like lady)Bug.

And I've spent the last 28 years thinking this was a "lady bug".. who knew? ;)

I adore 1st grade.

Happy weekend my lovelies. After teaching k/1st science all day long and then basking in a 2 hour sunshine filled walk home from my teaching assignment today I am ready to sit back and relax. Mr. Jones has a fun "guys night" planned while I will be perfectly content baking valentines cupcakes and watching the Friday Night Hallmark movie "Smooch" all whilst snuggled in my pink pj's feeling all kinds of girly.

tgif my dears and a very lovey dovey valentines weekend to you all.

xoxo- miss v

Birthday Angel.

My dear childhood friend Zoe tragically passed away just after Christmas. It has been difficult to understand, at times I have been confused and angry and other times I take comfort in the joy that I was lucky enough to know her that her time here on earth was meant to touch my life among thousands of others and that her spirit still surrounds all who knew her. Today is/ would have been her 25th birthday. I would like to think that, that Heavenly Choir is singing the most beautiful version of Happy Birthday to her today. I came across this poem and wanted to share it on her birthday because it's still difficult to talk about and sometimes in times when there are no words others words seem to fit better.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave bereft

I am not there. I have not left.

-Mary Elizabeth Frye

Tonight all the way in England where Zoe was from and lived her family and friends are throwing her a HUGE party where they will be raising funds for the Memorial Fund they have started in her name, to save a Coral Reef, as she was an avid snorkeler/scuba diver.

Feel free to check it out if you feel compelled.

Please tell your family and friends that you love them every chance you get every day, never take for granted the gift of life.

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Zoe/sapling-foundation?fb_ref=mainpage&fb_source=profile_oneline
XOXO- Miss V

Blog Award Love.

The lovely Krisitn tagged me with this award!! Thanks love!


Who/What inspires you?

Well this could be answered in so many ways. There are so many people that inspire me for so many reasons, family, friends, colleagues etc. But for today, since I have teaching on the brain pretty much 24/7 I am going to say GOOD teachers inspire me. I have been incredibly blessed to have worked with the worlds BEST Master Teacher when I was doing my student teaching. Seriously she is my teaching role model and I hope that we never lose touch and that no matter how busy I get I will always make time to visit her class. Because it's so important as a teacher to watch your colleagues and learn from them. I also have been blessed to have so many good friends as teachers and watching them in action or learning from them, hearing their stories inspire me. It's amazing to see these women doing something that I not only respect so much but aspire to do as well as them!



What is your favorite season and why?

My favorite season is definitely Fall. Especially in the Bay Area...it's our most consistent warm/sunny season but it also gets cool enough to break out the sweaters and layers..well lets be honest in San Francisco you always dress in layers. But I love the changing of the leaves, especially in the South Bay where Mr. Jones' family lives it is so beautiful with the rolling hills and beautiful fall colors. I love fall scents, I tend to bake more in the fall, and I love everything about Thanksgiving.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

There is so much to look forward to this year I can't pick one! Visiting my family in NYC and NC are top of the list. I also have Lindsay and Bens Wedding in May and Roomie & Marks wedding in Sept!

If you could write a book about anything, what would it be about?

I wish I could say it would be something deep and moving but it's not. It would totally be a book of one liners or funny things that my friends have said or done. I love to laugh and my gf's give me plenty of good material.

What is your greatest passion?

Family. My own and my future family. I cannot wait to have a family of my own and being a mom will hands down be my greatest passion when it happens. I'm nowhere near that place in my life but I would be lying if I said I didn't think about it every day. ;)

If you could change one thing about your life or yourself, what would it be and why?

I really have been trying to not focus on regret this year but I have to be honest and say that I would go back to myself as a freshman in college and change my major to education waaay back when. I think that one small change would have had a major impact on my life and would have given me so much more direction during those crazy college years ;)

Lastly, what is your favorite novel?

Little Women. I read this for the 1st time in 4th grade and have read it several times over the years. I love all of the March sisters and relate to each one in one way or another. Their story gave me plenty of "dramatic play" ideas as a kid and still as an adult I love their spirit, innocence, heart and love for one another and their family. (and when they made the movie...ohh swoooon over Christian Bale as the "Laurie Boy" made my little 10yr old heart pitter patter)

And the 5 people I tag for this award...

Gabriella
Roomie
Ms.Graham
Mrs.Sullivan
Michaela

XOXO- Miss V

What I'm Loving Wednesday... The Pioneer Woman!

I am LOVING that I met the Pioneer Woman last night!

Pioneer woman was one of the first blogs I ever read. I am not sure exactly how I found her but I was instantly hooked like so many others. I love her cooking posts, her beautiful photography, her insight on homeschooling and of course the ongoing love story of her and her Marlboro Man. I think what stands out the most though is her genuine appreciation for family and her honest and candid insights into her life. Although very different from my own you can't help but feel like you're listening to an old friend or listening to a dear family member as you read her blog. And I may be speaking for myself here, but who doesn't love a good cowboy romance. Hers is one full of laugh out loud "oh my god" that has totally happened to me moments. I mean regardless of where you live or who you fall in love with those first few weeks, months or years of dating are full of cringe-worthy as well as swoooooon worthy moments which makes this story one that I think most women could relate to.

The lovely Ree made a book signing pit stop here in San Francisco and my girlfriends and I along with about 300 other women (and a few husbands, boyfriends, toddlers and babies) from around the SF Bay Area were all in attendance last night to see the one and only Pioneer Woman!

Our First Book Club Book!

Even though most of us have read the first half of the story on her blog, about 8 of us have decided to start our first book club with Ree's book!

My partners in crime.

It was a long night. While we were so excited to be there and listen to Ree speak and take questions from the audience as well as being willing to sign every single book..I don't know if I would have made it through the 4 hours without these two to keep me laughing the whole night. I have to admit things started to get a little...hmm..stressful once we realized we were not making it home until well after 10pm and we noticed more and more people were bringing 5, 10, 15 books to the table to be signed our enthusiasm started to waiver.

We started to feel like this around 9pm..

This was just the crowd ahead of us there was an entire gaggle of ladies behind us as well!

But it was totally worth it to get a picture with Ree and my book signed!

I can't help but die laughing about how awkward we all are in this photo. Keep in mind it was 10:30 and we had been there standing mostly for 4 1/2 hours! Of course once we made it to Ree we all clammed up and somehow the conversation turned to shopping?? She was so sweet and gracious and did not slow down. We left excited to have met Ree and ready to hit the hay. (that's my ranch lingo coming out).

A great night and glad I could share it with my loves as well as every other lady who lived within 5 hours of San Francisco. Ha!

Happy Hump Day y'all.

XOXO- Miss V

Teacher Treats...

My beloved apple key chain that Mr. Jones bought me this summer.

When I was about 8 I begged..pleaded..and stated my case for a classroom projector for Christmas..I did not get one.. but I did collect as many transparencies and transparency pens as one 8 year old possibly could. I wonder if I was 8 now if I would beg and plead for a Smart Board? (ha!).

When I was 11 my family moved to CA. Being the oldest of 5 I always had the perfect group of "students" for playing school with and I promptly MADE my siblings put together a California report which consisted of the state bird, flower, capitol, and a map labeled with major CA cities. I taught in my brothers walk in closet which seemed the obvious choice for a classroom due to the "white board" like backing on the sliding doors...which I promptly covered in dry erase and some non-erase markers (sorry mom) needless to say I've been slightly obsessed with the idea of teaching for... well, forever.

I get an absolute euphoric high from Teacher Supply stores. Creepy I know. Obviously prior to last summer I had never had my own classroom so while I couldn't wait to go crazy inside of one I didn't really have a reason to. San Francisco only has one and it is tiny..but there is a mecca of one further down the peninsula and I just so happened to be in the area today!

Books and Borders and Cut Outs oh my!

How adorable are these vintage shopping baskets!!!

I found a few bargains in the clearance section!


The Goods ;)

Fora total of $20 I was able to purchase a calendar pocket chart (complete with months/days/dates/and weather cards)..I can also use this pocket chart for a multitude of other activities such as word and sentence building as well as math sentences! A cute welcome sign for my summer kinders and a K-Phonics book that will be a great resource for phonics activities and worksheets!

I would have loved to have bought all kinds of things but since I will be getting a budget for classroom supplies and I do not know what I will already be equipped with I didn't want to go overboard. It was fun though to browse and get ideas. I am still trying to come up with a "theme" for my summer classroom so I was able to start brainstorming just by looking around at some of the classroom "decor".

It was nice to take today to do some fun teacher related shopping and I hope to be back in the classroom subbing tomorrow!

Hope you are all having a marvelous Monday now off to read my blogs!!

XOXO- Miss V

Oh The Places You'll Go

I'm booked solid for the week subbing in a 5th and 7th grade Science class...manageable, yes...manageable when the teacher was unexpectedly absent for a week with no formal lesson plans...I'm making it work (somehow)...due to the sudden work load this will be a light week of blogging. I've spent the majority of my evening schooling myself on botany and the anatomy of fish...it's been...hmmm interesting? I was able to make it through Monday and today with the help of videos that were already scheduled and the rest has been left in my hands so in an effort to not waste anyone's time I have really tried to put together a cohesive and engaging few days worth of lessons aided by videos and projects..Lord Help Me.

Bus Stop.

Due to the zero long term parking at some city schools I am taking the bus this week which unfortunately doubles my commute time but fortunately provides new scenery to be enjoyed and captured all the while someone else is dealing with city streets and traffic. Super extra bonus today, I scored the single seat on the way home. SF Muni riders understand the beauty of the holy grail of all bus seats the single.. your own little refuge...that is until the lady with the GIANT purse stands right next to you and knocks you in the head with it for about 30 blocks. Luckily for me I had plenty of personal space and lots of viewing pleasure.

Hanging out with my shadow waiting for the bus.

Just a little Bus Stop scenery...not bad.

Single Seat Scenery...perfectly purple.

color coordinated.

Off to enjoy the remainder of my evening. Hope you are all having a lovely week wish me luck!

XOXO- Miss V

"I Love You Blogs & Coffee"

I'm sure many of you are familiar with this popular print and quote found here http://www.madebygirl.com/product.php?sku=PR-53 If and When I ever get an "office" of my own I want one..I may even try to sneak one somewhere into my kitchen..I can't think of a better title for Saturday morning. A usual routine around these parts on Saturday mornings is English Football on the TV for Mr. Jones and Blog Reading for me cozied up on the couch with our coffees in hand. Pure. Bliss. I tell you.

This weekend we are taking it easy, it's been a very busy 2011 so far and this was the only weekend in the foreseeable future that we actually had NOTHING on our calendars, so when we realized this we decided that we would keep it that way and just spend this weekend relaxing and enjoying a little break together.

Last night I made delicious Buffalo Chicken Calzones, inspired by the lovely Mrs. Sullivan.

They were a hit with Mr. Jones (and myself) and I can't wait to try different variations.

We caught up on our favorite tv show Law and Order UK. on BBC America of course and then sat on the edge of our seats (ok not really I was buried under blankets and pillows on the couch) watching The Town. I realize I am probably the last person to watch this movie but it was a great "cops and robbers" suspense.

I must tell you that I worked three days this week as a sub in every format High School, Middle School Art, After School leader and 2nd grade Assistant Teacher. It has been wonderful and I cannot say enough good things about the people I have had the pleasure of working with and for this last week. Yesterday was a great day at an amazing school here in SF only made better by the fact that I found out I would be hired again as a Summer School Teacher through the YMCA...oh how I LOVE those kids! In the spirit of a GREAT day I headed to the British Shoppe on my way home to pick up a little Saturday morning treat for the Mr. and I.

Becoming a regular here could be dangerous to our waistlines.

British Style Sausage Rolls...mmm delicious.

Today we are enjoying over indulging in food and movies, headed out this afternoon to catch this flick that we've been dying to see!


And yes you basically just read a post about meat filled puff pastry/dough and movies... I am a totally fatty. Happy weekend to all of you lovelies!

XOXO- Miss V