Yellow Days and Blue Skies

Double Christmas Fun

2010-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we have been horrible bloggers.. but with the new year.. I thought is was time to update things here at the Jones Cottage. The holidays were tons of fun flying from one coast to the next and having double Christmas fun!

We started here in Cali with the Jones Crew, hosting Christmas Eve in our tiny cottage which resulted in swapping rooms - making the dining room a living room and the living room a dining room. The best part is that after the meal.. we swap it all back so that we can sit around and play games.. someday we hope for a home that eliminates the Christmas Eve swap. A great time was had by all.

The Jones, Swan and Davis women

Brian sporting his new look (styled by me), isn't he HOT?

Then it was off to South Carolina to celebrate with the Turner Crew! What fun.. we re-create Christmas.. pretending it is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Lots of lazing around, eating at scrumptious restaurants, and my favorite - Shopping! We can't wait for next year when our new little Turner will be joining us.

The crazy kids on Christmas morning.. I love how David and I look super wacko!

Mom and Dad with the kids and kids-in-law!

My mom goes all out and makes a Magic Christmas Wonderland

Now ready for the New Year - 2010!

Go Angles

2009-10-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

These days the Jones household is a bit crazy.. jumping up and down screaming, crying and shouting. NO, we aren't fighting we are rooting for our ANGELS!

If only they could defeat the Goliath Yankees! GO ANGELS!

I'm Back!

2009-03-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

For those who have been asking about the whereabouts of The Vintage Society, you will be happy to know... I'm back! Things are looking up and you can check out the latest here!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-01-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

Its the most wonderful time of the year! This year was no exception. For the first time since I moved to California, we actually had cold Christmas-y weather! We loved it. The heater kept us warm and wearing coats wasn't just for looks - they actually served a purpose.

The month was busy as usual - with parties, Christmas shopping and Christmas glee! It was truly as special Christmas that we will remember for years to come.

Our "family" Christmas party was especially great with three little munchkins added loads of fun. We exchanged gifts and ate delicious desserts. I am sure the photo next year will hold even more little ones. We are a growing family.

A neighborhood Christmas party was hosted at our home and it was a great time to catch up and eat more good grub! I had fun making Paula Deen delights and adding Christmas touches to our home.

Christmas Eve morning Brian and I started a new family tradition - a morning breakfast at The Filling Station in Old Town Orange. It is becoming our favorite little town, especially since they added a great new vintage boutique that I can't stay away from. The morning was perfectly cold and the breakfast was fabulous, a great start to our day.

Christmas Eve night was at our home and we had the whole Jones and Company crew. I love making this a special evening, choosing a theme for the dinner and sprucing up our little table to make it inviting. This year was Italian themed filled with lots of love and a candy cane cake I created. We all gave a verbal gift to the person sitting on the left of us. Some gifts given were, "the opportunity to be a figure skater", "a pass into the New York Marathon", "the clean gene", "celibacy from women for the next three years".. as you can imagine these were hilarious and filled the evening with laughter.

Christmas morning was spent at Mom and Pops Jones home. We loved breakfast together and opening presents. Brian and I both suprised each other with glee-filled gifts. A rock for my finger and lakers tickets for Brian.

Then it was off to Hilton Head, SC for a Christmas with the Turner clan. Mom Turner went out of the way, even with this crappy economy, and worked her little tail off to spoil us kids. Our Christmas morning together was filled with gifts and fun times together, the day ended with an amazing dinner and a visit to see the movie "Marley and Me". We all loved it and it made Brian and I miss Dudley even more.

After the Turner Christmas we headed up the mountains of North Carolina to celebrate the New Year. It wad ridiculously cold and perfect. The cabin was cozy, a fire roard, and coffee kept us warm.

Walks through the beautiful surroundings were highlights of the trip.

The whole family!

Stuffed with Thanksgiving Goodness

2008-12-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It kicks off the holiday season, it means amazing food, it means time with family, and it means a time of reflection on everything we have to be thankful for.

This year was extra special because we had fun fall-ish weather (which isn't always the case in sunny California). Brian and I woke up to rain hitting the windows, we made a scrumptious breakfast together and talked about what we were thankful for. We then started the southern cooking process - I always bring the sweet potatoe casserole and apple pie. Brian worked diligently cutting and peeling the apples and I got to do all the fun stuff.

Then off to the family feast at Vic and Nancy Jones. Tradition is key - Brian and Tommy's wiffle ball game (Brian reclaimed the victory this year), picture taking, stuffing our faces with food, and then sitting around in a food coma.

It was a great Thanksgiving!

The whole clan!

Wiffle Ball Competition

The Grub

Stuffed with Thanksgiving goodness

A Neighborly Brinner

2008-12-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

In this crazy life that keeps us all so busy.. I try to pretend we live in a small town with neighbors down the road. These neighbors can pop by any time they want and spontaneous dinners are served...

Ok, so this isn't exactly the case - but we do have our neighbors - Rian, Meghan and Wallace! We live just down the road from each other and Meghan and I decided it was time to be more neighborly.. so we have a monthly dinners.

I hosted the most recent neighbor dinner and the theme was breakfast or "brinner" as Rian calls it. Everyone had to wear their pj's.. even Wallace. We loaded up on Paula Deen's ridiculously dessert-y french toast.

Neighbors are the best!

A neighborly "brinner"

In our pj's!

Listening to Christmas music and sipping peppermint mocha coffee!

The Clemmons Say I Do

2008-11-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

The day has come.. Jacob and Teri are now officially the Clemmons! November 15th was a day to remember.. yes, there were terrible fires roaring through Southern California.. but nothing could have damaged the beautiful wedding.

Teri was a gorgeous bride and Jacob was a giddy groom - it was a match made in heaven. It was a blast for Brian and I to be a part of their big day = celebrating the life ahead of them. They headed off to Hawaii and we headed back home. We can't wait to see them post-honeymoon!

With the happy couple!

Great to spend time with the girls.

The beautiful bride.

Bridesmaid to the Bride.

Hazel Rose is Here!

2008-10-18T15:26:00.001-07:00

Hazel Rose Thrash is here!

We are so excited to add a new troop to the family. Mark and Jamie made it through the 17 hour process with flying colors and Hazel Rose is perfectly beautiful. I brought over some good ole southern comfort food and we spent the evening celebrating with the new family.

Hazel is baby three of the quickly growing family! We can't wait for more..

The whole crew welcomes Hazel Rose!

Gabriella plays with her new buddy.

Mark showing Brian how the diaper change is done.

We can't wait to babysit

Palm Springs!

2008-10-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

My voice is hoarse-y! The reason.. spending the weekend with the best girls in the world in Palm Springs. Our friendship began in a house of ten girls during the Biola days. Life has taken us in all different directions - but the friendship remains the same, if not better!

The weekend was full of laughter, dancing, sharing and eating. We spent hours talking, an afternoon shopping, nights out on the town and a day at the pool. Sunday came quickly and we all headed home - sad to leave but happy to have spent three glorious days together.

The Girls - Me (Yellow) , Allee (Als) , Kimi, and Abigail (Gail)

Classic Palm Springs by the pool in October, old ladies swimming in the pool were entertained by our constant picture-taking.

Representing girls with different looks, styles and personalities - friendship made in heaven!

The best kind of shopping - thrift shopping! and no.. I didn't actually wear this fur.. I just bought it.

The Vintage Society Trunk Show

2008-10-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was The Vintage Society Trunk Show! It was two years in the making.. many hours spent scouring estate sales and thrift stores searching for the perfect treasures. After two years of blood and sweat, (well, maybe not blood.. but definitely sweat!) it was all worth it.

The trunk show couldn't have gone better. There was an amazing flow of girls from the time the doors opened, and moments where there were lines waiting for the dressing room. It was GREAT!

Brian and Dudley were my biggest supporters, hanging out and working with me all day. Brian was my cash register man and did a fabulous job - Dudley was my shadow following me from rack to rack as I continued to re-stock and re-hang pretty dresses.

Thanks to my friends who came by and even bought some vintage to spice up their life.

Ladies Club!

2008-09-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Ladies Club: a gathering a refined women who discuss culture, politics, and the beauty of being a lady over a cup of tea and scones or a fabulous spread created by one of the ladies...

Ok, so it's not this serious - but it is a gathering a fabulous ladies for a bit of fun!

The ladies of Ladies Club - Kelly, Renee, Me, Meghan, and Sara

Lady Renee Rinehart hosted our lovely brunch gathering!

Just a pause from our discussion of culture, politics and the beauty of being a lady..

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

2008-08-29T18:25:00.001-07:00

Every summer it's ball time! Softball time to be exact.. this means the men get together to whack the ball and run the bases. The best part of it (at least on my end) is the chance to see and catch up once a week with a lot of the people that we love. The girls, babies and goodies hang out on the bleachers - we yell loud and chat loud. I think we are a fave of the umpire!

This year the men are really making their way in the league - we are actually winning games.. I say this because it's the first season that we have won ... more than one game. It's a blast and let's hope we make it to the world series, or at least the world series of enthusiasm.

Brian, Carrot and Colby

The burly men of team Clyde of Cooks

Brian, Matt, Kit, Rian K., Ryan Z. cheer on their team in the dugout.

The loudest cheer squad! (Me and Teri)

We love our boys! (Me and Meghan)

Campin' with the Family

2008-08-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

Every summer our "family" ventures out on an outdoor adventure. Over the years we have been backpacking up mountains, trekking though canyons, chillin' in cabins and this year we combined all with a three day (non-shower) car camping extravaganza. Car camping means better food, cozy beds, smores over an open fire and toilets instead of holes!

This tradition is one of our favorites and as this family keeps expanding (babies!) we anticipate the years to come.

The Family!

A day spent at swimming holes and water falls. The boys were lovin' it!

A hike that took us to a beautiful day at the lake, peaceful and relaxing.

Lake Love!

Angel Love

2008-08-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of summer is watching our team THE HALOS win! Yes, I know sometimes they lose.. but really watching, listening and going to the games is one of our major highlights. Let's also add that HALOS are having the best season of any team in the majors - not trying to brag or anything - but they are the best.

Another highlight is cheering on our team with great friends - friends like the Clemmens-to-be, Jacob and Teri. The icing on the cake was watching them win the game.. Go Angels!

Two cute Angel-lovin couples!

The girls.. and yes we can name every starter on the team.

Nothing better than a night together cheering on our team.

A Magical Night

2008-08-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

Our backyard (created by the most amazing man - Brian Jones) was bursting with excitement as it waited for 13 great girls to fill it with laughter and love. Those 13 girls were all known as the Hermosa Women in the Biola years.

Hermosa was the name of the street and on that street was a house filled with girls who loved each other and loved Jesus. It has been five years since we have all been together and the evening in the magical garden was a perfect way to celebrate and catch up on all the life that has happened.

I had such an incredible time decorating and creating an atmosphere to spend the evening with my favorite women. The patio was filled with lanterns and lights, one long table for conversation and photos of the years gone by dangling from the fence.

Abigail (holding Beth N. baby girl), Beth N., Allee, and Me

Finally after 5 years we all are back together.. wow what beautiful women!

No get together would be complete without the jumping photo!

From Left to Right - Allee, Renee, Janelle, Laura, Natalie, Angelea, Jen, Teri, Abigail, Jana, Beth N., Kimi, Me

The Perfect Summer Weekend

2008-07-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

It was a fabulous summer weekend. I really absolutely enjoy summer so much. The long evenings, the warm weather, the festive mood in the air.. it is perfect.

Brian and I started our Saturday with SALSA class... that's right.. we are taking Salsa lessons. Let me tell you.. Brian can sure move those hips, soon we will be ready to take it to the Caliente Clubs!

After movin and shakin we headed to the beach for a little fun in the sun, and after circling through the streets of Newport three times we find a parking spot - you just have to be patient.

The highlight of the weekend was an evening with the Thrash crew in their new home. Dinner was done Thrash-style with amazing fajitas, homemade guacamole, and a backyard patio with the thousands of flowers surrounding us!

It was the perfect Summer weekend.

Dinner Thrash-style!

Showing off Baby Hazel Rose!

Don't Ask....

Our Current State

2008-07-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

The personal side of things here in the life of the Jones family (Brian, Beth and Dudley.. maybe someday) will now commence. The years to come have many peaks, valleys and plateaus and we invite you to join us along the ride. Our current state...

Brian - spending his summer working three days a week teaching guitar and tutoring students at Mariners Christian School. Down time has been spent diving into the conservative views on politics.. thanks to Dennis Prager, reading numerous politcal books, and now starting a new house project (more on that later).

Beth - spending my summer working on The Vintage Society and all things related, developing a book called "Stylit", and loving the domestic life. After fully recovering from a Spring that held many strange back issues, I am relishing party planning and hosting (more on that later

Dudley - spending his summer with the Grandparents (while his parents took a 2 1/2 weeks of vacation), but now back at home and couldn't be happier. Working on perfecting the skill of "playing dead" and not barking when he hears strange noises.

Well, there is more fun to come with Yellow Days and Blue Skies!