The Wine Chronicles: Irony Chardonnay

Confession: I hate chardonnay.

So, why am I including a bottle in "The Wine Chronicles"? Yeah, I know. Apparently I don't hate this one, but the variety is still not my favorite.

However, when your mom hands you a decent bottle of wine to take home with you, you don't say no. So I took it, and chilled it, and when my last bottle was gone, I made myself try it.

I was a little surprised. It was decent. Maybe because it's a little better than what I usually by, maybe not. But this girl is drinking a bottle of chardonnay this week.

Just thought that was worth mentioning.

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Bling, bling...

I forgot in my last Birchbox discussion post to share that I finally used my Incoco nail strips! Love them. We're on day five, and they still look good. I could get used to this. They are totally blingy though, which is out of the ordinary for me.

What do you think?

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Think Pink winner...

Congratulations go out to.... COLE!

Yay for giveaways. We had 27 entries and I'm excited to get Cole her goodies!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Tiny box, big fun...

Ah, Birchbox! After a few vexing mistakes in my second box, the third one was a huge hit with me!

I LOVE the Befine lip serum so much. It's like butter! And I was pleasantly surprised with  Spackle primer because it's oil-free, which means I can use it! :-) I've enjoyed those so far and I'm ready to check out the other things. But, even cooler, I ordered my first full-size stuff from Birchbox. You get points when you refer friends or review products (so if you want to join, I'll send you a referral!), and I had 200 points saved up, which meant $20 off my order! I got Kiehl's oil-free toner and moisturizer which I can't wait to get! Such a splurge! I also picked up some Jouer lip stuff. Also excited! And the best part was I only paid $23! I combined my $20 off with a three-month anniversary discount code!

Talk about excited. I can't wait for everything to arrive. And the November Birchbox is right around the corner. Score.

XOXO lovelies!

Mrs. Jones

TBA

Six months later...

I thought it'd be easier to describe how I've felt today. I drive the path of the storm each weekday morning on my way to Starbucks and the office. 

It's a different world on so many fronts in different sections of our town. But life has gone on. Sometimes you forget what has happened.

It's hard to imagine that at 5 today, I stood outside my house and stared the same direction, with the same type sky in the background - minus a funnel cloud. 

Bad things happen. I know that. But I also know that the aftermath has shown the giving nature of a state and the generosity of strangers across the country. It has shown the strength and heart of a city. 

#WeAreAlabama

#TTownNeverDown

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

The card search...

For those of you that remember my holiday preparations last year, the Christmas card hunt was at the TOP of my list. I lucked out with Shutterfly, and was the belle of the Christmas-card ball in our family circle. I used a story card, and that's going to be SO hard to beat this year.

So, I've been stalking Shutterfly already, and if you can't tell, I am a fan! They sell custom Christmas cards, Christmas photo cards, and Christmas invitations.

I've used their greeting cards for quite a few special holidays, too - Father's Day, Thanksgiving, you name it! For the price and what you get, I'm always going to pick these cards over a random store-bought card!

But on to my Christmas card debate.... I think this is my current favorite, but that's if I only look at the folded story card options. I may branch out after we get our photo taken!

What do you think? And yes, you read correctly - Mr. Jones, Eve Belle and I will have our very first professional family photo taken in two weeks! I'm so excited. It's a Junior League fundraiser, so two birds, one stone!

What do you do for Christmas cards? How many do you send? We're looking at around 80 this year, which is NUTS! But I keep adding people, so.... that's how it goes right?

Let the Christmas and Christmas card planning begin!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

{I was given a code for 25 Shutterfly cards in exchange for this post, but as evidenced by my love of them, that's just a bonus and all the opinions are mine!}

It's more than football...

Sometime today, I'm going to sit down and write for tomorrow. Oct. 27 will mark six months since the tornado hit Tuscaloosa. I have a lot to say. But one of those is that right now, so many hopes and dreams  are tied to the Alabama football team.

I am and always have been a die-hard Bama girl. But think that given all that has happened, this year's team is a special one, and they are fighting for more than just a win each week.



Have a great day everyone. Until tomorrow,
Mrs. Jones

Tap in?

I thought I'd take a minute to share something I've signed up for tonight. CrowdTap is a fairly new little social media thing, where you get to weigh in on likes, favorites and more. You keep up with it, and increase your level, and you get fabulous perks!

It's currently in Beta mode, so if you want to sign up, you need a referral link (like this).

Just wanted to share! I know a few of you are slightly deal and bargain crazy like me, so enjoy! Join here if you want to get in on it too!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

The annual THINK PINK giveaway!

So, I'm ashamed it's almost the end of October before I'm getting around to this, but for the third year in a row, I've put together another little breast cancer awareness giveaway!

This year's giveaway features a pink ribbon Tervis tumbler! It's one of my favorites! I thought one of my lovely readers would enjoy a few pink ribbon lovelies and a few other of my favorite things!

So, here's what we have in the already packaged box, ready to send out to a fabulous friend:

- Pink ribbon Tervis tumbler
- Bath and Body Works bubble bath
- Bath and Body Works mini lotion
- Hope Love Cure napkins
- Pink ribbon soap
- Monopoly Deal (a favorite card game)
- Pink ribbon sticky notes
- Pink ribbon cupcake liners
- Pink ribbon nail decals
- Pink ribbon carabiner
- Pink ribbon pen
- Cute toile playing cards
- Pink ribbon shower pouf

So, now that you've seen and heard about the loot, here's how to enter! There are 4 ways to enter, you must leave a separate comment for each!

1) Comment on this post and tell me your favorite thing about October!
2) Follow my blog, and leave a comment letting me know you do.
3) Tweet about this giveaway (including the link) and leave your Twitter link in the comment.
4) Blog about this giveaway and the leave the link to your post in a comment!

I will select a winner after midnight on Friday night (Central time!)
Good luck! XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Menu Monday: Creamy Spinach Lasagna

Boy, oh boy, do I have a recipe to share with you tonight! And it comes from the blogging world, which only makes me happier to share. My lovely blog friend Cole from All the Small Stuff is masterful with recipes, and she posted this one in September.

I made it last week, and it was a HUGE hit. Mr. Jones wasn't too sure about it when he saw spinach - and no meat - but he has declared it a winner. I made a ton, so it's been great to start this week with some lunches already prepared!

Check it out here and ENJOY!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

All fall down...

With football season and Halloween in full swing, I've finally gotten some fall decor out and about! I made a wreath and found some precious pumpkin accessories at - gasp - Wal-Mart! For cheap! Gotta love that, even if I did have to hit up that store. (It's not my favorite... too crowded!)

 

These are the pumpkin accents from Wal-Mart....

And then we tie it all together with the front door and entryway!

XOXO and Happy Fall Ya'll!
Mrs. Jones

Video: EB plays golf...

Just for your Friday morning amusement....

Puppy is the cutest thing ever.

XOXO and Happy FRIDAY!
Mrs. Jones

The chair dilemma... SOLVED

So, I've had this post waiting to share chair ideas and get feedback for almost a month. Is that sad? I kept waiting to take a picture of my constantly covered kitchen table to go with it and show you what I was trying to match chairs to. So, I looked up all these...

From Target

From Pottery Barn

From Ikea

And then, while helping a friend look through Kirkland's one day after work, I found them. My perfect chairs. On clearance, for $50 each. Can you say score?! So, now, I don't need help picking out expensive chairs, because I found some even cheaper. And they are the closest to the expensive ones I liked. WOOHOO. Okay, I'm rambling. But now, meet my new kitchen chairs!

I love them! Husband does too, and finally, one of the big "house" things is complete!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

I need more puppy love.

I have not been home enough for going on two weeks. I need some down time with my husband and puppy girl. Instead, I'll share these so I can stare at them when I should be working.

My precious little EB....

Her daddy wrapped her up in her favorite blanket, and she hated it so much, she just sat there. She wouldn't MOVE at all. It was cute. So, naturally, I took pictures.

Yeah, she knows she's cute.

XOXO and Happy Thursday,

Mrs. Jones

I'll Trade Ya...

My final stop in Nashville was on my way out of town at a lovely little landmark you can't find in the state of Alabama.

Oh yes, yes I did. Trader Joe's is worthy of a stop for me! I ran in and picked up a few basics I needed/wanted to check out!

Lotion, spray canola oil, pasta sauce, orzo.... and CLEMENTINES! I can't find good ones at home - and these are delicious. I've almost finished the bag off already!

I can't WAIT to make chocolate chip pumpkin bread! With soft hands too. Haha.

I came home with one other fun treat from Katie - look at this precious and most delicious jar of goodness.

She did good!!! I'm going to have to repeat these and distribute to some friends, that's for sure! Happy fall indeed!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Weekends always end...

And it is never fun to say goodbye! But we had such fun! We said our farewells with a Cracker Barrel breakfast this time - and it was so delicious! Can't wait for our next girls' weekend!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones

Do you Yolo?

Our Saturday in Nashville ended with a fabulous dinner at Yolo's. Mrs. Smith, Katie, Jess and Sarah met up, but sadly we didn't think to take any pictures of us! I did think about my food though. Strange, I know!

It was such a fun dinner, and I enjoyed experimenting with my order a bit! To start off with, there was a delicious torched lemonade!

And then I even ordered some soup as an appetizer. Delicious seafood bisque. It was heavenly!

For my main course, I tried their Grecian Chicken dish. I'd never had anything like it, and the sauce, cheese and mashed potatoes underneath just accented the delicious chicken!

All in all, it was a great dinner! Thanks for meeting up to the lovely blogger crew!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Frugal Friday: I ❤ free pizza!

Yeah, we had a fabulous free dinner on Thursday night with some random coupons I scored on Facebook for Domino's and Hungry Howie's!

Mr. Jones was happy! We tried to spinach and alfredo artisan pizza and the sausage and pepper artisan pizza from Domino's, and had a small cheese pizza from Hungry Howie's. Plus, leftovers! Score!

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones