Reunited for a weekend….

A few weekends ago, a dear friend from blog and Twitter land came to Tuscaloosa for her first visit. We had an absolute ball, and had an epic Alabama football weekend together!

It had been such a long time since I got to show off this city I love so much, so Tami was the beneficiary of some seriously over-eager hosts. Oops. She indulged us though, so it was perfect.

I had the tickets all ready!

The food preparation for the weekend…. so fun!

On campus, teaching this precious lady to say "Roll Tide" at all the right times!

We had the best time ever, and I can't wait to do it again. A weekend of giggles, a few signature game day cocktails, and lots of girl talk. It truly doesn't get much better. So grateful for this sweet lady and all the fun times to come….

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Find me at the river...

I had the opportunity to head out for a dinner boat river cruise recently. It was simply stunning to see another Alabama city in a way I normally wouldn't.

I loved it. It was a delicious dinner and a gorgeous sunset with one of my BFFs!

Have a wonderful week everyone! This is certainly the peaceful view I want to reflect on as another busy week begins!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Red, white and blue...

It's one of my favorite times - the Olympics are here! We kicked them off in style on Friday night with a small party. I had such fun preparing and decorating. What do you think of the spread?!

We served sliders, deviled eggs, red, white and blue marshmallow stars, fruit, chips and dip, veggies, summer sangria and more! There was also homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream (thanks, Mr. Jones!) and red velvet brownies with cream cheese frosting.

Everyone stayed until the parade of nations started, and while we had way too much food, we did put a dent in it!

The hit of the night was the summer sangria my bloggy bestie Katie shared here. You'll adore it!

I loved sharing one of our favorite nights with some precious friends and family! Did you celebrate the Opening Ceremonies in style? Have you been watching them all weekend like we have? Because I have spent most of the weekend on the couch. :-) It's been heavenly!

Go USA!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Too much me time?

It's been a wonderful but busy few weeks, so much so that I've started to wonder if I've had a little too much "me" time. I've had so many fun trips and fun outings that I've been trying to make sure I'm at home for a few more nights!

I had the most fabulous girls night out last week! Drinks, sushi, and the Ringo Starr concert! It was absolutely amazing. I'd never had a cappuccino martini before, and it'd been a long time since I had girl time with a certain sweet friend.

It was an amazing night, but I'm ready for a few (multiple, consecutive) nights at home now! Do you know what I mean about summer fun being a little too much sometimes? It's hard to know when to say no and stay in because you just don't want to miss out on any fun!

That's all for now.....

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Sweet Summertime...

Two weeks ago right now, I was giddy with excitement. I was all packed and all that stood between me and my three bloggy besties was one more day of work. Oh how that day dragged on.

The three-day weekend in Atlanta with them? Flew by. It was one of those perfect summer weekends. Lazy night in with wine and girl talk on Friday night. Saturday by the pool with books and sangria and more girl talk. Saturday night dinner and dancing. Sleepy Sunday before the sad goodbyes. It was perfect.

I'm so very blesses to have Katie, Tami and Mrs. Smith in my life. We found each other through the blog world, but they are three of my closest friends now. I love our random texts and emails that make the long days so much more fun!

Friday night fun...

Saturday Sangria with puppy love!

We hit the town after a day of sun, and went out for dinner at South City Kitchen. Talk about delicious! I had an amazing dinner of shrimp and red mule grits with a side of crab and tomato mac and cheese. Mmmmmm heavenly! And my cocktail of the evening, country thyme lemonade, was simply divine.

Sweet Katie and Tami spoiled us rotten as well. I was stunned to have presents to open upon our arrival on Friday night. This precious little bag of goodies came from Tami, who knows my heart and my Alabama love, which made the houndstooth tumbler absolute perfection!

Katie prepared us all for our day of fun in the sun with new tumblers for our sangria, and matching beach towels of course! I will thing of each of you every time I use my sweet gifts!

Katie blogged about our lovely weekend here - and she shared her summer sangria recipe here. It was to die for. Go try it! And Tami captured the weekend perfectly here with her "How About We Bottle Up the Weekend" post.

I know I am still leaving so much out, but it's hard to explain what a beautiful weekend with your favorite girls can do for your spirit and your heart. The stress of a long week melts away, and you leave with memories and smiles that will last you for quite a while. Although I'm hoping our next getaway is sooner rather than later. Love you ladies!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Just driving along...

Right now I'm ATL bound to see three of my bloggy besties. Mrs. Smith, Katie and Tami are just a short drive away currently, so we're making a little weekend of it!

I'm so excited to see all of them again that I'm freaking out. We've always had a ball getting together and exploring different cities and trying new food and wine and all that jazz.

So, I'm hitting the road, and I even made a new playlist/CD to jazz up the drive. Here's what I'll be listening to as I cruise the open roads.

Got any other suggestions for me? Back soon!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Sharing the love: Local {ATL}ast

Good morning lovelies!!!

I've been meaning to do this for quite a while, but one of my dear bloggy friends has revamped her blog and gotten back on the bandwagon.

Tami is just adorable and I want you all to go read her blog and enjoy it! Her blog, Local {ATL}ast, is wonderful, so go check it out here!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

So many celebrations...

I can't begin to tell you about the number of celebrations life has included lately. It's wonderful. I love celebrating milestones for friends - and there has been no shortage of them! And they aren't going to stop anytime soon. I've got countless baby showers and a few weddings on the horizon. Goodness!

From baby showers for sweet sorority sisters....

To weddings of old family friends....

It's just a little reminder to me that this is what God intends. He fills our life with the dearest of people, and tasks us with lifting each other up. Celebrating together is just another way we get to do that. I'm thankful for so many celebrations.

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Stella & Dot Giveaway!

To celebrate my very first virtual trunk show, sweet Lauren has decided to sponsor a Stella & Dot giveaway! The winner will receive a pair of Marchesa Stud Earrings from Stella & Dot!

The giveaway starts tonight, and will end on Friday, Dec. 9 at 10 p.m. (CST).

Here's how to enter. Leave a separate comment stating each thing you did.
1. Follow my blog
2. Follow me on Twitter (@aRealLifeWife)
3. Tweet the following: "I entered to win a pair of Stella & Dot Marchesa Studs from @laurenbtrain on @aRealLifeWife's blog! Check it out: http://atthejoneses.blogspot.com/2011/12/stella-dot-giveaway.html"
4. Like Lauren's stylist page on Facebook
5. Go to Lauren's stylist page on Facebook and leave a comment with your favorite item!
6. If you make a purchase, you will earn 5 additional entries (for a total of 10 if you complete all of these!)

I am so grateful to Lauren for sharing Stella & Dot with my lovely readers! Enjoy and good luck lovelies! We will announce the winner on Saturday!

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

A cozy night in Nashville

I left Alabama and headed across the state line to Tennessee on Friday afternoon to meander to Mrs. Smith's house for the first part of our weekend. We kept it low-key and spent the evening relaxing with a glass of wine, pizza and some seriously funny and entertaining tv shows. It was the perfect night for us to relax.

I will share that Mrs. Smith made the BEST homemade pizza for dinner. She blogged about it for her Menu Monday post here. When life and work and all that jazz calms down next week, I will be making this for one of our nightly dinners. It was divine. See?

Mmmm... Honey goat cheese pizza. I'm getting hungry. 

We had the perfect night, and turned in fairly early, which was perfect because our Saturday was jam-packed full of fun! I'll post the rest of our trip soon.

XOXO and Happy Friday!

Mrs. Jones

After these messages...

I'll be right back.

For now, I'm enjoying friends, food and fun in the Music City! I'm excited to meet some lovely Nashville bloggers tonight. And you know I'll be back with tons of pictures and recaps.

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Oh, bunko!

Tonight I will be playing bunko for the second time ever, with a fabulous group of women. I'm excited. I snapped this pic a month ago at our very first gathering - it was my first bunko EVER! 

This is a new adventure for me, but a very welcome one. It's been fun to try new wine, meet new friends, and play games! 

Do you have any fun groups like this?

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

Mrs. Jones

The Perfect Weekend: Chattanooga

I spent last weekend in Chattanooga with my favorite blog girls. I can't say enough about it. We had so much fun. You know how some groups just click? We were one of them. From the wine to the shopping to the fabulous meals.... it was a weekend to remember with Mrs. Smith, Katie and Tami!

(Now, before I go any further, don't hate me. This is a SERIOUSLY photo-heavy post!)

This was how the sky looked when I hit the road at 6:30 in the morning:

Okay, moving on. We met up Saturday morning at BlueWater Grille. It was SCRUMPTIOUS!

{my lobster and crab cake sandwich}

We caught up, talked, took care of a few introductions, and plotted our course for the weekend: shopping and eating. And taking pictures so we could blog about it, of course.

{shopping at Blue Skies}

{The hotel, The Chatanoogan}

{wine in the hotel room. perfect girl time.}

The evening featured Terra Nostra, a fabulous tapas and wine restaurant in downtown Chattanooga. We had wine, and ordered a bunch of things to try!

{lobster bisque]

{mozzarella bruschetta}

{lobster quesadilla}

We had a fabulous night, despite the dreary day and rainy weather. The next day involved much of the same. Check out the gray skies!

We got ready at our leisure, after a night in some of the most COMFORTABLE beds I've ever been able to fall into.

We headed out to The Blue Plate for our farewell breakfast before we all parted ways.

{my egg sandwich for breakfast. so delicious...}

I know I've forgotten pictures, and I have some fun Earth Fare adventures to share from after breakfast, but that's another post. I loved, loved, loved my time with these wonderful girls. They're amazing and fun and I can't WAIT until we do it again.

XOXO,

Mrs. Jones