That {blog}lovin' feeling...

I made the switch to reading my favorite blogs in BlogLovin' about a month ago, and it took a tiny bit of getting used to, but now I'm pretty hooked.

Since Google Reader disappears on Monday, I wanted to let you know you can continue to follow me on BlogLovin here! I don't want to lose any of you lovely readers.

You can also keep tabs via GFC on my sidebar! Be sure to go ahead and follow, because I've got a giveaway coming your way next week. So excited about it too!

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

Farewell, Google Reader.....

I'm trying to get used to BlogLovin' - but I just don't love it yet. I'm slowly weaning myself off of Google Reader, but it's making me fussy. Anyone with me?

And FYI, Google.... You suck.

XOXO,
Mrs. Jones

In Other's Words....

This week, two posts have really touched me. I wanted to share them.

Whitney at Southern Grace posted on what she's been thinking. It moved me to tears. Read it here.

Ashley at Oh Wells Instead of What Ifs posted about blogging, and what is attractive to readers, and what we strive to be as bloggers. I loved it. Her list is so true. I want to read a blogger who is honest, happy and a great story teller. Reader her post here.

That's all for tonight. Happy Friday lovelies!
Mrs. Jones

September Blog Star...

Well hey there y'all....

Happy September and Happy Blog Star to each of you! I'm Mrs. Jones, and I blog here at Keeping Up with the Joneses. You'll find me blogging about all the little things that make up my life as a wife here in sweet home Alabama.

I love to blog about my awesome husband, my sweet pup Eve Belle, cooking, shopping, couponing, and more... I'm a Southern belle, but even more importantly I'm an Alabama fan.

And I'm not sure if I'm sad to say it or not, but as of Sunday, I'll be another year older too. There's something about 27 that just doesn't sound as fun as 25 or 26, but I think the year itself is going to be awesome. Cross your fingers for me, mkay? The picture I'm sharing is from my birthday (and EB's) last year. It's going to be so hard to top that cake!

That's all for today - I hope you stick around! Sign up to follow via GFC - when we hit a new milestone, I may or may not be planning a giveaway!

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

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

The Wine Chronicles: Arrington Vineyards

Our little blogger weekend was so much fun. After our low-key Friday night, Katie arrived on Saturday morning and the three of us headed out to Arrington Vineyard after a stop at Whole Foods for some picnic sustenance.

I'd never been to a vineyard before, and this one was so beautiful. We truly had the perfect time out there!

The wine tasting was great. We each tried four different wines. My favorite was the riesling and the raspberry dessert wine. I got a bottle of each to bring home!

Mrs. Smith, me and Katie - such sweet friends!

Our little picnic with a view while drinking a bottle of wine together was simply the best. It only got better when we hit up some fabulous shopping on the way back to Mrs. Smith's house to get ready for dinner! I don't know about my friends, but I'm ready for another girls trip for sure. And I'm also desperately wishing this winery was a little closer so Mr. Jones and I could take a day trip.

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

Yea Alabama...

Our Saturday was a wonderful one, spent watching the Tide roll over Arkansas! After a couple of low-key home games, it was so much fun to hear Bryant-Denny Stadium rocking for a big SEC game! Alabama did not disappoint! Trick plays, domination, fun - it was all there! Mr. Jones and I even matched (look in the bottom of the pic at his pants!)

I even dressed sweet little EB up for a bit while we were at home. She was not a fan, but Mr. Jones snagged a picture of us!

Next week, I'll be cheering on Alabama (@ Florida) on from afar without Mr. Jones, because I'm heading to NASHVILLE for a blogging meet-up with some of my favorite girls! It's going to be a great week!

XOXO - and ROLL TIDE!

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