Pants in July

I can't tell you the last time I wore pants in the middle of July...  I usually never wear pants between May - September if I can help it.  While I was in DC, it was usually April - October.

Although, I didn't have colored pants I wanted to wear, so maybe that is the difference.

*pants - Gap, shirt - JCrew, shoes - KEDS, necklace - Very Jane (there are some on sale today!)

One Week

This title coincidentally is both a reference to the countdown to my birthday and a popular song by my favorite band, the Barenaked Ladies.

July is already shaping up to be a busy, busy month for me.

I officially signed the lease for my new apartment yesterday and will be getting ready for the move in July 21st.  I'm SUPER excited to be back in my own place and get settled.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the help my parents have offered by letting Samson and I stay at their place and I will miss the company.  But, it will be good for me to get settled on my own again.

Also, this weekend Amanda is coming into town and we are celebrating my birthday.  She and Brooke have been scheming up plans for the whole weekend and they won't share any of it with me!  All Brooke said was, "I'll let you know what to pack for the weekend".  Being a planner (and admittedly liking to have control of all situations) this is going to be a test for me.  I trust that they will plan out something amazing and incredibly fun.

Then, the last weekend of July is the NIU grass triples tournament and Lauren's baby shower.  

It's going to be August before I know it.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad turns one year older today.  And he's off in Madrid living it up (and allegedly working).

Found this picture that seems appropriate today.  One of my all-time favorites.  A lot of people know my dad as being all business... but that is far from the truth.  Ask Justin who experienced "Vacation Dad" last fall when we were in Hawaii.

Happy birthday Dad!  Love you.

Melissa and Justin's wedding - 2009

It's Friday!!!

I'm so thankful it's Friday and I have a short day.

I'm heading up to Milwaukee for the weekend... but before I go, a few random things.

First - this is a jar of leftover Portillo's chop salad dressing.....  liquid gold.  Boy, I'm glad I have this!!

Second - I received my membership card for the Art Institute of Chicago yesterday. Who's excited?? :)

My Second Favorite Holiday

I am shocked to say that I did not take one pictures yesterday.  Not even one of the red, white and blue rice krispy treats I made.

Yesterday was really nice.  I got up crazy early (naturally) at 5:15.  That's earlier than my alarm goes off regularly.  I tried to go back to sleep for a while and right before I was going to give up and just get up, I heard my dad take Samson out for his walk.  Of course, I couldn't even fall asleep after that.

After a pretty lazy morning, my mom, dad and I headed up to Wheaton.  We spent some time with family, did a little swimming with Kayla, and ate lots of Portillos!

I think we were all pretty tired because everyone left the party pretty early.  We were back home by 7 and I walked Samson as people were heading to the fireworks.  I tried to stay up to read as long as I could, but finally turned the lights out at 10.

I'm looking forward to having a day and a half of work before the weekend.  Today should be pretty quiet - hopefully!

What did you do for the 4th??

July 3

It's hot... I'm tired from playing volleyball yesterday and wanted to be as cool as possible at work.

*skirt/belt - Jcrew, shirt - Express, shoes - Steve Madden

I'm really looking forward to having tomorrow off.  Not just because I'm looking forward to seeing my family, but because I need the break from work.  

The countdown begins...

It's July 2nd.  Which means it's less than 15 days until my birthday (see countdown on the sidebar). :)

This past weekend was a lot of fun.  I babysat Kayla on Friday night.  She's so funny.  I really enjoyed the 2 hours she was awake while I was there.  :)  She LOVES LOVES LOVES to look at herself in the camera.  I managed to grab a hilarious video (posted on facebook) and a few photos.

 She loves sticking her tongue out.

 Got a good smiley one!

Making a fish-face!

Then on Saturday, I met a few friends at the World's Largest Block Party.  We saw Mike & Joe play again and ended up leaving before Lifehouse.  We headed to a house party at a place one of my friend's knew.  I ended up running into a handful of people I knew from high school.  It was weird, but really great to catch up.

The only downside to the night...taking the train all the way back up to Evanston when I'm already exhausted.

I spent the rest of the weekend reading and napping - I definitely don't recover as quickly as I used to.

I'm looking forward to having Wednesday off of work.  It will be nice to break up the week with that day off.  We'll be heading out to Glen Ellyn to visit with family.  Then on Friday, I'm heading up to Milwaukee for the weekend so I can visit and get out to Summerfest to see a few bands play.