July.

When I started thinking back to July, I couldn’t really remember anything super exciting about the month, except for a failed trip to Chicago for the 4^th that we never even really started planning. But when I looked back at my calendar, we did have a fun few weeks—filled with friends and outings and a weekend trip.

The month started off a little slow. We didn’t have major plans for the holiday, and ended up having a quiet evening with M’s family and then catching a few fireworks off our kitchen deck. We went to a baseball game the following week and enjoyed the Pirates FINALLY having an exciting season (and still keeping our fingers crossed that it will last). My aunt and uncle came in from Philadelphia, and we had a nice lunch at my parents where they got to meet Lucy (after she puked up all the moss she ate in their yard right on the back patio). We went to dinner at our dear friends’ house and had close friends over for dinner at ours.

In the middle of the month, I headed out to Philly for a few days for work followed by my cousin’s bachelorette party. It was ungodly hot in Philadelphia that week, and I remember walking to the office from my friend’s apartment and wondering how she made that trek everyday without melting. The following evening, my dear from M (not to be confused with boyfriend M) and I went to dinner with my family, and it was so nice to have so many of my favorite people in the same place at once. We missed boyfriend M who was home with the puppy, but it just made me even more excited for my cousin’s September wedding when the whole family will be together.

I was nervous about the bachelorette party for two reasons: 1) It was a surprise, and I wanted everything to be just perfect, and 2) As one of the maid’s of honor and therefore host, I wanted to make sure all the girls had a nice time, not just the bride-to-be. But, it turned out perfectly. After checking in at the beautiful Stockton Seaview Hotel, we had a casual night out at a restaurant nearby for dinner and then hurried home to finally welcome my co-maid of honor to the party. My poor little cousin’s flight was delayed several hours so she ended up missing the first night, but we were happy to have her when she did arrive. The next day was the perfect mix of fun and relaxation with morning spa appointments, a nice lunch at the hotel, an afternoon by the pool, cocktail hour in the hotel room and a fun night out in Atlantic City complete with limo transportation and bottle service. We drove home the following morning, and I was really glad I elected to drive back to Pittsburgh Monday morning. Not interested in a 5 hour drive after such a long, but very fun, weekend.

The month ended with a lot of normal activity. We went to orientation for Lucy’s training classes; my brother turned 23 (which we celebrated in the beginning of August—next post!!); our dear friends had a baby!!

We had a lot of fun for a month I didn’t really remember…but I think that’s only because August has been so fabulous!! More to come!

To July,

Lia