Yes, I'm Still Alive

Sorry, about the lack of posts this summer, but real life sometimes gets in the way. It's been a rather busy summer! The cruise (way back in May!) was wonderful. To relax and be carefree in the warm Caribbean sun was more than I could ask for after four years of hard work! The cruise started in Puerto Rico, which was just lovely. We spent the night in Old San Juan because we wanted to make sure we didn't miss the boat. It worked out well because our hotel was right in the middle of Old San Juan and we got to shop (Ralph Lauren and Coach outlets, yay!) and look around. We visited the Castillo de San Cristóbal, which was amazing. The first destination on our cruise was St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, followed by Antigua, and Bermuda. We ended in NYC where we stayed for three more days. We managed to fit in three Broadway shows (God bless student rates) and some shopping (of course!). As for the shows, we saw The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, and Rock of Ages. (I'm not going to lie, I thought Mary Poppins was kind of weird. But that's probably because I've never seen the Julie Andrews movie. Apparently, I grew up under a rock.) Best of all, Filene's Basement had a wonderful sale (including their Vineyard Vines merchadise). Let's just say my wallet took a hit. Totally worth it.

Then came my cousin's graduation in South Carolina, followed by the family beach trip to my favorite vacation destination: Hilton Head Island. We went to Hilton Head every summer growing up and after a couple alternate destinations (Cape Cod, Europe) the last couple of years, we returned this year with great fanfare (obviously!). We always vacation with my uncle and his family, so it's always a blast with the eight of us (my mom, brother, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and two cousins). We went to the beach and the pool. The boys played some golf while we girls took a day cruise to Savannah, Georgia. It was such a great trip and brought back so many memories, my grandmother bought a place so we can return every summer.

The traveling stopped for a while as I started my first class in graduate school! So that kept me busy for five weeks. But after that my mom, grandmother, and I took a trip out to Minnesota to visit family (my grandparents are originally from Minnesota, so most of our family still lives there) and attend my grandmother's 65th high school reunion! I know, time flies and all.

So now I'm home again, getting ready for the new semester to start. In the meantime, I'm having laser eye surgery in a couple of weeks, so that should be great. And tomorrow we're going to the Carolina Panthers' training camp practice in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with our neighbors.

Now that we're all caught up, I hope to get back to the fashion posts. I've got some topics and pictures, I just need to get around to it.