Come tomorrow, I'll be on my way back home

I can't believe I haven't blogged since June! I have to admit, July felt like forever and while I've been documenting most of my time, I haven't had a chance to breathe and work on blogging. The first week of July I flew back home to Dallas and had a great holiday week with my family. Part of the festivities included a long overdue graduation party, a massive trip to Sephora, and finally getting a smartphone (which I'd end up having to get replaced in less than a month but more on that later). As much as I love Chicago, I really miss home. I never remembered Dallas having so much charm. It was so refreshing to go back revisiting old spots, people I used to know, and visiting new places I seemed to have overlooked so long ago.



My sister Rita made my graduation banner and decorations. She bought all of these vintage sewing patterns and made the letters with the illustrated photos on the packaging and paper flowers from the actual patterns. She gets me. My sister Andrea should still be mentioned as she did most of the actual event planning. I love my sisters!



And talk about the cutest graduation cake ever. Strawberry cake with vanilla icing... my fave.



My Fourth of July was spent watching my youngest niece Alyssa in a parade, hanging out, laughing, and playing games with the rest of my family. In the evening, I sat parked in my grandmother's neighborhood of 50 some odd years with my mother and her mother watching fireworks. I can't remember that day being any more perfect. I'll never forget it.

So the rest of my July went a little something like this: First week spent at home, 6 days of work in a row, 6 days of my brother visiting Chicago, massive flood in my apartment due to an insane storm, phone totally wiped out, and 6 days of cleaning it up/fixing damages. But I am alive! I survived July!