Photo A Day: July

It's been a while since I've participated in an #fmsphotoaday challenge consistently enough to post about it. Five months, actually. But now that my traveling is done for a while (both as a Leadership Consultant and backpacking through Europe), I think I did pretty well in July! I completed 23 of the 31 categories; that might be the best I've ever done! :)


1. Happiness is being surrounded by people I love. :) This little collage represents some of the beautiful friends and sorority sisters I was reunited with during my sorority's biannual Grand Convention in Dallas.
2. No shoes required for a beautiful day at my grandma's lakefront house in western Pennsylvania.
3. Enjoying a good book and a cold drink at said lake.

4. What would the 4th of July be without a little red, white and blue?
5. Rowing around La Plaza de Espana in Sevilla with a few people I love.
6. There's nothing quite like the smell of coffee in the morning.
7. Where I was: Just hanging out with my book at the lake ... again. Life doesn't get much better than this.

8. This gorgeous path led down to the ocean on the Azorean island of Terceira.
10. A smooth cup of joe. And apartment applications!
11. The you-should-rent-to-a-responsible-young-professional-like-me outfit I wore to go apartment-hunting ... and it worked!
12. Buying jewelry has become quite a bad habit of mine. At least this was less than $10 at Charming Charlie!

13. At 4 o' clock on Saturday, I was thrift shopping for my new apartment. I scored these adorable dishes and this awesome office chair at Goodwill for less than $25!
14. One of my favorite edibles: homemade guacamole!
16. A bottle of wine from a Swiss winery I visited on my European extravaganza. Check back for my Travel Tuesday post next week to hear the story that goes along with this!
17. Just a little travel inspiration from Pinterest.

22. Jonathan looked pretty dapper in his gray suit.
24. D is for diamonds ... all over the world! I found these Alphies in Rome, Madrid, Granada (Spain) and Sintra (Portugal).
25. Grapevines in the ground at Mountain Winery in Saratoga.
26. My everyday routine: Coffee and a book. My brother got me this adorable bookmark in South Africa and I had to show it off!

27. These awesome black and white cobblestone designs were all over the sidewalks in Lisbon.
28. This is new: a car wash! Poor Fiona never gets a bath, but she's squeaky-clean now!
30. One of my favorite friendship pictures with my Diamond Sister, taken during our final formal recruitment at Mizzou in 2011.
31. My blogging workspace. Although, let's face it—I'm usually working in front of the TV as I watch recorded Criminal Minds marathons (like I am right now!).

Do you participate in any photo-a-day challenges on Instagram? Follow me for my August challenge progress at @mcstroup!