Cityscape on Camera: Berlin, Germany

Welcome back to Travel Tuesday and the third installment of my European extravaganza recap! Today I'm giving you a photo tour of the 48 hours we spent in Berlin, Germany. As always, you are welcome to link up any travel-related post you've written this week or even further in the past. All I ask is that you include the button at the bottom of this post and link back to my blog. :) I can't wait to hear your travel stories! Continue reading after the jump for more pictures of Berlin.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe via Instagram

Friday's Fancies: Short Story

I usually gravitate more toward skirts and pants than shorts (unless, of course, it's a pair of my beloved Norts, a.k.a. Nike shorts), but I've had my eye on this pretty mint pair from Target for a while. I couldn't pick just one outfit, but I knew I wanted a sleeveless chiffon blouse and a fun statement necklace to dress the shorts up while keeping the color palette light and summery. You can find links to all the items below in my Polyvore set.

What's your favorite combination of the above items? Do you like wearing shorts?

Summer 2013 Book Challenge: Month 1

It's time for the first Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Book Challenge check in! We've already had at least one reader finish the entire challenge (congratulations Natasha!), but I won't be posting a full, official scoreboard until September 1, when I post the next check-in.

In order to check in, you must leave a comment on this post letting me know what you've read so far, in the following format:

10: Read a book with a color in the title. — The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick (289 pages)
10: Read a book that is not the first in its series (Robert Langdon series). — The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown (509 pages)
15: Read a book it seems everyone but you has read! — Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (428 pages)
25: Read a book that is at least 400 pages long. — The Aviator's Wife, Melanie Benjamin (416 pages)
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name (Meggie). — Inkheart, Cornelia Funke (534 pages)

PREVIOUS POINTS: 0
TOTAL POINTS: 85

I don't want to speak too soon, but ... I think this might be the first challenge I actually finish! And considering it's my challenge, it's about time I completed one. :)

If you're new to the challenge or just want to review the rules, check out the original post with the full categories and guidelines here. Please record your progress for the first month by August 10, so I can include you in the September scoreboard. If you don't check in by August 10, please wait until the September 1 post and record all your progress there. And remember I also have a challenge button available for you to share on your blog:

<a href="http://megancstroup.blogspot.com/2013/06/semi-charmed-summer-2013-book-challenge_24.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w399/mcszr3/SCSBC13-Button_zpsf64b87a9.jpg" border="0" width="200"/></a>

Good luck! I can't wait to see what y'all have been reading.

Cityscape on Camera: Prague, Czech Republic

It's time for round two of my six-week European vacation post series, which I have affectionately dubbed my "European extravaganza." (You can even search #europeanextravaganza on Twitter and Instagram to see my posts from the trip, though I know I'm not the only person on social media who has thought of that alliteration haha.) This post is also part of my Travel Tuesday series, so feel free to link up with any travel-related posts you've written in the past week at the bottom of this post. :)

We spent less than two days in Prague, which was easily the most beautiful city we visited during the trip, but we were still able to see just about everything by taking advantage of a free walking tour (which we were then sure to make a habit of during the rest of the trip). Below is one of my favorite pictures from our short time in the Czech capital, then continue after the jump to read and see more:

Cityscape on Camera: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Welcome back to Travel Tuesday! As I mentioned last week, the next few months of Travel Tuesday will be occupied with recaps of my recent six-week trip to Europe. Today, I'm sharing photos from the three days I spent in Amsterdam. My last day as a traveling consultant for my sorority was May 10, so I flew from my sorority's headquarters in Atlanta to Amsterdam with my boyfriend to meet up with my sister, her boyfriend and my brother. My sister and brother had already enjoyed some time in Switzerland and Italy together, but Amsterdam would mark the beginning of our trip as a fivesome. I'll start this post with my absolute favorite picture I took in Amsterdam during our stay:

A bicycle, tulips and a canal: How more quintessential Amsterdam can you get?! Continue reading after the jump to see more pictures of this beautiful city.

Literary Junkies: July 2013

Enjoying Sharp Objects and a cold drink during my Fourth of July vacation.

It's the third Tuesday of the month, which means it's time for the Literary Junkies link-up! Although I'm active on the Facebook and Goodreads groups, I haven't participated in the link-up for a while, so hopefully this can now become a monthly occurrence. Read on for this month's literary questions and my answers.

A Year in Review: Life as an LC

Although I left my sorority's international headquarters on May 10, my last duty as a Leadership Consultant for Alpha Delta Pi just ended in Dallas this weekend, as the other consultants and I worked at the biannual Grand Convention.

This year was a whirlwind to say the least. For anyone who isn't Greek—or even those of you who are Greek but never experienced a consultant visit—this job probably sounds ridiculous. Some of us affectionately call ourselves "professional sorority girls," but really we serve many purposes: event planners, conversation experts, recruitment gurus, confidants, handywomen, and—of course—leadership consultants. No matter the specific purpose of our visit, we always met with the collegiate sorority officers to provide suggestions, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the chapter, and develop detailed reports and chapter goals to help the organization continue to improve.

I already shared several of the things I learned during my first semester of this position, and now I'd like to share a few more:

Summer 2013 Book Challenge: The Preliminary List

The Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Book Challenge starts today! Unfortunately, I am already about 20 pages into a new book that I'm really excited about, so I want to finish that one before I start the challenge, but this is what I'm hoping I can read in the next three months:

Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Book Challenge

Photo via Ongering on Flickr

The Semi-Charmed Book Challenge is back for summer 2013! The challenge will follow the same rules as the winter 2013 challenge, and it will run from July 1 to September 30. See below for the full list of rules and categories, and thanks to all my readers who submitted category ideas!

Travel Tuesday Contributor: Angie Eats Peace

Okay, I lied. I only have four guest posts for you while I'm gone, but say hello to Angie from Angie Eats Peace! She is my fourth and final guest blogger during my European extravaganza, and I'm so glad she agreed to share her travels with us! Today she is sharing stories and pictures from China. If all is going according to schedule with me, I am chilling in Granada, Spain, right now! I probably won't be able to get any posts scheduled for the next two weeks, but I'll be returning to the blog at the end of the month when I make it back stateside. :) Read Angie's guest post after the jump....