{So Long Sweet Summer}

It is, sadly, not so hard for me to believe that this summer has already come to an end. Since I started my job a mere three days after college graduation, I didn't have much time to relax and get into summer-mode. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful summer full of friends, family and great times.

{Where it all began: my graduation from Fordham University, May 21, 2011.}

{Not too bad for an early morning commute.}

{Memorial Day Weekend at Ship Ahoy Beach Club.}

{Thomas moved into his apartment on East 22nd Street.}

{Mark Murphy, Ana Murphy, Dad, Me, John Robinson, Lindsay Robinson, Nick Ford, Blaike Ford. Graduating was celebrated with a Father-Daughter dinner at Rumson Country Club.}

{A lovely graduation party was held at my dad's house for Jack, me and the other cousins who graduated this year. Seven of us in all!}

{I can't believe Jack graduated from 8th grade and is starting high school this week! It feels like yesterday that he was baby. I am so proud of all he has overcome (and is still overcoming). What an inspiring young man I have for a little brother.}

{I made my first visit to Paris in June for a work trip. Not too shabby for a first job!}

{As a Mets fan, I was reluctant to attend a Yankees game. But hey, the tickets were free :)}

{Many a morning was spent at the Union Square Greenmarket on my way to the subway.}

{Trips to Brooklyn are always full of surprises, like this great "installation art" found in Williamsburg.}

{We had drinks and appetizers at a darling place in Brooklyn, Nita Nita. They had a great outdoor seating area with mismatched furniture that made youfeel like we were in a good friend's backyard!}

{4th of July weekend was spent on Shelter Island, New York with good friends from college.}

{Thomas and I trekked to the west side on 4th of July Monday to watch the Macy's Fireworks on the Hudson. They were unbelievable, as was the number of people surrounding us watching. I'm so glad we saw them up close and not on a TV screen, but I am also so glad we can say "we did it!" and don't have to deal with those crowds ever again.}

{View from a penthouse suite in the Thompson Hotel.}

{Liz, me, Mom. We spent an afternoon shopping at Bergdorfs and Saks, then ate dinner and saw "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" on Broadway. The perfect girls night!}

{Two of my best friends from Fordham, Cait and Anne, visited for a weekend. It was so fun to show them around my hometown.}

{My little sister, Hannah, and I baked a lot with our cousin Elizabeth, who has a new love for baking.}

{The weather this summer (for the most part) was beautiful, and we spent a lot of evenings at our beach club.}

{One of the things I miss most about the Bronx is Estrellita Poblana, a restaurant and delivery place with the best Mexican food I have ever tasted. Thomas and I spent a good part of this summer searching Manhattan for something just as tasty. We had a delicious brunch at Vamos, a restaurant near his apartment.}

{Tropical Storm Irene made an appearance.}

{My lovebug of a niece, Kendall, gets more and more adorable by the day! I can't believe she is almost a year old, and I can't imagine not having her in our family.}

{This is how Bullet spent his summer. Relaxing. Every. Single. Day.}

It was an amazing summer, but fall is my favorite season and I am so excited for the adventures to come!

{Snowpocalypse? 2010}

Although we were in the middle of a blizzard, I made it to one of my favorite spots, A.C. Moore, to gather supplies for making chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate lollipops for the FFP candy grams.

Jack helped me make some of the pretzels.

Hannah helped decorate, too.

So much snow!

Delicious cake that Nanny made for Mom's birthday!

Snowy Rumson Road.

Too bad it is not Christmastime, what a winter wonderland!

{What's happening in FFP!}

I have decided to begin a new posting series, "What's happening in FFP," to keep readers up-to-date with what is going on in Fashion for Philanthropy ("FFP"), the club I am currently vice-president of.

Fashion for Philanthropy is a great club because it combines fashion and style, a love of many students at Fordham, with charitable work, a must at a Jesuit university. FFP gives students the chance to be involved with something they love, while doing good for others. What could be better than that?

FFP's main goal is to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Last year we raised close to $6,000! The Make-A-Wish Foundation is truly a great cause, and one really close to my heart.

In November of my senior year of high school (almost four years ago, wow) my younger brother Jack, then nine-years-old, was diagnosed with leukemia. Needless to say, the road has been a little, at times very, bumpy since then. Our family life was completely turned upside-down. It was a non-stop roller coaster ride of treatments, sickness, scares, and unhappiness.

In March of 2009, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, my family and I were treated to a vacation at the beautiful Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, our first real family vacation since Jack's diagnosis. It was so nice to for once not have to worry about anything except sunburn and where to eat dinner. It was like a weight had been lifted off of all of our shoulders, if only for a little while. We laughed and spent time together like we hadn't since Jack's diagnosis. It was amazing.

{Hannah, me, Jack, and Connor on our first day.}

{Hannah, Jack, and Connor in the pool.}

{Jack, 11-years-old, in the Atlantis Marina Village.}

After seeing how much a granted wish truly changes a sick child and their family's life, I felt the urge to become even more involved with FFP and its fundraising efforts for Make-A-Wish, hence, my candidacy and winning of vice president for the 2009-2010 school year.

So, now that you know what Fashion for Philanthropy is and what we do, I will be posting weekly about what is currently going on in the club. Spring is most definitely the busy season for FFP. On Friday, April 16, 2010 we will be holding our annual fashion show, and all our efforts until that day will be put into making the show as fabulous as can be, and to raise as much money ($10,000 would be lovelyyyy) as possible for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.