flashback: mackinac island

back in the states, in Michigan, there is a small island that sits between the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula. the only way to get there is by boat. and once you arrive you have three choices: horse, bike, or foot. the water is cold and the shores are rocky, but the views are magnificent.

this past July, before Husband and I moved to Taiwan, we stayed there for a week with his family. I hadn't been since I was 12. but even though I ate a lot less fudge on this trip, I still loved biking around the island, building rock piles on the shore, and hiking to Arch Rock. we also discovered that Mission Point has Angry Orchard cider on tap, and the Seabiscuit Cafe does a mean molasses bourbon bacon.

I am just now [I know, I know] getting around to editing the last of the photos and thought I would share. we have our first visitor coming this weekend - one of Husband's old classmates from undergrad - so I'm sure I'll be back next week with more pictures and stories.

happy weekend!

summer stripes [the nail files]

it might be september, but summer's not over. the days here in Taiwan are still up in the 90s, and with the humidity it feels like 100+ by mid morning. I've always loved summer: the sun, the beach, the dresses, the tan lines. though I will admit a small part of me is craving a midwestern fall chill with cider and sweatshirts - it's most definitely not fall here yet. and when winter comes it will be sweatshirts [not parkas] and plenty of chilly rain. so, I will try to embrace the summer heat while it lasts.

we went to a teacher potluck friday night and everyone asked if I had my nails done local. [but once they saw there were no rhinestones or glitter, they believed I did them myself.] I've only had a professional manicure twice in my life, but I'm thinking I need to check out a salon over here if only to see what they come up with.

I used these essie orange, pink, and purple shades because they reminded me of a summer sunset. my secret weapon to diagonal stripes? scotch tape. let your base color dry completely and then tape off half your nail diagonally. paint the uncovered nail, let dry and peel off the tape. then repeat with a third color by taping off about half of the second color. I think scotch tape works better than painter's tape here because you can see the other line to make your tape parallel. dry, peel, topcoat, done.

ps. I found this metrocard in one of my wallets from the last time I went into New York and it kindof made me want to cry. there are a lot of things I love about our new life in Taiwan, but I do still have moments where something [even as small as a metrocard] will give me heartaches for home...