currently

sipping: on a hot tea ^ that husband brought me from starbucks. I'm starting to come down with the cold he had last week, so I'm trying to take it easy today. [side note: yes, I painted those leopard print nails myself. and yes, I am mildly obsessed with them.]

brunching: I went to a brunch yesterday and met a bunch of wonderful expat ladies who live in Hsinchu [including another Spartan!] we drank mimosas and played games and ate a TON of delicious food. and the best part- I came home to an apartment cleaned by Husband. I didn't realize how much I needed a "day off" to relax and have some fun!

earning: over the next few weeks I'm going to be making some money [yay!] by substitute teaching and shooting some family photos. obviously I'm more excited about the photography... but subbing jobs are easier to get right now. there's also a tutoring plot in the works. money isn't everything, but it is something. 

anticipating: election day. [no, seriously.] being abroad has given me the benefit of not having to be smothered in political ads, and so my anticipation is not just for it all to be over and done with. I plan to spend my Wednesday morning [Tuesday evening in the states] watching the election coverage. I don't really like talking politics, and I don't want to debate them here. I have friends and family on either side of the aisle. whether I agree with them or not, they have the right to make their own choices. regardless of who YOU are voting for, check out the Huffington Post electoral map. the cartogram view is awesome, and you can even make your own map based on your predictions by using various maps from history as templates [including the fictional Bartlet v Ritchie 2002 map.]

tweaking: the new blog design. [for those of you viewing in a reader, you may want to stop by and check it out]. the 3-column thing still weirds me out a bit, and it feels a little crowded, but I'm trying to give it some time. I suppose I need to do a separate 13 by 13 post on it... but I may wait a week to see if I'm going to make any more changes first.

reading: the happiness project. again. I started this book back in January and stopped somewhere around chapter 6. I'm not sure if I was just not ready for it, or maybe the whole holy-crap-we-are-moving-to-Taiwan thing distracted me. anyway. I'm starting it over, taking copious notes, and hoping it sticks this time.

wish-listing: this floral print bikini from JCrew. we've already booked a week in Boracay, Philippines and are working on plans for a trip to Krabi, Thailand with some of our friends for Chinese New Year. when I cleaned out my wardrobe before moving here [a truly traumatic experience] I pitched all but 2 of my swimsuits. I think I may have to treat myself with some of my photo shoot and substitute earnings, especially since JCrew has free international shipping through the end of the year...

["currently" post inspired by Danielle at Sometimes Sweet]