Hey everyone!

Day three of my Michigan trip began with me bundling up and venturing out into the living room. My aunt and uncle were up drinking coffee and reading from their kindles, and enjoying their Midwest summer. But for me it was pretty much winter. I wore my hoodie and sweats and socks and long sleeve shirt. When I left Austin it was a pleasant 96°, so I wasn’t adjusting well to the low 60s in the morning!! Haha. I had coffee and shivered when they told me we were either going to the beach or tubing in a river.

Waking up in the woods is incredible. It was so surreal and beautiful. There were deer in the woods sometimes, eating leaves close to the house. They had longer, fluffier tails than the deer I’m used to on Spicewood Springs Road.

We went into town for a while, hoping that by the time we were done in the afternoon it would be warmer. The cottage is near a really cute lake town with a lot of farmers and some antique shops.

My aunt and I sat in a bookstore and talked for a while, which was super nice. The bookstore had a great selection of books, including some used ones. I am all about a bookstore with a good used section! For lunch I got a turkey panini that really surprised me since it came with… cherry jelly…

I mean, it was good and all. But cherry jelly is not what I expected on my sandwich. The midwest definitely has its own ideas about things. I also noticed they have cookies and cream jello and stuff in the deli next to meat… And strawberry fluff and chocolate mousse in the salad bar. Oh, and everything is very meat oriented.

We went tubing!

We rented tubes and set off in a lake. The slow current sent us under a bridge and down a little river. I didn’t bring my phone, so no pictures. I never bring my phone tubing, which is a shame since those rivers usually have some of the best scenery. It was still cold out (to me) so I kept my cover-up on and my feet in the water, since the water was warmer than the air.

FRESH MANICURE:

I took a hot shower to warm up after our tubing adventure, and then gave myself a manicure. I only brought three colors, a top coat, and my OPI Nail Envy (that’s a lot of restraint for me, although I heroically only brought ONE polish to Montreal). I went with OPI’s Black Onyx, which would go with everything.

Since my nails are a little shorter these days, I can pull off dark colors a little better. Black looks especially good on shorter nails. But as I wrote in my Black Onyx post, a shiny top coat is a MUST. This manicure was completed with a heavy coat of Seche Vite quick dry (my fave).

At night, we ate dinner at the house. It was one of the most relaxed Friday nights I’ve had in a long time.

-Taylor