A Michigan Interlude

While filing away photos from my dear friend Meg Fenton’s visit, I happened upon a folder of untoned photos from the summer of 2010.  Considering this blog is called Mitten Meets Shanghai, and Mitten represents my beloved home state Michigan I feel it is only appropriate to showcase them here.

The scenes may look familiar for those of you have been following me from the very beginning; they are photos from the UP or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. All of the roosters and beautiful flowers and farm animals come from the Flower Lady’s Farm and Woolery located near Mackinaw City, MI at the tip of the Mit. For those of you who have been to St. Ignace in the summer she is responsible for all of the beautiful flowers planted downtown along the boardwalk. She sells the wool from her animals for crafting and knitting and has a truly unique and charming home. It was July 4^th weekend and we celebrated my Aunt Sue’s retirement that weekend as well. I know it is long since passed, but the memories were too good not to share.

There are also photos of our neighbors the Fenneuff’s who often join us on adventures Up North, and it is nice to share a place that I have so many fond memories of as a child with another generation, and hopefully there will be more this summer. After my little vacation to the US in January my next trip home will be with Trent for his cousin’s wedding at the end of June. Hopefully, I will be spending Fourth of July in St. Ignace again this year but I have to wait and see how things go with scheduling and time off. Hopefully, this little piece of summer will warm up your winter wherever you are spending it and stay tuned for photos from Meg’s visit and our interesting adventures in and around Shanghai!

Last hoorah

Before leaving for Shanghai I've managed to cram in a lot of good times at home in the Mitten, for which this blog is named. Those of you reading this already know I have an undying devotion for my home state of Michigan. Once the plan to move to China was in motion, Gus and I moved back to Michigan from Milwaukee at the end of July. Leaving Milwaukee was harder than I expected, I was excited to spend some time at home but I left some amazing friends and family in Mke and I really loved having my favorite Great Lake, Lake Michigan, in my backyard. I've spent my last five weeks in the US soaking up some Pure Michigan moments from the twin fawns living in our neighborhood, to two awesome weekends in the UP, to a farmer's market at our State capital in Lansing, chock full of gorgeous Michigan produce, to crafting with my mom; it is definitely going to be hard to be so far away from such a wonderful place. These photos include a lot of the people, places and things I will miss but just remember friends and family reading this: come visit us, we have a spare bedroom and would love to have you!