• I spent my teenage years going to an intentional community in Tennessee called The Farm.
• I was raised to be educated, thoughtful, and frugal, but I also realized I needed something else.
• I used to think fitting in meant selling out, but now, as a mom of two, I see that belonging is good.

The sun blazed as I led a group of kids to the swimming hole at The Farm, an intentional community in Summertown, Tennessee.

The water shimmered peacefully, yet I felt a sense of detachment and quietly stepped away. It was part of a summer volunteer program that provided students from Nashville with a chance to experience nature.

At 17, I realized my resistance wasn't about rejecting the experience. It was a sign that I was still finding my own path. Earlier, at 15, I had begged to wear hoop earrings at my Catholic school — wanting to fit in, to feel a little stylish, a little seen.

When I found myself volunteering in a place where trends and appearances carried no weight, it felt like I was being pulled in the opposite direction of what I craved.

My parents raised me to be frugal

While my friends enjoyed summer vacations at all-inclusive resorts, my childhood adventures took me to Nepal, China, and India, where I explored monasteries and temples. Over time, I began to envy the idea of simpler weekends, joining in to celebrate the Tennessee Titans or Vanderbilt football. Instead, I spent my weekends at an intentional community, where I learned a different kind of connection and purpose.

My weekends were shaped by its culture: volunteering with nonprofits and attending anti-war protests. The Farm still has active members today, including my parents, committed to values like nonviolence and an aversion to anger. My upbringing focused on being educated, thoughtful, and frugal, and I appreciate those qualities deeply. But the more I got to know myself, the more I realized I needed something different.

I moved to New York City and then the suburbs

At 21, I left for New York City. I moved into a walk-in closet in a Brooklyn apartment with three roommates. I held two internships, one at a talent agency and another at a local paper. I was scraping by, dragging grocery bags up three flights of stairs, but I was charting my own course. Over time, the hustle wore on me, and I found myself longing for stability, the kind I'd once resisted.

Eventually, I built a life with more balance, moving to the Maryland suburbs. Marriage brought calendars, routines, and family dinners. I leaned into them. I became a planner. I found comfort in color-coded schedules, meal prep, and order. I taught my daughters to join in — to be confident in a group of their peers, participate in team sports, and embrace trends they enjoyed. This felt rebellious in its own way.

I'm raising my daughters differently

Now, as a single mother raising two daughters, I still choose structure, but with intention. Our days are filled with lacrosse tournaments, varsity cheer, and church group. I used to think fitting in was selling out. Now I see how vital it is. Belonging builds confidence.

Whether they get manicures or take day trips to shopping districts in nearby Georgetown and SoHo, these rituals help my daughters feel socially grounded so they can shine in the ways I truly care about: creativity, academic originality, and the courage to speak their minds.

Of course, sometimes I'm still reminded of my hippie childhood. My daughters started a garden this summer, fresh dirt under their manicured nails as they basked in the sun. We return to The Farm sometimes, for holidays. I've learned to enjoy new experiences, too. Take food, for example. I didn't have my first hamburger until eighth grade. Now, I've more than made up for it. Whether it's ceviche, carpaccio, or a perfectly cooked steak, I've discovered a whole new world of flavors and learned that honoring your past doesn't mean you can't savor the present.

This spring, my daughters returned from a spring break cruise with a lacrosse stick and a Catholic Bible in hand. I smiled as they ran through the door, the comfort of home calling them back. Did I catch a glimpse of hoop earrings under one girl's hair? Maybe.

And I didn't wince at the full calendar ahead. I exhaled into it.

Peace, it turns out, doesn't have to look like a mountaintop in Nepal or a meditation at The Farm. Sometimes, it's found in the ordinary: a grocery list, a lacrosse uniform, a quiet night in a suburban rowhome that finally feels like mine.

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• Every US state has a capitol that houses its state legislature.
• Many state capitols are domed buildings similar to the US Capitol, but others are more unique.
• Maryland's State House is the oldest capitol in continuous legislative use in the US.

A state's capitol can tell you a lot about its history and government.

Many state capitols feature references to their locations, like Kansas' statue of a Kansa warrior atop its dome, or the New Hampshire State House which was built with locally sourced granite.

Throughout history, the structures have also proven costly. When New York's state capitol in Albany was finally finished after 32 years in 1899, it was at a cost of $25 million, making it one of the most expensive government projects in the US. In 2013, The New York Times reported the figure was equivalent to more than half a billion dollars today.

Every capitol has a unique look and distinct origin, and you can learn more about them here.

• We spoke to three nail professionals about how to make a press-on manicure last longer.
• Proper preparation is important, as filing and buffing your natural nails ensures the best adhesion.
• Apply the nails at an angle and avoid water after application to allow the glue to dry properly.

A full set of detailed nails can take hours to complete at the salon, and the price of frequent visits can add up quickly.

Luckily, premade press-on nails offer a faster, more affordable alternative to traditional gel or acrylic sets.

Although they're not guaranteed to last as long as traditional manicures, press-ons can stay on for weeks at a time with the proper prep and care.

To find out how to get salon-quality results at home, Business Insider spoke with three nail experts. Here's what they said about making the most of your press-on nails.

File down the press-on nail to get a better fit

According to Julie Kandalec, a celebrity manicurist and founder of Julie K Nail Academy, the most important aspect of making press-on nails last is making sure each one fits properly.

When trying on each press-on, she said to take note of how it fits along the sides and natural curve of your nail. For example, she told BI that applying a curved press-on onto a flatter natural nail will likely cause it to pop up because of the poor fit.

"The tiniest bit of pressure is usually OK. But if you really have to press it on there, it's gonna last a day, and it's popping off."

If you have particularly flat nail beds and your press-ons are curved, Kandalec said to size up on the nail for a bigger, flatter well. Then, file down the sides to accommodate the size of your natural nail. If you can feel the sides against your nail bed, it's too big.

Use a file on the surface of your natural nail and the underside of the press-on nail

Kandalec recommends using a file on both your natural nail and the underside of the press-on nail to ensure maximum grip for the glue.

She said to flick the file inside the press-on nail in a few different directions to create some roughness for better adhesion.

Then, use a file on the top surface of your natural nail to remove any excess acrylic or gel, especially along the cuticle area, which is more prone to lifting.

Avoid creating air bubbles

Without proper preparation, air bubbles may form between the natural and fake nails. After a few hand washes, water can get into the gaps, loosen the glue, and cause lifting of the nail, Tokyo Nails co-owner Nomundari Uuganbayar told BI.

To avoid this issue, she suggests a solid prep process, including pushing your cuticles back and cleaning the area. She also recommends buffing the natural nails to create a soft texture, and making sure they're dry before application.

Remember that glue is a trial-and-error process

Although there's no exact measurement for the perfect amount of glue, Kandalec told BI it's best to fill the well of the press-on nail.

If the glue seeps out from the sides of the fake nail, you've likely added too much. In that case, you can use a wooden cuticle stick to clean up the excess.

Be sure to apply glue to your natural nail as well before placing the press-on. If you're able, Kandalec suggests fitting the press-on closely to your cuticles so it sits just beneath the skin along the sides of your nail.

Apply the press-on at an angle

According to Teresa "Tere" Rodriguez — a Chicago-based artist and licensed nail tech who offers a press-on nail subscription — it's best to apply the fake nail at an angle for about 20 to 25 seconds to allow the glue to set.

Rodriguez recommends applying the press-on nail from the cuticle, then pushing down toward the top for an effective grip.

Avoid water for about 20 minutes after application

It's best to avoid getting your nails wet for at least 20 minutes after the application. This is because the glue needs time to fully dry and bond the press-on to your natural nail. Washing your hands too soon can cause the bond to weaken and lead to premature lifting.

According to Rodriguez, a good set of press-on nails can last up to two or three weeks with the proper application and care.

The U.S. president told reporters Friday on Air Force One that it was "good" that Hamas was ready to enter talks.

The MAGA movement is reveling in the creativity, severity and accelerating force of President Trump's historic immigration crackdown.

Why it matters: Once-fringe tactics — an alligator-moated detention camp, deportations to war zones, denaturalization of immigrant citizens — are now being proudly embraced at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

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• It's an extraordinary shift from Trump's first term, when nationwide backlash and the appearance of cruelty forced the administration to abandon its family separation policy for unauthorized immigrants.
• Six months into his second term — and with tens of billions of dollars in new funding soon flowing to ICE — Trump is only just beginning to scale up his mass deportation machine.

Driving the news: Trump on Tuesday toured a temporary ICE facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," where thousands of migrants will be detained in a remote, marshland environment teeming with predators.

• MAGA influencers invited on the trip gleefully posted photos of the prison's cages and souvenir-style "merchandise," thrilling their followers and horrifying critics.
• Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer drew outrage after tweeting that "alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now" — widely interpreted as a reference to the Hispanic population of the United States.

The big picture: Citing the millions of unauthorized immigrants who crossed the border under President Biden, Trump and his MAGA allies have framed the second-term crackdown as a long-overdue purge.

• The result is an increasingly draconian set of enforcement measures designed to deter, expel and make examples out of unauthorized immigrants.
• Some newer members of the MAGA coalition, such as podcaster Joe Rogan, have expressed deep discomfort with the targeting of non-criminal undocumented immigrants.

Zoom in: Trump's deportation efforts exploded into a full-blown spectacle in March, when the U.S. flew hundreds of alleged gang members to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador.

• The operation was captured in glitzy promotional footage, distributed on official White House social media, that showed shaved and shackled migrants being marched off planes and busses at gunpoint.
• Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador but brought back to face human trafficking charges in the U.S., claims he suffered "severe beatings" and was tortured in the prison.

Zoom out: Trump's immigration toolkit has expanded since March, as his aides push for a dramatically higher pace of arrests and deportations.

• Trump federalized the National Guard in California and deployed troops in Los Angeles to protect federal ICE agents, giving the military a rare and highly contentious role in immigration raids.
• The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants to non-origin countries — including war torn nations such as South Sudan and Libya.
• Hundreds of migrants are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This week, Trump claimed that "conceptual work" is underway to reopen Alcatraz — the decrepit former island prison in San Francisco, now a tourist site.

The latest: On Thursday, ICE announced it had arrested and was preparing to deport Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. — accusing him of cartel ties just days after he headlined an arena against influencer Jake Paul.

What to watch: Denaturalization of U.S. citizens — once a legal backwater — is gaining traction as Trump and his MAGA allies push the envelope on nativist rhetoric.

• The Justice Department has begun prioritizing stripping naturalized Americans of their citizenship when they're charged with crimes and "illegally procured or misrepresented facts in the naturalization process."
• But some MAGA influencers are pushing to weaponize denaturalization more broadly — not just as a legal remedy for fraud, but as a tool to punish ideological opponents.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) has called for the Justice Department to investigate the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

• Trump has echoed false claims about Mamdani being in the country "illegally," and threatened to arrest the democratic socialist if he impedes federal immigration operations in New York.

Between the lines: For MAGA influencers obsessed with the notion of protecting Western civilization, denaturalization is also about enforcing cultural loyalty.

• Prominent voices on the right have argued that immigrants who haven't properly "assimilated" — by their definition — should be vulnerable to losing their citizenship.
• "The MAGA movement is willing to make examples of the people who have failed to [assimilate] so that in the future, the bar is set higher," said Raheem Kassam, editor of The National Pulse.

The bottom line: MAGA is leveraging a precedent-busting president to set a new standard for immigration enforcement — one that could define Republican policy for years to come.

• "We expect you to enforce, in full measure, the immigration laws," the Conservative Partnership Institute's Rachel Bovard told Axios.
• "Anything that departs from this, to some extent, is going to be viewed as backsliding by the next president."

• Over 15 years ago, my husband and I thought we'd built the 3,000-square-foot home of our dreams.
• We added extra bathrooms, another bedroom, and focused on having tons of space for loved ones.
• Things didn't go as planned. Now, our home feels too big, and we regret some of our choices.

As millennials, my husband and I have long been aware that our likelihood of home ownership was abysmal.

After all, the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis was still fresh in our memories as we began designing our future. So, in 2009, when we got the opportunity to have our own home built, we went all in.

At the time, we were sharing a bedroom in my parents’ home with our 15-month-old, and I'd just discovered I was pregnant again. Talks of getting a house happened quickly, but it felt more like wishful thinking than something that would pan out.

However, when my husband and I looked into it, we were surprised to learn that we qualified for an FHA loan to finance a home.

We also found that home builders were relatively desperate to sell homes in order to offload properties they were saddled with after the housing crisis. This meant that the builders and their lenders were very accommodating of us as first-time home buyers.

Since we were taking the plunge anyway, we decided to build the house of our dreams — and we wanted to go big.

We had ideas for using a big house, but they didn’t quite work out as we’d planned

We chose a roughly 3,000-square-foot layout for our home and prioritized having lots of rooms.

Our home builder offered us a $15,000 upgrade credit that we used to add a powder room and an additional large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom similar to the primary.

The additions put the home layout at five bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths. Additionally, the house plan included both formal and casual dining rooms and a private office.

It may have seemed like a lot for our small family, but we planned to use the space and fill it with loved ones.

We were open to having more kids and planned to have my parents move in with us to help with childcare and share expenses. We also intended to have my grandma move into one of our extra rooms so we could help support her in her golden years.

Unfortunately, our plans didn’t work out as we’d expected. My grandmother died before the house was even finished. My parents only lived with us for about five years before moving full time into my grandmother's old home.

We did have a third child, but for years now, my husband and I have felt like we have too much house.

Although the extra bedroom with an ensuite bathroom was nice while my parents lived with us, it mostly goes unused now. Our larger home comes with higher utility bills, and there's no one else helping us to pay them now that my parents don't live here.

There's also a lot of space to take care of. For now, our children pitch in on chores to keep things tidy, but upkeep of our home lies on our shoulders.

Our oldest is now a year away from moving out for university, and I know our house will only seem bigger and emptier as the kids head off to college.

Sadly, some regrets can't be fixed with a bit of elbow grease

Looking back, there's a lot we could've done if we hadn't prioritized size and used all of that credit to make our home bigger.

For example, I'd love to have installed vaulted ceilings, but it feels far too late (and expensive) to make that change now. If we'd gone for a smaller house, maybe we could've had a larger back and front yard space.

It's easy to say the solution to our regrets is to downsize and trade our home in for a smaller model, but that's not for us.

Besides actively recoiling at the thought of ever having to pack and move again, staying in the home my kids are growing up in is valuable to my husband and me.

Also, I like knowing that our kids will be able to return to their childhood rooms whenever they want to, something neither my husband nor I can say for ourselves.

As much as I cherish the space that makes up our home, I can't help but have regrets when I think of upgrades we could’ve had or see an electricity bill.

My advice for anyone looking to buy a home is to plan for the absolutes. If you focus on preparing for contingencies instead of certainties, you might end up with something that doesn't serve your needs if they fall through.

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