happy halloween & fall/winter must haves

Happy Halloween!

I know, this should be a Halloween themed post, but I’m not feeling very Halloween-y this year. I mean, I haven’t even watched Hocus Pocus yet, nor am I dressing up this year! Usually I love Halloween, so I’m not sure where this funk is coming from. But, I’m sure my liver (and head!) will thank me in the morning for not participating in the NYC Halloween Bar Festivities.

So, instead of a costume themed post, or a post on how to make an adorable pumpkin (mine literally died 6 days after making her), here’s a list of my recent must haves for fall/winter.

 

1. FatFace Leather School Satchel – Anna and I randomly came across FatFace at the airport in London, and immediately fell in love with the entire store. I was loving my Michael Kors over the shoulder bag for the summer, but I wanted something bigger, and a little warmer tone for the fall. This is perfect – and even holds my large Outlander books with extra room!

2. Kiehls Ultra Facial Cream – Working at L’Oreal made me pretty much obsessed with everything Kiehls. Now that it’s winter, my face feels extra dry, even with a BB Cream on all day. Putting this cream on before bed makes it much less dry in the morning. Oddly, I go into a much deeper sleep one night’s that I put on cream before bed. Not sure why, but homegirl is not complaining.

3. Signa from Shoedazzle – So. Much. Fun! I usually am pretty practical with my shoe/clothing choices (thank you, mom), but when I saw these I knew not only would they add a little punch to whatever outfit I threw on, but it would just be so much fun to wear gold shoes!

4. Taylor Swift “1989” Album – I know, I feel like a teenager professing my love for Taylor Swift. BUT, 1989 really is so different than her previous albums (not that I didn’t like those either), and the sound is amazing. A little 80’s inspiration, with some pop & electric beats, and of course great lyrics.

5. Kusmi Tea, Euphoria – Now that the temperature has officially dropped – NYC is expecting snow on Saturday! – my nightly routine includes drinking tea to help unwind from the day. Huge fan of all Kusmi Teas, but I’m really into Euphoria right now, which has chocolate & orange infused.

6. Hippie Cartel Selita Crystal and Pearl Double Cage Ring – Obsessing over this ring right now, and basically everything Hippie Cartel sells.

7. CorisCorner on Etsy (shameless plug) – Officially back in action. I’m hoping to get more products up to sell soon, but we’ll start with Halloween cards since it’s Halloween! Only $3!

8. Saucony Kinvara 5 – These tennis shoes are so great. They are light, fit really well (but still a little wider for my wide feet), and come in super bright colors. So far, they’ve survived running, playing volleyball, and hiking a mountain.

9. Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream – Light/Medium – Oil-Free – Okay, so this isn’t technically just for fall/winter, but I love this. I tried it 2+ years ago when I worked for Garnier, and I haven’t stopped using it. Some people use BB Cream under their foundation, but I use it as my foundation. And since I have oily skin, it’s perfect that it’s oil-free.

thoughts lately

Lately I am…

inspired by Whitney Blake’s blog and her graphic design company, Heart & Arrow

appreciating the colors of the leaves changing

laughing at the ridiculousness of A to Z (in a good way)

feeling a slew of different emotions all at once

watching Scandal, Parenthood and Mindy Project

eating self-made home cooked meals

drinking great red wine (obviously not currently as it’s 9am)

reading this and having so many things click (even though I’m not 23)

staining two great new projects coming up!

wanting timing to work in my favor

reciting “what’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does” (Hagrid)

book 6 of 50: a breath of snow & ashes by diana gabaldon

In case you were curious, no I don’t wear skirts when it’s 50 degree outside. Clearly a little behind in posting this

*Spoilers Ahead*

To be honest, after only reading Outlander exclusively for 2014 (it will suck you in), all the books are starting to merge a bit. The 6th book in Diana’s Gabaldon’s Outlander series is A Breath of Snow & Ashes. A Breath of Snow & Ashes (ABSA) follows Book 5 pretty closely in that the Fraser/MacKenzie clan is still on The Ridge and Stephen Bonnet still has yet to be taken down!

ABSA focuses on the family finally being a family, and what that means when you all live together in the wilderness of North Carolina. She’s setting the roots for what I think will guide the family for the rest of the series. Gabaldon is definitely plotting things throughout the book that may not have much significance in the 6th book specifically, but you know will be picked up later.

I think what I love so much about this series is that it’s constantly telling these character’s story. There are no years, or long stretches of time, that are just not mentioned – you’re even still learning bits and pieces about the 20 years that go between Claire & Jamie. I also love how different all of the main characters are, and how Gabaldon’s writing style changes vastly with it. You know within the first paragraph what POV you’re reading, which is fantastic.

friday finds

Hope in NYC

I don’t know about you, but I have never seen fighting kangaroos before (who knew their tails were useful!). Watch now, and your Friday will be complete!

I really want to build this for my apartment! I used to have a fireplace, and the people before me decided to fill it up with brick – lame.

I just want to be friends with the team at A Beautiful Mess. How cool is this?

Madewell just got a whole lot more French, and this needs to find a place in my closet.

If you don’t read the Skimm on a daily basis, I’m not sure how you consume news. A daily email that sums up all the news worldwide? Yes, please. Sign up now!

My little brother, Mike, is in town this weekend and he could not have come at a better time. I am so excited to spend time with him!

apartment tour: crafting room

Crafting Room

It’s official – I have a crafting room! I always knew I’d have one eventually, but it was always chalked up there with my dreams of having an older 4 bed/3 bath, 3 car garage house, with a view of a lake – fine, I’d settle for a mountain with no bees (small dream, I know). It never crossed my mind that in the sea of shoe box sized apartments (aka – NYC), mine would have extra space that my desk just conveniently fit into.

Crafting Room

You probably took a good, hard look at that photo. And if you’re wondering, yes that is indeed a closet. And yes, others are baffled that I didn’t fill it with clothes. But in all honesty (although mom would probably differ), I don’t have that many clothes. There’s an identical closet across the mini-hallway that houses all my clothes and shoes.
Fun fact: I have more shoes in my desk at work than in my apartment.

Crafting Room

Eventually, I’ll figure out a better storage system and spruce it up with some more Cori personality. But after sitting in boxes for 5 months, everything has a home and is out of the box, which was my main goal (small steps, people).

Crafting Room

First project for the room will be this corkboard. The wine I have drank for the past 3 years will finally pay off. And you just thought I drank it all for fun 😉

tales of mexico city, mexico

Posts about London and Scotland are coming soon, promise!

Earlier in September, I was fortunate enough to travel to Mexico City, Mexico for a business trip. Strangely enough, it was actually my first real business trip (I still count Firefly as one, but I had too much fun at that 🙂 ).

Mexico City

Obligatory mirror shot

The city was so interesting to be in. I was astonished that there are more than 22 million people living there (only 8.46 million in Manhattan). I had heard there was no more real middle class there, but it was so apparent just from the drive to the hotel. We were fortunate enough to stay in a very safe and secure hotel, actually near the President’s house. But, the surrounding areas were very low income, so it was a complete juxtaposition between classes – something you rarely see here in the US on such a drastic scale.

View from above

Best tacos

Mariachi Band

In front of the Museo Soumaya (I’m a really awkward poser)

Such a cool building- the Museo Soumaya 

Little Parisian bakery in Mexico

It was also an exciting time to be in Mexico City because their Independence Day was right around the corner. The entire downtown area was full of very festive lighting and they were prepping for the giant celebrations that were going to occur.

Mexico Independence Day Lights

Mexico City

Mexico Independence Day Lights

The last night we ate at this amazing little place in downtown Mexico City. Apparently, during September they have this traditional dish that is a giant pepper, stuffed with meat (I got pork) and spices, covered in a white sauce (both sweet & savory) and then sprinkled with pomegranates. The colors were red, white and green to symbolize Mexican independence, and it was delicious! The real name of the dish is chile relleno en nogada. I was surprised the white sauce was cold, but it was one of my top 5 dishes I’ve ever had.

chile relleno en nogada at Azul Centro Historico

Such a fantastic trip!

Batman overlooking Mexico City

Casino & Library

Our restaurant downtown

Beautiful buildings downtown

london calling

And we’re off!

Well, sort of. Our flight is somewhere over the Atlantic. We’re told it’ll get here in time for us to leave at 3am – wait, what? Yeah, our reactions too.

We did get a $20 voucher, which would have been more amazing if Jameson was an allowed purchase.

I’ll try to share pictures and stories as we go, but who knows.

Spoiler alert: we rented a car for Scotland. In case you forgot, they drive on the left side of the road. Pray we turn the correct way!