Soakin' Up San Francisco

In addition to the scrumptious turkey dinner and festive beverages that our family enjoyed today, there are countless things that I am thankful for as I lie on the couch, reflecting, amidst a dessert-induced food coma. I'll narrow it down to the top ten at the forefront of my mind before today slips away. I'm surrounded by sisters, adopted ones, blankets, and kittens. We're indulging, as is so fitting on this holiday, in one more luxurious treat: Gatsby. The thankfulness only just begins here. 1. My Mom & Dad. The ones who started it all; I'm grateful for their traditions, discipline, and insistence upon family-time. Now, it comes natural.  2. My sisters, Kirb & Chlo. The youngin's are the accomplished and inspiring ones.  3. My first friends: Britt, Bre & Jenn. No matter how many years, or miles, or weddings pass, we always have just as much fun.... and trust in each other. 4. My oldest friend: Chels. She's 400 miles away these days, but that's

The reason I feel that this is official is because this week put us in the 20s, amidst the month of November. This puts us nearly only 30 days away from Christmas itself, and though Thanksgiving falls quite late this year, the holiday season feels... present. My friends and I were chatting tonight about our distressed capitalist society, in which retailers this holiday are concerned about their profit margins' potentials, being that Black Friday is as late in the year as physically possible - leaving only about 26 days of heightened consumerism for Christmas shopping and retail therapy of the depressed-holiday-sort. What will we do? This time of year is also marked by my yearnings for:  Hot chocolate at all hours of the day  Christmas songs from every corner of the musical genre spectrum  Scarves, boots, leggings within every outfit  Holiday cards of all shapes and sizes  Friends' addresses and life updates from all around the world  Friends at my side constantly 

Yesterday, being the autumn end of Daylight Savings Time, was a day about falling back. Luckily for me, we gained an hour of sleep - having been sick for what feels like forever. In the spirit of recovery and starting fresh this fall, I feel like I should admit all of the things I had to fall back on during my moment (more like week or two) of weakness, in order to heal. I fell back on family. I guess this is the way in which they're the ones who love us unconditionally; it turns out that something I needed was a Mom & Dad day. On my rare Saturday off-day this weekend, I decided to resort to the confines of our house - and, mostly, the couch - in order to finally rest off my sinus infection. First, we watched Mom's AYSO soccer game. It was dewey and chilly, and nostalgia-inducing. As difficult as it's been to live with my Dad lately, I couldn't resist his pot of coffee that morning, or his invitation to a neighborhood bike ride. I don't have anyone to ride bik

The Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas during the last weekend of October was a celebration of much more than just music. It highlighted so many of the riches in its name, Life: art, rock and roll, social entrepreneurship, community, and best of all... FOOD. One of the best parts of Chelsea's and my weekend in Las Vegas during LIB was all of the amazing eating, snacking and drinking we did throughout the Festival. It all began with our decision to stay in on Friday night, in preparation for the two straights days of debauchery and music-intake that we had ahead of us. We settled on ordering pizza and hydrating - with water only - because we thought we had a valid excuse to carbo-load. Pop-Up Pizza , circa LV, brought us two individual (yet definitely 12") pan pizzas that night, mine with spinach, soft white cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted POTATOES. What?!    Some of the local places we tried included Nacho Daddy on Friday-day, the hip Tex-Mex bar and gr

A new phase of Fall is beginning, and it only took me thirty [-one] days to realize the true potential of this time in my life, these... circumstances. I'm 24, and I have this awesome opportunity to make money (while serving a company that I love) and also save some of it, throw some at my student loans and my credit card debt... maybe add to my ATW travel fund. This month, it took me four separate concert-outings and about 20 or 30 different musicians - particularly at Life is Beautiful , of course - to truly realize my passion for new, revolutionary music. From John ( classic favorite ), to Fifth Harmony, to Ellie and Katy and Tegan & Sara, to Poolside and Empire of the Sun and Imagine Dragons and Killers! It was insane. It took me a super uncomfortable infection, an STD scare and a definite cold/ sinus infection to realize that I absolutely NEED sleep, more water, and less living-on-the-edge in my life in order to stay healthy. In order to maintain. Without these things

October is officially here, being that it's already half-way over. The leaves have changed... to crispy, and brown-ish. The smells of pumpkin spice, my fake leather boots, and damp Los Angeles air both remind me of the old days (trick-or-treating, going to the football games) and remind me of last year (Starbucks runs, taking those same boots off to cuddle). Something about these smells today reminded me of former loves. October has been quite packed with awesome amounts of new ness, a lot of emotion, a large amount of friends, several coastal road trips. Little physical intimacy. I've already relocated my entire bedroom to NP and my entire childhood into storage. I've traversed the southern third of the CA coast to see John Mayer in the flesh with one sister; I've also journeyed north along my favorite ocean-side drive to cuddle with my other sister, as well as our kitten-babies. Stepha turned 25, as Emily did today. Nela fell in love. We were terrified at our

Exactly thirty days ago, I wrote that When September Ended I'd be in quite a new place in my life, in my living, in my career... in my Coryhood . That day has come, don't ask me how. I'm sitting on my cushy queen mattress, on the floor in my old room in Newbury (since it's too late and my limbs are too exhausted to have built my Ikea bed). The belongings most precious or pivotal in the day-to-day are here with me; I currently "lease" a storage space nearby, which is a psuedo-adult step for me. The amount of clothes I own has shrunk slightly in the past 48 hours of cleansing, though I still counted thirty dressies that hang on the oh-so-neglected left side of the closet for the rare occasion or girly summer day. 30. Isn't that ridiculous? I love my new role as a Manager. I get to help lead the vision of our days, our fiscal quarter, our time at this Admired company. I inspire a team of anywhere from 7 managers to 92 employees to [half-that] Red Zoners whe

September is already in full swing. Labor Day weekend has come and gone, which means that summer is also trying to end - though the weather doesn't indicate as such. The fall solstice is approaching, Fantasy Football is taking off, USC has its first home game of the season on Saturday, and this month's the marker of the final third of the year 2013. Where is the time going? All I know is that I'm dead-set on making the most of it. To have accomplished my writing goal for this month will mean that I've written 19,500 more words down that I have at this very moment (in case you're not as quick at math as I obviously am, that means 750 words a day). Taking a stab at morning pages each day, like I currently am, will help me get there. Made coffee and an omelette, showered last night so that I could optimize my morning, splurged on a coconut water to stay hydrated, and planted myself in front of the AC so I'd face no excuse or distraction. How are you ever going t

Thursday, Aug 8th - bedtime On this eighth day of the eighth month this year, I'm overcome by gratitude. My summer has been jam-packed so far with adventure, I've shared it with countless friends, it has allowed for plenty of relaxation (i.e. lounging in the Santa Monica sand with Mom last Thursday) , and there are still exciting plans ahead. Because of this, I thought the least I could do was splurge a little on some overly-fancy cards to make my gratitude known (teaser below): Friday, Aug 9th (my half-birthday) on my lunch break The gratitude continues to an insane extent. I am exactly halfway through my twenty-fifth year on this Earth, summer is in full-swing, and I'm surrounded by friends, family and brand new acquaintances who continue to bless me with generosity and unconditional love. What did I do to deserve this? [Friday] morning, Honda of Woodland Hills (across the street from my new work) graciously took my car in for an oil change with about

Ahh, how I've missed my MacBook Pro. It's been at least two weeks since I sat like this, drafting up a packing spreadsheet to ensure that I was prepared for a week-and-a-half of adventure, relaxation, exploration and celebration in New England. Now, I'm paralyzed with disbelief that the trip has come and gone. I'm glad that I decided to invest in my iPad mini the day of my departure for my trip. It was a handy tool, that I definitely didn't even maximize, for a bit of reflection when I had down time at Jill's or a relatively early night in with one of my many hosts. From the Marriott courtesy of Em and Nick, to Jill's in DC, to Jake's in the East Village, to the other Marriott set aside by Bram and Sarah (thanks Aunt Betty), to Mom and Dad's sofa at the same hotel, to Bram and Sarah's couch in New Jersey, I was very much blessed and treated with hospitality, comfort, convenience and almost cosmic perfection when it came to how smooth

Friday was my first true day of official vacation. Alice and I both arrived a bit after 6am East Coast time, and I only awoke a few moments before that from my in-flight nap. I clearly needed it, based on the little amount of sleep I had Wednesday evening - after driving Simba to SB and returning to LA for a long day of work and travel. It was marked by a great last day of work, a bittersweet farewell to a longtime fruit colleague, and a spontaneous decision to splurge, treat myself, fulfill one of my consumerist goals for this year and finally buy an iPad mini - hence the in-flight journal entry (being written during my Sunday flight from Boston to DC). I love it so far! Friday, I got off my plane and headed straight to baggage claim to find my hefty travel partner (his handle had already broke by Day 3 of my trip). Then, I found the signs pointing toward Rental Cars; this really only indicated the pick-up spot for a shuttle that would take me to pick up my Thrifty Rental Car. I saw i

S unday morning of June 23rd, 2:20am Despite my post's title above, this is not another one of my early- and amateur-career blogs centered around my own experience as an intern. It's about someone else's. Yeah, it might have been fictional - but I'm certain that it was based upon very much truth. The Internship was my favorite of the movie blockbusters on my seen-list this summer. I'm so stricken, and inspired, that I'm at a loss as to where to start. I've got glasses, a to-read paperback, and a single unlit candle on my nightstand. There's an empty pewter picture frame, matching silver earrings, and a travel-y diary journal that goes under-used. Everything's feeling meant to be. I see, next to me, that I collect what inspires me - including friends, like tonight's companions Stepha and Nel - and I collect experiences:  by saying yes, living with intent.. and rallying, when necessary. Tonight, I had a break after work and am glad that it

I live for experiences, both my own and the stories about those of others. In my efforts this past month to make the most of sick-days and Cory-time, I've tried to take in as many cinematic ones as I've had time to fit. This, by the way, was whenever I wasn't watching the entirety of the series Arrested Development.  Recommended or discovered films I finally watched: An Education The Kids are Alright Little Miss Sunshine The Details She's the Man And in the theater... Star Trek Now You See Me The Internship Stay tuned for more typey stream-of-consciousness to follow on my favorite so far! 

Today, and yesterday, and this past weekend, and I suppose this month so far have all been truly impactful. Every moment, experience has felt aligned, as if each happened for a reason. As I write this, I'm currently snuggled into my newly, neatly made bed - which I've decided is one of my most prized and cherished possessions at this point in my young life. I found this frame (thanks Craigslist) and this cozy mattress (thanks Krysty) all on my own, and overspent on one only to get a deal on the other. So, SO worth it. I also have a new duvet cover, which I figure I'll try out - any excuse for a new beginning.  Sunday ( see above)  was one of the most fun days I've had in quite a while - especially when you consider that I've had the flu for a week and I've been in breakup mode for over a month. I'm glad I'm on my way to feeling better... in all respects. Sunday was filled with almost every friend a girl could ask for, lots of good food and tasty