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Home is a Funny Word

by Corinne on July 20, 2010

I use the word “home” to describe many places. Of course, my house in Baltimore is one home. My in-law’s house in Rochester, NY is another. And I even find myself saying that I’m on my way “home” when I’m heading to the office in Woodstock. Steve and I don’t know where we’ll end up next. Once he’s finished with school, we could have a lot of options…or not. I know it’s one of those situations where we’ll know what to do when the time comes, but my imagination runs wild with the possibilities.

Steve Driving

This summer, we’ll be on the road quite often and Rochester, NY is a frequent stop. We were there this past weekend and although the drive is long and we’ve done it hundreds of times, it’s always worth it. Especially now that we have a fifteen month old niece! We spend most of our time hanging out at ma and pop in-law’s (I love that Steve grew up in that house!), at my sis-in-law’s (did I mention how cute their kid is yet?) and we usually end up in the South Wedge neighborhood multiple times (vegan bakery, bar with micro brews, cafes, and streets packed with old gorgeous houses–need I say more?). I could meander down the side streets with a cup of iced coffee for hours! I always get a kick out of walking past the apartment my parents lived in when I was born:) Some of my best story ideas and most vivid dreams happen when I’m in Rochester. Same for Steve! Maybe it’s a sign…

I think that Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros said it best when they wrote Home: “Ahh, Home/Let me come Home/Home is wherever I’m with you…” (Sidenote: the Home RAC Remix is amazing). Watch this video and notice that it is impossible not to smile.

Tagged as: baltimore, creativity, home, music, neighborhood, road trip, Rochester NY, Steve, traveling, walks, woodstock

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Goodbye 27, Hello 28

by Corinne on June 20, 2010

Birthday Flowers

*Update: I woke up this morning to birthday roses and bagels. Best husband ever.

Tomorrow I say goodbye to my 27th year. I’m making a list of all the things I want to leave behind from the past twelve months and making another list of what I’m bringing with me for my 28th year. I’ll rip up the list of stuff I want to let go and I’ll share the things I want to keep here (I learned this handy trick from Kris).

In no particular order, here’s the good stuff I’m packing for my 28th year of life:

1. Nurturing my house and my marriage, two things that bring me more joy that I could have ever imagined.

2. Working with my literary agent, Rebecca, to make my novel better each day. I’m so excited about the journey we’re on with this book. The future is bright:)

3. Creating innovative and inspiring projects with my super bosses, Kris and Brian.

4. Valuing my health and happiness by exercising and eating delicious and nourishing foods (most of the time).

5. Putting fun first once in a while and not taking myself too seriously.

6. Tending to my relationships with inspiring and positive people, while meeting new friends and colleagues along the way.

7. Staying open to change and limitless possibilities.

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog this year and to anyone who takes the time to stop by and read about my journey. I can’t wait to see what my 28th year brings!

xo,
Corinne

Tagged as: birthday, books, Crazy Sexy Life, home, Kris Carr, literary agent, marriage, novel, Writing & Editing

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Feeling Pretty Lucky Right Now…

by Corinne on September 3, 2009

I’m feeling pretty lucky right now. Even though life isn’t tied up in a nice little bow (and that can seem enticing at times), I’m grateful. Mostly because I feel alive. This blog started when I decided to choose a path that I never thought I would take. I threw twenty five years of planning in the garbage and decided to follow my gut.

If you had asked me a year ago if I ever, ever, thought I would be where I am today, I would have flat out said N-O. In the moment, when you’re dealing with the day-to-day stuff, it’s easy to forget that you always dreamed of being exactly where you are. Dreams don’t usually include taking the garbage out. I’m so happy to be writing this because it really puts me in the moment. It makes me look around and think, wow, I’m really here. This is my life and I love it.

In other news (that is my own microcosm of news) I’m 100 pages into the second draft of my novel. Suddenly, a new character has popped up! I don’t know where he came from, but I am so glad to meet him. It’s funny how I set out to write something, it went in an entirely different direction, and now I’m discovering that some of the elements that I hoped for are finding their way into my story.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Charm City and I’m so happy and excited for this weekend. I’ll be reuniting with three of my most treasured ladies on the planet. It’s exactly what the doc ordered. Plus, it’s a long weekend! Hooray!

So much of my life has been filled with goodbyes and missing people. I’m not sorry that it’s been that way. It has made me value people more and created memories that are more permenant and vivid. I don’t think you can truly know how much you love someone until they’re far away from you.  It’s time to go back home and then move on to the next adventure. Can’t wait to see what it may be…

Tagged as: baltimore, Crazy Sexy Life, home, novel, traveling, woodstock, Writing & Editing

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Reading (Your Writing) Out Loud

by Corinne on August 27, 2009

dashboard

A lot of my time recently has been spent sitting in a car (more than usual). Last weekend, Steve and I drove from Baltimore to Lakeside, MI and back within 72 hours. Luckily, Steve prefers to drive (or so I like to think), so I used almost every spare moment (of which there were many) to edit my novel. This trip definitely reinforced our desire to drive cross country.

I jumped back in the car the day after we arrived back in Baltimore for the trip to Woodstock. So here I am and will be for another week. The office is buzzing, the weather is perfect, and the town is still packed with tourists during the day (this town shuts down early). Even better news is that my hubs is coming into town tomorrow. I’m looking forward to introducing him to Garden Cafe’s vegan strawberry shortcake.

Lately, I’ve been reading my novel out loud. I was lucky enough to get this tip from one of my favorite people, Miss Incidents and Accidents (her novel, Stay, comes out in 2010!). It’s also amazing how long it takes to read thirty pages out loud, which hopefully I’ll get to doing tonight, tick tock. While in the car last weekend, Steve had to endure a lot of me turning down the music so that I could read him just one more paragraph. This exercises makes the weak spots, repetition, holes in the plot, etc. jump off the page. For the first time, I heard the story outside my head. It’s a reality check. I highly recommend it. Thanks, Al!

Please excuse my dusty dashboard by the way. Off to write!

Tagged as: baltimore, editing, home, marriage, novel, Steve, traveling, vegan, woodstock, Writing & Editing

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How We Found Our Home

by Corinne on August 2, 2009

Sunday

While waiting at a stoplight today, Steve spotted a slight alteration to Baltimore’s long-standing motto. According to a bench on Falls Rd., “Baltimore: The Greatest City in America” is now the “Greenest” city in America. I wonder if this is a city-wide movement or if a clever environmentalist had a little fun. In any event, it brought a smile to my face. It made me even happier when Steve urged me to take a picture and I was able to snap one before the light changed to green.

Later that evening we took a walk to One World Cafe and stopped at The Rotunda on the way back home. I worked in an office there for one year when I was fresh out of graduate school. It’s funny to think about that first year. Steve and I lived in a tiny carriage house downtown (across the street from Camden Yards-we could hear the cheers during baseball games). I wanted to live in Hampden more than anything, but it seemed impossible at the time. At first, Steve thought I was crazy.

Instead of giving up on the idea, I went to a Hampden Community Council meeting and sat amongst the neighbors I wished were mine. I even bought a couple t-shirts and paid the fee to join the council. After mentioning my desire to buy a home to a friend, she gave me her Realtor’s card and encouraged me to call. I stealthily made the call and told my wonderful husband that we were just educating ourselves and wouldn’t it be fun just to look around? So we met our dream realtor, learned that we could actually buy a house, and within a couple months we were sitting in a room with the sellers and signing the closing papers. One month of renovations later we were living in our very own rowhouse in Hampden. And here I sit today.

How’s that for manifesting you dreams?

Goodnight!

Tagged as: Hampden, home, Steve

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