But we still beat Florida State

Last night's game against Louisville..... really Gators ?

You know the game is kind of doomed when your QB starts the game with a pick.

I'm being a Bitter Barbie so I quickly need to erase this game from my memory.

Let's recap happier Gator moments this season, mkay?

Remember when the Gators killed Kentucky ? 

Yeap, 38-0. That's a W in my book.

Remember when we beat #4 LSU?

Also, remember when we took that super awkward photo

with Jake in the background?

Remember our win over Florida State in Tallahassee?

You didn't forget that already did you?

Really there was nothing more exhilarating than running around Tally

in orange and blue while the Seminoles were being a bunch of sore losers.

#sorryimnotsorry

Siggghhhh

So long, Gator football. Until next season :)

Weekend Update [Thanksgiving/ FL-FLState Edition]

I would rather enter the Hunger Games than get dressed

in a suit and heels and walk into the office Monday after Thanksgiving.

Today's energizing cocktail consisted of a sugar free red bull AAAAND

a quick chaser of 5 Hour Energy.

Yes, it's that bad.

Unfortunately in the lovely World of SALES,

everyday is 110% so I shall make this post snappy so I can hurry up

and go close some deals! 

After work on Wednesday, I loaded down the car with

my boyfriend, my dog and every pair of brown boots I owned

(3 pairs of heeled boots, my Ariat cowboy boots and the Uggs to be exact)

and we were Ocala bound by 5:30!

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post that I love

Thanksgiving Eve because it is literally a mini HS reunion.

Don't get me wrong, Ocala is a small town- but with 7 different

high school and an a cray-cray group of friends, downtown Ocala is poppin. 

Thanksgiving day was GORGEOUS in Ocala.

68 degrees and a great day to throw the football around

with my 8 year old nephew...

in between stuffing my face with GBCass and mashed potatoes.

Woof. 

Friday I actually had quite a bit of work to do

but I did manage to grab lunch with my parents and be on

the road *TALLY BOUND* by 5 to see my bestfriend and 

watch my Gators play on Saturday!

We ate dinner at Bella Bella then started to hop around

to a few local bars. I'm not a huge fan of Tallahassee but

I LOVE their bar crowd- all super laid back and casual. 

SATURDAY WAS GAME DAY!

We tailgated for a few hours and then headed to a bar next

to the stadium to watch the game. 

We cheered. We cried. We talked trash.

Bottom line. Gators won :)
Which is directly related to fact that I have no voice this morning.
[Insert obnoxious Gator chomp HERE]

Sunday was spent recuperating and drivingggggg.

I HATE DRIVING.

Especially after a holiday!

Did everyone just turn into a raging Jeff Gordon all of a sudden??

I'm a huge fan of the car who gets RIGHT ON MY BUMPER

and flashes their lights to move over.

Are you kidding me.

You are getting brake checked, my friend.

Anyway, may you all have a lovely Monday
and I will be re-living my Thanksgiving dinner experience at lunch time
since I brought left overs. Weeeeeeeeeee!

Southern "Tailgate" Bridal Shower

When I said "Bridal shower recap post coming shortly,"

you didn't think I meant this soon did you ?

Well, surprise!

I was hoping to have more pictures of Mandy's

bridal shower this past weekend from her sister's wonderful

camera- BUT- all you get for now are Instagrammed-iPhone photos.

So sorry :/

I was contemplating asking Santy-Clause for a nice, new professional camera

buuuuuuutttt that quickly worked its way to the bottom among

other wants :)

First, let me set the scene a little.
When we first started planning her shower, we were having a hard
time on setting a theme/color scheme. 
Her wedding colors are navy and lime green and just an FYI:
it usually isn't standard to use the same color scheme as the wedding for the shower.
Lime green and navy is just very "Mandy," so we wanted to have a fitting shower
but minus, well.... the navy and lime.
So Mandy and her fiance Thomas both went to Florida and
loovveee them some Gator football.
We decided to go with a classy "southern style" Gator-themed shower.
Yard games, orange, navy, burlap and details!

Here is the adorrrrable table setup.
Mandy's little sister managed to round up some old pics of the bride-
some of which were with me from cheerleading in middle school that were HORRIFIC
and Katy did such a good job on the banner bunting! 
Very "cute tailgate-ish!" 
We had the most amazing pulled pork sandwiches, orzo pasta, brown sugar bacon
and a few other delish side dishes... and of course dessert!
Dark chocolate and french vanilla buttercream cupcakes, cake pops and Key Lime piieee!

For drinks we spiced things up a tad with a sangria... IN LOVE...
we served a white and a red with fruit options and some sweet teas. Given.

I'll post some more pics of the details when I get them from her sister, 
but I wanted to share these asap :)

Here's a shot with Mandy and her bridesmaids!
Me, Keelen (Thomas's sister), Alex (Mandy's sister), Mandy *BRIDE, YAY!*
Caitlin (Mandy's sister), Katy, Jennifer and Amanda.

The bachelorette party destination is still up in the air...
Charleston?? Charlotte? Key West? New Orleans??
We're planning on the first week in Feb so wherever these shenanigans are taking place,
we need to get crackin so we can start ordering penis straws and 
other appropriate accessories. 

I still can't believe we're 24 years old and Mandy is getting married.
I honestly feel like riding 4 wheelers out at her Dad's farm, sneaking out of my house,
getting in trouble in Miss Johnson's English class, or going to our first Gator game tailgaite-
wasn't all THAT LONG AGO...
PSA: It totally was. 

Anywayyyyyy, not trying to drag on with a tear fest but I'm SO 

happy for this girl and can't wait to stand by her side on her wedding day.

Congrats Mandy Lu! Love you times a million, girlfriend! :)

Est. 1999

Oh, October

Ohhhh October is right.

We are oooficially into our second week in October and I'm not

feeling any less anxious :/ 

My girlfran Ash over at Life After the Aisle dedicated a post

to "countdowns," which I thought was cute so 

let's take a look at what is on my plate for October!

Yes, that says Lynyrd Skynyrd on the 26th.

Needless to say there's a ton going on here.

It's semi-exhausting just looking at it!

Also if you're curious as to why this blog is titled
"Corin Bakes"
because all I have been blogging about lately is Fall festivities
and weekend escapades- hang tight, friends!
I have been ripping my hair out super busy and
my time in the kitchen, or lack there of, has been slim.
*BUT*
look how much baking I will be doing over the course of October!
My breast cancer fundraiser event?? BAKING!
Work Pinterest party?? BAKING!
And I promise I will dedicate an entire post to Pumpkin Spice :)
So like I said- hang tight! I promise I will have more treats and recipes posts!

In the meannnn timmmeeee-
(is it annoying that I constantly drag out letters? I think so.)
it's time for the Weekend Update link up!

Friday we saw Taken 2, which was awesome.
I'm sorry but, Liam Neeson is a badass.
I wanted to see Frankenweenie :/
but Bryan refused. Saturday we headed back to Lake Weir
to watch the Gator game! We met up with my best friend
AND HER NEW BOYFRIEND- which just so happens
to be Bryan's bestfriend
at her brother's lake house. After cruising on the lake for a bit
we ended up at Ron Zook's lake house (long story..)
to watch the end of the game. Watching the Gators
win over LSU at Ron Zook's was a rather exciting story to tell, I would say!
Fun Fact: He drinks Natural Light.
Oh and horray for a SEMINOLE LOSS.
They have been overrated since Day One.
Gators are now ranked #4 BOOM.
Sunday Bry & Chris went fishin
so Tiffany & I went to brunch and shopped.
*Please note: Bryan does look like he's movin in for a smooch
in that last picture- but he is ACTUALLY trying to hide
his shaved face. 
He did that Friday afternoon and I don't want to talk about it.
I love a little facial hair and he went man-scaping crazy.
Ugghhhhh. :/

Anyway, gggoo link up & have a fab Monday! 

Fall Nostalgia :)) & My Best Friend the Seminole

Another throwwww backkk!

Recall me saying I was going to be posting about old events, etc
 to clean up my "Hostess" page ?

Well here's another. Last week marked the official start

of Fall- despite what Starbucks will tell you about the debut of Pumpkin Spice

being the official start. So I'm feeling a little nostalgic! 

Last year, my mom and I had the brilliant idea to host a massive,

rustic Thanksgiving dinner. 

Around mid-August to early September, random Fall decor

started to accrue in my parents' spare bedroom.

We had invited about 45 friends/family members over for Thanksgiving

so it's safe to say that, yes, Mom and I went a little over board. 

My mom wanted to have dinner outside (such a fab time of year) so she had

4 picnic tables made and we squeezed them all together in their 3-acre backyard.

I had a vision.

Burnt oranges, dark red, deep browns, decorative leaves, mason jars...

The end product?

I'd say we delivered on that.

Here is another side shot in case the first

does not it justice:

It was the sweetest thing- I literally felt like a pilgrim, even with my bottled bud light.

There's nothing like sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner

and being able to look left, look right and be able to

see the people that mean the most to you. 
hashtag happy :) 

Two of my girlfriends even drove back

home from Orlando with me (their families were out of state).

They obviously brought the necessities. 

Also note Haley bonding with Grandma

over her obnoxious Green Bay sweater... Wisconsin...

The girls stayed the weekend and we drove up

to Gainesville that Sat for the

Florida/Florida State game. 

(REALLY MISSING MY BLONDE HAIR IN THIS PIC WAAAAHHH)

If you haven't picked up on the fact that Bryan and I are Gator
fans, you're either a little on the blind side or you must have just joined us,
in which case welcome new friends. I am a Gator fan.
PRE-GAME PICTURE:

MID-GAME PICTURE:

What the hell, Florida?
Throw another pick why don't you.
The Gators lost last year but we still had a blast. 

ANNYWAAYYY- let me bring you back to present date!
Bry & I are getting ready to purchase our Florida/Florida State
tickets for this year's upcoming game.
We're making the trip to Tally that weekend and staying with
(Aly if you didn't know that, you do now) 
my best friend, right:

We've been trying to get up there for A WHILE NOW
but something keeps popping up every.stupid.weekend. 
LOVE YOU AL!  Kind of over September at this point... come onnn October & November! :):)

Where is my Bubble Bib necklace that I ordered
forever and a day ago? 

No, but seriously.

I was forced to purchase another statement necklace
from Francesca's to wear this Saturday for the UCF game!

Friday Purchases- New Makeup!

Let me just begin with how

noncompliant my skin is.

As of recently, I have been taking a lot of extra (and not-so-cheap)

steps to improve my skin.

Mom & Dad gave me a Clarisonic for Christmas and I swear by it.

So much better than using a washcloth- which studies have shown

CAUSE WRINKLES.

Waaaaaahh :/ No thank you!

I have also been a MAC user since high school.

I loved the Studio Fix Pressed Powder and went through about

one compact every 5-6 weeks.

They typically run about $30 a pop which isn't very budget-friendly

but I have been justifying it for years because I loved the coverage.

Once I started seeing my esthetician, Vanessa, she practically

forbid me to continue using MAC. 

MAC is disgusting, it clogs your pores, blahblahblaaahh..

..I still didn't listen.

It's been a few months now and I FINALLY switched my

makeup up yesterday.

I walked into Ulta extremely open-minded and walked out with

TA-DA:

&

Napoleon Perdis pre-foundation skin primer and foundation stick.

Let me fore-warn you:

I sat down with one of the make-up artists

(whom I loved by the way- turns out her daughter lived in

Ocala and she's a major wine-o so I handed her a card and told her to swing

into Brew and I'd buy her a glass!)

for the application process.

The whole time she was explaining how light and oil-free

everything was- even pointing out that the primer

was "Florida-proof." SOLD. 

Anyway back to the fore-warning!

Each product cost about $50 bucks.

BUT she informed me that both should last me about 4-5 MONTHS.

Months? You mean weeks? 

She nearly fell out of her chair when I told her how much

of my MAC compact I went through in a month,

which I firmly believe is due to the fact that it's such loose powder.

I kid you not, powder was flying everywhere anytime I applied makeup.

After laughing at me for attacking my makeup, she confirmed again:

4-5 months.

Allsssoooooo
(as if dropping a hundo on makeup wasn't good enough)
I treated myself to my fave perfume-- I've been out! :/

I was so excited to get ready to go out last night
(we went downtown for Sushi & drinks for
a friend's birthday)
Bryan and I ended up back at Brew like the good bar-owners we are.

The night, in regards to my new face, went well.
But I ended up calling it a night kinda early (ie. home at 1 rather than 3)
so I could be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for football today!
HAPPY GATOR GAME DAY, MY FRIENDS! :):)

Gator Dress: Columbia
Necklace: Bay Studio, Bealls Florida 
Shoes: Apt 9, Kohls 
Bag: Michael Kors

Look at Jake! He is super anti-social and didn't want to join
Mom and Dad for a fam photo =/
See yall Monday!