Laura is here, and we’re all about to be cooler for it.
One of the biggest gifts of the few years has been growing in friendship with my younger sister, Laura. She is now also my roommate, and it is 98% a total blast, would highly recommend living with your siblings as adults, it’s more fun than it sounds.
I talked her into guest writing this newsletter a couple months back, and I have been excited for what she has to say ever since. That expectation did not come back empty. In fact I told her “this is so funny and perfect.”
I’m just amped for you to read it.
This sentence now has links to the 100th issue master spread sheet, my instagram, my Outdoor Voices referral link , and old issues of the newsletter. I’ll be back with our regularly scheduled programming next week, and then the week after is the newsletter for subscribers, so if you want to board that train and support me getting my eyebrows done on Friday, sign up below.
Ok now here’s Laura…
Hi, I’m Laura! Aka the third Corliss sister, Katherine’s roommate, the cool one. Just playin. All jokes aside, thank you Katherine for trusting me to write your newsletter, it’s been a blast. Hopefully you don’t regret it. It’s been an honor being your sister and seeing this newsletter grow into what it is, I couldn’t be prouder. Without further ado here are my Five Things.
Number One: “Corliss Girls Love Bread”
I’ll speak for all three of us Corliss siblings, we love bread. I’ll speak for myself, I live for bread (not to be dramatic). Recently I dove into baking sourdough bread. I believe hobbies with great benefits are ideal, and you can’t get better than fresh baked bread as a result. Don’t be intimidated, it’s way easier than everyone projects on Instagram. But you don’t have to tell people that, they can just be wildly impressed.
I found this sourdough starter on Etsy. It has a fun history dating back to the 1849 gold rush. It takes a little bit of energy to start but the finished product is worth every second!
If you’re looking for a quick, foolproof bread recipe that will taste better than any store bought bread but doesn’t take 25 hours to make. Look no further, this is the world's best 1 hour dinner roll recipe.
Finally, a quick plug to my Spotify. Here’s my bread making playlist. The ~vibes~ are cottagecore to the max.
Number Two: HYGGE
Speaking of cottagecore, if you know me you know that I love a candle, and cuddly blanket, a cup of hot tea. I’m really showing my enneagram 9 here, but I just love to be cozy and snug. I didn’t have the word for when a space felt perfectly cozy, peaceful and calm; until I found hygge (pronounced hoo-ga). Hygge is hard to define, it’s more of a feeling of being perfectly content.
This book is the “definitive guide to the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being”. It gives a fun insight into Danish culture, the perfect room lighting, and how to brew the perfect cup of tea. It’s a fun light read, especially when it’s real-feel -15° outside. Looking for a tea recommendation? This one is by far the best.
Number Three: The Chase
Ohhh man, I love a game show (note to Katherine: I’m saying “I love” way too much in this but yolo). I love (... see) the cheesiness, the trivia, the not so friendly competition.
It’s similar to the trivia of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire but also the absolute corniness of Deal or No Deal. Every episode there always seems to be a trivia question with a cringe worthy innuendo but it's worth the watch. If you’re old enough to have cable or young enough to want to ruin your computer and pirate it, the current episodes have trivia mega minds with the likes of Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.
If you’re neither of those, older episodes are on Netflix with the original trivia “Beast”.
Number Four: *cringe* Tanning Lotion
Before you scroll through thinking “absolutely no, I don’t want to be orange” or “nah that seems way too high maintenance”, I thought the same thing at first BUT let me sell you on this Loving Tan self tanner.
It’s the dead of winter, we are all here. Let’s be honest our skin isn’t seeing the light of day until May. If you are looking for a little pick me up in your self care routine, look no further. It’s easy, you don’t need to be a beauty guru to do it right. I’ll say it, it looks pretty dang natural.
There are some simple steps to do before applying to make it last longer, such as exfoliating and moisturizing areas (like knees and armpits) you don’t want the tan to gather. Look up on YouTube a Loving Tan routine. Also feel free to reach out to me, I honestly love helping people figure it out. I’ve recommended it to a ton of people, not a single person has been disappointed (or orange)!
Number Five: Walking to Mordor
Shoutout to Katherine for showing me the TikTok featuring this app, but I’m the one who actually downloaded it so I’m claiming it. Y’all have watched Lord of the Rings, right? If not, that's your obvious step one. Step two is this app. Oh yes, you read that right, Walking to Mordor. This app shows you how close your walking mileage has gotten you to Mordor.
It even has milestones like “Encounter with Black Rider” 32 miles, “Weathertop” 240 miles, “Foot of Mount Doom” 1780 miles, just to name a couple. The total journey takes you 1932 miles. That’s a little over 5 miles a day for a year. If anyone can walk to Mordor in a year, it’s you.
Thanks Lo! I would recommend having you as a sister to anyone!