Three things. Can I tell you three things? Do you mind getting all up in my business for the next several minutes of your life?
Remember two short weeks ago when I was moaning and groaning about not living in the cool part of town? I wanted to live in a loft downtown despite my disapproving pocketbook.
Remember the part where I cleaned my kitchen and waxed on and on about appreciating the things you have…. that the grass isn’t always greener… remember I said all that? Well… I changed my mind. I’m moving to a loft downtown.
I’m sharing my space with new people and I have turquoise walls. And I have no idea how to arrange and decorate my room. Seriously. I need help. I’m lost. Can we trade room design for baking lessons? SOS.
My little sister… the girl my heart beats for… is moving to Seattle. We’re driving from Los Angeles to Seattle this week. Sister road trip! I’m looking forward to Red Vines and french fries… believe this. If you see a giant UHaul truck puttering up the California interstate this week, please just have kindness in your heart when you cut us off. Seattle or bust.
On the Lamb held a Violet Hour supper brunch.
There was Creme Fraiche Quiche.
Can you see my face back there eagerly grasping for something? What am I reaching for with such elation?
Money… I wish I were kidding.
Here is a fact about trying hard to live the dream with On the Lamb (the pop-up events and catering firm my friends and I started)… no one ever tells you how much gosh-dang-holy-heck-geeeeeez work it is. My ankles are sore just thinking about it. But really… the excitement, the uncertainty, the new friends, the creativity, the occasional punching match… I wouldn’t trade it. The oil burns and sore ankles are all so quickly mended when I remember that I’m trying to live my best life and I’m doing it with my two best friends… and all of these new friends that we get to feed!
Thank you to Sandy and Jason of Enid and Edgar.
Thank you to Dan for taking such lovely photographs.
Thank you to… you, for being so loyal and lovely and so… here.
{ 87 comments… read them below or add one }
It all seems crazy but fun! An adventure! I adore the first picture to boot!
Joy, your parents sure knew what they were about when they named you. I read your blog, and cannot help but smile and giggle and feel good. I read how much you love your sister, how much you revel in food and baking, and how much you’re just busting at the soul-seams to have a good life full of love, kindness, humility, fun and adventure. And it gives me such great *Joy* to read about it. Cheers to that! I’m thousands of miles away and I can feel the love.
There is no chance that I could have said it better, Kathryn – so ditto everything! :)
I cannot think of a way to say it better than this, so here I go seconding you :)
I’m am sure it is so much hard work, but it looks incredibly rewarding!
Wow! You’ve had a busy week haven’t you? I have to say I am a little jelous that your moving. I just love re-decorating. Have fun with your sister! ( who looks alot like my sisters best friend )
Oh and also I think that you should put the daises in your new room!
Congratulations on moving! I’m sure it’ll be sad to have your sister far away but she’ll be living it up too!
It sounds to me like you really are living the dream! Soak it up!
your face looks bright & beautiful…& this is the time of your life for all the excitement & adventures you can grasp…& the twists & turns where you will find yourself!
enjoy your roadie with your sister…
What a cool event!!
I’ve heard catering is a ton of work… but if you love it, it will all pay off :)
Congratulations !
It definitely looks like hard work but you have a passion for it! Red vines are soooo good! Have a fun road trip with your little sis!!
Good luck with decorating! And have a great road trip!
Your life is amazing!!! I’ve been following you for a while, it’s crazy to see you growing into baking this way, your project is great and now a un loft branché! You must be so tired-excited 24/24! But isn’t what’s great about life : no limit! If you work for it you get want you want, the process is so exciting and makes you so proud :) I think one of the reason I like to read your blog (since 2-3 years is it possible?) is that if I didn’t make it into med school bakery would have been my vocation. But I made it so, I study – almost- every minute I am awake now. Then I kind of bake-by-proxy through you ;) Ok Ok I still get to bake (you know the show Grey’s Anatomy ? Izzie baking to take off : that’s me) Last week-end I tried cream cheese cinnamon rolls :AMAZING.
Well anyway I must give you a really special recipe : the white cake that my mother has always baked. It is from Jehane Benoit, the first chef of Quebec (our Julia Child!). I never met anyone but my mother and my sister who tried this recipe, but believe me If you bake it, the entire universe will love you.
There we go:
White Layered Cake:
For 3 pans 8”
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 tea spoons of baking powder
½ tea spoon of salt
1 cup of milk
1 ½ tea spoons of vanilla extract
6 ¾ cups of egg whites (ONLY WHITES)
Cream the butter and sugar. Add dry ingredients gradually with milk + vanilla. When the mix is homogenous, in a separated bowl whisk the egg whites and fold them into the batter. Don’t over mix because you want the batter to be light and fluffy. Bake at 300F for 25-30 min (or more, you’ll judge ;) )
Let me know when you try it!
For your room : post pictures I am sure all your readers will be proud to give you advises !
Flo xxx
Just spent half an hour visiting your On the Lamb website. Wowsers, you ladies ROCK IT!
I wish you the absolute best…it will certainly be successful as you have all put your heart and amazing talent to the most chic manner imaginable.
Ya’ll are beautiful.
Congrats on moving, I am no help on decorating either. Have fun on your sis road trip, and your catering gig looks beautiful!
I live in Seattle, she’ll love it! Best bakery in Seattle – West Seattle, Bakery Nouveau. Twice baked croissants are to die for. Treat yourself to dinner at Restaurant Zoe before you go, it’s 3 for $30 time!
It must be hard work doing what you do – but you look so happy doing it and like you’re loving every minute of it. you really are a ray of sunshine. Love reading about everything you get up to.
Enjoy the decorating! x
My twin sister is moving from Minnesota to GEORGIA in August….I know how you feel. :(
Downtown loft sounds sooooo cool!! And turqoise walls?! That’s even better~~
dearest Joy,
You write so well that even the hard work put into it all looks easy! Hopefully, someone will step up to barter home decoration tips for baking!
You and Lauren have a safe trip to Seattle. She’s so lucky to have you by her side and your knowledge from when you lived there! Long live Red Vines!! xoxoxoxoxoxo
thanks janet! you’re the best! i feel honored that you come ’round this little blog and say lovely things. love you!
Congrats, sounds like fun!
Joy, thank you for sharing these 3 news worthy items – ALL very important and precious things happening in your life indeed! Change is good (often hard too) – and can be VERY exciting!! Congrats on your new home! I too have a sister….and my <3 beats for her constantly – I get your love for your sister. Have a fabulous time on your road trip together. And your work (your VERY hard passionate work) that you put into On The Lamb – amazing, amazing, amazing. :-)
i like you avril. thanks for coming ’round these parts.
What a fun adventure! I am sure you will love your new place and good luck to your sister in Seattle.
Have fun on your roadtrip!
Have fun on your road trip… and be safe driving that U-haul!
Best of luck moving… and with the turquoise walls. :)
You’re the best. And yes, you ARE living your best life. We all are. Bit by bit. Day by day. Because who really wakes up and says, “I want to live my worst life today.” No. Uh-uh. You’re the best, Joy-the-freakin-Baker!!!!
Let me start out by saying that road trips are not complete unless you have at least 17 lbs of Red Vines to accompany you. :) My best friend and I never plan a road trip or any long distance trip without figuring out who will be in charge of making sure we’ll have some to go along…there, I said it. The Violet Hour looks like it was a huge success…please come to Tampa for one of your lovely pop-up events!!! Pretty pleeeaaase? Oh & CONGRATS on the new digs, a downtown loft sounds dreamy!
Rugs, rugs, rugs. That’s the ticket to making a loft feel cozy!
bless you!
I live in Seattle and we’ve been having some pretty awesome weather, so hopefully it’ll stick around for you!
If you need any food suggestions while here, let me know!
Also, congratualtions!
i love eating in Seattle. I’m thinking I want to try Delancy this time around.
Definitely do. It’s awesome. Be sure to get a cookie for dessert!
Joy, I adore your blog. Good luck to you and your sis as you road trip up here to Seattle. It is a truly awesome city (I am biased, I know, but who cares right?)
Joy, congratulations on this new endeavor. You have the passion, and the hard work ethic, and that will make you persevere and be successful.Love your blog, and that pic of your little sister. I also have a little sister, and we’re blessed, aren’t we?
so blessed!
Congrats on your new place! The importance of place can not be underestimated, I know this too well as I have to wait two more years to move to my perfect place.
Try grouping some of what you love on the walls and pay attention to what height you will be at when you look at them- near your new favorite sitting area put the things you love near that height and enjoy the blank places while you can. It’s hard to weed stuff out as you aquire more.
Look at the walls with nothing on them for a day and see how the colors change with the light- that will also give you ideas.
Enoy the new place and don’t forget the plants need light!
Just wanted to send a Thank You to you and the girls for putting on a great event last night. The food and drinks were wonderful! I’m still savoring the Avocado Corn Meal Pound cake, sooo good! Have fun on your road trip, you have a little farther to travel than we did. And give thanks to Sandy and Jason again for being such great hosts.
Tracy! I’m so glad you guys came out so we could feed you. We were all really touched that you would drive so far for a late brunch. We can’t wait to have out at our next event. Bring bourbon…. I’m just sayin’.
Ok, twist my arm, Kim’s arm and Thomas’ arm. We’ll be there with Bourbon.
I was lucky enough to be a guest at The Violet Hour and it was even more wonderful than the pictures make it out to be. We got to meet delightful strangers, eat ridiculously delicious food (can’t even pick a favorite…maybe the avocado poundcake? oh, but the salad with bacon lardons was also so good…), and get a little tipsy before the sun went down on a beautiful Sunday! Well done, ladies! xo
You and Rachel were such a delight! And thank you for the marshmallows! Thanks for being a part of The Violet Hour. You people really did make it such a lovely evening!
We’ll be at the next one with a bunch more friends!
oh man! i wish i lived near you! i would be there in a heartbeat if i could. xoxox
Congrats! Also,Have fun on your road trip-sister time is always the best!
If you’re ever in Minneapolis for an event….please let me know. Your blog inspires me to bake, I adore it!
What a lovely day! I wish I could have taken part in all the amazing treats and good conversation. It must be so fulfilling. :)
I should introduce you to my girlfriend who lives in a loft DT — her roommate/boyfriend has it all decorated and holy geez is it gorgeous — we had our book club there yesterday, and it was amazing. Lots of B&W photographs everywhere. Made me wish I were young and cool again.
And I am SO coming to the next OTL event.
I’m excited for your sister to move to Seattle because I’m sure that it will mean that you will have some Baker events up here, right? ;)
Ah Joy, you are an inspiration! A friend and I are starting a local produce shop (starting with eggs, milk and cheese) and a supper club set-up here in Austria since I decided that industrial scale cooking is not the direction I want to head in and it’s encouraging to see you guys are rocking it, keep on keeping on!
congrats on living the dream and to moving downtown! your catering events look so cool and classic! love love!
good luck on the road trip! wish my sister and i were taking one sometime soon too, i is jealous:)
joy, following your life through your blog is a real pleasure!
good luck in all that you pursue
Safe travels! My boyfriend lives/works in Seattle and it is a great place to visit. Have fun with your sister and congrats on your move to your loft!
Joy, you have such a lovely little blog. When I read your posts I feel like we’re having a conversation. If only I lived a little closer and could come to one of these fun events that you’re a part of. Thanks for sharing these wonderful posts and recipes with us!
Decorating won’t be so bad. Once you get everything situated you’ll decide how you want them, which might mean moving things around several times. The wall color should make accessorizing interesting though. Just have fun and make it something you want to come home to.
I don’t at all mind getting all up in your business. In fact I look forward to it. Daily.
Good times, girl. Your adventures eclipse what many people couldn’t fit into a life time. Plus you have turquoise walls. Sweetness!
Sounds like you’ve got a bit of excitement going on in your life! Enjoy it. :)
p.s. I really, really love the hanging daisies in that first picture. I might want to try that as a decoration. Are the flowers real or fake?
:)
super cute, right!? they’re real flowers!
would LOVE to trade astounding, sizzling decorating delights for baking classes…. hello!!!!
i’m in chicago, but work via webcam easily. also, local visits are always possible.
let’s chat….
warmly from my wild heart,
marci*
Joy,
I so admire you and the other ladies of On the Lamb for your courageous and inspiring venture. I had the pleasure of attending Love on the Run, and it made for a memorable (and tasty!) Valentine’s Day. Thank you for sharing your many cooking and baking adventures with the world. Your writing is truly delightful.
As far as the decorating goes – have you been to the Rose Bowl flea market? Second Sunday of the month. Go early, bring water and snacks, and dive in! It is great fun and I always find good stuff.
For pictures on the wall, I like groupings of small things (pictures, paintings, etc.) rather than large pieces. Also, I second the advice about rugs.
Best of luck with the new place!
Jennifer