I made you some truly despicable muffins this morning. They were full of peanut butter, and oats, and the best of intentions.
They were gross.
So here we are… stuck staring each other in the face. It’s bound to get awkward.
All I have for you is a picture of my desk.
Um. I love you. I doodle it sometimes.
Can I tell you about real life?
I’m one of those girls that wears a ring on her ring finger. I do that. I’m not married. I bought my own dang ring and wear it on my ring finger. And I love it. And it’s not coming off until… well, you know. Maybe it confuses dudes:
Wait… is she married? She has a ring… wait. Is that the right hand or left? Wait. That doesn’t look like a wedding ring. Huh… I wonder if she’d give me her number so I can send her a text late at night, in like 2 weeks, and ask her what’s she’s doing. Cause… Yea.
The ring confuses dudes. I’m ok with that.
I have a letter from my friend Tyler on my desk.
Hi Tyler.
Tyler is currently in Afghanistan being a soldier. I think about him and all the people over there doing brave things while I sit at my desk and complain about bad muffins. I think about them every day… mostly because I don’t want them to get shot, or shoot people, or get hurt, or hurt anyone… but well… that’s tough.
I appreciate them so much.
I’ve got this manuscript on my desk.
THE manuscript. For my book. It’s almost done.
In the meantime… it’s kinda giving me nightmares. Like… oh-my-god-this-is-a-dream-come-true nightmares.
Does that make sense?
I also have this encyclopedia-type food styling book on my desk.
It’s extensive and sufficiently overwhelming.
Wait… is my desk stressing me out? Maybe just a little, tiny bit.
I’m going to go make some vegan cookies, eat too many, and them tell you all about them. Real life.
gayle
I totally know how kitchen failure feels. I thought I was such a smarty pants, making 5, count ’em, five, loaves of bread in my new 6 qt mixer. Baked, cooled, wrapped four for the freezer. Slice into the last one, take a bite, and realize I left out the SALT. Big fail that I’ll be reminded of four more times. :(
Adeline
Gorgeous ring!! And I do that too, it’s my sister’s rings and they only fit on that finger. Whatever.
If dudes care, they can ask. (although they usually don’t..)
Posti4
Love your honesty! Love your ring, too! Thanks for sharing.
Kelley @ magnetoboldtoo
I don’t have a desk.
So I don’t have to stress about it.
But I don’t recommend it cause I never know where anything is.
erin
I love hearing about your real life.
I’m excited for when your book comes out.
my desk also freaks me out sometimes.
thank you for sharing :)
Lisa
Joy,
Deep Breath. You have created an interesting (albeit big) career for yourself. Enjoy it. I’m listening and I’m not the only one. Not all muffins are photograph worthy; it’s okay. Light a candle for Tyler – he’s worthy. In fact, light another candle for your manuscript. It makes sense. It’s your baby. You’ve given love, time, sweat and worry over it. It’s worthy.
Lisa
Chris Dickerson
it’s ok Joy, I’m sure the book will be “punch your mother” good!
Cannot wait.
Khushboo @ Two Megapixel Food
Oh Joy! Reading your blog is like drinking morning coffee, I just cannot start my day without it and this post is lovely. So happy that your book manuscript is almost done! I cannot wait for it to come out.
In other news, I got my mom hooked to your blog and she loves all your recipes! :)
Rachel
I wear about 8 to 10 rings all the time. Most never come off, but one or two come and go. Except when making bread, of course. Then I have to shed my collection for the greater good. And I’m okay with that. Most of the time.
Oh! And one toe ring. Because I’m just that kind of girl.
Alex
I like that you are not ashamed to talk about the times when cooking and baking defeats you. It keeps things real.
One in a Brazilian
Like everyone else, I can’t wait for the cookbook!!!
Kasey
My desk stresses me out too, sometimes. Thank goodness for roll tops – I just cover up that stress whenever I feel overwhelmed by it.
As for the kitchen failure: Probably bothers me more than I care to admit. That said… I find making a really good, luscious plate of scrambled eggs on toast with tomato and goat cheese really brings me back. Like I’m in the zone again. That… or I just go to get a burrito. That makes me feel like a winner too. Mexican food: winning.
Stephie
Haha, I’m one of those ring girls, too! Except mine was my great-grandmother’s diamond and sapphire ring from 1929. It’s my favorite piece of jewelry and it totally doesn’t bother me that it probably confuses dudes. They can deal. If they can’t deal with being a little bit confused I probably don’t want them hanging around anyway.
Rachel
Me too! Diamond and Sapphire!! My grandmothers eternity ring gifted by my grandfather. How weird is that!?
Leigh
I wear a ring on my ring finger. It it sterling silver and has (fake) diamonds in it. Totally confuses the guys. Mission: accomplished.
Lizz
I downloaded your podcast ages ago, but I finally put on the first episode to listen to while I was doing the dishes (from puppy chow/muddy buddies… the stomach wants what the stomach wants!) and I have to say- I love it so far. From just the quirky nature of the conversation to the explanation on dishes (I currently only have a set of plastic dishes, from assorted places, mostly IKEA because really, I’m secretly 5, not almost 20), to the stale peeps. I’m totally going to make an effort to seek out fabulous dishes- I need some more food photography in my life anyway.
In this blog post, the bit about your friend Tyler really hit me hard. My boyfriend, also named Tyler, is in Army ROTC at our university. I’m constantly worrying about him and the future. Before I met him, I never thought about the military at all, and now I find myself unable to watch anything on the news about them because I feel so worried about them, all of them, even though I don’t know anyone in a dangerous area.
Also (sorry for the novel of a comment!) I love your ring! I only ever wear rings on my index or ring finger. They never fit anywhere else!