There’s a book of poetry on my nightstand. It’s by one of my favorite American writers, Charles Bukowski. The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills. I see the book every day, but I feel the sentiment everyday even stronger.
It’s December. That in itself seems like a bit of a brain-jumble. I think I’m supposed to say something here about how it can’t possibly be December, about how we should be chillin’ somewhere in March, and how time flies when you’re having fun… but, the days run away… they really do. It’s our job to live in them and keep track of them the best we can. It feels good and scary (and like we need more whiskey).
It would be true to say that I’m still working on my next book. Still! By the time the book is in your hands next Fall, I’ll have had it in my hands for two year. TWO YEARS! How crazy is that? Maybe it took two years to get the Peanut Butter Cream Pie right. Not really… but maybe.
Sometimes it feels like the more you work on something, the less you’re satisfied with it. Then you have to GET OVER YOURSELF and keep right on working because it’s fun and you love it even though it’s challenging and pushes your buttons. Then you eat pie. So whatever.
I spent some time in Baltimore late this Fall. I get my east coast visits in before the cold really settles in.
My thin California blood is so fickle.
Man v. French Onion Soup (with a side of lunchtime martini).
We’re probably going to need more cheese (cry for help!).
At Petit Louis Bistro in Seychelle shoes standing on some really good tile patterns.
Ps. I love Seychelle shoes and these are totally my next pair. Fishnet shoes!? I mean…
I will buy your savory buns, Bun Shop. I will eat them cold, the following day, on the plane home. They will be delicious and subsequently inspire these French Onion Pastry Puffs. Thank you.
I made these Gingerbread Spiced Marshmallows for the debut of my Bonkers Awesome episode with Matt Bites.
Can I just say… I’m so so excited to show your each one of these Bonkers Awesome episodes! We put sooo much work into them… like the kind where you’re working so hard you think you might cry (and you totally do)… so it’s with great pride and relief that we bring you these episodes.
Next up is a recipe for Cinnamon Rolls and a visit to see the Pioneer Woman on the ranch. There will be pistachios. So….
Winter beach bodies. I appreciate you humans.
I’m just gonna sit on this beach boulder and think about what it would be like to Being John Malkovich Kendrick Lamar.
That sentence doesn’t make any sense unless you’ve seen the movie Being John Malkovich. Worse synopsis ever: get inside the brain of John Malkovich and see through his eyes for a few seconds. Except I want do that with rapper Kendrick Lamar.
I’ll stop now.
A hike in Northern California with my family. Just walking in the woods. This waterfall was a highlight. The water pools were so crisp and cold, and dark… I’m sure they were also full of monsters.
Everyone should have an Uncle Larry.
My Uncle Larry rode his bike clear across the country this year. San Francisco to Virginia on a bicycle. He also builds furniture with his hands, gives me financial advice, and still has the Dave Matthews Band CD I gave him as a Christmas gift when I was a teenager.
So good.
UNCLE LARRY STOP THE CAR I NEED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THESE HOUSEBOATS AND PUT IT ON INSTAGRAM RIGHT THIS SECOND STOP THE CAR!!!!!
cool, thanks.
My maj Tracy is making herself a cocktail in her cocktail closet.
She invited me over for Thanksgiving and I didn’t even have to sit at the kid’s table.
I have two sisters that I love and adore. We didn’t really get to pick each other. We were mostly just born into each other. It’s great, and you really do get to steal each other’s clothes without consequence.
Tracy though… she’s the sister I got to pick. What a real life blessing that is.
The likelihood of a cake-fail is inversely proportionate to the amount of time you have to make the cake and get out the door to take it to a party.
Did I get that right?
I call this, Gingerbread Fail Cake.
Try Try Again.
Recipe next week! I think it’s a good one.
My favorite dinner parties usually involve Andy Windak and the boys of The Table Set. Only brave people make Baked Alaskas for dessert. Oh, there’s definitely an entire Pecan Pie hidden in that Baked Alaska. Ice cream too. That’s just how we do.
The days run away, don’t they? But manalive they’re good ones.
Amelia
I too have an Uncle Larry!!! He bakes amazing lemon tarts and pumpkin pies and makes the best potato bake!
Rachel G
Uncle Larry sounds pretty awesome!
Zoe
Orange tabbies are the best.
The Queen of Dreaming
I love reading posts like this we’re you talk about your last life-experiences with a lot of photos! :)
http://justsem.wordpress.com/
Kimbosaurus Rex
I ALSO would love to know what it is like “Being Kendrick Lamar”. Real Talk.
THANK YOU! For this inspiring post and for always keepin’ it 100 homegirl, fail cakes and all! :)
joythebaker
thank you for understanding me. for real.
amiechristo
This was such a perfect post. I absolutely loved reading every word of it. :)
Trisha
Love this. And love your Bonkers Awesome videos. I’ve already watched them all!
Kat
Seriously, can I come live next door to you? Or upstairs, or downstairs? Please.
Sasha | Global Table Adventure
Girl… 2 years on the book… that deserves a hug and a shot of something stout. I’m in the final big pushes here – February is my target – and it feels like… I don’t know. All kinds of existential and quaking nerves. And somewhere in there I have to – no I insist – on enjoying the holidays, making memories with my daughter and husband. But what you said really resonates – the more I look at my work, the less satisfied I am. Kind of like how the more I look at a word, the less the spelling makes sense. Like the word “wrangle.” I can’t look at the word for more than five seconds without losing my mind. All I can say is… happy hour. Wait… hour… that’s another one of those words. See what I mean? Insanity.
Karen B.
You write the best posts…you are as much a philosopher (and a really good one) as you are a fabulous cook!
Karen
Kristin @ W [H] A T C H
Oh, the days really do run away. We spent a wonderful 2 1/2 years in Baltimore and I cannot believe it’s been 6 months since we left. Loved seeing your photos.
Heidi - Apples Under My Bed
Beautiful. Thank you for these words, your words, all of it x
jolie
I love these meander-y posts…so perfect for a Sunday afternoon:)) Thanks for the peek into your life, sweet Joy!
Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate
Every year seems to go by more quickly than the last. I’m not really sure what to do about it except to embrace every day as it comes. I must say, that beach looks lovely as I stare out my window at the snow. There is not too much bikini-wearing happening here at this time of year!
Ashlyn
Love these words!
MB
Love the “Miracle on 34th Street” reference!! My favorite Christmas movie ever. And it HAS to be the original with Natalie Wood, not that color version with the girl that played Matilda.
TaylorMay
I want to live in a houseboat. So bad. And my cat eats cake too.. I definitely just thought she was a weirdie though. . She is orange.. maybe it’s the fur. . No.
Beautiful pictures and sentiments.. trying to process similar things with grace.
greatveganexpectations
That photo of your cat chomping on the fairy cake just made my day! I always thought the internet was little more than a vast ether full of cute cat pictures but clearly it didn’t know what cat pictures were before this one.
Lottie
I always love your lifestyle posts, Joy. They are so thoughtfully worded and always reach out to me. xx
Meg
This post felt especially amazing. They’re all amazing, but this one kind of nailed it.
My days are running away fast too, I hope writing them down like this makes them easier to track / appreciate.
Thanks, as ever, Joy xx
grybarstad
Thank you so much for this post, so personal. Really, the days run away like wild horses, and yes, it’s up to us to stop and smell the roses once in a while. Luckily I have someone in my family who helps me do that, but then again, it also becomes a habit.
Thank you for always inspiring me.
Jessica B
I am also lucky enough to have two sisters I love and adore, they are the best! (I am the firstborn. It’s tough). And I also have an “Uncle” Larry (not technically related to me, but my dad’s best friend since 8th grade. He is an awesome hippy who lives in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina. I know the days pass by so fast. I am expecting my first baby in April and am blown away that I am already more than halfway through. Whoa.
We are fortunate!
Jessica (bakecetera)
this was a lovely read. your photos are, like always, beautiful. and – i’m sure that cake was still delicious!
Carla
Amazing pictures Joy! You made me chuckle when you said you get your east coast visits before the cold sets in. I’m in the east coast and I so want to be in Cali right now!
Carla @ Love Cartista
Becky
Uh-hmmm…is Uncle Larry already spoken for…??? Just sayin’ ….
joythebaker
ahhahahahahhahaa.. i’m afraid so.
Monica
Bonkers Awesome videos are just that! Just watched the one with Pioneer Woman – so, so entertaining and good! Thank you for all the hard work…it is awesome and great entertainment. Your hard work doesn’t show…I mean that in the nicest way!! It looks so seamless and so much fun!
Anne Taylor (@anneiam)
You’re great, Joy. I just love you!
shutterbean
I always wanted a sister….and I’m sooooooo fortunate I found YOU!!! maj
joythebaker
real love!
Emily
Dude, they do so run away. But they are such good days. Thank you for your recipes and your words (and the podcast!), they make my days happier (and tastier). And my mom really, really loves it when I make your sweet potato pie, she was very appreciative this Thanksgiving!
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs
I bet that Gingerbread fail cake still tasted delicious! :)
Adrienne K
1. Only brave people put candles on Baked Alaskas. 2. Thank you thank you for posting the picture of your cake-fail. Makes me feel soooooo much better….. xoxo
joythebaker
real life is so real.
Emily S.
These ‘life’ posts are my favorite posts! Thank you for the good livin’ tips, as well as the real-talk about book-writing struggles. More! :)
Kirstin
my dad TOTALLY also rode across the US! Except he did Virginia to San Francisco (because we’re east coasters). Yay for your uncle larry and yay for this wonderful post, I enjoyed it more than usual.
Trish Rodgers
Joy and Ree – two of my favorite people – in the same kitchen! I promise I’d sit quietly in the corner if I could be there, too! Oh, and be the taster.
Lene Svingel
This post confirms my worst fears: everybody else is having more fun than me!
Your photos reminds me of my biggest dream: a road trip through The States. Sort of like your Uncle Harry, but on horseback.
Keep cooking – looking forward to your next recipe.
joythebaker
everyone else is not having more fun than you! you can get out there and live big or small. it’s all good. promise!
Natalie
Love this post, all if it, but especially what you said about Tracy being the sister you got to pick. Sweet! That’s how I feel about my bf, too.
Kim
This was one of my favorite posts of yours, ever. Thank you.
Heather
“The likelihood of a cake-fail is inversely proportionate to the amount of time you have to make the cake and get out the door to take it to a party”
Yep, had an epic Chocolate pie fail this past week. Totally get it :)
Linda
Your run away days are a delight! Sometimes I think I’d like to be you!
joythebaker
these are just the pretty pictures i choose to show. not my whole crazy life.
Barb | Creative Culinary
That they do until you really want them to! I’ve been out of my home for 8 long months. My new home is almost ready. Each day seems to take forever; but I think that’s always the case. They go fast until you want them to and then they seem to piddle like a toddler getting dressed by herself. They take FOREVER!
loulou downtown
Great photos … being partial to the creatures, particularly like the cat sharing the cupcake. Looking forward to the Gingerbread Cake recipe (and hoping that the one I try is not the ‘fail’ version, lol)
shelly@ohshellsbells
thanks for the peak inside your life! that last picture with the baked alaska looks crazy! (in a good way) like it’s a still from an 80’s movie
Kristen
They certainly do…and it’s this time of year when The weather turns frigid that I just want to hibernate in my house. Your pictures and post have convinced me that I need to get out and live life a little more because it is going by too fast.
gracebeekman
Such beautiful photos! I love the Bonkers Awesome series. So many creative recipes! Thanks for the work you do and the recipes you share!
http://sometimesgracefully.com
Erica Finch
These lovely words warmed my heart on this snowy morning! Thank you, Joy!