Thereโs a book of poetry on my nightstand. Itโs 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.
Itโs December. That in itself seems like a bit of a brain-jumble. I think Iโm supposed to say something here about how it canโt possibly be December, about how we should be chillinโ somewhere in March, and how time flies when youโre having funโฆ but, the days run awayโฆ they really do. Itโs 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 Iโm still working on my next book. Still! By the time the book is in your hands next Fall, Iโll 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 reallyโฆ but maybe.
Sometimes it feels like the more you work on something, the less youโre satisfied with it. Then you have to GET OVER YOURSELF and keep right on working because itโs fun and you love it even though itโs 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).
Weโre 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 meanโฆ
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 sayโฆ Iโm so so excited to show your each one of these Bonkers Awesome episodes! We put sooo much work into themโฆ like the kind where youโre working so hard you think you might cry (and you totally do)โฆ so itโs 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. Soโฆ.
Winter beach bodies. I appreciate you humans.
Iโm just gonna sit on this beach boulder and think about what it would be like to Being John Malkovich Kendrick Lamar.
That sentence doesnโt make any sense unless youโve 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.
Iโll 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 darkโฆ Iโm 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 didnโt even have to sit at the kidโs table.
I have two sisters that I love and adore. We didnโt really get to pick each other. We were mostly just born into each other. Itโs great, and you really do get to steal each otherโs clothes without consequence.
Tracy thoughโฆ sheโs 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 itโs 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, thereโs definitely an entire Pecan Pie hidden in that Baked Alaska. Ice cream too. Thatโs just how we do.
The days run away, donโt they? But manalive theyโre good ones.
51 Responses
I too have an Uncle Larry!!! He bakes amazing lemon tarts and pumpkin pies and makes the best potato bake!
Uncle Larry sounds pretty awesome!
Orange tabbies are the best.
I love reading posts like this weโre you talk about your last life-experiences with a lot of photos! :)
https://justsem.wordpress.com/
I ALSO would love to know what it is like โBeing Kendrick Lamarโ. Real Talk.
THANK YOU! For this inspiring post and for always keepinโ it 100 homegirl, fail cakes and all! :)
thank you for understanding me. for real.
This was such a perfect post. I absolutely loved reading every word of it. :)
Love this. And love your Bonkers Awesome videos. Iโve already watched them all!
Seriously, can I come live next door to you? Or upstairs, or downstairs? Please.
Girlโฆ 2 years on the bookโฆ that deserves a hug and a shot of something stout. Iโm in the final big pushes here โ February is my target โ and it feels likeโฆ I donโt know. All kinds of existential and quaking nerves. And somewhere in there I have to โ no I insist โ on enjoying the holidays, making memories with my daughter and husband. But what you said really resonates โ 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 โwrangle.โ I canโt look at the word for more than five seconds without losing my mind. All I can say isโฆ happy hour. Waitโฆ hourโฆ thatโs another one of those words. See what I mean? Insanity.
You write the best postsโฆyou are as much a philosopher (and a really good one) as you are a fabulous cook!
Karen
Oh, the days really do run away. We spent a wonderful 2 1/2 years in Baltimore and I cannot believe itโs been 6 months since we left. Loved seeing your photos.
Beautiful. Thank you for these words, your words, all of it x
I love these meander-y postsโฆso perfect for a Sunday afternoon:)) Thanks for the peek into your life, sweet Joy!
Every year seems to go by more quickly than the last. Iโm 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!
Love these words!
Love the โMiracle on 34th Streetโ 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.
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 itโs the fur. . No.
Beautiful pictures and sentiments.. trying to process similar things with grace.
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 didnโt know what cat pictures were before this one.
I always love your lifestyle posts, Joy. They are so thoughtfully worded and always reach out to me. xx
This post felt especially amazing. Theyโre 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
Thank you so much for this post, so personal. Really, the days run away like wild horses, and yes, itโs 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.
I am also lucky enough to have two sisters I love and adore, they are the best! (I am the firstborn. Itโs tough). And I also have an โUncleโ Larry (not technically related to me, but my dadโs 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!
this was a lovely read. your photos are, like always, beautiful. and โ iโm sure that cake was still delicious!
Amazing pictures Joy! You made me chuckle when you said you get your east coast visits before the cold sets in. Iโm in the east coast and I so want to be in Cali right now!
Carla @ Love Cartista
Uh-hmmmโฆis Uncle Larry already spoken forโฆ??? Just sayinโ โฆ.
ahhahahahahhahaa.. iโm afraid so.
Bonkers Awesome videos are just that! Just watched the one with Pioneer Woman โ so, so entertaining and good! Thank you for all the hard workโฆit is awesome and great entertainment. Your hard work doesnโt showโฆI mean that in the nicest way!! It looks so seamless and so much fun!
Youโre great, Joy. I just love you!
I always wanted a sisterโฆ.and Iโm sooooooo fortunate I found YOU!!! maj
real love!
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!
I bet that Gingerbread fail cake still tasted delicious! :)
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 betterโฆ.. xoxo
real life is so real.
These โlifeโ posts are my favorite posts! Thank you for the good livinโ tips, as well as the real-talk about book-writing struggles. More! :)
my dad TOTALLY also rode across the US! Except he did Virginia to San Francisco (because weโre east coasters). Yay for your uncle larry and yay for this wonderful post, I enjoyed it more than usual.
Joy and Ree โ two of my favorite people โ in the same kitchen! I promise Iโd sit quietly in the corner if I could be there, too! Oh, and be the taster.
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 โ looking forward to your next recipe.
everyone else is not having more fun than you! you can get out there and live big or small. itโs all good. promise!
Love this post, all if it, but especially what you said about Tracy being the sister you got to pick. Sweet! Thatโs how I feel about my bf, too.
This was one of my favorite posts of yours, ever. Thank you.
โThe 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 partyโ
Yep, had an epic Chocolate pie fail this past week. Totally get it :)
Your run away days are a delight! Sometimes I think Iโd like to be you!
these are just the pretty pictures i choose to show. not my whole crazy life.
That they do until you really want them to! Iโve been out of my home for 8 long months. My new home is almost ready. Each day seems to take forever; but I think thatโs 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!
Great photos โฆ 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 โfailโ version, lol)
thanks for the peak inside your life! that last picture with the baked alaska looks crazy! (in a good way) like itโs a still from an 80โs movie
They certainly doโฆand itโs 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.
Such beautiful photos! I love the Bonkers Awesome series. So many creative recipes! Thanks for the work you do and the recipes you share!
https://sometimesgracefully.com
These lovely words warmed my heart on this snowy morning! Thank you, Joy!