Hello sweet friends!
It feels like ages ago now, but last Tuesday was fine (and really quite fat) indeed. We celebrated the last day of Mardi Gras in grand fashion with the last of the beads and parades and floats and headdresses and my goodness we really did it up. It’s my third Mardi Gras as a resident of New Orleans and I’m slowly getting my footing. Knowing the traffic and having friends with clean bathrooms close to the parade route feels like a life success in itself.
I hope today is a day for you to take some for yourself. Go slow. It’s Sunday.
Here’s some reading:
• This is perfect. Read it all, read it all. When Your Greatest Romance Is A Friendship (thank you for sharing this Jessi!)
• Do you ever take a few moments in your brain space to think about what it would be like to live in solitary confinement for years and years? I do. It’s just about trying to understand another person’s experience. I must say… this is an experience I have a hard time comprehending. I first think, ok you’re alone for a long time and then the horror of being locked and alone for YEARS on end takes root and I have to shake my head to clear the horror. Buried Alive: Stories from Inside Solitary Confinement
• This week I made this Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie for a friend and her family. I feel like it’s therapeutic on the give and the take. If you ever need something to make for a friend as a like ‘yo yo yo I care about you’, this is a good recipe. I don’t know where all those YOs came from, but I’m just going to let it ride.
• House on a hill: Saving Nina Simone’s Birthplace As An Act of Art and Politics
• In high school I had short curly hair, like too short… not chic short. I played volleyball… not even well. I was the ‘not the sharpest tool in the shed’ in the advanced-level classes. I asked a boy to prom (face to face because we didn’t have cell phones or emojis back then)… and it took him a long time to answer… and I didn’t even really want to go with him, but he was tall. I was friends with a really mean girl because I thought that if we were friends she wouldn’t be mean to me… was I right? Probably not. I graduated and it was fine mostly but, Lord… set me free. An evolutionary psychologist explains why you will always be haunted by high school
• The man who can see right through the big dudes with lots of money: This Man Makes Founders Cry. I would argue that founders are secretly brimming with tears and the right angle of eye contact will bring the walls crumbling down.
• And then Adele was like… And then Taylor Swift was all… And then Katy Perry went on and on… Meet the man who writes the hits: The Hit Maker. Is it weird that a dude named Max is writing the songs of my heart for Adele to sing? I dunno. A little.
• Is it too early for a little Spring cleaning for the skin? Lately I’ve been loving a hot soak in the bathtub and a good scrub using this: Loomed Exfoliation Mitt. It strong and simple.
• Sneak peeks into my new brunch book Over Easy are popping up on the internet. Here’s some punch for your brunch pleasure: Orange Sherbet Mimosa Punch
• Every good book tour I go on calls for a new blazer, best believe. Also! I’d love LOVE to see you out in the world and sign your cookbooks, the Over Easy page will be updated often with tour + special guest information!
• Towards the beginning of the year I made these Moussaka Lasagna Roll Ups and I think we were all trying to get our footing and figure out our intentions and Whole30 and juice cleanses and… listen, I didn’t learn how to spell Moussaka for nothing. I’d really like for your to make this recipe.
Enjoy this day. I hope you water the plants.
xo Joy
Madeleine Smith
Indianapolis? I’m thinking that’s a long shot, but I’d love it and I know many others who would. I’ve made the moussaka roll-ups and they were delectable. Just preordered the book! I can’t wait to read it and sip some champagne!
Rima
Yes please to Indy !
Nathalie
LOVE Rizzoli and LOVE you! Cannot wait to meet you. I’ve already ordered your book, but will there be some available at the Rizzoli event?
sarah
if you’re not already planning to come to Atlanta for your book tour, please change your mind !
Kelly-Anne
Thank you!!!!
Mariah Papke
Detroit! Plz!
Tracy
I’m so so so excited for Over Easy!!! I hope you have a signing in Oklahoma again, or even North Texas!
Lori
I always look forward to Let It Be Sunday! and this week my favorite was Buried Alive. Fascinating. Thank you!
Breonie
I absolutely love your Sunday posts! But I definitely should’ve read the friendship article after the solitary confinement one, and not the other way around. Might reread the friendship one to put me back in a good headspace.
Breck
Can’t wait to see you in SF!! I’ve been reading since almost the beginning (found you while bored at my on-campus job in 2009…) and am so excited to meet you in person!
michalbird
How about Detroit?? We would love to have you, and the food scene here is exploding!
joythebaker
I’m hearin’ your words!
Liz
How about Canada? Toronto has spectacular food!
Katherine
Seconding Toronto! There are some tasty cocktails to be drunk up here.
Andrea Tyndale
Joy, you were well named. You always brighten my day. Best wishes for you always. I love all your musings, and admire your talent greatly.
Alicia
Can you come to Asheville NC? Lots of great food to eat while you’re here ;)
joythebaker
I’ll be there at some point this year for sure! I love Asheville!
Chrissy
I literally just moved from Chicago last week and I’m super sad I’ll be missing you at Read it & Eat (my favorite store in Chicago) in a few weeks. Safe travels all the way through!
joythebaker
That’s a bummer indeed! Maybe I’ll see you down the road!
Rachel K.
Come to Northeast Ohio ;) Or at least Pittsburgh! The JTB fan club is strong here!
joythebaker
I’ll definitely get up to that area!
Laura
Yes! Pittsburgh!!