Hello sweet friends,
How has this week been for you? I feel like I’m in observer mode these past two-handful of days, watching people sort of tumble around me with this and that. I’m likely tumbling around too, but I feel like I need to take more in that I put out. Also, it’s August and maybe I’m just lethargic.
I’m looking forward to this Fall with 80% excitement and 20% dread. Dread that I think was ingrained in me as a young youth going back to school every September. Maybe I just need to buy a Hello Kitty pencil case and self-soothe. I’m kidding, but maybe I’m not.
Also, what’s up COLUMBUS, OHIO! I’ll be signing books at The Book Loft on Monday August 7th and 7pm! Come say hello, won’t you!?
Here are some bits of reading. Please take it easy and enjoy:
• So what are you up today? Obviously if you’re here, you’ve got a little bit of Maxine Waters in ya and for I’m proud of you: Reclaiming My Time! Sometimes you gotta let em KNOW.
• Interesting that it’s the thoughts from the dying that help us with all this living. Questions for me about dying. I especially connected with Cory Taylor’s thoughts on regret. She was right about it all, really.
• From Toni Morrison: The Work You Do, The Person You Are.
• Have smartphones destroyed a generation? This is one of those questions where… if you have to ask, you already know the answer.
• About the legend that was among us: The Side of Judith Jones You Didn’t See.
• This is IT: Photographer and artist Cindy Sherman surprises up with a new art installation via Instagram. See the work here: _cindysherman_
• My friend Ashley from Not Without Salt is opening a shop in Seattle!
• I love the idea of an Aperol Spritz to punctuate the time between work and dinner: Five Cooking Habits Brought Back From Rome
• This is pretty incredible. The moving of millions of bananas: The Secret Life of the City Banana.
• What kind of shopping-cart-returner are you? Be honest. Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts?
• Heads up! A once in a lifetime solar eclipse passes us on August 21st! Here’s an interactive map so you know what you’ll see and where you might see more: The Solar Eclipse.
• Deb’s Salted Peanut Butter Cookies are among my very favorite.
• Way back when my first book came out I made these Coffee Bacon Sandwiches and I still maintain that it was a very good idea, that cookbook signings continue to be humbling thanks to you, and that you really should try putting coffee on your bacon sometime. If not now, when?
• Seems like now an app can give us a recipe for all the avocado toast and galaxy cakes we see on Instagram: Scientists are turning people’s food photos into recipes.
• I like to pack this easy backpack in my luggage on trips. It’s always nice to have an simple, low-profile extra bag for day trips carrying around multiple cameras and chargers. :)
Big ups and high-fives to you today.
xo Joy
Katie
Hi Joy, I just wanted to say that recently, your blog has been a kind of dose of calm in my crazy world. Every time I read it, I feel like I have this subconscious exhalation and that everything will be a-okay for that brief moment… I’m typing these words and thinking maybe I sound like an internet creeper, but really, I’m just glad you’re doing your thing and that I get to read it. I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you for doing your thing, girl! :)
Leah
Your Sunday posts brighten my day, every time. Thank you as always :)
TJ
When I arrive at the market, I take a shopping cart that s already in the parking lot. If it’s not in the shopping cart corral, I take it first. When I finish my shopping, I return the cart to the front of the store. It’s about the convenience of those who come behind us, not about ourselves. Do the right thing!
joythebaker
TJ knows.
Chloe (Musings on Dinner)
In the UK, almost all shopping trolleys (as they are called here!) are coin-operated so you have to return them to retrieve the £1 coin you’ve deposited. I still see the occasional trolley dumped in our nearby river but there’s rarely a mess in the parking lot. (Strangely empowering article though).
The ice cream looks wonderful. It’s not quite hot enough most days for that here!
Stella
Hi Joy,
Once again your selections brighten my Sunday. The article on Dying was so deeply touching and what was said about motherhood and parenting brought tears to my eyes, beautifully succinct and truthful. And by the way, people, return your carts. It is such a simple, common courtesy that the majority of us can extend; so just do it already!
KW
Shopping carts are my pet peeve. No one can possibly believe that they are being nice by not returning a shopping cart. I lived in El Paso for two years. Wind gusts during the Spring windy season are unbelievable. Unattended carts fly through the parking lots hitting cars and rolling into traffic. Even in a calmer weather environment, unattended carts can limit parking options, damage cars, and pose potential dangers to pedestrians. Anyone who indicates that they are leaving a cart behind to be nice is a liar! And any other excuse for not returning carts, at least to the corrals, is just another way of saying “my convenience is more important than your safety or anything else in the entire world.” These days, if you can’t handle the responsibility of returning a shopping cart, order from Amazon.
Ronni
“We’re trying to live in a society here!” – George Costanza
Please return your carts.
Megan
This made me LOL! Agreed. :)
Lisa Anne Doane
I’m still humming over coconut crusted fish tacos…
And that amazing solar eclipse is running thru the Heart of the Shawnee National Forest in Extreme Southern Illinois and if you’ve never been thru the Rainmakers Garden in Old Makanda here is your chance!
Lisa Anne Doane
po box 213
Taste of France
The dying article was wonderful. Thank you for pointing it out.
Christy Follis
I live in Corvallis, OR….which will be an Excellent Place to view the Eclipse! You’d be Welcome to come stay with us to experience it, if you’d like! My 59th Birthday is the day after the Eclipse, it’s gonna be Party Time here, with some Baby Back Ribs, Fresh Tomatoes & Corn from the garden out back & Yummy Cocktails! If you can’t make it tho…It’s All Good…just know you’d be Welcomed!
Anne
Had to read the shopping cart (or buggy – I’m from GA) article first. Big pet peeve. I’m a returner 100% of the time. Most stores make it easy for you these days… Loved the Toni Morrison piece. Safe travels and happy Sunday!
Christina @ Every Little Thing She Does...
I just got back from two weeks in Italy (I was in the region where Aperol was created) and we had a Spritz EVERY NIGHT before dinner. It was amazing and I highly recommend it!
Liz
In Columbus, make time for dinner at Wolf’s Ridge Brewing if you can. We were there in January, and it was fab!
Rena
You should buy a Hello Kitty pencil set :)
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com