Hello friends!
I just realized this is the last Let It Be Sunday of the year! It’s actually the last Let It Be Sunday of the decade. Honestly that’s far too much pressure to acknowledge further. I’m not ready to sum of the year, let alone the decade. What is wild is that I’ve been Joy the Baker for this entire decade. This decade, plus some. That’s pretty cool. I’ll give myself a congratulatory handshake over that. It’s more official than a pat on the back.
I hope you’ve had a restful holiday. I hope you’ve successfully navigated through family dynamics to an easy space of laughter and care. It’s a reflective time of year so take the time when you have it. Enjoy. It’s sweet to be in the world these days.
The offering this week is below. Take only what y0u need. The rest is for me.
• I’m a sucker for a photo compilation and this one is very reflective: The New York Times Year In Pictures.
• 99 Good New Stories you maybe didn’t hear about this year. In case you need them. (Future Crunch)
• I’ll leave this here for you: Stories of forgiveness. (The Washington Post)
• I think about this collection of photos, this big love, this sentiment at least once a week. It’s become a silent mantra: Love it all. A husband’s farewell to his dying wife. (Elephant Journal0
• Are you making a vision board this year? I think I just decided to… just as I was typing this sentence. Maybe it’s silly but I’m all about making my own dreams come true one way or another. The Difference Between Intentions and Resolutions. (Medium)
• This past weekend I made Deb’s Chocolate Caramel Crackers. I have no regrets. (Smitten Kitchen)
• I printed off a few of these 2020 Lunar Calendars as gifts. Sweet, right? (Etsy)
• High-key interested in making and consuming these Cold Rent-Week Pesto Rice Noodles. Totally out of season, but they still sounds pretty dang good. (Bon Appetit)
• Ok ok what we really need is warm soup. I know. Please consider Stuffed Pepper Soup which looks incredibly comforting and like exactly what we deserve. (The Kitchn)
• My favorite meme of the year, expounded upon: Cats can have a little salami. (Mashable)
• The invitation is to take in this delightfully different T-Pain Tiny Desk Concert. (NPR)
• One of my favorite presents from this Christmas was Anne Lamott’s Almost Everything: Notes on Hope. It’s settling and has so many good reminders going into the new year. Thank you, JK! Find it here on Amazon and here at Parnassus.
• I’m currently compiling this list while on a plane to Houston. The man next to me is chatty and inquisitive and I politely answered his questions but could definitely feel my walls up. He’s reading now. I’m typing furiously. (I’ve been told I’m a loud typer.) . I just googled “do you talk to strangers on airplanes?” and came across this: The Pros and Cons of Talking To Strangers on Planes. (Conde Nast)
• Jon made Breakfast Tacos for a crowd! (The Candid Appetit)
Happy New Years friends!
Thanks for being here with me.
Big love to you.
xo Joy
32 Responses
Happy new year Joy!!
I made that stuffed pepper soup – it is SO GOOD! It’s definitely going in the soup rotation with tomato and your sweet potato kale this winter.
All the Tiny Desk concerts are great, but the T-Pain one is my favorite. Such a surprise to hear him sing without the autotune. I had no idea he was so talented. I share it with anyone I have a reason to! Happy new year to you!
Wasn’t it such a surprise and absolutely wonderful!? I’m so glad you agree!
Happy New Year to you Joy. May the coming year bring us all more compassion, understanding and patience; with each other and ourselves. Please continue sharing your recipes and Sunday morning musings, sometimes it’s the only bearable reading to be found.
Thank you for the thoughtful words, Stella! I’m so glad you’re here!
Thanks, Joy! It’s always a pleasure to drop in and have a reading visit with you!
Wishing you a Happy New Year in New Orleans, will be there for the Saints in the Super Bowl, back with friends at the Carasouel Bar I’m the Hotel Monteleone! All good wishes & luck appreciated!
We tried. We always try.
Happy almost New Year to you and Tron! I have tomorrow off and hope to do some reflecting on the past year and maybe even past decade (gulp). There are a lot of things I’d like to change or improve about the way I live my life and I hope that setting some intentions and maybe even doing a vision board will help with that.
You’ve got this!
Great post (as always), Joy! Wishing you a Happy 2020! I am eager to try the stuffed pepper soup — perfect for the winter!!
Those photos made me cry… What a brave woman… the photos were amazing although sad
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/
I cried and cried. I feel like just bearing witness is important.
Happy new year, Joy! Thanks for all you do. <3 It's been a pleasure to follow along all these years!
That Anne Lamott book sounds like just what I need in these times. Can't wait to check it out!
Snap! My personal family blog turns 10 on 2 January 2020 – never thought I would be doing it that long. I have loved yours for years so many thanks for Let It Be Sunday!
Congratulations to you! It’s a long haul!
Great links! Love this!!!! I am an intentional talk to strangers on airplanes girl. I choose a middle seat! Who does that, right? Well, let me tell you I have made friends that way, made business deals (big ones) and I have prevented a suicide (not kidding) by the time we got off the flight the person admitted they were flying to this place to jump off a cliff to their death and they thanked me for bringing them from that place. For those of you that didn’t want to talk to me, that’s ok too but when you are placed next to someone for several hours there may just be a purpose in it.
I follow some of the bloggers that I do from sitting next to them. And *bonus* I have a wide variety of seats to choose from on flights!
I thought of you today as I boarded a plane to Los Angeles! I didn’t choose a middle seat but I help your sentiment with me and chatted a bit with my seat mate. Thanks for your share!
Thank you especially for sharing the 99 good stories!
Happy 2020!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com
I don’t normally talk to strangers on planes and my headphones normally keep people away. But fair warning, if I ever sit next to you I will talk to you. Been a fan since the beginning and have had a crush on you since then as well. I swear I’m harmless and I’m not a creepy old man. Just a fan ?
We can definitely chat!
THANK YOU for linking to an indie bookstore for your book link! As an indie bookseller whose been with you for this decade and beyond, it means a lot. ?? Happy new year!
I’m trying to be better about that! Thank you for helping me realize how much it matters.
I have a piece of leftover foam board from an long ago abandoned project that I now realize needs to become a vision board. Because I was born in a “0” year, my birthday corresponds with the reflections and intentions that come with an impending milestone. There are no coincidences, and this is exactly what I needed to read this morning. Thank you. And thank you for continuing to be Joy the Baker through the decade when I’m sure there were times when you would prefer to be “Joy the [fill in the blank]”, instead. And a most sincere thank you for making my time in Bywater a bit more special. We’ve said good-bye to NOLA for now, but I’m only a plane ride away from a Bakehouse event. Happy New Year!
Hello Brenda, I miss you! I’m glad you found a little something you needed here and you know The Bakehouse doors are always open to you!
I just read the article about talking to strangers on a plane. I do quite a bit of international travel for fun. I love to talk but never ever start conversations and have almost never have anyone start one with me! I recently spent 19 hours next to a young man and we never exchanged a word! I wish you hadn’t mentioned those caramel crackers! Now I have to make them! Happy New Year!
Ok so it also feels weird to not say a single word, right!?
LOL re: “Cats Can have Little a Salami”… but I can’t believe you wrote it the other way in your post! Or was that on purpose? ;)
There are no accidents. :) (jk there are honestly a ton of accidents but that wasn’t one of them.)
Happy new year Joy! You’re one of the few blogs I’ve read consistently through the last decade and I’m so grateful you’re still at it.
Hi Lynn! You’re the sweetest!