Hello sweet friend!
Gosh we made it to another Sunday. Can you believe?
Will you do me a favor? Tell me what you do when you settle down with this post? What’s your routine? I can tell you my routine in writing this post for you – it’s really my favorite thing to put together for you every week.
I build Let It Be Sunday all week. I pile in links here and there as the Internet comes at me over the week. On Friday I sit down to spend time sorting thru to see what makes the cut. I usually have a cup of tea, James Blake on the stereo, Tron meowing for dinner an hour early, me thinking about wine an hour early. I schedule the post for Sunday, cross my fingers that I’ve done enough proof reading though I know I never do, and I high-five myself to have an actual weekend.
I appreciate so much that you’re on the other end of these random thoughts. Thanks for taking them in every week. The offering this week is below. Take what you want and only what you need:
• 14 ways we’re getting through these terrible times and even finding some JOY, no pun intended. I myself have take on The Joy of Jogging Very, Very Slowly. (The New York Times)
• Dang, King Arthur Flour – you really did the damn thing! Inside The Flour Company Supplying America’s Sudden Baking Obsession. (Medium)
• From Ann Friedman’s newsletter – Nostalgia is our modern condition. Le sigh. (The Walrus)
• This will end with you cupping your hand over your mouth, crying. But here’s the thing: you must read this, really: My Mother, My Daughter by Samantha Irby (The Rumpus)
• This quote ran at me this week and floored me flat on my back. “One of the reasons people lock onto motherhood as a key to feminine identity is the belief that children are the way to fulfill your capacity to love. But there are so many things to love besides one’s own offspring, so many things that need love, so much other work love has to do in the world.” – Rebecca Solnit (New York Times)
• Are we doing this? I have a Quarantine Bubble With People Outside My House. You Should Too! (Slate)
• Last week Marie brought this article to my attention and I’m appreciative: PPP Is Complicated For Women. One Chef Explains Why. (Bon Appetit)
• Clarinetist Tim Laughlin was my neighbor on Royal Street when I lived in the Quarter. (Nola.com)
• What Quarantine Taught Me About Cooking on one of the best websites on the internet: Cup of Jo.
• This week I’m listening to our friend Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes on Radio Cherry Bombe. Also listening to my friend Erin Kelly talk about quarantining with her ghost here in New Orleans. (Cherry bombe and Apple Podcasts)
• You didn’t know you needed this, but I’ll tell you what, if you’ve ever even considered cooking a dry bean in your life all of this has crossed your mind: Possibly-Explicable Things People Sometimes Say About Cooking Beans. Thank you Nicole. (Shatner Chatner)
• We’re all very vary excited for this book – The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by Andre Leon Talley (Parnassus Books)
• Should I splurge on this shirt? (Imogen + Willie)
• I cannot stress this enough – you must make this week’s PB & J Cobbler. (Joy the Baker)
Have a wonderful Sunday, won’t you?
My love to you!
xo Joy
Mary B
I try to limit my computer time on Sundays so I usually read your post on Monday when I need a break at work. But since today is a holiday, I get to enjoy it with a cup of my favorite tea of all time (earl grey creme from Red Stick Spice Co. – they’re in Baton Rouge!), a cozy blanket, and nowhere else to be.
Linda
Hello, Joy. Joy is one of my favorite words, it’s your NAME, and you bring joy to me every Sunday with your eclectic weekly offering. I always find a gem or two that gives me something I need and reassures me that there are many beautiful people in the world, that there is profound beauty in seeing with honesty and empathy. My routine? Coffee. Multiple cups, freshly brewed and splashed with cream because, well, it’s Sunday.
Thank you for being brave enough to share your journey. Your voice resonates.
Raluca
I actually read them on Mondays. It’s a good way to start the week, because they make me feel, they make me happy, and I think your life is beautiful. I hope you think so too. I stopped mid-way on the Mother-Daughter article, because I too have MS and I’m not ready to read that. These are weird times we’re living and we’re all doing the best we can.
Pat
Get. The. Shirt.
Danielle
I make coffee, then sit down and read your post, opening multiple tabs for the links you share. Then once the coffee is ready, I settle in with a cup and read through the stories you’d shared. Be well.
Samantha
My routine for this post is like a reward. If I get here it means I already checked the important things on facebook, read and answered my emails, posted a new blog post, a new look on chicisimo and I can finally allow myself to see what’s new on Bloglovin (where I follow actually just you and 3 other people). So I can relax a bit and enjoy my read, like I did today!
Katie
In this part of the world (Tokyo) it’s Monday when your Sunday reads go up, so I wait until I’ve finished the first work day of the week, get home and make some dinner, then sit in my tiny studio apartment and read and learn and smile and laugh and sometimes cry. Thank you!
Jeanne
I usually wait til the evening to enjoy your Let if be Sunday links. It’s my personal Sunday entertainment, particularly as many bloggers don’t publish anything on Sundays. I let the fam go upstairs to bed or play video games or zoom with their friends. I get myself a snack (tonight it’s sweet, juicy blueberries) and something to drink (often tea but ice water today). And I let myself be entertained and laugh and be angry and educated. Thank you for this.
Stella
I brew a pot of apricot tea and read Let It Be Sunday throughout the day. I scan the stories deciding which I will read first and which must wait for the evening. Bookmark the recipes and when I’m through, I usually laugh, cry, or agonize over your selections, often sharing the articles with friends and family. Today, I cried over Samantha Irby’s gut wrenching My Mother, My Daughter. Tonight I will remind myself of all I have to be grateful.
joythebaker
I’m with you all the way, Stella.
Katie
I subscribe to a handful of food blogs with an rss reader and I browse through the day’s offerings while laying in bed with my almost 3 year old so she can fall asleep. (This is, of course, after storytime and catching up with our favorite dog on her FB Stories.) I flag the stuff that looks delicious and revisit those when I menu plan on Mondays.
Patricia James
That’s a lot of money for a tee shirt, no matter how cute. Donate same to local food bank.
Shelley Corley
Thank you for taking the time to put this together every week. I always wait until I can sift through everything. That never looks the same twice since I have a two year old and a two month old haha. Today I managed a glass of sparkly rosé while I scrolled. I live in coastal AL not too far from New Orleans. I love the city and used to spend a fair amount of time there. I can’t wait to come back when this is all over.
joythebaker
We can’t wait to have you back! Big wave to you neighbor!
Ellen
I never miss Let It Be Sunday, but seldom add a comment. However, today’s post cannot be left without adding a comment. Samantha Irby’s “My Mother, My Daughter” is indeed tear provoking writing. It prompted me to go in search of Samantha’s other writings that are found on The Rumpus, her blog and her books. I must tell you that the PB & J Cobbler is exactly what I hoped it would be, as described in my comment to you when the recipe was posted on Friday. The recipe was made on Friday evening and again this morning!! The recipe has also been been sent to my Family and friends. Thank-you!
Kerry
Good morning Joy,
Happy Birthday wishes to you. I’m in New Zealand and it is the actual day of your birthday here, so your special day is awake and raring to go (see what I did there?). I hope you have the loveliest day and enjoy it to the max. Birthdays should always be special days – that one particular annual day of the year when you should treat yourself to special things and hopefully can be treated specially by those who love you. All the best people are born in May !!
I have followed your blog for a few years now and have never left a reply, although I did snail mail you once. I don’t know if you ever got it. I would like to think so.
I love the effort you put into your Sunday posts, they always have different things for different people. I love the effort you put into your general posts too, with the great recipes and great photography.
I read your Sundays posts when I open my emails on Monday mornings. I’m usually in the house by myself so I prep my breakfast, usually porridge, and sit down and enjoy, well, Joy.
After I’ve read yours I’m off to visit your friend, Tracy at Shutterbean – I found her through you. Her Everyday Life posts are great. She also has great recipes and is someone else who lets you into her life.
Enjoy your day. Take care.
Kerry.
joythebaker
Thank you for such a sweet comment, Kerry!
Ann
Your Let It Be Sunday arrives on Monday for me. I am up early (our cat needs insulin every 12 hours so 6am and 6pm). House is quiet – husband and daughter still asleep. Cup of coffee, light filtering through the trees, as I sit near the french doors in our dining room. I appreciate all the work you put into your Sunday posts – something uplifting, something new I would never have looked at otherwise. Not sure I can promise to make that cobbler though -feels like I have already put on my Covid-19 kg.