Friends! Hello and happy Sunday!
I’m back at The Bakehouse in New Orleans. Will drove Tron and me back from Houston last Saturday. The drive was smooth, Tron settled in, I rested my eyes. As we neared New Orleans, the trees along the freeway were roughly sheered in half. You could see the fury of the storm. Power is back in most of New Orleans but echos of the hurricane (and so much rain) still remain. It’s funky right now, and that’s an understatement. New Orleans feels like a challenging place to be right now, still I’m glad to be back.
South of the city, along the Louisiana coast, our neighbors are struggling but resilient. Melissa Martin of Mosquito Supper Club is doing tireless work to distribute funds and information and if you’re in any way inclined to support, please consider bayoufund.org.
We’re just still in it. But how are you? Tell me about sunshine. (See? I left Seattle for a reason…)
This week, Dad (king of Sweet Potato Pie) celebrated his birthday. Tron tried to eat my lunch every day. I ordered ice cream over the internet. I put all my laundry away. I donated money. I dropped shampoo and laundry detergent to be delivered down the bayou. I continued my half marathon training that I haven’t told you about because I’m scared I can’t do it. I did all the things that life requires. Pretty dang good if you ask me… and you sure didn’t.
The Sunday offering is below. It’s a reflection of what I needed so I hope you find something here that resonated. As always, take only what you need.
• On our primate brains: You’re Not Alone: Monkeys Choke Under Pressure Too. I exercised my primate brain on one of my training runs for a half marathon last week. I psyched myself out of running the 6.2 miles I needed to run. I finished it eventually but I sure did choke along the way. It was ugly. I’ll be back to try again tomorrow. (Wired)
• A free e-book from Dave Eggers: The Captain and The Glory I’ll dive into soon. (McSweeney’s)
• Start more friendships but going for walks together. (I think this might also be true for difficult conversations you have in romantic relationships?) The Value of Friendships That Don’t Come Easy. (The Atlantic)
• Let’s all admit to having The Laundry Chair in our bedrooms. I’ll have you know I “cleaned” my laundry chair this afternoon and it still has two jackets and a purse I should just donate on it. That’s clean – I’m satisfied. (Apartment Therapy)
• Only interested in a Randy Travis kind of love, thank you. (Spotify)
• I’m cleaning up (aka deleting) a lot of the waaaaay back posts here on Joy the Baker which means I’ve been faced with my very self from 2008 and that’s for sure very cringe. I ran across this old post and you’re invited to take it in before I delete it: Six word story. (Joy the Baker)
• Jon’s Nashville Style Hot Potatoes look like a spicy version of Shakey’s Pizza Parlor potatoes. If you know you know (The Candid Appetite)
• Do you have a lucky meal? I don’t and I feel like I’ve been missing out. (Cup of Jo)
• I always want to make a friendship bracelet so this DIY Woven Macrame Bracelet tab has been open on my computer for a few weeks now. I think I need to start thinking about holiday cookie boxes and homemade gifts for giving. I’m thinking felted soap. That’s a sweet little functional gift, right? (HonestlyWTF and Etsy)
• I could watch Jeni Britton Bauer poach peaches all day. She’s so easy and stylist and funny. I admire her as much as I love her bonkers ice cream. (Instagram and Jeni’s Ice Cream)
• One of the best fall recipes on the site are these Ina’s Apple Pie Bars. I’ve made them every season since 2016 and I highly recommend you hop upon this bandwagon. (Joy the Baker)
• Our baker friend Vallery’s new book came out this week Life Is What You Bake It by Vallery Lomas. There’s a recipe in here for homemade Old Fashioned Doughnuts that I must make immediately (as soon as I have houseguests so I have folks to share them with). (Bookshop.org)
• My favorite clothing brand and my favorite new chambray shirt. (Sezane)
Have a lovely Sunday, friends.
My love to you.
xo Joy
Melanie
Please, please don’t delete the original 12 cupcakes, 1 stick of butter! It is my go to recipe and has been since it was first published. I love that 12 cupcakes is enough fir a celebration but also not too many for a weeknight. I love and embrace the imperfections of earlier Joy The Baker photos and recipes. Also, as a very long time reader, I love going back to early recipes for inspiration and reminders of when I made them the first time.
Judy D.
Love this pic of you and Tron. The sweetest!!?
Sunshine
Welcome back, Joy!
Hester
Mojo’s! That’s what the most delicious potatoes from Shakeys are called. The Shakeys in Oroville (Northern California) still taste exactly the same as they did in the 70’s, unlike the Southern California Shakeys. I might be a little obsessed with ye olde Shakeys!
Leanne
I always love your posts, Joy! I ran my first trail ultramarathon a few years ago after signing up to join a running group after a bad breakup (my goal when I signed up had been to maybe do a 15km run… I ended up doing 52!). I still don’t LOVE running, but I love a lot of what it gives me and where it takes me. One of the coolest things I found about the process was that it helped me realize that we truly don’t have much in our life that leads us to true discomfort (excluding emotional discomfort of course). If we’re a tiny bit cold, we turn up the heat or grab a sweater, if we’re a little bit hungry we grab a nibble. When you’re three quarters of the way through your run and you’re ACTUALLY UNCOMFORTABLE its a very cool mental space to be in when you realize that there isn’t much in our lives that lets us experience that space of discomfort by choice. And when you realize you CAN do it, and that while your legs might be screaming at you to stop, you can realize that actually they’re FINE (as in, they will keep going, you aren’t even close to your true physical limits) and you unlock this new mental realm of realizing that your body tries to protect you from bad things constantly (thank you, body!) but that it waaaaaay overdoes it. All that to say, yes it is hard but you are completely capable of it! I believe in you! Best of luck and hang in there.
(And lest I sound like a total crackpot, no I still don’t love running and yes I still find it really hard! It’s just a great way to break your own self imposed limits… we are possible of so so much more than we give ourselves credit for).
Colleen
I have no doubts you’ll reach your running goals. :) Sometimes it takes me an *entire* weekend morning to get off the couch before I go run. I don’t have a body made for running, but something about those endorphins and the luxurious showers after a hard run… keep me coming back.
I learned from a trainer about hip CAR’s stretches and they have helped SO much. 4 years into running, and I’m finally starting to connect to and appreciate the significance stretching has on improving my running. Also, the next time you’re in Houston, do a run along Buffalo Bayou- yes, parking is a pain, but the views are great & you can watch the bats fly off at sundown. You got this!!
debby
Hi Joy:
Glad you and Tron are back and safe.
A few weeks (?) ago you posted about a calendar you bought on Esty. Can I ask again where you bought it, please? I need to get a custom calendar as a gift. Thanks,
Angela
I’ve been running since I was 14, now I’m (shh….) 56! Most of my training is a mental exercise of chatting with myself and singing songs through my Iwatch ;). I tell this to people who don’t know where to start: I don’t always “feel” like going on a run, or even exercising sometimes (who wants to jump into an outdoor pool in winter?!- CA girl here ;), but I NEVER regret going on the run (or exercise). Good luck with your training!
LB
You’re going to rock that half marathon! ??
LB
No! My fist bump emojis got turned into question marks!!! I have no doubt you’re going to rock the half marathon. Ugh, I’m crawling back into bed now.
Anna
Congrats on training for your first half, Joy! Whatever the outcome, enjoy the experience. This is a huge accomplishment!
Mary
I live near the fires in northern California and the Sierra Nevada, near where you went through on your road trip and all that smoke. Getting home is such a goal, but then the reality hits that it’s the beginning of a long, long, long road. Your humor, graciousness, and good life practices will get you through and, by manifesting those characteristics everyday that you’re able, you’ll be helping others, too.
Melanie
If you’re looking for more ice cream to order (who isn’t??), give Sugar Hill Creamery a try!! https://www.sugarhillcreamery.com/ I highly recommend Sweet Socialism… and I can’t wait to give Tuma Buna a try next time I vist the shop.
Jess Mann
I just came across a fb memory from seven years ago of this time I registered for a half marathon and trained all summer, only to sprain my ankle about a week before the race.
It was a different time. I had yet to get pregnant and have any babies. I had yet to learn about what real stagnation looks like. I had yet to endure eighteen months of a pandemic.
I saw the post about how I was offering my bib to anyone who wanted to take it and that pain and anger and humiliation all rushed back to me as bitter and strong as it had been that September day I twisted my ankle and realized I could barely limp home.
This is all to say, you can do the thing, Joy. You can run the half marathon, not because of training, not because of athleticism, but because you, like so many of us, have had to learn the delicate art of enduring prolonged, uncertain discomfort, and that’s all any endurance sport is.
Katelyn
Many years ago, I did a couch to 5k program for women. In the course of training, I got tendonitis in every available tendon in my legs. PT said I don’t engage my butt muscles so I overstressed my legs and probably running wasn’t for me. Yes, you read that right: my ass is literally too lazy for me to run.
My lazy ass honors you, Joy! All the luck! Xo
Zoe
I love the humour but I also can’t believe they just told you running probably isn’t for you! (And you may be paraphrasing) but shouldn’t they be helping you learn how to engage those butt muscles!?
Amanda Quain
I ran my first two half marathons virtually during lockdown, 6 and a half loops on the two mile loop in my neighborhood. Now I’m training for my first full marathon (which will hopefully be in person) and I’m terrified. We’re in this together! -Amanda
Amanda
Joy, I LOVE that song- and also Forever and Ever Amen AND, stylistically different but same message from the queen: Sunday Kind of Love by Etta James.
Also, now that you’re sharing your running goal, I will be cheering you on and sending youcandoit vibes with each run I go out on. Find your dig-deep mantras and pep talk yourself through those miles. You can do it!!! Thanks for the reminder to be brave and try new things <3
Courtney
I’m always happy to read your Let It Be on Sunday. It’s like I’ve taken a big breath in and can finally exhale with true relief.
Good luck with the half marathon. The first one is the most nerve racking but I bet you’ll sign up for another one.