Reasonable Resolutions

Hello friends and happy Sunday! Today we have my dear friend Toby with our Sunday links but first a quickie announcement from me!

I’ve collaborated with the good people at Delicacies Jewelry to bring you this sweetie-pie strawberry necklace.  Strawberries are my favorite berry, so fun to bake with, and the most beloved fruit of Louisiana (we get two strawberry seasons – it’s such a flex).  We’ve turned my love to this sweet berry into a strawberry pendant in rose gold, gold, or silver and it’s just the cutest. I wear mine to promote tenderness and growth.  The icing on the cake?   $10 of every strawberry necklace purchase goes to Second Harvest Food Bank to provide 40 meals to food insecure people in South Louisiana. A gift for ourselves and a giveback we can feel good about!  

I’m interrupting your Sunday with Toby because strawberry necklace quantities are extremely limited and I don’t want you to miss the cuteness! And Delicacies offers free shipping on orders over $100 so you should grab a necklace for you and your bestie or snag these adorable pasta earrings I can’t stop thinking about.  Use code joythebaker15 (until Monday so hurry!) for 15% off the entire site. Thanks for all the love always, friends! xo Joy  (now here’s Toby)

Hello, fellow Covidians!

I loved this post from my dear old pal, Jamila: “Each year I have a list of unreasonable New Year’s resolutions: from drinking more water to finding the lost city of Atlantis. This year is simple. Read, sleep, keep doing it.” 

What are your reasonable resolutions? I’m trying to go as easy on myself as possible.  Basically, that means not trying to tackle my monster of a to-do list in a single day. Please share what’s working for you in the comments and, in the meantime, here are some fun distractions

Your friend,

Toby

•  I’d rather run a 5K in the nude than publicly release my own collection of pump up the volume jams. Thankfully, this workout playlist from newsletter collective, The What, provides the perfect amount of motivation to get you moving. (Spotify)

•  One new show that’s brought a smile to my face is Abbott Elementary, a wholesome comedy about a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public school. It’ll fill the Ted Lasso-sized gap in your heart. (Hulu)

•  How to read more this year: some tips gathered by yours truly. I even sprinkled in some unpopular parenting advice free of charge! (What’s Up Moms)

•  This newsletter from Sam Irby, a writer from Just Like That, on getting a text from Miranda is hilarious. Honestly, I started out hating the show—and I still deeply miss Samantha—but now every episode makes me Feel Things. (Samantha Irby)

•  I’ve read every single think piece on the movie, Lost Daughter, so it was good to switch gears and watch this behind-the-scenes video. (Vanity Fair)

•  The kids and I made Joy’s Easy 4-ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies on our recent snow day & they were an instant hit. I’ll make pretty much anything with ‘easy’ in the title. Also, we threw in a cup of chocolate chips. (Joy the Baker)

•  I’m a religious meal planner, which is helpful in curbing food waste, but I’m also prone to buying aspirational produce and letting it go. So I liked these creative ideas for reducing food waste in your home. (Anne Marie Bonneau)

•  A useful thread: What is a great, simple mail order thank-you gift for under $30 that doesn’t charge you $5 for a personal note and doesn’t charge $80 for shipping? (Twitter)

•  I made a New Year’s resolution to not buy anything during the month of January, except the essentials, of course. So can someone else please buy this utterly awesome print? Thanks. (Etsy)

•  Meditation has never been my thing but after listening to Jenna Wortham’s meditation for a brand new year, I’m thinking about starting a practice. This just ~got me~ you know? (Substack)

•  Per Joy’s rec, I watched Being the Ricardos and the acting is amazing. But my major complaint is that we couldn’t really see Lucy’s shock of red hair. It actually looked brown? Here’s why. (Vox)

•  I won’t be doing any renovations this year, mainly because I’m still recovering from last year’s cross country move. But I did file away this post: 6 Women in Construction Where to Save—And Splurge—On a Reno. (Domino

•  In case you’re looking for new heroes, or a way to distract yourself from current affairs, behold, The Medieval Queens Whose Daring, Murderous Reigns Were Quickly Forgotten. This article slayed. (Smithsonian)

•  Anyone playing Wordle? Tons of people are playing Wordle. I do love a love story, so I appreciate its origins. (New York Times)

•  Here’s to going into this year like Britney, with Free Woman Energy. (Glamour)

•  I find the Smartless podcast hosts so charming and love the celebs they bring into rotation. But I have to say their episode with Katherine Hahn is the sloppiest interview they’ve ever done. And I loved every minute. Felt very unhinged, like 2022. (Apple)