Mental Floss & Mortgage Lenders

Friends! Hi hello how are you? Happy Sunday in what is almost February but is most decidedly still Gentle January.  I’ve reached the Mortgage Lender level of adulthood for the second time in my life and as a single, self-employed woman, I can confirm the process is just as vulnerable as giving a stranger a tour of my underwear drawer. Actually maybe worse.

Mortgage lenders occupy the same space in my brain as dental hygienists (and I mean this with all due respect to both).  They’re doing their best to make an uncomfortable situation even the tiniest bit tolerable with a bright smile and knowing head tilt.  But the truth of the matter is, they’re flossing my teeth and that’s an odd intimacy I don’t actually want. Weird, right?

The great news about this level of life is that it’s temporary and shortly I’ll go back to minding my own business, and bank account, and flossing routine.  Hopefully with a humble collection of dollars to get us a new Bakehouse, baby.

•  In a lot of ways, this whole Joy the Baker experiment has been a creative commitment I’ve kept to myself – some years better than others. But here we are every week, nearly every Sunday (with our 450th Sunday post!!) nonetheless.  I found this piece on How to commit to a project every day, for years to be extremely encouraging.  If you have little thread of a project.  Hold on. Let it lead you forward (inch by inch, really).  (Quartz)

•  I’m a middle child  who moonlights rather well as an oldest sister, likely to the shegrin of my youngest sister who couldn’t have asked for two oldest sisters. Nevertheless.  We’re here. We’re born to take it on, take it in, and take it personally It’s Time To Acknowledge That Older Sisters Are The Backbone Of Society. (HuffPost)

•  It makes sense that Dating Apps Are In Their Flop Era.  I threw in that particular towel in 2011. (Bustle)

•  By now we’re well attuned to the fact that our big little human batteries operate on a 24 hours cycle and we’re required to spend at least a quarter of those hours sleeping, unconscious, literally recharging our systems.  Isn’t that just wild? No matter, though, we’re just sleep little bears because a) that’s biology, baby and b) life is exhausting.  If we’re just going to be tired, let’s aim for “Good Tired”. (Self)

•  We love to love Simone Biles, and no we will not let her husband rest. (Vanity Fair, TikTok)

•  This week on the blog we made Focaccia Pizza and, I cannot stress this enough – it’s a must make.  The dough comes together with in a large bowl with a wooden spoon in just a few minutes, rests in the fridge overnight, and then gets poked around a pan.  It really couldn’t be easier and just imagine, if you stir the dough together now you can have pizza for Monday night dinner!  (Joy the Baker)

•  Our friend Timothy knows how to work a potato.  Exhibit A:  Crispy Crawtaters.  The way I’d eat the entire pan for dinner… find the recipe here! (Instagram, Mississippi Vegan)

•  It’s Mardi Gras season but Houston has not gotten the memo.  It’s funny.  Mardi Gras is everything in New Orleans and very much non-existent just down the road in Houston.   This will be my first Mardi Gras in ten years not on St. Charles Ave waving for beads and… it’s a welcome change, until Fat Tuesday rolls around and I’m not marching through the Marigny to the French Quarter with my friends (aka the entire city of New Orleans).  If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s make King Cake about it.  This Pull-Apart Mardi Gras King Cake has become my traditional king cake because it eats in sheets and is great for a group. And I’ll make this Savory King Cake because Will mentions it’s his favorite thing I’ve ever made (and reminds me I’ve only made it for him once). (Joy the Baker)

•  Sunday feels like a fine day to Shuffle Your Senses.  A little brain scrambler for the weekend. (Substack)

•  Last week Toby had us talking about winter moisture and I will tell you – I’m obsessed.  If my skin so much as thinks a dry thought, I’m slathering myself in lotion. Here’s my method.  Just out of the shower, skin still damp, I slather myself in organic sesame oil.  This is nourishing, faintly scented, anti-inflammatory, all around glowy.  After a few minutes (at which time I have slathered my face in various potions) I go back to the body with a thin layer of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream because we’re locking in the moisture with ceramides, baby.  Also, I bring a big glass of water into the bathroom at shower time because if we’re moisturing, we’re also doing it from the inside out, ya know? We’re gorgeous.  It’s easy.  (Amazon)

•  This 4-ingredient omelet seems like a life skill.  The addition of dijon mustard!  Brilliant.  Read about it then make it.  That’s not me being bossy, that’s just a very good idea. (Simple Bites)

Take good care today, friends!

My love to you.

xo Joy