Friends, hi good morning and a very chill Sunday to you!
I was walking Graham this morning (sidenote: October is National Adopt a Dog month so if you’re on the fence… you know what to do) and thought back to 2020 when we all classified the times were were living in as UNPRECEDENTED. Remember that word? I think we wore it out and yet, my word, it’s still all very very unprecedented, right? It feels like, with all our effort, we’re grinning and bearing it. It’s both dissonant and mundane.
I’ve dubbed myself fully recovered from the surgery I had a few weeks ago and very much relate to Amy’s Taurean feelings of impatience. Though, to be honest, trash-ass Geminis are impatient in a much more chaotic way. I’ve gone back to the gym and according to my legs – I’ve hit the weights too hard and I’ll be hobbling around for the next few days. I googled, “I’m so sore I think I hurt myself” hoping for a reddit thread to inspire me to go upstairs and take an epsom salt bath.
If you feel a little sore and spinny from this year, too – I’m with you. Here’s a little this and that from around the internet to go along with your morning coffee, and what I hope is a few moments of ease. As always, take only what you need.
• The news from North Carolina this week has been just unbelievable. Heartbreaking. I’ve donated to World Central Kitchen (which you can see with boots on the ground from one of my favorite Asheville restaurants Curate) and made purchases from both French Broad Chocolates and Kid Seed Co in the hopes that even little bits of support help. (WCK, Instagram)
• Tomorrow marks 365 grim days since the October 7th attack on Israel. I think the story of Vivian Silver and her family is important. His Mother Was Killed By Hamas. Her Death Transformed His Life (New York Magazine Gift Article)
• There’s one coping mechanism missing from this helpful list of tools to Bounce Back from Failure. Take a nap. Just go to sleep about it for at least an hour. (Self)
• What’s the national dish of Ireland? Be for real, is it Kerrygold Butter? How Irish butter took over the world: A Dream of Gold and Green. (Substack)
• Can confirm that Texas Is A Great Outdoor-Adventure State! There are so many beautiful state parks and you can sneak away far enough to lose the crowds. Louisiana is also an amazing outdoor state! It’s almost outside weather down here so be ready! (Outside Magazine)
• Whole Foods Tried to Change This Cake Recipes. Customers Lost It. Because there’s only so much they can take from us. Not our cake! (NYT Gift Article)
• I love a seasonal house cocktail – something that I can always have at the ready for guests and pop-in. I’m tempted to make this Cinnamon Tequila Sour the house cocktail for autumn. It would be unexpected, to be sure. Honestly maybe it would deter pop-ins. (The Kitchn)
• Have you ever made your own laundry detergent? I’m on the brink of making the transition. (Lemons Lavender and Laundry)
• I love an autumn craft that can transform into homemade holiday gifts. I’ve had the idea of easy Honeycomb Candles that can be gifted with thrifted candle holders. Sweet, right? Also, always open to ideas if you have a crafty perspective. (Amazon)
• To file away in your What To Gift Someone Who Actually Has Everything folder: Two full pounds of Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese. When someone has everything – the gifting goes off the rails. (Williams Sonoma)
• Have you seen Erica’s Best Pumpkin Muffin Bake Off? This is the journalism my kitchen needs! I’m proud to say that our cozy pumpkin muffins took second place which… I’ll take! The first place winner used vanilla pudding which, I’m nodding my head yea – it makes baked goods taste like cake mix in the best way. (Pancake Princess, Joy the Baker)
• Speaking of pumpkin, wouldn’t these layered scones be great with pumpkin pie filling? I’m going to try a batch next week along with this idea for Apple Fritter Focaccia I can’t get out of my head. (King Arthur Baking)
• Our friend Timothy made this very cozy Chicken and Yellow Rice which I would eat for at least four nights straight. He uses this Easy Baked Rice method which I’ve adopted to make the most delicious buttery herb rice on the regular. (Mississippi Vegan)
• Do you know what we’re doing about book shelves? I have stacks and stacks of cookbooks I desperately need to get off my living room floor for my own sanity and it seems like floating type shelves are either cheapy stuff from IKEA (said without judgement) or absurdly expensive, questionable quality shelves. Are they all just the same stuff? If you have any thoughts, please advise. (West Elm)
Have a lovely, Sunday friends.
My love to you.
xo Joy
39 Responses
Regarding bookshelves, look on Facebook Marketplace. You’d be surprised at the quality you can find. You don’t have to settle for the junk, but you do need to be patient. Additionally, buying secondhand saves items from the dump.
i got this for my mini library and LOVE it. holds a lot of books and i can rearrange as i want…https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XLQX5CQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
i dont take supplements but have always found that working out again helps sore muscles stop hurting…
Hey Joy, I used to get sore after ‘feeling the burb’ at the gym but the personal trainer suggested a supplement from the health food store & it changed my life … I’ve hit it hard & never sore muscles since. It’s L_Glutamine. Eat some protein within 30 to 60 minutes after your workout & take one 1,000 mg capsule & you won’t have sore muscles the next day. (It repairs them!) Super cool. I love your recipes! :-)
This might be the only supplement I don’t take – thank you for this rec because I’m getting tired of barely crawling up from the floor at the end of a workout.
I make my own laundry detergent. I grate one bar castile soap and add 2 cups A&H washing soda and 2 cups Borax.
You make it sound so easy!
RE: shelves, I ordered these off Etsy from a local-to-me woodworker. The options and quality were great. They are more in line with the West Elm prices, but I’m supporting local & artisan and it’s a quality product.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeyerWoodworkLLC?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1273245193&from_page=listing
ooh thank you!
Love your posts as always. Check out ultrashelf! Put them in my kitchen and love them. Super easy to install and very sturdy.
Will absolutely be googling – thank you Katie!
I love how many opinions there are about the shelves! They are cute but the previous owner took them all down at my home and then I asked for them back, and put them back up again and they are good for maybe a picture and a few light mementos but they sag :(
For your weight lifting adventures, take BCAAs and creatine afterward. You won’t get that terrible soreness that leads to the death drop to the toilet. It’s like night and day when I forget to take the recovery stuff after lifting heavy.
Hahahha – so you know the death drop too.
If you are ok with more rustic or industrial styles, Google “Pipe fitting bookshelves” – you can do freestanding units or just wall shelves – infinitely customizable.
COOL!
I made my own laundry soap for years and was happy with it. I think my recipe only used Borax, the washing soda and grated soap. I used various kinds of soaps, depending on the scent I liked. I stopped making it when we moved to a country where I can’t seem to find the components.
Ah – thank you Christina! Where do you live now?
Congratulations to you and your Pumpkin Muffin 2nd place win.. you had stiff competition! I have been seeing a lot of IKEA hacks popping up on my Instagram feed lately, might be worth going down that rabbit hole .. good luck
I accept these congratulations with grace :)
Hi, when we did some remodeling a few years back, we opted to have bookshelves built into our office/bedroom. I priced various freestanding options and this proved a better solution. The contractor installed based on accurate measurements as opposed to having something delivered and finding out it didn’t quite fit. We put a small bookshelf in our kitchen adjacent family room. That having been said, I still don’t have enough room for all my cookbooks, even after paring down my collection. That is the real challenge!
The challenge of loving cookbooks is so real! The idea of built-ins is a dream!
Hi! We made our own floating shelves. We had Home Depot cut the size we wanted, stained them black and got some cute brackets. Then hung them. This way you can get exactly what you want?
Floating shelves don’t have brackets. You need a base board and hidden anchors that are screwed behind the shelve itself and into the base board. The point is to hide what’s holding the shelves up. (Note: This was not a dig or jab.)
I meant screwed into the shelf, itself and into the wall that’s holding the base board, or I guess a foundation base. Some floating shelves have a recessed back, and some foundation bases protrude to make the connection, hence a sort of “tongue-in-groove”. I’m not a pro-builder or carpenter, I’m just an interior design enthusiast.
I tend to lean into DIYs pretty hard myself, Cyndi!
I cannot stress enough that floating shelves are not a great idea for lots and lots of books. They are great for display, but less great for long term weight bearing as (unless they were planned when building your wall and the supports were built in) the studs you need to keep them stable are not spaced appropriately for the actual shelves.
Ah Ashley – I suspect you’re spit on with this! I’ve moved away from floating shelves of shelves with brackets for stability. Thank you for the urgent plea. You saved me a real headache. :)
Joy, I hope that lead photo is the sun in the east behind you, so that it means your kitchen and its side door get the first rays morning sun. That would be so nice.
And I WISH someone would give me two full pounds of real Parmigiano for Christmas. Although, I did rave so much about Moliterno al Tartufo (truffled pecorino) from Murray’s Cheese that 3 people gave me half-pounds last birthday. But still would like some genuine Parm!
I have looked up homemade laundry detergent many times and have always ultimately decided not to. The recipe you linked looks good as there’s a surfactant included though just be wary that a film can build up in your washing machine and potentially ruin it over time if you’re not careful. Only way to know for sure if you like it is to try it!
Former wash system engineer here, and I agree that there are often ingredients in homemade detergents that can reduce the lifetime of your washer. In my opinion, this is something better left to the pros.
Also, the recipe notes that top-loading washers use less water than front-loaders. This is only true if your top-loader is a high efficiency washer with an impeller (plate) in the bottom. A top-loader with an agitator will use significantly more water.
Brenda! A wash system engineer!? Ok I trust your thoughts on this implicitly. Thank you for the intel!
In regards to the floating shelves, I always check out Etsy for small-business markers when it’s an item that I think someone might make, instead of buying from a big company/manufacturer. I bought these lovely walnut floating shelves for my shop’s (work) kitchen, and they are gorgeous. I’m sure you could source different wood with a more rustic finish. https://www.etsy.com/listing/787874535/urban-legacy-deep-floating-shelves-black?ref=yr_purchases
PS: Love the idea of DIY/natural laundry detergent! And that recipe makes a ton!!!
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Demis-Products-A-R-PINE-WOOD-CRATE/5005520173
My husband and I stack wooden crates from Lowes as bookshelves and it works wonderfully :)
As someone who has turned an extra bedroom into (almost) the library of her dreams, I will tell you the Ikea Hemnes shelves are good. We are on carpet with a VERY thick pad underneath and I am not afraid of them falling down on me, they look nice enough (you’re covering them with book anyway), and they work. They’re bookshelves. (I’m also a full grown adult woman in her mid 40s, with the majority of her furniture from not ikea, for personal reference.)
like jenn, the rest of my furniture is NOT from IKEA, but our KALLAX bookshelves have housed books and vinyl for the past 18 years, including a move. can’t say enough positive things about them. streamlined, in off white, attractive, and durable. the things stored on and in them shine.
Thank you so much for bringing the Silver-Zeigen family’s story. I have known them for many years. Vivian was a true inspiration for all Israeli peace activists and she is sorely missed. I lost my husband and my home on October 7th. One of the first things I did after being released from Hammas captivity was catch up on all the Let it be Sundays I missed!
Liat, how can this be real!? Saying I’m sorry for your loss doesn’t even encapsulate the grief I feel for what’s happened to you and your family, and Israel. Sending you my love and prayers.
Ikea really does have some great pieces when it comes to bookshelves. I also laughed that you stressed that the rest of your furniture is NOT from Ikea! Hahha I get you, friend.
Sadly, these times are not actually UNprecedented! The subjugation of the rights women, gay people and people of color is nothing new. Neither are banning books, genocide and power hungry dictatorship. What feels new is that Americans are capable of CHOOSING it!