Friends, good Sunday to you! Please take in this image of The Bakehouse in southeastern Texas blanketed in several inches of snow. SNOW! What I can tell you about this record snowfall is that my house has no insulation but several fireplaces. Texas Sage can apparently survive both brutal summer heat and Texas snow, and I’m glad I kept my Christmas garland up for the twinkling yellow lights alone. We had a few days of a winter wonderland which was, despite its deep chill, such a delight! Will and I made soup about it, kept a close eye on the water pipes of the old house, and just nested – as we all should do in the deepest winter. I feel like we’re thawing out this weekend which is the perfect time to properly clean the house (and all the muddy dog prints) and wash the linens.
We’re coming to the close of our Gentle January which has been outwardly and rather aggressively Not Gentle At All, but I hope this weekend finds you taking it nice and slow, with a fresh pot of coffee and maybe a load of laundry spinning. The offering today is our 501st Sunday post. Can you even believe we’ve spent so many Sundays together? Grateful for you, friend. Here we go.
• I’m just going to leave this tab open in my browser as a reminder: How To Help A Friend Through Grief. It can seem like we’re all going through so much, but let’s just show up and talk about the elephant. (Substack)
• You can’t read about What They Grabbed fleeing the fires in Los Angeles without thinking about what you’d grab from your home. It’s sobering (among a million other emotions). (Curbed)
• If you’ve been here long enough you might remember a few years back when I was learning how to swim. Like… swimswim laps and such, with some semblance of efficiency and coordination. I took one lesson with a young man who really just enforced my insecurities about the matter and then I promptly bought a book and tried to teach myself (avoiding any and all eye contact with that young man forever and ever). Turns out swimming wasn’t the sort of thing that came naturally to me so I quietly let it go. Welp: The Magic of Swimming Lessons in Middle Age has me thinking I need to not give up on myself so easily. (NYTimes Gift Link)
• With age and grace I can now see the end of some of my big friendships as simply coming to their natural conclusion. That’s not to say it’s any less sad but here’s 5 Signs You’ve Outgrown a Friendship. (Self)
• What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? It’s on a Friday this year which makes it a little sexier, right? I still always opt for a cozy at-home holiday. Maybe a little fire in the fire pit, this Shrimp Etouffee Risotto, and a Manhattan as a nightcap. (Joy the Baker, Serious Eats)
• I do recommend getting a Galentine’s Day party with your girlfriends on the calendar now. Stop here and pop into the group chat. We’re having a little potluck dinner at a girlfriend’s house which will also serve as the catch-up we all need since the holiday season was so busy. I’m hoping to make candles in thrifted vessels as little gifts. Something like this video here. It’ll be a crash course in candle making but I think I can pull it off. (Modern Day Cottage, Youtube)
• If you’re a YouTube person, you should certainly subscribe to lil’ ol’ me for YouTube Shorts!
• Still gathering all the small joys I can this January. A highlight has been dragging the big juicer onto the counter to make a very fancy citrus juice with pink grapefruit, oranges, lemon, and ginger. It’s pure sunshine. (Instagram)
• Abby influenced me to make Lasagna Soup (I made a stovetop version of this slow cooker recipe), and it’s not so much a soup as it is a deconstructed lasagna in a bowl. Please don’t read this as a complaint. It’s an extremely cozy option for this time of year! (The Kitchn)
• Why Martinis Keep Getting Dirtier – we’re close to jumping the shark on this one. (Grub Street)
• If you’re looking for a reason to leave the oven on for a good while this afternoon please consider making this Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread. (Joy the Baker)
• We’ve entered the glow-up portion of the Sunday post! The cold weather and snow made for a suprisingly dry week in Bellville and apparently, I thrive in humidity and absolutely shrivel up and need vaseline in dry air. Amy gave us many UBeauty tools in last week’s post. I’m very simply slathered in sesame oil layered with Glo Getter Body Butter which has me smelling like a vanilla cookie. And Amy is right, I think the key to hydration is drinking an annoying amount of water. That I’m still working on. (Amazon)
• Before our little wedding on Thanksgiving, I had taken several years off from getting manicures. Ahead of the big day I got exactly two gel manicures and while they were super cute and glossy, gel manicures make me feel claustrophobic. I just can’t get past the fact that I have to go back to a manicure studio to get the color off or gnaw it off like a little badger. Also, the sandblaster used to sand the gel off absolutely destroys my nails. Paper thin. It’s just…. I can’t do it! The past few weeks I’ve been painting my nails with Dazzle Dry which, honestly I thought was a MLM (lol), and it’s great! It strengthens my nails, dries in 5 minutes (it really does!), lasts for more than a week (sure, not as long as gel), it’s advertised as non toxic, and I can remove it myself easily with acetone. (Amazon)
• I clean my house A LOT. There’s a lot of house, many dogs, many dishes, and a big cat to clean up after. By the time I’ve spend an afternoon cleaning my hands were raisins so I’ve developed an admittedly high maintenance hand routine before cleaning. First I rub the backs of my palms, wrists, and fingers with this retinoid stick. Then I slather my hands in handcream, pull on some food service gloves, and finally – these extra long dish gloves because if a drop of water gets inside my dish gloves – it’s over for me. (Amazon)
My love to you, friends!
Have a lovely Sunday.
xo Joy
