Four Fun Things

I LOVED Agassi’s biography!! I was surprised at how well written it was!

That Winona Rider impression!! She had the eyes right and everything hahahahaha

I’m really disappointed there is an ad for cigarettes on your site. As a loyal reader of 12+ years, I’m so surprised you would agree to advertising this to your community.

Oh my, how I love CoJ. The combo of the “how are you doing” post (answer: as awful as everyone else right now, which is incredibly validating) and the comments in this post are just everything. Knowing that there is a community of readers who are struggling right now just as I am, but who would go out of their collective way to send Katie good thoughts–gah. Thank you CoJ and thanks to all of you.

Katie, I am so sorry for your loss. Sending you light and strength. My favorite recent escapist books are Red White and Royal Blue and the Royal We (nothing more escapist than the British monarchy).

My (three) current fun/life-giving things:
1) Between Two Kingdoms–finally picked it up after seeing the rec here and it is as brilliant as promised.
2) Ted Lasso, always and forever
3) Fresh figs! On a small plate with a square of dark chocolate for dessert. Me fancy.

Love all the book recommendations! I recently read “Dear Mrs. Bird” by AJ Pearce and just loved it!

YES. nancy silverton’s chopped salad is THE. BEST. SALAD. I moved from LA to SF and I frequently crave Pizzeria Mozza!

Today’s four fun things: Amanda Hesser’s Food52 Instagram video series, Amanda Messes Up in the Kitchen. She’s unintentionally hilarious and picks recipes it would never occur to me to try. Carolina Gelen, also on Instagram, a young Jewish woman from Transylvania who cooks her way through her family’s repertoire of grandma cuisine {challah, custard slices, sour cream cookies and stuffed peppers} with an unabashed appetite, and then shows you how to decorate a bowl of soup with creme fraiche and flowers so that it looks like an impressionist painting. Deborah Copaken’s memoir, Lady Parts. She is a lightening rod for every kind of bad luck there is, but she’s such a good writer you can’t tear yourself away, even when you see her making one excruciating bad choice after the other. Monument Valley on the iPad. I had to delete it because I was so obsessed with it!

after getting to attend my first us open (!!!) a few weeks ago, I turned back to “String Theory” which is DFW’s collected essays on tennis. Super fascinating!! Also love love Agassi’s book – but I am biased because tennis is for sure my favorite sport <3

Hahahahahahahaha those impressions

My four –
1. The résumé dress in stretch linen from J crew (https://www.jcrew.com/p/womens/categories/clothing/suiting/stretch-linen/resume-dress-in-stretch-linen/L6602). Snagged on sale a year ago for $61.90 in bright indigo color. It feels like putting on a power suit made for Peggy Olson!!
2. Warm lemon water in the morning, such a simple ritual. As my cousin Nerissa says “it feels like a spa day”
3. Listening to whole albums straight through. It’s so fun to feel the mood the artist was creating when the album was made, I feel like we kinda lost that…
4. Schitt’s Creek. Stillllllll

Just finished reading Paper Palace (loved!) and The Very Nice Box (quirky and entertaining).

The Nancy Silverton dressing from that salad recipe is our go-to! We make enormous American-style hoagies and a red wine vinager dressing is key. Or it’s excellent on a big bowl of crispy chickpeas, maybe with a little chorizo mixed in. It’s so bracing. I will say, we use A LOT less oil than it calls for. We always make a double batch since it’s just such a hit!

I’m so sorry to hear that, Katie. My sister-in-law experienced a stillbirth and it is just heartbreaking. Sending you so much love. As an aside, The Plot may feel triggering but I don’t want to give anything away.

My four fun things: 1. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz – Yes, I know I’m late to the party but I’m so glad I finally arrived. 2. Ted Lasso seasons 1 and 2 – Every episode is just pure gold and is making me feel good about humanity. 3. Letting my mind wander in the morning before getting to bed and picking 3 things I’m grateful for. Yesterday morning in my sleepy haze my brain came up with fluffy blueberry muffins (even though I haven’t had a blueberry muffin in years), warm beverages, and “birds!” 4. The When Harry Met Sally episode of Rewatchables podcast and the moment when my husband walked in to hear me shouting “What about ‘You made a woman meow?’??!?!?”

Oh Katie. I’m very sorry. What a huge loss. If you’re comfortable sharing your darling baby’s name with us, I’d love to hear.

PS When I needed some comfort reading after a miscarriages few years ago, I dove into the Louise Penny murder mystery series. I realize murder might not scream comfort! but somehow the cozy town, close-knit cast of interesting characters, an inspector with heaps of integrity, and the fact that all the big problems get solved (ish) was just what I needed. Just in case you need another series to add to your list. Xoxo

me too! Happening on my phone but not my laptop using Chrome – I thought I was in a time machine!

I just finished Lucy Knisley’s book Relish. It’s a graphic novel that’s also a memoir. It is so cute and fun! The cartoons are bright and cheery and the stories about food make me so happy. It was a truly light and enjoyable read!

Hey Joanna & team,
Just wanted to let you know the home page is showing the tattoo post from Sept 08 and older. I am able to find this post by navigating directly to the ‘Design’ tab up top. This is happening in Firefox and Safari. Not sure about Chrome.
Really loving the new website design and appreciate all the work you’re putting into fixing up the kinks. Love the new layout overall I think it’s really beautiful! The new typeface is A+. Thanks!