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Hello! I don’t know about you all, but I am limping across the finish line of the year. My little family is opting out of Christmas for the most part this year, and I have decided to set my sights on 2025 instead of the holiday week ahead of us.
In a recent Substack post, I wrote:
“Everyone has heard the Zora Neale Hurston quote from Their Eyes Were Watching God: ‘There are years that ask questions and years that answer.’ Respectfully, I would like to add that some years feel like you’ve been turned upside down, held by your ankles, and shaken until everything rains out of your pockets and your head fills with blood. After the turmoil, standing upright again takes a few minutes to get your perspective because your vision is clouded with stars and spots. It’s intense, and in the moment, it’s highly unpleasant, but eventually, things settle out, but your vision is different.”
I think of 2024 as a year where I was a rock thrown into a tumbler to be refined and sanded down and smoothed. I don’t know if I feel smooth or if I’m still rattling around in there, but what I do know for sure is that I am emerging from 2024 a different person. I’m tired and weary and ready for a break.
If you’ve been reading my Sunday posts for awhile, I’m sure that it will not surprise you at all that I love the start of a new year. I love a fresh start and the idea of 12 new months stretching in front of me. Who knows what could happen? I’ve heard the naysayers and their feelings about how the start of the new year doesn’t “mean anything” but I like to think each of us can make it whatever we need it to be. And right now, I need it to be hopeful.
And so, I hope. I frequently think about this tweet from @crowsfault that says, “People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider’s webs. It’s not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.” I feel a little bloody, a little dirty, and full of hope for what’s to come.
No matter what your holidays look like or how you feel about the new year, I’m wishing you the very best. Thanks for being here, for your thoughtful comments, and for your good vibes. Writing these posts is a joy and delight every month, and I am so grateful for each of you.
• My beautiful, talented friend Amy Turn Sharp has been doing a creative advent over on Warm Hands, her Substack, and it’s delightful and inspiring, just like her. (Instagram, Substack)
• I love nothing more than a weird feud made public to the world and this article is exactly that: “One Amazon influencer makes a living posting content from her beige home. But after she noticed another account hawking the same minimal aesthetic, a rivalry spiraled into a first-of-its-kind lawsuit. Can the legal system protect the vibe of a creator? And what if that vibe is basic?” Grab the popcorn, babes. (The Verge)
• The most anticipated books of Winter 2025, according to Bustle. I am so excited for so many of these. (Bustle)
• How Gen-Z came to see books as a waste of time. As an English teacher, this is like a knife in my heart. (The Atlantic)
• I love making a Dutch baby, and this chocolate chip cookie one is my Christmas morning breakfast plan. (Joy The Baker)
• My friend Greg Mania is a ray of sunshine and a delight. His gorgeous, bright Los Angeles apartment is a perfect fever dream. (Apartment Therapy)
• No, you don’t always have to be honest. This made my inner goody two-shoes clench. (The Good Trade)
• The best way to gift a cookbook is to bundle it with some special tools and ingredients. If I could be so bold, might I suggest pairing Joy’s Over Easy brunch cookbook with a biscuit cutter, some fancy coffee, and a fancy orange juice squeezer and/or some good prosecco? Or, if you’re more of a dessert person, Joy’s Homemade Decadence with a nice spatula for scraping cake batter out of a bowl, some fancy vanilla, or a high quality pan? Better yet, gift them a few things for their own kitchen altar. (Eater, Bookshop, Joy The Baker)
• The year in viral TikTok beauty products. Two of my personal favorites made the list: the Rhode Pocket Blush and the Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment and I can vouch that they are legit. I also made you a list of my favorite skin care products and my favorite purchases of the year. I’m a Taurus, you can trust me. (The Cut, Rhode, Substack)
• How to embrace the winter mindset, even if you hate it. (TIME)
• Olivia always nails so many of my feelings, and this piece about Christmas and feelings and shopping is so good. (Substack)
• It’s Okay To Say No To The Holiday Party. I’m going to amend this even further: it’s okay to say no to literally anything, party or no. It’s cold. Stay home. (Self)
• As a Gilmore Girls superfan, I don’t know how I feel about these fan theories based on a Wal-Mart commercial. Listen, I have the whole show memorized and have watched it a rude number of times, but perhaps it’s time we take a break from Stars Hollow and touch grass? (Bustle)
• I had brunch with a friend a few weeks ago, and she ordered the shakshuka, and I immediately regretted not ordering the shakshuka. Thankfully, this black bean shakshuka recipe sounds even better. Yes please! (Joy The Baker)
• Is your new best friend a swipe away? Apps to help us make friends. I’m intrigued. (Vox)
• I’m a curly girl, and finding out my curl type changed my entire life. I’m a proud 3B, baby! (Glamour)
• One of my goals for 2025 is to be better about intentionally building community, and I love this guide to throwing an unfussy dinner party. (Substack)
• I loveeeeee to read about what other people recommend, and this site Perfectly Imperfect, catalogues recommendations. I found it via this Miranda July profile and have now read so many cool people’s lists. (Perfectly Imperfect)