This is a nice one (found on Instagram):
To The Spider In the Crevice/Behind The Toilet Door
i have left you four flies
three are in the freezer next to the joint of beef
the other is wrapped in christmas paper
tied with a pink ribbon
beside the ironing table in the hall
should you need to contact me
in an emergency
the number’s in the book
by the telephone.
p.s. i love you
– Janet Sutherland
I’m a decent baker but I’ve never had a lot of success with cakes, let alone with making them look fancy. My mom was always the cake person–she even took a few classes on cake decorating–so I never really needed to try to improve. But I think the last six weeks have made me want to try more cakes?
It started with an easy gingerbread layer cake for my sister-in-law’s birthday. The frosting was stabilized whipped cream and I didn’t even try to ice the sides. Decorations were just garnishes, really, but it looked so fancy!
Then I made a carrot layer cake for Doc’s birthday. I attempted to ice the sides on that but was able to use chopped pecans to hide the unevenness. The cake didn’t fall! It had real layers! Maybe I was on to something?
I took a brief detour over Christmas and practiced my piping on our family’s sugar cookie recipe:
Then I took all my mom’s cake boards and decorating tools and thought, “Let’s go all in and make my birthday cake.” And reader, it mostly worked! The layers didn’t fall, I was able to frost it pretty well, and I even piped decorative borders! It was a tiramisu cake and it not only looked fancy(ish), it tasted great:
I kind of want to keep practicing with a cake a month: I have my mom’s little 6-inch pans, which would make a delightful cake for two for Valentine’s Day…my brother’s family gave me a horseshoe-shaped pan for my birthday, which could be a lucky St Patrick’s Day cake…and on and on. I like the thought of 2022 at least having cake, whatever else it holds.
It’s my Douglas Adams birthday today. I remember in years past I would do “birthday resolutions,” like some phrase would help me be my best self all year. I’m really glad I know now that what helps me be my best self is therapy, medication, and gym endorphins.
So no catchphrase for the year ahead, just grateful I found what works, grateful that my loved ones have made it through nearly two years of pandemic, grateful for the relationships I’ve worked hard for–and grateful for another year.
I got started making 6 dozen sugar cookies this morning and then realized I forgot to do a final post for the year. Like a lot of people, I’ll be back in January (and I’m gonna do some serious damage to those sugar cookies).
1. A perfect short exercise in nostalgia, about the LifeSavers Storybook candy: Deep Feelings for Small Longings
2. Anne Helen Petersen on the themes of the year (with bonus links!)
3. The most accurate year in review I’ve ever seen (via):
4. So much yes (via):
It’s almost Christmas, 2022 is coming up and it feels like a bad reboot of 2020, the anniversary of my mom’s death is in January…there is a LOT going on right now in the feelings department.
This is why we need to take a minute and a half and listen to…a squirrel hand puppet on TikTok? Yes we do. Take whatever feels heavy right now and whisper it in his fuzzy ear. Honestly, it will help.
@squirrel_dialoguesAre you carrying something heavy? ##mentalhealth ##healingtiktok ##mindfulness ##selflove ##selfcare ##nonviolence ##acceptance
Back before the pandemic, my friends surprised me with a Stonemountain gift card when I was having a bad day at work. I used it to buy some leopard print ponte with the plan of making a two piece suit to interview in–the power suit that would get me a new job.
Back in November, my agency got sold. Things are weird, but cautiously better with the new owner? He wanted to do an agency Christmas party. He spent a good amount of time in an all-hands meeting talking about what to wear to the party (cocktail attire) and said he’d be wearing a suit.
Bingo.
I pulled out the ponte and the patterns I’d had printed out for nearly two years and made a suit in a week:
It sounds impressive, but this wasn’t actual tailoring, of course–ponte is a knit and the pattern I used (the Evans Blazer from Hey June Handmade) was unlined, so it went fast. I tried to do some nice finishes inside but I also serged and topstiched a lot of seams down. (The pants were my standby Greenstyle Brassie Joggers, which I’ve made upwards of 20 times now, so they went fast too.)
This didn’t really fit the definition of “cocktail attire” for women but 1.) I’m not about to wear spaghetti straps around my coworkers and 2.) I refuse to be cold or uncomfortable any more for dressy events. Also 3.) screw your gender norms, if dudes can wear a suit, so can I.
I had fun making it, I had fun wearing it, and now I have a power suit JUST IN CASE I still need a new job.
(Art by Gottess on Instagram)
We made it to the darkest day, which means it’s only going to get lighter from here. Light a candle, build Stonehenge, read this bit from the Modern Women newsletter:
See in the dark, feel into all the messages the emptiness brings.
Gather up all the repeated complaints and yearnings, throw them all in the fire that needs to burn up this year. Make a promise to do something different, as soon as you’ve rested and restored, as much as you can.
Next year at this time, you’ll be someone different.
Falalalala la la la la
(No ornaments got destroyed, despite how fierce he looks.)
Double links for the week! I don’t know about you, but that’s about all the attention my brain has left at the end of the year.
1. Swole Woman got laid off from her job as a journalist, started a newsletter, got certified as a personal trainer, and now has a starting strength program: Couch to Barbell. She’s the reason I started lifting; if you’re wondering if you could do it and don’t want to hire a personal trainer, check it out. (Spoiler: you can do it!)
2. Give me all the archaic and specific words:
A BIRKENSHAW is a grove of birch trees.
An OSIARD is a grove of willow trees.
A POMARY is a grove of apple trees.
A MYRTETUM is a grove of myrtle bushes.
A COULDRAY is a grove of hazel trees.
A SAPBUSH is a grove of maple trees.
A DARROCH is a grove of oak trees. pic.twitter.com/SoHbYyqNRa— Haggard Hawks 🦅 (@HaggardHawks) December 13, 2021
3. Someone made a movie about my life right now:
It’s Doc’s birthday today! Look at this man that I was lucky enough to meet and even luckier to get to spend nearly 8 years learning about and loving:
He is the safest person I know, and I’m not the only one who feels that way: coworkers confide in him, his niece and nephew ask his advice about things they wouldn’t ask their parents, friends count on him checking in. He’s an ally to anyone on the outside and he will call people out when he sees them being shitty to someone vulnerable.
He’s taught me so much about being open and actually communicating in a relationship. (I mean, I’m still learning, but he’s willing to let me learn.) He has great taste in fabric, wears clothes so well, and has the slyest, quickest sense of humor I’ve ever encountered. I just feel lucky every day that I get to spend time with him. Happy birthday, honey! I love you.