Carry on
On snacks, soaps and a cozy read.
Welcome to Small Joys, a bi-monthly(ish) newsletter about finding great joy in the little things. Here are a few things that have brought me joy.
Snacks for another lockdown
Each lockdown announcement feels like Groundhog Day. And while I know not much has changed, for a brief moment, I felt hopeful as the nearish future held the promise of spring and a vaccine rollout. Now that we’re no longer returning to our regularly scheduled programming, all I can offer you are some snack ideas.
Last month, I wrote a story for the Toronto Star about fun snacks you can buy beyond your usual grocery store aisle and spent an entire weekend snacking in the name of research. Is this crunchy enough? Not sure, have to tear open this other bag so I can compare. Must finish entire contents of bag to form an accurate opinion. I wrote about The Golden Duck’s salted egg yolk fish skin, which I discovered in Singapore, and they’re more exciting than truffle chips in flavour and complexity, IMO. Walkers Monster Munch are a crunchy, pickle-y delight to eat. And I think Peter Kavinsky would totally send Lara Jean Covey a care package with the gummy version of Yakult while they’re both studying in college.
Add to cart: Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Bar Soap
I really love bar soaps and even prefer them over body wash. I also love buying bar soaps when I’m travelling and enjoy hoarding really fancy ones. In the early days of the pandemic, I was inspired by Liza Herz to just use the nice stuff because if not now, then when? And so I made my way through Binu Binu’s beautiful block of soap, the lavender-scented one I bought from a market in Provence, and the luxe Hermès one I nicked from a hotel room among others.
More recently, I fell in love with an unassuming bar of soap. Mrs. Meyer’s, my go-to brand for cleaning products, recently launched a personal care line made up of body wash, body lotion, hand lotion and bar soap. The soap was the biggest surprise because I didn’t expect to love it so much. It smells good (the scent I have is called Rain Water), works up a lovely lather and is so smooth and creamy, thanks to olive oil and coconut oil. This little sliver of joy will cost you $5.99 at well.ca and is as good as any fancy soap.
Read: Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
If you ask me to recommend a romance novel, I’ll almost always offer up Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game. It’s one of my all-time favourites. Her latest novel, Second First Impressions is finally out this month and so worth the wait. You’d think that a retirement community wouldn’t be a great setting for a romance novel, but you’d be very wrong. This book has great banter, zingy one-liners, sassy retired sisters, a tattooed love interest with shampoo commercial-worthy hair and just good old romance. Everything has felt so heavy lately and this cozy and uplifting romance was exactly the gentle escape I needed.
What brings you joy, Felisia Canedo?
Felisia Canedo works in PR by day and in her spare time, catalogues all the amazing food she eats with husband Minh over at The Munch Chronicles. I can also always rely on her for excellent snack suggestions (she has it down to a science, rating system and all). I asked her what’s been bringing her joy.
“Since last fall, I've been working on a running list of all the places I'm going to travel to once it's safe to do so. Japan is at the top of the list. I've been twice before and actually two years around this time, I went with my mom and it was one of the most special times of my life. I've always deeply admired Japanese culture and of course, the food. I was on Pinterest one day and came across the artist @okayamagogo who does these beautiful hand-drawn Japanese menus. The attention to detail is impeccable, everything looks delicious and it's just so special that something usually so mundane like a menu can be turned into a work of art. When I miss travelling or even when I miss my mom, I scroll through Okayama's Instagram feed and it brings me so much joy every time.”
From my bookmarks:
Cute content right this way: Meet the Wooly Weeders, the Adorable Heroes of California Wine.
Julia Turshen on Social Anxiety and the Power of Potato Chips.
I love Emmy Raver-Lampman and Daveed Diggs's Architectural Digest tour of their Southern California Home.
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Have a great long weekend!
x Mishal