Ladies be blazin!

Hey, remember that time I met Joy the Baker? Yeah, me too. 

I think a list will be most helpful in explaining all the things I loved about last night.

1. Joy the Baker was in St. Louis for a book signing. Awesome in and of itself.

2. Joy is my dearest friend's favorite blogger. Seeing her face light up when Joy walked in the room was just priceless. I was creepily fixated on her reaction much like making sure you catch a glimpse of the groom when his bride is walking down the aisle. Hopefully that's not too creepy of a metaphor, Erin.

3. Joy is super cute and kind in person and is totally the same person she is on her blog. Also her bravery in pairing navy and black inspired me.

4. Someone asked Joy what she does with the insane amounts of food she creates daily. Her answer, "I feed my neighborhood." Oddly enough, I think this was my favorite part of the evening. We love our neighborhood, and as I think about what it means to live missionally in community, I can't help but acknowledge the power of food. What if I invested enough time into knowing my neighbors that they could pop by at any time for dinner or to grab "a whole quiche out of my freezer" as Joy put it.

5. Joy and I shared a semi-awkward, and I'm hoping awesome (not creepy), moment obsessing over Tucker the culinary gardener from her visit to the French Laundry.

6. I capped off the evening with some of the best cocktails in St. Louis with Erin, Natalie and Larua. It's a wonderful thing to gather around the table with 3 other girls who totally enable and encourage one another's blog addictions. Plus, Larua was just trained on teaching etiquette, which I think sounds like the coolest job ever.

7. These pictures made me realize that I really love my hair long. Note to self, look back at this blog post before considering anything drastic.

Thank you Joy for a wonderful evening. Come back soon.