The Coffee Table with Jocelin Donahue
You know when you see someone and you can instantly tell you’d be friends? It’s rare but exciting to feel an instant friendship connection! That’s exactly what happened when I shot a commercial with poised and down-to-earth actress and food blogger:
Currently Brewing
I’m in Insidious Chapter 2 with Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. It was directed by the extremely talented James Wan and is currently in theaters! It’s been so cool to see fans get behind another film I worked on calledThe House of the Devil. I’m also getting excited for the release of Live at the Foxes Den this December, where I star opposite Jackson Rathbone as a troubled cocktail waitress and lounge singer.
In addition to acting, I’m also a writer and cook. A few years ago I turned my passion for food into a blog called Pezzo. I’m looking forward to releasing my first eBook soon. In it I recreate a few of the dishes my husband and our moms enjoyed on a trip to Tuscany last year. It’s no secret that the Italians have perfected the art of cooking and eating…living, really. They have been proponents of local and seasonal food for centuries and use simple techniques that are easy to adopt as a home cook. I love the idea that an everyday practice has the potential to be transcendent.
Favorite Drink
My husband has really gotten into coffee lately so I got him a Burr grinder and a Chemex glass coffee maker. It’s a breeze to make perfect black coffee at home with these basic tools. We get beans from Blue Bottle and Handsome Coffee Roasters, which is here in L.A. Their beans make such delicious coffee that I go to bed dreaming of my morning cup.
It’s the Little Things
- A good book on a lazy afternoon
- Handmade Cotton Turkish Towels
- Snacking on samples in my neighborhood farmer’s market
My Coffee Table
I usually have my morning coffee in my home’s breakfast nook. I love my nook! It serves many purposes: a desk for writing blog posts and memorizing lines, a mini studio for my food photography, a hang-out spot for drinking wine and lunching on antipasto.
As you can see, it’s a perfect place to store my favorite cookbooks. Also on the table: current issues of the New Yorker, Moleskine notebook, Space Pen, and Mac Book Air.
Words of Wisdom
I often find myself rereading the commencement speech that David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. He talks about the constant battle we face as modern humans against anxiety, frustration, insecurity and boredom. His advice? Put better thoughts in your head. Be mindful, empathetic, and considerate. Value the perspectives of others. And in the same vein, from George Saunders’s recent address to graduates at Syracuse University: “Err in the direction of kindness.”
Follow Jocelin and Pezzo on Twitter.
Read more coffee table interviews here!
Posted with love by Kathryn
