34th birthday

Yesterday was my 34th birthday, and, I have to say, it was one of my favorites. We just celebrated in a low-key family way, and it was so nice. First, on Wednesday night, Alex took me to see the The Book of Mormon. Our friend (who actually happens to be Mormon) helped us get discounted house seats through her friend who works for the play. When we showed up, we realized we were sitting fifth row center! We were so close, we could see the sweat on the actors' faces; it was crazy.
Look how beautiful the boxes were on the sides of the theater...
The play was absolutely hilarious, and the acting was fantastic. Jon Stewart said the play was "so f**king good it makes me angry," which seemed about right. We had smiles plastered on our faces the whole time.
The next morning, my brother and his French girlfriend Audrey came over for breakfast. She recommended Bien Cuit, a new bakery in our neighborhood...
...so we headed over there for delicious pain au chocolat and carrot bread. (Toby preferred the former:)
That evening, Alex and I went to Junoon, a fancy Indian restaurant in the Flatiron district.
The food was exploding with flavor. We had crispy cauliflower, fried paneer cheese and duck meatballs just to start, and then shared lentil-encrusted mahi mahi and lamb shank braised for five hours.
During dinner, Alex surprised me with a handmade Mason Pearson brush. I've wanted one ever since Caroline explained that the boar bristles evenly distribute your hair's natural oils to make it extra shiny. Plus, every woman in my family had one growing up—my mom, my aunts, my grandmother—so in a funny way, it feels like I've finally grown up. :)

Faux fur throws

This past weekend, we were lucky enough to visit our friends' cabin in Connecticut. Alex and I are usually huge wusses about winter, but, inspired by our friends, we decided to embrace it. We built roaring fires, ate French toast and bacon for breakfast, chopped wood, went cross-country skiing, threw the toddlers in the bath together, and later comforted crying kids on hikes because their hands were too cold and rushed them back to the warm car—all in all, a real country weekend:)

But the biggest surprise of the trip? Our friends' sofas were draped in these faux fur throws from Restoration Hardware, and they were soft and luxurious. We spent the weekend cuddled in them, and when we returned home on Sunday night, we immediately ordered one. I'd highly recommend them!
P.S. Love Alex's face while chopping wood!

(Photos by our friends, who are actually the designers behind Pinhole Press. Thanks, Ashley and Stefan!)

Vacation photos: LA and Palm Springs

For the holidays, we went visited friends and family in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. We were psyched and lucky to be there for a full ten days, since next year—with the new baby—we'll probably be more homebound. Here are a few photos, if you'd like to see...
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Very happy nine-month news...

After holding my tongue for months, I'm really excited to announce that Alex and I are expecting our second child! We are completely over the moon. I'm three months along, so the baby should arrive around July 3rd. Toby has requested that we have a "glurl" and name her "Thomas," after this friendly guy.

Pregnancy and new motherhood felt both wonderful and disorienting the first time around, so I'm curious how different it will feel the second time. Funnily enough, this pregnancy already feels much more real. With Toby, my pregnancy felt surreal and was hard to wrap my head around, but now we know more about what to expect. My friend Sari and I were talking about the experience of expecting a second child, and she said, "Because I knew what it felt like to love Jude, I was able to tap into this deep, true kind of love for Teddy from the very instant I knew I was pregnant with her." I loved that.

How mindblowing to think we're going to experience a newborn again along with all those sweet steps: growing a belly, finding out the gender, giving birth, choosing a name, cuddling a newborn, breastfeeding, doing tummy time, acting a little crazy, waking up early, swapping drool-y kisses, trying to figure out a good work-life balance, standing up, taking first steps, saying first words....

I can't wait. :)

(Photo kindly taken by our friend Shannen Norman. Thank you again, Shannen!)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Hope you're having a wonderful week. I wanted to say thank you so much, truly, for reading Cup of Jo. It means a lot to me that you take the time to come here. This week we're hanging out in Palm Springs and L.A., and I'm sure you're busy, too, so I figured I'd take a break from posting, but looking forward to coming back on January 2nd! Have a good one. xoxo

P.S. Toby's first Christmas, what a flashback.

(Photos from the Ace Palm Springs yesterday, where Toby officially fell in love with hotel pools)

A little love note

So I've been sick as a dog this week—and am finally feeling better today, thank goodness. Alex was so sweet to come home early, put Toby to sleep, bring me Gatorade, make me a bland dinner (toast with said Gatorade) and lie in bed and read to me. The last time I was this sick (almost five years ago), he read me "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was creepy and wonderful, but this year I couldn't find any short stories so he read from Bird by Bird. Thank you, Alex; I love you.

(The experience also taught me that it's really nice to read stories in bed. Do you have any favorite books of short stories? I'd LOVE to hear...)

P.S. Toby's reaction.

(Photo of our bedroom by Oh Darling Photography)

Motherhood Mondays: What family traditions do you have during the holidays?

What are your family traditions around the holidays? When we were growing up, my parents would light angel chimes at the dinner table, and the heat from the candles would make the angels spin around and ring the bells. That little "ding, ding, ding" sound still makes me feel so warm and cozy...

Toby is two-and-a-half years old, so this is the first holiday that he'll really understand. I've been thinking so much recently about the value of rituals, and I'd love to create some for our family. So angel chimes are the very first holiday tradition we're starting with him.

Does your family light angel chimes? (Apparently, angel chimes are actually Swedish, but they were introduced to America about fifty years ago.) What other holiday family traditions do you have? A big Christmas Eve dinner? Homemade stockings? Super spiked egg nog? I'd love to hear—and get ideas!

(Many thanks to our friend Alpha Smoot for taking photos)

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Hurricane week: photos

How are you all doing? Is everyone OK after the hurricane? The photos...Read More >

Husband moment

Alex just asked me—totally seriously—if he would "jinx" the game if he put on his SF Giants baseball hat.

#sportsmakepeopleweird

Fall Challenge #1: No TV for a week (how'd you do?)

Last Thursday, I wrote about doing weekly fall challenges (think: write a handwritten letter, go see a movie alone) and was psyched that you guys were up for it. So, the first challenge was to NOT watch TV for one week. How did you do? Here's our recap...
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British words

Alex just wrote a funny article about how Americans, more than ever, are adopting British words in conversations (think: "rubbish," "mates," "cheers"). It made me laugh out loud. Do you say British words? I, for one, am totally busted.

Read the full article here.

(Illustration by Adam McCauley for the NYTimes)

Challenge: Cook every night this month

Alex is usually the chef in our family, but...
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Vacation photos: Capri

Last week, Alex and I took a four-day getaway to Capri, Italy. (Here's why:) Have you ever been there? What a magical place! I'd love to share a few photos, if you'd like to see...
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Our third anniversary

Alex is definitely nicer than I am. Here's why...
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Do or Don't: Scheduling sex

So. Alex and I have started a new thing...
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Making friends as an adult

Alex wrote an article for last Sunday's New York Times about how hard it can be to make close friends in your thirties and forties. The astonishing thing is what a nerve his story has hit. The article has been viewed a gazillion times and is getting a record number of comments. It's fascinating to realize how many people feel the same way.

Read the story here, if you'd like, and weigh in: Have you, too, found it hard to make new friends after college? Do you wish you had more close friends these days? Do you ever find it awkward to "ask someone out"?

P.S. Seinfeld's take. :)

(Illustrations by Roman Muradov for the New York Times)

Vacation photos: Chicago and Michigan

We just got back from a week-long trip to Chicago and Michigan to visit my parents. We hadn't spent much time in Chicago before (thanks again for your advice!) so it was awesome to explore all the neighborhoods. Here's what we did...
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Are you a city mouse or country mouse?

Toby is a born-and-bred city kid (who knows how to hail a cab and wear tattoos), but this Saturday, we decided to escape to the country...
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Toby the boy

At two years old, Toby is becoming such a BOY. The other day, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, and he said, "Butt." So I laughed and asked him what he really wanted, and he said, "Penis." Ha, noted.

Thankfully, this recent photo of Alex and Toby watching a video in the morning still captures that baby look. If only for a fleeting moment. Oh, how I love my little man.

The weird thing we do on vacations (I swear by it)

When Alex and I were first dating, we went on vacation together, and something surprising happened...
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