Good news

For the next week, ASOS is giving Cup of Jo readers a whopping 20% off all full-priced items with the code CUPOFJO20.

For fun, here's a round-up of what to wear on a picnic, including summer dresses and Swedish Hasbeens. (The sky blue color is especially pretty.) Thanks so much, ASOS. xoxo

(Above are a striped dress, floral dress, satchel, clutch and sandals. Spend up to $830; US orders only; code active until May 7th. )

Three ways to arrange flowers

The Flower Recipe Book is a new book about flower arranging. The clever twist is that the tutorials are written like cookbook recipes—with lists of ingredients and step-by-step instructions. Here are three simple recipes, if you'd like to see...Read More >

Motherhood Mondays: On being your child's touchstone

Did you read this amazing discovery in the New York Times...Read More >

What have you learned from your mom?

Mother's Day is two weeks away, so I'd love to ask: What has your mom taught you?

Here are ten things I've learned from my mom:
* Always be on time when picking someone up at the airport; it means a lot to people.
* There's something life affirming about a gin & tonic before dinner.
* If someone has cooked a meal, wait until they start eating before you take your first bite.
* Clear nail polish looks surprisingly beautiful.
* If people are rude to you, it's usually because they're having a bad day, so be empathetic and don't take things personally.
* Sprinkle sea salt on top of cookies before baking them in the oven.
* Nothing is better than reading a really good book, except maybe having your hair played with when you're falling asleep.
* Talk to kids like they're adults. They're smart and will love it.
* Everyone is secretly a big nerd.
* You're never alone.

A supporter of Cup of Jo and of all things love, the fragrance Coach Love, a warm woody floral, has re-launched their beautiful Facebook app to celebrate moms this Mother's Day. You can share what you love about your mom, along with a photo. It's a sweet way to recognize moms together. Post yours on Facebook, if you'd like.

So, I'm curious: What has your mom taught you? How to choose a lipstick? How to roast a chicken? How to ask for a raise? How to be a kind person? I'd love to hear their words of wisdom...
(This post is sponsored by Coach Love. All words and ideas are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who make Cup of Jo possible)

Seven month belly shot

Alex snapped a few belly shots last night. I'm 31 weeks, which means I'm about 7 months along. The baby has started to lurch around in my belly, I'm starting to feel enormous, and we've been washing teeny onesies in preparation. We're getting close! One surprising thing is that the baby feels so heavy, which is apparently normal for second pregnancies. But if I walk more than three blocks, I have to lug my belly up with both hands. My friend jokes that it's like carrying a bag of groceries, which sadly rings true:)

Have you seen the tumblr The Pregnant Husband? Made me laugh out loud a million times.

Hope you had a great weekend. xoxo

P.S. Great book for mothers-to-be, and a pregnancy survival guide.

Simply Bows and Chair Covers in The Sunday Times!

On Sunday 21st April Simply Bows and Chair Covers MD Sarah Pittendrigh featured in the Sunday Times talking of her fascinating tale of triumph of setting up what is now the multi award winning Simply Bows and Chair Covers.

Read more here.... Sunday Times

Have a great weekend.

What are you up to this weekend? My dad is coming to visit, and Toby is super excited to show off his violin. (He's been practicing:) Tomorrow I'm also volunteering at a city school, whose arts program has been completely cut, to talk to kids about blogging as a career. We're doing a craft project, where they'll cut out magazine photos and quotes to create their own "blog" on paper. Looking forward to it. Have a great weekend, and here are some fun links from around the web...

Would you drink a kale, spinach or arugula cocktail?

My relationship with my mom, then and now.

How to poach an egg in the microwave.

Love these earrings.

Did you catch the obscure 30 Rock reference on Mad Men?

How cute are these teeny swimsuits??

Potato chip mac n' cheese.

How to go on a date.

Visiting a museum with a cranky 12-year-old.

Girl's night out. Made me laugh.

Rad shelf for your house.

Dangerous discovery: You can order these AMAZING chocolate bars by the dozen.

Google has hidden rooms.

Good news: If you're doing spring shopping, everything at J.Crew is 25% off this weekend.

And speaking of calming your mind...
(Comic by Tom Cheney for The New Yorker, via Abbey)

Rubber stamp

What a lovely stamp for dressing up handwritten notes.

P.S. United States return address stamps.

Weekly Challenge #6

Have you ever meditated? I recently hung out with a new friend, Louise, who grew up in a Iowa town known for transcendental meditation. At just five years old, she was taught to meditate by repeating a mantra while she played with toys. At her high school, all the students would meditate for three hours a day. Amazing, right?

I've never been able to meditate. Funnily enough, I think it's because I'm too anxious. Alex and I once went to an evening meditation workshop for a story he was working on, and the whole time I sat there trying to figure out where we should go to dinner afterward. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the point.

But meditation can actually make you happier. According to a fascinating New York Times article, researchers have shown that daily meditation-like thought can shift brain activity toward "positive emotional states...that make us more likely to engage the world rather than to withdraw from it." In the study, participants were told to "relax with their eyes closed, focus on their breathing, and acknowledge and release any random thoughts that might arise," and voila! With as little as five minutes of meditating a day, "a happier outlook is yours for the taking."

So! Who wants to give it a go? This week's challenge is to meditate for 10 minutes a day. Because if it really makes you calmer and happier, then 10 minutes would be worth it, right?

Andy Puddicombe, author of Get Some Headspace: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life in Ten Minutes a Day, says it's best to meditate first thing in the morning, if possible, and in the same place every time. "Avoid judging your meditation," he told the Huffington Post. "It is tempting to think you are 'good' or 'bad' at meditation. In truth, there is no such thing...Taming the mind is a skill to develop over a lifetime."

What do you think? Have you ever meditated? Did you feel good afterward? Would you be up for trying it?

P.S. Are you too busy? Also, cat bounce.

(Graphic design by Rachel for Cup of Jo)

Weekly Challenge #5: Interview Your Parents

Last week's challenge was to interview your parents. If you did it, did you find out anything surprising? I did...Read More >

Date night tattoos

Tattly's temporary tattoos would be cute to wear on a date.

Also, have you heard Obama's brilliant parenting move? "Michelle and I have used this strategy when it comes to things like tattoos," he told the Today show. "What we've said to the girls is, if you guys ever decide you're going to get a tattoo, then Mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo, in the same place, and we'll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo." Zing! Made me laugh.

P.S. More rad tattoos.

Simply Bows and Chair Covers Real Life Bride Emma shares her story!

Today we bring you our interview with Emma and Laurie who married in January...

 Where and when did you get engaged?

Well, we just kind of talked about it and decided to get married. Romance is missing in this aspect I’m afraid.

What was your wedding date?

25^th January 2013

Where did you get married?

Farnham House Hotel

Why did you choose your venue?

I wanted the ceremony and the reception under one roof and it needed to be quite near my mother and father as they are elderly. I liked the Farnham House Hotel because it is small and would feel a bit more personal.

Did you have a “theme”?

I decided on deep red roses and diamanté’s 

What was your wedding colour scheme?

Red, Black, White and Silver

Why did you choose Simply Bows and Chair Covers and what were they like to work with?

I choose Simply Bows and Chair Covers because I didn’t want to go with the traditional wedding style decorations. I wanted something very different. I saw the website and it looked like they may be able to help. I met Michaela and she was so professional, really knew her product, but very friendly and pleasant at the same time. I knew I would be able to work with her. 

For me, the person is as important as the product. Michaela listened to what I wanted and sent me a quotation very quickly. I loved the product, it was exactly what I wanted and so accepted immediately. Michaela met me at my venue a few times and spotted things I did not. She has an excellent trained eye. This however, led me to keep adding to the list of things I needed from her which she kindly (and very inexpensively) added to her list of things to do. 

She went way over and above what she needed to by bringing ivy from her garden and adding it to my decorations. The morning of the wedding, I was in a bit of a panic because my bridesmaids dress had some horrible, very noticeable, creases in it. Michaela was truly amazing and got her travel ironing board out and pressed it for me there and then. I can never thank her enough for all her support and help. Simply Bows and Chair Covers are very reasonably priced as well.

What sort of dress did you choose and where from?

I picked an Enzoani Dakota in black

What did your bridesmaids wear?

I had one bridesmaid, my daughter Mollie. She wore a white long satin and chiffon dress that I actually got from China through Ebay!

 Who was your photographer?

Steven Etheridge was our photographer and was great!

What “special touches” did you add to your day?

My chair covers provided by Simply Bows and Chair Covers were white with a black overlay and were truly stunning. The table cloths were white, with a black table runner to match the chair covers. I added 2ft high conical vases to the centre of my tables, filled with LED lights and clear water beads. These were then topped with a huge ball of deep red roses. From the top of the red roses came silver twisted willow with crystals hanging from them.

What was your favourite part of the day?

Saying my vows. I was amazed at how emotional I was. I usually very level headed, but I cried, shocked myself and everyone else.

Where did you go on honeymoon?

We spend 5 days in York and Lincoln. We have our ‘proper’ honeymoon planned next year to Malaysia and Singapore.

What would be your top tip for another bride to be?

When you are looking at venues, remember that you can transform it into almost anything with the right chair covers and decorations. Also, after months of planning, your day will fly by. Take 5 minutes with your new husband to just stop, look and take it all in.

Wednesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from StyleMint, the online clothing line that offers personal style recommendations and features a collection of pretty T-shirts, dresses, and outerwear. Each top is just $29.99, and they offer free shipping and returns. Today they'll be giving three winners three StyleMint credits each (that's a $90 value for each winner) to use towards any piece on the site. Which would you choose? (I'd go for this striped green dress.)

For a chance to win, please visit StyleMint, sign up for free, and leave a comment below telling us your favorite piece. Three winners will be chosen at random on Monday, so you have five days to enter. Thank you, and good luck!

Bonus: All new members can receive two items for the price of one by clicking here.

(Giveaway is open to US and Canada only)

Success

This success chart by Demetri Martin rings so true. Everyone seems to face unexpected obstacles and detours in their career path—those it's-always-darkest-before-the-dawn moments.

A few fun facts from a slideshow of 26 people who failed at first:
* Dr. Seuss's first book was rejected by 27 different publishers.
* Thomas Edison's teachers told him he was "too stupid to learn anything."
* Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he "had no good ideas."
* The first time Jerry Seinfeld went onstage, he was booed away by a jeering crowd.
* Oprah Winfrey was fired from her television reporting job because they told her she wasn't fit to be on screen.

What were your WTF moments on your path to success? Alex dropped out of college for a semester and lived with his parents. I went to law school for a year and was a mess. Elvis was initially a truck driver! It always feels like the end of the world when it's happening, but next time, just picture this chart:)

(Photo of Woody Allen by Philippe Halsman; illustration by Demetri Martin from This Is a Book)

The Best Pizza You'll Ever Have

What's your favorite pizza place in NYC? After living here for eleven years, I can definitely say that the best pizza I've had is at Co. in Chelsea. Have you ever been there? Co.'s owner, Jim Lahey, is a bread-making genius ("the man can do wonders with flour and water," says the New York Times); since New York pizza is known for its thin crust, the danger is that it can taste as dry as cardboard, but Lahey has a way of making his pizzas pillowy and chewy in just the right way. He also adds bold toppings—like, sauerkraut, arugula, leeks, pecorino—that elevate his pizzas from kids-birthday-party catering to grown-up fare. Here's a recipe that will blow your mind...
Read More >

Bike clothes

My beloved bike was stolen yesterday, so I'm in the market for a new one. (Curses, NYC! It will be the sixth bike I've had since I moved here, crazily enough.) But on a happier note, how awesome are these bike clothes by a Seattle designer? This skirt, for example, unzips in the back to reveal 12" of additional fabric for easy pedaling. The fabric is stretchy, and the skirt has a higher waist for coverage while leaning forward. Genius.

P.S. NYC bikes and bicycle rush hour.

Sleeping tricks

Last night, I had a hard time sleeping. I kept waking up in the middle of the night obsessing about random things (my specialty). Even my pregnancy pillow didn't help.

My dad, who is a champion sleeper, once taught me a great trick: Pretend that you’re going to fall through the bed. It makes you realize how tensed up your body is and helps you relax. Counting sheep is also helpful, although weirdly I never know where the sheep are supposed to go once they've jumped over the fence. I sometimes make them circle back, so it's just one or two exhausted sheep running around the whole time. Apartment Therapy also found the most relaxing song ever, which actually slows down your heartbeat.

Are you a good sleeper? Any tips?

P.S. Encouragement.

(Photo of Sally Field)

Parody: Men are less beautiful than they think.

By now, I'm sure everyone has seen the viral Dove beauty campaign showing that women are more beautiful than they think. In the three-minute ad, a forensic scientist draws women twice—once from their own description and once from someone else's description. By comparing the two photos, the women can see that they're overly critical of their looks and prettier than they realize.

Well, this parody video—about how men are less beautiful than they think—made me laugh out loud.
(Via NYMag)

Toby and the violin

Recently Toby became randomly obsessed with violins. Alex and I were trying to figure out where this new fascination came from. A street musician? A Dora the Explorer episode? Thin air? However it started, Toby's love of the violin is a real thing. He draws pictures of violins. He pretends that his books are violins and holds them up to his neck. Every evening, instead of watching a kids TV show, he asks for bluegrass videos on YouTube. (Annie is his favorite.)

Last week, Alex suggested we find him a miniature used violin on eBay. At first I thought it sounded crazy and extravagant (he's only two!), but Alex really thought it was worth it. So we ordered this teeny violin (it's 1/8th size), and Toby was psychotically excited about the impending arrival ("The brown package here yet, Mama?" "You think today the violin comes, Mama?" "We open it with scissors, Mama?") until it arrived this past Friday. Honestly, I have been amazed by how much Toby has played with it, and he even insists on carrying it with him in the stroller and gently cuddling it while we read bedtime stories.

Anyway, it has been such a fascinating turn-of-events. Maybe when he's a bit older, if he's still interested, we could sign him up for some lessons.
The giddy moment we realized that the case could double as a backpack!

Do your kiddos play any instruments? (Do you?) I wish I did!

P.S. The magic of Central Park and a lullaby that actually works.

Have a great weekend.

This Tuesday evening, Toby and I were at home minding our own business, when Alex went to a work party and met Robert De Niro! The actor is generally considered gruff and unapproachable, but Alex said he was friendlier than he had expected. "He was also shorter than me, which was good news," Alex told me. Haha. Hope you have a good weekend, and here are a few fun posts from around the web...

What hearing loss sounds like. Fascinating.

29 potato recipes.

The power of talking to your baby.

Go, Mindy!

Small flowers go a long way.

Cool ways to see the world.

This perfume sounds wonderful.

My friend's parenting story made me laugh.

Braids for springtime.

How to eat fruits.

This relationships book looks intriguing.

Excited man only two therapy sessions away from resolving issues.

Hope you have a good weekend, and our thoughts are with everyone in Boston. What an insane situation. Hang in there!
(Top photo of Robert De Niro; bottom photo of Saipua flowers)

Sunglasses giveaway

Even though I'm blind as a bat, I never had prescription sunglasses before. I figured I'd wear my glasses for important things (driving, movies) and then fumble around in sunglasses at the playground or on vacation. But! This year, Alex finally convinced me to get them, and now I honestly don't know why I waited so long. I CAN SEE!!!! :)

For my sunglasses, I chose the Woody pair from Lookmatic. The sunglasses were $95, prescription included, and they're sent right to your house. (I also wore them on our babymoon trip.)

Today, Lookmatic has offered to give a pair of prescription sunglasses to one lucky reader. For a chance to win, please visit Lookmatic and leave a comment below telling us your favorite style. A winner will be selected randomly on Monday. Good luck! Update: The winner has been emailed. Thanks for playing.

P.S. My regular glasses.

Weekly Challenge #5

How much do you know about your parents? Obviously, you know the basics, but how often do you really ask them about themselves? Here's the fifth challenge...Read More >

Weekly Challenge #4: Stretch your vocabulary

Last week's challenge was to use vocabulary words in regular conversation. How did you do? I discovered something awesome...Read More >

Rita Konig's bedroom

Have you seen Rita Konig's home on The Selby? She lives in...Read More >

Shopbop sale

The last time Shopbop had a huge sale, a few of you were disappointed to miss it, so I promised I'd let you know about the next one. They're giving a whopping 20% off today and tomorrow with the code WEAREFAMILY13. (I love this bag and watch.)

The pretty shoes above are these sandals, sneakers, wedges and heels.

The Best Fudge You'll Ever Have

While growing up in Michigan, my family once drove up to rocky Mackinac Island, where cars aren't allowed, so people get around either by bike or horse-drawn carriage. (Seriously.) But the coolest part of the island is its fudge shops. You stop in, freckled and skinned-kneed from adventures, and sample the rich fudge that made us 10-year-old swoon. Well, to bring back that magic, Kim from Lovin' From the Oven is sharing her favorite fudge recipe that will especially appeal to the s'mores lovers out there! Here goes...Read More >

Weekend getaway

We did something kind of funny last weekend...
Read More >