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What are you up to this weekend? I\u2019m driving to Vermont to pick up Anton<\/a> from summer camp, and I CANNOT WAIT to squeeze that little boy!!! I\u2019m bringing cookies for the car and made a playlist that he\u2019ll probably think is uncool. Omg, my heart. Hope you have a good one, and here are a few links from around the web\u2026<\/p>\n In today\u2019s Big Salad issue<\/a>, we\u2019re featuring Deb Perelman<\/a> from Smitten Kitchen. She\u2019s revealing her dream dinner party<\/a> \u2014 including three fantasy guests, four recipes, and a gorgeous tablecloth<\/a>. Plus, her #1 Trader Joe\u2019s item<\/a> and the career advice Ina Garten gave her<\/a>.<\/p>\n This English children\u2019s bedroom<\/a> with three beds is soooooo cute.<\/p>\n Loving the shape of these jeans<\/a> and want to wear them with this laidback T-shirt<\/a> or boatneck sweater<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have you seen Janet Planet<\/a>? It was meandering and beautiful and touching, and the characters rang so, so true.<\/p>\n Middle-of-the-date questionnaire<\/a>. \u201cWhen the bartender came over, did you put on a little voice, or do you just talk like that?\u201d<\/p>\n Celebrity Book Club\u2019s podcast episode about Studio McGee<\/a> was very compelling.<\/p>\n My kids and I smelled like this all summer<\/a>, mmmm.<\/p>\n What random things have you been complimented on? Brooke\u2019s answer was funny<\/a>.<\/p>\n Living for all the Midwestern memes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gahhh, this shade of green is good<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hahahaha, middle school boys<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus, three reader comments:<\/p>\n Says Abbe on five fun things<\/a>: \u201cMinnesotan here, and we love Tim Walz. The best thing I\u2019ve benefited from under his governorship, as someone who makes her living as an hourly consultant, is that Minnesota passed a Sick & Safe law for 2024 that gives you accrued paid time off for sickness, childcare, etc. As a mom of three, including twins, I can\u2019t tell you how much this has changed my life for the better. It\u2019s an example of the positive, progressive change he has led. He absolutely supports women \u2014 and everyone \u2014 in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Julie on five fun things<\/a>: \u201cPolitical hopefulness is such an amazing feeling. I know we shouldn\u2019t wait to feel hope (and instead be part of action and restoration), but I had forgotten the sensation of bone-deep anticipatory joy. It\u2019s vulnerable, isn\u2019t it? And SO GOOD.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Betsy on five fun things<\/a>: \u201cHi, Joanna and company! I know the comments can get super heated whenever things get political, but I wanted to say \u2013 during college I fell into a fundamentalist cult that was Christian Nationalism pumped up to 11. You think it, I was it: homophobic, anti-choice, antisemitic, a proponent of the Great Replacement Theory \u2013 all from a cloistered community that restricted my movements and had me proselytize two days a week. Coincidentally, that was also the time I started reading CoJ, circa 2009. I was here just for the fashion roundups and the *glamorous* NYC lifestyle, so I\u2019d roll my eyes or get mentally combative at what I thought was \u2018liberal brainwashing,\u2019 but I read it anyway, and it stuck, even if I didn\u2019t really want it to. Joanna was so warm and firm in her convictions and logical, and once she started having more guest writers on from a wide array of backgrounds, I started to get more exposure to other POVs than I\u2019d ever had before. Now, years later \u2014 and only officially four years removed from where I was \u2014 with MUCH therapy, I am in a good place. I\u2019m out as queer (now my fascination with the \u2018New York Legalizes Gay Marriage<\/a>\u2018 post makes sense, lol) to a few select people \u2014 including my fianc\u00e9, who is Jewish, which five years ago I literally would have never \u2014 and reformed on almost every core value I used to have. So, thank you, and don\u2019t lose heart. For some of us, it\u2019s the long game. Hopefully not too long, though.\u201d<\/p>\n (Photo by Joe Dodd\/Stocksy.)<\/p>\n Note: If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission, at no cost to you. We recommend only products we genuinely like. Thank you so much.<\/em><\/p>\n