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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat are you up to this weekend? I\u2019m celebrating a dear friend\u2019s<\/a> birthday tonight, and the boys wanted to write a birthday card for her. \u201cTry to write at least four sentences,\u201d I recommended, to which they immediately responded in unison, \u201c\u2018Happy birthday\u2019 counts as a sentence!\u201d Hope you have a good one, and here are a few links from around the web\u2026<\/p>\n My conversation with Kate Baer<\/a>, where we cover saggy boobs, turning 40, and writing honestly about marriage and motherhood. (Big Salad, free for all)<\/p>\n Also, Erica Chidi shares pretty pajamas and her beautiful proposal story<\/a>. (Big Salad, paywalled)<\/p>\n What it\u2019s like being a firefighter with OCD<\/a>. (NYTimes gift link)<\/p>\n What sexy swimsuits<\/a>.<\/p>\n How to write delightful snail mail<\/a>. \u201cLetters don\u2019t always have to be life updates\u2026 Draw a map of a stroll you often take through your neighborhood, with descriptions of your favorite memories in each place. Make your own Mad Libs for the recipient to fill out. You can also skip writing and send Polaroids of snapshots from your life, or personal recipes.\u201d<\/p>\n My boys gobbled up this cheddar-roasted broccoli<\/a>. (NYTimes gift link)<\/p>\n In other vegetable news, salt and vinegar cabbage<\/a>!<\/p>\n This 323-square-foot home<\/a> was designed to feel like a luxury hotel.<\/p>\n 20 short rules for better days at work<\/a>. \u201cPlay music that came out the year you turned 18. If you work in an office it\u2019ll be a conversation starter and might even defang ageism by normalizing BEING AN AGE, any age. Plus, there\u2019s no music that\u2019ll brighten your day faster than your teenage music.\u201d<\/p>\n This<\/a> made my dry heels instantly sandal-ready.<\/p>\n Twins speaking in unison<\/a>. \u201cWe have tried to talk separately, but it\u2019s not ourselves, it\u2019s not us.\u201d<\/p>\n Awkward family photos<\/a>, haha.<\/p>\n Plus, seven reader comments (because we couldn\u2019t narrow them down!)\u2026<\/p>\n Says Jess on guess who was on Jeopardy last night<\/a>: \u201cI was driving around the day before my husband\u2019s funeral, and I picked up the phone to talk to him about what kind of pickles we should serve\u2026 at his funeral. It\u2019s so weird when your humans just vanish. I still text him on WhatsApp, and I\u2019m still sometimes surprised when he doesn\u2019t reply.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Hali on three transgender kids share their stories<\/a>: \u201cA few months before my grandma died, we were up late talking about transgender kids. She was 93. She explained that she knew kids like to experiment and go through phases and some kids are a little different, but that she didn\u2019t believe anyone was truly transgender. She expressed frustration about parents enabling children to behave certain ways. It was a calm conversation. I\u2019m terrible with speaking my mind (I always come on too righteous and passionate), so I mostly stayed quiet and listened. I remembered a similar post on CoJ (\u201cMy Child is Transgender\u201d<\/a>) and emailed the link to my grandma. It gave her a perspective that changed how she saw everything. She wrote back thanking me; I think about it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Karen on 8 readers share what they love about their looks<\/a>: \u201cToday I learned that we Cup of Jo readers are a bunch of stone cold foxes \u2014\u00a0absolutely stunning! It reminds me of my kid\u2019s favorite Sesame Street book from the \u201990s: We\u2019re Different, We\u2019re the Same, and We\u2019re All Wonderful<\/a>. And aren\u2019t we just? Big love to everyone here.\u201d <\/p>\n Says Allison on 8 readers share what they love about their looks<\/a>: \u201cI found myself looking carefully at each photo in this post<\/a> before reading it, trying to guess in advance what they might say. And I realized that it was an impossible task, because there were SO MANY beautiful things to find in every single person. I hope I remember that when I look in the mirror, especially right now as I am undergoing treatment for breast cancer. My hair is thinning, I might lose my eyebrows, the treatment is irritating my skin, but I am still me. My husband tells me that I will still be just as beautiful as ever \u2013 just \u2018badass beautiful.\u2019 Thank you for this wonderful reminder of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Lauren O. on the simplest dessert<\/a>: \u201cI once yearned for cookies but had no chocolate chips in the house, so I hacked up a bunch of weird, fancy chocolate bars I\u2019d brought home from the giveaway table at work (Sea salt! Caramel! Dried fruit! Chiles! The corpses of other snacks and desserts!) It was great. Now I always get my freak on in the Pretentious Chocolate Aisle at the supermarket before I bake.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"winding](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Artem-Podrez.jpg\")
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