Playing games at home

During this never-ending winter, we kept getting into ruts at night, where we would make dinner, flop on the sofa and watch TV. But now that we've seen every episode of House Hunters International, we needed something different...Read More >

Two birthday revelations

This past Friday, Alex threw me a 35th birthday party. He invited friends over for wine and Prosecco, and we ate our weight in Trader Joe's appetizers. It was so much fun! And I also had two big revelations...
1. Do you have a scary age? I don't usually get nervous about birthdays, but turning 35 was throwing me for a loop. It just felt so adult, so official. Although I'm still figuring things out—work/life balance, how to stop worrying so much, how to layer eyeshadow—35 felt like an age where I should have it firmly together.

But then I got a birthday card in the mail from my mother-in-law, Joyce, who is turning 80 this summer. It was one of those lovely Hallmark cards with flowers on the front and a scripted poem inside. And on the bottom, she had written, "Happy Birthday, Joanna. 35. What a wonderful age."

And suddenly I felt really lucky and excited to be 35. Through Joyce's eyes, 35 seemed so young and full of adventure. It completely changed the way I had been thinking about the age—I realized that we're actually living "the good old days" and I should stop worrying and enjoy them. :)

What about you? How old are you? What's your scary age, if you have one?

2. Alex's other brilliant idea: The evening of the party, our kiddos spent the night with their beloved babysitter! We loaded them up with travel cribs and backpacks, and they were SO excited. The next morning, Anton got to chew on his very first bagel, while Toby and his sitter did yoga to soothing music...
Go, Tobes!

Meanwhile, Alex and I got to sleep WAY in and just hang out quietly that morning. It was surprisingly romantic and wonderful to have our apartment to ourselves—like it was before we had kids! It felt like a mini vacation for all of us. Thank you so much to Alex (and our sitter)!!!

Have you ever farmed your kids out to their babysitter's house for the night? :) Or a relative? Did they enjoy it? Thank you also for your sweet birthday notes!

P.S. Gold candles, and birthday cheese.

(Thanks to Jason for the photos)

Juggling date

To spice up the winter, Alex and I have booked some funny dates through HowAboutWe, the dating and relationships site that helps plan amazing dates for couples. You browse their list of dates, book the ones you like, and go. They take care of all the details. It's great for people who want to do exciting offbeat stuff but don't have time or energy to plan everything themselves.
We've been lucky enough to get massages at home (woo hoo!) and take a pool lesson, and last week, we went to a juggling class, which was one of the funniest dates we've ever gone on.
Our teacher, Heather, learned to juggle when she was in the circus (naturally).
She had us start with scarves, which are of course slower and easier than juggling balls.
Heather explained that juggling is not only a fun party trick, but it's also incredibly calming and meditative. When you're juggling, you can't think (or stress out) about anything else, so it really clears your head. Pro athletes often juggle to increase coordination, and studies show that it can actually increase grey matter in your brain.
She told us to pretend we were robots, so that our bodies would stay in the same position and just repeat the movements...
Easier said than done!
We were all over the place, and I was dying laughing.
And it was a surprising workout! Throwing and picking up the balls makes your heart pound. At one point, Alex said, "I'm literally sweating. I have rivulets coming down my forehead."
The juggling class was such a fun activity on a winter afternoon, and we must have been belly laughing for 95% of the date. (And Toby was PSYCHED when his parents returned home knowing how to juggle:) Thank you so much for the idea, HowAboutWe. (And three other dates that look awesome: A "naked" scavenger hunt at the Met, an couples astrology reading and side-by-side acupuncture and reflexology.)
I'd highly recommend HowAboutWe for Couples. You can sign up for free and browse their creative dates in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and—as of this week—Los Angeles! BONUS: Get $50 off your first date through this link, until April 30th. Thanks so much, HowAboutWe.

Check out all their dates here.

Have you been on any fun dates lately? Any recommendations?

P.S. More NYC date ideas, including fire-escape drinks and massages at home.

(This post was sponsored by HowAboutWe, a service that gets people in relationships on wonderful dates, tailored for two. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Cup of Jo possible. Photos by our friend Julia Robbs for Cup of Jo)

Pillow talk

This past fall, when I was feeling bummed out, Alex and I started a tradition to try to cheer me up...

When we would lie down in bed at night, we each had to say:
* two things you're grateful for overall
* two little things you enjoyed that day
* one reason why you're glad you're married to the other person

It was so nice to end the day with this little chat, and we would tell each other anecdotes and compliments that we might not have otherwise. And it really was a pick-me-up! Even though I'm (thankfully) starting to feel better now, we're planning to keep it up.
Do you do anything like this? Gratitude journals are supposed to be awesome. (Here are six surprising tips about how to keep one.)

P.S. Encouragement and the no-complaining challenge.

(Photos from our friend's cabin a while back)

Date idea: Pool lessons

Now that Anton is finally sleeping (yay!), Alex and I have been excited to go out on date nights again. So we checked out the dating and relationships company HowAboutWe, which has really fun date ideas...Read More >

Our very first Christmas tree!

Ever since we met six years ago, Alex and I have talked about getting a Christmas tree for about three minutes in December, and then decided against it. We go to California for the holidays every year, so buying a tree in New York first felt sort of unnecessary. But now that Toby is three—and totally into all things Christmas—we wanted to get a tree for him to decorate and start some family rituals.
So one night last week, after the boys were in bed, Alex snuck out and got a tree from a stand down our block. It was the perfect Goldilocks size: Not too big and not too little. When Toby woke up the next morning, we told him we had a surprise in the living room, and he walked out slowly and completely awestruck. "A tree," he whispered, eyes big as saucers.
We made a plan to decorate it together that evening, so after school, Toby and I went to CVS to buy ornaments. I told him he could pick out whatever he liked, and he chose red bulbs, plastic pinecones and a gold garland. (CVS nailed it!)
But the pièce de résistance was this "Best Teacher!" apple ornament. When we were at CVS, Toby loved it so much and carried it all around the store. I explained that it said, "Best Teacher!" and was really for teachers, and he thought it over for a moment and then asked, "But the pinecones are for boys?" I nodded. So we put the apple ornament back on the shelf, and bought the rest of the decorations. For the rest of the day, however, he kept talking dreamily about the apple ornament and how beautiful it was, so as I was putting him to bed later, I said, "Toby, even though that apple ornament said 'Best Teacher!' it was also so beautiful. Maybe we should just get it, what do you think?" And he said, with the cutest nonchalance, "Yeah, Mama, you know, maybe we should just get it." And so Alex went back to CVS the next day and brought it right home:)
So, that night, we cranked up cheesy Christmas music, and invited our two friends down from the 17th floor to drink spiked egg nog and eat pistachios.
We wrapped 300 tiny white lights around the tree...
...drank too much egg nog...
...and hung the ornaments.
Anton stayed up late (until 8pm!! rock star!!!) to be part of the festivities.
It was such a great night, and I'm excited to start traditions for our family, like always drinking egg nog and eating pistachios, and always giving the boys one special ornament each year. What other rituals and traditions do you have? (People's awesome rituals were so inspiring last year.)
Side note: Now we're just wondering what to put on top of the tree. Do you have a star? An angel? Something different?
Hurray!!! Now that we've seen how awesome it is to have a tree, WE CANNOT BELIEVE WE WAITED THIS LONG!!!! What were we thinking all those years?!!! It makes the house look so cozy, and even getting up for a glass of water in the middle of the night feels festive:) Do you have a Christmas tree? What do you celebrate this time of year? Hope you're having a really wonderful holiday season so far.
(The finished tree from this past weekend:)

(Thanks to our friends R&K for taking most of these photos)

Who do you look like?

When Anton was born, we were perplexed—he didn't look like anyone in our families. "Who does he look like?" asked all our friends. "No one," we said. "It's a mystery!"

But the other day, Alex and I were watching a Tigers vs. Red Sox baseball game, and I kept staring at the Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer. "He reminds me of someone," I told Alex. "But I can't figure out who." Alex was barely listening to me, since he was trying to focus on the game, but all of a sudden, he turned to me and said, "Oh my God, he looks just like Anton."

It was hilarious. And true.

Who do your kids look like? (You? Another relative? A celebrity?) Do you have a look-a-like?

P.S. Accidental twins, and complete strangers who look exactly like twins.

The joy of double dates

Last night, Alex and I went out to dinner for one of the first times since Anton was born four months ago. (It felt so good to be out!) We met our friends, and at one point, I looked over at Alex telling everyone a story and was struck by how funny and handsome he looked. We've been in such a new-baby fog recently, but I love that about double dates: You're forced to take a break, see your partner through other people's eyes, and you realize how lucky you are.

Alex, I love you.

P.S. We went to Cafe Cluny, which is our favorite restaurant in NYC; I'd highly recommend it, if you haven't been!

Happy birthday, Alex!

Alex's birthday was this past Saturday, and I thought I'd share a few photos...
Last year, I was the worst since we were traveling on his birthday and I completely forgot to get him a cake (!) so I wanted to make up for it this year. Alex loves cheesecake, so I ordered one from the fancy French bakery Lady M, which is known for its ridiculously amazing cakes. This cheesecake had a cinnamon graham cracker crust and a thin layer of sweetened sour cream on top. Whattup!
We invited our friends over, along with their two kiddos. (Toby and their daughter have been best friends for years.) They had a tough time waiting for the cake to be cut...
Finally, we sang "Happy Birthday," Alex blew out the candle and we dove right in. It was delicious.
The little foursome! Love how Anton is trying to be part of the action. "Hey guys! Back here! How fun is this, you guys?"
The next day, Alex was running errands, so Toby and I dressed up like him and text him the photos as a joke. I think we kind of nailed it, though? Haha.

Hope you guys are having a good week! Happy birthday, Alex!!! We love you!!! xo