Have a Lovely Weekend.

I just finished “Educated” after seeing this post and I did indeed tear through it! Wouldn’t it be great to have a Cup of Jo book club… I wonder how that would work… x

The Food52 Article was awesome. And so accurately describes my own struggles with food and weight. Because let’s be real. I love food. So that’s where I’m choosing to live.

Just add water is perfect. We so often put our kids in the tub or the sprinkler when things start to go south.

‘These women rejecting marriage proposals’ Haha!! The pictures are really funny… :D

Both my husband and I loved the Letdown! We are in the States, but enjoy Aussie humor and could relate. Our baby just turned 11 months old, so the jokes about the first 3 months made us smile! How is it possible that those moments were less than a year ago, but yet feel like they were also forever ago? I’m mourning the fact that almost a year has gone by so quickly. The old adage that they days are long but the years are short seems to ring so true.

Along the lines of “just add water,” our mantra when the kids were small was “change of scenery.” That usually meant going to the park, but there were all sorts of versions, including just moving to another room with a different activity. It especially helped my husband, who tended to follow the kids down their rabbit holes of insane arguments/tantrums. It’s just another form of distraction, but with a location component.

Chloe is so right. I watched a woman single handedly calm down someone else crying 10 year old by giving them a cold glass of water. It was amazing.

The “If they’re crabby just add water” advice reminds me of my favorite quote by Isak Dinesen, “The cure for anything is salty water; sweat, tears, or the sea.”

The rejecting marriage proposals photos reminds me of my daughter’s comment to me (she was about 11) that she “really hoped when someone proposes to her it’s someone she actually likes.” I explained that for the most part, people don’t propose without knowing that their relationship is strong and they are both on the same page and that she could and should decline if she didn’t want to accept. She was shocked — she didn’t know you could say no, explaining she thought that all of the women who cried during proposals in movies, on tv, etc. were sobbing because they were obligated to marry the person who asked and didn’t want to. It was equal parts funny and a bit heartbreaking to think she’d been stressing about the idea of having to accept a proposal from someone she didn’t want to marry.

Reading this in the Food52 article was a revelation: “Like most parents, mine always told me that lying is bad. But it didn’t take long to figure out that they meant to say: Lying about your actions is bad. Lying about your feelings is polite. Like, if you said you did your homework when you didn’t: bad. But if you said you’re well when you’re actually tired: good.”

I have never consciously thought about this before, but it’s true. Note to parenting self: stop minimizing my children’s feelings. Tell them it’s always ok to be honest about how they feel, even when it’s hard.

LOVED Mexico City: here are a few suggestions for your team
http://www.mangotomato.com/search/label/mexico%20city

Also, really enjoyed the let down even though I’m not a parent. A great binge watching show ;)

The Let Down is ace, an honest and very funny look at new motherhood. I am partially biased as an Australian :)

I second the loving couples therapy! My husband and I would always be in such a good place after visiting ours and learn and grow so much! It was amazing. We don’t go regularly right now (it was pricey), but I did fantasize about her being our best friend. On our drives home, we would always wonder about how amazing her husband must be too…

Lots of gems in this week’s roundup, and I particularly liked the couple’s therapy link. I’m in a happy relationship but feel that we could go to therapy for the same reasons that the couple in the article does – to lay the groundwork for inevitable challenges ahead.

But… how do I find a “good” therapist? I’m in the Bay Area.

Hi Joanna, my bofriend and I are going to Miami and South Florida in November. Can you please do a travel guide on where to go and where to eat? We are coming all the way from Europe so would be much appreciated!

I rejected my boyfriend’s marriage proposal and let me tell ya- it took some pretty hard convincing to get him to still stay with me (haha, but I did it!)

Also, my best hangover cure is a milkshake. Or anything fatty. Though I haven’t been hungover for couple years now. Woohoo, thirties!

The hangover cure that really works: Take an effervescent tablet with different minerals (magnesium, calcium, etc.) and drink 2-3 glasses of water BEFORE going to bed. No hangover on the next day! Normally minerals help your body to absorb water which doesn’t work that well when you drink alcohol. Hangover is kind of your body’s sign that it’s dying of thirst. Only drinking water wouldn’t help in this case, but the minerals support the process. Bonus point: It only contains stuff that is good for your body anyway, not medicine which harms your body. Not sure what those minerals tablets are called in the US? Here in Europe you get about 20 tablets for 0.5 cents – best deal ever! Needless to say, it won’t help that well when you’re really really drunk. But in case you had quite a bit of wine (which normally makes me feel kind of knocked out on the next day) it’s perfect!

I’m 20 and nowhere near becoming a mom and i absolutely love The Let Down!

Thrilling to see a mention of The Let Down. She’s a friend of a friend and it’s so exciting to see her success go international!

Hope Anton is feeling better.

I spent 7 weeks in Mexico City when I was 21 years old. I was on a mission’s trip with a group of college kids and did a lot of the interpreting. I had the most amazing time. I feel like I didn’t even make a dent in the mile-long list of things to see in that city, so I definitely long to go back. One of the biggest impressions it left on me was this feeling of belonging. Although I am originally from San Diego, so I was often around Mexican and Chicano culture, there was something special about being in the Motherland and being surrounded by fellow brown people. In high school and college, most of my friends were Caucasian, so I was a bit “exotic” with my darker skin. But in D.F. I blended right in with everyone else. Not to imply there aren’t fair-skinned Mexicans (my mom and sister are very fair), but in the neighborhoods I was in during my trip, I felt very much at home.

Yes! I watched the entire 1st season of the let down. It almost reminded me of Catastrophe but an Australian version. My heart breaks for Audrey as she struggles as a new mom. I wanted to hug her!

I watched the Letdown in 1 night and my husband actually came in to ask me what in the heck I was laughing so hard at!!! Totally worth a binge!!!

Thanks so much for the random egg recipe! We are building a firepit in our backyard this summer, and will be adding this to the to-do list (after the digging, leveling, patio block laying, etc)!

Hope Anton is feeling ok! He is so brave to get an IV!

I didn‘t like The Letdown that much. It seemed kind of „hostile“ towards the baby. Like the episode when the main character tries to sleep train her very young baby and falls asleep with her headphones on while the little baby is screaming. Not funny or relatable.