The Best Salted Caramel Brownies You'll Ever Have

When exactly did the world realize that sea salt makes every dessert 1,000 better? Ever since that lightbulb moment, sweet-and-salty desserts have reached a whole new level. Lucky for us, Victoria from A Subtle Revelry has agreed to share her salted caramel brownies recipe that will blow your mind (and make you the star of the show during the holidays)...Read More >

Homeland

Have you guys been watching Homeland? Alex and I are obsessed. The show follows a bipolar CIA agent (Claire Danes), who suspects that a rescued prisoner of war (Damian Lewis), who has just returned to the United States, has actually become a terrorist. It is SO TENSE. You're on the edge of your seat for the whole show.

We got the first season on DVD and have been glued to it every night for the past week. It’s funny when you have the dvds and can watch all the shows in a row, because it gets in your head. Usually when we go to bed, we talk about Toby or life or whatever, but now we get in bed and we’re like, "Oh my gosh! What do you think her deal is?!!! Who do you think was on the call?!!"

P.S. Claire Dane's cryface.

Holiday hair tutorials

For holiday parties and dinners (and even the flight home), feel free to look back through Caroline's hair tutorials. Wouldn't it be pretty to wear three twisted buns with a sparkly dress, or a mermaid braid with a wool sweater? You can find all fourteen tutorials here...

Braids:
* Mermaid tail braid
* Braided top bun
* Braided crown
* Pretzel braid
* Four-strand braid

Ponytails:
* Messy side ponytail
* Ponytail twist
* Sleek parted ponytail

Buns:
* Three twisted buns
* Top knot
* Rope bun
* Gibson roll
* Chestnut bun
* Messy French bun

P.S. Also, this year's holiday gift guide will kick off this Thursday, I hope you like it:)

(Photos by Jamie Beck for Cup of Jo)

New little darlings

My friend's son's nursery is filled with these baby animal photographs, and apparently her little boy says "good night" to each one every evening. How cute is that? Today photographer Sharon Montrose just launched two new little darlings—a baby camel and a baby zebra. What little faces...
And this video broke my heart...(P.S. Here's their holiday sale.)

(Animal wallpaper by Anthropologie)

Do or Don't: Kids sharing a bedroom

While househunting in Brooklyn, we've been seeing both two- and three-bedroom places. Needless to say, the two-bedroom spots are much more affordable. But since we're hoping to have two children, if we get a two-bedroom apartment, they'd have to share a room.

What do you think? My sister and I shared a room for a while, and I liked it; but Alex shared a room with his much older brother for a decade and was always dying for his own space. Should each child have a room to call their own, or is it fun to share? Did you share a room growing up? I'd be so grateful for any advice...

P.S. Smart way to divide a room, and nursery in a closet.

(Photo by Meghan McEwan)

Motherhood Mondays: Do your eyes light up when you see your child?

Whenever I see or call my mom, she always acts ecstatic. Even though I'm usually regaling her with something super boring ("I’m ordering Mexican for dinner tonight,” "I’m kind of sleepy today,” “Did you see that it snowed?”), she’s always thrilled to hear every detail. And although I’m 33 years old, it feels reassuring to have someone who is so reliably happy that I exist.

Learning from my mother, now that I have a child of my own, I try to never hide how happy I am to see Toby. Even when I'm buried in emails or writing a post, I always look up with a huge grin and eyes twinkling when Toby walks in the door. Even when I'm sick, busy, tired or stressed, I want him to always know, 100%, that I'm glad he's there.

Author Toni Morrison shared a similar sentiment on Oprah years ago: "When my children used to walk in the room...I looked at them to see if they had buckled their trousers or if their hair was combed or if their socks were up. You think your affection and your deep love is on display because you're caring for them. It's not. When they see you, they see the critical face." Does your face light up when your child comes into the room? she asked. Because they notice.

Toby, for one, has definitely noticed. He'll sometimes even come through the door and announce, "Ta da!!!" It makes my heart sing that he believes he's worthy of such fanfare.

What about you? Have you ever thought about this? Maybe every mother does! It's one of those little things that feels really important.

P.S. The first time my eyes lit up.

(I wrote a shortened version of this post for SFGirlbyBay; thanks, Victoria)

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Are you traveling or staying home? We're heading to Brooklyn to have dinner with friends, and I'm psyched to sit around their fireplace. Hope you have a delicious day with lots of pumpkin pie and loose pants. Meanwhile, here are some fun posts from around the web...

A song for your weekend.

Can't wait for this movie.

10 leftover turkey recipes.

Pretty colorblock dress.

How to get a North Pole postmark.

A ski lodge in NYC? But that's impossible!

David Letterman kissed Amy Poehler (on the lips).

Five tiny NYC apartments.

This moving gift guide is insane!

I'll be wearing these guys all weekend.

Ira Glass, I love you.

Red suede shoes.

This new book looks intriguing.

And thank you again for all the heartfelt comments on the post about people deciding not to have kids. It was a fascinating discussion.

(Photos of us from last summer)

Wednesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from Jenny N. Design, a beautiful bag shop based in Pittsburgh. She mades her bags by hand with supple leather or cotton canvas, and they're the kinds of beautiful shapes that you'd wear every day for years. Jenny is letting one winner pick out her favorite bag. Which would you choose? (I'd go for this one.)

For a chance to win, please visit Jenny N. Design, and leave a comment below telling us your favorite bag. A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow. Good luck! Update: Nikita S. is our winner. Thanks for playing.

Bonus for all readers: Get 15% off through Monday with the code CUPOFJO.

Yada, yada, yada

Our friend Nora stopped by last night, and Toby fell madly in love with her. They both wore plastic red fire hats, naturally, and Nora also pretended to fall down, which is always a hit around here. But the piece de résistance was when Nora was telling me a story and said, "Yada, yada, yada." Toby burst into hysterical laughter. What wit! What timing! What funny sounding words! He couldn't get over it.

The whole scene reminded me of this classic Seinfeld clip:)

The Best Apple Crisp You'll Ever Have

In honor of Thanksgiving, we have another best recipe today—apple crisp! The lovely Monique from Ambitious Kitchen shares her incredible version, including a secret ingredient...
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The Best (Cheesy!) Mashed Potatoes You'll Ever Have

What kind of mashed potatoes do you like? My new favorite might be aligot, a traditional mashed potato dish in France, whipped up with tons of cheese and garlic. (Cheese lovers, get psyched!) Here, food blogger Mimi, who lives in the French countryside, agrees to share her recipe...Read More >

Paris elopement

Karl and Leslie eloped to Paris, and their friend Duncan Wolfe captured it on film. Love the groom's flirty dancing at the end.

P.S. Three elopements, and a Swedish wedding dress.

A very easy holiday party

When it comes to holiday parties, my theory is: the simpler, the better. Relaxed parties take two seconds to pull together and make your friends feel at ease; they're always the kind where everyone ends up hanging out late into the night.

Here are my five go-to steps for a party: 1. Forget stamps; just email invitations. 2. Wear comfy flats or wear a favorite dress with cute bare feet. (The Barefoot Contessa even wears slippers to her dinner parties; good call.)
3. Serve a signature drink. Above is a delicious Nutella-inspired hot chocolate, made by mixing a third cup of Baileys Hazelnut Flavor with a cup of hot chocolate, and topping it off with a dollop of whipped cream. (Alex was also psyched by the idea of a Baileys martini.)
4. Serve simple, yummy foods, like a mix of chocolate cookies. (I also love just plain old potato chips, as well as the pigs-in-blankets from Trader Joe's.)
5. And string up fairy lights (around windows, on the back of the sofa) to magically transform your living room. That's it!
Where do you fall on the scale of simple to elaborate parties? Any other entertaining tips to share? Especially for easy snacks?

This post is sponsored by Baileys Irish Cream. Join us at creamwithspirit.com and help us celebrate women who live their lives #withspirit.

Have you ever fallen for someone's...bookcase?

Years ago, my sister invited her friend Paul over to her apartment. While she was in the kitchen making some snacks, he took a look at her bookcase. At that moment, he says, he knew he would fall in love with her. Her bookcase revealed all her passions—from Roald Dahl short stories and funny plays to mountain biking guides and How We Die. She had even tucked The Baby-Sitters Club next to a book on Linear Algebra.

Three years later, they were married.

It's funny how much your bookshelf can reveal about you. So I was PSYCHED to hear about the new book My Ideal Bookshelf, in which one hundred creative thinkers share their absolute favorite books. The book interviews writers (Michael Chabon, Mary Karr, Jonathan Lethem) and chefs (Alice Waters, David Chang) and Hollywood personalities (Judd Apatow, James Franco) and big thinkers (Malcolm Gladwell, Atul Gawande) and musicians (Patti Smith, Thurston Moore) about the particular books that made them who they are. My only small quibble is that I wish the people explained why they chose each book, but overall the collection is fantastic and makes you want to curl up under a blanket and read all day.
So now, of course, the big question is: What's on YOUR ideal bookshelf? Mine would include: The History of Love, Epilogue, Ghost World, Peter Pan, Private Lives, Operating Instructions, Sense and Sensibility, The BFG, Middlesex, the list goes on...

(Top photo of my sister and her husband by Max Wanger)

Our holiday cards

Will you be sending out holiday cards this year? Last year, we chose a photo of all of us, but this year we went with a photo of Toby playing guitar, partly because he looked cute and partly because we didn't have a decent family photo:)

We of course turned to Pinhole Press for their lovely, simple designs. We ended up choosing one of the new Ultrathick Pinstripe Cards, which have a cool pinstripe on the sides of each card. And I like how the back simply says "Merry!" They have tons of other great cards, too.

Plus, a bonus for all readers: Pinhole Press is offering 10% off everything with the code CUPOFJO for the rest of the year. Happy holidays!
P.S. Personalized memory game, and photo notepads.

(Photos by Alpha Smoot for Cup of Jo; styling by Kendra Smoot)

Motherhood Mondays: Would you ever decide to NOT have kids?

We talk a lot about babies, but what about making the choice not to have children? Would you consider that? Here, five readers reveal their fascinating reasons...
Read More >

Danish bedding

Have you heard of the Copenhagen-based brand By Nord? Their bedding (for kids and adults), stockings and tea towels are seriously rad. Wouldn't the duvet be awesome for a guest room? I can imagine relatives calling quick dibs on who gets to sleep there.

You can find them here and here. (And here's the kids bedding in action!)

(Via Swissmiss)

Have a cozy weekend.

What are your plans for the weekend? We're going to our friends' annual fall party (complete with mulled cider) and also taking Toby to visit our neighborhood firetrucks. For New Yorkers, the Renegade holiday market looks great. (Can you believe the holidays kick off next week?!) Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and here are a few fun posts from around the web...

An awesome buffalo!

Goodnight moon...the app.

Who's going to see Les Miserables?

Love that Lena Dunham took off her uncomfy heels in the middle of a speech.

Creme brulee cheesecake.

This bacon scarf is not kidding around.

If Wes Anderson had directed Star Wars.

A Swedish school tries to take away gender lines. A little too far?

Obama hugs.

Perfect hostess gift.

The most flattering jeans.

Ouch, what a restaurant review!

A pencil skirt for bike-riders.

Made me laugh.

A beautiful calendar to raise funds for Hurricane Sandy relief.

And a little note: I have more sponsored posts than usual this holiday season because of some inadvertent overbooking (read more here about my blog and career, if you'd like), so I truly apologize for any overload and thank you for hanging in there. I'm still getting the hang of all this! The good news is, I like the brands I'm working with and am glad to recommend them. Thank you again for supporting the sponsors who make my blog possible.

(Top photo by Luisa Brimble)

Mindy Kaling on friendship

Did you guys watch The Mindy Project this week? I was laughing out loud through the entire episode. If you haven't yet seen it, sneak away from your desk and watch it right now.

New York Magazine wrote a profile on Mindy a while back, and this paragraph has stuck with me: "My relationship with my mom is really the single most profound relationship that I’ve ever had in my life," Mindy tells me...But her voice breaks when she starts talking about how she sat down with a pen and paper and asked her mother to give her all the advice she could possibly give her before she died, and Kaling realized she’d never be able to ask her mother for advice again. “I said to her, ‘Mom, I’m going to be so lonely without you.’” She’s crying now but keeps going. “And she just said, ‘You have to be your own best friend. If you always remember that, you will always have someone there with you.’”

P.S. Did you know that Mindy Kaling's real name is Vera Chokalingam?
P.P.S. Who's secretly in love with Danny Castellano?

NYC Date Idea: Magic show

So. Alex and I are usually pretty skeptical, but last weekend our minds were blown...
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My beauty routine for dates

What's your typical beauty routine before going on a date? It's funny how loyal people are to their routines; I've had mine since college! The only thing that has changed is that I now use more natural products and pay more attention to ingredients. When I go to dinner with Alex these days, I start...
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Venice under water

Flooding in Venice is pretty common, but the most recent flood left 70% of central Venice under water. I'm amazed by how people seem to be taking it in stride—ordering espresso, having pizza for lunch and even swimming in Piazza San Marco!

P.S. Remember these photos from four years ago?

(Photos by AP Photo/Getty/Reuters, via The Atlantic)

Wednesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from By Boe, a handmade jewelry line based in New York City. I love their beautiful pieces, which have cool shapes and delicate lines. They're inviting one lucky winner to choose her favorite piece of jewelry. (I'd go for this pyramid ring or these triangle hoops.) Which would you choose?

Here are their earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces.

For a chance to win, please visit By Boe and leave a comment below. A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow. Good luck! Update: Jessi L. is our lucky winner and has been emailed. Thanks for playing.