Four Fun Things | Cup of Jo

This month, I’ve been spotting cool braids all over Brooklyn. Here’s my friend Alison wearing a double-braid ponytail at our neighborhood café. “It took two seconds, cost nothing, and got a ton of compliments,” she told me. So chic and easy!

Do (or would) you burp your house? Basically, it’s a German approach called lüften where you open all your windows each day to air out your rooms, no matter the weather. My English dad does the same thing, and said Angelina about raising kids in Sweden: “Even in the thick of winter, many Swedish parents put their kids, bundled up in their strollers, outside to nap…. If you’re sick, your doctor will say, open the window.”

Last night, I went to see the new Guggenheim show, and, with 12-year-old Anton as my stylist, I decided to wear a black lace top with red lipstick. Here’s the shirt I’m wearing, plus three more pretty ones: gathered, collar, and short sleeve. (Hello to cute Anton drumming in the back of these photos!)

Now that I’m head chef (lol) for our little crew, I’m always looking for easy recipes that still have lots of flavor. I came across French Cooking for Two by Michèle Roberts at a local bookstore, and we’ve been trying her incredibly simple dishes — like, chickpeas with spinach; lentil soup; and baked pears. She also offers cultural tidbits — for example, in a recipe for scrambled eggs with mushrooms, she notes, “In France, you would not be offered this for breakfast but for supper.”

What have you been into lately? What glimmers are you noticing? I’d love to hear. xoxo

P.S. More fun things, and what funny books have you enjoyed lately?

(Linsey Laidlaw’s apartment tour photo by Alpha Smoot, styled by Kate Jordan, for Cup of Jo.)

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