Have a Fun Weekend. | Cup of Jo

What are you up to this weekend? My sister sent me this birthday present today — we turn 44 on Tuesday! — and I’ve never felt so seen, haha. Tonight a few family friends are coming by for lasagna and sprinkle cake. Hope you have a good one, and here are a few fun links from around the web…

The trailer for Succession season 4! Can’t wait.

The only correct activity to do on a first date.

The blue kitchen makes this 500-square-foot apartment.

How pretty is ?

The Monterey Park I remember: “In Monterey Park’s bustling Chinese community, my parents and I found a confidence we lacked in predominantly white spaces. My mom transformed into a graceful, elegant woman holding her own as she haggled over mahogany chairs, a far cry from the nervous woman I went shopping with in Old Town Pasadena. My father would order for us at restaurants in Cantonese and Taiwanese, a stark contrast to how he stuttered through simple English phrases at Denny’s. And when we visited during Lunar New Year, I felt downright invincible as I looked at the red lanterns hanging from every storefront, the festive spirit of the city washing over me. I didn’t know it then, but Monterey Park’s refusal to assimilate into America’s racial binary helped me proudly embrace my Asian American identity in high school and college.” (NYMag)

The minimalist photography awards. (Holy murmurations!)

Goddamn, I love poetry so much. Toby read this poem after my mom’s husband died, and it felt so redolent.

Michael Imperioli’s NYC apartment is giving serious White Lotus vibes.

Tomato and sausage risotto.

Six words to say when a loved one is having a bad day.

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Plus, three reader comments:

Says Gwyneth on cooking blunders: “In my twenties, I was traveling in Slovakia with a friend. We decided to do a picnic lunch and went to the grocery to get paté and bread. The paté container had a drawing of a fowl, but we couldn’t read the label because it was in Slovakian, of course. At the checkout, it occurred to us that this might be cat food, not paté? So, we pointed at the can and meowed at the checkout girl. She frowned and shook her head, so we figured we were good to go. Lunch was pretty good, but later I wondered if the checkout girl thought we were asking if the meat was FOR cats or MADE of cats. I’m still not sure if we did or did not eat cat food and baguette for lunch that day.”

Says Cheryl on 14 reader comments on reader comments: “I told my husband, who occasionally teases me about how frequently I reference CoJ, about Larry. One day, it started pouring while we frantically tossed groceries and a cranky toddler into the car. He grabbed the cart, stood and looked at the store halfway across the lot, and sprinted toward it muttering ‘&@%! it, Larry.’ I’ve never been so proud.”

Says Lauren O. on what jeans are you wearing these days: “I’m a corgi of a woman – impossibly long torso, itty bitty legs, English people instinctively cherish me – and when I found jeans that *worked* (black high rise skinnies), reader, I married them. I love experimenting with clothing, but it turns out that treating these optimal jeans as a building block FOREVER has made it way easier to mix with confidence when it comes to shoes, tops, coats, what have you. I am at peace.”

(Photo by Tanya Yatsenko/Stocksy.)