Have a Lovely Weekend.
What are you up to this weekend? Freddie and I are volunteering at a soup kitchen tomorrow, then planning to sit in the sun and chat/nap/read. My computer also died this week — just flickered and went black! — so this week has been a little nuttier than usual, and I’m excited for a chill weekend. Have a good one (Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate), and here are a few links from around the web…
Materialists, a new movie about a matchmaker starring Dakota Johnson, looks fun. Here’s the trailer.
Banana Republic is 40% off right now, including this perfect travel dress.
Working as an indie bookseller feels surprisingly bolstering during hard times: “Little old Southern ladies come in looking for books to help them better understand their kids or grandkids who are transitioning and/or gender-nonconforming. People want to connect with their autistic kids, their chronically ill siblings, their immigrant neighbors. I see it every day. Every day.”
Five spring styling tricks, including a cool way to carry sunglasses.
What do White Lotus characters’ book choices tell us? “The dynamic of the three female friends on a group holiday is writ large in their reading choices. Laurie (Carrie Coon) is reading Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers, a novel about a trio of friends grappling with aging; the TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) has brought along Barbra Streisand’s 992-page memoir to read by the pool; and… the newly outed Trump voter Kate (Leslie Bibb) just scrolls on her phone.”
Who’s hungry for a tuna melt with potato chips? (NYTimes gift link)
I want to dress exactly like Youngna Park. Those shirts! Those patterns! (Big Salad)
Wow, this 275-square-foot Manhattan studio feels straight out of the French countryside. (NYMag)
The new Swiss passports are a design marvel.
Most important: Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to grab everything they can. We are facing unconstitutional threats to our safety and freedom. Next Saturday, April 5th, we’re taking to the streets nationwide to fight back with a clear message: HANDS OFF! We want their greedy hands off libraries, schools, public lands, our bodies, clean air, social security, immigrants, veteran services, free speech, the list goes on and on. Find your closest event at www.handsoff2025.com — I’ll be at the NYC one and would love to see you there.
Plus, two reader comments:
Says Maïa on the best advice for preteens: “Joanna, I just realized that you (and your team and this community) are ‘reparenting’ me, as we say in therapy. As a kid, whenever I acted awkward around my friends, my parents would look at me with an uncomfortable expression, which made me even more uncomfortable with myself. I mostly grew up out of it, but it can come back sometimes. It’s so reassuring to see how you parent your teens (and yourself) and how you parent us at the same time, when sharing this kind of post! 🧡”
Says Lauren O. on Kate Lindello’s week of outfits: “I’m getting major Sharon-Horgan’s-next-level-prints-in-CATASTROPHE vibes – the color, the iconic pattern play!”
(Photo by Artem Zhushman/Stocksy.)
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Comments
109 commentsThis! https://apnews.com/article/susan-crawford-profile-wisconsin-supreme-court-68a679bd5c52e42384d877955a57e6f3
Thanks for the Eid greetings! The recognition is appreciated!
I was just checking to see if there are any HandsOff events in Michigan, as we’ll be visiting family there this weekend. Turns out there’s an event at my 94 year old grandpa’s retirement community – this brings me so much hope! Can’t wait to go protest with my preschooler and the retirees.
I would like to add that the Latvian passport is magical as well https://youtu.be/d4D7HxuWkf8 https://www.flickr.com/photos/pmlpnew/53516291011/in/album-72177720314645237/ All the seasons and beautiful nature can be discovered under uv light and it is beautiful in normal light as well. Proud to travel with it 🤍
Did someone say Sharon on Catastrophe!? Back in the day I made a pinterest from every single outfit she wore on the show– I paused in every scene in both seasons! No other show has ever come close for me (happy to be proven wrong!!) https://www.pinterest.com/eleagree/sharon-from-catastrophe/
this is so niche and amazing, i can barely stand it!!!!
MVP!!
LOVE THIS! Thank you for your service!
Must be something in the water – the logic board and/or the power supply on my 2019 iMac went kaput last Monday, and I’ve been awaiting my new computer since (it just got delivered today!) On the one hand: new computer! Better graphics! Faster, stronger, better! On the other hand: credit card debt. Sigh.
Thank you for highlighting the protest and the issues that precipitated it. I certainly enjoy all the fun and silly stuff but I really appreciate that you also talk about important stuff like that.
Anyone have tips for attending a protest with a 4 year old? She would be really nervous in a crowd that size, and I suspect her dad (who I co-parent with) wouldn’t be a fan of her going. But I want to support.
If you suspect that she may not be ready for attending that, yet, maybe you could leave her with her dad and go with a friend?
Is she comfortable in a travel stroller? Having one’s own personal space helps. Let her draw her own sign. It can be anything she wants! Lots of snacks!
Hi Rachel, I brought my son to several Black Lives Matter marches and protests in 2020 when he was 4. Our approach was to stay off to the side a bit rather than in the center of the crowd. I didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed by all those people who were so much bigger than him. If you’re able, you could also carry her on your shoulders for a bit as it gives the little ones a great view but also makes them feel safe. We loved instilling this value in him early on, that it is our obligation to show our support for marginalized groups and be part of our community. Good luck!
We took our little kids to lots of protests! A few tips: 1. Depending on where you are, there might be a smaller protest that would be less overwhelming for her (for example, I live in a big city but there are events listed on the website in nearby suburbs too). 2. Talk to her about why people are protesting and see what resonates with her so she has some context. Maybe she’d like to make a sign! (When my son was 4 at the Women’s March, he made a sign that said “Donald Trump, stop being not nice to girls!”) 3. You don’t have to stay long. Don’t feel bad about watching the crowd rather than marching, or heading home as soon as one of you feels overwhelmed.
we’ve been protesting with our toddler, and it’s gone really well! i think checking in with them and involving them helps. for example, at the protest, ask if they’d rather walk or sit in the stroller. beforehand . tell them why people are protesting. offer to let them make a sign. find a group of friends to go with. if crowds induce anxiety, plan to stay on the periphery and have an exit plan (maybe there’s a progressive co-op or small business you can support nearby)
We go to protests with our kids, and often find many other families. My daughter loves to be in the fray, and my son is sensitive to noise and crowds. To make sure he’s comfortable, we 1) stay on the edge/back where the crowd is sparse and it’s quieter; 2) tell him before we even go that as soon as he’s uncomfortable we’ll leave. It’s ok to only stay 15 or 30 minutes; 3) make sure he understands why we’re going, and related 4) it’s ok if you don’t want to raise your voice! Being there counts as protesting. This arose because he felt sad that he wanted to support but didn’t want to shout, and we told him that just by showing up he was making an impact.
The look of the super girly, eyelet, puff-sleeved clothes is so spring and refreshing, but does anyone else feel absolutely ridiculous in those styles? Like cosplaying a little girl? I love them but feel silly whenever I wear them.
I don’t always think of those elements as childish, but they do read as hyper-femme to me, and I find that I’m more drawn to them when the rest of my outfit or look is more butch or masculine, since the style spot where I feel most myself is straight-down-the-middle androgynous. I think they can be useful and/or fun, depending on what you want to explore or express with them? I enjoy very much, for example, how feminist artists like Kathleen Hanna play with that exaggerated, girly-girl stuff.
Loved reading the comments from the bookseller! I’m opening a used bookstore in Nashville this weekend (East Nashville Books!) and am so exited to feel like I’m living in a community again after years of remote working.
So exciting, Carrie! Best of luck with your new venture. The US needs more bookstores!
I know you’re not meant to yuk someone else’s yum so I hope that’s not what I’m doing here but I’m genuinely baffled by the idea of a tuna melt. Fish… and cheese. Not just any fish – sometimes I can see that fish and cheese might be OK together – but tuna? And it’s tuna mayo, right? So you’re warming something that has mayo in it? And tuna mayo is a bit sloppy then you’re putting gooey cheese on it for more slop? Baffling. But please, go ahead and enjoy. The world is a marvel in all its diversity.
I’m against most applications of fish and cheese, but in a tuna melt it works? You have to just let go and trust the process on this one. I personally prefer a non-sloppy/gloopy tuna mix, so it’s super light on the mayo. Then the melted cheese on top actually holds it all together like a little blanket. Then I add salt & vinegar chips for crunch.
Deb – vegan now but you nailed why I could never “get” this one. Growing up some kids I babysat always asked for tuna melts and I nearly gagged when making it and taught them how to make it as soon as I could! This and tuna casserole – never could grasp it. … But I’m sure a family favorite “cheese dreams” – white bread, slice of American cheese (not the plastic wrapped cheese food haha), and slices of tomato and then broiled. Bacon optional. Odd… but our comfort food.
I think tinned tuna isn’t seafood anymore… it is a small good.
I try not to eat too much fish for environmental reasons but a tuna melt… sooooo delicious. One can rationalize all they want about why it should not work but it sure does! LOL!
So glad to see so many HANDS OFF locations!! I’ll have my young kids with me so I plan to go to an event in a nearby town rather than in downtown Boston. I want to show my solidarity, but a (hopefully) huge crowd with little kids in tow felt like a lot.
Love the link The View From the Indie Bookseller! I am opening an indie bookstore in my town in April and I am so looking forward to experiencing these moments! -Belvidere Books
My husband, baby, and MIL hit up the last day of a tulip festival in our city! Any other Okie readers out there who went also? I brought my camera and nice lens for the occasion, first time out with it since birthing my daughter, and it was refreshing to “get back out there” with it and snap a few shots of the beautiful blooms.
Does anyone have any suggestions if I’m not able to attend an April 5th protest? I want to use my voice and be part of the global collective fighting back on Saturday, but I can’t attend my local march. I still want to do *something* though. Any advice? (I’m in Atlanta, if that helps).
Depends on what you want to do! Donating money to ACLU and others on that date isn’t a bad idea. Americans of Conscience is a newsletter that comes out twice a month with actions one can take, updates on what is going on, and a little bit of good news to keep you going. signing up for that might be good! Chop Wood, Carry Water is another one that has these kinds of activities and comes out daily. You could also check out Indivisible and see if they have any other events going on in your area around that date.
Thanks so much for these suggestions, Kay! I appreciate it. (Especially anything that includes some good news, too). I managed some scheduling sorcery and I think I’ve worked it out so I actually am able to go to our local event on April 5th, but I am using these other suggestions as well.
join a group so you can keep the momentum going! our local indivisible chapter is impressive. maybe yours is, too?
Add to the hands off list – Canada
If you go to the Hands Off events, share it on the socials. Many protest events are not being reported on widely in national media, so share where you can! And look out for each other and be safe.
Tuna melt dip is even better! The tuna is whipped like a mousse and is a tasty alternative to a sandwich. Discovered Canadian honey farm, Drizzle and their products this week. Incredible recipes to come no doubt. Started dusting off the Spring clothes and packing up the heavier bedding. Of course the dishwasher broke down just “in time” (ugh) for an appliance sale. Appliances don’t last anymore.. Watched the Netflix film, The Life List. So good. Mother-daughter story.
Maybe in case someone is reading and feeling like they want to participate but are nervous or don’t know anyone we should shout out where we’ll be? Hands Off! In St. Petersburg, FL! I keep thinking of a Dan Carlin podcast I listened to this week here he quotes Benjamin Franklin. When asked what kind of government had been created, Franklin answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” And I would damn sure like to try! My voice shakes a little every time I call my congress members but eventually it won’t. And protests weren’t comfortable at first but sometime between Dobbs and now, I got comfortable. We all have to do what we can.
I’ll be at Hands Off! Lansing, MI! And thank you Cup of Jo for highlighting!!
The Hands Off website has a location map with every gathering starred. We’re headed to Boston to join our son’s group. The number of resignations and pay to play payouts has all of us concerned. Our son is a civil servant under the Navy. Employed on a military base. He has already witnessed upheaval daily. While my husband and I continue to rally folks on both sides to think tank without extremes, the rope keeps getting tighter.
Thank you, Nikki! I feel exactly the same and I’m making a plan for Saturday. I feel like this is a time to encourage everyone who wants to go to have a plan…..like organize a carpool, figure out your day around the protest, etc. Kind of like when we encourage people to have a plan to vote. Text like-minded friends, get the plan in place and GO!!!
Hi Nikki, I don’t live far from St. Pete and would be happy to meet up with you and any other COJ readers in the area. You’re right – we all need to do what we can and make our voices heard.
I’m in Birmingham! I have two small kids and am nervous to go to what I assume wont be a huge protest like the ones in blue states/bigger cities. Id love to know if anyone else in Alabama is going!
Kathryn!!!! That never crossed my mind. Thank you!!!!!!!
The link to curbed only has pictures if you go via pinterest https://ch.pinterest.com/pin/210121138882671124/. Happy hunting a
That Jessie Loves fashion article is great, except for the dresses over jeans part (dresses over jeans are a trigger for me, as crazy as that sounds). As someone who has deep FLDS roots, I do NOT want to dress like my cousins who have not yet left the cult, ha ha. Good for Jessie, not for me. 🤪 Thank you, as always, for using this platform for good and raising awareness about the Hands Off protest and about the threats to our democracy.
I thought this too! I read the dresses over pants bit and thought… oh no… are we doing this again?! Haha.
Thank you for raising the most important issues of our time alongside all the other fun content! So important. I appreciate it. Everyone needs to get out and protest, we are truly fighting against facism right now.
Hi Joanna – Thank you for highlighting 4/5! Been thinking about my poster, then will hand over to the teens in the house to make it look good. Sending love and encouragement to all those inclined and able to protest. HANDS OFF!
Me too – thinking about poster. Got any ideas you might share?
As a Canadian I am hoping you all can change the tides of this administration. You’re in for the fight of your lives if you want to save your country and your way of life. It really seems like the rule of law has completely fallen. In the meantime Canadians will be shopping Canadian for the next four years.
I’m in a province that exports a tremendous amount to the US, maybe this mess will help change that. I grew up inthe US and I don’t think people realize how backwards things are there until they step into another country. voting about whether someone else can have an abortion? It’s like voting on if someone can have a cancer treatment.
As you should. Thank you for your words. We will clean this mess 💪 🤝
May, unfortunately here in the U.S. the insurance companies decide what cancer treatment, if any, those afflicted can receive and what tests they may undergo to identify best route forward. It is beyond infuriating and absurd.
Bonnie, I didn’t realize that! How terrible to have your treatment decided, in a sense, by an accountant.
I always click the nymag links without realizing and it’s a bit disappointing as I don’t have a subscription. Otherwise, great round up once again.
It all depends on if you like their content of course, but I have found a subscription to NYMag to be worth the $ — and I am not a person who subscribes to a lot of substack content or anything like that. There’s a lot to read and new stuff every day.
Reparenting! – The number of women in my life whose voices I hear when I talk to my daughter — friends, therapist, colleagues, internet communities — this network of women are really co-parenting with me and it warms my heart. And I love thinking that they are “re-parenting” me, too.
I am so stoked for Materialists. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
And sorry about your computer, Joanna. How awful.
passing this along, because if I lived in NYC, wild horses could not keep me from attending this: https://www.symphonyspace.org/events/design-matters-20th-anniversary-debbie-millman-roxane-gay?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Yes Hands Off! I’ll check if Paris is joigning. Force et lumière! You have the power. Love from Paris
Montpellier will be singing US resistance songs on April 5: 16-17.30h, Place de la Comédie. Am seriously envisaging happng on a train from Switzerland and joigning them … Love from Basel a
Oh, and https://www.democratsabroad.org/scottstroud/hands_off_protest_rally_on_april_5th
I will be taking a wireless speaker and this playlist to my local Hands Off! Feel free to use it all! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5sFq3IgmkaKyOiHtVPEWh6?si=HAbe4gh6SYKZ1Ytti3SJgA&pi=M1CQvKnySLiU6
Thank you CoJ team for promoting the Hands Off 2025 event right alongside all the other lovely and uplifting content. Courage! xoxo
I love the thread from the indie bookseller, but if I’m going to nitpick, hearing people refer to the current state of affairs as ‘hell times’ (see also: end times, doomsday etc) does rub me up the wrong way. Unless you are a child in Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen (the list goes on), you are not living in the hell times. Not yet anyway. We are living in the resistance. Keep fighting.
Dante would disagree! :)
Could not agree more. Good to have perspective about where one fits in the world.
Omg same. Always said with the equivalent of a champagne cocktail swirling in hand ;)
I totally hear you @Janey and I do feel similar disappointment but there ARE often gift links included too! (even this list has a gift recipe from NYT). I feel sad or frustrated when I can’t read all the links (or read Big Salad) but try to remember that this is where I am financially… the cool thing about this is that every time there IS a gift link it feels like a real gift indeed. (It can be easy to miss the gift links though so maybe Joanna could make those a bit more prominent for the benefit of the poor/weak currency dwellers among us – and by that I mean myself – I do not presume to know your reasons for for not subscribing to NYT nor do I know the strength of the currency where you live haha)
thank you for your note! we always write “(NYTimes gift link)” right after the link. hope this helps!
After 11 years in Switzerland (many: hours of German class, times getting scolded I am recycling incorrectly, and missed trains as they actually leave on time) – I have just become a citizen, can’t wait for that passport to sit beside my Canadian one!
No country, I repeat, no country can top the Belgian passport design, featuring comig book heroes, including the Smurfs! https://www.tintin.com/en/news/5749/a-new-passport-with-a-unique-design-featuring-comic-book-heroines-and-heroes#
It’s a tie!
Trump and Musk also want foreign countries and are threatening not only the security in the US but also our world peace! I am so scared right now about the possible outcome of their actions. Trump and Putin are of the same kind. I would not be surprised if they divided the world in two and each one gets half. And the worst part: we saw it coming and Trump was still elected. Has he so far improved anything that he promised his voters? No. He is a liar and everyone should see it by now. Thank you for mentioning the National Day of Action!
Couldn’t agree more, Anni. How people voted for him is beyond me. Anyone who voted for him just to get cheaper groceries was completely delusional then and (I hope?!) evaluating their choices now. At our church this weekend, the sermon was about Israelites and their bad behavior at a certain point in history and our priest said “They might as well be wearing MIGA hats – Make Israel Great Again” and it got a huge clap of approval. I’m scared, but I’m grateful for many things right now too: my likeminded friends, our energy and commitment to saving our country, a faith community that is not afraid to call a fraudulent liar out when we see him. May we all continue to be brave and keep at it 💪
Eid Mubarak too!
OK, but PLEASE do a Beauty story with JessieR, her skin, my godddddddd!!!
If you’re feeling a bit bleak, I highly recommend clicking all the way through and reading the full “indie bookseller” bluesky thread (the link is at the bottom of the Kottke post). It’s the most hopeful and happy thing I’ve read all week.
I’ll be in NY for a wedding April 5th and hell yes this District resident will be at that hands off rally! Hands off my body, my immigrant neighbors, my kids’ school, our federal jobs and Washington, DC! Thank you for sharing – will see you there, Jo!
Hands off Greenland….
I’ll be at the Chicago “Handsoff!” Thanks for promoting this!
Sharon Horgan fans: Amandaland is on the BBC1 player now. Follows Amanda from Motherland. Very good!!
Throwing in my vote for Team Laurie re The White Lotus…….
I loved the bookseller link. It’s such an important reminder during difficult times that while the actions of the few in power are terrible, the majority of people are trying their best to be kind and find the right thing. It’s easy to forget that and important to remember, because the majority have more power in the end.
Thank you for posting the National Day of Action Hands Off Let’s make this happen! xo
as an independent bookseller and independent bookstore owner, i can echo the sentiment that there is so much good that takes place inside the walls of bookstores. it’s a notoriously tough business (very low profit margins) that often leaves me wondering why i put myself through it. but the interactions are so rewarding, and so many customers tell us how important it is to them that we are a place of discovery, curiosity, delight, and liberation. indie bookstores need everyone’s support, PLEASE buy your books at independent bookstores and NOT with The A* Who Shall Not Be Named—you can do this in person but also online— through bookstores’ webstores and the awesome website bookshop dot org. your sales make a huge difference to small businesses and local economies. truly!!
Laura- thank you for taking on low profit margins to bring fullness to your community! I’ve been giving a gift card to a local bookstore for every one of my kids friends gifts- along with a promise of a playdate there. My kids (7 and 9) feel so grown going to the cafe and ordering and chatting with their buddy, then picking out books & doing the math & checking out by themselves! It’s a place that allows my kids independence and gives them so much joy!
Echoing everything Laura says but also… at least where I live, even if your local book shop does not have a website with an e-commerce function, 9 times out of 10 you can call them, or email them, ask if they have whatever book you’re looking for in stock… often if they don’t, they can order it in… and if you can’t get to the shop to collect it, they will post it to you. You can give your card details over the phone.
Thank you so much for sharing and for going to the April 5th protest. May we all keep protesting and resisting in every way we can. I deeply appreciate everyone who is doing what they can, don’t give up please.
Thanks for sharing and promoting the “Hands Off!” rallies. I will loudly be at the one in Seattle next week and also encourage everyone to find their closest location to attend. I am looking forward to channeling my anxiety and anger into action!
Eid Mubarak! Tonight, I’m wrapping up gifts for all the kids, and then making some chai to go along with the box of baklava my husband picked up from our local bakery. Looking forward to making that tuna sandwich now that I can eat lunch again lol.
PS Forgot to mention that I started watching Bunheads on Prime. Finally! A delicious binge between the Gilmore Girls era and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. Thanks everyone for the rec.
And her new show Etoiles is starting soon!
That studio apartment is gorgeous! Looks like it’s in France, not Manhattan.
I’m so encouraged by all the cities/towns being added to hands off 2025. I’ll be there in Missoula MT!
YES! I was hoping you’d link to the HANDS OFF! protest day on 4/5! Thank you, Joanna!! I’m planning on driving to Lansing, my state capital, to join in.
I always look forward to your Friday links! However, every time one is NYMag, I’m locked out unless I subscribe. But I suppose a ‘gift’ link for a million CoJo followers would be too much to ask… :)
Hi Janey! Oh we so wish we could give readers a gift link, but sadly NYMag doesn’t offer them! But if that ever changes, we will be handing them out left and right! xx
NYMag doesn’t do gift links. I’m sure Joanna would if it were possible.
Just copy the desired link into archive.ph and … voila: https://archive.ph/Gh1Ks
Or maybe a CoJ code to subscribe for a little discount ;)
Check your public library e-magazine collection, usually from Libby or Overdrive. I read NY Magazine that way every week. If you can’t find it, call or visit your library and talk to a staff member there. They will be happy to show you.
Janey, try archive.is
Especially an article starting with « my own private Avignon »!
Try this link: https://archive.ph/20250328225940/https://www.curbed.com/article/claude-nolle-toly-bleecker-street.html
Hey Janey, if you install the Behind the Overlay extension to Chrome you can remove the overlay pop up and at least see the image, if not the full text of the piece.
If you have a library card, check to see if your library carries it digitally :)
my library has NYMag on Libby. It is great. now…. is it time for a WSJ subscription??