Blog / Inspirations

Back in January 2019, my friend Liz had the brilliant idea to start a soup group to help us get through the long, dark winter. The rules were simple: our six friends would rotate houses every couple months, the host

A couple years ago, we wrote about coupons for kids — think: “Dad works out with you (push ups, sprints, etc.),” and “Mom takes you out for hot chocolate” — and since then, along with readers, we’ve come up with

Photos by Lyndsay Hannah Photography

“We’re a hosting house,” says bestselling poet Kate Baer. “Our family culture is, ‘Let’s have people over!’” She lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with her husband, four kids, three cats, and dog named Maybe (as

What’s a vegetarian to do when the cold forecast and a skeletal greenmarket conspire to drive her into the arms of Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese or the red-wine braised short ribs of yesteryear? Well, a few years into my whole “weekday

At 3 a.m., I sat straight up in bed…

Suddenly wide awake, I realized my heart was pounding, my mind racing. Our family has been going through some tough stuff behind the scenes (who isn’t?), and as I

We adore this Cup of Jo community, so we asked readers to send their favorite personal photos from 2025. We received so many incredible snapshots — it was impossible to choose! — but here are 11, including a surprise wedding

Readers have been asking for another hard-to-shop-for guide — think: teenagers, in-laws, and teachers — so we were happy to put one together. Here are tons of ideas, most of which are under $30…

TEENS AND TWEENS:

Preteen and teens are

What are you up to this weekend? We’re decorating our Christmas tree tonight, and tomorrow I’m going to see the new Oedipus, a modernized version that follows a politician and his wife on election night. I’ll report back! Hope

Is there a Finnish or Japanese word for existential holiday dread? There should be. I suppose the closest thing would be to borrow a term of Ebenezer Scrooge: ba hum bug? That’s certainly how I’m feeling as this long year