Have a Romantic Weekend.

Happy Valentine’s Day! What are you up to this weekend? Anton is having a sleepover and my goal is to have everyone in bed by 11 p.m.? Midnight? Please wish me luck. Hope you have a good one, and here are a few links from around the web…

I loved doing this Ask Me Anything, where I talked about telling Freddie I loved him and the bag of mine that my sister hates and the hardest part of divorce. Thank you for reading.

How moving are these photos of museumgoers at The Louvre?

My dream spring outfit: thin sweater + cool jeans.

My 93-year-old grandma wants you to throw a “come-as-you-are party”: “My grandparents would call their friends to invite them over later. The only catch: Don’t change your clothes, don’t shower, and simply show up in whatever you’re wearing. Oh, you’re painting your kid’s bedroom? Well, looks like you’re attending a party in paint-splattered coveralls.”

Jessie Randall’s travel list is full of smart tips (especially #9).

How cool is this balaclava? It looks like a hoodie.

Hospitals and hospices are inviting musicians to play for patients. “We embedded the harpist in the unit, and it was almost night and day with the comments and patient experience…and with the staff as well.” (NYTimes gift link)

Kate Bear’s poem about female friendship makes me cry. (Her fourth book, How About Now, comes out on November 4th.)

Now THAT’S a dining room makeover!

Have you read the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead about opioid addiction in southern Appalachia? Author Barbara Kingsolver just opened a home for women in recovery. (NYTimes gift link)

Would you make a Wednesday cake?

The joys and pains of adult ballet.

Plus, four reader comments:

Says L. on my mom was an alcoholic: “I am a mother in my early 40s to a three-year-old girl. I am an alcoholic. I know I need to quit to give her the life and love she deserves. This is a secret of mine that I’ve kept for years, and I see myself in your mother. Reading the comments has consumed me today. I needed this more than anything right now.”

Says Anon on four fun things: “I went to a sock darning workshop yesterday! I took an hour off work in the afternoon to go to the senior center in town. Hanging out with six retired women, learning how to mend socks, was the perfect balm for the dumpster fire that is our country right now. It felt a bit like giving a middle finger to capitalism.”

Says Emily O. on library love letters: “My husband and I decided not to spend money for Valentine’s Day, so his gift was to let me fill up the ebook holds in his library card. I also just left our local branch with two Nintendo switch games, a book that was published on Tuesday, and a puzzle. Is there any better place?!”

Says Jeanne on 9 readers share their happy moments: “I’m sitting in a hospital waiting room while my mother is having a risky surgery that could last up to 10 hours. The weather has prevented family and friends from coming to sit with me. Despite their kind texts, I can’t keep the tears from welling up in my eyes. But seeing these happy moments and happy comments, I feel a little lighter. It’s so wonderful to be reminded of the joy in the world by the lovely CoJ community.”

(Photo by Marta Mauri/Stocksy.)

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