Wednesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is from High Street Market, one of my favorite online shops. Run by a Philadelphia-based husband and wife team, the shop brings together beautiful vintage and vintage-inspired home decor, lighting and furniture. My favorites are this brass basset hound, this rad pillow, these Eiffel Tower placeholders and these throw blankets.

Today they're offering one reader a whopping $300 gift certificate to perk up their house. For a chance to win, please visit High Street Market (and feel free to check out their Facebook page) and leave a comment below with your favorite items. A winner will be chosen at random tomorrow. Good luck! xo Update: TheMama23 is our lucky winner. Thanks for playing.
Bonus for all readers: Get 15% off your order with the code CUPOFJO until Friday.

A genius tip for packing for your honeymoon

My friend Susan Cernek (who also happens to be the Fashion Development Director at Glamour) shared the best tip with me the other day: Pack in a single color scheme. "For my two-week honeymoon around Italy, I packed all blue and white pieces," she told me. "That way, I could pack more efficiently, and mix and match."
A bonus tip? "Pack a red dress," she says. "Red always looks dramatic in photos, even if you're lost, like I was here."

(Via Conde Nast Traveler; and here's another romantic post)

Socks in bed.

New York has been so chilly recently that I've been wearing hiking socks to bed. Hiking socks. It's super sexy, as you can imagine. This comic made me laugh out loud. Why are girls cold and guys hot as furnaces when they sleep? It's one of life's great mysteries.

Which European cities are good for family trips?

Which European cities do you think are kid-friendly? We're daydreaming about pinching our pennies and possibly taking Toby to Europe this summer (he'll be two!), and I'd love to find a city that would be great with a little rascal in tow.

Which cities in Europe would you recommend for a family trip? Yolanda wrote a brilliant guide to Paris with kids, and Louisa Kamps wrote a beautiful essay on a family trip to Amsterdam. Thank you SO much for any insights! xoxo

(Photo of Berlin by Travel & Leisure)

Heart elbow patches

How sweet are these heart elbow patches? The steps to make them don't actually look that hard! I'm the least crafty person ever, but I'd love to try it. They would make the most basic sweater instantly adorable.

Happy 60th birthday, Mommy!

My mom turns 60 today. She is the most wonderful mother you could hope for--she always sounds happy when you call (even to talk about boring things), she somehow knows the definition of every vocab word (the only one that ever stumped her was friable!), she's always up for a stinky cheese and glass of white wine, and she's fascinating to talk to about anything and everything. And isn't she beautiful? To know her is to love her, and I could write about her all day. We're throwing her a big family party this May in NYC, and I cannot wait.
My mom when she was three, living in Manchester, England, with her mother, older brother and grandparents, while her dad was stationed in Korea...
At Catholic school in first grade...
A romantic photo my dad took when they were first dating in London...
With us twin babies in Paris ("We had lots of wild wallpaper, even on the ceilings!" she remembers)...
With me at our grandparents' house in Alabama...
With my sister in the Tuileries gardens in Paris...
With my brother (who I think looks just like Toby here!)...
With newborn Toby!

Mama, we adore you!!!!!!! Happy 6-0!!!!!!!

P.S. Babies in Paris:)

Grapes wrapped in goat cheese

The other day, I spotted this recipe for grapes wrapped in goat cheese. Intrigued, we made some last night, and, sure enough, they were creamy, sweet and delicious! What a cool little appetizer to serve when friends come over.

(Photos by Robert Thomas for A Daily Something)