The Best Sticky Buns You'll Ever Have

This is not a light day on Cup of Jo:) For those winter mornings when you have guests or are just cozying up with a good book, decadent sticky buns are the perfect treat. Audra of The Baker Chick shares her favorite recipe...Read More >

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You'll Ever Have

Do you ever give a box of cookies as a holiday gift? They're inexpensive, and everyone loves them. We're giving cookies to a few of our friends and neighbors, so I set out to find the two best recipes...Read More >

Tuesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway from ONA is amazing! These days, people carry their cameras everywhere—to playgrounds, on vacations, to candlelit restaurants. "I loathed carrying a camera bag that was clunky and distracting," says Tracy, the founder. "To avoid looking like a tourist, I even tried stuffing my camera into a regular bag...and my camera ended up with the nicks and scratches to prove it." So, she created camera bags that are both gorgeous and functional.

Today, one lucky reader will get to choose between the Chelsea bag ($369) and the Palma bag ($319). For a chance to win, please visit ONA's online shop, and leave a comment below telling us your favorite. Good luck! Update: Mary S. is our winner and has been emailed. Thanks for playing.

Swing art installation

I'm a huge fan of interactive art exhibits (like the Grand Central secret and the New Museum playground), so my jaw dropped when I heard about the current Ann Hamilton show in Manhattan. Her installation features 42 swings, which, in turn, move an enormous billowy curtain. "When the swings are in action, the curtain, made of a lightweight silk twill, rises and dips, and the air is stirred, causing further billowing and fluttering," writes the New York Times, "Pigeons and an actress provide a soundtrack." Some people glide on the swings, some lie on the ground under the curtain and some sit on benches to take it all in. The show runs through January 6th at the Armory. I can't wait to take Toby!

(Photos by Philip Greenberg for the New York Times)

How to choose a vintage engagement ring

Jared from Erstwhile Jewelry is a fifth generation jeweler. His family opened their first jewelry shop in Russia in the 1800s, so "I've been surrounded by the business since I was little," he says. Here, he reveals seven tips for choosing an antique engagement ring...Read More >

Motherhood Mondays: An ode to rituals

My friend Jenny Rosenstrach wrote the cookbook/memoir Dinner: A Love Story, and as I was reading it for the hundredth time in bed this weekend...Read More >

Motherhood Mondays: What family traditions do you have during the holidays?

What are your family traditions around the holidays? When we were growing up, my parents would light angel chimes at the dinner table, and the heat from the candles would make the angels spin around and ring the bells. That little "ding, ding, ding" sound still makes me feel so warm and cozy...

Toby is two-and-a-half years old, so this is the first holiday that he'll really understand. I've been thinking so much recently about the value of rituals, and I'd love to create some for our family. So angel chimes are the very first holiday tradition we're starting with him.

Does your family light angel chimes? (Apparently, angel chimes are actually Swedish, but they were introduced to America about fifty years ago.) What other holiday family traditions do you have? A big Christmas Eve dinner? Homemade stockings? Super spiked egg nog? I'd love to hear—and get ideas!

(Many thanks to our friend Alpha Smoot for taking photos)

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