The Museum of Joanna Goddard

A peek at Joanna’s personal collection

Come to Italy with me! I’m leading an inspiration trip to Milan and Turin in the fall, and I think you should come. More details here.

Welcome back to The Museum, a new-ish column on À La Carte that hands us a map to a gallery of the objects, ideas, and references that make up a person’s life, from the entrance hall to the gift shop. My next guest is someone whose visual world many of us have been peeking into for a while now: Joanna Goddard!

Images by Gisela Gueiros

Joanna is the Brooklyn-based writer behind Cup of Jo, a lifestyle blog with a famously warm and steady online presence for nearly two decades. If there was a Mount Rushmore of content creators, Joanna’s face would be up there without a doubt—she practically pioneered an entire genre of media by creating a place for women to not just read about parenting, relationships, travel, sex, design, and beyond, but to discuss these topics with each other in a lively comments section, in which she herself is an active participant. Nineteen years later, Cup of Jo is still going strong, and here on Substack, her newsletter Big Salad has found the same success.

But the reason why I and so many others connect with Joanna’s voice isn’t because she leads an unattainable, aspirational lifestyle we can only catch a glimpse of from afar; it’s because she’s a real person sharing her real wins, heartbreaks, parenting experiences, divorces (well, just one divorce), career milestones, and favorite things with a generosity you can feel through the screen. I love opening an issue of Big Salad knowing I might find a rec I can trust for a makeup primer or a rain coat or a book or a hotel in Paris or a swimsuit. I’ll almost certainly be introduced to a woman in Joanna’s network with an interesting story and excellent recs of her own, or a roundup of thoughts from her community on topics ranging from therapy to sex to friendships and everything else under the sun. Joanna has built a trust with her readers that most people who share parts of their lives online can only dream of, and it’s because of her openness, honesty, and vulnerability that they’ve stuck with her all along the way.

So without further ado, welcome to The Museum of Joanna Goddard.

Starting in THE ENTRANCE HALL, the first thing Joanna wants you to see: her giant sofa.

“Funnily enough, our giant sectional sofa would be the first thing in my museum. I want people to always feel welcome in our home, with a place to sit and a drink in hand. This sofa is regularly filled with lanky teenagers, kids playing hide-and-seek behind it, friends playing games, my dad taking an afternoon nap—you name it. It makes me so happy.” — Joanna Goddard

Deserving of a forever spot in THE PERMANENT COLLECTION: Land by Maggie O’Farrell.

“Ooh, what a fun question! I actually just read Land by Maggie O’Farrell and last night, when I finished it, I felt so devastated that it was over. The novel follows an Irish family over decades, and I fell in love with all the characters. I’ve only read it once so far, but I already know I’ll read it many more times in my life.” — JG

THE UNIFORM that best represents Joanna’s style: the striped shirt.

“Like most women I know, I’ve worn striped shirts a gazillion times. They’re easy and comfy and timeless. My current favorites are from Kule and Le Bon Shoppe.” — JG

THE EVERYDAY OBJECT, something ordinary that deserves a spot in the museum: a Braun digital alarm clock.

“Okay, this is so random, but this alarm clock truly brings me joy. The beauty is in its simplicity—no sound effects, no extras, no fuss. We got one for each of our bedrooms. It never glitches, and its small size is perfect for traveling.” — JG

THE EARLY INFLUENCE, the signal of the beginning of Joanna’s taste: stripes.

“Early stripes! I’m the twin on the right. Also, I love my mom’s middle part. I can’t pull one off, but she really could.” — JG

THE BEAUTIFUL THING, or something Joanna loves purely for its beauty: Virginia Sin’s Infitity Knot and Small Things Studio’s Spiral Olive Dish

“Virginia Sin’s ceramic knots are so graceful and beautiful. We have one on our bookcase, and I love seeing it every day. I also really love this olive spiral.” — JG

THE MUSE, Joanna’s current fixation: the Recombobulation Area at the Milwaukee airport

“I grew up in the Midwest, and my friend from Wisconsin told me about the Milwaukee airport’s ‘Recombobulation Area.’ I am such a fan of humor and levity in otherwise boring places—can’t you imagine exhausted people deplaning and then seeing that funny sign? In the same way, I’m forever delighted by car vanity plates—my dad recently saw one that said UNSTPBLE, and my kids lost their minds when we drove past a minivan with BUMCHEEK.” — JG

THE SENTIMENTAL ARTIFACT, or the piece in the collection with the most emotional meaning: this Kim McCarty painting.

“Many years ago, I had a very grueling year of work, so I gave myself a gift at the end of it—a Kim McCarty painting of a boy. I was pregnant at the time, and incredibly, somehow, impossibly, my son grew up to be… the boy in the painting?! Everyone comments on it, and the painting means so much to me now. I would save it in a fire.” — JG

Stop by THE GIFT SHOP for something to remember your visit by: French market bags, Reese’s, or Nécessaire’s body wash.

“My gift shop would include French market bags, Reese’s in different shapes (way better than the originals!), and Nécessaire eucalyptus body wash, the nicest thing to smell first thing in the morning.” — JG

THE FUTURE ACQUISITION, something you’ll see in the museum someday: Bario Neal’s Acacia Band

“I’m in a very shmoopy place right now, so maybe a wedding ring?!” — JG

Joanna, thank you so much for the tour! Subscribe to Joanna Goddard’s newsletter, Big Salad, for more from where all that came from. As many of you know, it’s a treasure.

x

Ali

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