Life hacks and salty snacks

This week we’re keeping it light! We’re sharing some of our favorite life hacks, go-to products, salty snacks, and little things that make everyday life easier. Join us for a fun conversation full of practical tips, random favorites, and a few laughs along the way.

The Weekly Unravel is a podcast about motherhood, midlife, perimenopause, and everything in between. Join friends Heather and Sarah as they navigate life’s twists and turns with tea, humor, honesty, and absolutely no expertise.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode, and connect with us on Instagram @theweeklyunravelpodcast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the weekly unravel, where we talk about life, motherhood, and midlife out loud. And you are everyone and welcome to today's episode of the weekly unravel. This episode is life hacks and salty snacks. Yum. Heather and I figured after the trauma bond we formed last week, we should give you a nice, easy, happy topic this week. Lighten it up a bit. Yeah. So we're going to be talking about all the things that make us smile. Simple life hacks, our favorite snacks, our favorite luxuries in life, all the all the good, juicy things. I like it. Yeah. So, Heather, how was your week?

SPEAKER_01 0:44

My week was actually really, really good.

unknown 0:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

I'm going to tell you why. So I went to an event a few days ago, and I'm going to get into details about the event, but I went to an event where I had to be fancy. I got very dressed up. So I bought this dress that I loved, and I decided to get my hair and makeup done because I don't know how to do those things. For what I try, it's like that looks okay. So I decided we're I'm just going for it. And so I had this night where I got to be dressed up and someone came and pampered me and did my hair and my makeup, and it looked beautiful. And I felt like this adult woman having a night out experience because it was not with the kids. It was just me and my husband. And I just felt like I got to feel like a version of me that I haven't been with in a long time. So I got to not I wasn't parenting. I wasn't actively parenting on this evening, you know? It's like grandma and grandpa have got the kids. And I just got to feel glamorous and beautiful and like put together and not running around and not chaotic, you know? And I'm like, oh, I remember I used to sometimes have experiences like that. It's been a while. I feel like I call my normal everyday dressing my tired mom outfit. Like sometimes I do not look in the mirror before I go to drop the kids at school or go to work. And my work does not require me to look fancy, but I usually, you know, try to get put together. But sometimes I'm like, did I look in the mirror? I don't, I don't know. I'm not positive that I did. So the fact that I got to have this whole experience was really, really nice for me. And it really highlighted that I don't feel like this or do stuff for myself enough. So it really showed me that. And at the end of the night, I was so sad when it was time to take the makeup off. I'm like, who am I? I don't even wear makeup every day. But I looked at myself and I was like, I don't see my tired eye bags. Like they weren't there because the magician makeup person made them go away. So I just liked how I looked and how I felt. And I was sad to wipe it off and then go back like Cinderella. Exactly. And that's what I said to my husband that night. I was like, I'm about to turn back into the pumpkin or whatever. Because that's how I felt. And I'm very happy that I had that experience and I'm happy to go back into mom life with the kids, and I'm not like sad about that. But I do have what it helped me realize is that I need to do this more for myself. It doesn't mean I'm gonna have super fancy events where I'm getting my hair and makeup done because that's not that's a rare thing, but something. And maybe it's just like more date nights with my husband where I decide I'm gonna put on a dress and I'm gonna look nice and I'm gonna make a thing out of it. We just don't really do that that much. So it was a good reminder and it kind of made me feel amazing and then also a little bit sad because wow, I haven't felt this in a long time. It was all the feelings, but it was it was great. It was like overall a great experience, and I've been yeah, a little bit of a high from it.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Loading on it.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

That was great. It was good, yeah. It was really nice.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Good. And what uh what were your challenges?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

My challenges. Uh my biggest frustration this week is that we're having some work done on our house, and it's been taking a very, very long time because our contractor keeps going MIA, and we're so frustrated about it. And I've heard like this is a thing with contractors, but this guy does great work. We are been friendly, we like him, and there's just something going on, and I don't know what it is with him, but he's just been going MIA and not showing up when he says he's gonna show up, and we're at the point where we're like, maybe we just hire someone else to finish the job. Wow. It's maddening, but we're actually looking into hiring someone else to finish the job. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah, it's that bad. I'm it's been eight months. Eight months. Eight months. And do you do was there like an original scope, like projection?

SPEAKER_01 4:19

There wasn't an original this is how many months? Because I don't even ask that because I know that it's never accurate.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

So I don't even ask, but I assumed it would be done by the end of like winter something into spring, like before the summer.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

And to be fair, we did have a bad winter, but we had he had work he could have done on the inside of the house during those really, really cold days. You know, I expect some days off during the winter, but he also was a lot off in the winter. So I don't know what's going on. It's been really challenging, really frustrating, and we're not happy about it. And sure. I mean, we're used to having a house that just has like the tie back paper on it, you know? Yeah, so nice. It's been months. Exactly. So we're having my son's birthday party this weekend. I'm like, well, everyone will just enjoy the beautiful half put together house and hear a good story. Should be able to find the house for a tie back on your laptop.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Exactly.

unknown 5:15

It's actually a very good idea.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

No need for balloons on the mailbox. Yeah, no, no, you'll know exactly where we are. Okay, so what was the good part of your week? The good part of my week. So the end of the school year is upon us, and I have officially completed all of my class mom duties for the year. You're done, and you're not doing it again. Well, I'm probably not doing it again. Sarah. Yeah, you thought it was a no. So I discovered this week that so my co-room rep and I we are room reps together. She's also my husband's assistant coach for baseball. And I realized at one of the end of school picnics this year, and I said this to her, I'm like, I think we might be codependent. Like, we've just we're we do all the things together and we've kind of just yeah, we've become a little codependent. So now you're bonded. So now we're bonded, and she's like, Come on, let's do it again next year. And it's like, I can't say no to you. So I we'll see. So there are there are three classes in our kids' grade level. My boys will always be in opposite class, they will never be in the same class. So I've got a two out of three chance of her kids being in class with one of mine. Um, so if that happens, then yeah, I'll probably do it again. Okay. We'll see. If they if they if they'll ha if they'll have me. Um, but I it feels good to just got through all the things. The hardest one for me is getting um the end-of-year teacher gift. So and not that it's hard to like get it for them, but it like requires collecting and spending other people's money. Oh, because you guys do a collective group. Yeah, like we collect because we're like the room rap. So we do it for a class. And uh I come just I I just always want everyone to know that like this is what I got. Like, I definitely didn't like take a vacation to Tijuana with five dollars. Like I definitely got the teachers a gift, and it's you know, um but we we we did it all and it was great and everybody's happy. So yeah, another successful year in the books. My bat, I didn't, you know, it was pretty smooth week. I didn't have a bat until this morning. Um apparently one of my children flung a jelly bean in my back mud room and it landed behind a bunch of potted plants, so I did not see that jelly bean. But this morning I saw all of the ants go marching. Um and I and it's funny because I'm usually like such a pacifist, like every spider gets gingerly carried out my front door. But ants no, like thou shalt not suffer an ant to live. I had my Dawn dish soap, it's like my battle weapon of choice, and I've got it like over like every like entryway, so like they can't like cross, like made a barrier. So you'll see my back room right now is half scrubbed with like baking soda and vinegar and dish soap everywhere. Yeah, it wasn't that I mean they were coming in and then you could see because like they tell their friends. I know they're like that, yeah. Hey, homies, come on in. So like I can see them like marching outside and lining up to my door, so I put the barrier like around all the door frames, like a psycho that I am. So they're dead now. But I do have to finish scrubbing my floor when you leave. So that's that's my my challenge of the week is my aunt. Not too terrible, but not great. Yeah, not the not the worst in the world. My mudroom's gonna be super clean when this is over. It is. So it is okay. It's a win. All right. Before we get into our super fun topic today, uh you know, Heather, we told everybody that we started this around our tea time and our tea conversation. Yes, and we're inviting everybody to join us for tea. I thought we should talk about what tea we're having. What tea are we having today? What's the tea? The tea today to go along with our happy topic is Rosie Mood by Traditional Medicinals, which is one of my favorite tea companies, according to the box here. It's uplifting and supports a good mood. I like it. It's it mostly tastes like cinnamon. It's got uh it is cinnamon yield, hawthorn berry, rose flower, hibiscus, and a proprietary proprietary, easy for me to say proprietary blend of butterfly pea flour, cinnamon bark, and organic steedy leaf. Sweet. So here's my nerd fun fact about this though. Butterfly pea flour is like a litmus test. So if you look at our tea, it's really ugly. It's like a sad gray color. It does look at it. But it tastes good. It tastes good. But if you squeeze like a little lemon in there, it'll react to the acid and turn bright pink. So if you guys are into drinking pretty tea, just squeeze lemon in your rosy mood and it'll make it real pretty. So what makes us happy? I hope it does. Let's we're gonna go through like a couple of different couple of different things that kind of cover the different bases in our so I'll give you one, then Heather will give you one.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

And then if you guys have some that you've thought of while you're listening, please share in like the Facebook page or the Instagram group. Like we want to hear all of the things that make you yeah, because make your life easier and make you happy.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

Yeah, I mean, we're open to suggestions because we're always good for more happy and more fun. Please. All right, so Heather, what for you is your favorite life? What makes everything just a little easier and breezier for you?

SPEAKER_01 10:13

The thing that makes my life easier is always, almost always, getting my groceries delivered. Now, this started during COVID times and then it kept going. And I thought one day I'll go back to going to the grocery store. I don't enjoy going to the grocery store. I know some people like it. I've always hated it. I I get overwhelmed by big grocery stores. I just do. I I feel like very uncomfortable and I it just have to get out of here as soon as possible. This has never been something I liked, even when I was like single and living by myself. I just hated it. I'd always find the smallest store.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

You're not really into cooking, you're not one to not a big cook.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

It's not like, let's go look at all the things and no, I don't care. So getting them delivered. So there's a little fee that goes with it, and I realize that I'm trying to like be a little more on top of my budget and you know, saving some money, and I realized that's probably something I should cut out. But then I started going back to the grocery store and I realized I bought so much crap when I was at the grocery store because when I go there, I want to grab all kinds of new things to try. And so I ended up spending so much more money when I was actually in the store. And then I realized this is actually very economical to get my groceries delivered because maybe I'll pay a little bit more, but I'm not ever getting any extra crap. I'm never gonna see something and think, ooh, I'm hungry, I want to try that, or that sounds good. I'm just making a list, putting on it everything that I need, and that is what is coming to me. And I'm also not going with my kids who want everything. Every once in a while, my daughter likes to come with me and I spend like at least $50 more on like snacks and whatever. And sure, I could tell her, no, we're not getting that. But I'm like, part of me is like, well, I kind of want to try that snack too, and that looks interesting. And sure, let's try that new thing. So it saves me so much time by not going to the grocery store. It saves my sanity, and apparently it is saving me money because I will always try a new little thing if I go into the grocery store. So I'm I'm loving this and I'm keeping it, and you know, sometimes I'll go in if I really need to, but I mostly won't.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

I like it. That's a good one. Right? I agree with it, and I agree with the m the cost savings because for me, if I bring my kids into a grocery store, I'm I've just added easy $50 to the bill easily. My favorite life and I think this is funny. If we go back to our first episode when we talked about the mom tours we don't like, yeah, and you weren't into cooking and I did laundry.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

That's funny in these videos.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

My hack is for myself and my boys. I have brought like off of, you know, that big major online retailer, socks and canes, whatever, but like so many of them, like massive quantities of socks. And for my boys, one of them gets white socks and the other one black socks, and they're all the same. We don't have any quirky socks, any fun no. So I don't have to sift through and figure out making pairs. It's just like little white socks, go in your draw. So good. Little black socks in your so it's so good. You know, anything that makes laundry more bearable makes my life worth living. So that is my my favorite hack. The little thing that I did that just makes me go, I am requiring some wisdom in this life.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

Yeah, no, that's really good. I need to I do that with my son a bit, like all the same thing. Not as much with my daughter, although I've tried. I've got to find some pink because everything has to be pink. So I have to find some that are pink that I can just get in bulk somewhere. It has to exist. I'm sure there's I will find that. It's a brilliant idea. Find it and get it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Okay. Um next. Heather, what are your favorite snacks?

SPEAKER_01 13:31

I'm a sweet girl, I'm not really a salty girl, but I am a both put together girl. So yeah. So like a perfect yummy thing for me is a cho a dark chocolate covered pretzel, like that kind of a thing. What makes me so happy. I don't eat them a lot these days because I'm being more mindful of less sugar, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But like a dark chocolate-covered pretzel, like a bag of them. It's so good. That is that is, yeah, sweet and salty. Satisfied. Or like dark peanut embs. Have you had dark peanut embs? I used peanut egg girl because I convinced myself it was healthy because that was healthier. Getting protein. Totally.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Not try dark chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Dark is so good. It's so good. You have to get them. They're in some grocery stores. So good. So that is my favorite snack. Sweet and salty chocolate must be involved.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

So I'm not a sweets girl. Really. And I I like like food. Yeah. So my favorite snack, hands down, I love like a cheese and cracker plate. Oh. And like it's in a because like you kind of can feel like you're making it fancy for yourself. And whatever. I can just get stuff at Trader Joe's. It doesn't have to be, you know, this like luxurious thing. But a good like cheese cracker, a little bit of grapes, a little bit of dried fruit, a little bit of fig jam. Like that is like if I like at the end of the day, kids go to bed, sit down, make myself a little like it feels like very like I'm treating myself. And I do have a very, very particular favorite cheese, and it's Midnight Moon. So it's yeah, midnight moon. It's a go it's so it's a goat gouda. Okay. Uh and they they call it I I wrote down, like, because I don't know. I'm not a cheese expert. I don't have the right language for this, but according to the website, it's a gouda style goat cheese that's dense and smooth with protein crystal. It's nutty, brown buttery with a long, sweet caramel finish.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

You should do a commercial for them.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

I would sensual. And like they don't even have to pee me, they can pee me and cheese. Like, yeah, so it's like they say it's uh goat cheese for people who don't know they love goat cheese. Okay. So that is my hands down fave with a little bit of fig jam. So delicious. All right, I like it. Yeah, all right, what is something in your life that feels like a luxury but is actually a bargain?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Feels like a luxury, but I I mean I'm gonna pick some very specific items of clothing that I have. Okay. But this is not something anyone can go out and find, but I'm just gonna share it with you. It's not like, hey, go and do that. So years ago we were on a trip and the only store nearby was Walmart. Okay. Now I do not like to shop at Walmart. I don't shop at Walmart, but we needed some stuff. So we went in and I got this pair of sweatpants that is my favorite pair of sweatpants that I wear to bed. It is amazing. It is the most comfortable thing. It probably costs $8. I don't know how they made it. I don't want to know. I don't support Walmart. Yeah, yeah. But it is the best pair of sweatpants that I have. And I also have this like wrap thing that I think is from Amazon. Like these are all not companies where I'm like, go buy, spend your money. Yeah, but internet, but it's I've had it for so many years and it just like cuddles me up in the winter and I snuggle with it. So like cheap things that I've gotten from questionable companies, but actually feel amazing.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Yeah. I like things that feel amazing. So for me, uh you know, it's summer is upon us, and it's what do I do with these kids? And I don't have the budget for summer camp for the whole summer at all. So for me, the bargain that f lux bargain that feels like a luxury are the town rec programs. I'm able to put my kids into two weeks of a nice full day camp that is affordable and they've done it before and they love it. And there's a ton of other programs. Yeah, like they have tennis camps and like multi-sport. Um, they did one last year that was a beach camp. So it's great. My kids get great opportunities. I get a break so I don't lose my mind, and it's unbelievably affordable and workable. So that for me, that is my my bargain luxury that I am looking for. So I love that for in these coming months. Yeah, I love that. What is your luxury that is a luxury?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

A luxury that's a luxury.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

I mean it is like you treat yourself.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I love getting a pedicure.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

I love getting my toes clean and pretty and happy. It makes me feel so good and it feels like a luxury because some person is touching my feet and cleaning them. And you know, it's like that. Thank you so much. That is amazing that you're willing to do this. And I like to like tip very generously because this is not like the most fun work for them, I imagine. I like the way incredibly grateful.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

But you're talking like you have Hobbit feet.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

I'm sure not.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

No, my feet are pretty nice.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

My feet are pretty nice, but but still, you know, I'm like, I'm just so grateful that someone is doing this and I love it so much. I love a pedicure. So that's my luxury luxury.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Similarly, mine is getting my nails done, which I just started last September. I was never a nails girl. I I always played stringed instruments, so you can't have nails for that. But my brother was getting married and he asked me to officiate, which I was hugely honored to do. And he was doing his wedding with this kind of like Lord of the Ring vibe. So instantly I'm like, okay, and I'm like officiating, so I'm like, I'm the high priestess of the wedding. I'm Galadria. And I just felt like I need like nails. So I did. I had the most rid, they were kind of ridiculous, like it's good luck zippering my pants, but I just fell in love with getting them done. So they're normal length now, but it's so nice because I never have chipped polish. They're just always done. They just look nice, they look clean, and also I I have very moderate, but I do have psoriasis. And like I have little flakes on my knees, not a big deal. But a weird thing is it makes my thumbnails grow in like weird, like wavy, like bumpy. So I was always like polishing my nails to cover that. And then once you start polishing your nails, but you're doing dishes and digging in a garden and doing mom shit that we do, and it's like hell in like a day. So this is like I get it done, it's like two weeks. I don't have to worry. And I sit there in the chair and somebody comes and rubs my shoulders, and it's like, oh my goodness, it spend like an hour just doing nothing. But I'm not but I'm getting my I have to get my nails done. I have to do nothing for an hour. And they're both with the nails along. That's so funny. We should go together. We did not compare notes before. We really didn't. I'll tell you later where I yeah, yeah, yeah. Well maybe we'll meet up. I know that you are a lover of trash TV.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

I love trash TV.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Was it like two years ago we discovered we were both like low-key watching the same like watching a watching? Yes. Yes. Do we name shows or do we just we can, I mean, so it was it was Scandaval guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

We were discovered we were both watching Vanderpump Rules, and I do not talk to other adult humans really about the trashy shows I watched because I it's like shame watching trashy. But I secretly really, really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

And then we're I don't know what made me ask you, but I was like so glad you can't do that.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Do you it really, really bonded us and our relationships? It really took our friendship together. It did. Anyway, so you used to watch Vanderpump Rolls, which is classic trash. Yeah. So good. And I've thought about this. Like, why do I like trashy TV? I've had to explain this to my husband. Or I don't have to, but I like to because I feel like I'm defending myself even though he calls it, he just says it's my McDonald's. Like he likes he will eat trashy food, he will do other things, and he has other vices. I don't have a lot of vices. I'm not even eating that much chocolate these days. Like I don't drink, I don't smoke. Like I like to watch trashy TV. And I think part of it is that I used to have more drama in my life, and now I don't have a lot of drama, and I don't want drama in my life, but I still like to watch it. I still like to know it's there and indulge in it and laugh about it. And also I like to analyze the people on these shows because I'm I've been in therapy long enough that I can like see why people are doing things and what their motivations are and how it works out, and I'm fascinated by all of that. And so it's like a sociological study when I watch it too. Right. So you're not just watching trash TV, you're like deeply psychoanalyzing. I am, and I can like I don't watch the Kardashians, I never watch Jersey Shore. Like, I can't handle any of that crap. Yes. But like things where people are falling in love, or if they're there's relationships, yeah stuff. It's always that stuff. So I get sucked in and analyze it and find interesting things about it. And yeah, yes, it's my like one trashy vice. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

So I I said I think the tr the trashiest T V that I've well, this is really embarrassing. Uh my husband and I definitely had a my six hundred pound life phase. Oh

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Fascinating one. I watched one half of an episode one.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Yeah. It's I mean, like part of me, I part of me is like, this is horrible. This is like a modern day freak show where they're like exploiting people. And but then there's the other part of me that's can't look away. And but I do like seeing like the triumphant stories too help them overcome. That's a point of some of them are they can't, you know, they just don't want to be, they're not ready. But when they help the people, it's great. And my other one that's similar to that is hoarders.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Oh my god! So you watch those kinds of realities. Not often. Like not often. I can't watch hoarders. It makes me so stressed. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

I because it inspires me to clean up. I probably go through like a solid like four purges a year. That's good. And I did I did have a grandmother who was a hoarder. So you have that connection. Yeah. So like it it is almost to me like I'm anesthetizing myself against it. Like if that's like in my being genetic. Like I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I feel like, yeah, it's like I'm giving myself cautionary tales and then I just go and throw everything out because I hate clutter. So all right. Yeah, that's my that's my dirty. I'm dirty. What do you what's your like favorite kind of comfy clothing? I know you said like some specific items, but like what's your like thing that like makes like for me, it's a hoodie, like a nice oversized, yeah, like pullover hoodie. Like I just like to like curl inside and like.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

I love cozy sweatpants. Okay. I love them. I have so many pairs of them. They can be like the cheap ones I told you about. My friend told me about these from Ann Taylor, and she was like, you have to get these sweatpants, and I got these sweatpants, like putting on a cloud. I just love cozy sweatpants because I wear like workout stuff for teaching, you know, comfortable, nice looking, workout y stuff. Yeah. So you need like beyond yoga pants. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Like yoga pants are just your work.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Because what I change out of my work clothes, I put on cozy, comfy sweatpants. It has to be more comfortable than like the cozy joggers I wear to work in.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

I I want you guys to understand, like, Heather's a very beautiful woman. She always looks good regardless of her pajama lifestyle. But when I if I see Heather in a pair of jeans, I'm like, oh, like, oh, you're dressed up. Like, what's the occasion?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Yep, that's that's me. I take comfort very seriously. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

What do you like to do when you're home alone, when you've got the place all to yourself? So I have two answers for this because I thought about it.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

And one thing I do when I'm home alone these days is that I look around the kitchen, living room area because I feel like when anybody is home, whether it's my husband working from home or definitely if the kids are home, I can't see what needs to be decluttered and cleaned. I can't see all the stuff. I'm too, I don't know, if I'm just too overwhelmed. I I just need to be completely alone to look around and go, I'm gonna clean off that shelf. I'm gonna declutter this closet. I get a lot of decluttering and cleaning done when I'm home all alone. I'm not really ever home fully alone anymore these days. So when I am, that's what I do. If I'm not in the mood to be doing that, which, you know, is definitely the case sometimes, I will get in my bed and I will watch TV. I'm gonna just give you one more though, because sometimes I want to eat some food or have a snack. And then I will go to the kitchen, I will bring my phone to watch trashy TV while I eat my snack.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

That is a thing that happens. Like I like when it's like up, there's layers to it. Like you're preparing the snack here because it's like you're really like creating a moment for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

Oh yeah. So I have the snack, I have like my phone to lean up against the thing. I'm enjoying, so I get all of it. It's like, oh, I got the food, I got the entertainment, and I got oh, it's great. Love it. Yeah. How about you? What do you do?

SPEAKER_02 25:44

I do get like a fair amount of time alone. But thank God, because it's my favorite time. Oh god. Like just as a human, I really enjoy being alone. Like that's who I am. But probably one of my favorite things, I like to accomplish things when my kids aren't home, similar to you, decluttering, cleaning, like doing the deep cleaning stuff. Um, but I like to do it with music at like 11. Like fully like blasting, whatever, like whatever I'm in the mood for at the moment. Yeah, and and I get to do that.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

I love that. Blasting music. And no one can hear it or tell you to turn it down. Or I don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

And yeah. So that's that's my my home alone. That's a good one. Pleasure. Okay, how about guilty pleasures?

SPEAKER_01 26:27

I mean, that's my trash TV, really. If we're gonna go if we're going guilty pleasure. Trash TV too. Yeah, trash TV and and trash TV and chocolate, put them together, and that's kind of like my kitchen. Yeah, I feel exactly. I feel like that counts as that. Yeah. That's that's all I have, really.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Yeah, I think. You're pretty good. Yeah, I've admitted this before. My guilty pleasure is drinking. And I just sound my make myself sound like a maniac. I have another one. Oh, go ahead. Finish. Yeah, yeah, no, finish.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

I feel like this well, certain things on social media. That's a guilty pleasure. Like scrolling through Instagram and looking at like I'm obsessed with musicals, like looking at clips from musicals, looking at I don't know, anything that makes me happy and makes me laugh these days. Like screen time. Just scream, get on my phone. The Knicks just had game three last night. I probably spent a full hour this morning watching clips of New York City freaking out. I love that. When they made that last shot. Okay. Made me so happy. I love that stuff. So I like these days when I'm I don't do scroll so much. I'm looking for things that will bring me some joy and make me happy.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

So you're like, so that's fun for me. Dophamine mining. Exactly. I feel like that's like the help. I need a social media. Yeah, I need some hint. Yeah. Okay. Okay, now I have to do that. Okay, so yeah. So I'm I'm gonna let you know. And it's not so much like I want to get like rip run drum. Like I like a nice wine. Like I enjoy, and like I'm seasonal, so like when it's cold, it's a red, and in the summer it's a white. And like I like, you know, just like having conversations over a glass of wine, and I really enjoy like a well-mixed cocktail.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Like a well-mixed cocktail. And I what I don't like is vodka. Vodka is like I'm a vegetarian, I eat tofu, but not because I like it, because I need the protein, and it just, you know, it tastes like whatever you mix it with. Yeah. To me, like vodka is the alcohol equivalent of tofu. Like you don't really like the way it tastes. Like you just like, I just want to have alcohol. So that's not a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

I don't think you're that hard alcohol though.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

Like, does anyone like alcohol?

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Yeah, like I do know people don't like the way it tastes.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

Yeah. Like I feel like if you mix like a nice tequila cocktail or a tin or even like certain like whiskies in the wintertime, again, it's all very seasonal based. So I like like not and again, not like just slug it down, but just like uh To enjoy. To enjoy. Yeah, and then there's like little layers of flavor. Uh so I like that. And I like like hosting and making like a nice big batch of like, you know, and especially in the summer, like any variation on a margarita, like a watermelon. I do love a margarita. So nice. I love a margarita. Yeah. So that's that's probably my my guilty pleasure is because yeah. So that's it. What what what's your virtuous pleasure? Like, what's a thing that you enjoy is actually like a good for you. Go for you.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

I do have a lot of those. Working out is my number one because I like to work out. I love how that feels. I love feeling my muscles work, and that is good for you. So that's a virtuous one. Going for walks again, similar kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Um reading books. Like I'm a big book reader. So and I don't read trashy books. I don't read I'm not reading like historical. You're not reading like the smut that's like I'm not reading the smut. I fully embrace it and promote everyone. Go read some smut. But it's just not what I want to read. I read like dysfunctional family. Sometimes someone gets murdered. It's like good quality books. Yeah, good quality murder. Good quality murder. Exactly. I know. But I but so I enjoy getting sucked into a really good book. That's good. Yeah, that's a good I do.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

I do love a good book. I'm sorry, I just lost my tra I what is your good pleasure? My virtuous pleasure. So when I uh sober up, I I hang out with nuns. No, I do. I volunteer um with an organization. It's run uh through a Catholic charity, but they do a legal clinic for immigrants applying for asylum. It's so I mean like you hear these people's stories and what they're escaping and what they've been through, and it's it's really hard. So I do that once a week and it's kind of like my night. I you know, my husband comes home early with the kids, I go and I I do that and I get the drive there and back, I get to myself and you know, some headspace there, but then while I'm there I'm I'm contributing to the world and that feels really good to me. Like I'm using, you know, I have a degree in paralegal studies, so I I get to use my education and I get to to do some good. So that's that's my right now my feel good and is good pleasure. That's amazing. Yeah. I love that you do that. And what's your favorite way to spend time with friends? I was not close to your favorite way to spend time with friends?

SPEAKER_01 30:53

My favorite way to spend time with friends over a meal and just talking.

unknown 30:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

I mean, you know, I think just bring in some food, let there be food involved. And uh I'm actually going out to dinner with two very good friends tomorrow, and we are going someplace where we can get a margarita. So I don't drink very much. I drink like once every three months. So this is my this is a big event. This is my mind. This was my mind.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Hydrate beforehand. May I recommend some coconut water for the morning?

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Oh, yeah. I'm gonna tell a funny story now. So my friend Melissa, who will probably listen to this at some point, used to make fun of me because we would go out in the city when we lived in the city in our 20s, and I would always have a bagel in my purse because I needed the carbs because I was such a pathetic drinker. So she was like, look in, look in look in her bag. I bet she's got a bagel in there. Yep. I need the carbs with me.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Hather, we were meant to be friends. So I used to go when I was in my 20s, like this very specific kind of local bar, like all the friends used to be there, whatever. And like everybody knew like clockwork. Like after a certain time of night, I would go next door to the Chinese food place, and I would come back with chopsticks and a carton of Lomain knew it all. And like, and I would sit there drunk as I'll get out, somehow magically using chopsticks, but I couldn't, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

We always had a lot of fun in our 20s together.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Yeah, so I was I was the Lomain girl. You were the bagel girl. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Yep. I love that. Okay, how about you? What is your favorite time with friends?

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Very similar. I am a homebody. So and I I like having people like, oh, like, come to come to me. And I like hosting people, and I obviously love serving them drinks. But similarly, just sitting over food, over a cocktail, and and talking and talking in a in a real way, you know, getting beyond just the surface level of like, my God, you know, whatever. Like that. What does the weather? Yeah. I love getting to like get to the real conversation. Like we do. Over the tea. Yeah. Get to the real conversation.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

This was a really fun episode. It was really I so I want to finish out with what some people said when I asked in on so I asked people what what is their joy right now, what brings them pleasure. There were some like TV shows, books, and things on repeat. And I like to do that too, like repeat watching a show. Like a comfort show. Got it. Watch the show over and over and over again because you know the characters, you feel like they're your friends, that whole thing. I love to do that too.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Got it.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Um some sports, people watching some sports.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

All right.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

A really good margarita. Really, really good margarita. You can't beat it. Music, beach and a margarita. That sounds like heaven. Yeah. And then uh some chocolate. Chocolate with a big answer there. Chocolate and margarit, margarita, yummy, yummy food. I feel like chocolate and margaritas win. I mean, I don't know that I want to eat them to drink and eat them together. But like maybe it's like the table, like the ending of the of a meal. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

That's all good, Heather. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Yeah. Please share with us if you have any things you want to add to this. We would love to hear what they are. Yeah. And keep the good times rolling. Keep it going. Until next week. It is summer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

And don't forget to share this podcast with all of your friends who could use a margarita.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Yeah. Send it along. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. Bye.