Life lately

Sarah is loving the open-ended play opportunities her kids have with neighbors and classmates.

Abby bought a house! Which may come as a surprise to listeners who have heard our previous episode on housing.

Reading lately

Sarah has a new favorite for the year, How to Be a Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together by Dan Kois (co-host of the Mom and Dad Are Fighting podcast).

Abby was in moving hell, which left no time for reading.

Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020!

See you later, 2019! We are not sad to see you go. We reflect on the year that was, set intentions for 2020, and share some of our favorites from 2019. Here’s to a happier, healthier new year. Links we mentioned:

• Last year’s intentions episode (and our mid-year reflection)
• Dance Moms
• Merge Dragons
• Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Fleabag
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (and the sequel comes out in February!)
• Kindle Paperwhite
• Trader Joe’s Butter Toffee Pretzels

Eating lately

Abby is loving a cozy hot toddy.

Sarah recently learned how to cook salmon in her Instant Pot. So fast and easy!

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah’s entryway is getting a remodel.

Abby is grateful for her buy nothing group, especially in the days leading up to her move.

Reading lately

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Abby read The Wedding Party, which is the third book in the series that started with The Wedding Date. (And we can’t wait to read the next book: The Royal Holiday!)

Sarah read Bruce Holsinger’s novel, The Gifted School.

Our year in books, 2019

We take a look back at our reading life in 2019: our challenges, our wins, and our favorite books. Highlights from the year:

Fiction: Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, and Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Non-fiction: Bad Blood by John Carreyou, The Eating Instinct by Virginia Sole-Smith, and The Enchanted Hour by Meghan Cox Gurdon

Most enjoyable: Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas and Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah Maas

Memoir: All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung, Flat by Catherine Guthrie, and On Living by Kerry Egan

Audio: Becoming by Michelle Obama and the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley

Looking forward to: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Eating lately

Sarah made a classic chocolate pie for Thanksgiving.

Abby claims to have found the easiest meal you can make in your oven.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Sarah upgraded her cargo bike and now is cruising the town with electric assist.

Abby shares a new way of styling her hair–the curly girl method.

Reading lately

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Sarah (and her whole book club) loved Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne.

Abby read Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell, the sequel to one of our favorites, Carry On.

Minimalism update

Since our last episode about minimalism was nearly three years ago, we thought it was time for an update. We share what’s working (and what’s not) along with our minimalism goals and the challenges we face in making them a reality. Resources we mentioned:

• Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
• Minimalism podcasts, including Minimalist Moms, Cohesive Home, and Practical Minimalists

Eating lately

Abby and her family enjoyed eggroll in a bowl.

Sarah made lentil taco soup with all the toppings on recommendation from Kelsey.

If you’d like to join in the conversation, please leave us a comment, email us at friendlierpodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Instagram @friendlierpodcast. Thanks for listening!