A quick note: We recorded this at the beginning of the month, before all of our lives were upended by COVID-19. We will be recording a bonus episode (out next Tuesday) about how we are coping. May you all stay safe and healthy in this uncertain time. -S&A

Life lately

Abby and Sarah share a recent birthday surprise.

Reading lately

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Abby read Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story by Onnie Lee Logan and Sarah was inspired by Being Your Best When Your Kids Are At Their Worst by Kim John Payne.

Prioritizing reading

We discuss when we find time to read, why we have read more after having kids than before, what gets us out of a reading slump, and our favorite places to find reading inspiration and recommendations.

• Instagram follows with good book recs: @katejbaer @catherinenewman, and @v_solesmith
• Newsletters from Molly Westerman and Feminist Midwife
• Modern Mrs Darcy
• Hot and Bothered podcast

Eating lately

Sarah made a chocolate cheesecake (but substituting this crust) in the Instant Pot using this pan.

Abby is making a bold claim: this pasta bake is the most delicious thing she has ever made at home.

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 is trying to invite people over more often and take the advice of this article on not worrying so much about the cleaning.

Abby went from being a no-playdough home to a playdough-loving home. Here’s the recipe Sarah’s family uses for the homemade version:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tsp cream of tarter
• 1 cup water
• 2-3 drops of food coloring
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients in a skillet, add wet ingredients, then cook on medium heat, stirring continuously until playdough begins to pull away from the pan. Remove from the pan and knead dough it’s evenly combined. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Reading lately

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Sarah read The Duchess War, which is the first in the Brothers Sinister Series by Courtney Milan. Abby read Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest novel, City of Girls.

Our physical spaces

We describe our current spaces, share our home related dreams (both the realistic and the not), and what makes us love the space we’re in. Here are the links we mentioned in the episode:

• Prisms
• Big Dreams Small Spaces

Eating lately

Abby’s dad made gumbo on a recent visit and Sarah made tried her hand at aloo gobi.

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

Abby’s family purchased a new vehicle (and is soliciting gold-inspired names!).

Sarah is reveling in her newly arranged living room.

Reading lately

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Abby read both Shrill and The Witches are Coming by Lindy West and Sarah listened to The Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.

Marriage–what’s working (and what’s not)

We’ve both recently passed the decade mark of marriage, and thought it would be fitting to share what’s been working, what hasn’t, and the relationship advice we hate.

Eating lately

Sarah made spinach and artichoke dip as part of an appetizer themed Christmas dinner.

Abby made a quick dinner courtesy of Trader Joe’s.

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 is tracking all of the things with Habit Bull.

Abby offers her commentary on Meghan and Harry. For more along these lines, check out this BuzzFeed article contrasting media coverage of Meghan and Kate, this Medium piece, and this tweet.

Reading lately

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Sarah read her second graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui and Abby listened to The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson.

A week of snacks

We share our snacking preferences and then detail a week in the life of our snacks. And if you are in need of a sweet snack, we both recommend this recipe for chocolate chip cookies–easy and delicious!

Eating lately

Abby made a lemon blueberry loaf and Sarah had chili with all the toppings.

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

Abby gives a sleep training update and Sarah is happy to have (finally) fixed her Kitchen Aid mixer.

Reading lately

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Abby read The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook and Sarah listened to Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister.

In sickness

We share what kind of sick people we are, our preferred supplies to get us through, and our most memorable bouts with illness. May we all have a healthy 2020.

Eating lately

Sarah made “no-peek chicken,” the perfect rainy day meal.

Abby has found the sugar cookie equivalent of our favorite chocolate chip cookie.

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 is doing Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge this year and loving it. She found both Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home and Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey through the challenge. If you want to chat books with us, join us in our Goodreads group!

Abby is loving the Brandy version of Cinderella and welcomes recommendations of other non-scary, but engaging movies for preschoolers.

Reading lately

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Sarah finished Katherine McGee’s American Royals and Abby read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb.

Childcare

We share what we like about childcare, how we find it, our past childcare situations, and what we see in our childcare future. We fully recognize that as two primarily at-home parents, our perspective is limited. We’d love to hear from listeners with different experiences to expand the conversation. What has worked for you when trying to find daycares, nannies, and/or babysitters? Share in the comments below or over on Instagram.

Eating lately

Abby has a new twist to her chicken enchiladas: using tomatillo salsa instead of the heavier sour cream sauce.

Sarah has brought back an old favorite: skillet beans.

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 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!

Life lately

We share about our recent trip to Colorado for a friend’s wedding, including an incredible surprise the groom had for his new wife.

Reading lately

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Abby read The Birth House by Ami McKay, which fed her desire to read about birth and midwifery.

Sarah shares a book she read earlier in the year, Flat: Reclaiming My Body From Breast Cancer by Catherine Guthrie.

Travel with kids

We explore the ups and downs of life on the road, including what helps us get through long car rides and flights, travel horror stories, and what we love most about traveling as a family. Links we mentioned:

• Audiobooks, including Frindle by Andrew Clements
• Sparkle Stories, especially the Martin and Sylvia ones
• Hoopla
• Playaways from the library

Eating lately

Sarah loves snacking on Trader Joe’s marcona truffle almonds.

Abby recommends beergaritas as a great happy hour option.

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!