Life lately

Sarah’s been digging up weeds and planting native plants in her front yard.

Abby shares the ups and downs of her recent trip to D.C. for a conference.

Reading lately

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Sarah read My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan and Abby read Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler.

A podcast about podcasts

We’re going meta with this episode and talking about podcasts: what we love about them, when we listen, and all our favorite shows. We’d love to hear your favorite listens so we can add them to our rotation!

• Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
• NPR Politics
• Girl Next Door
• Food Psych (some favorite guests include: Lindy West, Fiona Sutherland, and Alan Levinovitz)
• Death Sex and Money
• Cohesive Home
• Streamlined Motherhood
• Highs and Lows (listen to Abby’s episode here)
• She’s All Fat
• More Perfect
• We Live Here (especially their most recent episodes on housing)
• Still Processing
• Minimalist Moms
• Your Parenting Mojo
• Conversations With People Who Hate Me (episode on the term Latinx)
• What Should I Read Next
• Reading Women
• Not By Accident
• But Why?
• Sparkle Stories

Eating lately

Abby’s family is enjoying spaghetti with meat sauce on a weekly basis.

Sarah has found a new breakfast favorite: avocado toast.

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 shares her family’s new toilet paper: Who Gives A Crap!

Sarah is reveling in how much smoother the school year transition has been compared to last year.

Reading lately

Abby has more romance to share, this time in the form of Hamilton’s Battalion, a collection of three novellas by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole.

Sarah read Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein, which felt particularly timely in light of the Supreme Court hearings.

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Friendship logisitcs

Way back in Episode 14 we talked about friendship, but we wanted to revisit the subject with a focus on how we maintain friendships and how that’s changed since becoming parents.

Eating lately

Sarah made a dairy-free chicken pot pie.

Abby shares a brie and apple sandwich, inspired by the Fido restaurant in Nashville.

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!



Cohesive Home and Streamlined Motherhood

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One of the best parts of creating Friendlier has been connecting* with other podcasters. Two of our favorites are Melissa and Kate of Cohesive Home. On their show they share their take on simplicity, minimalism, and living into their families’ values.

We are so excited to share that Kate has now launched Streamlined Motherhood–a podcast that will “guide you back to your intuition, help you dig out from the chaos of life, and start feeling confident again in the amazing mama you are.”

If you need some inspiration or encouragement in parenting and creating the life you want for your family, we recommend giving their shows a listen!

*This time last year, we collaborated on a community episode–check out their episode and ours.

 

Life lately

Sarah’s happy to be reunited with her Chacos after having them re-soled.

Abby shares how she and her family prepared for Hurricane Florence.

Reading lately

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Sarah read Educated by Tara Westover and Abby read the middle-grade novel The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine.

Family food philosophies

We discuss how we approach food with our kids, what our dinnertime routines look like, and family favorite meals we didn’t expect. Links and resources mentioned:

• Health at Every Size and Intuitive Eating resources:
  • Food Psych podcast
  • Ellyn Satter Institute
  • The F*ck It Diet
  • Body Positive Panda on Instagram
• Keekaroo high chair
• Curry potatoes and eggs
• Lentil loaf
• Secular blessing Sarah’s family uses is the last one listed here

Eating lately

Abby made pizza bagels–easy and delicious.

Sarah loved this lemony lentil soup as recommended on the Girl Next Door Podcast.

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 shares Plum’s transition from the Guava Lotus travel crib to a floor bed.

Sarah has a new dishwasher, which–gasp!–actually washes dishes.

Reading lately

Abby continued in the romance genre with Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient.

Sarah read The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir.

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Style and beauty

From hair (we both have so much!) to skin-care (what exactly is a toner anyway?), we share our style and beauty routines and how they have changed over the years. We’d love to hear which aspects of beauty and style are worth the effort for you, and which aren’t. Links featured in this episode:

• Photo on Tumbler that features this quote: “In a world that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act.”
• Frugalwoods blog post and book
• Ernie Buffalo

Eating lately

Sarah put in the effort to make a Greek salad (why is chopping vegetables so hard?!).

Abby’s enjoying homemade seltzer, courtesy of Andrew’s home brew supplies.

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 loving using these new containers for her kids’ lunches.

Abby shares how entertained Plum is by these water beads.

Reading lately

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Sarah read The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer and Abby finished Nell Scovell’s Just the Funny Parts.

Summer recap

We share details of our summer–the good, the bad, and the never-do-again (I’m looking at you, split red-eye flight with a toddler). We cover our childcare situations, swim lessons, and the ups and downs of traveling with kids. Leave us a comment to share what worked (or didn’t) for your family this summer!

Eating lately

Abby’s family has been eating Instant Pot baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese sauce.

Sarah tried to make sushi, but ended up with sushi bowls, which happily turned out to be just as satisfying less work than rolls.

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 has entered the world of e-readers with a new-to-her Kindle.

Sarah shares the tale of two hikes from her recent trip to Colorado.

Reading lately

Abby tried a new genre: romance! She loved Tessa Dare’s A Week to Be Wicked.

Sarah read An American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield.

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Screens and media

We talk about screens and media–what we watched as kids, how our families handle screen time, and our favorite resources and recommendations. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue and if you have any media we should be sure to check out.

• Screen Time as a Feminist Issue
• Lifecake app
• Babies
• OK Go!
• Sparkle Stories
• But Why?
• Brains, On!

Eating lately

Sarah has been upping her popcorn game and making a version with chex mix seasonings.

Abby’s whole family is enjoying tuna salad–a perfect summer food.

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 embracing summer–swim lessons, travel, and endless park time.

Abby deleted Facebook from her phone and has no regrets.

Reading lately

              

Sarah read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond and Abby finished Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy.

Behind the scenes

Have you ever wondered how we produce Friendlier? Wonder no more! In this episode we share the backstory of starting the show (including our original failed concept), what we do to prepare for each episode, our recording set-ups, and the editing and post-production that gets Friendlier to you. We mentioned lots of links and resources, but if you have other questions please reach out; we’d love to pass on what we know.

• Other resources:
  • Behind the scenes episodes from the Girl Next Door and the Mom Hour
  • Kelsey’s blog series
• Equipment:
  • Microphone
  • Pop filter (It makes such a difference in sound quality!)
  • Headphones
  • Microphone stand
• Sound and art:
  • Freesound for sound effects
  • Yady Kates for our logo and header
  • Audrey for intro and outro music
• Programs:
  • Voxer for brainstorming
  • Skype to connect during recording
  • Audacity to record our files and for editing
  • Google Docs and Drive to share outlines and audio files
  • Pippa for hosting

Eating lately

Abby’s discovered the perfect summer snack: pickles!

Sarah can’t get enough of this white cheese dip.

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 recounts all of the effort that went into to setting up a rock box for Plum.

Sarah is celebrating being two-toilet family again. Bathroom renovation, complete!

Reading lately

Abby worked her way through a poetry collection: Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

Sarah thoroughly enjoyed From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon.

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At home parenting

We share how we made and continue to make decisions around at-home-parenting, what frustrates us most about the cultural narratives around these choices, and how we see things evolving as our kids get older.

Eating lately

Sarah made a mushroom quiche based on Mark Bittman’s recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Abby prepared fancy sandwiches: brie and turkey on focaccia, topped with either garlic aioli or cherry preserves.

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 learned about the trait of high-sensitivity (thanks, Abby!) and read The Highly Sensitive Child by Elaine Aron.

Abby describes her plumbing woes.

Reading lately

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Sarah read Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan and Abby completed the All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life) by Deborah Harkness.

2018 Update

Since we are at the mid-point of 2018, we wanted to take some time to reflect and check-in on our intentions for the year. We share what is going well, what has challenged us, and what we hope for in the second half of the year.

Eating lately

Abby’s been eating spaghetti carbonara–a family favorite and Andrew’s signature dish.

Sarah’s family is enjoying these banana muffins as a hearty breakfast or mid-morning snack.

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 completed some DIY car repairs that were ever-so-satisfying.

Sarah is loving reading chapter books with HP.

Reading lately

Abby read We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union and Sarah finished Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

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Getting outside

We discuss our values around getting outside and exploring nature, how we are incorporating it in our family life now, and how we see that changing in the future. Links to things we mentioned:

• The best sun hat (for kids and adults!)
• Rain bibs
• Free Forest School
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather by Linda Akeson McGurk

Eating lately

Sarah has been having picnic dinners with her family and bowl after bowl of the mousse Abby discussed in a previous episode (turns out, doubling it was unnecessary).

Abby enjoyed the most delicious flan you will ever eat, made for her by a friend for her birthday. Email us if you’d like the recipe!

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!