Life Lately

Abby and Andrew are celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary and Sarah shares how HP is doing in kindergarten.

Reading Lately

Abby discovered a childhood classic she missed growing up: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Sarah read Damon Tweedy’s memoir: Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine.

Social Media

We share how we use social media, how it has changed over the years, what we love (and what we don’t), and how we decided what to share about our kids online. We’d love to connect with you on social media (find us on Instagram!) and hear how you use different platforms.

Eating Lately

Sarah is experimenting with homemade paneer, inspired by Ashley‘s zero waste pantry efforts.

Abby has found a minimally slimy way of eating okra: roasted!

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’ve been traveling! Sarah to Missouri to see the totality of the solar eclipse and Abby to Nashville and Huntsville to visit family and friends.

Reading lately

Sarah read Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House, a memoir by Alyssa Mastromonaco, which was a fun look into the life of a young, powerful White House staffer.

Abby just finished the best memoir she’s read in years: The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs. Riggs writes about her cancer diagnosis and life as a young mom–a powerful, beautiful read.

How we roll

We talk about how we get around now and how our transportation situations have evolved over the years. Sarah is part of a car-free family and bikes where they need to go, while Abby’s is a one-car family who loves to walk and bus. On our dream transportation list: a Brompton for Sarah and an Austlen Entourage.

If you want to hear more about car-free or car-lite families, check out Sarah’s new podcast Family Pedals!

Eating lately

Abby is trying to recreate the perfect macaroni and cheese, as made by our friend in Alabama.

Sarah enjoyed a broccoli salad made by her mom.

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 found a new allergy remedy for her dog, Tonks.

Sarah is feeling more connected in Bloomington, partly thanks to all of the social events in the summer.

Reading lately

Abby’s book club read Euphoria by Lily King. It is loosely based on the life of Margaret Mead and tells the story of three anthropologists working in New Guinea in the 1930s. It has a similar feel to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, and The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara.

Sarah read the YA romance When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. The two title characters are children of Indian immigrants in the summer before they go to college.

A Week of Our Dinners

Want to hear the details of what we ate for dinner every night for a week? If so, you’re in luck as that’s exactly what we discuss in this episode. Some nights we had it together and other nights we ordered pizza or ate frozen dumplings.

We got the idea for this episode from the Mom Hour Podcast, which had a similar episode a few months back.

Eating lately

Sarah got popsicle molds at a garage sale and has experimented with three varieties: chocolate banana, key lime, and peach.

Abby’s been enjoying a pre-dinner snack of Knorr spinach dip with salt and pepper potato chips.

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 obsessed with a new-to-her dehumidifier–so satisfying! Abby wanted to share two recent articles she’s written, which you can read find here and here.

Reading lately

Sarah read the Bronze Bow, which is a coming of age story set in the time of Jesus. It won the Newbery award in the early sixties.

Abby is reading the Maisie Dobbs books, which are mysteries set in England after WWI.

Harry Potter

We discuss all things Harry Potter–when we started reading them, our favorite scenes, books, and quotes, and other Potter-related media.

Eating lately

Abby enjoyed a treat out last weekend: a buffalo chicken biscuit.

Sarah made a chickpea soup, which is light enough to be enjoyed in the summer. Recipe for the soup below:

• 2 cans of chickpeas (or one cup cooked in the Instant Pot)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup vegetable broth
•  1/2 cup salsa
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp apple juice concentrate (I never add this as I never have it)
• 1/4 cup of cilantro (I usually do half a bunch)

Add ingredients to a blender or use immersion blender until pureed. Heat. Serve!

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 celebrate two milestones: Plum is walking and E is out of diapers!

Reading lately

Abby read Option B by Sheryl Sandberg, which intertwines the story of Sandberg losing her husband with social science research about grief and resilience.

Sarah also read non-fiction this week, Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy. The book sheds light on the injustice of the death penalty and the ways in which the law is not blind.

Household management

Sometimes things are running smoothly, other times they are a hot mess. We discuss which systems are working, which ones aren’t, and who does what on a weekly basis.

Abby’s favorite floor cleaning tools: the Roomba and this steam mop. If you have any tips or tools for us, please share!

Eating lately

Sarah is roasting her CSA potatoes with bacon, which we agreed would be even more delicious in a taco or burrito.

Abby made homemade pizza using Smitten Kitchen’s crust. If you have suggestions for an excellent jarred sauce that is both spicy and sweet, please share!

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 recaps her trips and waxes poetic about travel. Abby updates us on Frugal Month and one of the changes their family has made: home haircuts!

Reading lately

Sarah read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, a hilarious, insightful memoir about his childhood in South Africa.

Abby finished Melina Marchetta’s Lumatere Chronicles, a fantasy trilogy that follows the court drama of two neighboring kingdoms.

Our perfect things

We love finding the perfect thing that exactly serves its purpose. Here are some of the perfect things in our life:

• Mason jar funnel
• Piper Wai deodorant
• Stanley travel coffee mug
• Lotus travel crib
• Yepp Mini bicycle seat
• Skoy scrubbers
• Instant Pot

Eating lately

Abby’s making more enchiladas, this time following the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for chicken enchiladas.

Sarah’s eating Ambitious Kitchen’s lentil loaf made in muffin form, which was a big hit with her five year old.

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 is dreaming of owning a duplex in her neighborhood and Sarah just cut off her hair for a new summer look.

Reading lately

Abby read Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy, who is a social scientist who offers strategies for people in to gain confidence in business and life. You can also check out her Ted Talk to hear more of her work.

Sarah read All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. It is a non-traditional love story about the kind of families we create for ourselves, no matter the circumstances.

Oh, the places we’ve lived

We go through all the cities we’ve called home and say what we did and didn’t like and what we do and don’t miss about each place.

Eating lately

Sarah’s been enjoying her CSA (community supported agriculture) basket and munching on all of the fresh produce.

Abby’s eating homemade hummus, chickpeas cooked courtesy of the Instant Pot (of course).

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 planning her road trip to Oregon and Abby is busy clearing clutter and purging nursing clothes now that Plum is no longer breastfeeding.

Reading lately

Sarah read Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild. She explores the values of Tea Party voters in Southwestern, Louisiana from a sociologists perspective. It is a necessary read for anyone who felt baffled and confused by the election of Donald Trump.

On the recommendation of an Instagram bookstagram, Abby read Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour. It is a YA romance between two female protagonists and was a good book for getting out of a reading slump.

Summer times

We reminisce about what summers mean to us, the summer heat, what summers were like growing up, summer jobs, summer holidays, and what kind of summers we want to create for our families.

Eating lately

Sarah is enjoying a roasted new potato salad that includes red onions and kalamata olives. Abby is still in the midst of Frugal Month and found the ingredients in her pantry for a wild rice and barley casserole.

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 is doing Frugalwoods’ Uber Frugal Month Challenge and Sarah is celebrating a secondhand win–new (to her) headphones!

Reading lately

Abby’s reading Shantytown by Cesar Aira, a novel with elements of magical realism set in Buenos Aires.

Sarah just finished Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. The novel follows a couple as they flee their war-torn homeland through magical portals that have appeared where there used to be only an ordinary door.

Guilty pleasures

We divulge our favorite guilty pleasure books, food, television shows, songs, and a miscellaneous category. Things we mentioned in the episode include:

• Seraphina and Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore
• Fire by Kristin Cashore
• Romance novels by Courtney Milan
• The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (also excellent as an audiobook); be sure to check out this interview with the authors on Jess Lively’s podcast
• The Thoroughbred series
• What Kate Wore
• Fan Fiction and An Archive of Our Own

Eating lately

Sarah found a delicious tofu-rice bowl recipe on the Mealime app.

Abby’s discovered an easier way to make Risotto–in the 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

We are recording in person for the first time as we are both in Arkansas for our ten-year college reunion!

Reading lately

Sarah’s been reading the YA dystopian Red Queen series (Red Queen, Glass Sword, King’s Cage). In the episode she mistakenly refers to it as a trilogy, but it turns out there is another book coming out next year.

Friendships

We thought it would be fitting to talk friendships while we were back in the place where our friendship formed. We discuss friendships throughout childhood and adolescence, how we make friends as an adult, and how we keep in touch with the friends we have. We both loved Rachel Bertsche’s book MWF seeking BFF and her insights about adult friendships.

Eating lately

Abby indulged in her favorite bar food during our class party: “surprise” cheese fries at the Flying Saucer.

Sarah made vegetable korma when her sister came to visit last month. So fancy!

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!