Life lately

Abby is relieved to have made the decision to find part-time childcare for Plum in order to find more work/life balance. Sarah is relishing everything spring.

Reading lately

Abby read Slammed, a young adult romance by Colleen Hoover. It’s a little cheesy, a little cliche, yet ever so enjoyable if you need are in the mood for a light read.

Sarah finished Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, a memoir that has received a lot of attention post-election. It chronicles Vance’s life growing up in Ohio and his thoughts on Hillbilly culture, growing up poor, life in working-class towns, and his love for his grandparents.

Personality

Want to know more about us? Listen to this episode to hear what Myers-Briggs types we are (take a shorter version here), which of Gretchen Rubin’s tendencies we identify with (another quiz to take!), and how we’ve changed (or not) over the years.

Eating lately

Unsurprisingly, Sarah’s eating more lentils, this time in the form of carrot lentil falafel burgers courtesy of Yummy Toddler Food.

Abby and family have been enjoying these saucy smoky chickpeas, albeit without the spinach.

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 regained her passion for house projects while Abby is thankful to be renting after an backed up kitchen sink incident.

Reading lately

Sarah read two Tana French novels: The Trespasser (thanks for the recommendation, Celeste!) and The Likeness (the second book featured in Kady’s By the Cover Project). She doesn’t usually read crime fiction, but raced through both of these.

Abby read Kerry Egan’s On Living, a wrenching memoir about trauma, loss, and growth from a hospice chaplain.

Sports

We chat about what sports we played growing up, in college, and as adults, as well as how we plan to handle sports with our kids.

Eating lately

After a disappointing Pi Day pie, Abby made a homemade Key Lime Pie that was easy and delicious.

Sarah made a new lentil recipe: Dahl Makhani. It is simple to make in the Instant Pot and added some variety to the lentil rotation at her house.

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 trying to find the ever-elusive work-life balance while Sarah has been prepping her house for more insulation and contemplating the joys of homeownership.

Reading lately

Abby’s reading Farthing by Jo Walton, another title from our friend Kady’s By the Cover Project. It is a mystery set in 1949 England, but in an alternate version of history where Hitler is in control of continental Europe.

Sarah listened to the Lexicon Valley episode Why We Stopped Teaching Children How To Read and read both the host’s book (Talking Back, Talking Black by John McWhorter) and the guest’s (Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg). The former explains why Black English is a dialect, not “bad English” and the latter explores the history of the written word, what science tells us about reading, and why schools of education aren’t utilizing that knowledge.

Wedding bells

We describe how we met our spouses, our engagements, wedding planning, and the weddings themselves.

Eating lately

Sarah describes a standby in her house: lentil soup from Rising Shining. The secret is the mustard and red wine vinegar you add at the end.

Abby’s mastered the perfect lasagna. Her version includes Italian sausage and two different sauces: arribiata and garlic.

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 registered her oldest for kindergarten and for Abby recapped Plum’s first birthday celebration.

Reading lately

Sarah read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, by far the best book she has read so far this year. It follows the family line of two sisters born in Ghana in the late 1700s to the present day.

Abby finished reading Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Sartropi. This autobiographical graphic novel tells the story of one woman’s experience growing up during the Islamic Revolution.

Birthdays past and present

Our birthdays are almost exactly a month apart, with this episode falling right between them. We discuss how we celebrated as a child, in college, as parents, and how we are handling our kids’ birthdays.

Eating lately

Abby is eating a red pepper frittata based on this New York Times recipe.

Sarah has been snacking on stove top popcorn with all the butter.

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 been confined inside with sick kids, but generally thankful they have been spared from the worst of the winter illnesses.

Abby’s planning Plum’s first birthday party, which will include some out of town family and carrot cake.

Reading lately

Abby discusses Swing Time by Zadie Smith, a tale of identity, race, and friendship set in the UK and Gambia and narrated by an unnamed black woman. If you like audio books, this one has an excellent reader.

Sarah read Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity by Emily Matchar, a non-fiction book that explores the draws and downsides of the movement toward crafting, blogging, local food, and women opting out of the workforce. It touched on the questions in Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has The Time by Brigid Schulte, another book we both love.

Trips, vacation, and travel

We chat about family trips growing up, our favorite vacations as adults, our ideal vacation, and how we hope to travel as a family in the future.

Eating lately

Sarah and HP have been making these two-ingredient cookies (just bananas and oats).

Abby is making a more traditional (and delicious) chocolate chip cookie. The recipe only makes a single pan, which if you are anything like us your family will eat in a single sitting.

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 a trip (sans kids!) to visit a friend in Nashville next month. Abby is celebrating the birth of two friends’ first child and remembering both the joy and challenges of those first days with a newborn.

Reading lately

Sarah read the sequel to Gone With the Wind—Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. She enjoyed it, but some of the magic was missing from the original.

Abby is listening (and laughing) to Catherine Newman’s latest book, Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood’s Messy Years.

Favorites

We introduce a new recurring topic on the podcast–favorites. We discuss our favorite television shows, cheese, games, and secondhand wins. Here’s a list of the games we mentioned in case you’d like to play them yourself:

• Euchre
• Cribbage
• Boggle
• Quixx
• Pandemic
• Flapjacks and Sasquatches
• Hanabi
• Splendor

Eating lately

Abby expanded her enchilada repertoire to include black bean enchiladas. Instead of chili con carne, she used this chili gravy recipe for the sauce.

Sarah’s been loading up on purple radishes from the farmers’ market and sauteing them in butter and salt.

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 enjoying the unseasonably warm weather in North Carolina.

Sarah’s family’s been feeling creative–writing for her, painting for HP, and children’s book making for Neil.

Reading lately

Abby’s reading Lab Girl, a memoir by Hope Jahren. She provides a window into the world of science academia, with specific attention to what it is like to be a woman in such a male-dominated field.

Sarah needed a break after A Little Life and flew through Lauren Graham’s Talking As Fast As I Can. While the celebrity memoir was not particularly memorable, it was fun to read after watching the recent Gilmore Girls Revival.

Housing: Our experiences and thoughts on renting vs. owning

We describe our experiences renting and owning, what we’ve learned, and the benefits and drawbacks of both housing situations.

Resources we mentioned:

• Mr. Money Mustache, Rent vs. Buy: If you have to ask, you should probably rent
• Jim Collins: Why your house is a terrible investment and Rent vs owning your home, opportunity cost and running some numbers
• Mad FIentist podcast: Denouncing the cult of home-ownership
• New York Times rent vs. own calculator

Eating lately

Sarah’s been making lots of soups (it’s soup season!). One of her favorites is similar to this African Peanut Soup if you add kidney beans.

Abby’s been cooking breakfast burritos with peppers, eggs, cheese, beans, and potatoes. They are perfect for brunches that require a gluten-free 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!

Life lately

Sarah and Abby recap their winter breaks which, included snow, travel, and unfortunately, sickness.

Reading lately

Sarah is reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, which is a beautifully written character-driven novel. The descriptions of abuse are hard to read and it is pushing her to the edge of what she can handle as a reader.

Abby is reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a classic dystopian novel that feels particularly relevant given our country’s political climate.

You can find Kady’s book cover papercuts, including one of The Handmaid’s Tale, at By the Cover Project. You can also check out her website or follow her on Instagram to see more of her amazing art.

Stuff, minimalism, and letting go

We describe the history of our relationship with stuff, what books have influenced our journey, whether or not we consider ourselves minimalists, what our partners have thought of our purging, and whether we have ever regretted getting rid of something.

Books mentioned in this segment:

• The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
• Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
• Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui: Free Yourself from Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Clutter Forever by Karen Kingston
• Everything that Remains: A Memoir by the Minimalists by Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus
• You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap!): How One Woman Radically Simplified her Life and You Can Too by Tammy Strobel
• Clutterfree with Kids: Change Your Thinking. Discover New Habits. Change Your Home by Joshua Becker

Eating lately

Abby has discovered the Kitchn’s stovetop mac and cheese. It only has five ingredients and turns out perfectly cheesy every time.

Sarah is happy to have rediscovered a cookie of her childhood Liegnizter Bomben. Special thanks to her sister for reviving the family 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!

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