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Life lately

Sarah shares updates on her latest 5K and 10K, and Abby just took her final exam of nursing school. 

Reading lately

Sarah enjoyed the YA graphic novel, The Girl From the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. Abby found a new regency romance series (The Palace of Rogues) and read the first in the series, Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long.

Listener Q&A

You all submitted a wide variety of questions, and we loved answering them. If you sent in a question, but didn’t hear it, it was probably so meaty that we’re saving it for it’s own episode later on. Thank you for being such great listeners!

Eating lately

Abby has been making root beer floats, and Sarah made a two-layer chocolate cake for E’s birthday.

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 prepared her garden for fall, including removing all the giant zinnias.

Sarah is gearing up for two races despite limited training.

Reading lately

Abby listened to How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith. We also discussed the interview with Smith and Ashley C. Ford at the end of her memoir, Somebody’s Daughter.

Sarah was flew through the YA mystery Queen of the Tiles by Hana Alkaf.

Novelty and progress

We share how we feel about novelty and progress, where we most enjoy them in our lives, where we prefer the comfort of the familiar, and how our thoughts have changed over time.

Eating lately

Sarah fancied-up her easy enchilada recipe (but still uses this enchilada sauce).

Abby has another five-ingredient Trader Joe’s recipe to share: turkey soyaki bowl.

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 kiddo HP took his first trip away from home without family along—and did great. Abby and her family watched Coco with the family and loved the Dia de los Muertos vibes. 

Reading lately

Sarah had fun reading nonfiction, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price, and Abby was delighted by the queer YA romance, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jagirdar.

Best and worst of the seasons

We chat about the seasons, including our favorite and least favorite things about each one, the best seasonal foods, and whether there are any seasons we’d skip if we could.

Eating lately

Abby found a new Instagram account, Trader Joe’s 5 Items or Less, and tried out their Cheesy Corn Orzo Pasta with salmon cooked in the InstantPot. Sarah cooked chickpea + couscous salad from Hello Fresh.

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. Also, we’re gearing up for another listener Q&A, and we’d love to answer your questions in that episode if you send them our way. Thanks for listening!

Life lately

Abby is enjoying her new art from Nicole Simmons.

Sarah is getting new (black!) windows.

Reading lately

Abby enjoyed the cozy sci-fi Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers.

Sarah was delighted by Bonnie Garmus’s novel Lessons in Chemistry.

Personal policies

We share mantras that guide our lives, boundaries we maintain, things we always say yes/no to, and aspirational policies we’d like to bring into our lives. Mentioned on the show:

• Girl Next Door episode on personal policies
• Sow Connected episode on rules to live by
• B Team Facebook group

Eating lately

Sarah attempted homemade cold brew coffee.

Abby has found the perfect snack: mini-Kind bars.

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 her kids cleaned the kids’ room. Abby is almost done with her semester.

Reading lately

Sarah read another family gap year memoir, We Came, We Saw, We Left by Charles Wheelan.

Abby was compelled by but is not sure what to think of Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey.

Frugality lately

We chat about how we’re coping with inflation, what frugal tricks have helped, and our frugal aspirations.

Eating lately

Abby has been enjoying peach salsa her in-laws brought to town, and Sarah is into Everything But the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s on ramen and popcorn.

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 got another cat and Sarah has Covid.

Reading lately

Abby flew through the Ravenswood series by Talia Hibbert.

Sarah was moved by Imbolo Mbue’s latest novel How Beautiful We Were.

Flexibility

We share where it’s easy for us to be flexible, where we find it more challenging, and how we’ve grown more and less flexible over time.

Eating lately

Sarah wants to perfect homemade cold brew and Abby shares her favorite breakfast.

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 loves the towel racks and trash can Neil custom made for their new bathroom. Abby is so thankful for her nursing school friends.

Reading lately

Sarah read My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams.

Abby recently finished Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

End-of-summer gratitude

We discuss the things giving us life at the end of the summer. Links to Abby’s bathing suit top and bottoms (although it looks like black is sold out).

Eating lately

It’s frozen food day on the pod. Abby was a bit disappointed in the Beecher’s frozen corn and not-fried rice she tried, while Sarah’s kids are into the Kroger chocolate chip frozen waffles.

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 took a spontaneous camping trip and Sarah is showering in her new shower.

Reading lately

Abby read I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein after enjoying her article in The Cut.

Sarah enjoyed listening to Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.

2022 update

We do our annual mid-year review, reminding ourselves of our goals and intentions and checking in on how things are going halfway through the year.

Eating lately

Sarah made frittata muffins from the No Fuss Family Cookbook.

Abby was inspired by a fellow student’s lunch to make beef stroganoff.

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 loves physical therapy, and Abby’s ebike dreams have come true.

Reading lately

Sarah loved K-pop Confidential and its sequel, K-pop Revolution, by Stephan Lee.

Abby enjoyed A Lady for a Duke (queer historical romance) by Alexis Hall.

A summer day in our lives

We share the details of our days from Wednesday, June 15th. You can also listen to our first day-in-the-life episode and a similar episode from two years ago if you’d like to see how our days have changed. Links we mentioned:

• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
• YouTube Swim Lessons

Eating lately

Abby made the Smitten Kitchen Best Chocolate Pudding as a sub for the discontinued Belgian Chocolate Pudding from Trader Joe’s, while Sarah enjoyed a free meal thanks to a malfunctioning credit card machine.

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 a cat adventure to share. The remodel at Sarah’s house is (finally) underway!

Reading lately

Abby read Listen to Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife by Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Janet Holmes.

Sarah turned to an old favorite to get out of her reading slump and reread the YA fantasy novel A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.

Capturing family memories

We share our philosophy around capturing family memories, our best strategies, and how our approach has changed as our kids have grown.

• Little Hoots
• Five year line-a-day journal

Eating lately

Sarah’s enjoying naan pizza with fig jam while Abby made fancy ramen with a friend while camping.

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!