A Few Things With Claire And Erica

So you picked a travel destination…and then what? We’re sharing the (only somewhat insane!) steps we take and the resources we love for planning a vacation. Also: Let’s spend a moment discussing the late nineties/early aughts trends that are re-catching our eyes and the ones we think we won’t wear again.    Some reflections on the Miu Miu skirt ℅ this NYT article “Brief Encounters With a Micro Miniskirt.”    When thinking about trip-planning, this Harvard Busiess Review article on "The Hidden Traps in Decision Making" and this installment of Val Monroe’s newsletter came to mind.   We love scoping out hotels on Welcome Beyond, Tablet Hotels, iescape, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (hot tip, their write-ups of what to do nearby will also point you toward good sites, shops, and restaurants). We also check out the press section on a hotel’s website, see if they’ve won any awards (which led Erica to amazingplaces.cz for Czech Republic recs), and use TripAdvisor and Instagram location tags to see some realistic photos of

Guest Thingies from Emma Straub—what a treat! If you haven’t read her many charming novels, start with her latest, This Time Tomorrow, and if you haven’t patronized her beloved Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic, we know you’re aching to remedy that. First up: business/money advice we’ve gotten that’s as quippy as it is useful.    Emma’s Thingies: skincare, tea, allergy meds, and big underpants—starring facials from Rescue Spa, Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 toner, and Peter Thomas Roth 24K Gold Pure Luxury Lift & Firm Hydra-Gel Eye Patches. Her tea-drinking routine includes Helen Levi mugs and Twinings English Breakfast hot or iced (and she might have to give Claire’s tea rec Nunshen a shot, too). Emma also shares her love for Flonase and ARQ’s hugely cute underpants.   When you’ve got the author of This Time Tomorrow and the co-owner of Books Are Magic on the Zoom, you have to talk reads. Emma’s recent favorite is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, especially for fans of The Amazi

Revisiting a crowd fave from last year! Happy Memorial Day! Has perfectionism jumped the shark? And how do we remember names when we start meeting new people again?! Clearly, we have a lot of questions (and some answers).  If you like this, you’ll probably really like Secret Menu. A couple books that made us ponder perfectionism: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi, and Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu. Related convos: our ambition ep, this episode of Jam Session, and the Wit & Delight posts here and here. Come and get us at @athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and 833-632-5463!    YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

It’s that sneaky second gifting season of the year (dads, grads, retirements, anniversaries…you get it!), and we’re here to answer your calls for help. Ooh, speaking of calls: Want to leave us a voicemail at 833-632-5463 and share any thoughts/feelings that demand our podcasting attention?   If it’s time to gift someone a watch: Max Bill for Junghans and Baume & Mercier Classima are classics and about $1k. Uniform Wares has minimalist vibes and top out around $500. Check out Fewer Finer for some vintage options! We also recommend looking into a sporty/casual vintage watch from Casio or Seiko—Foundwell and eBay are great places to explore (this one, this one!). Also: Swatch does custom. If you’re looking for a watch for a little, Flik Flak’s still got it (see: their recent Hodinkee collaboration), and Parchie and Mini Kyomo are cute for kids, too. For true watch experts, turn to Hodinkee and Dimepiece.   For men turning 40 whose watch taste is too $$$: We love the idea of a signet ring, and Kathryn Bentley

We’re dipping our toes back into going places, and there’s been a real learning curve, tell you what. We’re talking toddlers ‘n travel and unpacking our packing lessons. Now to just remember to put this stuff in a carry-on next time…   Our forever packing list: Birkenstock EVAs (the Madrid style especially) and ‘tween pants like the Outdoor Voices jogger, a multi-functional kanga/wrap/scarf, a chambray shirt, a Baggu tote, a flat clutch (Clare V. and Madewell make some good ones), an umbrella, the Jade Yoga Voyager mat, an OXO on-the-go lint brush, a paper fan, a Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody for the winter, a Patagonia Houdini in the summer, and bedside-comforts bag (featuring Zicam, Advil, Pepto Bismol, allergy meds, and Band-Aids).   For the journey, we love a Muji plane pillow, a separate cords pouch, packing cubes (rec Baggu, Muji, and Paravel!), a fold-up bag (great ones from Muji in-store and Paravel), and Comrad compression socks, possibly tucked into a Thingies-winning Lo & Sons The O.G. 2 carry-o

How excited are we to talk Thingies with Collier Meyerson? So. Her most recent project Love Thy Neighbor is a podcast about a 1991 event known as the Crown Heights riot and what it says about about racism, antisemitism, and police violence here and now. Collier comes bearing books, outdoor couches, and alt uses for photo-printing sites. But first: a bit of breast-feeding intel.   Some further reading from our breastfeeding/weaning discussion: Joanna Goddard’s piece about her first episode of depression and how it happened right after abruptly quit breastfeeding (and be sure to read the comments!) and Meaghan O’Connell’s "Life on Planet Weaning" in The Cut (also Meaghan’s book And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready, and, yes, her Twitter feed). Different but related: “It Feels Like Every Mom I Know Is Medicated” from Romper—plus Best C-Section Ever and Romper in general!—and, uh, Moody Bitches.    Listen to Love Thy Neighbor, Collier’s five-episode podcast about the riots that took place

Ready for a grab bag? ALWAYS, right? We surprise ourselves by endorsing record players, we bemoan how few catalogs are getting it right, and we share some coming-of-age retail thoughts. Oh, and we break down the term “business hygiene,” which doesn’t involve deodorant at all.    Two record-player recs: Technics by Panasonic Direct Drive Player System (Craigslist is a good place to shop for this!) and The+Record Player for an all-in-one option.    But how ‘bout the records themselves?! Check out a Vinyl Me, Please subscription—and maybe make vintage ones a vacation souvenir? Also, hello, Sesame Street Fever.   The catalogs we love right now are from Zingerman’s, David Austin, and Tracksmith. If you’re still nostalgic for dELiA*s (

We’ve road-tested a whole slew of the Thingies recent guests recommended, and we have much to share! Join us for this and some extremely entertaining voicemails responding to our question “What’s the sorority version of ‘praise and polish?’” From our episode with Rumaan Alam, Claire was inspired to listen to the audiobook version of Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, and Erica has been using Fitbod (but only doing the exercises she wants to).  Thanks to Harling Ross Anton’s recs, Erica’s gotten indigestion aid from Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice (DGL).  Claire took Kelly Wright’s suggestion and subscribed to Ronny’s Seltzer (which is a great supplement to her at-home Aarke seltzer maker).  Erica’s been very into Jessica DeFino’s The Unpublishable newsletter, which Val Monroe raved about. A great installment to start with: Bella Hadid's Old Nose. Related content: The Glossy Podcast and the newsletter After School. Whose Thingies picks do you want to hear? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.co

It’s party (discussion) time! We get into games, snacks, drinks, desserts, and—but of course—tricks. Also, you know we love the airline culture and lifestyle beat: We have to dig into the NYT profile of Janis Burl, the brains and puns behind the incredible TSA Instagram account.    Our fave party games include quizzes about the guest of honor, custom crossword puzzles,  Mölkky, and whatever this filling-up-a-cup-with-water game is called.   We have a lot of thoughts about the snacks to which we are accustomed, which include The Good Crisp Chips, Torres Chips, YuBuns, Yossy Arefi’s Vegan Onion Dip, Smitten Kitchen Corn Salad, Corn Salad with Feta and Walnuts from Real Simple, Fromage Fort from Julia Turshen’s Small Victories cookbook, Cacio E Pepe Kale Salad from Lemon, Love & Olive Oil cookbook. Also: Don’t sleep on cute cocktail toothpicks and vintage oyster/relish forks—and Sophia Roe’s advice on how to do a crudite situation.   For dessert, we love an ice cream cake, Blueberry Cornflake Crisp from Bill

Time for another Thingies ep with a dream guest: We’re graced by Laura Stylez, co-host of the best radio show in all the land, Ebro in the Morning. We talk music, hangover cures, and baby toys—you know how we like a good mix.   Laura’s Thingies: Mombella Mimi Mushroom teether, which both little ones and their parents love, and the ultimate, travel-friendly hangover cure: coconut oil, turmeric, and activated charcoal, all in pill form. On the music front, Rihanna's Anti, Beyonce’s Lemonade and Beyoncé, Kelis's everything, and Lil’ Kim's Hard Core. Laura also recommends God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop by Kathy Iandoli (who also wrote Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, and Lil’ Kim: The Queen Bee, which is out 2024) and My Voice: A Memoir by Angie Martinez.    Your notes on the TV shows  you're consuming without actually watching them, please!! Get us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.   Gr

Per a listener request—which: We welcome them!—we’re talking about weddings. Specifically, our weddings, from our favorite and least favorite parts of the planning process to how it all went down day-of. Plus: a stand-out dining experience (two, if we’re rounding up).   Check out Dept of Culture Brooklyn for excellent Nigerian food and the opportunity to talk to strangers! Also, when in Joshua Tree: La Copine.   If you’re considering an NYC City Hall wedding, Fox Fodder Farm has the flowers.    If you have wedding questions ‘n thoughts to share, let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For more recs, sign up for Secret Menu.   Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link. Get your sunscreen and skincare at once: Shop Murad to save 20% and get free shipping with your $60 purchase when you use the code ATHINGORTWO. Replace your paper towels with Papaya Reusables and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20. Dramatic

For your consideration, we’re sharing some thoughts about buying things, including a letter of recommendation for shopping in person and takes on sourcing made-in-America products, participating in One Fit February, and acquiring things while traveling. If you have tactics or conundrums, we want to hear them: 833-632-5463!   If you’re interested in the idea of One Fit February (or the less alliterative One Fit April), score yourself some cool points and check out this installment of the Blackbird Spyplane’s newsletter by Jonah Weiner.   A rundown of some cool made-in-America brands here, and, if you’re looking for something specific, check out stillmadeinusa.com.   A couple standout MiA brands include the only whisk manufacturers in the U.S., Best Manufacturers based in Portland, Oregon, (more on them), and Libman mops and brooms based in Arcola, Illinois, since 1896 (the mayor Jesus Garza's story also!).     Do you have opinions about buying things? Share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.c

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode. This ~bonus Thursday ep~ is brought to you by the heroes at Nyssa, a company providing products that support women through the most transformative times of life, from puberty to post-menopause. (Hit their site and use the code ATHINGORTWO for 15% off everything, including absolutely ideal postpartum gifts for a friend who had no idea she might need this stuff!) We’re diving into a discussion of “unmentionables” and, duh, Thingies with two of Nyssa’s charming and game-changing cofounders Mia Clarke and Eden Laurin. Oh, and just a quick note: Miscarriage and pregnancy loss come up at the end, in case those are topics  you want to skip today.    The one that started it all: Nyssa FourthWear Postpartum Recovery Underwear.   Mia and Eden’s Thingies: Betty’s Co., which kicks off women’s healthcare at a

Why haven’t we been talking about JLo more here? Well, we’re about to remedy that—and fill ya in on more, more, more design trends that are speaking to us right now.   The women artist biographies/books Claire will be picking up include Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five PaAnne Truittinters and the Movement by Mary Gabriel, Daybook: The Journal of an Artist by Anne Truitt, and Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa by Marilyn Chase.   If you’re also looking to do a JLo deep-dive, we recommend reading How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder, Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman, the story of the full-page ad Ben took out back when, Vulture’s Peoria, Illinois, analysis re: Marry Me, and this GQ article about THE dress. Also, listen to Just Like Us: The Tabloids that Changed America hosted by Clare Malone and watch the music video that Ben made to “On My Way To You” for Jen for Valentine’s Day.   In the home-design realm, s

Ooh, what a joy it is to talk Thingies with Véronique Hyland, the fashion features director at Elle who coined the term millennial pink and has a brilliant new book, Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink, that checks so many boxes for us. But first, can we discuss cooking motivation…or lack thereof?   A smattering of dinner-making inspo if you need some too: 1) Brothy soup recipes—vegetarian lemon rice soup, beans and greens soup with harissa, and Helen Rosner’s Roberto specifically 2) The Magic of Tinned Fish: Elevate Your Cooking with Canned Anchovies, Sardines, Mackerel, Crab, and Other Amazing Seafood by Chris McDade 3) @glucosegoddess.   Véronique’s Thingies, coming through! Joe Iconis & Family, beach noir films + TV shows (including but not limited to Inherent Vice, Night Moves, Cutter’s Way, Veronica Mars, Terriers, and Moonlighting), and entertainment podcasts like I Saw What You Did, Junk Filter, and Nostalgia Trap. Key Twitter follows: @the_80s_man and this one accou

It’s time for an update on how we’re doing with our (non-work-related) creative practices, and—hey, while we’re at it—we’ll go ahead and share some thoughts on what it's like to live in a shoe household vs. a shoeless one.    Claire’s creative resources: Wendy MacNaughton’s DrawTogether podcast, The Artist's Way (plus this New Yorker interview with the author Julia Cameron), and Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.   Erica’s creative resources: Jami Attenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer and Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell.   Share your creativity thoughts and feelings (and shoes-in-the-house musings) at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.   Get more recs in your inbox with a Secret Menu membership!   Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and get 10% off your first month with our link. Understand your reproductive health with Modern Fertility—$20 off your test with our link. Support your business of any size

Introducing an ode to the beauty products and concepts we’ve been very into. Plus! The odd joy of creating entertainment syllabi to curb streaming (and reading) indecision.   If you’re also looking to take a Kirsten Dunst deep-dive, you’re gonna want to read this New Yorker piece.   The beauty products we’re all about: Escentric Molecules Molecule 01, Freck Cheekslime in Fielding, Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush Stick in Petal, Trish McEvoy Long-Wear Lipliner in Barely Nude, Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude, Jenni Kayne Oak Essentials Cleansing Balm, Clinique’s Take the Day off Cleansing Balm, and Shani Darden Retinol Reform.    And if you’re looking to learn more about dry skin vs. dehydrated skin, dig into this Byrdie article.    Let’s not forget to acknowledge accidental plopping after a Sunday-night shower.   Share the beauty stuff you think we really have to try at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.   If you’re in the mood for many more recs, there’s a Secret Menu mem

This week, we muse on cross-body phone holders—time will tell if the trend wins us over—and talk Thingies with Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind, That Kind of Mother, and Rich and Pretty…books that are Thingies in their own right.     His Thingies: The Fitbod app, audiobooks of dad books via Libro.fm, uniform dressing, Cate Le Bon, and some real page-turners including Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson, Luster by Raven Leilani, Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein, and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor.    Share your Thingies guest noms! 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.   A dose of our recs coming to your inbox weekly with a Secret Menu membership.   Try Nutrafol for thicker, healthier hair. Your first month’s subscription is $15 off with the code ATHINGORTWO. Give professional counseling a shot with BetterHelp—10% off your first month with our link. Slip into Honeylove, bras and underwear you can feel great about. 20% off your second item and 10% off your whole

This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.   Recording live from a frictionless day, we’re talking all about the home trends that we’ve been loving right now, from Murano glass to canned-tomato decor.   If you’re also having a Murano glass moment, check out this NYT article and this YouTube video showing the process and then dig into some of our favorites in the Murano and Murano-inspired world: Sogni Di Cristallo, Ichendorf Milano, LagunaB, Susan Alexandra, Edie Parker Flower, Face Vessel by Degen, Casa Celva, and Serena Confalonieri.    For fans of marble everything, No One Alike goes hard at the decor, Concrete Cat makes epic lazy susans, Voutsa x Lambert McGuire Design has incredible wallpaper, and if you’re ever in Italy, Il Papiro in Florence makes incredible marbled paper goods as does Conti Borbone in Milan.   For floral motifs an

Let’s talk about signing your name (hello, strange custom) and dig into Val Monroe’s Thingies! This genius woman—the former beauty director of O, The Oprah Magazine—writes the extremely thoughtful and epically named newsletter How Not to F*ck Up Your Face, and we’re fairly obsessed.   Sign up for Val’s newsletter at valeriemonroe.substack.com immediately. This is the moving installment on Facetiming with her granddaughter.   Val had a bunch of reading (and audiobook-listening) recommendations: the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel, How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee, Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris (see also: Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris and Rewrites: A Memoir by Neil Simon), The News Sorority by Sheila Weller, The Overstory by Richard Powers, The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, and All the Lig