We are THRILLED that cultural commentator/overall delight Hunter Harris—of Hung Up and Lemme Say This fame—is joining us today to share her Thingies! We couldn’t chat with her without asking for her takes on all the hot pop culture gossip, so unwrap your Fruit Roll-Up and enjoy!

Want more of Hunter? If you don’t already, subscribe to her must-read newsletter Hung Up and listen to her Wondery podcast Lemme Say This, which she co-hosts with Thingies alum Peyton Dix. 

Hunter’s Thingies are LMNT electrolyte drink mixes, Fruit Roll-Ups, lemon and orange essential oils in the trash can, Rhode Pocket Blush, washing her makeup brushes, iS Clinical Active Serum, and tennis.

She gets her news (aka celeb gossip) from Gossip Time, StraightioLab, Las Culturistas, Who? Weekly, and of course, Reddit influencer snark. 

Want to get in on the accidental Idiocracy x Crocs collab? Share your thoughts at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Oh, we are excited about this week’s Thingies guest! Get ready to dive into the mind of the inaugural 831 Stories author, Alexandra—AKA Zan—Romanoff. We gab with her about Big Fan, fanfiction tropes, Hanson, ocean swims, online vintage shopping, you name it.

Zan’s Thingies are Henné Lip Tint, Bask reef-safe sunscreen, Will Rogers Beach in Santa Monica, the Gem App, and the public library.  

Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff is out tomorrow, September 10. Grab a ticket to one of Zan’s LA or NYC events (we’ll be in attendance too!) and dive into the all of the book-universe bonus features (including an epilogue).

Get even more Zan: Read her YA books (Grace and the Fever is very Big Fan–adjacent) and listen to the pop culture + sports podcast she co-hosts with Sarah Enni, On the Bleachers.

More on Canadian Shack fics (um, delightful).

Also, we want to make sure you know that we are in the Jack Schlossberg/Miele fan club.

What’s your fandom of choice? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Follow @haagendazs_us on Instagram and let them know in the comments that we sent you! 

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Let this greatest-hits ep be all the proof you need that things are still a mess! Should you need supporting evidence, might we direct you to Leah Chernikoff’s recent article for Harper’s Bazaar on the topic?

On gel manicures: Uché Blackstock is going to keep getting them, and Claire is too—but now with Maniglovz to protect her hands from those UV lights (and with CND Shellac whenever she can).

For a one-coat at-home mani, Olive & June Cosmic, Pleasing Pearly Tops, and Dior Glow deliver a shimmery, sheer finish. A listener said Dazzle Dry is one of their Thingies, and multiple of y’all have called-out Londontown Kur Nail Concealer (<< the name!). For growth (and nail-biting-prevention), try Nailtiques. For setting yourself up for DIY success, arm yourself with  Olive & June dry drops and the brand’s clean up brush. 

We have a lot of thoughts about mess, and so do some other people. Dig into For Scale’s “Exquisite Chaos” installment, "Girl Clutter" by Molly Soda, “What If You Just Didn’t Clean That Up?” by Kathryn Jezer-Morton for The Cut, and “This Trend Is a Mess” by Callie Holtermann for NYT. For a listen, check out "How to Keep House While Drowning" on Terrible, Thanks for Asking with guest KC Davis, the author of How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing. 

Our convo also reminded us of the books All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior and In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms by Adrienne Salinger (a sampling of some of those pics here). 

And a retaliation to the white-box era we’ve been living in can be found on @officialsadbeige.

For a clustercore explainer, we’ve got Better Homes & Gardens. For primo examples, we always think of friend-of-the-pod Rumaan Alam and David Land’s collection of George Washington paintings in their dining room, and dip into Catherine Newman’s home tour on A Cup of Jo. 

Two messfluencers to know: Alix Earle and Julia Fox. 

On the topic of digital messiness, how many tabs do you have open right now? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! For more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get good hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Hire with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link.

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Introducing our first rockstar guest, Margo Price! She shares her Thingies and talks about writing her memoir, Maybe We’ll Make It, which is a story of perseverance, tell you what. 

The fanny-pack discourse: We have an update on the Bandolier, a discussion of pockets ft. Véronique Hyland’s book Dress Code, and a pitch for goofier kids’ clothes inspired by this crewneck with a built-in fanny pack from All Small Co. 

What inspired Margo’s Maybe We’ll Make It? Patti Smith’s incredible Just Kids. 

Margo’s Thingies include T3 hair dryers and curling irons, Greater Goods CBD/CBN Evening Tincture, Thieves Oil, Acid for the Children by Flea, and two Nashville faves: A Shop of Things and The Continental. 

If you’re new to Margo’s music and want a place to start, hit play on "Pay Gap"...and get ready for a new album in January.

Do you have a dream Thingies guest? Thoughts about fanny packs you need to share? We’re ready for them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Destigmatize hair thinning by sharing your story at shedthesilence.com. 

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Produced by Dear Media

We're coming to you fresh from our high-school reunions, and there are lots of reflections ahead. On old friendships, yes…and also on dips, chips, and the controversial baby carrot.

Some condiments we’re excited about include Cabi sweet yuzu vinegar, umami dashi soy sauce, and zesty sansho peppercorn miso. We’re also loving Chicas tortilla chips, Burlap & Barrel black lime and Reem’s spice blends, Gjusta Goods marinated olive oil and herbed salt, Ella’s Flats, Zingerman’s pimento cheese, Gotham Greens pesto, McClure’s little pickles, and Breadblok almond thins. For more tremendous munching, head to Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, Massachusetts (or, you know, online).

An iconic book of our teen years: Swell: A Girl's Guide to the Good Life by Ilene Rosenzweig and Cynthia Rowley. 

Do you have thoughts on reunions (or hot snack tips)? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Give professional counseling a chance with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Help your hair with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Book that doctor’s appointment—today! Download the free Zocdoc app.

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Produced by Dear Media

We have an amazing Guest Thingies episode today with Jessi Hempel, prolific tech writer and host of the podcast Hello Monday whose new memoir The Family Outing you have to check out. Also: details about our blossoming relationship with TikTok. 

A TikTok follow for your pop-culture PR needs: @mollybmcpherson. 

The Family Outing! A memoir! If this description doesn’t suck you in: “By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer.”

A book that gets at the challenges of memory: David Carr’s The Night of the Gun.

An A Thing or Two rec that Jessi cosigns: this inflatable travel pillow for flying with a kid…but probably for lots of other purposes, too. 

Jessi’s Thingies: Potette (as she’s on a potty-training journey that rivals Claire’s), Cliq portable camping chairs for sitting…everywhere, Anne Helen Peterson’s Culture Study newsletter, and adding your pronouns to your email signature. 

Our conversation about returning to the office—RTO, y’all!—made us think of Delia Cai’s great piece in Vanity Fair.

Share your dream Thingies guests with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get your curly hair looking its best with LUS and take 15% off your first purchase of $50 or more with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Look into Allstate Identity Protection (your employer may offer it, even). Use our link for a 30-day free trial.

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Produced by Dear Media

Updates AND new topics? Wow, this episode really has it all. We issue a correction about Jibbitz, share some third-birthday gift recommendations, and present some alts for words like “affordable” and “expensive,” which are loaded (<< money pun).

PSAs! Secret Menu subscribers now have access to searchable archives: You can now dig into the back issues of our Monday newsletter and each ‘n every installment of What Are the Cute. Also, we received so many amazing responses to our second-kid conversation that we saved a bunch to an Instagram highlight.

Our sources re: the backstory of Jibbitz: NBC News, Business News Daily, and The Times. 

Molly Young’s article “The Cookie Jar Grows Up” in The New York Times that’s about so much more than a locked box for your phone. Also, we still think about Shonda Rimes's Year of Yes…and have starting thinking more about Brandy & Whitney’s Cinderella.

Our recs for a gift for a three year old include a Yoto Player, a karaoke mic, a Loog guitar or this Kid’s Concept one, a DJ Mixer, Magnatiles, a custom coloring poster with the kid’s name, costumes like this firefighter one or a customized superhero cape, If there’s room and it’s in the budget: Haus. And something we should all know: USPS now makes Buzz Lightyear stamps. 

If you have recommendations for kid-friendly space movies—beyond Muppets from Space— or substitutes for “affordable,” “expensive,” and the like, let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get your ecomm business going with Shopify. Try a free 14-day trial with our link.

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Produced by Dear Media

We’re so excited about this week’s Guest Thingies with Ellen Van Dusen of Dusen Dusen—great recommendations await! But first, some nuggets of wisdom from famously creative famous dudes.

We’re definitely taking inspiration from Rod Stewart’s model railway side project and Tom Hanks's advice to Austin Butler. 

Ellen’s Thingies include being comfortable inside and outside the home (please see: her delightful robes…and brand-new slippers!!), @Favetiktoks420 on Instagram, and cool silverware (especially David Tisdale’s Picnic Flatware, which makes us think of Ahimsa dinnerware for kids). She also loves tile right now—see: Heath Ceramics, her collab with Concrete Collaborative, Fireclay, and Oasis—and you have to, have to check out her backyard mosaic. Last but not least: Her love of bird-watching has us asking when she’s going to start selling the birdhouse she designed for Brooklyn Botanic Garden (in the meantime, the MoMA one we’re all into). Ooh, and as we told Ellen, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a great book and a much better movie than it gets credit for being.

Share your dream Thingies guests with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Give professional counseling a shot with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Help your curly hair look its best with LUS and get 15% off your first purchase of $50 or more with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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Produced by Dear Media

Let’s go in-depth on romance novels! But first, we’re chatting with Madeline Nusser from Allstate Identity Protection, which oh-so-graciously sponsored this episode, to dig into something equally sexy: doing what you can to thwart identity theft. 

Go to AIP.com/AThingOrTwo today to see if Allstate Identity Protection is available through your employer. If not sign up there to get a 30-day free trial..

Check out The Washington Post article on the rise of romance in the U.S. and this Twitter thread from Helen Rosner on the weirdness of publishing categories. 

Some books that are not romance novels but kind of are: 

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (but her book Instructions for Dancing counts!)

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Books we endorse for romance newbs:

The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (see also: our podcast ep with Tallia)

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola (who’s a great Twitter follow)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

More romance authors with many books to dive into: 

Jasmine Guillory 

Abby Jimenez

Tessa Bailey

Have a romance novel you want, neeeeeed to recommend? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Support your hair with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Look into Allstate Identity Protection (and see if your employer offers it, too). Use our link for a 30-day free trial.

Try Bombas and take 20% off your first purchase when you use our link.

Book that doctor’s appointment: Download the free Zocdoc app.

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Produced by Dear Media

​​You know what we have a lot to say about in this best-of-2011 ep? A lot of things, from high praise for neighborhood restaurants and actually useful apps to sharing weddings FAQs and advocating for yourself at the doctor’s office.

If you want to sell others on the Michigan Star restaurant, maybe send them this quickie podcast pitch we did on The Best Advice Show. 

Behold, the Covid wedding template of our dreams:

Our beloved friends & family,

It's only 30 days until our wedding! We're so glad that you are coming and celebrating this special day with us. 

A few announcements regarding the wedding: 

Serious stuff

• You must be fully vaccinated to attend the event. Please send your proof of vaccination to EMAIL ADDRESS.
• For children and adults with underlying medical conditions preventing them from getting vaccinated, we ask that you obtain a negative PCR Covid-19 test result within 48 hours prior to the event.
• Your health is of utmost importance to us, and we have therefore decided to cancel ANY CHANGES TO EVENT SCHEDULE.

Fun stuff

• X, Y, Z!

Apps worth your limited phone storage space: Weather Strip, Libby, and PictureThis (related-ish: Merlin Bird ID). 

We’re here for your feedback!  Share it with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

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Produced by Dear Media

Join us! We’re revisiting how we approach creativity and talk about people who refuse to be hemmed in by expectations and the algorithm. 

For some insight about opening up to what interests you at a time and trusting that it will serve you, check out Steve Martin’s memoir, Born Standing Up, and read Pamela Adlon’s essay for Harper’s Bazaar.

After watching the newest Julia on HBO Max, we’re doing a Judith Jones deep-dive—next up: reading her memoir The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. Another book that’s making us think about creative possibility: Margiela: The Hermès Years. 

People who spread their (creative) wings: Stacey Abrams and her romance career as Selena Montgomery, Serena Willaims and her nail technician story, Venus Williams founding her design firm V Starr Interiors the same year she was ranked No. 1, David Lynch and his woodworking, and Bella Hadid, who has a new glassblowing hobby.  

Rachel Tashjian’s Opulent Tips newsletter—sign up via DM!—introduced us to the idea of STROLL DONT SCROLL, and her recent Harper’s Bazaar pieces on Christopher John Rogers and Schiaparelli are great reads that show ya how her brain works. 

Tune into Details Matter, from Jenni Kayne Home, a podcast we’re producing that has also been giving us a whole lot of inspiration, including the IG algorithm bit we mention ℅ Amanda Gunawan.

Do you have any top-tier grandma sayings? Share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Take your business to the next level with Shopify. Try a free 14-day trial with our link.

Right now, our listeners can get 15% off your first purchase of $50 or more!  But ONLY when you go to LUSBrands.com and enter promo code ATHINGORTWO

Produced by Dear Media. 

It’s Guest Thingies Day! We’re so excited to chat with Kavi Ahuja Moltz, the CEO of the exceptional scent co. D.S. & DURGA and the sort of person who knows cool stuff, always.

But first: potty-training and a related story from Romper about camping with kids. 

Our favorite D.S. & DURGA perfumes include Italian Citrus, Coriander, and Rose Atlantic…and don’t sleep on the candles and genius auto fragrances, either. Ooh, also: This one-minute quiz is surprisingly delightful.

Kavi’s Thingies include traveling with playing cards, Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Cream Blush in Daiquiri Dip, looong walks, and potato chips (Charles Chips in the tin especially—and shout-out to this Eater story about why we don’t have masala chips at our grocers). She also loves fun socks! Her faves are from Simone Rocha and Tabio (see also: Darner and Hysteria), and her standard go-tos are Adidas black with white stripes.  

Do you have tips for how to make walking meetings work? Please share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Check out Allstate Identity Protection (and see if your employer offers it, too). Use our link for a 30-day free trial.

Sip on De Soi and get 15% off when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Vacation with BÉIS and snag 15% off your first purchase with our link.

Book that doctor’s appointment: Download the free Zocdoc app.

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Produced by Dear Media

It’s time to chat about all the stuff we’re obsessed with lately, most of which has been included in our Monday newsletter—do you get that thing??

Keep an eye on Fat Ham, a play we think will definitely have a second life, ideally on Broadway. 

We both got a lot out of Burn Rate by Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, which tells the story of founding, running, and ultimately selling his company all while grappling with severe bipolar disorder. For another excellent memoir about bipolar disorder, read Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind. 

Huge endorsement of the walnut larb at Good Night in Woodstock New York. The closest recipe comp we have surfaced is the one from walnuts.org. 

For a perfect after-dinner candle, it’s all about Big Night’s Dinner Party one. See also: Epicurious’s story about dinner-party-appropriate scents, No.10 Aboukir by Maison Louis Marie, and Park Life by Boy Smells.

Want to make sorbet at home? Everyday Food from Martha has a vid withThomas Joseph that involves floating an egg to achieve the ideal sugar content and texture.

Cam’s forest camp introduced us to the amazing Muddy Buddy, we’re getting more our of our walks listening to Marcos Trinidad's Human/Nature podcast, and we’re on top of hyper-local news thanks to Patch.com.

Grow your business with Shopify. Try a free 14-day trial with our link.

Drink something different with De Soi and get 15% off when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Slip on some Bombas and take 20% off your first purchase when you use our link.

Right now, our listeners can get 15% off your first purchase of $50 or more! Go to LUSBrands.com promo code ATHINGORTWO

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Produced by Dear Media

Why *wouldn’t* we revisit any entertainment property—this podcast ep included—starring Channing Tatum?! Behold, one of last year’s hits, for your (re-?)listening pleasure.

What do the critics have to say about Magic Mike? Here’s Shirley Li at The Atlantic, Emma Specter at Vogue, A.O. Scott at the NYT, Richard Brody at The New Yorker, Bob Mondello at NPR, and Kyle Smith at the Wall Street Journal. 

Channing’s look right now! Specifically this Met Gala pic and this Variety cover! He and Zoë Kravitz share a stylist, Andrew Mukamal (who was featured on Kell on Earth—see also: this Interview interview with Kelly Cutrone).  

If you’re into the business side of Magic Mike, check out WSJ’s story “For Magic Mike, Channing Tatum Looked for Strippers Moms Could Love.” As for Channing’s other creative projects: Sparkella, Born & Bred Vodka (more from BonApp), and the much-hyped romance novel he’s writing with Roxane Gay. (Unrelated but also totally related, Tessa Bailey’s reverse-harem romance Happenstance.)  

Oh, Girl Scouts, preparing girls to meet the world with courage, confidence, and character since 1912! We love the logo redesign by Collins, and if you need a cookie source, buy them from Troop 6000, a first-of-its-kind program designed to serve families living in temporary housing in the New York City shelter system, or from trans girls around the country. 

Another scouting org we love: Radical Monarchs, which creates opportunities for girls and  gender-expansive youth of color—this doc is great.

Share your Magic Mike reviews with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

The juggle is real. Don’t just respond to stress, get ahead of it with Stress Relief from Ritual. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/athingortwo. Start Ritual or add Stress Relief to your subscription today.

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Buckle in, folks! This week, we’re talking about our garden-curator journeys, second-kid thoughts, and the slacker–to–chaos goblin line cook pipeline. 

Looking for Fast-Growing Trees? Thank goodness there’s a company that sells exactly those.  Love the Bloomerang lilac shrub, and you clearly need to know about the smoothie kit. If you wanna grow the ~cool~ flowers, check out Plantgem. A few faves they sell: ProCut plum sunflower, crocus saffron bulbs, and Irene Parrot tulip bulbs. Peony fans should investigate Styer’s, David Austin is as good at roses as at customer service, and for regional wildflower seed mixes, look to Wildseed Farms. 

How’s you decide whether or not to have a second kid? Please share any and all thoughts you have on this topic with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.  An article related to this conversation: Emily Gould’s NYT piece "More Kids? After the Last Two Years? No Thanks.”

For thoughts about the present-day incarnation of the slacker, check out this tremendous tweet by @yeehaw_meg. (Of course, we’re thinking about it in the context of The Bear.) 

Any plants you’re obsessed with? Have theories about slackers? Share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Download Best Fiends—for free—on the App Store or Google Play.

Get that thicker, healthier hair with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Jazz up your wardrobe with Nuuly. Get $10 off your first month when you sign up with the code ATHINGORTWO10.

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Produced by Dear Media

This is a jam-packed episode: We’ve got destination sandwiches. We’ve got photographer Noah Kalina’s Thingies. We’ve got baby-wipes expertise from grown-ups. Ready? Great.  

If you’re in NYC, please scurry to & Sons Buttery for their salami cotto sandwich (please also eat at the restaurant—a ham bar!) and Court Street Grocers for their vegitalian. Special shoutout to The Bobbie from Capriotti’s in Wilmington, Delaware, too. For further destination-sandwich reading, check out Helen Rosner's New Yorker story about the plane sandwich and the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook by Mason Hereford with JJ Goode. 

Check out Noah Kalina’s Instagram, his curiosity-filled newsletter, his podcasts JPEG 2000 and Do you hear that?, his incredible portraits of chickens, and, wow, so much more.

Noah’s Thingies include the Samsung Frame that turns into art (art!) when it’s off, Cometeer coffee, the Toto Washlet, Water Wipes for when you’re away from your Toto Washlet, (bonus rec from Claire for toddlers: Coterie Wipes), Ego power tools, and Crocs (<< Erica has feelings.). 

Share your Thingies (and destination sandwiches…that might also qualify as Thingies) with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Produced by Dear Media

It’s about time for an addendums episode! AKA an ep where we dump our additional thoughts (and your feedback) on topics we’ve discussed—because there’s always more to say about styling, aging, and, apparently, catalogs. 

Looking for a method to define your personal style? Check out Allison Bornstein’s Three-Word  Method on TikTok: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6 for your clicking pleasure. (Call us with your wooords!!) More about her philosophy in this Harper’s Bazaar profile.

Re: styling, a follow-up on Amy Smilovic, including the outfit that stopped Claire in her tracks and her shirt-tying innovation. When it comes to button-downs, Claire loves her custom oversize Chava one—it’s great with elastic-waist pants (as is this Roucha tank top.) 

In response to our discussion of marbling, we learned about some family-owned places to get monogrammed marbled gifts in Florence: Alberto Cozzi and Riccardo Luci. 

Speaking of Italy, we both recently visited and fell hard for Milan—it lives up to the promise of Jenny Walton’s Instagram and Sight Unseen’s Design Week coverage. Keep an eye out for a future Secret Menu installment starring our favorite Milan spots. 

Also on the docket: push-up tips, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande for grieving and coping with aging parents, and The Flamingo Estate catalog for zaniness…and as a resource for anyone in L.A. who might want to receive  a bag of manure as a gift.

Share your thoughts with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Dip into professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Refresh your closet with Nuuly. Get $10 off your first month when you sign up with the code ATHINGORTWO10.

Support a business of any size with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link.

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Produced by Dear Media

Who better to talk Thingies with than Lauren Sherman, the chief correspondent at The Business of Fashion and the host of their wonderful—and quick!—new podcast The Debrief?! NOBODY. She fills us in on the third-wave coffee movement (We have a lot of questions.), a great investment T-shirt, and the trick that keeps her kid well-rested while traveling. Speaking of travel: There is a difference between a trip and a vacation, and we’d like to manage some expectations.

Listen to The Debrief—it has as feeling more fashion-industry-informed than we have in years.

Lauren has a LOT of insight on third-wave coffee and natural-process coffee beans. Some of her favorite places to get them: Andytown in San Franciso, Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, Tandem Coffee Roasters in Portland, Maine, 49th Parallel in Vancouver, Cafe integral in NYC, Dune Coffee Roasters in Santa Barbara, and Kumquat Coffee & Tea in Los Angeles. She’s also passionate about Three Trees almondmilk and making coffee with an AeroPress.

If you’re looking for a stand-out T-shirt, Lauren loves Dries van Noten’s. If you find yourself in Europe, scoop ‘em up there for better prices—or keep an eye on Yoox and The Outnet for deals. Other especially good brands for tees: James Perse and the men’s dept. of Comme des Garçons. 

When hitting the road with a baby, Lauren highly recommends bringing a SnoozeShade for Pack 'n Plays.

How do you order stuff that doesn’t ship to the U.S.? Lauren uses Reship.com for that, and KoreaBuddy is a good option for items from Korea specifically. 

We 1000% need some new catchphrases. Share your thoughts with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Support your immune system with Athletic Greens and get a one-year supply of Vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase when you use our link.

Turn to Thinx and get $10 off your first order when you visit rethinkyourcycyle.com and use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Treat kids to Little Passports and get 20% off when you use our link.

Get comfy with Bombas and take 20% off your first purchase when you use our link.

Travel better with BÉIS and snag 15% off your first purchase with our link.

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Produced by Dear Media

Today in mishmashes: We’re sharing some of the tricks and treats we’ve discovered recently, featuring Claire’s flower-wrapping upgrade, Erica’s brunch cookout recipes, and what to wear when it's hot, hot, hot. 

Erica’s rooftop brunch agenda included ordering donuts (from Doughnut Plant if you’re in NYC), finding a reliable friend to be in charge of grilling sausages (or, um, sausage strips!), and  whipping up two frittatas: the mustard-asparagus one from Cookie + Kate and the mushroom-ricotta one Julia Turshen’s Now & Again cookbook. 

And for dinner, Erica’s favorite canned cherry tomatoes from Mutti are great for many things, including her go-to summer tomato sauce c/o Alison Roman.

Claire’s revisiting this Mo Willems interview often, and on the diaper-bag front, she recommends Longchamp's Le Pliage (or any flat bag like it!). 

As we slip back into shorts, we like these knit guys from Kordal, a pleated linen pair from Alex Mill, grown-up cut-offs from Agolde, and these rolled jorts from Raey. 

Some options on our quest for a great summer dress include ones from Mille, Mirth, Sunspel, Organic by John Patrick, Kule, Falke, Loup Charmant, and Anaak. 

And on the topic of summer jeans, we like these from Agolde, and these from Roucha Pala. But also, these Jenni Kayne trousers!

Finally, if you’re looking for a dopamine hit, we highly recommend you search #sheldonshrimp to see the wonderful world of Sheldon Shrimp the Jellycat stuffed animal and his friends Herman Hermit, Crispin Crab (and, course, Bashful Bunny). 

Have anything related to this grab bag you’d like to share with us? Please do at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership!

Treat yourself to professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Download Best Fiends—for free—on the App Store or Google Play.

Support thicker, healthier hair with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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This episode—a 2021 crowd-pleaser!!—is all about the pressures we feel on our lives and our time (and, to a lesser extent, our necks and our tailbones). Don’t sleep on this one, is what we’re saying.

Live that ComfiLife! Side-sleep with a Hullo pillow!

The “Things We Want to Leave Behind and How to Start a Running Routine” ep we reference.

The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin—there’s also a quiz for that. 

A handful of reads related to parenting (and, sigh, house work): All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu, and More Work For Mother by Ruth Schwartz Cowan.

An enthusiastic endorsement of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.

Dirt’s “The season of tabs” newsletter by Alex Aciman. WE RELATE.

"The Myth of the Productive Commute" installment of Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter.

Talking about protecting your time with Mimi O Chun and “what happens if you don’t?” with Caroline Moss.

For last-min. presents, might we suggest Secret Menu gift subscriptions? 

Please share your obligation feeeeeelings! 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq!

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We’re wise enough to know it’s about time for a ~wisdom~ ep. We share our feelings about feeling our age and some excellent advice we caught about living with a little longing.  

Some readings that impacted how we’ve been navigating aging include Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, Casey Johnston’s Swole Woman program, Cheryl Wischover’s “What Changed When I Started Lifting Weights” in the Gloria newsletter, and Kayleen Schaefer’s “How 50 Pushups A Day Helped Me Cope In An Uncertain World” for Elle. 

If you have thoughts on longing or musings about aging share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And try out a Secret Menu membership for more recommendations.

Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Slip on Thinx and get $10 off your first order when you visit rethinkyourcycyle.com and use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Evolve your piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

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Today we’re answering a listener question that we’ve been asking ourselves our whole lives: How TF does one get dressed (and, you know, feel good about what they’re wearing)? Also: We grapple with the big challenges we’re having with small talk.

For those looking for a tailor in NYC, Mend Tailoring and Alteration Specialists do house calls, and Silhouettes & Profiles on the UWS is great. In L.A., it’s all about Elias in Santa Monica.

Check out Amy Smilovic, Katie Sturino, and Jenna Lyons-era J.Crew for styling tips. Another stellar rec from our editor Maddie: Allison Bornstein’s TikTok. 

If you have any small-talk tips (and advice for what to wear with Issey Miyake Pleats Please pants) we want them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Support a business with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link.

Amp up your immune system with Athletic Greens and get a one-year supply of Vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase when you use our link.

Get better sleep with Beam Dream and get up to 35% with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Try Thinx and get $10 off your first order when you visit rethinkyourcycyle.com and use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Upgrade your piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

YAY.

Produced by Dear Media

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 each hotel. For rentals, we search Airbnb and Vrbo reviews for terms like “noisy,” dig into host profiles for other properties, and remind ourselves that you can reach out to hosts with Qs.

Our favorite guides come from Goop, Curbed (like "The 21 Best Things to Do in Milan If You Love Design") Eater, Sight Unseen, Remodelista, Afar, Here, Fathom, Stranger’s Guide, and New York mag’s “Steal My Vacation", and Cabana. The physical Wallpaper* City Guides are great, and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Shultz is a satisfying book to have + mark up.  

Share your planning tips and the trends you’re retreading (or rejecting) with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For many more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Seek out BetterHelp for professional counseling and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Download Best Fiends—for free—on the App Store or Google Play.

Entertain and educate kids with Little Passports and get 20% off when you use our link.

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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 Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.

Do you have negotiation thoughts? Guest Thingies ideas? Share ‘em with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get thicker and healthier hair with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Find comfort with Cozy Earth’s temperature-regulating sheets and take 35% off when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Sleep better with Beam Dream and get up to 35% with the code ATHINGORTWO.
Grow a business of any size with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link.

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We’re back with some new nyms, a report from Paris, housekeeping news, and more!

Steve Dolinsky bravely tackles PIGUE (Pizza I Grew Up Eating) Syndrome head-on. 

Time for a Paris report! Shoutout to the Moxy hotel in the Marais for its ideal location. Shopping for men’s clothing? Stop by Cuisse de Grenouille, LA panoplie, and Le Mont Saint Michel. For kids, go to Petit Bateau, Monoprix, Bonton, and the top floor of Le Bon Marche. Sabre Paris also has the cutest kids' flatware. We also recommend a visit to The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, specifically for the exhibit "The Birth of Department Stores," La Grande Mosquée de Paris, and Roland-Garros (you know, next year). 

A bonus shoutout to When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Sato.

Thank you to the Dear Media team for a very long run! Extra high fives to our lovely producer Olivia Meade!

Do you have a personal PIGUE? Share it with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva! See ya in August!

Take care of your hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Ready your wardrobe for summer with Johnny Was and use the code ATHINGORTWO for 20% off your order.

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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! 

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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 does great ones. We also recommend a record player (and personally endorse Plus Audio and Technics by Panasonic Direct Drive Player System via eBay). To add to the record collection, maybe gift a subscription to Vinyl Me Please or round-up albums that came out during their birth year. Related gift: fancy speakers like the ones by Oda. Nice luggage is also a good call—we love Want Les Essentiels, Porter-Yoshida, and classics like Rimowa, Tumi, and Calpak. For hobby gifts, how about a surfboard, a film camera from Photodom, ceramics classes (s/o to Artshack near us!), or pickleball gear from Recess or Nettie (on the topic of pickleball, this New York mag profile of Connor Pardoe). Last but not least, NORMALIZE GIVING MEN FLOWERS! 

For retirement gifts: Ask close coworkers to participate in something personal—maybe use Tribute or Padlet or go old-school and collect pictures and letters to make a scrapbook. We also love Storyworth! Or how’s about helping them get oriented with a new hobby: For the dad in our VM, maybe a Backroads Bike Tour or a Bianchi bike (find them and other snazzy bikes used on Bike Exchange). There’s also personal training: For a virtual option, check out Future (a good review). 

When someone’s having a baby but not their first one: Set the parent up with a massage (maybe an at-home one through Zeel) or food delivery from Ipsa, Three Owls, or The Culinistas. Treat them to a robe, slippers, a weighted blanket from Bearaby, or a bed tray (Chairish and 1stdibs for cool vintage ones and West Elm, and Offi for new ones) Or: Get something to keep the sibling busy! Non-messy craft projects like needlepoint/sewing kits (love Unwind Studio and LittleExplorersPlay) or a subscription to The Picture Book Club. For the new baby, what about a not-hand-me-down, home-from-the-hospital look from Makie or Lewis? Or something keepsake that second (and third and fourth) kids tend to get less of like a handknit blankie or a puzzle name stool from Damhorst Toys.

What to maybe, possibly ask for when you move into a new home: A return-address stamp from Paper Source or custom house numbers from House Number Lab or Casson. Outdoor stuff can be pricier than expected, so ask for plants from Fast Growing Trees, Plant Gem, and David Austin Roses, a local-nursery gift card, or gardening tools from The Floral Society or Terrain. What about a Solo Stove or a Barebones Living Portable 30" Fire Pit? Or a grill! We like the Weber Spirit II E-210 LP and the Lodge Sportsman’s Pro Cast Iron Grill. Get into composting with an indoor bin from Bamboozle. Entertaining stuff is a good call—think an Insalata Serving Bowl or platters from Conran Shop, Bitossi Home, Christian Lacroix, Farmhouse Pottery, vintage spongeware from The Six Bells, and vintage Limoges on Etsy. Ooh, and framing, c/o your local frame shop or Framebridge! Finally, stools: Artek, TipToe, Bed Bath & Beyond, Metal Lab, and ChezRai ones specifically. For other relevant recs, check out our Secret Menu wedding-registry guide.

Share your gift ideas or quandries with us at ​​833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For many more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Produced by Dear Media

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-on.

Seven minutes of great content: the “Rachel Jacobson Tries to Act Like She's on Vacation All the Time” ep of The Best Advice Show.

Share your travel-planning tactics and queries at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Try BetterHelp for professional counseling and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Download Best Fiends—for free!—on the App Store or Google Play.

Book that doctor’s appointment right now: Download the free Zocdoc app.

Swap your paper towels with Papaya Reusables and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20.

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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 over four days in 1991 in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. So good, so personal.

Collier’s Thingies include Dr. Scholl’s Molefoam Padding Strips for pesky bra wires, the Eliot Patio Loveseat from Target, and Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution by Nona Willis Aronowitz (out in August). If you’re inspired by Collier’s femme sandal pursuit, here’s her Kyma pair (They arrived; she loves them.). She also recommends a Tosaryu hinoki incense and holder duo from Jinen for a housewarming gift and Artifact Uprising baby board books for gifts in general—not just for babies.

Do you have weaning/new-parent experience to share? Hit us up at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Explore our spring gifting faves from MoMA Design Store and use or mention the code ATHINGORTWO online or in U.S. stores for 10% off your purchase now through May 29.

Get both sunscreen and skincare with Murad's Correct and Protect Serum Broad Spectrum SPF 45. Save 20% and get free shipping with your $60 purchase when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Snuggle up in Cozy Earth’s temperature-regulating sheets and take 35% off when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Grow thicker and healthier hair with Nutrafol. Your first month’s subscription is $15 off with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

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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’re sorry, but it has to be written like this!!!), click on over to deliascatalogs.tumblr.com, and follow the model Janelle Fishman on IG. 

What do our record collections neeeeeed? Tell us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Get both your sunscreen and skincare from Murad's Correct and Protect Serum Broad Spectrum SPF 45. Save 20% and get free shipping with your $60 purchase when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Replace so many paper towels with Papaya Reusables and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20.

Thinx is offering $10 off your first order when you visit rethinkyourcycyle.com  and use code ATHINGORTWO at checkout.

Produced by Dear Media

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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.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Shop our spring gifting faves from MoMA Design Store and use or mention the code ATHINGORTWO online or in U.S. stores for 10% off your purchase now through May 29

Arm your immune system with Athletic Greens and get a one-year supply of Vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase when you use our link.

Upgrade your piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

Support a business of any size with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link.

papaya reusables (CB) 

Cut back on paper towels with Papaya Reusables and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20.

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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 Clark’s fantastic A Piece of Cake newsletter, Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from Barefoot Contessa, Ipsa frozen cookies, Levain frozen cookies, Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding, and Jeni’s Street Treats.

When it comes to drinks, how about a big batch Palomas, Bloody Marys with McClure’s or Stonewall Kitchen mix, non-alcoholic Ghia or De Soi, and/or Lunar hard seltzer?

Share your favorite party tricks with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For more recs, sign up for our Secret Menu.

Get what you need for a business of any size with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link.

Give professional counseling a shot with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Download Best Fiends—it’s free!—on the App Store or Google Play.

Book that doctor’s appointment today: Download the free Zocdoc app.

Take your vitamins in whole-food form with GEM and take 30% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO. 

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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.

Grow thicker and healthier hair with Nutrafol. Your first month’s subscription is $15 off with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Ditch paper towels with Papaya Reusables and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20.

Get your sunscreen and skincare at once with Murad's Correct and Protect Serum Broad Spectrum SPF 45. Save 20% and get free shipping with your $60 purchase when you use the code ATHINGORTWO.

Have a stellar piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

YAY.

Produced by Dear Media

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.

Dramatically improve your piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

YAY.

Produced by Dear Media

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.com, or @athingortwohq.

Grab a Secret Menu membership for more, more recommendations.

Eat your vitamins with GEM and take 30% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO. 

Cozy up to Ettitude sheets: Get 20% off your order plus free shipping when you use our link.

Swap your paper towels with Papaya Reusables—20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO20.

Have the best piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

YAY.

Produced by Dear Media

Listen, spending the summer in Paris isn’t in the cards for us, but spending an episode with Glynnis MacNicol talking about 1) her summer in Paris 2) her book about it, I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself and 3) her Thingies…a surprisingly close second.

Glynnis MacNicol’s memoir I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself is out this week! We also love her previous book No One Tells You This and her podcast Wilder, about the life and times and lasting impact (for better and/or worse!) of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Glynnis’s Thingies include VIO2 Mouth Tape, not putting moisturizer on after retinol (she likes La Roche-Posay Retinol B3 Serum, ideally purchased in France!), Last Summer directed by Catherine Breillat, and Garnier Ombrelle Face Sun Protection.

The books she mentioned: Speedboat by Renata Adler, Middlemarch by George Eliot, The Guest by Emma Cline, Swimming in Paris by Colombe Schneck, and The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy. 

Re: the golden age of podcasts, we’re very excited about A.J. Daulerio’s The Small Bow Podcast, Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike, Lemme Say This with Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix, and Fashion People with Lauren Sherman. 

What are your Thingies? Share ‘em with us at with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva! 

Prepare your wardrobe for summer with Johnny Was and use the code ATHINGORTWO for 20% off your order.

Give your nails polish with Olive & June—20% off your first Mani System when you use our link.

YAY.

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 young age, Nyssa VieWear Period Comfort Underwear and Nyssa VieVision Between Legs Mirror, Dame (see also: “Sexual Wellness Brand Dame Settles Lawsuit With MTA, Debuts First Subway Campaign” from Adweek), the book Designing Motherhood by Michelle Millar Fisher and Amber Winick that features the story of Margaret Crane (who invented the first pregancy test!), the menopause-care hub Elektra Health, "My Miscarriage, in Photos" by Becca Leitman with photographs by Casey Kelbaugh for The Cut.

How great is this free, downloadable teen period guide-slash-checklist?!

Share your Thingies at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. If you’re looking for more recommendations and more fun, a Secret Menu membership is for you.

Head on over to Nyssacare.com and use the code ATHINGORTWO for 15% off. 

YAY.

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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, some inspiration comes from two incredible New Orleans hotels, Hotel St. Vincent and Hotel Peter and Paul. 

Fellow lovers of yellow furniture should bask in Billy Cotton space for Grace Morton, Sophie Ashby’s giant yellow velvet couch, and this kid’s room. 

If you’re thinking of doing some furniture-painting on your own (inspiration: Matilda Goad’s London home!), see Erin Boyle of Reading My Tea Leaves make-over a dresser on IG and read her guides for refreshing trim and kitchen cabinets. 

Wood paneling—SO COOL. See: Sound View Hotel, ​​Les Arcs ski resort, Jane Hallworth for Tinder co-founder Sean Rad and his Wife Lizzie Grover Rad, and Wall for Apricots. 

On the Swedish tile stove front, we love painter Mary Nelson Sinclair’s dining room, Victor Hugo’s fireplace, Lindholm Kakelugnar, and this explainer from Messy Nessy Chic.

Your favorite niche JLo stories need an audience! Share ‘em at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

So many more recs coming at you with a Secret Menu membership!

Get professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.

Download Best Fiends—it’s free!—on the App Store or Google Play.

Grow hair that’s thicker and healthier with Nutrafol. Your first month’s subscription is $15 off with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Help those muscles chill: Try Theragun for 30 days.

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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 account that recaps Paul Schrader’s Facebook posts. Her music recs: atmospheric YouTube videos (see: Music in an Empty Mall) and Mother Earth’s Plantasia. And when it comes to fashion, she needs you to know about Dauphinette by Olivia Cheng—amazing coats and other incredibleness also.

You can find Véronique at @niquepeeks,  veroniquehyland.com, and, of course, in the pages of Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink

Book events—something we love and have missed! See Véronique in conversation with Robin Givhan in D.C. on March 19 and chatting it up with Marisa Meltzer in NYC on March 25.

Share your Thingies at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

Get all the recs, all the weeks with a Secret Menu membership!

Download the free Zocdoc app and book that doctor’s appointment today.

Feel oh-so-fresh with Native and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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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 with Shopify. Get a free 14-day trial with our link.

Get your birth control online with The Pill Club, which will make a $10 donation to Bedsider.org when you use our link.

YAY!

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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 membership for that.

Get your vitamins from whole foods with GEM and take 30% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO. 

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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 order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Download Best Fiends—for free—on the App Store or Google Play.

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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 and more Italian vibes, check out Lisa Corti, Miho, and Issimo. 

For turning your space into a GD garden, we love Bill Rebholz’s canned tomato print, Erin Jang’s asian pear print, and the oh-so-classic Enzo Mari apple print. Nonna’s Grocer carries some hyper-real citrus candles, and Handmade Soap Emporium has outrageous grape soaps. And we can’t talk about produce decor without mentioning Bordallo Pinheiro's cabbage dishes (also: the pepper storage box and the cabbage lamp).

For some magical hand-painted walls and furniture, check out the hotel Mesón Hidalgo in San Miguel de Allende, this Jake Arnold dining room, Beata Heuman kid’s room and this bar in another Beata Heuman project, and these bedside tables from Studio Ashby.

For some lots more design inspo, check out Annamarie Tendler’s profile in Harper’s Bazaar, Jayna Maleri’s home tour in Domino, Maire Coulson’s house in Architectural Digest, Brett Heyman’s home tour in Domino, Margherita Missoni home tour in Architectural Digest, and Beata Heuman’s mom’s house. 

Let us know what home stuff you’re into (or any glass-blowing class experience you have!) at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

More recs coming your way with a Secret Menu membership!

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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 Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

For a companion newsletter to Val’s, subscribe to Jessica DeFino’s The Unpublishable. 

Beauty-ish things Val raves about: her aminolevulinic acid treatment experience, Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Brush-On Shield SPF 50, the French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, Laura Geller Baked Foundation, and Tocca Florence Laundry Delicate.

Share your favorite Thingies at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. Please!

If you’re in the mood for many more recs, there’s a Secret Menu membership for that.

Download the Zocdoc app for free and book that doctor’s appointment already.

Get your birth control online with The Pill Club, which will make a $10 donation to Bedsider.org when you use our link.

Feel fresh all day with Native and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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This week, we’re getting wrapped up in a conversation about robes, the practice of towel time, and our favorite shopping memories featuring dated (but iconic!) tie skirts and timeless wrap dresses. 

Some of the robes we love, for your lounging pleasure and leisure: Parachute’s Classic Turkish Cotton Robe, Skin’s Sierra Robe and Basic Double Layer Wrap Robe, Eberjey’s Rosalia Robe and Alpine Chic Super Sherpa Robe, and all the fun ones Block Shop and Print Fresh make. And how ‘bout this wings + horns Ace take?

Share your robe and towel-time rituals! 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

For many, many more of our favorites, get yourself a Secret Menu membership.

Discover N°1 DE CHANEL.

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Get ready to take a trip down (your nose’s) memory lane because we’re talking about the scents of our youth. Oh, and: We’re making a plan to prevent contingency-planning from becoming a full-blown hobby.

Scent-sational reading: this 1988 New York Times article, written during the dawn of the age of the perfume ad, the book The End of Fashion by Teri Agins on how perfume and stockings became luxury-brand cash cows, and this BBC article about the heyday of celebrity fragrances. 

Scentmatchers.com—go for the URL, stay for the extensive dropdown menu. 

Check out our near-obsession Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman for a welcome perspective on time-management. 

Did you have a signature scent? Is there some discontinued fragrance you’re sniffing around for? We need to know—@athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and 833-632-5463! 

Sign up for Secret Menu for more, more, more where this came from.

Give professional counseling a try with BetterHelp—10% off your first month with our link.

Support your business (big or small) with Shopify. Get a free 14-day trial with our link.

Better understand your reproductive health with Modern Fertility—$20 off your test with our link.

Try Honeylove for bras and underwear you can feel great about. 20% off your second item and 10% off your whole order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

Produced by Dear Media

Some philosophies on dealing with customer service-heavy moments, the benefits of estate sales, and some plane-travel RWIs.

Things to shove in your summer-travel carry-on (whether that’s an Alex Mill Perfect Weekday Tote or a Lo & Son O.G. 2): a Dagne Dover Arlo Neoprene Tech Organizer, a foot sling, a Sarisun headrest travel pillow (pair with a Lunya Washable Silk Sleep Mask or an Alaska Bear), and a packable duffle like Paravel’s. 

Estate sale curious? @handledestatesales is a great follow, and we’re sending a special shoutout to Bumble Bee Estate Sales in Charlotte, North Carolina.

What are your tips for visiting estate sales? Please share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva! 

Revisit the heyday of the department store with the wonderful book When Women Ran Fifth Avenue.

Start reading Line Sheet everything else Puck covers—use our link to sign up for a 14-day free trial.

Get ahead of stress with Stress Relief from Ritual and take 25% off your first month with our link.

Ready your wardrobe for summer with Johnny Was and use the code JWPODCAST for 20% off your order.

YAY.

We’re in need of things to enjoy—no, relish: Bring on the comfort content! Please! If you have recs, share ‘em with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

Read more about CUNY’s anonymous cash donor in the New York Times.

Check out Lewis Miller’s Flower Flash book, his Instagram, all of it.

To watch All That Jazz (not on a Delta flight), it’s all about the Criterion Collection.

Listen to  Once Upon a Time…at Bennington College podcast for all the hot 1980s undergrad goss about literary icons. (Check out the oral history that inspired the podcast, too.)

Everything Mindy Kailing touches is gold, and we’re especially sweating The Sex Lives of College Girls (what a name).

As for things we’re excited for in the future? Season 2 of Starstruck, Season 2 of White Lotus, and a Marcel the Shell with Shoes On movie!

Produced by Dear Media

This week, we talk Thingies with the writer, creative consultant, and theorist behind the 3 p.m. outfit expiration, Harling Ross Anton. She also breaks down her rubric for what makes a good recommendation. All this to say: Everything is nice in here.

Harling’s Thingies! Fleece-lined black tights (all of them, really), Merit's The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Foundation and Concealer Stick (Harling uses the shade bisque.), Chinya’s milk frother, Mighty Sesame Co.’s Tahini in a Squeeze Bottle, a made-just-for-her button-down shirt from Chava, DGL licorice extract for heartburn, D-Mannose for UTIs, and fantasy novels like A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Plz, plz follow Harling for so many more recs! She’s extremely good at them.

Share your favorite thingies at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.

For more of our favorites, get yourself a Secret Menu membership.

Produced by Dear Media

It’s the first episode we’re recording in 2022, and we have THOUGHTS! TO! SHARE! We discuss the It’s Not That Deep archetype, the wackiest (slash most ingenious)  “work smarter and not harder” moments, and acknowledgement sections—unskippable, if you ask us.

Related to the It’s Not That Deep mentality: Tune into our perfectionism ep (and maybe pick up Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, too.).

Two essays on the acknowledgment section: "With a Little Help From Their Friends (and Agents and Librarians and Fact-Checkers ...)" by Jennifer Senior and "Against Acknowledgments" by Sam Sacks.

One of our favorite acknowledgement sections of late was from Black Buck—and don’t worry, we asked the author Mateo Askaripour about it when we interviewed him.

Have thoughts (or a story about an extreme case of working smarter and not harder)? We want to hear them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq!

If you like this, you’ll love Secret Menu. We think!

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