[PREVIEW] Team Box Mix Forever

Plus what to eat when you don't want to eat and another fat dating update.

You’re listening to Burnt Toast!

We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your June Indulgence Gospel!

It’s time for a mailbag episode, so we’ll be diving into your questions about:

⭐️ Virginia’s online dating adventures 👀

⭐️ What we’re cooking right now 🧑🏻‍🍳👩‍🍳

⭐️ How we’re doing with the Target boycott!

⭐️ Plus Corinne’s best Maine recs 🦞

And so much more!

Episode 198 Transcript

Virginia

It is time for your June indulgence gospel, which I am recording while losing my voice. In addition to my voice, this is also our second take on this episode. We’re having technical difficulties, so it’s just really a banger day. So Corinne, thank you for bearing with this.

Corinne

Oh God, it’s my fault.

Virginia

Yeah, but we’re going to do this. We’re going to answer these listener questions. I’m going to make Corinne read them all so I can save my voice for responding, and we’re going to muddle through. It’s going to be great.

Corinne

It’s going to be great.

All right. Are you ready for the first question?

Virginia

Hit me.

Corinne

My daughter wanted me to bake the red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for her birthday instead of buying them, and I used a box mix for the cupcakes. And I feel that this, in and of itself, was a rejection of mommy perfectionism, which is a rejection of diet culture. Yes?

Virginia

Hell yes. 100 percent. We are pro-box mix. We have a family tradition where my mom makes really amazing birthday cakes for my kids, and she does it all from scratch, but she frequently uses a box mix for the cake itself so she can save her creative energies for the frosting. And I think that’s wise. I think that’s very wise.

Taming the Terrible Chocolate Cake Monster

Corinne

I love that. I feel that box cake mix often has a tenderness to it. It feels homemade.

Virginia

Yes, it’s got a really good texture. I mean, I feel about it the way I feel about my brownie mix, which is I don’t need to make them from scratch because they perfected the box mix. So, Team Box Mix forever here.

I mean, when you want to do something fancy from scratch, that’s great. Corinne is a great baker and does that kind of thing, but especially for kid birthdays...

Corinne

How old is a kid turning where they’re demanding cake from scratch?

Virginia

Oh, this feels like peak teenage energy. Like, Mo-om, I need it from scratch.

Corinne

Rude.

Virginia

A little bit rude. So you rejected mommy perfectionism and diet culture and also modeled for your daughter that your bandwidth matters.

Corinne

All right, the next question is:

Hoping to escape the hellish Texas summer for a couple of days in August, and I was hoping to visit Maine. I would love some main recs from Corinne.

Also, would love for longer episodes to make a comeback.

Virginia

Well, we hear you, but this will not be a longer episode, because I’m losing my voice. But noted, I think we’ve mostly gone shorter because of production bandwidth issues, the amount of time it takes to edit and edit transcripts. Also shorter episodes do better in Apple and other places. So there’s pressure to be shorter these days. Blame TikTok.

Corinne

Blame TikTok. I’m going to give a couple of recs for stuff to do in Maine. However, I will note that this person did not say where in Maine they’re going.

Virginia

It is a large state by northeast standards at least.

Corinne

So if anyone is ever going to Maine and wants recs, please feel free to DM me.

I’m going to assume you’re going to Portland, because usually people go there, or at least stop there, and there’s so much good food in Portland. It’s a great place to eat. I really like Leeward for dinner. It’s kind of fancy, but the food is unbelievably good. Crispy Gai is another good dinner spot. There are also tons of good bakeries and coffee. Tandem Bakery is great. I also think if you’re going to Portland, you probably should get a lobster roll. I like to go to the Two Lights lobster shack. It’s an outdoor place where you can order lobster rolls and fried seafood stuff and sit at a picnic table. There’s a lighthouse. It’s very Maine.

Virginia

Peak Maine. Any seating notes about these places?

Corinne

They’re all places that I have eaten and sat at, so should be fine. Two Lights has picnic tables. Tandem also has outdoor picnic tables. Leeward has bench seats on one side with seat chairs on the other side.

Virginia

Great.

Corinne

You should be good. It’s also very fun to go to the beach. There’s some really sweet little beaches around Portland. I also really like Popham Beach, which is about 45 minutes away. And my last thing I’ll say is, if you’re going to the midcoast area, my friend Marjory is opening a cafe in Rockland this summer called Cafe Grazie with her friend Marcy, and you should definitely stop by there. I will be stopping there as soon as I am in Maine and I can’t wait.

Virginia

This makes me really want to go to Maine. It sounds all delightful and delicious,

Corinne

It’s a very fun place to visit. So much good food. Oh right! Also, there is a plus size secondhand store in South Portland called Artemis and we’ll put a link to that.

Virginia

Alright, what’s next?

Corinne

What are some foods that other people might label kid foods that you like as an adult?

Virginia

This is a delightful question, although we agreed that there’s a lot of overlap between what is a kid food and what is a snack food. So I would say Cheez Its, but I don’t know that Cheez Its are a kid food or everybody food? What comes to mind for you?

Corinne

Uncrustables, which I discovered probably since I started working for Burnt Toast.

Virginia

That would have been a great alternate name for this newsletter. Yeah, uncrustables, wow, they’re just so easy and portable and delicious.

Corinne

Yeah, so tasty.

Virginia

Great errand snack, hiking snack, etc.

Corinne

Also peanut butter and jelly in general. I also like mac and cheese box. Mac and cheese was a kind of childhood staple for me, at least.

Virginia

I did not grow up eating mac and cheese because I have a British mother, but I embraced it in college. So for me, I’m like, that’s a college kid food, but of course, also a childhood staple.

Corinne

College kids are kids.

Corinne

Um, I also mentioned Bambas, those peanut butter, puff, things which I thought were kid food, but are maybe just snack food.

Virginia

Yeah, unclear, but delicious.

Corinne

Goldfish. The saltier, more delicious Cheez-It.

Virignia

Okay, that’s controversial. Not everyone would subscribe to that position. I would say that’s really counter to the Burnt Toast mission. But okay. Oh, chocolate milk is another one I’m going to give a shout out to.

Corinne

Yeah, I love chocolate milk.

Virginia

You feel like it’s a kid drink, but it’s not. It’s for everyone.

Corinne

It’s so good. I love applesauce, and sometimes I buy it in the kid shaped pouches.

Virginia

I mean, portable and convenient!

Corinne

Okay. Staying on the food subject.

What recipes have you been making and enjoying lately, or just buying and eating? I love to hear about what you two are cooking up.

Virginia

So I did not cook this, but Jack made us ribs on the grill over the weekend. He grilled them for a really long time. I don’t know, two hours? And then did something else to them, and then did like another hour. There was some kind of maple spice rub, and things were involved. There was a sauce. They were incredible.

Corinne

That sounds incredible. I would like someone to cook ribs for me.

Virginia

And we had it with asparagus and the carrot salad from Julia Turshen’s cookbook, which is delightful. And pesto pasta, because that’s what the kids will eat.

What about you?

Corinne

That sounds really good. The farmers market just started up here, so I’ve been eating a lot of the early spring vegetables, like asparagus, radishes, peas.

And then I’ve also been getting kind of into this food Substack called

Restaurant Dropout

where she gives you five recipes to make for the week. And gives you the shopping list and a prep list. So it takes all the decision making out of cooking for yourself, which I love.

Virginia

I mean, the decision making is the worst part, for sure.

Corinne

Totally. And I haven’t actually done a full week of it, but I’ve done three recipes or something, and they’ve been really tasty. And I do kind of like the system of doing the prep and then having stuff ready to go in your fridge.

Virginia

I go back and forth about prep. Especially when the weather’s good and I want to be outside more, I feel more punished by meal prep on the weekends. It feels more like an oppressive chore.

And then in the winter, when I’m like, maybe I’d be making a stew or something on Sunday, like I feel cookish, and like puttering around the kitchen, then I don’t mind prep. And I’m always really glad when I did prep. So I’m open to simple prep things, I guess, that will save time, like putting the chicken in the marinade when you get it back from the grocery store. I always try to be that person.

Corinne

This prep is mostly like, there’s part of it that’s like chopping vegetables and making sauces, but it’s not like, make the meal ahead and then eat it. You’re not heating it up three days later. Because I don’t like that. But it’s like making a bunch of sauces, or putting proteins in marinades, and then you just cook them the day of. But anyways, I would recommend Restaurant Dropout for anyone looking for something like that.

And then also recently—I’m a big Baker—and I recently made a coconut cream pie.

Virginia

Not from a box mix.

Corinne

Not from a box mix. I used a recipe from Dahlia bakery, which is in Seattle, and it was really good, and I would really recommend it to anyone interested in a baking project.

Virginia

The other thing I’ve been making and eating a lot—because we eat so much pasta and now that it’s getting nicer. I don’t really want heavy red or meat sauces. So I’ve been doing kind of a fancy mac and cheese where I use the Meredith Dairy sheep goat milk cheese and put some scoops of that and mix it, whisk it with some reserved pasta water and lemon and sometimes garlic, and then I just throw in tomatoes and basil and any other stuff we have around and toss it all with the pasta. And it’s so good and easy and super fast, easy dinner.

Corinne

That sounds amazing. I still haven’t tried the cheese.

Virginia

I need to get you some.

Corinne

Okay, one more food question:

What do you eat when you don’t feel like eating, even though you’re hungry?

Virginia

I was thinking about this. I often don’t feel like cooking, but I think I always feel like eating. But I know people struggle with this.

Corinne

I know I was kind of wondering if this is a thing where you’re like, “I’m hungry and I don’t want to eat any of the stuff I have.” Or if you’re like, “I’m hungry and I think I should eat something healthy, but I don’t want to.” It is kind of an interesting conundrum.

Virginia

I mean, I know a lot of folks in eating disorders recovery struggle with, “I know I need to eat, but I don’t want to eat.” And that’s a recovery challenge. So I wondered if it was that. I guess there are lots of reasons that people might not feel like eating. It has not been my personal journey, but I can relate to that. I sometimes feel too busy to eat. Or again, it’s like, I really want to be eating, but I don’t have time to make a thing. So what can I eat fast? What would you say are some of your go-to’s for just making a meal happen quickly?

Corinne

Well, I had two thoughts. One thought was stuff that I personally eat when I’m sort of like, don’t feel like eating, maybe let’s say, not that hungry. But two things that I’m usually available for are fruit. I try to always have some type of fruit, like apples, grapes, oranges, and I’m usually pretty happy to eat fruit. Also soup. I just feel like it’s, like, easy on the stomach, comforting, soothing. I like to eat soup.

Virginia

Do you have like canned soup?

Corinne

I often would have it in the freezer. Or, yeah, I mean, Panera has good, fine soups. And then I was the other thought I had was just like, something really palatable, like bread, Bagel, frozen bagel, frozen pizza. My friends run a bagel shop. I often have frozen bagels in my freezer, and I can, just like, put it in the toaster, with butter. Or cream cheese.

Virginia

I’m also thinking about bagels as an easy meal. I do like peanut butter on bagels sometimes with sliced banana on top. I do butter and Marmite—that’s not for everybody—on bagels. Or make it a turkey sandwich with some mayonnaise, turkey and if you have pickles or lettuce and tomato. Those are super fast and simple to assemble.

My go-to fallback is pasta and Rao’s jarred sauce. One of my children basically lives on that. So if I make a big pot of that I know at least two of us are going to eat. Yeah, and it’s just comforting. And you know, you can add more to it if you feel fancy, but if you don’t feel fancy, you still eat dinner. You know?

Corinne

I also think, a little snack dinner. Like, crackers and cheese, pickles, fruit kind of thing,

Virginia

Yep. I mean, the whole girl dinner concept is problematic. But if you’re, like, not wanting to put the time in and still need to eat.

Corinne

Ingredients on a plate. And you can, kind of, like, pick at it, and be like, oh, I want more of this or less of this.

Virginia

Why did I think I wanted all these olives? I don’t, I just want the cheese.

Our farmers markets also been getting into more filled out summer mode, and we’ve been picking up some really good cheese there, and baguette and having that on hand. Oh, and summer sausage. That’s so filling and satisfying. Getting summer sausage on a cheese plate? I’m really into hard salami.

Corinne

Yum. This is making me very hungry.

Virginia

I know. I literally ate lunch before we started recording. Now I’m like, do I have that in the fridge?

I will also do my usual plug for takeout. Ordering takeout removes the bandwidth. Obviously, that’s not accessible for everyone, but having a ready-made, delivered meal that you didn’t have to put any effort into can be very helpful. If it’s one of these situations where you’re like, “I have to make myself eat.”

Corinne

Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, this one is for you, Virginia.

I would love more specific online dating insights from Virginia. What criteria did you use to help screen? How challenging was it to find men who you were interested in and who were respectful to you? Any Fat positive screening questions, besides being like, just so, you know, I’m not planning to engage in behaviors to attempt to be as thin as possible?

Virginia

So my profile said fat. It said “Fat, happy, not interested in your diet.” Or it might have said, “I don’t give a shit about your diet.” I can’t remember how salty I was in my language. So that boundary was right there.

I also followed Corinne’s advice and included full body photos. I think that did a lot of heavy lifting to weed out assholes, because it was right there, you know?

Dating While Fat!

What I also experienced, and I talked about this a little bit in the episode we did with Brianna Campos, I would often be having a conversation with a man over DMs in the app where it was clear this is a guy who just wants to get laid. There was nothing very specific aboutmethat they were interested in.

And I would say the vast majority of men on dating apps are not going to ask questions like, “What do you do for work? Or what are your hobbies?” They’ll ask those upfront, and then if they can get you to do more flirty, sexy talk, it’s like, forget it, none of that exists any more.

There were times where that was fine with me, is what I’ll say. There were times where I was not looking for a profound connection. But very few of those people did I meet in person. Because I was like, there’s no there there. This person is not interested in me as a human being.

But I think one of the biggest reasons it was not stressful for me was because I wasn’t feeling that panicked about “I need to find a life partner.” I was on it for recreational purposes. And just kind of open to whatever, and not taking it that seriously. So I wasn’t that sensitive to the rejection. I wasn’t that sensitive to needing to make somebody into somebody they weren’t. Like, it was kind of funny to let the men eliminate themselves, if that makes sense.

What are your thoughts?

Corinne

I think that’s very reasonable.

I mean, the thought I had when I was reading this also was, like, “any specific fat positive screening questions?” Let’s not make this into a test, you know? I feel like you’ll be able to tell whether it’s an okay situation or not. And I don’t think we need to be creating some type of pass, fail situation.

Virginia

I don’t know if you feel this way, but I also feel, given what my work is—I’m not likely to meet a person on a dating app who is as well versed in fat liberation as I am, right?

That’s not going to happen unless I match with someone who I already know from this very specific world. So I’m not expecting them to have done deep dives on this work. Especially since I date cis men, and they mostly haven’t.

So I was looking much more for—and this, I think, was advice Corinne gave in one of our earlier dating episodes—a curiosity and open mindedness. I mean, I will say too, I was dating, meeting people over last summer and early fall, so I was much more concerned with weeding out Trump supporters. And that I did throw in. Like, I would make sure very quickly in any conversation that seemed like it was going somewhere, I would say something political to make sure that they were on the same page with me. If it wasn’t obvious from their profile that they were.I was weeding that out.

And if people did ask me about work, I would certainly talk about my work. And if they were uncomfortable, then that would be a way to weed them out. But I was looking for people who are curious and open-minded and clearly interested in me. And if you’re interested in me and valuing me, then this is not going to be hard for you. You would have to be on board with this, because this is such a big part of who I am.

Corinne

Yeah. That makes a lot of sense to me. I think that’s smart.

The next question is

Do you guys have any tips for making new friends in your 30s? I haven’t done much friend making outside of places you kind of make automatic friends, like school, medical training, etc.

Virginia

I think this is a lovely question.

Why don’t you start? I feel like you’re better at this than me.

Corinne

Oh God. Okay, so I think there’s research to show that the way to that you make friends is by doing something repeatedly with the same people. So I think the key is to find stuff like that, and so besides school or medical training that could be the gym, a class, a long-term class, some other kind of hobby, political organizing, or some kind of values based thing like that. Church.

Virginia

Some of my closest friends in my community, where I live now, I had hung out with a few times. I knew through like our kids all go to school together, and we have a lot of mutual friends. And then one of them mentioned that three of them had started a book club. And I basically just decided I’d join. I was like, “I will also be in your book club!” And they were like, oh, great.

Corinne

Amazing.

Virginia

Which, in retrospect, is funny, and I think I was inserting myself. And that’s obviously a little bit of a risk, and it’s not always going to work, right?

I actually can think of another time, when some other friends in town mentioned an activity they were doing, and I was like, “I would love to come along next time!” And they have never invited me to said activity. And I’m going to leave out specifics, because I don’t want anyone listening to feel bad. It’s fine! You didn’t invite me. I get it. I was trying to throw myself into your friend group.

But I think when I was looking for closer friends beyond just like, oh, I know you because we show up at the same school events, I did just kind of, force myself in and you just have to risk that it’s not going to always work? But if it works, it’s going to really work.

And then the book club is the same thing. Like, we meet every month, so it’s like a built in standing date. And then over time, that’s really deepened our friendships. And it is hard. You have to kind of push for more intimacy, I think. I definitely make a point of, like, if I meet somebody in a casual way getting their number so we can text. You might meet another mom chaperoning a field trip, for example, and chat on the bus ride, and then it’s like, oh, I want to level up this friendship. Like, you have to take the extra steps to follow them on Instagram or get their number so you can text them and then follow through and start a conversation. Like, like, let that be an ongoing connection, not just a one time thing.

How Do You Dress to be a Field Trip Mom?

Corinne

It’s definitely hard. I do think it takes some vulnerability to take those extra steps.

Virginia

There are a lot of parallels with the online dating thing, too, though, where I’m like, but it’s also okay if it doesn’t work out. It’s not really about you. If it doesn’t work out, everybody’s lives are busy and complicated. These are people who are probably holding a lot of things together in their lives, and if there’s not a space for you, it’s not because you’re not worth making space for.

It’s just because they’re holding a lot of cards, and they don’t have the space in their life right now for this friendship to go deeper, and that’s fine, because also casual acquaintance friendships are nice and feel good, and over time might build to something else, or just stay in that sort of comfy, like, oh hey neighbor place.

Corinne

Totally. And it goes both ways.

Virginia

I am sure there are people who have reached out to me hoping we would like, level up the friendship, and we didn’t, for whatever reason. And it’s not because I don’t think they’re a spectacular person. I’m just sort of at capacity at the moment. And I think you just can’t take that personally. You have to let it keep playing out and just keep trying and keep suggesting a plan.

And, yeah, obviously, if someone blows you off three or four times, like, you’re probably not going to keep trying. Don’t be weird about it. But you have to put in some effort and not be afraid to feel a little weird about the effort, even if it might not come of anything. We should also link to Katherine Goldstein’s newsletter, where she’s doing a lot of great work on community building, and there’s a lot of nice resources over there. Anne Helen Petersen writes about this a ton, too.

Corinne

The last one is that we got a bunch of questions, just wanting to sort of hear about clothes, fashion, what we’re wearing, Summer Fashion quandaries. Is there anything you have that you want to talk about?

Virginia

I don’t have any recs. But I do have a quandary. Which is… this Target boycott, you guys. Did we win yet? Like, can I go back yet?

Corinne

You know, um, I have actually been wondering. I realized when I use DoorDash, I don’t use DoorDash, but use GrubHub. And I think is GrubHub owned by Amazon? But because I have Amazon Prime, which I did cancel, but I paid for the year up front.

Virginia

Oh, right. So you still have it lingering. Mine is gone.

Corinne

Yeah, and I just haven’t been using it. But so I realized that I have a GrubHub premium subscription because of the Amazon. So I was like, Oh no, is GrubHub owned by Amazon anyways? I just was wondering how you’ve been doing with that? And, yeah, we’ve also been not shopping at Target, so I’m just kind of curious how, how’s all that going?

Virginia

So I haven’t slipped on Target, but I’m really feeling it and realizing I buy a lot of summer clothes at Target. They are my go-to for tank tops, for cheap shorts. I’m trying to replace them with Old Navy. I’m not sure that’s ethically better. And then I was like, well, let’s just try not to buy stuff. But the problem is, since I bought cheap Target tank tops the last few years, they didn’t last because they were cheap Target tank tops, so I don’t have any. So I have to buy something, and there’s no one making an ethical plus size tank top.

Corinne

Okay, yeah, I’ve been thinking about this because we kind of touched on it the other day on Big Undies. I feel like one option is Big Bud Press. I mean, it’s quite a bit more expensive, and I do think sometimes their stuff fits a little weird. But they do have a bunch of tank tops. They’re also short, which maybe would work for you?

Virginia

Interesting, I do kind of need a little bit of a crop so that it sits at my waist, which is just very high.

Corinne

Yeah. But we’re talking like 50 bucks, instead of like 15.

Virginia

$48 a tank top, whereas I was paying like $7 a tank top. I would be fine paying it if it’s going to last. I just don’t believe that stretchy tank tops last.

Corinne

I think it might be worth trying a Big Bud Press one. My friend has some, and I just saw her wearing them and I was like, that’s a really nice tank top. And then I looked into them, and I was like, I think these are too short for me.

Virginia

Okay, I’m going to try a Big Bud tank top. Everyone, stay tuned. I’ll order it as soon as we’re done recording and report back.

Corinne

They have nice colors. But also, if other people have recs for non-Target, non-Old Navy tank tops, where you getting them?

Virginia

It’s going to be hot. I need tank tops! I’m okay not buying a random target sundress that’s going to fall apart in three months. But I’ve just suddenly felt it in a way, that I wasn’t feeling the Target boycott and I’m like, oh, wow, I was very summer dependent on Target. So that’s been interesting.

Corinne

That is really interesting.

Virginia

Amazon, I have done pretty well with. I have had a slip up, which I stand by, which is I had to order a couple specific kid things, and I couldn’t get them quickly and easily from another source, and I did an Amazon order.

Corinne

That’s fair.

Virginia

And it’s not ideal, but anyone who’s needed to sort things out when a child needs a specific item. But I don’t have a prime membership, so I definitely won’t place the order unless we’re going to qualify for free shipping. And it will make sure that I shop there dramatically less than I ever shopped there before. So I feel pretty good about that. and I have been doing the thing of, like, let me look it up on Amazon and then go find it somewhere else. And I’ve been able to do that most times. I just did that today. I had to order some Loop earplugs, and I was like, wait, just go to Loop. Oh right. You can just order it from the brand.

Overall, I’m not missing it, and it’s working. I guess my feeling is like, this isn’t perfect boycott behavior, and people can come at me, but like, if I’ve put in a good faith effort and need the thing, like, I’ve done enough thinking of, do I really need this thing, then, like, it’s okay if once or twice a year, I end up placing an Amazon order.

Corinne

Yeah, I agree with that.

On the other hand, I have seen that the Target sales have been way down. And that also freaks me out, too, because then I’m like, what if Target stops making plus size clothes because we’re all boycotting Target?

Virginia

I know, I know. That’s a really tricky piece of this math is, where will they make the cuts? What will be vulnerable for them to cut in response to dropping sales? Are they going to listen to the demands of the boycott and do what people want? I don’t know. Yeah, it’s messy and imperfect. But I’m going to order an expensive tank top.

Corinne

I hope you’ll review it. Maybe we should both order it and try it on and a live.

Virginia

I feel like people would adore that, even though most of the Burnt Toasties were like, stop doing lives. I’m sorry, guys, we can’t. The algorithm requires them. We hear you on your concerns, but we’re doing them for a little bit, and we’ll see where we land. Some people have really liked them.

Corinne

It was fun for me.

Virginia

Yeah, I like doing them because we get to hang out and chat. We need to perfect the audio concerns. We’re getting there.

--

Butter

Corinne

Oh, yeah, I forgot about Butter.

Virginia

Do you have a Butter?

Corinne

Yeah, my Butter is going to be matcha. If you’re a Big Undies reader, you’ve already heard me going on about this. I did mention it as a newsletter. But I will say in the newsletter, I was recommending that I was going to a coffee shop nearby me and getting a matcha tonic, which is like a cold drink. And then since then, I have ordered my own matcha. So now I’m making matcha at home, I’m really into it, and I will say I’m probably not doing it right. I didn’t get the little whisk. I just got a milk frother, and I use that to mix my matcha, which is probably really offensive, but anyways, I’m enjoying matcha, and matcha is my butter.

Virginia

That’s a great Butter. I don’t think I like matcha, but maybe I do. Maybe I need to revisit that.

Corinne

It is kind of bitter and grassy.

Virginia

So my Butter is these cool felt tiles I just put up on the wall in our family room. This is an add on to last butter that I did with you, which was the swing that my kids are obsessed with in our family room. The problem with the swing was there was nowhere to put it where they couldn’t bounce off a wall, and so they were bouncing off the wall and leaving foot marks.

And I went eyes wide open to that, because, like, I’m not going to hang it in the middle of the room. Then where would other furniture go? Like, it just had to go in a corner.

But then I was like, okay, it is going to make me nuts that this wall is covered in footprints. And my friend Rachel had used these tiles to make a cool thing in her kid’s playroom. And she was like, let’s do these tiles. And they’re very fun. They’re these, organic shapes that you just stick up. It’s removable adhesive. And we put them all up on the wall, and it looks really cute, and the colors are pretty, and go with the rest of the room, and I’m super into it.

Corinne

That’s awesome. And so the they bounce off the felt tiles?

Virginia

Yeah. They bounce off the tiles. I mean, they’re not designed for this purpose, like, they’re not super thick. It’s not like having a gym mat on the wall. But at least gives it something, like there’s some buffer. I couldn’t put art on the wall because they’d break the glass of the frame, or a canvas would get ruined. But I think these tiles can take it and they look cool. And it sort of designates that corner as a little kid zone without being obnoxiously Kid Zone. And then I figure when we’re eventually out of our swing era, I’ll just take off the tiles and put something else up on the wall.

Corinne

That’s awesome.

Virginia

Yeah, they’re very fun. It looks super cute. My friend Rachel came over and we used a level and hung them. It’s definitely a project like do with a friend to hang up the tiles and not make yourself crazy about how they look. But I’ll put a picture in because they look cute.

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