A Thing or Two with Claire and Erica

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

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

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. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media  

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. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

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! Produced by Dear Media

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.  YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

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. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

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

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.   Produced by Dear Media