Reading newsletters and doing ironing—two indoor-kid activities no doubt! Ok, seriously, though, take care of yourselves, find some good distractions, and maybe try to get some fresh air?   The linkage:   Claire bought a full-size ironing board by Brabantia and highly endorses it, and Erica has this hook thingy to hang her ironing board on that she thinks is just great.   The most ironing-enthusiastic person in our world—Claire’s mom—swears by the Miele Rotary Iron (a.k.a. a mangle) for sheets/linens and the LauraStar ironing system (um, as featured in Parasite?!).   To avoid ironing jeans: dryer balls, like these from Heart Felt and these from Food52.   Ok, newsletters! Here are allllll of the ones we love: The Ann Friedman Weekly, Girls’ Night In, Shelter, This Week in Scams, Garden Variety, Here for It w/ R. Eric Thomas (same name as his new book), Why is this interesting?, Cassandra Daily, Well To Do, Deez Links, Quartz Daily Obsession, The New Consumer, Sehat, The Examined Life (from the author of The New Better Off), The Noah Kalina Newsletter (sidenote: Noah’s self-portrait project), Oversharing, Five Things I Ate, and Read Like the Wind.   Voicemails! Love ‘em! Leave ‘em! 833-632-5463.   Dig into all of Sephora’s clean makeup. Grab Iconic Protein for 25% off with the code ATHINGORTWO. Try out Daily Harvest and get $25 your first box with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

There’s so much to think about right now, it seems, but we’re going to take this opportunity to focus on one truly magical person: Jason Polan, an artist we’ve been in awe of for at least a decade who passed away at 37 in January. In a word: heartbreaking—but also a push to embrace living as much as he did. As we reflect on his life, his work, and his approach to both, we wanted to resurface an interview we did with him back in 2017, and if it makes you feel compelled to draw something (anything!), we bet he would have really liked that.   The linkage:   This feels like a great time for voicemails, huh? Give us a ring at 833-632-5463. Just a smattering of Jason Polan’s wonderful work: Every Person in New York (us included), Taco Bell Drawing Club, a Marvel Comics cover, and so many major brand collabs (Nike, Warby Parker, Uniqlo, Levi’s, Soludos, Baggu!). A good use of an hour: reading Jason’s IG captions. Come on with the ridiculously charming ad he ran in The New Yorker for the post office.  @this_girl_is_a_squirrel, an Instagram rec for 2017, now, and always. New York mag’s tribute to Jason, by the art critic Jerry Saltz. For show notes, advertiser coupon codes, and all that jazz, head to claireanderica.com.   DrinkIconic.com with code athingortwo for 25% off your first order! Get the best in clean makeup at Sephora, online and in stores now!   Produced by Dear Media

 When Nikki Ogunnaike got a new job as GQ’s deputy fashion director, we were immediately all, “What’s it like?!” So we took this opportunity to ask her about making the move from women’s fashion to men’s...and where she gets the bags she couldn’t afford when she was starting out. Oh, and while we’re at it, we’re sharing a three-minute exercise another friend used to make a tough decision, too.   The linkage:   Voicemails: We love ‘em. You can get us at 833-632-5463.   Our pal Eliza Bent, who recently made a big move and whose decision-making tactic we co-opted.   Follow Nikki Ogunnaike and her #bathroombigfit looks...and maybe subscribe to GQ, which is what we’re doing? See: this Keanu Reeves profile, this Larry David cover story, and this story about how a wide range of dudes are eating in 2020.    Two menswear brands Nikki is v. into: Alex Mill and Brandon Maxwell.   To source the bags she couldn’t get as an assistant, Nikki turns to The RealReal, Fashionphile, and Threads Styling.   Nikki bought multiple colors of a pair of Maison Kitsuné pants, and Erica did the same with these Ganni jeans.   Feel free to reach out to Qai Qai—via Twitter or Instagram—and tell her you want to hear her on our pod.   For all of our advertiser coupon codes and episode notes, get your butt to claireanderica.com.   Produced by Dear Media

Not to brag or anything, but our reading has range. Please accept the authors we discuss in this episode—buzzed-about novelist Kevin Wilson, person you’ve definitely heard of Jessica Simpson, and children’s book phenom Sandra Boynton—as proof. But first: We schmear it on thick with the Marmite.   The linkage:   You like coupon codes? Course you do.   C’mon with Marmite’s very knowing mugs and personalized (!!!) jars.   How about putting Marmite on toast with Greek yogurt like Erica? Or on avocado toast like Table on Ten? Maybe you also want to blend it with butter or use it in this chicken dish.   Speaking of salty condiments: We’re very into Momofuku Hozon and Bonji, both available at Peach Mart in Hudson Yards.   Books! Claire’s latest favorite: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. If you’re into this, you may also like Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link or Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam.   Erica’s latest favorite: Open Book by Jessica Simpson. If we don’t sell you on grabbing a copy, maybe this NYT profile will.   Cam’s latest favorite (or at least Claire’s favorite to read to Cam): anything by Sandra Boynton, starting with Hippos Go Berserk! and But Not the Hippopotamus. This Atlantic profile of the author is RICH as is her IG.   Oh, hey: Leave us a message! Or a voice memo if you’d rather think of it that way. 833-632-5463!   Produced by Dear Media

How do we train ourselves to be better fashion consumers? Claire, who is as surprised as you are that she’s three months into a shopping ban, has some learnings. And! We’re delivering plenty of intel from our visit to the home and lifestyle trade shows (AKA, the time we went to the Javits Center for fun).    The linkage:   A couple of things we love: 1) coupon codes, which you can now find here and 2) voicemails—so leave us one at 833-632-5463 any ol’ time.    We’re all about Man Repeller’s rundown of Qs to pop before you shop.   Read up on Livia Firth, the co-founder and creative director of Eco-Age, and her 30 Wears Challenge.   Reporting from the tradeshows: COLOR! See: Poketo, Hay, Chilewich, Vitra, and Herman Miller.   Glassware (and colorful glassware specifically)! See: R+D Lab, Lateral Objects, Kinto, Sugahara, and Hawkins New York.   Design-y first aid! See: Airinium Urban Air Mask 2.0, Bioswiss bandages, and, elsewhere, emergency preparedness kits from Judy and Preppi.    Oat milk / vegan chocolate! See: not-yet-launched Schnog + Noss and Raaka.   Good-looking sustainable food and drink containers! See: Hay’s Sowden water bottle, Stojo cups, Porter by W&P make-and-take containers, and S’well Eats containers. Related: the sleek Aarke seltzer maker and, ugh, crystal water bottles.   Wellness patches! See: The Good Patch.   Produced by Dear Media

It’s possible you’ve been consuming content by Kim France for thirty-ish years, and we’re here to talk about all of it (including her new podcast—which, have you listened?!). Also, not to be the people who talk about our meditation experiences, but we kind of can’t shut up about this one time, ok?   The linkage:   Hit up the Sky Ting yoga classes taught by Marisa Meltzer (in NYC) that we loved.   Check out Kim France’s podcast, which she co-hosts with Tally Abecassis, called Everything Is Fine and her fashion ‘n shopping blog Girls of a Certain Age. Both are ideal for women over 40 and the over-40-curious.   How Sassy Changed My Live, which the very same Marisa Meltzer co-authored with Kara Jesella, is itself iconic at this point.   Kim goes deep on her creative partnership with Andrea Linett while running Lucky in our book Work Wife.   For a preview of the book Kim is writing, read her Medium essays about the beautiful house that didn’t make for a beautiful life and depression at the Condé Nast holiday lunch. Oh, and read her essays on vanity and dressing your age for The Cut while you’re at it.   Speaking of editors in chief, Dan Peres (of Details) just released As Needed for Pain, and this NYT story about that whole late-nineties/early-aughts magazine era is pretty juicy.   Kim shops The RealReal (join the club!), Warm, and Maria Cornejo.   Shout out to the magazine Gossamer, which is for people who also smoke weed.   Two friends we lost much too soon: David Rakoff and Jason Polan.   Bring on that menopause content. See: Darcy Steinke’s book Flash Count Diary, Party Girl, this Broad City scene, and this Fleabag one.    You wanna talk about beauty stuff? Excellent! Kim is very into Drunk Elephant, SK-II Pitera Facial Treatment Masks, Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer, and Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. For a red lip, she’s all about Kosas in Royal, Lipstick Queen, and those Nars Velvet Matte Lipstick Pencils.    Kim’s watching Cheer, Fleabag, Killing Eve, The Crown, Victoria and reading Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun, Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret, and (as always) Go Fug Yourself.   Produced by Dear Media

It’s total mid-February vibes around here, as evidenced by the fact that we’re entertaining ourselves with new egg preparations and spending our weekend nights getting our jewelry in order. And when we do leave the house? Well, we’re pulling on the tallest, warmest socks we can come by.   The linkage: It’s all about tall socks for wide-leg pants in the winter, especially ones from Richer Poorer and Raey. Alert, alert: Weleda Skin Food now comes in body-butter form. We’re living in a peak organization era. Shout out to The Container Store (for Elfa, of course, and also linen drawer dividers), Yamazaki (see: this TP stand, this side table trash can, this towel rack, this leaning coat rack, and whole slew of jewelry organizers), Muji (see: more jewelry organizers), Marie Kondo’s shop, Hay (very into these plastic crates), Kept (this excellent laundry hamper), Open Spaces (especially nice-looking shelf risers), and Food52 (we won’t shut up about them, we know). Dims furniture is real cute. Claire has their bar cart, and we both want their vanity. The latest in (our) egg prep: cooked in cream, Julia Turshen’s fried eggs with yogurt method, and a French omelet via this Bon App video (start at 17:07). Are trendy egg brands a thing? Happy Egg Co. and Vital Farms make us think so. (Sidenote: Kate’s Homemade Butter—try it.) Give Biossance Squalane + Lactic Acid Resurfacing Night Serum a go. It’s 20% off with the code ATHINGORTWO20. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

Taking a vacation to Japan is overwhelming. Sharing travel picks is overwhelming. Shopping online consignment is overwhelming. But you know what? We went ahead and tackled it all here, and we’re pretty proud of ourselves, thanks.   The linkage: For Claire, true RealReal browsing is all about the app. But there is, of course, also a (slightly less addictive) website. Another online consignment shop to check out: Luxury Garage Sale. Why not set sale alerts for your go-to brands on ShopStyle, too?  Our six Tokyo picks! A Yomiuri Giants baseball game, the Yanaka neighborhood for wandering around, Gyoza Ro for dumplings, Mikawa Zezankyo for an outrageous tempura dinner (that you can book on OpenTable), Hakusan Porcelain for truly stunning ceramics, and Kappabashi Shopping District for the restaurant-supply shops (including Kamata knife shop) that will have you thinking about buying another suitcase. What we loved in Kyoto! Kyoto International Manga Museum for an anime deep-dive (which turned Claire onto the Nana series), Kyomachiya Hotel Shiki Juraku, the Kitano Tenmangu shrine monthly flea market (on the 25th of the month), the 550-year-old soba restaurant Owariya (aside: Try Cocoron in NYC, too), and Shoraian Tofu Restaurant for lunch in the bamboo forest. A cheat rec (in a good way): the *art island* Naoshima and the Benesse House Museum, where you can also stay. Try the very buzzy Biossance Squalane + Lactic Acid Resurfacing Night Serum—and get 20% off with the code ATHINGORTWO20. YAY.    Produced by Dear Media

We’ve got some real dirt today—or, rather, we have ways to clean it up (including a stick vac that’s maybe falling out of favor?) and a guest who’s dishing it on his Stories, which we consider must-see IG. Tune in and then hit up @heyphilchang to see what we mean...   The linkage:   You can find our show notes over at claireanderica.com now. Look at us.   Our robot vacuum endorsements: Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner and iRobot Roomba 960. A somewhat controversial hand vac rec: Black & Decker Pivot Vac. Everybody’s favorite, the Dyson Stick Vac—Claire has the V10, and Erica has the V8—but, wait, should Consumer Reports have us reconsidering? Cam is a Miele fan and will someday be the proud owner of this toy one. Should his brand loyalty change, he could also get a Dyson. Follow Phil Chang’s WILD Instagram. It’s all about his Stories. Further reading from the L.A. Times on Tommy Le, an unarmed Vietnamese-American 20 year old who was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer. To get all that news, Phil uses the RSS reader Feedly and follows ProPublica, FAIR, Southern Poverty Law Center, Nieman Lab, The Intercept, and The Guardian. Also, podcasts! Phil heartily endorses Deconstructed with Mehdi Hasan, America Dissected with Abdul El-Sayed, Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes, The Guardian’s Audio Long Reads, and Stay Tuned with Preet. Do a deep-dive into Sharon Choi, Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s translator, starting with this Guardian article. And for more on female translators in general, check out this episode of Call Your Girlfriend. A book that will have you wanting to book the next flight to Seoul: The Birth of Korean Cool. Get a whole $50 off some cool Noemie fine jewelry with the code ATHINGORTWO. Try BetterHelp online counseling—use ATHINGORTWO for 10% off your first month. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

Congrats to Cam on his first bday and to Claire on her one-year motherhood anniversary! We’ll get into all of the learnings—and bathtime struggles. But first: a rabbit whose diet is raw, vegan, now grain-free. How very 2020 of her.   The linkage: Ash’s wonderful vet, Catnip & Carrots. Meaghan O’Connell on breastfeeding and hormones for The Cut. For pelvic floor and postpartum incontinence stuff, look into Michele McGurk of Danu Physical Therapy in Brooklyn and Rachel Welch of Revolution Motherhood in Manhattan, in Brooklyn, and on the internet. Underwear for the fourth trimester! From Nyssa. To understand baby developmental leaps, give The Wonder Weeks app a download. Products! You knew they were coming. It’s all about the Snoo (which you can rent), the BabyBjorn Bouncer, the Colugo compact stroller, and the Charlie Crane levo baby bouncer. Erin Boyle of Reading My Tea Leaves shares intel on the Buy Nothing Project here.   www.Biossance.com w/ Code ATHINGORTWO20 for 20% off your full-sized purchase   Produced by Dear Media