A Thing or Two with Claire and Erica

This week, we’re talking all things PMS and the many, many joy-givers in our lives. Shout-out to this ep’s sponsor, Jubilance, the most advanced scientific PMS mood relief supplement. Yes, that’s a thing—one that you can try by heading on over to jubilance.com/AThingOrTwo or using the coupon code ATHINGORTWO at checkout. Kicking things off strong with the TikTok Taylor Swift Albums as Period Flows Pt. 2, which reminds us how major it was when Kotex used red liquid instead of blue and when Always got a ton of credit for showing…a red dot (more on the bluid from The Atlantic).  PMS can get worse as you age—and is tied to mental health stuff. More on that from Health.com and Romper. Happy, happy vs. joy, joy?? Reading c/o a Psychology Today interview with Dr. Pamela King, Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee by, and Inciting Joy by Ross Gay.  The hot bunny account: @officialaqibra. What brings YOU joy? Share with us at  833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! Want more recommendations??? Try out a Secret Menu membership! 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. Try Jubilance for $10 off by visiting jubilance.com/AThingOrTwo or use the coupon code ATHINGORTWO at checkout. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

Coming through with some thoughts on the intersection of friendship and ambition, covered wagon core (not to be confused with cottagecore!), and ~summer movies~. Following up on our Wilder conversation, we’d like to discuss covered wagon core. See Kim K.’s CR Fashion Book spread “The Pioneer Woman,” Rudy Jude, Salter House, and making jam.  Re: actual covered wagons, Conestoga does a luxe wagon and a bar wagon, both, and Pioneer Woman has a roundup of campgrounds with covered wagons. Rainesford Stauffer’s “We Should Be Ambitious About Our Friendships” for Elle sparked our convo about friendship ambition—she’s also the author of An Ordinary Age: Finding Your Way in a World That Expects Exceptional and the new All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive.  We love this tweet about friendship discussion agendas. As for books, this topic calls to mind Courtney Martin’s The New Better Off, Kayleen Schaefer’s Text Me When You Get Home, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman’s Big Friendship, and Hua Hsu’s Stay True.  On our TBR list: Sheila Liming’s Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time. (In the meantime: “The Case for Hanging Out” by Dan Kois for Slate and The Ezra Klein Show episode "The ‘Quiet Catastrophe’ Brewing in Our Social Lives.")  Bring on the summer movies! Obsessed with Past Lives, itching to see Theater Camp, Joy Ride, Problemista (see also: I Want to Be a Vase by Julio Torres), Red, White, & Royal Blue, Challengers, and, of course, Barbie (all the prophecies, including Margot Robbie in Vogue and Greta Gerwig in Gentlewoman, whet the appetite). Do you have easy, low-pressure ways to keep up with friends? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.    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. Turn to Shopify for all your ecomm needs and get a free 14-day trial with our link. Find more weeknight dinner recipes at Pillsbury.com.  Take advantage of the Partner to Empower program for entrepreneurs of color from Brookfield Properties—apply by August 11. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

Cottage cheese, pimento cheese, and us bringing our trademark cheese??? Cottage cheese—"whey cool," per the WSJ; a forever classic, per us. Skip the TikTok recipes and try this savory Bon Appétit salad or this (also BA) horseradish dip. If you’re in NYC, get yourself to Dimes for the breakfast Papaya D’Lite. (Somehow related: charred Mexican zucchini recipe.) Calling all pimento cheeseheads: We rec Callie’s and Zingerman’s, wanna try this NYT Cooking frittata, and got a real history lesson from Serious Eats.  It’s a life-hackathon, and the winners are the sticker produce thing, Option-Shift-Command-V and keeping stain remover in the bedroom (see also: Miss Mouth’s, savon de Marseille, and Soak). All hail long vacation lunches! If you happen to be in Paris, get yourself to Glou and Mokonuts. Some community Thingies submitted via our Instagram: Taylor Swift Lyric Sporcles, Famous Amos cookies (um, this, ℅ the History Channel!), and the Nili Lotan Brady tee (file under: regrettably worth it).  What’s regrettably worth it in your life? Do you have a family apple? Share 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. 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. Treat your hair to Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO. Find more weeknight dinner recipes at Pillsbury.com.  Get your groceries with Thrive Market and take 30% off your first order plus snag a free $60 gift when you use our link. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

It’s time to revisit some ghosts of podcasts past, from rain clogs to private creative practices to an incredibly detailed review of an electric flosser.  Our discussion of fun sports experiences is ongoing thanks to the Savannah Bananas, an exhibition baseball team that’s a must-follow on Instagram and TikTok. More on their founding story via WBUR.  A morning-pages follow-up: Wendy MacNaughton created a DrawTogether 30-day Drawing Habit Experiment Challenge as a visual companion/alt. A quick hospice aside: Check out her forthcoming book How to Say Goodbye and the new release The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos R.N.   A IG Thingies contributor recommended Plasticana mules as a summer rain shoe. And speaking of summer moisture, our listener Carly suggests battling mosquitos with Tougher than Tom Mosquito TNT. Report back? On a private writing—or any creative!—practice, this Hanif Abdurraqib’s tweet thread. Looking for a gift? May we suggest some of the items we are obsessing over, like Cat’s Cradle (see also: this TikTok), a Slate Flosser, Message sandals, and the Forme bra.   Can’t shut up about the podcast Wilder! It digs deep into Laura Ingalls Wilder (good and bad) and made us think of this classic 2007 Jezebel piece by Lizzie Skurnick. Let us know your flossing philosophy at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership. 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. Give professional counseling a go with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link. Perfect your at-home manicure with Olive & June and use the code ATHINGORTWO for 20% off your first Mani System. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

Another 2022 crowd-pleaser coming at you! We 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. 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. Nix PMS with Jubilance and get $10 off with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

It’s time to soothe your mind about summer (salad) dressing stress! Also, we talk the ideal American sporting event and overhosting, a term that speaks to us more than we’d like.    Some dressings for summer and really whenever: Via Carota’s, Toro Bravo's, and Kewpie’s BUT FROM JAPAN. Both Mark Bittman and Samin Nosrat do a strong miso-mustard, and our no-recipe recipes are a honey-mustard (just honey, French’s yellow, red-wine vinegar, and olive oil) and the never-fail combo of ketchup, mayo, Old Bay, lemon, and salt.    Re: minor-league (and G league) sports, more on the short-lived Pizza Rats c/o the New York Post.    If you’re magnesium-curious, look into the ones from Moon Juice, Calm, and ReMag.    What makes a summer dressing to you? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! Grab a Secret Menu membership for all the recommendations. 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.   Trust Shopify with all your ecomm needs and get a free 14-day trial with our link. Try SKIMS Fits Everybody and get free shipping on orders over $75. YAY. Produced by Dear Media

Can we spend a little time talking about creativity and exercise, including how our takes on both are feeling surprisingly similar these days? GREAT. Let’s get into.   For more on morning pages, we direct you to The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. And, a book that comes up a lot despite our mixed feelings about it: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.    A YouTube vid Erica followed to write a novel, as recommended by Mary HK Choi.   Some workout wardrobe staples include unitards—check out Girlfriend Collective and Héros—and the posture-correcting sports bra from Forme (more from Fast Company).   If you need a work-out pep talk, you can always count on Coach Bennett. (And while we’re here: Thanks for programming this ep, ​​Sarah.)   How do you keep going with exercise? Are you a morning-pages person? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! Grab a Secret Menu membership for more, more recommendations. 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.   Discover so many more natural diamond truths at naturaldiamonds.com/thankyou. Thwart PMS with Jubilance and get $10 off with the code ATHINGORTWO. Amp up your garden with Fast Growing Trees and take 15% off your entire order with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media  

We’ve been graced with Thingies from Mattie Kahn, the author of wonderful new book Young and Restless, all about the teenage girls who have fueled America’s biggest-deal social movements. But first: bugs.    Some great bug-repelling options include Gardner FlyWeb Fly Light Classic, LIV by Thermacell, Neepa Huts, Lygfzf screens, Bluefeel Kruca Camping Fan, and incense c/o Fredericks & Mae, Rinnesha (put it in a kayari buta!), and Madison James.   Young and Restless—the perfect read for right now…or any time.   Mattie’s Thingies include Sunday-morning newsletter review time (ft. Lauren Sherman’s Line Sheet, Becky Malinsky’s 5 Things You Should Buy, Hunter Harris’s Hung Up, Eater’s Add To Cart, and Rachel Tashjian Wise's Opulent Tips), Frog Hollow Farm (um, a Battle of the Peaches Box!), Salt & Straw ice cream deliveries, the Forsyth skirt by Kallmayer, and Saie Glowy Super Gel.   Have Thingies you NEED to tell us about? Share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! Grab a Secret Menu membership for more, more recommendations.   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.   Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link.   Tackle PMS with Jubilance and get $10 off with the code ATHINGORTWO.   Stock up on groceries with Thrive Market and get 30% off your first order plus a free $60 gift when you use our link.   YAY. Produced by Dear Media

Sound your alarms! Today we’re rounding up alarm clock suggestions from our listeners, dedicating a much-needed 15 minutes to talk about gummy candy, and incorporating some new lingo into our (ever-evolving?) vocabs.   Alarm clocks suggested by our listeners include Lexon Cubissimo (shoutout to Sarah in our Geneva!) and Flip+ Travel. Also, how genius is having a NIGHT PHONE!?! (

For your consideration, we’re (re-)sharing some thoughts about buying things, including a letter of recommendation for shopping in person and takes on sourcing made-in-America products and acquiring things while traveling. One of our greatest-hit episodes of 2022!   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.   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.   Try Shopify, the trustiest ecomm platform around, and get a free 14-day trial with our link. YAY. Produced by Dear Media