Bad On Paper

Today’s episode was the last one we recorded together while Grace was living in Brooklyn! As we embark on a new (remote) era of the podcast we thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and talk about all of our childhood favorite things. As two weird kids (and now, weird adults), there were a lot of fun and silly memories to share. We share the things that we collected, the foods we coveted (and our strange bagged lunches), our love for the mall and our favorite childhood books. Be sure to join us in the  Facebook group to share your favorite gems from the past!   Instagram: @zillowgonewildcelebrityhomes @prettybookplaces Obsessions: Pomodoro Technique  What We’re Reading: Delicious!  by Ruth Reichl Breathless by Jennifer Niven April Book: Delicious!  by Ruth Reichl Sponsor: Night: Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOPNIGHT at checkout. Prose:  Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your order. Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255   Our March Book Club pick is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The book follows 35-year-old Nora Seed, who is full of regrets over how she lived her life. In between life and death she is given the chance to explore how alternate lives would have played out had she made different choices thanks to the magic of The Midnight Library. We also share our own regrets and wrong turns that ultimately led us to where we are today. We absolutely loved this book and hope you did too! Join us in the Facebook group to discuss!   Instagram: @colleenmherman @aliciamlund Obsessions: Happier in Hollywood Podcast Maiden Home What We’re Reading: Delicious!  by Ruth Reichl Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi Somewhere Only we Know by Maurene Goo March Book  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Sponsor: Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Between Grace’s upcoming move to Charleston and Becca’s immersion in RomComPods Season 3 production, we realized we haven’t had much time to catch up! So this week is a little off the rails grab-bag episode where we embrace all of our most unpopular opinions on popular things, and the other way around. It’s always fun to unearth more things that we don’t know about each other. This includes but is definitely not limited to our trash people tendencies, lowbrow loves, overrated beauty products... and to be honest - a lot of thoughts on cheese.   Instagram: @thecatchmeifyoucan Produces Discussed: Amazon Mellanni Sheets Amazon Sports Bra (tie dye version) Obsessions: Happier in Hollywood Podcast Superstore (Hulu) Dusen Dusen Beach towels What We’re Reading: A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Delicious!  by Ruth Reichel Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi March Book  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Sponsor: Night: Go to discovernight.com and get 20% off with code BOPNIGHT at checkout. Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Home chef and New York Times bestselling author Julia Turshen joins us to talk about her journey to writing cookbooks, her relationship with her body, and her personal, new cookbook Simply Julia. We also hear the adorable story of how she met her wife, Grace (a true Internet meet-cute!) and discuss her inclusive food database, Equity at the Table.    More Julia: Simply Julia - Cookbook juliaturshen.com @turshen on instagram Equity at the Table Julia Rec: Maintenance Phase Podcast Instagram: @opalvadhan on instagram Obsessions: Abby Alley What We’re Reading: A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris March Book  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Sponsor: Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It has been a year in pandemic purgatory and if you are like us (which we assume you are, because you’re here!) then you might be running out of ways to entertain yourself at home. We have both been recently watching and listening to a lot of great content and thought we would share a roundup of our favorite movies, tv shows, podcasts and more. Consider this your to-watch list!   Join us in the Facebook group and give us your recs! Movie Recs: Minari Promising Young Woman Nomadland  Fake Famous  The Map of Tiny Perfect Things Always and Forever Laura Jean Moxie Rabbit Holes: Framing Britney Spears Documentary Britney’s Gram podcast Eat Pray Britney Podcast Anna Delvey My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams TV Recs: Firefly Lane Bling Empire Flack Mr Mayor Bonding Superstore Lady in the Dale Behind Her Eyes Tell Me Your Secrets Lupin Podcasts: Sorry Charlie Miller Podcast Morning Meeting Podcast Well Suited Podcast Leave Your Mark  - Donald Robertson episode @Drawbertson Under the Influence with Jo Piazza   Newsletters: Creme de la Creme by Animatou Sow Anne Friedman Weekly The Audacity by Roxane Gay Agents and Books by Kate McKean Internet Brunch Daily Newsletter Instagram: @nelldiamond  Obsessions: The Nap Dress - Hillhouse Sobel Skin RX 30% Glycolic Acid Peel Concentrate What We’re Reading: Her Three Lives  by Cate Holahan (April release) The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn Love Scenes  by Bridget Morrissey (June 22 release) March Book  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Sponsor: Night: Buy one of the Dual Sided Skincare Pillow cases and get one free with code BOP at discovernight.com.  Prose:  Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your order. Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Today we spoke with Frances Cha, the author of our February book club pick -  If I Had Your Face. Frances is a NYC-based author who splits her time between the US and Seoul. She shares her experiences researching plastic surgery, room salons, and mental health for the book. We discuss the way she developed her characters to each embody a different theme of Korean culture, the journey to finally releasing the book during the pandemic, and what she’s working on now!   More Frances Cha: @franceschawrites on instagram Frances’s Asian Author Book Recs: David Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College by Ed Lin The Magical Language of Others by E.J Koh Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

For this month’s book club we read If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha. Just 30 pages into this book, we both knew it had to be our book club pick. Neither of us haven read anything like it before and there is so much to talk about. The story revolves around 4 women who all live in the same apartment building in contemporary Seoul, South Korea. The book explores impossible beauty standards and strict social hierarchies, fangirling over K-POP bands, jealousy, relationships, sex work and room salons. We discuss plastic surgery, the fast-paced Korean Beauty market, the feelings around family and marriage in Korea, and more.  Join us in the  Facebook group and let us know your thoughts on this month’s pick!   Instagram: @theannadelvey Contemporary books about life in other countries: Yolk by Mary H K Choi Anna K by Jenny Lee White Ivy by Susie Yang What We’re Reading: Untamed by Glennon Doyle Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Too Good to be True by Carola Lovering Transcendent Kingdom Yah Gyasi A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas February Book  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Sponsor: Night: Buy one of the Dual Sided Skincare Pillow cases and get one free with code BOP at discovernight.com. Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

One of the things we get asked about most is how to read more. So we tackle that during the first fifteen minutes of this episode. (Spoiler alert: being single and childfree during a pandemic helps!) When we read, the advantages of audiobooks, and how to find books you truly love reading, and more! For the rest of the episode, we dive into our favorite hidden gem books. We each brought our five favorite hidden gem books to the table, peppering them in with recommendations from YOU! So this episode is packed with hidden gems to read. 10 from us, 14 from you… get ready for some amazing recommendations!   Join in the FB group to add your favorites to the conversation!   Becca and Grace’s Recs: The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood Peach Tree Bluff Series Kristy Woodson Harvey Kitchens of The Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman Who’s That Girl & You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane American Predator by Maureen Callahan Musical Chairs by Amy Poepell We Were Liars by E. Lockhart The Conspiracy of Us Trilogy by Maggie Hall   Reader Recs: The Dream Daughter
 by Diane Chamberlain The Tea Rose Series
 by Jennifer Donnelly Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by 
Robin Sloan The Indifferent Stars Above by 
Daniel James Brown The League of Extraordinary Women (Series) Love Walked In
 by Maris Los Santos The Pull of The Stars
 by Emma Donoghue Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA 
 by Amaryllis Fox Delicious by Ruth Reichel
 Less by Andrew Sean Greer The City Baker’s Guide To Country Living
 by Louise Miller We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson A Heart In A Body In The World
 by Deb Caletti Summer Sisters by Judy Blume   Instagram: @oldgap_  Obsessions: Issa Rae’s Master Class Hotel Lobby Candles What We’re Reading: Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon Yolk by Mary H K Choi Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters The Underground Railroad by Colston Whitehead February Book  If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Sponsor: Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Prose: Get 15% off your first order at prose.com/bop Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Today we are joined by Caroline Owusu-Ansah, the founder of Luv Scrub! If you have been listening for a while you know that Grace is obsessed with her Luv Scrub—and rightfully so. This exfoliating cloth was awarded Allure’s Best of Beauty Award, leaves your skin baby soft, and replaces your old loofah or pouf - for good! Caroline shares the journey to build her business and her lessons learned, from ways to avoid burnout to finding a mentor to taking care of your mental health.    More Caroline: www.theluvscrub.com @luvscrub    Instagram: @emilyhenrywrites @samsonthedood Obsessions: Giant Wall Calendar: PlanTheThingsco The Birthdate Book Birthdate Candle  Neom candle What We’re Reading: Untamed by Glennon Doyle The Lynching by Laurence Leamur Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon All Girls by Emily Layden The Therapist by B.A. Paris (out in July) The Lost Apothecary  by Sarah Penner February Book  If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Sponsor: Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

With almost a full year of quarantine life under our belts, we’re checking in with each other on how we’re feeling, what’s giving us hope, and how we are staying motivated to do anything more than watching Netflix. Grace shares more about her season of self-improvement and Becca talks about how big projects are giving her quarantine a sense of purpose. We’re also talking about the activities that are keeping us busy (puzzles!) and what we’ve been watching during our nights in.   We want to hear about your quarantine feels (and distractions) in the Facebook group!   TV and Movie Recs:   Bridgerton The Bold Type The Flight Attendant Ted lasso Schitt’s Creek Saved By the Bell reboot Pretend It’s A City (Fran Leibowitz docuseries) The Undoing Lupin Money Heist Ready Player One Crazy Rich Asians   Read in a Day Book recs:   Thrillers: Anything by Megan Miranda, Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen, or Liv Constantine 28 Summers and The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand The Mall by Megan McCafferty Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover   Instagram: @vp  @flotus Obsessions: Lupin Scam Goddess Podcast Alit Winery Barefoot Dreams Blanket What We’re Reading: Untamed by Glennon Doyle Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee The Lynching by Laurence Leamur Infinite Country  by Patricia Engal (our March 2) The Mothers by Britt Bennett The Beach Club by Ellin Hildebrand People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (our May 11) The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano February Book  If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha Sponsor: Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/badonpaper. Join our FB group for amazing book recs & more! Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily! Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.