A Few Things With Claire And Erica

This week, we’re talking Thingies with Jo Piazza, author of The Sicilian Inheritance—exactly the escapist, immersive book we want at this very moment—and its companion true-crime podcast…because this woman is one of the most ambitious storytellers you’ve ever encountered, ok? Also: We raise a case for cold-calling your friends, expectations free.  Jo’s thingies include trad wives (or maybe that’s a Claire Thingie?), Oak Essentials moisture rich balm (s/o to the cleansing balm also!), Freda Salvador shoes and the Jada ballet flats in particular, The Other Two on Max (see also: The State, Party Down, and Girls 5Eva), the podcast Time Capsule: The Silver Chain.  There was a lot of food talk, naturally: Jo raves about Norah Ephron’s pasta alla cecca recipe, and some Philly restaurants she loves include Friday Saturday Sunday, Trattoria Carina, and Zahav. Jo’s Italian heritage liaison: Laura Lee of Digging Up Roots in the Boot. Want more Jo? You are in LUCK! Her new release The Sicilian Inheritance has an Elen

Greetings, Thingiemabobs! We have some wee updates, a Tokyo tour, and an important (to us) conversation about whether or not cropped pants are allowed.  People are loving the idea of a shower as a room (on of Emily Sundberg’s Thingies!) and were intrigued by this IG reel where @mrsmckennabarry installs a little shelf in her shower for a lamp and a speaker. In more offputting bathing news, Jessica Biel eats cereal in the shower.  Speaking of cereal! Jacqueline Tse of Mad Brooklyn makes compelling Lucky Charms sculptures. More tiny things!! LOL at this mini backpack you can put on your Stanley Cup; a case for mini soda cans. Erica just went to Tokyo and has thoughts on the Muji Hotel and Miffy’s dominance (see: a florist called Flower Miffy: Dick Bruna’s Atelier with Flowers, where the classic arrangement uses a mum for Miffy’s head). We also surfaced an important piece of lore about Miffy and Hello Kitty’s relationship via The Guardian.  While Erica was in Japan, Claire was reading Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Take a stroll through the grocery aisles with us as we talk about some culinary updates featuring (metaphorical) sausage races and (literal) marshmallow innovations. The Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages show us that we never know how any race will end. So many marshmallow innovations popping off these days, including but not limited to Stackers, Lucky Charms-shaped jet-puffed marshmallows, Just Magical Marshmallows, Jet-Puffed Bits,  Hello Kitty marshmallows, and, in a rare case of timeliness on our part, Lucky Charms™ Limited Edition St. Patrick’s Day Just Magical Marshmallows. We also can’t help but mention the MMX Marshmallow Crossbow we included in last year’s gift guide.  Peeps have also been up to some things. Our concerns include Dr. Pepper flavors, dog ropes, "Hanging with my Peeps" merch, and Pepsi’s Peep-flavored soda. For enthusiasts, check out Racine Art Museum’s Annual International Peeps Art Exhibition, and we have to admit we’re kind of charmed by Peepshi. Fruit innovation! We’re ta

We’re (gladly) diving back into the Miffy-verse, talking cover songs and fortune cookies, and asking the question: How did Google search lose its luster?? As expected, the @miffydances Instagram account is perfection.  Cover songs—having a moment! Beyond the epic “Fast Car” moment with Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs, 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P.”, by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band in Anatomy of a Fall, the Kelly Clarkson effect aka Kellyoke, Pedal Steel Noah, Boygenius doing “Cowboy Take Me Away,” Leon Bridges performing Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” T Pain’s On Top of the Covers album, the Like a Version YouTube show, and Norma Fraser doing Sheryl Crow’s “First Cut is the Deepest.” The high five being 47 years old feels, stay with us, kind of like this tweet. Related: High Five by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri is an excellent children’s book by the duo who brought you Dragons Love Tacos. Fortune cookie–related things include Coming Soon’s nickel-plated version, Chefanie’s giant ones,  and a recipe from Red House

Before we get to Thingies with Emily Sundberg, we have an order of business to attend to: ) Our semi-finalists for listener names are here! Thingiemabobs, Loony Twonies, Thingles, and, a late entry, Two Timers. We’ll need you to cast your vote on Instagram, clearly.  If you don’t already know Emily Sundberg’s work, please subscribe to the “hottest business newsletter” Feed Me and read her iconic stories like “Welcome to the Shoppy Shop” and the “hot girl drink whole milk” piece for New York mag.  “You may also like” newsletters: Casey Lewis’s After School, Lauren Sherman’s Puck Line Sheet, and Chris Black and James Ellis’s Public Announcement. Emily’s Thingies include FIT Center for Continuing Education classes, The New York Times and New York magazine archives, making hot sauce, pickles (some of note include Hot Girl Pickles and Grillo’s) neighborhood field trips, poker, and treating your shower like a room. Other loves: Fara Homidi’s lip compact and Soft Services Theraplush. Share your Thingies with us

We’re thinking big and talking miniatures, reading and listening to a book simultaneously, right-size restaurant empires, the comeback of color analysis, and a stellar Father’s Day gift for all the planners out there.  A new-favorite mini restaurant empire: Mason Hereford’s New Orleans spots Turkey and the Wolf,  Molly’s Rise and Shine, and Hungry Eyes (see also: his wonderful cookbook, written with JJ Goode). Some other faves: Ann Kim’s in Minneapolis, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne’s in L.A., Nancy Silverton’s (also) in L.A., Marc Vetri’s in Philly, and the Hart’s/Cervo’s/The Fly trifecta in NYC. More on color analysis via Calin Van Paris’s story for Vogue. Related: Kibbe types, c/o The Concept Wardrobe and Vox.  So much on miniatures! The Guardian article “‘A place where millennials can own a home’: why doll’s houses are having a big moment” by Nicole Cooley, Shrunk magazine, DWR’s Vitra miniatures collection and Champagne Chair Contest, Yuta Segawa’s vases, Tatsuya Tanaka, and the (40th anniversary!)

Giddyup! This week we’re talking about an essential Thingie, being forthcoming with one’s universe, the squashissance, cowboy love stories (real and fictional), and, as usual, a whole lot more. Big Thingie Energy: a good vet, specifically cat ‘n bunny caretakers at Catnip & Carrots.  Having a moment? Squash. Some recipes we love include Aacorn Squash with Coconut Custard from Kristen Kish for Food & Wine, Soy Glazed Kabocha Squash with Japanese Sesame Seasoning from Season with Spice, Delicata Squash Agrodolce from Athena Calderone for PureWow, and Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas With Hot Honey from Melissa Clark for NYT.  GRWM audiobooks we’re into include Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (< who you probably know from her poem “Good Bones” and/or her essay “My Marriage Was Never the Same After That.”).  We love cowboy love! Get into Lyla Sage’s Rebel Blue Ranch series, starting with Done and Dusted and the upcoming Swift and Saddled. Related:

Di-hards, Clairericas, ATOTs, Thingles, actual listener name TBA: It's time to dive even deeper into Rivians lore, share the case for sleeping in socks, and add a new one for hand warmers. Also, it’s feeling like the tong discussion on this podcast is just beginning… Listen to the How I Built This ep with the founder of Rivian; read the WSJ story “‘If You Sleep in Socks You’re a Psychopath.’ Health Tip Kicks Up Controversy.” Ocoopa hand-warmers—have we tried? Or Zippo’s? What should we call ATOT fans? Now’s your chance to let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and bring the debate to our Geneva (either the app or the browser version!). Hire for that role with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link. YAY.

May we ask a question? Are you a Framebridge groupie yet? We’re partnering with the fantastic company on this glorious ep—and an event at their Park Slope store from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, with 15% off! Which is all to say: If you’re not already hooked, you’re about to be. Behold, CEO Susan Tynan’s Thingies, your family-photo anxieties, and how what we’re hanging on our walls offers a lens into ~the culture~. Susan’s Thingies include egg rolls in a bowl, Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA, Pomela Casa mugs, the Marrakesh frame from Framebridge, Caroline’s Cakes 7-Layer Cakes, and the Spoonful of Comfort Thinking of You Package.  The Framebridge gallery wall sets = a stroke of genius. If you’re commissioning illustrations for future framing, we love the work of Julie Houts and Olivia de Recat. What are your framing conundrums? How have you taken ownership over your own bday happiness? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and chat it up about anything at

We’ve got some hot topics like celebrity activism and when to share pregnancy news—and even hotter topics like verbal leashes, sleeping with socks on, and weird terminology for just wearing your damn clothes. New nym alert!!! Good Inside by Becky Kennedy brings us MGI: most generous interpretation.  Claire’s IG exchange with Nancy Meyers in this Instagram post confirms that there are, in fact, Vicente Foods bags in The Holiday (and that N.M. is the greatest).  The thing having a moment this week: Rivians and their mascot, Gary the Gear Guard. Two things we’re happy about being “in” in 2024 include outfit-repeating and going to the movies. Shoutout to this @flwrchldtweets tweet and Dwight Garner’s Grub Street Diet.  Dog people: Is a verbal leash (not the yet-to-be-written spinoff to Best in Show) a thing? Please let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and chat it up about anything at all in our Geneva!

Let’s talk Thingies with Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a writer and editor who covers feminism, politics, culture, fashion, racial justice, and existential dating dilemmas—in short, so much we want to read. She’s the editorial director of The Meteor, the co-editor of the best-selling anthology Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump’s America, and the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life and (forthcoming!!) The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning. Yes, consider this the you-hear-it-here-first pre-order nudge. Samhita’s Thingies include Ranavat hair oil, wearing her partner’s class ring, Care Touch lens wipes, Jolly Rancher Chews, a poem by Hala Alyan, and Megan Thee Stallion’s bodyodyody.  The phrase “Oh, I’m JV” is brought to us by Sara Petersen’s Substack In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and we have a bonus Thingie: the memoir installments of Kim France’s Substack!  What areas are you happily JV in? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingort

Let’s dive into some Hellmann’s drama, TSwift x Wordsworth, and lots more re: the secret life of girls (thank you to Wired for the Notes App *respect*!!!). To know Prof. Stephanie Burt is to love Prof. Stephanie Burt—this NYT  interview about her Harvard Taylor Swift class will get you there. A fave on the syllabus: Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff. It’s pintxo season (we say!). Woldy Kusina shows us how it’s done, and Despaña is a great ingredient source. (Also: RIP the Prune Chicago Matchbox Bloody Mary.) Indoor/Outdoor Boyfriends brought to you buy Ella Risbridger’s You Get In Love And Then newsletter. (Have you read her book Midnight Chicken?)  Did you know Hellmann’s mayonnaise is known as something else entirely in parts of the West? Share your thoughts on this revelation at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq, and chat it up about anything at all in  our Geneva! Get your nails in good shape with Olive & June—20% off your first Mani System with our link. YAY.

We’re wise enough to know it’s about time to revisit this wisdom episode from the vault. We share our feelings about feeling our age and some excellent advice we caught about living with a little longing—and we very much would like to hear if this one hits differently the second time around.     Some readings that impacted how we’ve been navigating aging include Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, Casey Johnston’s Swole Woman program, Cheryl Wischover’s “What Changed When I Started Lifting Weights” in the Gloria newsletter, and Kayleen Schaefer’s “How 50 Pushups A Day Helped Me Cope In An Uncertain World” for Elle.  If you have thoughts on longing or musings about aging share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And try out a Secret Menu membership for more recommendations.

Today we present a very *us* episode from the archives: What does “After Dark” mean to you? How does one explain what consulting is? Are you signed up for Dua Lipa’s newsletter? What does it mean to actually *build* a bear? All this and more in your ears now! For some discomfitting Build-a-Bear products for adults, enter The Bear Cave. For other “but what does it MEAN?” After Dark content, check out National Parks After Dark and this edition of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers.  Check out this YouTube video from Charlie Berens for on ope usage and Midwest vs. Everybody’s great ope merch. Also: on the rise of the Midwestern vibe. Takeaways re: "A ‘Landmark’ as Women Will Coach Against Each Other in Men’s Soccer," which also made us think about this episode of Throwing Fits. Join us in subscribing to Dua Lipa’s newsletter Service95 and listening to her podcast At Your Service.  Share your thoughts on all of this at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! And try out a Secret

We’re so excited about this Guest Thingies ep with Ellen Van Dusen of Dusen Dusen—a greatest hit if there ever was one! But first, some nuggets of wisdom from famously creative famous dudes. We’re definitely taking inspiration from Rod Stewart’s model railway side project and Tom Hanks's advice to Austin Butler.  Ellen’s Thingies include being comfortable inside and outside the home (please see: her delightful robes…and brand-new slippers!!), @Favetiktoks420 on Instagram, and cool silverware (especially David Tisdale’s Picnic Flatware, which makes us think of Ahimsa dinnerware for kids). She also loves tile right now—see: Heath Ceramics, her collab with Concrete Collaborative, Fireclay, and Oasis—and you have to, have to check out her backyard mosaic. Last but not least: Her love of bird-watching has us asking when she’s going to start selling the birdhouse she designed for Brooklyn Botanic Garden (in the meantime, the MoMA one we’re all into). Ooh, and as we told Ellen, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a grea

This week, we’re talkin’ Thingies with Alison Roman, the woman behind a SLEW of recipes we cook all the dang time. We know you know her, but JIC, she’s the author of NYT bestselling—and gifty!—cookbooks Sweet Enough, Nothing Fancy, and Dining In, she doles out the most delightful kitchen content in A Newsletter and on her Home Movies YouTube channel, and she delivers guidance of all kinds on her Solicited Advice podcast. In essence: She’s full of thoughts, and we want them all. First things first, what we would bring to a pilot kid-gift swap (thx, Leslie!): Spirograph, Yellow Owl Workshop DIY Pin & Flair Kit, Bastien Contraire Stencil Kit, Majo Ideas Art Pack, and Pop Tubes. Alison’s tabletop Thingies include beeswax candles (try Greentree Home Candle—maybe in the sangria color?!), candle holders *in general* (e.g., this Sophie Lou Jacobson one), and interesting serving platters including Bordallo Pinheiro's. For the bod, she loves using Laneige’s lip mask as lip balm, and Davines’s Vegetarian Miracle M

Whoop! Whoop! This week we are discussing our marathon-cheering behaviors, chicken anxiety, iconic hot dogs, and weightlifting thanks—in part— to the Beckham doc.  The term chicken anxiety was brought to us by Rosie Seabrook on TikTok.  We can’t believe we haven’t talked about The Wieners Circle yet. Their Instagram is one of the only safe places on IG. This Vogue story about Victoria Beckham's weightlifting routine inspired us to ask you all how you are thinking about this, and you have answers: @evlofitness programs, CoPilot app, @kerimantie, Ladder app, Liftoff: Casey Johnston’s Couch to Barbell, Stronger by the Day, and Peloton strength classes. A big sell on weightlifting comes from Yasi Salek in the Perfectly Imperfect newsletter.  Send us your weightlifting thoughts at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and @athingortwohq, or share in our Geneva! Learn from the best with MasterClass and get two memberships for the price of one with our link. Join Book of the Month and get your first book for

It's time for a grab bag featuring a *measured* celebrity fan account, a cooking north star, our POV on holiday cards, and a grand Notes App follow-up.  Gained some wisdom from @OlsenOracle, a perfect fan account (that is maybe even Olsen approved???). We’re having a Marcella Hazan moment, thanks to, as Food & Wine put it her “radical simplicity.” Some recipes we’ve been cooking: THE tomato, onion, and butter sauce, grilled fish romagna style, pesto, rice and smothered cabbage soup, and chimney sweep’s gelato.  Speaking of cooking, we must discuss this Julia Child gas stove story by Rebecca Leber for Vox, which pairs well with “How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves,” which she wrote for Mother Jones.  Your Notes Apping!! See: this packing-list  revelation from@rileejsmith (um, the template). We also love this TikTok from @kiramackenz. What weird things are you up to in the Notes App? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva

It’s time for the (whopping) second half of our 2023 gift guide! We tackle dads, sisters, in-laws, friends, coworkers, and some ideas for presents to ask for yourself when that feels like a necessary thing.  For the full link-rich rundown, you’re best off heading over to our site: athingortwohq.com/gift-guide-episodes If there’s someone on your list that we didn’t get to this year, let us know who you’re shopping for in our Geneva! And share more gift ideas with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and @athingortwohq. Tackle all that holiday shopping at MoMA Design Store and take 10% off your purchase when you use or mention promo code ATHINGORTWO online and in US MoMA Design Stores  through November 23, 2023.   Give your hair the gift of Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY. Gifts for YOU! My in laws are great people who will buy exactly what ask for as long as it's 1) not personal care or appearance-related AT ALL, 2) not a ""luxury item"" or a

Part 1 of our gift guide is here! We have an abundance of recs for stocking stuffers, boyfriends, husbands, moms, sons, and kids!  Share any gift ideas with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva! Gift yourself professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link. Tackle all of your holiday shopping at MoMA Design Store and take 10% off your purchase when you use or mention promo code ATHINGORTWO online and in US MoMA Design Stores through November 23, 2023. YAY. Stocking Stuffers “We are only doing stockings for adults this year - all the fun stocking stuffers, please.” Opinel key chains Noso patches Scout Regalia sticky hooks Favorite musician merch - Olivia Rodrigo Perfect All-American Bitch hat Custom family matchbooks Nutscene Colorful Tiddler Twine Rose Los Angeles x Gossamer CBD Rosin Delights Redecker Hedgehog Table Brush Silk Daisy Chain Kit Nata Concept Store Farfalle Candle Hinoki Drawer Bag Lisa Angel bottle stoppers /