A Few Things With Claire And Erica

Let’s go in-depth on romance novels! But first, we’re chatting with Madeline Nusser from Allstate Identity Protection, which oh-so-graciously sponsored this episode, to dig into something equally sexy: doing what you can to thwart identity theft.    Go to AIP.com/AThingOrTwo today to see if Allstate Identity Protection is available through your employer. If not sign up there to get a 30-day free trial.. Check out The Washington Post article on the rise of romance in the U.S. and this Twitter thread from Helen Rosner on the weirdness of publishing categories.    Some books that are not romance novels but kind of are:  Normal People by Sally Rooney Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (but her book Instructions for Dancing counts!) Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro   Books we endorse for romance newbs: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee The Roommate by Rosie Danan How to Fake It in Holly

​​You know what we have a lot to say about in this best-of-2011 ep? A lot of things, from high praise for neighborhood restaurants and actually useful apps to sharing weddings FAQs and advocating for yourself at the doctor’s office. If you want to sell others on the Michigan Star restaurant, maybe send them this quickie podcast pitch we did on The Best Advice Show.    Behold, the Covid wedding template of our dreams: Our beloved friends & family, It's only 30 days until our wedding! We're so glad that you are coming and celebrating this special day with us.  A few announcements regarding the wedding:  Serious stuff You must be fully vaccinated to attend the event. Please send your proof of vaccination to EMAIL ADDRESS. For children and adults with underlying medical conditions preventing them from getting vaccinated, we ask that you obtain a negative PCR Covid-19 test result within 48 hours prior to the event. Your health is of utmost importance to us, and we have therefore decided to cancel ANY CHANGES

Join us! We’re revisiting how we approach creativity and talk about people who refuse to be hemmed in by expectations and the algorithm.    For some insight about opening up to what interests you at a time and trusting that it will serve you, check out Steve Martin’s memoir, Born Standing Up, and read Pamela Adlon’s essay for Harper’s Bazaar.   After watching the newest Julia on HBO Max, we’re doing a Judith Jones deep-dive—next up: reading her memoir The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. Another book that’s making us think about creative possibility: Margiela: The Hermès Years.    People who spread their (creative) wings: Stacey Abrams and her romance career as Selena Montgomery, Serena Willaims and her nail technician story, Venus Williams founding her design firm V Starr Interiors the same year she was ranked No. 1, David Lynch and his woodworking, and Bella Hadid, who has a new glassblowing hobby.     Rachel Tashjian’s Opulent Tips newsletter—sign up via DM!—introduced us to the idea of STROLL DONT SCROLL, and

It’s Guest Thingies Day! We’re so excited to chat with Kavi Ahuja Moltz, the CEO of the exceptional scent co. D.S. & DURGA and the sort of person who knows cool stuff, always.   But first: potty-training and a related story from Romper about camping with kids.    Our favorite D.S. & DURGA perfumes include Italian Citrus, Coriander, and Rose Atlantic…and don’t sleep on the candles and genius auto fragrances, either. Ooh, also: This one-minute quiz is surprisingly delightful.   Kavi’s Thingies include traveling with playing cards, Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Cream Blush in Daiquiri Dip, looong walks, and potato chips (Charles Chips in the tin especially—and shout-out to this Eater story about why we don’t have masala chips at our grocers). She also loves fun socks! Her faves are from Simone Rocha and Tabio (see also: Darner and Hysteria), and her standard go-tos are Adidas black with white stripes.     Do you have tips for how to make walking meetings work? Please share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast

It’s time to chat about all the stuff we’re obsessed with lately, most of which has been included in our Monday newsletter—do you get that thing??   Keep an eye on Fat Ham, a play we think will definitely have a second life, ideally on Broadway.    We both got a lot out of Burn Rate by Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, which tells the story of founding, running, and ultimately selling his company all while grappling with severe bipolar disorder. For another excellent memoir about bipolar disorder, read Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind.    Huge endorsement of the walnut larb at Good Night in Woodstock New York. The closest recipe comp we have surfaced is the one from walnuts.org.    For a perfect after-dinner candle, it’s all about Big Night’s Dinner Party one. See also: Epicurious’s story about dinner-party-appropriate scents, No.10 Aboukir by Maison Louis Marie, and Park Life by Boy Smells.   Want to make sorbet at home? Everyday Food from Martha has a vid withThomas Joseph that involves floating an egg to ac

Buckle in, folks! This week, we’re talking about our garden-curator journeys, second-kid thoughts, and the slacker–to–chaos goblin line cook pipeline.    Looking for Fast-Growing Trees? Thank goodness there’s a company that sells exactly those.  Love the Bloomerang lilac shrub, and you clearly need to know about the smoothie kit. If you wanna grow the ~cool~ flowers, check out Plantgem. A few faves they sell: ProCut plum sunflower, crocus saffron bulbs, and Irene Parrot tulip bulbs. Peony fans should investigate Styer’s, David Austin is as good at roses as at customer service, and for regional wildflower seed mixes, look to Wildseed Farms.    How’s you decide whether or not to have a second kid? Please share any and all thoughts you have on this topic with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.  An article related to this conversation: Emily Gould’s NYT piece "More Kids? After the Last Two Years? No Thanks.”   For thoughts about the present-day incarnation of the slacker, check out

This is a jam-packed episode: We’ve got destination sandwiches. We’ve got photographer Noah Kalina’s Thingies. We’ve got baby-wipes expertise from grown-ups. Ready? Great.     If you’re in NYC, please scurry to & Sons Buttery for their salami cotto sandwich (please also eat at the restaurant—a ham bar!) and Court Street Grocers for their vegitalian. Special shoutout to The Bobbie from Capriotti’s in Wilmington, Delaware, too. For further destination-sandwich reading, check out Helen Rosner's New Yorker story about the plane sandwich and the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook by Mason Hereford with JJ Goode.    Check out Noah Kalina’s Instagram, his curiosity-filled newsletter, his podcasts JPEG 2000 and Do you hear that?, his incredible portraits of chickens, and, wow, so much more.   Noah’s Thingies include the Samsung Frame that turns into art (art!) when it’s off, Cometeer coffee, the Toto Washlet, Water Wipes for when you’re away from your Toto Washlet, (bonus rec from Claire for toddlers: Coterie Wipes), E

It’s about time for an addendums episode! AKA an ep where we dump our additional thoughts (and your feedback) on topics we’ve discussed—because there’s always more to say about styling, aging, and, apparently, catalogs.    Looking for a method to define your personal style? Check out Allison Bornstein’s Three-Word  Method on TikTok: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6 for your clicking pleasure. (Call us with your wooords!!) More about her philosophy in this Harper’s Bazaar profile.   Re: styling, a follow-up on Amy Smilovic, including the outfit that stopped Claire in her tracks and her shirt-tying innovation. When it comes to button-downs, Claire loves her custom oversize Chava one—it’s great with elastic-waist pants (as is this Roucha tank top.)    In response to our discussion of marbling, we learned about some family-owned places to get monogrammed marbled gifts in Florence: Alberto Cozzi and Riccardo Luci.    Speaking of Italy, we both recently visited and fell hard for Milan—it lives up

Who better to talk Thingies with than Lauren Sherman, the chief correspondent at The Business of Fashion and the host of their wonderful—and quick!—new podcast The Debrief?! NOBODY. She fills us in on the third-wave coffee movement (We have a lot of questions.), a great investment T-shirt, and the trick that keeps her kid well-rested while traveling. Speaking of travel: There is a difference between a trip and a vacation, and we’d like to manage some expectations.   Listen to The Debrief—it has as feeling more fashion-industry-informed than we have in years.   Lauren has a LOT of insight on third-wave coffee and natural-process coffee beans. Some of her favorite places to get them: Andytown in San Franciso, Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, Tandem Coffee Roasters in Portland, Maine, 49th Parallel in Vancouver, Cafe integral in NYC, Dune Coffee Roasters in Santa Barbara, and Kumquat Coffee & Tea in Los Angeles. She’s also passionate about Three Trees almondmilk and making coffee with an AeroPress.

Today in mishmashes: We’re sharing some of the tricks and treats we’ve discovered recently, featuring Claire’s flower-wrapping upgrade, Erica’s brunch cookout recipes, and what to wear when it's hot, hot, hot.    Erica’s rooftop brunch agenda included ordering donuts (from Doughnut Plant if you’re in NYC), finding a reliable friend to be in charge of grilling sausages (or, um, sausage strips!), and  whipping up two frittatas: the mustard-asparagus one from Cookie + Kate and the mushroom-ricotta one Julia Turshen’s Now & Again cookbook.    And for dinner, Erica’s favorite canned cherry tomatoes from Mutti are great for many things, including her go-to summer tomato sauce c/o Alison Roman.   Claire’s revisiting this Mo Willems interview often, and on the diaper-bag front, she recommends Longchamp's Le Pliage (or any flat bag like it!).    As we slip back into shorts, we like these knit guys from Kordal, a pleated linen pair from Alex Mill, grown-up cut-offs from Agolde, and these rolled jorts from Raey.   

This episode—a 2021 crowd-pleaser!!—is all about the pressures we feel on our lives and our time (and, to a lesser extent, our necks and our tailbones). Don’t sleep on this one, is what we’re saying.   Live that ComfiLife! Side-sleep with a Hullo pillow!   The “Things We Want to Leave Behind and How to Start a Running Routine” ep we reference.   The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin—there’s also a quiz for that.    A handful of reads related to parenting (and, sigh, house work): All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu, and More Work For Mother by Ruth Schwartz Cowan.   An enthusiastic endorsement of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.   Dirt’s “The season of tabs” newsletter by Alex Aciman. WE RELATE.   "The Myth of the Productive Commute" installment of Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter.   Talking about protecting your time with Mimi O Chun and “what happens if you don’t?” with Caroline Moss.   For last-m

We’re wise enough to know it’s about time for a ~wisdom~ ep. We share our feelings about feeling our age and some excellent advice we caught about living with a little longing.     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.   Try professional counseling with BetterHelp and take 10% off your first month with our link. Slip on Thinx and get $10 off your first order when you visit rethinkyourcycyle.com and use the code ATHINGORTWO. Evolve your piercing and earring experience with Studs and take 20% off your first order when you use our link.

Today we’re answering a listener question that we’ve been asking ourselves our whole lives: How TF does one get dressed (and, you know, feel good about what they’re wearing)? Also: We grapple with the big challenges we’re having with small talk.   For those looking for a tailor in NYC, Mend Tailoring and Alteration Specialists do house calls, and Silhouettes & Profiles on the UWS is great. In L.A., it’s all about Elias in Santa Monica.   Check out Amy Smilovic, Katie Sturino, and Jenna Lyons-era J.Crew for styling tips. Another stellar rec from our editor Maddie: Allison Bornstein’s TikTok.    If you have any small-talk tips (and advice for what to wear with Issey Miyake Pleats Please pants) we want them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. For more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.   Support a business with Shopify. Dig in with a free 14-day trial with our link. Amp up your immune system with Athletic Greens and get a one-year supply of Vitamin D and five free t

So you picked a travel destination…and then what? We’re sharing the (only somewhat insane!) steps we take and the resources we love for planning a vacation. Also: Let’s spend a moment discussing the late nineties/early aughts trends that are re-catching our eyes and the ones we think we won’t wear again.    Some reflections on the Miu Miu skirt ℅ this NYT article “Brief Encounters With a Micro Miniskirt.”    When thinking about trip-planning, this Harvard Busiess Review article on "The Hidden Traps in Decision Making" and this installment of Val Monroe’s newsletter came to mind.   We love scoping out hotels on Welcome Beyond, Tablet Hotels, iescape, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (hot tip, their write-ups of what to do nearby will also point you toward good sites, shops, and restaurants). We also check out the press section on a hotel’s website, see if they’ve won any awards (which led Erica to amazingplaces.cz for Czech Republic recs), and use TripAdvisor and Instagram location tags to see some realistic photos of

Guest Thingies from Emma Straub—what a treat! If you haven’t read her many charming novels, start with her latest, This Time Tomorrow, and if you haven’t patronized her beloved Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic, we know you’re aching to remedy that. First up: business/money advice we’ve gotten that’s as quippy as it is useful.    Emma’s Thingies: skincare, tea, allergy meds, and big underpants—starring facials from Rescue Spa, Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 toner, and Peter Thomas Roth 24K Gold Pure Luxury Lift & Firm Hydra-Gel Eye Patches. Her tea-drinking routine includes Helen Levi mugs and Twinings English Breakfast hot or iced (and she might have to give Claire’s tea rec Nunshen a shot, too). Emma also shares her love for Flonase and ARQ’s hugely cute underpants.   When you’ve got the author of This Time Tomorrow and the co-owner of Books Are Magic on the Zoom, you have to talk reads. Emma’s recent favorite is Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, especially for fans of The Amazi

Revisiting a crowd fave from last year! Happy Memorial Day! Has perfectionism jumped the shark? And how do we remember names when we start meeting new people again?! Clearly, we have a lot of questions (and some answers).  If you like this, you’ll probably really like Secret Menu. A couple books that made us ponder perfectionism: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi, and Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu. Related convos: our ambition ep, this episode of Jam Session, and the Wit & Delight posts here and here. Come and get us at @athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and 833-632-5463!    YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

It’s that sneaky second gifting season of the year (dads, grads, retirements, anniversaries…you get it!), and we’re here to answer your calls for help. Ooh, speaking of calls: Want to leave us a voicemail at 833-632-5463 and share any thoughts/feelings that demand our podcasting attention?   If it’s time to gift someone a watch: Max Bill for Junghans and Baume & Mercier Classima are classics and about $1k. Uniform Wares has minimalist vibes and top out around $500. Check out Fewer Finer for some vintage options! We also recommend looking into a sporty/casual vintage watch from Casio or Seiko—Foundwell and eBay are great places to explore (this one, this one!). Also: Swatch does custom. If you’re looking for a watch for a little, Flik Flak’s still got it (see: their recent Hodinkee collaboration), and Parchie and Mini Kyomo are cute for kids, too. For true watch experts, turn to Hodinkee and Dimepiece.   For men turning 40 whose watch taste is too $$$: We love the idea of a signet ring, and Kathryn Bentley

We’re dipping our toes back into going places, and there’s been a real learning curve, tell you what. We’re talking toddlers ‘n travel and unpacking our packing lessons. Now to just remember to put this stuff in a carry-on next time…   Our forever packing list: Birkenstock EVAs (the Madrid style especially) and ‘tween pants like the Outdoor Voices jogger, a multi-functional kanga/wrap/scarf, a chambray shirt, a Baggu tote, a flat clutch (Clare V. and Madewell make some good ones), an umbrella, the Jade Yoga Voyager mat, an OXO on-the-go lint brush, a paper fan, a Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody for the winter, a Patagonia Houdini in the summer, and bedside-comforts bag (featuring Zicam, Advil, Pepto Bismol, allergy meds, and Band-Aids).   For the journey, we love a Muji plane pillow, a separate cords pouch, packing cubes (rec Baggu, Muji, and Paravel!), a fold-up bag (great ones from Muji in-store and Paravel), and Comrad compression socks, possibly tucked into a Thingies-winning Lo & Sons The O.G. 2 carry-o

How excited are we to talk Thingies with Collier Meyerson? So. Her most recent project Love Thy Neighbor is a podcast about a 1991 event known as the Crown Heights riot and what it says about about racism, antisemitism, and police violence here and now. Collier comes bearing books, outdoor couches, and alt uses for photo-printing sites. But first: a bit of breast-feeding intel.   Some further reading from our breastfeeding/weaning discussion: Joanna Goddard’s piece about her first episode of depression and how it happened right after abruptly quit breastfeeding (and be sure to read the comments!) and Meaghan O’Connell’s "Life on Planet Weaning" in The Cut (also Meaghan’s book And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready, and, yes, her Twitter feed). Different but related: “It Feels Like Every Mom I Know Is Medicated” from Romper—plus Best C-Section Ever and Romper in general!—and, uh, Moody Bitches.    Listen to Love Thy Neighbor, Collier’s five-episode podcast about the riots that took place

Ready for a grab bag? ALWAYS, right? We surprise ourselves by endorsing record players, we bemoan how few catalogs are getting it right, and we share some coming-of-age retail thoughts. Oh, and we break down the term “business hygiene,” which doesn’t involve deodorant at all.    Two record-player recs: Technics by Panasonic Direct Drive Player System (Craigslist is a good place to shop for this!) and The+Record Player for an all-in-one option.    But how ‘bout the records themselves?! Check out a Vinyl Me, Please subscription—and maybe make vintage ones a vacation souvenir? Also, hello, Sesame Street Fever.   The catalogs we love right now are from Zingerman’s, David Austin, and Tracksmith. If you’re still nostalgic for dELiA*s (