#283: Learning Something New

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Elsie

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You're listening to the Beautiful Mess Podcast. This week we're discussing big and small things we

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want to learn. This episode is a great space for brainstorming. If you've been thinking that you'd like to

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pick up a new hobby. We're each discussing five big and small things that we'd like to learn in the near

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future. And we're also doing a hot take debate on the topic of plastic treat bags at children's birthday

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parties, I cannot wait for that. Yeah, yes. So before we jump in, I thought it would be fun to do a

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confessional. Ooh, are you ready? Yeah, have you ever crashed and burned at a new hobby that you

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tried?

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Emma

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Oh, I'm sure. Let me think, think about it. I'm sure.

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Elsie

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I knew mine right away, instantly.

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Emma

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Okay, what is yours?

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Elsie

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Okay. So last summer, I went through this phase where I was like, I am gonna learn to do my own gel X

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nails. And I bought all the stuff, like, I have, everything you do. I've seen this like this. It's a pretty

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awesome. Looks like a professional, like, if someone came to my house to do my nails, this is what

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they would have. But I don't like doing it. I've only done it three times, so I did it when I first got them, I

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did it, and I was like, Oh, that sucked. And then I did it again with my niece, and it was really fun,

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because I was doing it with her, that's fun. And then just recently, at Christmas, she came to and was

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staying at my house, and we did it again together. And so I think it is a thing that I will continue to do,

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but maybe only with other people as a interactive thing, but to just do it by myself, I would just way

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rather go to the nail place, and I also think they do a better job. So I mean professional, I'm not I think

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that I could probably get there to where I was happy with it. I'm not sure I saw we did it with our niece,

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and they did look very good. I think maybe you just don't like doing it. It's not an enjoyable like, it looks

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really fun because I watched, like, before, I was watching all these videos on Tiktok and YouTube, and

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that was like, how I knew what supplies to get, and I thought I was gonna love it. And I usually love

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things like that, but oh my gosh, I do actually hate it. It's not fun.

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Emma

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I don't even know it might be. I have so many hobbies that are like, I wouldn't say I crashed and burned.

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I would more say, like, I did that for a little while, and now I haven't done it many years, and I don't know

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if I'll even ever do it again, yeah, but I don't, I don't know if that counts, because it's like, I think it's okay

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to have a hobby that has a season and then it's gone. Like, No, you need to say one that you thought

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you would like it and you just did not enjoy it. Because I think that's also what I want to encourage On

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this episode, is that, like, sometimes when you try something new, you actually do hate it, and that is

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okay. I did try skiing, and I hated it, and I really hope I never have to do it again. That counts. And I took

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the lessons, oh my God, and I hated it so much so. And I really hope I don't have to do it again. I don't

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mind going on a ski trip with the family, but if I have to ski, I'll be so sad. I'll be like, what a waste of a lift

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ticket. I would rather spend this money getting a massage do it. I think I would be more in it for the hot

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tubs. But yeah, I've seen those trips, and they do look fun. Like, follow my kids around, watch them ski.

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Like, I'm like, very content. I can have fun doing anything, but I'm just like, I don't want to ski. I don't like

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moving quickly. I don't want to slide. Yeah, I don't ever want to slide. Yeah, it's, oh, not my, not my

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speed at all. Anyway, I don't know, though that's Yeah, you think of anything else we failed at rowing,

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we talked about that.

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Elsie

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Oh my gosh, yeah.

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Emma

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If it's a physical sport, it's like 50/50, if I'm gonna like it at all.

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Elsie

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Yeah, that's fair. Okay, so in this episode, we're gonna talk, we're gonna kind of go back and forth, and

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each share five things that we want to learn, and they're a mixture of all different, you know, all different

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things. But yeah, I think that it's just a great skill to always be trying something new in life. It's like a

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mindset and a habit, like, what would you call it a lifestyle choice that I always want to have, just like I

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want to be a person who's always signing up for a class and trying something for the rest of my life.

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Emma

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Yeah, and I think you said this, but this list for me is kind of like, I don't have a timeline. This is not new

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year's resolution time. Some of these I plan to work on this year. Yep. I also just kind of have them on

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my list as, like, I want to learn this, and the universe will bring it my way at some point. Yeah. Or one of

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them, I'm like, I cannot do this right now, but I'm thinking towards the end of the year, it might be

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possible for me to start cool, but I'm interested in it. So anyway, so this is just kind of a list of things we

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want to learn over the course of our life. Yeah. Okay, what's your first one?

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Elsie

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Okay, okay. My first one is water marbling, so I actually just tried it for. First time yesterday, and it was

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so fun. Yeah, I just, and I was like, damn, these look good. It's fun. It's immediately fun. The supplies I

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just got, like, a little set of, they're just kind of, like, really watery acrylic paint, and then you just need,

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like, a tray. Did you with your girls? Like, not yet successful with kids? Or is it a little too messy? I am

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gonna do it with them after I have full control over it, and I'm probably gonna do it on the porch outside.

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Maybe, I'm not sure. Yeah, it's messy. It's messy. But anyway, I watched some videos on Pinterest, and

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then my algorithm started having a lot of water marbling, and as soon as I saw you could make, like,

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flowers. It was like, Okay, I'm done. I'm like, I'm doing this immediately. So it is a very low lift, easy to try

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affordable supplies. Like, where did you buy a kit or so? I Google it, yeah, I bought a book, and I bought

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a book from thrift books, and then I bought a book from Amazon, and then I bought a couple of sets of

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paints. All they are is watered down acrylic. So if you wanted to, and you have acrylic paint, you could

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also just make some those, like little bottles. You'd need little bottles, but like the little bottles that you

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use for icing, it's pretty much the same thing as that. What you would need, okay, you need some kind

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of a dropper, and that's all you need. And then you just, you pretty much just put it on top of the water. It

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spreads around, makes these pretty swirly patterns. You dip the paper in, it comes out, and it's marbled,

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and it's gorgeous, and you set it out to dry, and, yeah, it's just really fun. So I'm excited to kind of keep

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messing with it and see what I can come up with. I don't really know. I don't really have a purpose. It is

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just for joy right now. But I kind of think, like when we were in Florence and we saw there was like a

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store where everything was marbled, it kind of got me really inspired.

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Emma

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They have tiny journals and normal sized journals. And I think they had, like ornaments and all sorts of

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things, all sorts of things, bookmarks, yeah, it'd be fun. What's your first one? My first one is, I would

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love to learn Spanish. Ooh. So we've talked about this before, but our mom is originally from

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Venezuela. She was born there and lived there when she was a little girl, and they moved here to us

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later. And our grandfather was an American living in Venezuela, and he fell in love with our

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grandmother, Karina, and that's how their family started. So anyway, I've never been to Venezuela.

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Don't know if that will ever happen. Maybe you've heard the news lately. So I feel like I don't feel a lot of

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connection to that part of my family and that part of my life, and there's even, like, a lot of documents

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and stories and YouTube videos about our great grandfather, Raphael, that I can't really listen to

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without subtitles, because they're in Spanish. And I would just like to know more Spanish. I think it's a

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useful skill, even if I didn't have this connection to it, I would still pretty interested in learning a foreign

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language. In Spanish would be high on the list because very common. Our great grandfather was kind

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of an icon. He's kind of a famous person. There's a bunch of books written about him, but they're all in

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Spanish. So if we were able to read Spanish, it would be like a huge thing unlocked. Yeah, so I'd like to

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learn Spanish. I don't have a lot of space in my life to do that right now, like I certainly couldn't go do an

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immersive program or something like that, but I have some space to learn vocabulary, and I think

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there's lots of interesting tools that are starting to pop up that use, like AI, to help help you learn and

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different things. So I think that the future is bright for learning foreign languages, and I would definitely

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like to learn Spanish.

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Elsie

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It's a great one.

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Emma

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What's your second one?

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Elsie

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My second one is writing poetry. So I just enrolled in a poetry course. I actually just started it this

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morning.

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Emma

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Is it on masterclass when you have those sites, or is it like its own?

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Elsie

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The place I'm taking my course from is called Writer's Digest University, and it is just like a small, self

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paced poetry course. And then I'm also taking a couple more writing courses that are more like you

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have to be in a zoom in a certain time, and different kind of levels of commitment. I might have a lot of

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anxiety, of I love a self paced course the best, yes, and the ones that have like a certain appointment

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time that you have to be there and a time to turn in your homework, I think that they're very beneficial,

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but they're very hard for me to follow in my lifestyle right now. Yeah, so anyway, just an easy little thing.

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And then this morning I ordered my they had, like, a a required reading and it was a poetry craft book,

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so I'm going to read that. So yeah, I will check back in later in the year. But I wrote a lot of poems last

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year for my novel, there's this little like, it's a certain kind of poem, and it's, it's specific, but I really, really

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enjoyed that part of it, and it made me realize, like, this is something I would like to do for pleasure, just

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for fun, but on a bigger level, like, all the time, like, it's just. Very enjoyable. Like, it's kind of like

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journaling. It's like, the kind of thing you could just, like, do it a little bit every day and get so much out of

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it.

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Emma

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Yeah, no, poetry is very cool. I was just on thrift books buying all the Margaret Atwood books. Oh, yeah,

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I don't know why. Just had a day where I was like, I got to own all these now they're all on my shelf, and

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I'm like, it's perfect when I have a little poetry section in my library, because I did my poetry shelf make

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you jealous. Where's your poetry shelf in my dining room? Oh, I guess I didn't notice it.

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Elsie

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What's your second one?

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Emma

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My second one is I would really like to learn to play piano.

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Elsie

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Oh, wow. Okay, I'm surprised by this one.

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Emma

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So I'm turning 40 later this month, and I had it in my mind that when I turned 40, I would at some point

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learn a musical instrument, basically, because I've read how good it is for your brain. Oh, my God. And I

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have a pretty bad memory. And, like, you know, I have some concerns where I'm like, You know what? I

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think it'd be good to make sure I'm exercising my brain in a number of ways. So I have no goal to ever

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play for anyone. In fact, I would prefer not to ever play for anyone. I'm not a particularly musical person.

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I just think that it's good. Would be good to learn a musical instrument, and I don't really have a strong

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interest in learning to play guitar. My husband has a bunch of instruments in our house, much like you,

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and we have a bunch of guitars, we have bass, we have drums, we have a piano in our home, and a

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keyboard. And I just think of all those, I would like to learn piano, and I don't really want to buy an

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instrument. So I'm like, this seems this seems good. And I took piano lessons when I was a little little

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girl, and I remember reading the notes. And there's like, an aspect to it where I think that's kind of fun,

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but I'm not super interested in going. So our keyboard is in the basement, and you can, like, put

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headphones on if you want to practice keyboard. I don't have a strong interest in doing that. I would like

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to actually play the piano that's in our home, but that's in our living room. And the only time I would

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really have to do that where I could focus on it would be right now during my kid's nap. And I can't do

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that because it would wake them up. Yeah. So in my mind, this is something that I'm going to try once

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my younger kid goes back to daycare, which will likely be sometime later this year. So I'm not planning

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to start this anytime soon, and I don't have any goals with it, like I want to be able to play a whole piece

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by the end of the year. I have no goals like that. I literally view it as, like, going to a workout class. I'm

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like, this is just something for your brain to try, and you already have this in your house, so there you

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go. But fun, but I don't really want to play for anyone. Or, yeah, you know, my husband can play piano.

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So I also feel like it's always kind of awkward to do something in front of someone where they're like,

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really good. Like, Jeremy can, like, play piano. I think it's very brave, though. And I'm like, Well, I'm

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gonna be like, happy birthday or whatever. You had a little whatever.

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Elsie

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It's like, there you go.

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Emma

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But I think it's good to do weird things. And so I was like, Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that. I'll probably

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learn from some kind of online class type situation and just practice in my home.

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Elsie

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I'm impressed that that sounds like you're really stretching yourself.

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Emma

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Yeah, it's definitely a I'm not going anywhere with this, but I just think it would be good for me, so I think

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fun. Why not?

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Elsie

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Yeah, love it. Okay, my next one is a stretch for me. So I actually started this last year, but I'm taking

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classical painting lessons, and I think I started at the beginning of last year. Yeah, I think so, I think I've

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been doing it about a year, and I made very little progress. I remember whenever she first started, she

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was like, you're going to be one of my best students.

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Emma

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Because you already understood some basics and you had some skills.

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Elsie

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I'm not thought, like, I know that I'm not, but I have the main thing I want to be able to paint is, like,

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realistic, just like, head and shoulders portraits of women and for fun. But, yeah, maybe someday,

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maybe someday I'm gonna have to keep, I'm gonna keep doing my lessons for, I guess, indefinitely,

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and see what happens.

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Emma

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I think it's fun to have something you're learning that you're like, Well, this is going much slower than I

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thought, yeah, but it doesn't matter. I don't have to get good at it quickly. I'm not, you know, making this

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my next career. So whatever. And here we go.

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Elsie

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I think a good thing it taught me, probably, is that, like, because I always felt like I should be able to do

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it. Like, just be able to because there's so many things in life where, like, if I try hard enough, I'm able to

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do it. This is definitely not something that I'm just able to do. And I think it's good to, like, feel those

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human limits in yourself, and then, you know, like, chip away at them over time. I think there's

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something healthy about that? Yeah, I think so too.

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Emma

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Okay, my next one is, I want to learn how to write micro fiction. Ooh, so this is like, so it's like 300 words

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or less. I think is how it's defined. I want to say so I love short stories. And I'm like, have a few short

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stories that I'm kind of loosely working on. I have no goal with them. There. Just for fun. What I like

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about short stories is kind of where I'm going with this micro fiction thing is, I think it can be really fun to

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have to, like, distill something down. So if you think about cooking, like, if I like, did some kind of

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reduction for a sauce, like, if I reduce down balsamic vinegar into a reduction, what it does is it just

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condenses it and so the flavor becomes extremely bold, and you don't need very much of it to use, like

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as a sauce on a steak or some other kind of recipe. And it's just like it's it's really fun. And I think that, in

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the same way writing novels, I love writing novels, I love the space you have to do a plot and to let

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someone get to know a character. You have so long, you have, you know, 60,000 80,000 100,000

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words, however long. You know, novels can be many different links, and I love that. But I think there's

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something interesting about having to condense it down, because that's what short stories are like. It's

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like the the writing of short stories when they're good is so impactful because they've had to distill it

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down to such a small thing and microfictions that on steroids, it's kind of like writing poetry, in a way,

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because it becomes very abstract, because you have so little space to say a whole plot or get to know

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a character, or whatever it is You're trying to do with it. So anyway, I think it was fun. I don't have a

00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.000
class, so if you have any, email us, podcast at beautiful, must calm. But I'll just be looking around for

00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.000
something like this. It's just something that I learned about that I thought sounded fun. I like poetry too,

00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.000
similar thing. It's just sort of like a writing I love writing exercises that like for sure, don't go anywhere.

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You can't sell this. No chance. You're just learning to like write really, really well and in a different way.

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Because I just think that stretches you, and it also like takes the pressure off of like. I'm not going to sell

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this. I'm not even going to make a collection of these. I'm just doing this to learn and to grow and to like

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become better.

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Elsie

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Hell yeah, once you learn, give me a lesson, because I want to learn that too. That sounds fun.

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Emma

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I'll just start talking in micro fiction all the time, and you'll be like, stop. Oh, my God, no. Okay, what's

00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.000
your next one?

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Elsie

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Okay, the one thing I think my life could use is more ina garden recipes. So this year we have, we

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finished renovating our kitchen late last year, and the other day, Jeremy was like, Have you ever

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noticed that our two sort of like lists of things we enjoy cooking have no overlap whatsoever? And I was

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:47.000
like, Yeah, I have noticed that, because he likes to cook, he basically only likes to cook Chinese food,

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and he makes, like, a ton of stir fry and like things like that. And he likes to make the same dish over

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and over and master it. And I basically like, I do, I do, like, all the family cooking. So if you're not

00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:50.000
counting like, just like, making the kids breakfast, you know what I mean? Yeah, I basically only the

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things I really like feel passionate and love is making pasta and making cookies. Those are, like, my

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favorite things. And so, yeah, this year I was like, you know, what I could do is if I just, like, learn to

00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.000
make, like, three Ina Garten recipes, or maybe, like, five, you know, just like things that you can make

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before a family dinner. Or, I don't know, I just thought that would be, like, really nice, and it goes along

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with what I already know that I'm doing over and over.

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Emma

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So in your mind, what is a Ina Garten recipe, though, like a like a chicken, like a really good soup, like,

00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.000
what?

00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000
Elsie

00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.000
So, okay, so I showed you earlier. I'm gonna try the brownie pudding for next week, or whenever our

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next family dinner is. So something you would take to a potluck. Yeah, and then one time I made her

00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000
summer pasta, which is kind of like spaghetti with a bunch of, like, have cherry tomatoes in it, and that

00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.000
was really good. So, like, I don't know, I think I just maybe need to just like, go on thrift books, buy a

00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:04.000
bunch of Viner garden cookbooks. Do Emma does this thing with post it notes with her cookbooks

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where they look crazy. Do that thing with the post it notes.

00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.000
Emma

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You can tell if I don't like a book, because it's got like two post its in it. Because when I like it's like the

00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.000
whole book is Yeah, so yeah, it's cute. Also, should our podcast be sponsored by thrift books?

00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.000
Elsie

00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.000
I Okay. We talked about thrift I think thrift books would be my ultimate dream sponsor. Now that you

00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.000
mentioned it, I would talk about them every week. Thrift books, if you're listening, this is my pitch. I shut

00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.000
up. Check my sales history. Go log in right now and go, no, just go look up who is your number one

00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.000
customer in the United States. And I bet it's Elsie Larson. And if it is, be my sponsor, yeah. And

00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:14.000
honestly, if you ever steal my credit card, here's how to never get caught. Just buy thrift books every

00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.000
single day, and they'll never call me thinking that it's fraud, because they'll be like, Yeah, this is what

00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.000
she does. This is exactly her normal behavior, yes. But you know, I mean, you get free books. I get a

00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:17.000
free book every time I order. It's amazing. It's an amazing thing. And pretty much any novel you want,

00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:18.000
as long as it's not brand new, you can get for $5 who doesn't love that? It's the best. Okay? Free

00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:19.000
commercial over.

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Emma

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Free commercial that we're paying for. Yes, okay, my next one is I just wrote down cooking and recipes.

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I think I'm always interested in, like, learning more about cooking and recipes. And one thing that I was

00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.000
talking about for the year, I don't have a course that I'm taking, but I am cooking my way through a

00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.000
cookbook, not the whole book, because it has 150 recipes, and currently I have 34 post it notes sticking

00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.000
out of the side, but it's recipe 10 eats makes dinner, and I'm making a recipe, not tonight, but tomorrow

00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.000
night. That's like a marinade with lemongrass. And I had a hard time tracking down lemongrass, and so

00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.000
I ended up having to buy a paste. The notes of the recipe said you could use the paste if you couldn't

00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:28.000
find fresh lemongrass, and I can't, so I bought a paste, and it's coming in the mail, and just that little

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.000
kind of thing really lights me up. I love when I have, like, some random ingredient that I'm now like, now

00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:30.000
I have lemongrass paste. What else can I make with it? Because I'm going to do this recipe, and then I

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.000
will inevitably be like, what else can I do with this? Because I don't want to throw it away, you know, and

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I don't want it to go bad and sit in my fridge for a year, so I got to make at least one more thing with this.

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000
So I just like that kind of thing, and I want to always be challenging myself to, like, learn new things, try

00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:34.000
new ingredients, try new techniques, but most of it is geared towards home cooking meals that we'll eat

00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.000
for dinner, pretty basic stuff someday. You know, when I get older, I have feeling I'll go through phases

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.000
of like, I'm gonna do really elaborate pastries, but I just don't really have the space for that right now,

00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.000
but I still have an interest, and I just love learning and cooking.

00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.000
Elsie

00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000
So, yeah, okay. Anyway, that's definitely something you can learn your whole life, yeah, and never.

00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.000
Emma

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It's a very practical, you know, because something, a lot of my things on the list are not practical. When

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will I use piano? Literally never, but, yeah, but I want to do it, you know, so. But this one's pretty

00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.000
practical, because I cook dinner most nights, so, and I probably will till I die.

00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.000
Elsie

00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:45.000
Okay, my final one, I put a question mark by it, because I feel like I need, I want to hear from our

00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:46.000
listeners, if anyone has tried this, what the real barrier of entry is. But I'm interested in book binding. So

00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.000
every once in a while on Tiktok, I go down a rabbit hole of watching, like, a dozen videos of people

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rebinding books. So they, you know, it's like, the people that, like, rip off the cover, yes, and then they

00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:49.000
make the way prettier cover, and, like, it's all gorgeous foil, and they use the little iron and, and it's

00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.000
sometimes, like, kind of has to do with the content of the book, oh, yeah, like, where it's sad, or, you

00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.000
know, something like that. Yeah. And I have such, well, collecting books is one of my favorite

00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:52.000
collections. And like, the ideas I could have for custom books, it's like, so, I mean, it's, it sounds very,

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.000
very appealing, but the thing that's holding me back is it seems like a lot of supplies, and it seems

00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000
maybe like a big learning curve, like maybe more difficult than it looks. And it seems like it seems like

00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.000
the kind of thing that would be like, just a whole bunch of supplies that might end up, like, in a tub in my

00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.000
basement. You know what I mean? So that's why I'm a little apprehensive, is like, Will I really use it?

00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000
Because I think last year I texted our third sister, Elise, and I was like, I'm gonna learn book binding. So

00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:58.000
I had one of those days where I was on tick tock, and then I just never did, because it was like, I don't

00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.000
know.

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Emma

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Yeah, you started to put things in a cart, then you wre like wait a second.

00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:02.000
Elsie

00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.000
What if it turns out like the nail?So I'm not sure I want to hear if you've tried it. Tell me if you think it's

00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:04.000
worth it, or if you would have just allocated that budget to, like, buying more special edition books.

00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.000
That's okay too. Like, I don't have to learn to do everything in this lifetime. But I am definitely attracted

00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:06.000
to it, and maybe I don't know if I should learn it or if I should just watch the videos and enjoy it, enjoy

00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.000
watching other people do it.

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Emma

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Yeah, it's hard to know. Yeah. My last one is painting. That's all I wrote down. But what I really mean is,

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I want to take a class on acrylic painting. I was looking at some on Skillshare. I don't feel very serious

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about it. So I have this big art easel in my office room, and for the last year, what it has on it is my

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outline for the next book I'm writing, and my vision board, and I haven't painted on it in a long time. And

00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.000
the last time I did a painting on it, it was definitely like one that I did with Oscar, my son. Yeah, and I

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have this big paint stash of acrylic paints, and slowly but surely, my kids are starting to use them up.

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Like, I literally threw a few tubes away the other day because they were out. Because we we paint so

00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.000
often, which is great, and I love it. But I'm like, looking ahead, and I'm like, I eventually would like a little

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000
space and time where I can do a little online course where I just learn a little bit more about mixing paint

00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:18.000
and layering and just, you know, pretty basic that I just don't really know. And I'm not, I'm not really a

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000
painter. It's not something I've ever really looked into. So, yeah, that's just something that I'd like to, like

00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:20.000
to do and, and I think I've mentioned this in other episodes, but part of it at the moment is like having

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.000
the time to get all my stuff out. Because if my kids go into my office room, and I keep the door shut, but

00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.000
Hugo has learned how to open doors, then I really can't have certain things out on the floor accessible,

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because he will eat them, or he will play with them. And I he has his own paints and things that he can

00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:24.000
do, and he does make a mess when he doesn't, but there are other things where, like, if this gets in

00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.000
your hair, oh boy, yeah, just don't want it to get to that level. So, so having the space to get my out is,

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like, a little bit hard right now, but I think that's going to open up in the next, you know, few years for

00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.000
sure, if not, sooner. So I'm looking at that, and that's something I would like to do, like, take class on it.

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Elsie

00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.000
Great. I think that's a great goal. You'll love it. Yeah, so, and there's like, 100 different ways you can

00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.000
paint with acrylic paint.

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Emma

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So, and I'm pretty open, I'm like, Just teach me. Just go ahead and get like, I'm serious, like, the basics.

00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.000
That's fine, four beginners, four dummies. Go ahead and teach me that I'm interested.

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Elsie

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Yeah, we should schedule a painting night. That'd be fun. Okay, we have our hot take debate, and then

00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.000
we're gonna do a book report this week. So our hot take this week is from Claire, and it is we should not

00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000
give plastic treat bags to kids at birthday parties. What do you think, Emma?

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Emma

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I love this one. It's so funny. So we are in our kids birthday party era. It started this past summer, and

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boy, have we been to quite a few. And I actually feel like we have not gotten very many of these, just

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like one or two. It's not a big.

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Elsie

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they also come home from school. I will say from this, they really come home from school.

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Emma

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Yeah, my kids are in school yet, either, yeah. I mean, I would say I agree with this hot take. I think we

00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000
should not give plastic tree pads at kids birthday parties, because it is generally junk. Although my kids

00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.000
love it. They're an age where they love, you know, the sticky hand, or just all that crap that you get in,

00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:48.000
like a Valentine's box, they love it, and they do actually play with it and use it, but then it gets broken, or

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000
there's a small piece, or you the sticky hand gets stuck somewhere. It gets un sticky because it got all

00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.000
the dog hair on it, and, you know, it just kind of gets used up. So it's silly. I also say when we do

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.000
birthday parties, I don't really want to the expectation of having to give the favor bags. I will provide

00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.000
snacks. I will make it fun. We'll rent a bounce house. I don't know, man, we'll make it good. I don't really

00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.000
want to give out favor bags. I just don't really feel like doing that. So yeah, what if we don't that sounds

00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:54.000
good to me. What are your points?

00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.000
Elsie

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.000
Okay, so I think that, if you so okay, like last year, we hosted our niece's 17th birthday party. No, it was

00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.000
her 16th. No, it was her 17th. I'm not sure if it's her 16th or 17th birthday party. It was one of those,

00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000
okay? And it was Taylor Swift theme, and it was like a certain record, and I made gift baskets for all the

00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000
girls, and it was expensive. It was not it was not plastic. It's not sounding it was like it had like, face

00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:00.000
masks, and it had like, little like mirror ball pouches, and just like, all this, like, cute, like, stuff that a

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.000
teenage girl would enjoy. And I thought it was really fun, and I thought it was worth the time and money.

00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.000
So I'm not saying that there can't be favors, but I guess what I'm saying is, like, if there are favors, they

00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.000
need to be like something good. Like, I would rather my kids get like, one little toy or one candy bar or

00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:04.000
something, than the bag of like, if someone just gave out, like a wooden yo yo or something that would

00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.000
be like, a nice thing that our kids would use and like, a Rubik's Cube, one of my kids loves the like,

00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:06.000
things like that. You know, like that would still probably be about the same budget. You could give one

00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000
to every kid. They could take it home, and they maybe would actually have a chance of using it. But I

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:08.000
think the problem is when it's like the see through plastic bag, and then inside of it is like the little, tiny

00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.000
plastic stamp and the erasers and what else is usually in there, a couple pieces of loose candy and a

00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:10.000
pencil. Maybe, I don't know. It's choking hazard. Choking Hazard. He's gonna poke his eye with it. All of

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.000
its stuff is like, little brother. Can't happen. Yeah, it does just end up being stuff that I throw it in the

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.000
trash. I throw it in the trash, all this. Time when my kids are gone, and they have only once ever noticed

00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:13.000
one thing, and it was a big problem the one time. But other than that, they have never noticed, ever that

00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000
one of those. So I think that's part of the thing you know, is like, if you're gonna give a gift, make it

00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.000
something that they might use and keep, or make it something that's on theme with the party, right?

00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.000
Emma

00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.000
No, or something they can use at the party and you give it to them right away or something.

00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:18.000
Elsie

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.000
Okay, so my daughter's about to have a mermaid themed birthday party, and if I was gonna get the

00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000
kids, I don't know if I am or not. I haven't thought about it, but I probably need to figure this out. But I

00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.000
think I would give them, give them, like, a pair of sunglasses, or just like something that you could

00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.000
maybe use, like a little, like a nice pair of sunglasses, yeah, a kid's pair of sunglasses, nice, not, not the

00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.000
worst, not the ones from the isle at Target, but like, a real pair, you know, yeah, I think things like that

00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:24.000
are still good. I think just don't give a bag full of like the tiny little party favors that aren't you know what

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000
kind of things your kids use and don't really use. I think we can leave it at that. What do you think?

00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000
Yeah, I think that's fair. So I would say, if I am saying agree or disagree, agree with Claire.

00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.000
Speaker 2

00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000
Yeah, I agree with Claire. Yeah. We don't like them.

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Elsie

00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.000
Okay, so let's do book report.

00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:31.000
Emma

00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000
Yes, okay, what have you read lately or if you have a throwback, I'm looking in my folder right now

00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.000
because I have, okay, the worst memory, which is why I need to learn piano. Mine is, I believe that this

00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000
was a book that I bought from a podcast listener. Again, when we get your emails, I'm just on the Thrift

00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.000
books, yeah, our unofficial sponsor, and buying and buying, buying, buying, and I am pretty certain one

00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:36.000
of you suggested it. And so it's called The Cottage around the Corner by DL Soria. So this book is

00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000
romance. It is about witches. So there's a witch and there's also a See, I read this kind of at the

00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.000
beginning of my break. I've been on a bit of a binge. I think he's called a magi. So there's witches, and

00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.000
then there's this other kind of magical entity. And they're they're different. The way they learn magic is

00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:40.000
different, but they can both do magic, so it's kind of a rivals to lovers book, because they both have

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.000
magic companies. They make their living doing magic for other people, but they go about it in very

00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.000
different ways, and one of them is more like homemade granola e the witch, and the other one's more

00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.000
slick and cool, and he wears suits, and that's the the male character. So yeah, it has that trope rivals to

00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000
lovers. It has witches. So one thing I loved about this book, I mean, I love romance, and I loved this

00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:45.000
book, highly recommend cottage around the corner. But I also thought that the magic in this book was

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very, very realistic, and not in a fantasy kind of way, in more of a like, if I had a friend who believed she

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was a witch, she would do the spells in this book like, they're just very like, she talked a lot about

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crystals and the meaning behind them and how to charge them, and using different kinds of herbs and

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different kinds of essential oils. And it just felt very like, Oh, I think you're kind of into witchcraft. I think

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you kind of made me do spells. I love it. Like, I really liked it. I felt like the author was very into it, and

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really giving me a glimpse into that. So it kind of gave the book like another like, I loved the romance of

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the book. It was very fun. I loved their chemistry. That was all great. And I felt like I got this extra thing

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where it was just this. I was like, I want to do these spells. Should I put? Should I put that under my

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pillow so that I sleep better at night, like it was just like, really fun, and I really liked it. So loved it. And

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thank you to whoever recommended it to me. I love it.

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Elsie

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That sounds great. Yeah, you gave that was a great sell. About it? Okay, I'm gonna talk about the Da

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Vinci Code. Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code one of my pleasures in life as someone who didn't read

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from like the time I graduated high school till I was almost 40, and then I then I went in so hard, I think I

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feel like I'm catching up now. Yeah, you are. Yeah. So anyway, once or twice a year I read a book that

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was, like a huge hit, but like 15 years ago or 20 years ago, like the first year I read the Time Traveler's

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Wife. And the thing that sucks is that I can never find anyone who wants to talk about the book, right,

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because you know what I mean. So everyone's like, Oh, yeah, I read that 10 years ago. Yeah, yeah.

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They're like, trying to remember, like, yeah, like, Oh, I was in college, or I was in high school, or

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whatever. So yeah, I read, like, all those books that you can think of like that, like, Twilight, 50 Shades

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of Gray, what else? Like, just I like reading books, and I have a bunch more on my shelf that I have

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coming up. But, like, I love reading books. Yeah, that were culture phenomenons, yeah, like, at one

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time they were, like, the biggest book in the world, right? But now you can't find anyone who, right, and

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the Da Vinci Code definitely kind of fits this bill, and it has a movie out. Out in multiple movies. Yeah. So

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what did you think? Okay, so, uh, so should we give my caveat first, and I'll give the caveat first, and

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then I'll give my glowing review. Because, like, spoiler, I loved it. I thought it was so fun. So the caveat is

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that, like, you know, I am a mother of two children with albinism. And this book has a lot of a lot of uses

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of though, like the term albino and red eyes, like probably I just think, okay, so here's what I've come to

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peace with, and I like it is a thing as an aspiring writer that I'm not ever supposed to say anything critical

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that another author could hear. So I feel like if Dan Brown, if you hear this, Dan Brown, first of all, I want

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to be friends. Second of all, I hope I get to meet you. Third, I do think that you should have to do a

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drinking game of your own book, where you take a shot for every time you say the albinos red eyes, I

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just think it's fair. I just think it's fair. And you did it to yourself. I just think a drunk you get Yeah? So I'm

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gonna leave it at that, yeah, cuz that's a cliche that I feel like is not, not good, you know, obviously,

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yeah. But other than that, I thought the book was so fun and, like, just so crazy.

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Emma

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Yeah, I had recommended it to you. I was like, You got to read dimension.

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Elsie

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When we were in Florence, they were like, you have to read it. You haven't read it. And every like, I'll

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read it. Our friends were like, you have to, you have to, have to do it next.

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Emma

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I completely forgot about all the albinism stuff because I did read it in college. That's fine. And yeah, as

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soon as you said it, I was like, Ooh, yeah, I'm remembering now. Oh yeah, it's a bad one.

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Elsie

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I haven't watched the movie, but it looked to me like they tried to do some adjustments to make it not as

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bad in the movie. I don't know if I will watch it or not. I'm not sure. But anyway, let's move on from that.

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But yeah, the book was so fun. I love conspiracies, so we do have a lot of conspiracy type of just like,

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it's a part of our life. And everyone loves conspiracies. It's like sugar, it sucks you down. Yeah? You got

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to be careful with that, though. Yeah. And the art history part of it was fun, and I, as an ex Evangelical, I

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found the Bible parts to be extremely, extremely fun to read. Yeah, and then Jeremy was telling me I

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didn't really like, I think it came out when we were when we were in, like, college age or something. So I

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don't really remember.

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Emma

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I think we were already ex evangelicals.

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Elsie

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Speak for yourself. I don't think, but, um, but yeah, he said, My husband said that it was, like,

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considered, like, really controversial to Christian people at that time, which I think that's so fun. So

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yeah, overall, I would, I loved the book, and I it was like a lesson in, like, writing a page turner too,

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because there was just, like, so many things about it where it was just like, so compulsively. And I don't

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know, like I was studying it. I was definitely studying it the entire time, because I was so into it and so

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engaged. But it doesn't have the qualities that normally make me love books. So I was very interested

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in that as well. So recommend five stars.

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Emma

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Yeah, yeah. Dan Brown will definitely make you miss your bedtime as you're like, I gotta read one more.

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I gotta find out what's happening. Yes, yeah, it's pretty compulsive, pretty fun. Yeah, beautiful.

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Elsie

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Oh, please send me if there's a book that used to be famous that was like the number one bestseller for

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like a year, but in like 1992 or like 2003 send it to me. Send it to me and tell me why I should read it. I

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love reading books like that. I think it's so fun.

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Emma

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Still cool. Okay, now let's hear a joke or a fact or a meditation with Nova.

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Elsie

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Hey, Nova, what do you have for us this week?

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Nova

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A joke.

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Elsie

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A joke. Okay, we're ready.

00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000
Nova

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Where did the music teacher leave her keys?

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Elsie

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Where?

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Nova

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In the piano.

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Elsie

00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000
Good one. All right. Have a wonderful week. All right. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. We'll

00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.000
be back next week with tips for new writers. Thank you so much for listening, and if you find it in your

00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.000
heart to leave us a five star review, we mostly only like the five star reviews. That's like kind of our

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preference.

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Emma

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Four stars or less, just write us an email. See you next week.