Mini-Ep 430: Soft As A Baby’s Bottom
Doree and Elise kick off friend week with an IRL hang (!) and talk about Elise’s coming birthday vacation and Doree’s recent Korean spa trip. Then, they hear from listeners about the environmental harms of chat GPT, delicious single serve chocolate chip cookie recipes, how to channel your nervous energy into action, and a non-food rec for Sam’s Club.
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Transcript
This episode transcript is AI generated.
Doree (00:10):
Hello and welcome to February 35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Doree Shafrir.
Elise (00:17):
And I'm Elise Hu. And we're just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums,
Doree (00:22):
And this is a mini episode where we hear from you, we share your comments and your thoughts, and we answer your questions to the best of our ability. But please do remember we're not experts or podcast hosts. We always encourage you to seek support first and foremost, from a medical and or mental health professional as needed.
Elise (00:39):
Yes. Yes indeed. I have a serum question, actually. Oh my gosh. Wow. Getting right into it. Elise Hu calling in. Yes, I do have a serum question in which I was in a real rush this past weekend because I had to be a stagemom for three days in a row and I left the house one morning after putting serum on, but not moisturizer. Not a lotion or cream after. And my face felt kind of just watery and dry. So does lotion seal the serum in any way or is it just like I'm used to putting on something after it and it felt kind of undone?
Doree (01:20):
I think both.
Elise (01:21):
Okay.
Doree (01:22):
I think the moisturizer is truly moisturizing
Elise (01:28):
Because serum is also supposed to be moisturizing.
Doree (01:31):
Well, depends what the serum is. Sometimes I'll put my serum on and I'll let it dry and then I'll forget to put moisturizer on because I'm like, I go and do something else while it dries and then I'm like, why does my skin feel dry? So yeah. So that's definitely a thing. At least we kicked off Friendship month. Happy friendship
Elise (01:52):
Month, my
Doree (01:53):
Friend Happy Friendship month friend.
Elise (01:56):
And we actually did a real life hang. It was sort of unplanned. It was a spontaneous real life hang.
Doree (02:01):
Impromptu.
Elise (02:03):
Yes. And over in Doree's Hood. And today Oscar is going to wear his new Kirkland brand. Yes. Dog shirt. Did you try it on? Not yet. Not yet. I got home so late last night and then it was Super Bowl time. I cannot wait. I'm going to send a put photo up to the Patreon.
Doree (02:24):
Excellent. Yeah. I had bought Bo this Kirkland shirt, essentially dog shirt. It just
Elise (02:32):
Says Kirkland all over
Doree (02:34):
It. It just has Kirkland on it. And I just bought him a large because in Target brand clothing, he has a large, but I didn't look at the size chart, which was my bad. And he's like 20 pounds over the upper weight limit of the large. So I didn't even bother trying it on him. I was like, whatever. And then I told Elise she could have it, but then I kept forgetting to give it to her. And then finally yesterday we did the handoff that probably the last possible moment where it will fit Oscar, so it'll fit him for three days. And Elise also got to meet Henry, which was exciting.
Elise (03:17):
Yes. Henry led us on a walk around the neighborhood and navigated every time we got to the end of a block, we asked him, alright, you want to go? Which way do you want to go? And sometimes he would choose left and sometimes he would choose forward, but in a real twist, at one point he chose U-turn.
Doree (03:39):
We weren't expecting it.
Elise (03:40):
Neither of us. Yeah, neither of us saw that coming.
Doree (03:43):
You were like, wow. Wow. Henry. Yeah. It was contrarian. We were driving to a birthday party and Elise texted me to say she was going to be in my neighborhood and did I want to go on a walk later and also do the handoff? And I texted her back and Henry was like, who was that? And I said, oh, that was my friend Elise. And he's like, what are you doing? And I said, well, when we get back from the birthday party, I'm going to go on a walk with her. And he was sort of like, can I come in this really sweet way? And I was like, of course. Of course you can come. He's a good hang.
Elise (04:25):
He's a fun hang.
Doree (04:27):
He's a fun hang. He's a fun hang.
Elise (04:29):
Yeah. Yeah. And I really needed to get out of that windowless sound stage. Oh God too. It's such a breath of fresh air just to A get to see my friend Doree, but B, be out in the sunshine and feel such wind. It was a nice day on your face.
Doree (04:49):
Touch grass, as they say, literally touch grass. Yeah. Yeah. What else has been happening with you?
Elise (05:01):
Oh boy. Well, it's my birthday week coming up and I like to celebrate for a while, so I'm really excited. We're going to go on a little birthday trip. Me and my best girlfriend, speaking of friends, my longtime bestie Liz, shout out to Liz who lives in Chicago. I haven't seen her since. We went to the ERAS tour the first year of the ERAS tour, so 2023, so this is the first time we're going to get together since then and we're meeting up in De Mexico, so CDMX, Mexico City. Very excited. I hear the food scene there is amazing and I like to eat my face off on vacation. That's one of my favorite activities. People love Mexico City. It is a very beloved world city and a lot of folks have lived there or spent a lot of time there. I have the benefit of being very good friends with Ada Peralta, who is the Mexico City Bureau chief for NPR. And so he is going to spend Sunday, part of Sunday and then Saturday night with us. And so I think that'll be fun. And then some friends who are also going, they offered to do the, you can do a hot air balloon ride above the pyramids, my pyramids if you want, and they offered that, but then they said, we don't know what your vacation vibe is because you do have to get up at like five 30 in the morning in order to go out of town to get on the hot air balloon. I That's
Doree (06:32):
Probably not Was your vacation vibe?
Elise (06:34):
Yeah, that was an immediate, no,
Doree (06:37):
That was a no. You've been tortured by early wake up this whole semester or this whole year because of your daughter's new schedule. You're like, I am not waking up at five 30. Nope. Nope. What a lovely gesture though.
Elise (06:54):
Yes, yes. So they are planning a dinner instead, which is my vibe,
Doree (06:58):
So yes, yes, yes.
Elise (07:01):
Drinks and laughter and food and merriment. Those are my vibes. Very nice. Those are part of my vibes, so
Doree (07:06):
Good. I do that. Yeah. I was going to offer to ask my friend who is a real food person who was just in Mexico City, if you had any wrecks, but it sounds like you're covered
Elise (07:19):
And we only have so many meals that we can squeeze into three days. Yes,
Doree (07:25):
Totally.
Elise (07:26):
I'll have a to-do list or a to eat list after this one, I'm sure. Anyway. Yeah. What about you? How are you surviving? How are you surviving these unprecedented times?
Doree (07:41):
My friend Elizabeth was in town. We had such a lovely time. It was really nice to see her. It was also really nice to go to the Korean spa. I hadn't been in so long. I got scrubbed. I sat in,
Elise (08:00):
So you have no dead skin cells on your body anymore. Basically skin
Doree (08:02):
Cells don't even go looking for any, not there.
Elise (08:05):
They've
Doree (08:06):
Been scrubbed off by a lovely woman named Grace.
Elise (08:09):
Grace, of course,
Doree (08:10):
Yes.
Elise (08:12):
You're probably as soft as a baby's bottom.
Doree (08:14):
That's exactly how I describe myself. I describe myself as I sort of also felt like a newly shor sheep.
(08:26):
Not that I really know what that feels like, but I imagine it's similar. You're just like you shed so much. So yeah, so that was great. I had some veggie dumplings. I also got some shave ice, which was great. We laid in some saunas. We went up to the roof. We really had a time and then we all went back to our respective homes slash hotels to regroup and then we met up for dinner on Saturday night, which was really nice. And I don't go out to dinner anymore, so I was like, oh yeah, I remember when I used to go out to dinner, I got dressed in real clothes. My friends were like, whoa. Literally they were like, oh, you cleaned up. Nice. Yeah, they were like, oh. And I was like, yeah, I guess this is, it's weird for me. Just so Yeah.
Elise (09:33):
Well that sounds really great and that you got to kick off friendship month. I mean, I know it was unplanned, but that you got to kick off friendship month with a visit from a good friend. I think it speaks to a lot of the things that we're going to hear about this month, which includes things like getting together in real life, how important it is to get in real life. FaceTime, which I'm doing with my friend Elizabeth, my friend Liz as well. And then also kind of just the consistency and intention that we have to put into our friendships, especially in midlife. So how lovely. Yeah, you're kind of living the lessons of the month.
Doree (10:10):
It was great. And I had said last week that I was going to tell Elizabeth in person how much I appreciated our friendship and I did do that. I mean a very emotional moment. I got teary and yeah, it was just like a great weekend.
Elise (10:30):
Well, we want to preview some of our guests that are going to be on later this month on Monday. You heard from Anna Goldfarb already and coming up in the coming weeks are Kaley Killam and Reyna Cohen and Dr. Marissa Franco and all of them know each other but spoke to us independently. They have different areas of specialty when it comes to platonic friends and connection in general. So really excited to host them this month.
Doree (11:03):
I did think it was funny that all of them asked who else we were having on, and when we told them they were like, oh yeah, okay. Yeah, it's all their friends. Yeah, each other. Yeah, right. They were like, yeah, you check the boxes. Yeah, we're going to have Anna Gold far back on at the end of the month to respond to your questions about friendship and I know we've gotten a bunch of them already. We'd love to get more. So please keep them coming because yeah, she's great and she's excited to answer. It's going to be great.
Elise (11:41):
Yeah, so when we do the intro to that mini app, we get to say we're not experts, but we have one on.
Doree (11:49):
Alright, well let's take a break. Before that, I just want to remind everyone, our voicemail number is 7 8 1 5 9 1 0 3 9 0. You can also text us on that number. You can call or text us with your regular Min app questions and then also your friendship questions or email them to us at Forever 35 podcast@gmail.com. Visit our website forever 35 podcast.com. We have links there to everything we mentioned on the show. We are on Instagram at FE 35 podcast. We have our newsletter at forever 35 podcast.com/newsletter and you can shop our favorite products at shop my US slash forever 35 and we are going to take a short break. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Alright, we're back. We got a text. Elise, do you want to take this one?
Elise (12:46):
Yeah, sure. Hi, forever 35. Thank you for your solidarity and support through the pod right now. Love y'all. On a recent mini app, Elise was talking about using chat GBT to give recipes for your you when you just want two cookies or to use one banana in your fridge. I have one recommendation and one request. First, I love Christina Lane's blog and IG dessert for two. She writes small batch recipes specifically for a two person household or just a time when you don't need a whole cake. She has an education in food science and doesn't just have recipes. She might even be an Angelino, I can't remember. Additionally, y'all are such good stewards and usually give sustainable recommendations. So I was surprised to hear Elise so casually use chat GPT for something that's easily googleable. The use of this tool uses so much water and other natural resources, so I don't think people are aware of how devastating it is for the environment.
(13:44):
Something to consider. Again, thanks for all you do love from Atlanta. I totally understand there is so much debate about the ethics of AI right now and where it is sort of ethically in the ecosystem of tech tools that we have, especially when AI can be so resource heavy. I think that's true for Bitcoin and crypto in general. A lot of the blockchain, it can be also very resource dependent. One thing that's really difficult to tease apart though is so many of our platforms where we do search for information now are driven by AI tools. So Google, if I were to Google the same thing, Google can now rely on an AI platform to do something as a chat GBT or another AI tool or protocol would do. So it's hard for me to kind of tease apart, but also it's interesting because I use it to try and be sustainable and not be wasteful with my food, right? Like hey, I have this extra stuff and we want to actually use it, but then the tool to help me find the information on how to be sustainable with my food and not waste, it might be wasteful. So it is just like a very tangled web
(15:12):
We live in and I think that get resourced research up and figure out where your lines are as individuals and as we are all on one planet.
Doree (15:24):
Yes. I love that. Thank you. We got a couple of voicemails about chocolate chip cookies.
Listener Voicemail (15:33):
Oh my gosh. My very first pause the pod moment. Ladies, I need you to know about freezer cookie dough. So Elise just mentioned sometimes she wants just to chocolate chip cookies and I totally understand that and while doing the math for that is hard, I think the egg part of it makes that almost impossible. So what I think that you should do is Google pleasable chocolate chip cookie dough and find recipes that are well suited to preparing the entire batch and then scooping it out into little lumps or whatever and then freezing them on a flat tray with parchment paper so it doesn't stick and you don't hate yourself later. But then just throw those lumps of chocolate chip cookie dough into a plastic bag and then bake off whenever you want. Hot, delicious chocolate chip cookies in small amounts. I have cookie dough in my freezer for several different types of cookies at any given time. It's a lifesaver genius. Anyway, you both thank you so much for all that you do and happy Wednesday.
Doree (16:47):
I do know a lot of people do this. Genius. Yeah, I have done this with the copycat Levin chocolate chip cookie recipe. Ooh,
Listener Voicemail (17:03):
Yeah.
Doree (17:04):
Sometimes I will also make those cookies, bake them all and then freeze them individually, like already baked because you can throw them in the microwave. Less work later they taste. Yeah, they taste really good. Like warm. Yes. So love that.
Elise (17:22):
Well Doree, my birthday is coming up just casually mentioning apropos of nothing. Okay, just
Doree (17:30):
Noted. Noted. No reason. No reason. Just mentioning it. Just mentioning it all. We got another voicemail about this very topic. Here we go.
Listener Voicemail (17:43):
Hi Elise. And do I wanted to share some critically important information that there is a recipe on the Innerwebs for two chocolate chip cookies. The website is Pinch of Yum. And if you Google two giant chocolate chip cookies, you can also, half her recipe she has on the website, you have the ability to put half the serving size or even double it if you wanted to make more. She has full chocolate, chocolate versions of these cookies. They're great. I love them for the weekdays when I just want something sweet or to eat my feelings and my husband and I can have them. I've also broken them into doing four smaller ones so my kids can have them. And my husband and I
Listener Voicemail (18:30):
Anyway
Listener Voicemail (18:31):
Love this website. They have a lot of really good recipes and she does have some desserts like this that are smaller portioned, so you're not making giant batches of things. Anyway, thank you guys for everything you do. Love you all have a great day. Bye. Hi.
Doree (18:45):
Okay. That is kind of genius. We'll include.
Elise (18:48):
Yes, it's genius. I love all of these resources that y'all are sending in, so we will include them in our show notes. And I'm getting very hungry talking about this.
Doree (18:56):
I know, I'm like, do I need to go make some dog chip cookies? Literally? Oh, Henry would be so mad if I made chocolate chip cookies without him. He loves making chocolate chip cookies. So sweet.
(19:11):
So sweet. Maybe I'll wait for him. Yeah, maybe you should. Maybe you should. Alright, we got one more email about news sources and things you can do. And this is actually one of the things they mentioned is something Elise that I know you've mentioned in passing. I don't know if we've ever talked about it extensively, but I just want to read this. Okay. Hi, join Elise. Since January 20th I've been navigating the stages of grief with a nonstop eye twitch, but now I'm ready to channel that energy into action. On a recent podcast, you asked for ways listeners are being proactive and focusing on small actions. So I wanted to share a couple of resources that have been invaluable to me. First off, I highly recommend five calls.org. This platform simplifies the process of calling your congress person. You input your location and choose from various current issues like the National Abortion Ban Cabinet picks, and Elon Musk's government involvement.
(20:10):
They provide scripts adjustable to your preference and contact numbers, making the daunting task of calling surprisingly manageable even for someone like me with anxiety. Plus you can leave a voicemail after hours if that suits you better. I've also been sending messages through each congress person's website and contacting my state governor and attorney general on pertinent issues. Additionally, subscribing to Jessica Craven's, chop Wood Carry water Substack has been incredibly helpful. She provides daily updates, action scripts and practical ways to stay engaged. It's a great resource to stay informed and motivated. These small actions might seem insignificant individually, but collectively they make a difference. Let's keep pushing forward together.
Elise (20:51):
Oh, that's great. That reminds me of something love. Yeah, it reminds me of something that they say about social change, which is that all social change ever really is a bunch of individuals acting in concert with one another after they've hit a critical mass. So there's always this debate about how much are individuals responsible for systemic problems, but individuals can actually have an impact on changing the course of the future in solving systemic problems if we act collectively. So it is about hitting a critical mass. And then I was actually watching one of the A OC Instagram lives, which have been surprisingly vital during these last couple of weeks. And she talked about how the calls do make a difference. She listed several reasons why and they're important, but one is that the people who watch a bunch of Fox News and have their brains cooked in right-wing media call their lawmakers consistently. That is a crowd that reliably calls their lawmakers.
(21:55):
And so if you aren't calling, but you have strong feelings, but you're busy and that's not a form of civic action you do, it leaves a gaping hole on one side of the debate in which it seems as though America or the populace is more right word than it actually is. Because congress members actually use the volume of calls and the subjects that people are calling about as a way to take a temperature. It's like an unofficial anecdotal survey of what people care about and it's completely unscientific, right, because just basing it on who bothers to call you. But that's how lawmakers often judge public opinion. They judge it in this unscientific, anecdotal way of who's calling their offices. Especially
Doree (22:44):
Its squeaky wheel gets the grease. Yes.
Elise (22:48):
And so especially if you live in a district that's represented by a lawmaker, like a Republican lawmaker, a Republican senator who might be voting in opposition of your interests call anyway, be sure to call them, especially because you'll be able to add your voice to a chorus of folks who might show them, at least indicate to them the places where they're going to get pushback, the places where their constituents are going to be mad and mad enough to threaten their power.
Doree (23:20):
Thank you, Elise. Such a good reminder. And Jessica Craven is a wonderful human. She's here in LA and she's very active locally as well as nationally. So highly recommend her. Okay, let's take another short break and we'll be right back. We'll be right. All right, we are back and we're going to play one more voicemail.
Listener Voicemail (23:54):
Alright. Hi. Forever 35 wonderful people. I wanted to call in from Haverhill Math and let you know about a new experience. Well, new for me, not really revelatory for other people, but I recently went to a med spa to get Botox for my TMJ. I was obviously very nervous because I'm just not the type of person to do things like that, but my headaches were bad and I constantly felt myself clenching and grinding my teeth throughout the day for just no reason. And despite therapy and meds, I still was struggling. So I went, got Botox. It has helped tremendously. I no longer am clenching my teeth as much. It didn't completely eliminate it, but it's definitely, I would say 80% better. And obviously nothing's going to be a hundred percent. But the other thing is while I was there I have some pop blood vessels underneath my eye and on my nose. And while they're not terrible, they've always bothered me. So I see a doctor there and he recommended IPL and I'm going to do that in a couple of weeks and it's really just been the first time that a doctor has, I've gone in for a skin issue, I've had acne and rosacea my whole life and I've been like, Hey, this thing bothers me. And they're like, yeah, I can fix that. And it's not a super invasive procedure and it's not going to be something that's going to leave me looking like a burn victim.
(25:24):
So it was just really nice to go and have someone be honest and upfront. I mean, I know this is not something that's accessible from a monetary perspective, but if you have those minor things that kind of bother you, it might be worth looking into a med spa versus trying to wait six months to go in to see a dermatologist. And I've seen a lot of dermatologists in my life, so just wanted to throw that out there as a suggestion. And I'm sure it's been mentioned on the pods before, but I wanted to revisit that and I love you guys. I love the pod. You are a bright spot in my day every time I listen to you and I greatly appreciate that. Thank you.
Doree (26:11):
Thank you. Great tip. Yeah, great tip. Love a wreck like that. Thank you so much. Alright, we are going to wrap things up with a Sam's Club wreck.
Elise (26:23):
Yeah, now they're coming in.
Doree (26:25):
Yeah, love the Sam's Club heads showing themselves. Yes. All right. This listener writes, I really wanted to get a nugget couch for my son, but the price tag was a bit steep for my budget. So I got the Sam's Club brand one, I can't remember the name of it, but it was only $150 and it's holding up really well to my almost 2-year-old son who loves to crash on it and throw the triangle pillows. So just thought I'd send that out there to anyone who has small or slightly larger children and wants to purchase the nugget. But the nugget is a little out of reach. Thanks. I think Costco also has a Nugget Dupe and I think there's also now Dupe on Amazon, but
Elise (27:13):
Even the Dupe sounds expensive.
Doree (27:15):
150. I was going to say the Dupe actually does sound kind of expensive. The nugget itself is $250.
Elise (27:24):
Oh, okay. Okay.
Doree (27:25):
So you're saving a hundred dollars.
Elise (27:28):
Yeah.
Doree (27:29):
It's funny because during Covid nuggets were in super high demand and you had to, they basically were doing drops and it's crazy. So it's funny to just go on their website and see that you can just buy a nugget now.
Elise (27:46):
Yeah, yeah. I want to put one in the Hugh Hideaway in the back house, but my kids have kind of outgrown it except for Luna, they've kind of outgrown own that sort of play structure or play couch. I'll put a call out though to listeners to if you have a good sort of futon type option. I have an area of the Hideaway that's really kind of a sitting area, but I would also like it to be an extra bed if necessary.
Doree (28:19):
I find the nugget oddly comfortable to sleep on, but only if you are a firm mattress person. I love a firm mattress and the nugget is basically just like a firm foam mattress, but if you're someone who likes to sink into your plush mattress, it's not going to be the right
Elise (28:39):
One. Okay. Okay. This is helpful.
Doree (28:42):
Helpful. Alright, good. Well thanks everyone. Thank you Elise. Great to chat and we will talk to you all very soon.
Elise (28:50):
Happy
Doree (28:50):
Friendship month. Bye.