# #301: Comfort Objects

An episode of [A Beautiful Mess Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1485472892), 25 May 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/498/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/abmpodcast/ABM_EP301_Final.mp3?dest-id=1624655

This week we're discussing comfort objects- little things that bring inordinate comfort into our lives. We're also sharing our cozy rituals and ideal way to spend a day. Thank you to this week's sponsor: Go to Biologica.com/MESS and get up to 32% off your first subscription order today! Use code MESS to get up to 57% Off at Firstday.com Elsie's comfort objects: • Hoodies and quilts • A blank journal • Books / Library ladder Emma's comfort objects: • Cardigans • Bedside books • Couch blanket You can support us by leaving us a couple of 5 star recipe reviews this week at abeautifulmess.com Have a topic idea for the podcast? Write in to us at podcast@abeautifulmess.com or leave us a voicemail at 417-893-0011.

## Transcript

[0:00] Elsie
[0:01] You're listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast, your cozy comfort listen. I'm your host, Elsie Larson.
[0:02] Emma
[0:03] And I'm your host, Emma Chapman.
[0:04] Elsie
[0:05] This week, we're discussing comfort objects, so little things that bring inordinate comfort to our lives.
[0:06] We're also sharing our cozy rituals and an ideal way to spend the day. So, before we jump in, I have,
[0:07] like, a funny, weird update. I think this is, like, I think I'm either evolving, either evolving, getting old, or
[0:08] both.
[0:09] Emma
[0:10] I think getting old might be evolving, though. So, I think they're your only options.
[0:11] Elsie
[0:12] I think I'm evolved. I think I'm getting old and evolving. Okay, so I have been known my entire life as a
[0:13] messy person, and in fact that is like how our blog, A Beautiful Mess, got its name in, I don't know what
[0:14] year, 2012 or something, whenever we named it.
[0:15] Emma
[0:16] It was before that.
[0:17] Elsie
[0:18] Oh yeah, you're right, 2006, 2006 or seven, probably.
[0:19] Emma
[0:20] @007 That's my.. anyway, it doesn't matter, okay?
[0:21] Emma
[0:22] Date that sounds a long time ago, okay. So, anyway, I've been messing my entire, entire, entire life, but
[0:23] this year I don't know if it was getting a new kitchen. It is the greatest kitchen ever, I'm not gonna lie,
[0:24] like, and yeah, and it took six months of it being ripped out, for so it was a very long renovation. It was
[0:25] very taxing. It was hard on my kids. It was a hellscape. We talked about it at the time, and I'll probably
[0:26] talk about it more in the future. I'm sorry. I know, I know, I can't complain, but anyway, you can, and you
[0:27] are ever said since I got my new kitchen, have you noticed I am now a clean person, and I also have
[0:28] been keeping my house super clean every single week. Yeah, we have a couple problem areas, but for
[0:29] the most part, the house is mostly clean. For the first time in my entire life, I'm not leaving messes
[0:30] everywhere constantly, like I'm so, so all it took was the fanciest kitchen ever. Good to know. I think that
[0:31] having your dream kitchen really does make you a better person. That's the moral. That's where I'm
[0:32] headed with this. Yeah, I like that moral. No, I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying I've changed, and
[0:33] I'm like surprised by it, and I'm even like a little bit like I clean up immediately every single time, every
[0:34] single day, every single time someone uses Gorgias Kitchen. So maybe you're like, I can't have this
[0:35] crap around making it un-gorgeous. Yeah, gotta let her shine like it has probably been messy for more
[0:36] than 24 hours, like twice in the past six months. Like, isn't that like different for me? Yeah, no, I'm your
[0:37] house usually is very clean now that you're mentioning it. I'm like, yeah, that is true. Yeah, and I know
[0:38] everyone's like, you have a house cleaner. My house cleaner comes one to two times a month. I
[0:39] promise you, that's not the only thing.
[0:40] Emma
[0:41] As I tell my son, just because we have someone who comes and helps keep our house clean doesn't
[0:42] mean that it's not our job to tidy up too.
[0:43] Elsie
[0:44] Yeah, and you still have to do the daily stuff or it would be
[0:45] Emma
[0:46] A disaster. Yeah, she'd have to be there for like three days if you do anything, you know, terrible.
[0:47] Anyway, I guess that was just bragging, but I don't know. Maybe also changed into a new person. I'm
[0:48] just excited. I mean, it also shows you're like valuing the thing that you wanted and got, and I think
[0:49] that's good. There's definitely some wisdom there, because I think it is kind of easy to be like, I have
[0:50] this thing I want, and then you get it, and you immediately kind of don't care, which is like not cool.
[0:51] That's normal. Not doing it is normal, and you're not doing that. You're like, no, no, I care. I'm like
[0:52] keeping this a certain way because it matters to me so much, and I love it so much.
[0:53] Elsie
[0:54] Something happened, something changed. I think I don't know. I think my soul is healed, though. Nice.
[0:55] Okay, so in this episode I, I'm sorry, I didn't write down who sent us this, but it is a comfort objects
[0:56] theme. I thought this was such a fascinating subject, because it's just things that bring you this, you
[0:57] know, huge amount of comfort, and I like, I am a person who loves to be home, but I was thinking, also,
[0:58] like, what brings me comfort when I'm in another country? What brings me comfort on an airplane? You
[0:59] know, there's like, there are things, there are consistencies, and it's interesting, like, that anywhere in
[1:00] the world, these three things are something that I probably am relying on. Okay, so I'll go first. My first
[1:01] one is a hoodie and or quilts, like it can be a zip up hoodie or a pullover hoodie, either way, but I do, I
[1:02] kind of do like the hood.
[1:03] Emma
[1:04] Do you wear the hood?
[1:05] Elsie
[1:06] Sometimes, but mostly not. The cardigan is, is also good. I like any kind of sweater, honestly, is good,
[1:07] but the hoodie is the ultimate. Comfy, cozy, like it just feels, you know, right. And I don't necessarily
[1:08] think hoodies are like in style now, so I think it's more of just like it always was, it always is, it always will
[1:09] be. Yeah, and then quilts, I specifically, I have one right now. I like these small little kind of like lap
[1:10] quilts, like they're the size of, they're the size you would use to, like, watch TV under, so not even quite
[1:11] a twin size quilt, but if it comes in twin size, I can also go there, not bigger than that, not crib size, so it
[1:12] is more, it's not a baby blanket, it's bigger than a baby, it's a lap quilt, so yeah, if anyone ever has links
[1:13] to quilts, send them to me. I promise, like I promise you, I am always in the market. They're very hard to
[1:14] find the perfect ones. This one that I have, my favorite, favorite one, this company went out of business.
[1:15] And then my other favorite ones were made by Schoolhouse Electric, I think they're sort of, kind of
[1:16] going out of business, and they stopped selling their quilts, which was, and they do have fake dupe
[1:17] ones on quince that are exactly the same, which maybe that's the pro, maybe that's the problem. Get
[1:18] yourself crazy, I guess. I don't know, guess. Anyway, I just love a quilt. I like them for sleeping. I prefer a
[1:19] quilt better than a duvet is fine. A quilt to me is ultimate. Two or three quilts, best quilts when I'm
[1:20] watching TV, quilts when I'm working on my book, quilts even when I'm riding in the car. I sometimes
[1:21] bring them with me. Our movie theater is like it's called the Alamo Drafthouse, I think they have them all
[1:22] around the country, but they kind of seem to encourage people to bring little blankets. I definitely don't
[1:23] discourage it. It's the greatest thing ever. I just love it, like the reclining seat, the blanket. It feel, and my
[1:24] kids will just all be walking in there with our three blankets, and it's just a wonderful.. So, anyway, quilts
[1:25] and hoodies. What is your first comfort object?
[1:26] Emma
[1:27] Mine was cardigans, so it's interesting, because I actually, I do own some hoodies. I don't love the
[1:28] hood. I almost never use the hood, and I feel like zip up is better, but like a hoodie for me, I feel like it's
[1:29] always like hitting my neck, like it's like the hood is like tight, pulling it up, so it's like hitting my neck, and
[1:30] it just kind of bothers me. Like, I find myself, I have this one hoodie sweatsuit, it's like matching, and I
[1:31] think it's really cute, and I look cute in it, so I wear it fairly often. I mean, ish, I don't know, and I find
[1:32] myself pulling at the neck all the time, and I'm always like, ah, but I feel like it wouldn't look as cute
[1:33] without the hood, so I don't know. Anyway, I love a cardigan, I like that you can button it, you can get
[1:34] cardigans with pockets. To me, it feels like wearing a small blanket, and so I really like that. And at the
[1:35] moment, I try to keep my closet where it's like I wear everything, but I also have everything I want, so
[1:36] it's not like a tiny minimalist closet, but it's also not giant, you know, it's like in the middle. Anyway, so I
[1:37] have four cardigans, I'm wearing one right now, this black one that I'm wearing, I have the exact same
[1:38] one in white, so I have, I like, bought them at the same time, so I liked them, and I liked the fit. And then
[1:39] I have a pink one, it's kind of like a peachy pink, which normally wouldn't fit my palette, but it does, for
[1:40] whatever reason, like it, it looks good. So I'm like, so I kept it whenever I went through my color
[1:41] analysis. And then I have a blue one, because I have blue in everything, blue is kind of my color. So
[1:42] those are the four cardigans, and I like them all, and they all button up. They're all exactly what I want.
[1:43] And if another cardigan makes it into my closet, it will be something very special, or it will be replacing
[1:44] one of these, because I've gotten a hole, but I can't repair something, because I like a jacket. And,
[1:45] obviously, there's times you need a coat, but to me, a cardigan is like a good throw it onto your outfit,
[1:46] you could take it off the outfit, it's like part of the outfit, and not, which there's a lot of seasons, yeah,
[1:47] Midwest, where that's kind of necessary. It's, I need a cardigan in the morning, and by the afternoon
[1:48] you're kind of sweating, and you're wearing a tank top, like it's, you know, that kind of thing.
[1:49] Elsie
[1:50] I have a lot of cardigans with, like, Peter Pan collars, and, like, roughly call, like, you know what I mean,
[1:51] like, more, I don't know, and I think they're so cute. Okay, my next one is a journal, but preferably a
[1:52] blank brand new journal. This is, of course, this is just.. it has been my possibilities. Yes, it's been my
[1:53] comfort since I was a child, and I think I am training my children to be exactly like me, because I have
[1:54] this drawer in our puzzle room, the room where the puzzles are. So I bought, like, a 50 pack of the
[1:55] really small A five Moleskine journals, and my children started asking for them, like every day, like every
[1:56] night. They knew not, but it's like several times a week, they're like, can we have a draw, can we have a
[1:57] new journal, and they come get a journal, they know where they are, they take the new journal, they
[1:58] write not more than half, they do not fill more than half of it, and then they start a new one, and I'm like,
[1:59] oh, that is me, that is my trait passed down, but the reason why I'm like that, I can't defend it, because it
[2:00] is wasteful, it is. Wasting some paper, for sure. I keep them, I love them. I do lose them. Yeah, bad
[2:01] things happen. And I also.. that's why I'm like into the.. I have like the notes. What do you call this on
[2:02] your computer?
[2:03] Emma
[2:04] No, I don't know how to do that.
[2:05] Elsie
[2:06] I have 453 notes on my computer, so I definitely also do that.
[2:07] Emma
[2:08] I use my notes app.
[2:09] Elsie
[2:10] Yeah. And I'm very careful about not putting things into journals. I usually use it for brain dumping, so
[2:11] the best time is if I'm flying, if I'm traveling, if I'm going to any kind of a family thing, or any kind of a
[2:12] thing where my mind is going to be like wandering, basically, that is the time for me to have a brand
[2:13] new journal, and just to be like casually filling it rapidly with like 100 ideas, and for some reason, like if
[2:14] any situation where I'm like forced to sit and have nothing to do is the ultimate journal.
[2:15] Emma
[2:16] Anytime I've sat next to you on a plane, it's like we sit down, we get comfortable. I'm about to pull out
[2:17] my book, and Elsie pulls out a blank journal, that's when you know you're in court, and she'll go, "Let's
[2:18] come up with 100 business ideas. It's like a two hour flight. I'm like, "Okay, let's do that instead. It
[2:19] works. It works. I mean, I shouldn't have dragged you into it, but I love it, like all of my best ideas are
[2:20] with, yeah, with the blank journals. Anyway, your turn. Okay, my next one is bedside books. So, this is
[2:21] kind of specific. So, on my bedside table, I always have at least two books. Here's when things get
[2:22] unhinged. So, two books is good, two books is normal. I'm in a healthy place. Things start to get a little
[2:23] unhinged whenever I get kind of excited about my next read, while I'm in the middle of a read, and so I
[2:24] kind of do this thing where I think of it as like, here's my book that's on deck. So I like VR, I like to go
[2:25] pick out from my library the next on deck, and every once in a while I then have another one
[2:26] underneath that's like, and after that one, I'm gonna read this one, and it starts to get a little like, okay,
[2:27] calm down, because sometimes by the time I'm done with my current read, I'm like in the mood for
[2:28] something else, but I just get excited, so I kind of have this little stack going, but that's just novels, then
[2:29] I often will have a nonfiction, right now my current nonfiction, which I'll tell you all about once I finish it,
[2:30] but it's called Shark Drunk, and I'm basically just learning about Greenland sharks in the Arctic. I'm not
[2:31] learning how to be a better person. I love those nonfictions, but a lot of times I'm just reading something
[2:32] really weird that's like weird. So that, and then lately I've been very into also having a short story
[2:33] collection or a poetry collection, and for me, I kind of like to oscillate. Like, most nights I read my fiction.
[2:34] Some nights I read my nonfiction only. Some nights I kind of read a little bit of fiction, then I read a
[2:35] nonfiction, then I read one or two poems, and I feel like for whatever reason in my mind, like reading a
[2:36] short story or two or three poems, I'm like, this will put me to sleep. And it's funny because it's like the
[2:37] short story collections and the poetry collections I'm reading, they're not boring, like they're very good,
[2:38] they're all like award winners, and like the poems I have on the side of my bed right now is like a
[2:39] Pulitzer Prize winning like collection, like it's very good, but I think maybe it's the pacing of it, and like
[2:40] it's kind of sing songy lyrical, almost, and it, you know, it's a poem, you get it, and something about that.
[2:41] I'm like, this is like an adult lullaby, and I like want it. I want it by my bed, because it makes me feel like
[2:42] this will help me fall asleep. Even just knowing the books are near me makes me feel comfort. So, two
[2:43] books is normal, though, but sometimes my bedside gets a little unhinged with the books.
[2:44] Elsie
[2:45] I read the poems before bed too, and I think it's a wonderful thing.
[2:46] Emma
[2:47] Yeah, it's very fun. I haven't written a poem, I don't even know the last time I wrote a poem, really. I
[2:48] don't really have a strong interest in it. I'm not against it. I just, I kind of like sometimes you read a novel
[2:49] and I'm kind of like, oh, here's what I would have done, or oh, I like how this author did this, and it's not
[2:50] like I'm trying to research, but I am kind of, because I'm interested in writing fiction, and I am, as I
[2:51] mentioned in the last episode, I'm writing some short stories right now, just for fun. But I really don't
[2:52] write poetry, so I feel like I just am enjoying it. It's like I'm just in it for the ride, because I don't have any
[2:53] poetry ideas at the moment, and maybe ever, I have no idea.
[2:54] Elsie
[2:55] Yeah, I hope you do someday. I think it's really fun. Okay, my last one is almost the same. It is books,
[2:56] but also my library with the ladder. It had to have the ladder. The ladder was a big deal. Yeah, it was a
[2:57] big deal. And I think, like, relative, like price wise, I think the ladder gives me the most joy and
[2:58] satisfaction per dollar that any purchase I've ever made in my life has, you know. Yeah, because it's not
[2:59] really that expensive, but it's like it adds so much joy, and like I just really, really, really wanted it. You
[3:00] know, who else likes a ladder? Hugo. Yeah, bit of a problem. Well, it's a.. I mean, I knew what I was
[3:01] doing. I have a house full of kids all the time. I knew what I was doing when I put a rolling ladder in the
[3:02] dining room, and I'll just say it could be worse. Oh, yeah, it could definitely be worse. Yeah, still not that
[3:03] unsafe. It's fine. Yeah, and it's not in the highest trafficked room, I don't know, but yeah, I just love it.
[3:04] Just bring me joy. And then books, I truly do want to read all the books in my house. It's kind of like
[3:05] when older men see your band T-shirt and they say, like, can you name three..
[3:06] Emma
[3:07] Led Zeppelin songs?
[3:08] Elsie
[3:09] Yeah, it's like that when people are like, are you really gonna read all those books, and it's like, I hope.
[3:10] Full stop. What more can I say? I hope that I get to read all the books that I have planned. I bought
[3:11] them because I was interested in them. I am aware that maybe it's too many for a human to read, but
[3:12] I'm still gonna try, and I think that's fine. And I think it's also like good to just like have like what you
[3:13] were saying, things on deck, yeah, like, just to be excited about the future, yeah. And, and I don't know,
[3:14] is it, is it like really harmful to have too many books? Like, I just think it's a harmless collection. My
[3:15] books are all from thrift books, like, it's not taking anything. There's no scarcity in the world for books
[3:16] anymore. Well, maybe there's.. it's not like in the, in the old, the old timey books that I like reading. The
[3:17] books are like hard to get, and it's like, you, you can't get a copy of everything.
[3:18] Emma
[3:19] They only printed 100 so you're one of 100 and no one else can have it.
[3:20] Elsie
[3:21] Yeah, there's like a ton of scarcity, and people who hoard books are a little bit evil. I don't think it's like
[3:22] that anymore. I think it's like I think people who hoard books are cool and exciting and interesting.
[3:23] Emma
[3:24] So, yeah, plus I do hoard books, and though so often people are over at my house and we'll be talking
[3:25] about something, but books, and I'll be like, oh, I just finished, you know, I walk upstairs and I grab my
[3:26] book and I give it to him. There was one day, a friend of ours was over, and her daughter was with her.
[3:27] We were watching Super Bowl, and her daughter's like, middle grade reader, and I happened to have a
[3:28] little collection of middle grade books, and she was talking about books she likes, and she was, she
[3:29] was like, "Oh, you like mysteries, have you ever read this or this? And I went upstairs and brought her
[3:30] down, and I was like, "Take them. So I don't know, I think it's like I'm hoarding them, but I'm also like
[3:31] pretty open to giving them away at any point. If someone seems interested, I'm like, "You want to read
[3:32] this? Here it is, yours. You can bring it back to me or not. I don't care. I really don't care at all. I won't
[3:33] even remember, to be honest, because I have so many more books coming in the mail all the time. And
[3:34] my husband roasts me a lot about all my books that come in. He doesn't care at all. He thinks it's great
[3:35] that I buy books, but he likes to roast me. He's like, "When are you gonna have time to read all these
[3:36] books? And I'm like, "How dare you? Just because I spend most of my time caring for our children,
[3:37] you're thinking I can't read all these books. Well, I'm going to do it eventually. He's like, "Okay, calm
[3:38] down, you can have as many books as you want. Nobody cares. That's right. I will say it is useful. Like,
[3:39] I take a lot of writing classes, and a lot of times they'll be like, "Read the opening chapter of this book,
[3:40] or like, "This book does this, and it's like just some kind of little, like, a sort of technique that you have to
[3:41] open up the physical book to look at, and I almost always have them. We also recently had an episode
[3:42] where we were talking about books within a book, and a lot of people wrote us about their favorite
[3:43] books within a book, and there's this one that's like Rainbow Royal, she has a book where there's
[3:44] someone writing fan fiction, but then she actually wrote the fan fiction book, and I hadn't read all these
[3:45] podcast emails yet, but I was at the thrift one day, and I saw this book by Ramora, and I love her. Think
[3:46] she's a great author. I hadn't really heard of it, but I was like, this looks cool, two magicians, neat. I'll
[3:47] love this. So I bought it, and then I read all those podcast emails, and it was exactly that book, and it
[3:48] was just funny. I was like, oh, I think I meant to read this, I guess, but I also just feel like that happens a
[3:49] lot, like you're saying, like with craft books, you're like, read the opening chapter, blah blah blah, and
[3:50] you're like, I happen to have that because I have so many books in my house. It's fun. I mean, like,
[3:51] when you're writing, it is really helpful to just like open up books and see how they start. Yeah, a bunch
[3:52] of them, like a dozen. When I write sex scenes, I like to read a whole bunch of them. Ooh, yeah, I have
[3:53] them marked in books that I've read before, because I just think it's interesting to be like, how did
[3:54] someone write about this? How you write about this? How did they start? How did they end? You know,
[3:55] whatever. Like, it's just fun. Love it. Love. Okay, I have one more. Okay, and it was couch blankets. So I
[3:56] feel like this is on with your quilts. I'm more of a fuzzy blanket gal, or just throw blanket, maybe it's the
[3:57] right word. So I also think, and it's not a seasonal episode, but I just have to put it up that I like to put
[3:58] away my regular blankets and bring out the Halloween ones, and I'll put away my bring out the
[3:59] Christmas ones, and I didn't this year, but next year my plan is to buy some. Easter ones, I don't exactly
[4:00] know what that means, but I just like, so it's two things. One, I like celebrating the seasons, and my kids
[4:01] are always like, the Halloween blankets, like they notice when things change around the house.
[4:02] Second, and this might grow shrout, but this is another way that it just reminds me to wash the
[4:03] blankets, yeah, where I'm like, oh, okay, I'm getting out the Halloween blankets, so now it's time to
[4:04] wash the regular ones, and then they'll come back out in a month or two, you know, like it's just like a
[4:05] nice little, because if you think about it, there's like three or four seasons in the year, like holidays, so
[4:06] you can kind of end up washing your blankets quite a bit, just because you're, you're switching out for a
[4:07] seasonal one, which is nice. Gotta wash them or they get stinky.
[4:08] Elsie
[4:09] Okay, so this is a question I don't know who from cozy rituals, we know you love coziness, so what are
[4:10] some things you do when you need to be cozy during a rainstorm, winter days, slow weekends, etc. I
[4:11] love this question. I would say I have, like, main two, and it like a rainy day, a snowy day, and being on
[4:12] my period are kind of my main, it's gonna seem cozy. Yes, I need some extra, so I'm gonna make tea.
[4:13] I'm gonna turn on Twilight on the kitchen TV, usually it could be another way, it could maybe be Knives
[4:14] Out. It's probably gonna be Twilight. It's probably gonna be the first one, and then I'm gonna make
[4:15] pasta. I'm always like, we have this recipe called Mama's Comfort Noodles, and I made it for the first
[4:16] time on a sick day for Marigold, and now it is a famous recipe in our house, and it is just garlic butter
[4:17] noodles with cheese, and it is, but it's made with love, so it's not just, well, a lot of times it's pastina,
[4:18] which I think pastina is like an extra comforting comfort pasta, or just any kind of small pasta, you know,
[4:19] it makes a difference proportionally.
[4:20] Emma
[4:21] Yeah, yeah, yeah, pasta noodle shape matters a great deal to me. I've had many, many a conversation
[4:22] with my partner about this, because he's like, whatever, egg noodles are fine. I'm like, oh, it depends on
[4:23] the dish. Okay, it really matters. So, yeah, yeah, okay, okay. So, I'll add to that. I also am a big soup girl,
[4:24] so making a big pot of soup is very comforting to me, and for me it's like a combination of enjoying it
[4:25] that evening, or usually it's an evening, and then also it's like now I have like a cozy lunch for tomorrow,
[4:26] and I don't have to do anything extra other than warm it up, which is so nice. So I love that. I also love
[4:27] pasta, though. I'm into that. Probably another comfort dish for me is risotto. I love to make risotto,
[4:28] especially if it's like a cold evening or wintry, or just I'm wanting something, you know, like it's kind of
[4:29] creamy, it has cream, and it has wine in it. It's like kind of like mac and cheese in a way. It's not that
[4:30] cheesy, but it's like comforting. Yeah, you know, yeah, that's definitely one of your comfort foods. Yeah,
[4:31] I love risotto. I like it, especially because I don't drink a lot anymore, honestly. But I like to have a glass
[4:32] of wine while I cook, actually, much prefer to have a glass of wine while I cook than when I'm eating my
[4:33] meal. Actually, feel like it's too much for me while I'm eating my meal, but I like it while I'm cooking. It
[4:34] makes me feel like a movie character, like I'm in my.. yeah. And risotto is perfect because you use wine
[4:35] when you cook it, and I usually buy like one of those boda boxes, because neither of us really drink
[4:36] very much at home, and so if I use a whole bottle of wine, it's gonna get old before, yeah, we consume
[4:37] it. So, anyway, so it's kind of a perfect amount to have like a small little glass of wine, and then make
[4:38] the risotto.
[4:39] Elsie
[4:40] Cute, that's adorable. Yeah, and it's definitely like a Nancy Myers trait to drink wine while you're
[4:41] cooking.
[4:42] Emma
[4:43] And something cool like risotto, I think it's cool anyway.
[4:44] Elsie
[4:45] Yeah, we should do it when we cook Thanksgiving. That's a fun idea.
[4:46] Emma
[4:47] Yeah, and I'm also a sock girl. I wear socks to bed all year round.
[4:48] Elsie
[4:49] This is conttoversial.
[4:50] Emma
[4:51] It is because my husband doesn't wear socks to bed ever, and I put socks on our boys most of the time.
[4:52] If it's super hot, I don't, but in my mind I'm like, well, they can take them off if they don't want them, but if
[4:53] I wake up in the night, my feet are cold, I'm kind of screwed for a little bit, it's gonna take a while to
[4:54] warm them up, and then I can go back to sleep, and I don't want that to happen to them, but maybe it
[4:55] doesn't, because I just have cold feet, I don't know.
[4:56] Elsie
[4:57] That's cute. Okay, our last topic for this episode is your ideal way to spend a day, so I feel like this is all
[4:58] kind of going in the direction of coziness or like small pleasures. So, do you want to describe your
[4:59] dream day?
[5:00] Emma
[5:01] Yeah, I mean, honestly, for me, I'm picturing this as like a day at home, not like I went on vacation to
[5:02] Italy. I know, picturing like at home, waking up in Paris is just like too easy, so let's say you have to
[5:03] wake up in your own bed. It's just so obvious, you know. Yeah, so at home this is a great Saturday, I
[5:04] guess, is what I would say. I'm like, okay, well, I want to have remembered to set out my Trader Joe
[5:05] croissants the night before, so in the morning I could make my croissants, because, yeah, that's right.
[5:06] It, I'm still a croissant girl, and one of my kids loves them, and one of my kids doesn't eat them, and
[5:07] that's where I'm at in life. So, it's a croissant and coffee morning, that's how it starts. So, that's one
[5:08] thing, is croissants, and the other thing is, I love to go thrifting. That's probably like my favorite, like,
[5:09] activity for me that, like, no one else in my family particularly likes. I mean, you like thrifting, we would
[5:10] go together, but I don't take my kids, they're still like touching too much stuff, like it's just a little bit,
[5:11] they'll want like stuffed animals that I won't be able to clean properly, and it's just I don't take them
[5:12] thrifting, so it's kind of a me thing, and a lot of things I love to buy thrifting these days is I buy a lot of
[5:13] random stuff that I use for activities for my kids, oh, Oscar likes to do an activity after school every day,
[5:14] and that's a lot of activities, if you're counting, ladies and gentlemen. And some of the activities are like,
[5:15] we go outside and play at the park, or we go do something, or we're playing a game that's active, but a
[5:16] lot of the activities are like art or craft projects, and many of them are things like, I found this little weird
[5:17] statue that's something I thought he would like, and we're painting it, and we put it in our fairy garden,
[5:18] or like the other day I found these, like, you know, those like fake books that you can open them up,
[5:19] and it's not a book, it's like a decorative, you know, you could put on your shelf, and I knew that he
[5:20] would love making his own book, and then hiding stuff in it, so I bought it, and I painted it white on the
[5:21] cover, and then he designed his own cover that was his activity one day. I found, like, out of the thrift,
[5:22] like a wooden, tiny, small treasure chest, and it was like shaped more like a treasure chest. And what's
[5:23] great about buying, like, art supplies - I'm putting air quotes, "art supplies, craft supplies" at the thrift - is
[5:24] like, it doesn't really matter if it's a little bit messed up at his age. I'm really just wanting him to explore
[5:25] my other son too, because he does things too. It depends, though, because he's still really eating stuff,
[5:26] so like he can't do certain projects yet, but he's getting there. He's getting there. Yeah, but it's like it
[5:27] doesn't really have to be perfect. So, if something's like already slightly damaged, like a little statue for
[5:28] the fairy garden, it doesn't matter, because honestly, we might drop it as we walk out the door to take it
[5:29] anyway, so we don't have to worry about it. So I don't really see the point in always buying brand new
[5:30] things from the craft store, whatever, because I just think it makes more sense, and I kind of like finding
[5:31] random things too, because it just makes it where we do lots of really weird projects. So I get a lot of
[5:32] stuff from the thrift store, and that's the main thing I go to thrift stores to find, and then I'll buy myself a
[5:33] sweater, or a book, or whatever. If I see something, oh, a basket that looks like a nice shape, whatever.
[5:34] But, like, I'm mainly there looking at random stuff for my kids.
[5:35] Elsie
[5:36] That's cute. It's fun. Oh, I love that. That's a good idea for using, like, them as craft supplies. Yeah, I
[5:37] love it's a lot of painting objects, but they're very into that at their age, so cute. Okay, my ideal day, so I
[5:38] wake up immediately, go get a cinnamon roll, have some coffee, have some cinnamon roll. I like
[5:39] working on my novel in the morning before everyone else wakes up, so I guess I'll do that too, and then
[5:40] if it's a day when my family's home, I would like to do a little baking project. So last weekend, Marigold
[5:41] and I learned to make gummies, and it was kind of hard. It was like actually kind of stressful, but it was
[5:42] like so fun to do something completely new. We had to do it twice before we got like a good recipe that
[5:43] worked, and it was so worth it, and like she was so proud, and like so I really like that kind of thing right
[5:44] now. And then in the afternoon I like sitting on the porch, I like a neighborhood walk, and then I want to
[5:45] go to Gilardi's for pasta for dinner, if it's my special day, then we are going out for sure, and that's about
[5:46] it. Yeah, that's just perfect. And maybe watch a movie, like an old movie, that's the perfect day. . Ah,
[5:47] okay. Let's toss it over to a joke or a fact with Nova. Hey, Nova, what do you have for us this week?
[5:48] Nova
[5:49] A joke.
[5:50] Elsie
[5:51] Okay, I'm ready.
[5:52] Nova
[5:53] Knock, knock.
[5:54] Elsie
[5:55] Who's there?
[5:56] Nova
[5:57] Hatch.
[5:58] Elsie
[5:59] Hatch, who?
[6:00] Nova
[6:01] Bless you.
[6:02] Elsie
[6:03] I get it all right. Have a great week. Thank you so much for listening. If you have a topic idea for our
[6:04] summer episodes, email us anytime at podcast@abeotifulmess.com and we'll be back next week.

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