Episode 22: Mid-Summer Favorites for Moms — Fashion Finds, Beauty Picks, Easy Meals & Wellness Must-Haves

Episode Description:

It’s peak summer—aka chaos season for moms—so we’re keeping things light, fun, and actually helpful. This week, we’re rounding up our summer favorites across beauty, fashion, food, wellness, and even kid gear. Think: your go-to list when you’re sweaty, sleep-deprived, and still trying to feel like yourself.

🎧 Whether you're folding laundry, hiding in the pantry with snacks, or walking the dog for 10 extra minutes of alone time—hit play and hang out with us.

IN THIS EPISODE:
• Summer beauty products we swear by: bronzing self-tanning drops, hydrating skincare, and clean SPF
• Easy fashion picks for hot days: Amazon tanks with built-in bras, capsule wardrobe staples, Target sandals and accessories
• Quick summer meal ideas: high-protein snacks, make-ahead pasta and kale salads (perfect for busy weeks) & why moms need to learn how to grill
• Toddler-approved finds: our current kid gear MVPs
• Real-life wellness shifts: slowing down summer expectations

We also close with a rapid-fire Q&A full of laughs, randomness, and those unfiltered moments that make summer feel a little more connected.

💗 This Week’s Pink Spotlights:
• Christina: Loving the SWEED brown mascara for a low-maintenance, polished summer look.
• Kristina: Reflecting on where we were last summer and how starting this podcast changed everything. A reminder that it’s never too late to pivot.

Join the Conversation

📌 Follow us on Instagram: @prettyinpinkagain @christinatarabishy @kristinabontempo
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DM us your favorite summer product recs—we want to hear them!

Transcript

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I'm Christina, and I'm t and this is the Pretty and Pink again podcast where motherhood meets rediscovery. Hey. Hi. I think that this episode is gonna be very appropriate because we are mid meltdown right now. We've had like our first kind of like technical issue with the podcast Little s snap in here. This is like a week out. But yeah. If for some reason you opened your podcast to listen to last week and it was saying that it couldn't be played on your device, we are so sorry. We're currently working through that issue. Don't you just have days where there's just like technology issue after technology issue? Yeah. All day, every day. Even this file, trying to send it to make Instagram clips. I tried 13 times to download it and it's oh, you've run out of space. I know. Oh, it you got off the wifi. Oh, you sneezed. And now you blinked the wrong way. Nothing works. I know. That's so annoying. So we apologize hopefully this will be all fixed and hopefully we won't have an issue with this podcast, but that's just that's the real world baby. That's what happens sometimes. I don't know if our listeners know this because why would they know it? They don't know how the sausage is made, but you and I come up with the content, we recorded ourselves here. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We did all of our research. Mm-hmm. I'm like.. What recording devices to use, what computer to use, what not to use. We're currently using what not to use for the computer, but you know, and then what software to upload the podcast to then who sends it off to Apple Music? Yes. And like we're doing it all ourselves. And it was important for us. Yes. I remember we said that we didn't want to just have this podcast be like, taken over by a company or an agency or something like that. Like I'm sure some podcasts start out with a huge team and we're just giving you guys a little behind the scenes. But we do we figured this out all ourselves. And I think it's important to be able to do that and to know how things work. Yes. But. Today we woke up and we do not know how to fix what's going on. We were like, where's the team? Not, we need team, we, and kudos to Christina's mom for the one who told us it wasn't working. Mom was like by the way, your podcast isn't working. I'm like I tried to download it this morning in my car. And I was like, oh, it's the wifi. The wifi never works. And my, the wifi never works anywhere. You just think it's you. And I'm just like, oh, it's just me. The WiFi's not working. That's why it's not downloading. Yep. Nope, it's not working for anybody. Oh. Oh, that's so funny. But, growing pains, that's why they call on that. I know. I know. So anyways. We are Midsummer Mid Meltdown. Yeah. It was Christina's birthday yesterday. Yes, it was. So happy birthday. Thank you so much. We're going to lunch with some of our friends after this. So we thought it would be fun to just give everybody a catch up what we've been doing lately, what's been working for us this summer. What hasn't been Just some of like our fun summer. Beauty things like the foods we've been eating, the things we've been doing, what we've been enjoying. Yeah. Just a little catch up. I feel like every once in a while we love the little catchup episodes. Yeah. Where we can just shoot the shit and chat. So we're saying this is mid meltdown midsummer, mid all the things. Okay. So give me a little summer catch up. So far, how's the big going? All. So I think that this summer's been going a lot better than last summer. Yep. Last summer was not great and I've been having only like little pieces of not great versus the whole thing being not great. Mini meltdowns. Just mini melt meltdowns. Just a little one mini meltdowns. Yeah. So I think it's been going good. Good. I am bleeding money with childcare and camps in order to make these things happen and everybody like happy. But everybody so far seems. So that's the, I was gonna say,'cause my next question was gonna be, what are you doing different this summer? So I'm having the kids do things that they want to do, which is not all day camps. Okay. It's one is like tennis, one's doing like tennis clinics, one likes football, one's doing like football clinics and he's doing all star baseball. And so he has like practices. So he's like physically busy. Like one likes to act, she's doing an acting camp, so she's gonna play tomorrow. One likes to just hang out with me all day. So I have a sitter for her. Like right now they're getting candy and then they're watching a movie so I just have everybody doing something'cause it's hard. I bet. When they're getting a little bit older and now, like you just said, they have different interests so. the options are, you either have to get everybody to do the same thing and agree on it, and you're saying, which they hate. It just makes so much, it makes more sense to split them up. But then how does that impact you? Yeah it costs me money, of course. And I have to get a helper, right? I have to get a helper and I didn't, I tried to do it all last summer and I was going bananas. So you were trying to do all of this stuff. I was trying to do the fun stuff summer by keeping them happy. Yes. Yeah. And I can't do that alone. But so far. We're okay. So we ha I did have a mini meltdown on Friday. You'll think This is funny. Tell me,'cause I texted you a picture. So Friday Ava went to my mother-in-law's in New Jersey for a couple of days, and then Nick and I took the other three to a Mets game. My son Vincent is a huge Mets fan. Like he knows all the players, all the stats, all the trades, all the whatever facts you would know about baseball. I know nothing about baseball, but I do love merch. So of course we get to the game and we get all merch up and now we're like new Mets fans. Of course. You know, Like me and Mila hit the merch store. Like we were like number one fans right now. Now you're like dressed for the park. Now we are dressed for the part, but it is so loud. There is so much going on. And everybody, I want a hot dog. I want pizza, I want a beer, I want a drink, I want this. I, that was me and Nick. Yeah. I want this, I want that. You need a beer. So we're like up and down from the seats like 10 times getting everybody what they need. And I was like, oh God. Oh no, it's happening. I'm having the knee meltdown. You felt it coming. So I said to Nick, I was like, I gotta go get some fresh air. I gotta get outta here. So I go inside where it's like fresh air, or not fresh air. Cool air. Cool air. Yeah. And there's like TVs everywhere, like blasting, people screaming because it was a Yankees game. You were just so overstimulated. I bet. I was so overstimulated. So I go into the bathroom, TV's in the bathroom. I go into the exit, stairwell. I'm like TV's in the exit stairwell. I'm like, oh no. What am I gonna do? No moment of peace. No. So I just went back out to the game and I just started cheering. If I can't get away from it, like my nervous system, I think you can't beat them. Join them. Just gonna join them. And the kids were like, mom, you were gone for three innings. I'm like, shut up. But it's hard to Calm yourself when you're with kids and they're p pawing at you. And I know, I I know. And I always look to you you're in like a few phases ahead of me. And then like sometimes you come back with these stories and I'm like, I guess there's just no relief. You just go from like face to face. I get so overstimulated. So that to me just sounds like a nightmare. I wish I could give you something like some glimmer of hope. Yeah. But I will tell you that it didn't debilitate me and I didn't A not go, which would've been something I would've done when my kids were little. Or B, have to leave. Or see ruin the day for everybody. Power through. I was, I'm more equipped to power through. Love it. So it was a big win. That's great. It was a big win. That's great. So how about you? What you got? For me, I have been having, everybody has been. Pretty good, like we're in a pretty decent spot, but it is just so funny how we. In Connecticut, we go from the, we can't go outside because it's too cold to, we can't go outside because is too hot. It's too hot and there's just, so that's worse. I almost think I know, and there's just like a few weeks in between that, where you get that. Beautiful air and you're like, oh, we can go outside. It's fine for them. Now we're back to the we can go outside first thing in the morning, but then they have to come in and then we can go outside, right before bed and, but then that kind of ends up getting everybody in a second wind, getting that fresh air that late. So we're so strategic about like when we can go outside, when we can get the fresh air. And I know people deal with this all over the country because I remember when we had Lauren from a low profile on, she had said, yeah, back in like April or May. She was starting to deal with this. Yeah. She said that sometimes happens. It's what happens to us during the winter is what happens to people in the south. Yeah. During the summer. So I think we all feel it and it's just so hard. Like you're like, I know they need the fresh air. Your life works so much better when the kids get that fresh air and sun. But then it's it's that fine line. It's what we always talk about where it's like you go a drop over, it's like too much sun. Too much fresh air. And then it backfires on you. So that's where we're at. It's just that. Strategizing all the time. I know we had, I had a lawn guy come out yesterday to help me with some of the lawn and like weeds and so I just, my house is a jungle and we did family weeding on Saturday and I thought Vincent was gonna just leave the family because he, I was like, we're all weeding before we go. Like we have these like fun plans the rest of the weekend. There's no reason why if we all pull weeds, we can't be done with this project in a few hours. So after the family weeding, I was like, I need to call in some big guns. I need more help than just my four kids, little hands. And my husband, so the guy was out here yesterday helping, like walking the property and he was like, you do you have a pool person? Because the pool looks really dirty. I'm like. Oh, it does. There was like a dead mole in it, there was algae on the side of the pool. So the filter had been, is broken on my pool. Have you been swimming in this? No, actually we haven't been using it.'cause it's been so hot. It's been too hot. The kids haven't even wanted to go in the pool. And now also it's also disgusting and dirty. Oh, this weather. So we're gonna do a little bit of a summer roundup. Our favorite things. This is bringing me back to like episode five. I feel like we did like our, which is a good one. Yeah. We did like all of our favorite like beauty hacks and things that make us feel good. It was like basically a pink spotlight, full episode. But what are you using this summer? Any pink fun that you can share? I'll start with my skincare. Okay. And my beauty. Cool. We'll break it up into the different segments. Love it. All right. So I've been really into bright nails. Yes, you have. I know you have really pretty pink. So this, I have like hot pink, flamingo pink. Yes. Nails. I love it. Nails. I usually go every three weeks. And last week I did the Ferrari Red. It's the, I know that, I think it's DND. It's like the gel polish. It's a true red. It is a true red. Love it. So I'm really into the bright nails. And then I've been obsessed with those elea drops. There's SPF 40 in them. Niacinamide hyaluronic acid, and I love them. I like the color that's like the tinted. It's tinted. I think the shade, that shade that I use is called mat. And and then I actually switched my skincare. I started new skincare. Yeah. So my sister-in-law mm-hmm. gina, hi Gina. Hi G. And she goes to this place, like down the street from her and her, one of her like best friends is an esthetician and works there, and she's been getting her like Botox and all her stuff there since she was in her, early thirties or whatever. And so I went with her there because my, the girl that I go to spends her summer in the Cape and I wasn't gonna be able to see her for the summer. So I went there and I did my Botox there. I don't even think I told you this, but I did a lip flip. Oh, I've done that before. Have ever done that before? I have. You can't use a straw. No. And that's why I was like, I cannot, this cannot be done. I like live on a straw. I can't do this again. I couldn't drink outta my Stanley. I couldn't drink my iced coffee. I was like, and you, and looked, you should've seen me look so funny eating watermelon. Oh my God. I was like, oh, I loved it. I loved it after two weeks, but I just couldn't, I couldn't hang with the not being able to, and you look. Absolutely absurd trying to drink like you cannot, oh my God. Purse your lips to get a straw. Yeah. And the water just like dribble. It just dribble down. So I currently have a lip flip, but I did it and it like, looks cute. It's but I'm not noticing anything. I guess I went feeling from a flip lip and no feeling in my face to a normal lip and I can't use a straw. Okay. But anyways, I did that when I was there the girl that was doing the injection has like perfect glassy skin. I'm like, what do you use on your face? And she was like, oh, I use our line here. We sell Aji skincare. Oh, okay. So I bought, I was like, if I had to get two things, what would you suggest I get? So I bought the Obagi daily hydro drops. So it's like a serum. It's a serum. And then I got an eye serum. It's called ELAs Derm. Love it. And I like this'cause you can it's like a roller. You can roll it on. Ooh, I love that. Oh, and it's cool. So these are my new You are looking very glowy. Yeah, I think it's the d the combination between the um, IA drops, which I also stole from my sister-in-law when I was there and then the two skincare things. Oh, I love that. So those are my new two faves. They're looking good. And my lip and my flip lip. What about you? Okay. So I have been, you guys probably know, but I've talked about, I think this was a pink spotlight of Me too, was my, the bronzing drops that I always use mm-hmm. from Lux Unfiltered. I love those. They're face bronzing drops. The nor the ones I usually use are clear. It's the gradual one. Where you can put it in with your moisturizer and it basically gives you a very natural looking tan on your face. So I love that because then I feel like I don't have to wear as much makeup. But they launched a bronzing one. Like the drops are not clear. They're actual like shimmery and bronzy. And so that's new. So these actually have color on them. Oh, and I started using those this summer and I love them.'cause you get instant color, which is so nice. Okay. And then the tan kind of develops underneath. How does the transfer with your clothes? Are you noticing any transfer? It's super mild because it's almost like little speckly bronzy. So it's not heavy. So the pigment's not crazy. You get like an instant color lift and like a little bit of a glow, but it's not so obnoxious where then you feel like you're gonna transfer it on anything. You're afraid to sit. So I like, I've even put them on and then I've slept and they've been fine. Like there, there's been no transfer on the pillowcase or anything, so I'm like it's subtle enough. But I absolutely love those and those make such a difference. Okay. And then this is not skincare, but this is more haircare. And so you guys know, I've talked again, another pink spotlight of mine has been my shark flex style, and that's, I would say. 80% of the time, that's what I'm using to do my hair. But it's just been so hot. I just have not wanted to like, have any part of a blow dryer. Yeah. Like recently, I feel you, it's just been so hot. It started with the beach, like being on the beach for a week and I was just like not into it. So what I've been doing is I've been air drying my hair. I normally hate that. Mm-hmm. But I've really been embracing these like Kylie Jenner undone waves. I'm obsessed and it's been so much easier because I've been letting my hair air dry. I always do the front pieces because I never like how my hair looks when like the front is chaotic. But then I air dry the rest and I've been using these little, like scrunchie towels. They look like a microfiber, but it's a scrunchie. Ooh. And I've been like throwing my hair up. In either a bun or a loose ponytail with that. And that kind of helps to absorb some of the water and then you don't feel like you have wet hair. I don't feel that. And then it's sitting on your back. Yes.'cause I, ugh, I hate that feeling. And then when my hair is dry, I've been taking a curling iron and do I, I posted the method that I've been doing, but it's, I just run that through like random pieces, not even my full head. And that's been kind of my summer style. I've been liking it so there's not as much heat on my hair. And it's still been lasting.'cause normally I was finding, that's why I like the shark because it gives you like a blowout for a few days. But this has also been working too. I it, so I've been liking it and that's I love it. And then I'm not like fighting the humidity, good hair tip. Embrace the curls in the waves for the summer. Yeah. Like I just feel like it's easier. I actually took my extensions out because I was having similar issues where I just don't feel like blow drying my hair or even, I don't even feel like getting it blow dried at the salon. Yeah. As much as I love that, yeah. It's just when it's too hot, it's too hot, I just wanna throw it up in a bun. And I feel like you can't always do that. So I took them out. Oh, it must feel so much. So I'm gonna be doing the air dried look too for the rest of the summer. Love. Yeah. It's just nice. And then I feel like then when it gets to be a little bit more crisp and the air is better. I feel like I am always just fighting the humidity and it's like pointless. Yeah. We'll circle back in November. I love it.'cause it'll be humid all the way through till then. Okay. What about. Any clothing, accessories, anything fun you wanna share there? Okay. So I have been obsessed with Target lately. Mm-hmm. Obsessed. I love their shoes. Like how cute are these shoes? Love these little pearl shoes. I love You've been, you have been getting the cutest stuff from Target, like the cutest bags. I got the cutest beach bags. Love it. Like cutest totes. Like I am all in with Target lately. I got really cute sunglasses the other day. I'll post them. I'm, I love it. Love it so much. And then I really like this other clothing brand. I keep forgetting what the name of it, it's like Tw, TPW or Twp. Oh, from there? No, it's they have their own website. It's like their own clothing brand. Oh, I have not heard of it. And they sell these really nice, like dress shirts and they're like cropped in the front. They're long in the back. Oh, that the one you were wearing that, that's one I wearing that one was when we recorded last week. And I love them so much and I've been I feel like you can wear them in the summer'cause they're very light and then you can wear them through the fall. But they are a splurge. So I bought two and I can just see myself like re-wearing them. Over and over. They're like those like classic staple pieces. Those are nice. And everything that I've been buying has been like with Italy on my mind. Because I don't think I shared with the listeners, but my mom and I are going to Italy. That's so exciting. In October. I know. That's gonna be so fun. Which I'm really excited about for a long time. Yeah. We're going for 10 days. That's amazing. So again, shout out to my sister-in-law. She is coming to play mom for the week. So everything that I've been buying, like these little pieces I've been buying with Italy on my mind, I'm trying to dress in like one. Color palette. Color palette. Yep. Just to make things look easy. The capsule. Yes. Travel, wardrobe. Yep. Yes. A cap. Never fail. Whatever you said never fail. Like those shoes that you're wearing, those would be perfect. These are really comfortable. Those are so cute. Okay. So that's my, like I love that clothing. Yeah. Actually. Okay. So that's what I've been doing. I'll talk about two clothing kind of things that I've been doing this summer. So I realized this is my first summer in four years that I'm not either pregnant or freshly postpartum. Mm-hmm. And I talked about this when we talked to Mary Angelo which was our fashion styling episode a few months ago. But I've really been going back to that kind of capsule wardrobe. I have really been finding myself like. In need of everything. Mm-hmm. And that's such a frustrating feeling when you're, like, you go into your closet and you're like, oh, here we go again. New season. And I'm starting from the ground up, right? No shorts, no basics, no nothing that's comfortable, swimsuits, all of that. So it's frustrating when you get to that point where you're like, I'm needing to start again. And as we go season to season, I'm finding myself again. Here we are. I'm a different size and so I have whereas I've just been, I didn't buy any new bathing suits this summer. Maybe I bought like one. That's the best feeling when you can be, I'm rinse, repeat. My body size hasn't really changed. Yeah. So first of all, I've been on the quince bandwagon for a very long time. Ooh. I love Quince so much. I'm really excited because I got a collaboration with them, so I'm gonna be working with them. That's awesome. In a. That sort of capacity. Did they do home stuff too? They have everything. They have, right? I wanna try their sheets. I actually went into like the black hole, which is quince, and I didn't realize how much stuff they had. They have kids stuff. They have like baby SleepSack, they have sheets, they have home stuff. Like the level of like categories on there, right? They have everything. It's everything. What if you're looking for something, you can find it on there. So I ended up spending way too much time on there the other day, but I've really been loving their clothing and so I did a little haul for myself. I bought myself a ton of basics. So I have a kind of cardigan on a car. Is that from there? Yes. Summer cardigan. I love that. I, I always love layers and so I feel like I just needed everything. It was like linen shorts, denim shorts. Sweaters, just everything. And so I was able to get myself a handful of pieces. There's stuff, the quality is insane. How's the price point? The price point is phenomenal. It's phenomenal. Like everything I would say is under a hundred dollars. There's plenty of pieces under 50. And I love the materials that they use. Like things are linen, cotton. It just doesn't feel like that cheapy material. And so I was normally somebody that gravitated towards like Amazon, especially with my postpartum, like not knowing what size I was in. And honestly, Amazon, sometimes you can find some great fines on there. I love sharing good fines from Amazon. You have to do some digging, but you have to do some digging. I feel like Amazon than yeses and things are still like$30. Yeah,$40. It's not it's not free. You're still spending the money. But you're really in a lot of pieces. You're not. But these are entering the capsule collection. Yes. And you sit on for under a hundred dollars. Yes. So I've been finding a lot of pieces for that are like on Quince, that are like$40,$50, but the quality is there. Is there. And and what I also love a lot is being able to mix and match them. So the color points are all like, everything just effortlessly goes together. So I've really been happy with my hall and I had, I didn't spend that much, and I did this for the springtime too. So with Quince, like I bought a handful of things, really was able to mix and match things. Rewear, a lot of pieces.'cause they're very classic and so I'm gonna have to probably do that again in the fall. Yeah. Just'cause I'm entering that like out of a year postpartum. My body's kind of, I'm hoping, I'm at a stable point right now. And I can start investing back into the wardrobe. That's a loaded sentence. Hoping you're at a stable point. I hope, at least, I hope I don't have to keep going and rebuying the pieces because that really bother bother me. Maybe you can share when this episode comes out on our pretty and pink page, like your quince roundup. Yes. I It'll, yes. It's always so helpful for somebody. It is like you always make things look effortless. Like you, ever since I've met you, you've always like layered things. So pretty. Like you always shop in like a very beautiful color tone that like matches your skin tone. Thank you. Like it always just looks so easy for you. I try to just, I think that this sort of thing helps and, yeah. I've really, I feel like that tip, if you guys have not ordered from them before, I highly recommend it. Their sizing is pretty like accurate. Yeah. Which I also appreciate. And then the other clothing hack, which I was gonna say for my pink spotlight, but I'm gonna chat about it here, is these basic tanks. These are from Amazon. So I have these basic tanks that I've been sharing nonstop over on my Instagram. And they have a padded bra built in. It's a shelf bra with oh my God. Padding link away, please. I will. And they, that is something, this is like what I wear every day. It's basically like a ribbed tank top. Yep. And I have them in a few different colors and all of the neutrals that I wear with my closet. And I love that I could just throw it on. And I don't need a bra. Like it's, I feel like it's just. You're literally not answering the question, what freaking bra do I wear? It's just you don't have to worry about it. It's comfortable. It's very supportive. Did you remember to bring a bra to change into for your dress? I do have a bra. Wait, but this is so funny'cause it's so Christina to either be decked and head to toe in florals or to new dress, be drenched in one color and you have a floral dress in your purse for lunch. Yep. And right now you're dressed. I'm neutral. In neutral. I am. That's so this is very, that's a funny thing. Ct. It's a funny thing to be told because I think that's so accurate. It's either florals or like monochromatic, which is really funny. All right. What about anything like new on the home front? I know. Have you like done anything new around the house? Not really. No. No. Yeah, Us either. I've just been using like the Sonos a lot. Don't. Do you guys have Love? Have that your house I love. Yes. We love Sonos. We have it outside now too. We have those rocks that go around. The pool and the deck and everything. And I've been into like the vibe. I went to a Clie Budds concert a few weeks ago for Chrissy's birthday. And Cali Buds is reggae. It's fun. Very similar to stick summer, stick figure very summer. So if you come to our home, you will hear, be hearing clie buds, like I love it. Reggae playing. I love it all around love. It's like very chill music. Love. So fun. what have you been eating? Anything new. I have been really doing my meal prep for lunch. And it's been helping significantly. I'm back on like my kale salad bandwagon. I love kale because it just holds very well. It's like a really good thing to meal prep. And I doesn't get soggy. Yeah. It like doesn't get soggy too easily. So it can fully be like dressed in the fridge, ready to go and it's there I feel like a salad is so time consuming to make for lunch. So I'm either like kale or pasta salad and then it can stay in the fridge. But I have been on a kale kick. Okay. I just always feel really good when our stomachs are both growling right now. I'm like, it's almost lunchtime. I know. I've been eating these Chobani yogurts for breakfast. I've been, I just recently got like the 20 pack at Costco or however many was in the pack. And there's 20 grams of protein in them. I know. I had one when I was here and I needed a little sneaky snack. Yeah. So I've been eating those in the morning, and then I've been adding, like the Quaker Oats, it's like a cereal. And I've been adding those in there for crunch. And then like sometimes like a blueberry or banana. But this morning Vincent snatched the rest of my yogurt before he got outta the car. So now I'm really hungry. Hungry because I didn't finish my full breakfast. But that's what my go-to snack has been. I like that. That's, they're delicious. They have like tons of flavors too in the variety pack. Anything like fun that you're doing with the kids? So we have been, we don't have a pool at our house, but we have been on the like little kitty pool train. And it's. So fun. But it's also when you live around wildlife, like we've lost a bunch of kitty pools'cause they just pop like the bears anything. So we've literally probably gone through three at this point. But those have just been really fun. Fun. It's like you need that old school one that we had you know the plastic one? Yes, I know. Not the inflatable one, just the old school plastic one. Don't even that you sell at Walmart. I'm pretty sure that you could find one. Okay. I need to find one of those then. But it's nice because a lot of the time, job. I know. I, those, I know sometimes we just have to go, we have to revert back to you just gotta go back. I know. We gotta go back. But yeah, that has been really fun because that's just so much entertainment for the kids and it's just nice. So we've been putting those that on the patio and. Letting them have a good time. All right. That's a good tip. I like that. Just go back to the old school kiddie pool. Yeah. And actually we brought it down into our basement. This was before because we blew it up and then it was, it's been raining, so then we put it in the basement. And we used all of those like balls from a ball pit. Oh my God. You made a ball pit put in. Yeah. Just, working with what we have. That's so smart. How have you been, how are you feeling on the wellness front? Have you been working out anything? So I haven't been working out much because. My workout times are all messed up because I've just been driving my kids everywhere. Yeah. You usually work out when the kids are at school, I usually wake up, do my like things around the house, like laundry cleanup from the night before, push them out the door and then I work out and then I work or do whatever like tasks I have to do. But I have not been doing as much evening driving. Which is usually like my busy time. So I switch and I've been doing an evening walk. Oh, you have? And I kind of like the evening walk. Interesting. Because then I feel like it's like a good way to unwind. At the end of the day. I have so much trouble working out at night. I was actually talking to my girlfriends about this because that's, I'm in that period, first of all, in summer. It just feels like the days are so long. Which is a good thing. Yes. But then it also it just feels like even in the morning and at night, it's like somehow those periods of time are shorter. It doesn't get dark until it's eight o'clock at night, so it just, yeah. Or nine or even, yeah, it's even later. And so I'm just almost having trouble time managing with how long the days feel. It's like almost like they're too long. And I normally love to work out in the morning and I just haven't been sleep for me. I've been so tired. So I feel like I'm just like, at that point, are you not sleeping well lately I just, I dunno. I've just, my sleep has just been all over the place. Like I'm having good days and bad days and, i'm more comfortable now just being like, today is a sleep day. Like I'm not gonna feel guilty about not working out. Like I, my body needs the sleep. That's what my body needs today. Okay. So I've been skipping my morning workouts and I have trouble working out at night. I feel like I end up getting a second wind if I do it too late. Really? So, Yeah. And then I can't go to sleep at night, so I'm just finding that I'm trying to just be active throughout the day and just be like, okay, this is a season where I just cannot fit it in right now. It's not working. What a healthy mindset and. I don't like that because I feel like it is something that I notice mentally when I'm consistently doing it. It does have a profound impact. We've talked to how many people that say percent you need to do movement. Movement has a profound impact on your mental, physical, and emotional health. Does. That is actually our mission statement at all. Age strides. It does. Which is true. I know it does. But I also can't just beat myself up when it just doesn't work. Yeah. Like I can't consistently find the time. It's hard. It is. So I've been doing these PM walks, so you're welcome to join me on a PM walk. I will try. But that's usually bedtime, which is, it's fun. My house. I was just gonna say tip. It's fun to skip it. Yeah. Skip the bedtime. Skip the, oh yeah. Imagine that's gonna go over so well. I know. So I had told you guys about Strides is a couple months back, but we met a few weeks ago and we awarded our 2025 grant recipients. And this is the first time we did this. But we are serving the elderly population this year and we always feel like that population gets forgotten. And. Movement. And we, so we funded these different exercise classes for the elderly population, and one of them was like Yoga Tai Chi Pilates. Because one of the biggest injuries in elderly people are these hip fractures. Because of fall'cause of falling due to lack of balance. Balance. So we funded all these balance programs. That's why Pilates is amazing. Yes. So I'm really excited to share that because it all ties together about how like, movement is important at every age. I know. But as we age, it's really important they call it functional workouts? Because you wanna have good balance, you wanna have good core stability. It's like being well-rounded. Yes. Yeah. I know. But don't make me feel bad. No, I know. I'm like I know I need to do it. No, I literally feel so much better. And it's. So crazy because now I'm a 39-year-old and I can feel when I don't work out for a couple weeks, it's not just like the mental clarity, I feel my body gets so stiff and like I just feel it, like I feel it from every angle when I'm not consistent in my workout. So it's like you can't even, as much as I'm saying, I'm trying to put it out of my mind and not feel guilty about it. I could like mentally do that, but then I feel it in my body where it's like I do not feel as good when I don't work out. When I'm not moving a lot like you are moving, you're moving'cause you have a one and a 3-year-old, but it's still not the same. Why you don't have the time to do Yeah. These other things. I'm not stretching, I'm not I'm just doing a lot of. Like the mom lunges, the grabbing Yeah. You're tensing. That's why you're Yeah. The tenting. So yes. That's why you're so tight. Stiff. Yes, so stiff. So I'm not doing a lot of like the movement where it actually benefits you. I'm like active and running around, but I'm, I am, I'm tense all the time. I literally feel like my body is just tense. Oh my god. All the time. I was at a barbecue on Saturday with my girlfriend Lizzie, and she has two kids, like same age as your one and three. And I talked to her on Monday and she was like, I am so sore from Saturday. I go, what were you doing on Saturday? She was like, I was just chasing my kids. Yeah. That's all it is. Back and forth from like the pool to the playground, from the pool to the hill, like up and down the hill. And you do so much lifting. So sore. Yeah. Oh my God. I have wanted, it has been on my list to make a reel about,'cause people ask me like, what do you do for workouts? And I know, yeah, your arms are so toned. I'm like. Lift my kids like Chase after my kids. That's where I'm at right now. I just feel like I am moving, but it's just not in a way that like actually benefits me. And I'm like feeling flabby'cause I just sit all day behind a steering wheel and drive. Just sit and drive. You're getting everywhere. The flat ass. Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay, we're gonna do a little fun. Rapid fire q and a. Oh, fun all. What is your anthem right now? Ooh. Song on repeat. I still am back to like my millennial bangers. I can't get, I can't move past. I am gonna be one of those people that's just like I'm not with the times. And I like always considered myself somebody with the times, but I'm just, I'm very nostalgic right now where I'm just listening to old school stuff. All right. So that's where we'll find you. My millennial bangers on Spotify. All right. If you could go to Teleport to one spot this weekend, where are you going? Ooh, Nantucket. Aw. Do you have a favorite spot there? All of them. You cannot eat a bad bite of food on n Uck. Favorite restaurant there? I love called The Pearl. I think it's either the Pearl or Pearl, but that's, yes. Delicious. I can just picture you in your linen and, and crew Tucket and crew listening. So good. Listening to your millennial dinners. I know that's they go hand in hand. What is your, go-to dinner in the summer? When you don't really feel like cooking when it's too hot, what is your, go summer dinner? It goes, I think it goes back to having a pasta salad pre-prepared. Okay. And then just like being able to throw like something grilled on top of it. Like easy peasy. I love that. What is any product or habit that is making you feel put together lately? Ooh. I would, I'll go with my capsule wardrobe. Okay. It's making it very easy to get dressed. I like it. What about you? What is the most ridiculous thing in your pool bag right now? I don't even have a pool bag actually right now. That's the answer. That's the answer. I don't even have a pool bag packed right now us, but I just bought a really cute pool bag. It's like that. There you go. You gotta pack it up. That rattan. Yep. Is that what it's called? Yeah. Rattan. It's so cute. I'm obsessed. There's just, it's empty. What's your most toxic summer trait? Oh, I love to suntan. Oh, that is so toxic. But I only do it for a few minutes and then I get overheated and then I think I'm having a stroke, so I get outta the sun. I know you overheat so fast. Like we could not be different body temp wise. Like I am somebody who's always cold. Yes. And you are always hot. Always hot. Always hot. I sleep with the window open in the winter. Menopause is gonna be a real treat for Nick. No, but I like, need my emotional support iced water. And I love to tan. I love to sunbathe. I love to be tan. It's so bad. It does feel so good, but it's so bad. What about you? What is your, I feel like you're a very good cook. So what is your No fail summer dinner? Like when you don't wanna cook? What's something easy that you My do? Oh gosh. I, gosh, I feel like you guys do a lot. My grill. I grill. You grill too. I'm the griller. I love that hack. All right, so here is a tip. Moms, here's the hack. She told me this and I was like, mind blown. Learn how to use a frigging grill. Yeah. Learn how to use a grill for multiple reasons. Yep. Number one. You get to go outside and be away from your family for 30 minutes. Yep. If you really wanna be pokey, you can probably stretch it to 40 minutes, but learn how to grill. It's awesome. And you have no cleanup in your kitchen. I love, that's what my favorite thing is. But I'm not usually a griller, so I'm like, I need to get on the grilling bandwagon. So you start low and slow. You turn the grill on, you get it nice and hot. And then you turn it low and you just let it go slow. And like with steak, like steak is a good thing to cook on the grill because you can use the palm and you can feel it to feel it. Yep. The chicken, if you really can, you can confused grill, grill chicken. You can just cut the chicken and make sure that it's cooked. But I like, I use a little meat thermometer all the time, but of course you do. You're such a to forward. I have to. Can't wing it. I can't wing it. No. I'm like, I need to know. I need to know. It's the safe would be like, is that chewy too chewy? All right. Throw it back on. That would be my meat thermometer. Are you. Throwing up later. Yeah. Oh, okay. Wasn't good. Okay. Wasn't done. No. But like I'm a meat thermometer girl. Yeah. Tonight I'm doing pork chops on the grill. Like just salt and pepper. Throw it on. Yeah. I love that hack though.'cause you're like, that's how you gain some time. Yes. Some alone time. I go outside, I scroll. I do whatever the hell I want. Love it. Oh, I love it. Sunbathe and yes, I'm on the grill. It's awesome. I love that. That is my dad taught me how to grill. That's the best hack. If you take one thing away from this episode, learn how to use a grill and get, learn how to use grill. It's just like with guys in golf, right? It's learn how to golf. Get that time back. That's like the best mom hack of life. But I don't know why grills are so in we're so intimidating. I don't know if it's'cause some grills have, like you, first you have to turn the gas on. Yeah. And then you need to hit the lighter. And then sometimes it needs the fire. It's a lot. Sometimes like I was afraid it was gonna go like po. Yeah. I think I was just intimidated my eyebrows. I think that's the word. Like you're just intimidated'cause you're like, I don't want it to get too hot. I also just afraid, I'm afraid I'm gonna burn something.'cause I just feel like it's hard to control the heat on a grill. Yeah. But I like that hack and I'm gonna start learning. I'm gonna start putting myself outside and getting the time. Put yourself outside. In worst case then you have black and shrimp for dinner. That's true. Okay. True. That's also good. I love that. Make it intentional. I love it. Okay, so we're gonna close with our pink spotlight, although we know that these always feel, these episodes always feel like just a giant pink spotlight. But is there anything else that you wanna share for a pink spotlight this week? Alright, so we are going to lunch today for your birthday. And we went to lunch last year. The day after your birthday. Yes, we did. And we were like not feeling so great. Nope. I think no matter what, we've had tremendous growth this year and I think that it is never too late to grow. Love that. I think it's never too late to tell yourself I don't like how I'm feeling and I wanna change how I'm feeling. And I think we both did that. And that is my pink spotlight I love. So I'm excited to, it's just a reminder to, I just feel like the I can remember that day with you. And I know that a lot of changes occurred for both of us mm-hmm. in the past year. So I'm just happy to reflect on a year that growth is possible. I know. I love that. Thank you so much. And I love that's your pink spotlight. I could not agree with that more. I think that sometimes, and I remember feeling this way, so if you are feeling this way and you're listening to this, I don't want anything to ever come across that. Oh, we weren't in that place too. Because we both were. Yeah. We've both been in that place where it feels so hard to even want to make a change. And you know that you wanna make a change in your life, but you don't even know where to start. And I think that so much of that is just opening up to people Yep. And talking I think that so many things can be accomplished just by extending a hand. Mm-hmm. And I guess extending an ear and. Listening to somebody or talking through certain things. I think that's like number one, because when you feel like people that you know are feeling the same way that you are, a lot of the times they are, a lot of the times our issues are things that other people relate to. And I think that's number one. It also opens you up to receive advice from other people, maybe some resources for things. And I just think that's number one. But I totally agree with what you said. The changes can be made, you can wake up, changes can be made. They don't building the life that you want. Yeah. They don't all need to happen in one day. And sometimes you forget. What good inside feels like. But if you're able to string a couple good days together, right in a row, it becomes much easier to remember, what feeling good even feels like. and then you can start to put the pieces back together, and do these things that these hacks like that help make you continue to feel good. But I know that's my piece. I love that. I feel like that's such a nice growth, possible place to start. Yes. Because growth is possible. I think you have to realize that. Yeah. So I love that. Mine is not gonna be as deep as yours, but I feel like we always are on the opposite page. But mine is. Brown mascara is trending right now. Like I feel like I always hear people talking about Brown mascara and I loved that idea because I feel like, especially when I did like my color palette assessment which I don't think I've shared on here as much. So maybe I'll save that for like my next week's pink spotlight. Remind me. Okay. I did a color analysis on chat, GPTI will show you guys how I did that, or I'll tell you how I did that. And I am a warm autumn, and so a lot of the times like black is too stark on me. It's too much of a contrast, which makes sense for even when I put on mascara, it's like a little too much. Especially for the everyday it's fine for an event or something. But it's too much for every day. But I also was finding that a lot of Brown mascara were like, not doing it for me. And it was the kind of mascara, it was the color of the brown. So I found one that is like a, it's like a dark brown, and that seems to work for me. Who makes it? It's by a company called Swede, S-W-E-E-D. And I've tried probably 10 Brown mascara and they've all just been like, eh they're not doing it for me. This one I love. Ooh. And you're a mascara girl. So I love mascara know Masra. I know you do. So I, and I love all kinds of mascara. I really liked this one. And it's, again, it's a really great one for every day. So if you just wanna like swipe on a coat of mascara, it's the color brown is just like a rich, like mocha. It's not like light brown. And it's enough, but. It's like just the right amount. All right. Influenced I'm purchasing, so Yeah. So I'll put that in the show notes. We're gonna have to link everything that we talked about here in the show notes too. Yeah. But thank you guys so much for joining. Yeah. It's so fun having a hard episode. Able to listen to last week. I know. If we ever figure that out. Oh, technology. Oh, good times. All right, thank you guys. We'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.