Listener Q&A: A Gentle Rise

Kate learns something new about her body and Doree has a tire tale to tell. Then, they hear from listeners about finding the perfect bag, tips for easing into early mornings, and “The Rachel” haircut.


To leave a voicemail or text for a future episode, reach them at 781-591-0390. You can also email the podcast at forever35podcast@gmail.com.

Visit forever35podcast.com for links to everything they mention on the show or shopmyshelf.us/forever35.

Follow the podcast on Instagram (@Forever35Podcast) and join the Forever35 Facebook Group (Password: Serums). 

Sign up for the newsletter! At forever35podcast.com/newsletter.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 


Transcript

 

Kate:                    Hi there. Welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Kate Spencer,

Doree:                And I am Doree Shafrir.

Kate:                    And we're not experts.

Doree:                We're not, we're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums,

Kate:                    And we also like to talk a lot about Travis Kelsey and congratulations to him and the Kansas City chief, I guess I should say about Taylor Swift boyfriend. Really? He doesn't, we don't need to name him.

Doree:                Yeah, I mean, look, I got to be honest, I'm personally experiencing some tra fatigue, but

Kate:                    Is Travis their nickname?

Doree:                Yes. Travis

Kate:                    Wait, Which is hilarious because his name is Travis. So it's essentially just,

Doree:                Maybe it's Tavis

Kate:                    Trailer.

Doree:                Is it Tavis or Travis? I thought it was Travis.

Kate:                    I like trailer.

Doree:                Maybe it is Tavis. Sorry. Trailer is pretty good, but Oh no, some people are calling it, oh no, most people are calling it Tavis. Yeah. Okay. Sorry.

Kate:                    Oh, Tavis. Tavis.

Doree:                Which makes more sense.

Kate:                    And what did you say, Travis?

Doree:                I said Travis. Look, I was close,

Kate:                    Which also makes sense.

Doree:                It does.

Kate:                    Again, I still just want to go with trailer, but Okay. I will give into Tevis. That's fine.

Doree:                Yeah. I am experiencing a little fatigue, but I endorse anyone who is still captivated by it. I want this for you.

Kate:                    Thank you. I mean, look, I need something.

Doree:                Totally.

Kate:                    It's a distraction.

Doree:                I hear you.

Kate:                    I appreciate them giving it to me. And I don't enjoy football on a micro or macro level. I think the NFL is a toxic monstrosity, and yet yesterday I gasped when I found out the chiefs were about to win, and then I turned the game on and watched it. So,

Doree:                Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

Kate:                    And now I'm looking into a Taylor Swift themed T-shirt to wear for the Super Bowl, which I don't normally even watch.

Doree:                Wow. Kate, you're on board.

Kate:                    What's happened? I think I'm just like a distraction is I think what it is.

Doree:                I hear you,

Kate:                    But again, I'll take it.

Doree:                Sure, sure. Look, I get it and I don't judge.

Kate:                    Now I will say one thing that has fascinated me is that I have noticed that since Taylor has been going to a lot of games, she has had nail extensions on, and I am like,

Doree:                That is interesting.

Kate:                    I'm trying to, and I'm sure there are 8 million tiktoks about this, but I don't have TikTok, so apologies if you're already up on why she suddenly has long nails. But Taylor, she's always a short nail, short natural nail gal.

Doree:                Interesting. I love this observation.

Kate:                    She's had some very, which I would assume are a gel extension situation going on. She has a sparkly, almond shaped nail right now. I'm very intrigued, very festive, very on brand for the game that I would just love to know why is she suddenly getting nail extensions? What was the conversation that she had with herself where she was like, I'm now a nail extension person?

Doree:                Wow. I mean, I bet she'll take them off before her shows in the next couple of weeks.

Kate:                    Yes.

Doree:                Don't you think they would be annoying to have while you're performing?

Kate:                    I mean, look, they're annoying for me to have and I just walk from one room to another. So can you imagine doing that four hour show in nails? I don't know. I mean, a lot of artists have extreme nails and do very intense physical shows.

Doree:                That is very true, Kate.

Kate:                    I don't think I could do it. I couldn't handle it.

Doree:                Yeah. I personally, for me, I find super long nails just like impractical.

Kate:                    Well, If you wear contact lenses like I do, there is a real moment where, and I've gotten nail extensions and then I get home and I have to take my contacts out and I'm like, what have I done? What dumb move was this?

Doree:                That makes sense.

Kate:                    I had a weird thing happen. I had a gel manicure and something happened where a layer, the top layer of my nail got kind of removed from my thumb. So I've been growing out, I've been growing it out and it's weird. It's like tender in this. It's just one little spot. It wasn't the whole nail, but I'm almost kind of like maybe I just stopped fucking with my nails forever. Maybe it's not worth it.

Doree:                Okay. I mean, I feel like your nails have caused you a lot of agita.

Kate:                    Oh, I love an agita reference. You sound like my grandma

Doree:                And I just like,

Kate:                    Yeah.

Doree:                I don't want you to let this to be free of the hold that your nails have on you.

Kate:                    What is your equivalent of that? Do you have a thing that has a hold on you like that? Would it be hair

Doree:                Maybe? Yeah.

Kate:                    We all have something and I think it's okay.

Doree:                Yeah, we do.

Kate:                    Or at least it's okay to be honest about being on the journey tour.

Doree:                I mean, we're all on some journey for sure.

Kate:                    I'm on a really big journey right now actually.

Doree:                What is your journey

Kate:                    that I might cry talking about.

Doree:                Oh no.

Kate:                    Well, no, it's okay. I'm very emotional. I think I'm about to begin my cycle.

Doree:                Oh, Sure.

Kate:                    And normally when I'm about to menstruate, the emotions are just rippling underneath the surface.

Doree:                Yes, they're very intense, which is okay.

Kate:                    I have As look and Dora a lot of this, but since I had covid, I have had long covid symptoms that are still ongoing. And I have finally kind of gotten to the bottom of a lot of it, which is that I have a histamine intolerance. I maybe have something called mast cell activation syndrome. And so I'm about to embark on doing a lot of stuff to try to feel better. I don't know why I am emotional about it, but I guess I haven't felt good for a very long time. And sometimes I think when we feel like shit, we just start to accept it. And it just becomes a part of your life.

Doree:                Yes. You forget what not feeling like shit feels like.

Kate:                    Right. That new normal, you just kind of start to find ways to adapt to not feeling great. And so I did a bunch of tests and it feels like very clarifying to have some answers about what's going on in my body. What was interesting actually, for example, is I'm not showing signs of being in perimenopause, which I thought I was.

Doree:                Oh, that's interesting.

Kate:                    But my hormones were rock solid. I was shocked.

Doree:                Interesting.

Kate:                    Yes. But what it did show is that I am a raging histamine, just a ball of histamine and inflammation. And so I have to do a lot of stuff to kind of try to feel better. And I really am, like this year I just am really kind of starting to really think about what it means to take care of myself so that I can hopefully be here and feel good for a while. And I don't know, I hadn't had that kind of, we talk about it, but for the first time in my life I was like, oh, you've got to make some hard choices about how to take care of yourself. You haven't, and that's hard for me.

Doree:                So what does this mean? What does this mean in actual practical sense in practice?

Kate:                    Yeah. Well, I have to change, I have to do trigger warning for anyone who doesn't want to hear about food restrictions. But I am going to have to do at least a month or two where I take out his foods without our high histamine out of what I eat. And that is very hard. No leftovers.

Doree:                Oh, why is that?

Kate:                    Because anytime anything sits for a while, it builds up in histamine. So it means no canned fish, it means no avocados, it means no spinach. It's a whole variety. And there's also a wonderful list of yes, But that is stressful, figuring out how to do that. All that being said, I've had such intense reactions to food that I'm, it's actually a relief to get myself this time to figure it out. A big part of what's been going on. I have to really reduce stress and be serious about it and all the ways in which that exists because stress can also really trigger all this stuff. And so that's just been weird and emotional for me. And I dunno why it's emotional. I'm fine. I don't have a disease. It's just an adjustment. You know what also is Doree? It's emotional for me because you were the first person who suggested to me that I might have long covid remember that

Doree:                I do.

Kate:                    I thought I was in, I dunno what I thought. I was having a mental breakdown and you looked at all the symptoms and being the advanced medical professional that you are, you were like, Hey, this sounds to me like a long covid thing. And a lot of people they're finding who have long covid after having covid are having this histamine intolerance is how it's presenting.

Doree:                That's so interesting. Yeah. I felt like when you started telling me about your symptoms, people were starting to really talk about long covid a lot on social media. And I was just aware of those conversations. And for some reason, whatever you told me, I don't remember exactly what symptoms you described. It just pinged for me. And because I'm also a detective.

Kate:                    That's right. You're a doctor and a detective.

Doree:                I'm like Dr. Watson,

Kate:                    I love that.

Doree:                So I mean, he was a bumbling fool, but same idea.

Kate:                    You're not that.

Doree:                I was like, this might just be something to look into.

Kate:                    And I dug and dug and dug and I landed on this histamine thing myself. And so it's extremely validating to be able to look at a blood test and a stool sample and a urine test and have somebody be like, oh yeah, look what's happening here. And I think that's what kind of makes it emotional for me because there's such a weird still with long, so vague and so many people are experiencing such debilitating symptoms. And I'm not, I can coexist with them very easily now, but I don't know, it's just weird. It's just a good feeling to know, have a little bit better knowledge of what's going on with your body. But then it also, there's something about it that makes me emotional. So that's what I'm juggling today, figuring out what I'm going to kind of try to do and what that looks like and redoing some reading and some listening to things, taking what sounds good to me and then scooting away from the rest.

Doree:                Yeah, I mean, like you said, it is going to be a journey, and I know that the idea of having to be kind of obsessive about what you eat is a little triggering for you.

Kate:                    Counterproductive to me. Oh, little triggering. It's like trigger telling

Doree:                Us a Well, I didn't want to.

Kate:                    No, no, I know. Anyway, that's my day. Okay. How are you today?

Doree:                Kate? I got to be honest, I am not Great.

Kate:                    I kind of sensed that from our communications priorover the last four, four hours was like,

Doree:                I can't talk about it because it's too annoying.

Kate:                    No, but you know what? I really liked that you, I'm trying to really list, try to be more aware when people try to set boundaries. And I appreciate that you are communicative about what you can and can't do in the moment.

Doree:                I was just like, if I have to explain this whole dumb situation, I can't do it. But here I will give you and our listeners the TLDR, which is that yesterday Henry had a play date in Encino, which is far from where we live. And as I was parking outside their house, there was part of the curb was very high and part of it was jutting out because there was an overgrown tree whose roots had never been contained. And I hit it with my tire and ripped a huge hole in the sidewall of the tire and I could hear the air going out of the tire. So then I have Henry freaking out because it's sort of upsetting thing that just happened. So I'm trying to calm him down. I call Matt, I'm like, can you come to Encino and change my tire? And he's like, yes. So he comes, we're doing this play date, play date is fine.

Kate:                    And Matt is outside putting the spare on your car?

Doree:                About an hour later, Matt, Matt had a couple of things to do at home and he shows up an hour later, he's trying to fix the car. I go outside to see if he needs any help and he's like, there's one bolt in here that is marked and I think I need a key for it. So that turned into a whole thing. Then it turned out that, remember when I went over the pothole and had to get my struts replaced two weeks ago? He was like, I think when Volvo, I have a Volvo, and we took it to the dealership. I think when Volvo fixed your car, they put the wheel back on too tight because the bolt is stripped.

Kate:                    Oh No.

Doree:                And I can't get it out. So He tried for a little longer and then he's like, at this point, we had been there for three hours. I had been planning on two hours and the play date, the parents were very nice and made Henry lunch and it was very nice, but I was also like, oh, we should get out of your hair. So we drove home and then Matt went back to try to fix it and at 4:00 PM he was like, I give up. I can't fix this. We're going to have to call tire places tomorrow and see if they can get it off. So I call a tire place near where the car is, which as a reminder is not close to where we live. So the car is just sitting,

Kate:                    your car's just sitting there,

Doree:                it's just sitting on a street in Encino.

Kate:                    In Encino.

Doree:                And the guy's like, oh no, we can't get this off. You have to take it to the dealer. So we call a dealer that is close by because the dealer that we go to is in Culver City, which is far from Encino. Everything is far. And the dealer at this other place closer to Encino is like, I don't know if we can get that off. You should take it back to Culver City. And we're like, okay. So where things stand now is I've left a message for the guy at Culver City who we have dealt with multiple times about this situation. He has not called me back. And in the meantime, the car is sitting in Encino on a street in front of my friend's house.

Kate:                    40 Minutes away from your house? Yeah. Okay. Oh boy.

Doree:                So that is the most immediate situation that we are dealing with, but it just has felt like there has been sort of a cascade of shit that has come up,

Kate:                    Drip, Drip.

Doree:                I mean including the other night I was like, oh, my retainer's cracked. Do you know what I mean? It's just all this stuff where I'm like, what the fuck? What more thing, what other thing is going to, and it turns out there are always more things, so

Kate:                    There are always more things.

Doree:                I feel like I hate to be the woe is me, everything's going wrong. But I do think that when you feel like a lot of things are going wrong, everything gets sort of amplified and not that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't think I was predestined to get a flat tire, but it just feels like it gets compounded by everything that has been going on.

Kate:                    It's almost like everything is under a microscope and suddenly it just feels like you're seeing, I don't know, everything feels heightened

Doree:                And I'm just like, literally did someone put a curse on me? And I'm also, I keep saying like, oh, this is a season of life. We're going to get through this. It's a season of life. We're struggling now, but we haven't always struggled. We're going to get through this. But now it's starting to feel like what if this is just life? The season is lasting a very long time. I compared it to when you live in the northeast and you think that spring is coming at the end of March, but it really isn't

Kate:                    Snow storm and then there's a big

Doree:                Snow storm on snow April 1st there's a snow storm and you're like, when is winter going to be over? I'm so sick of this and that is how I feel right now. So I don't know what, it's hard for me to see what the path forward is. You know what I mean?

Kate:                    Yeah.

Doree:                So that's how I'm one bright spot is that I also went to the doctor recently and last year she was like, your vitamin D levels are low. You have to take a supplement and this year they're normal. Guess what? Hey, the supplement worked.

Kate:                    I like that for you. I like that for you love a supplement working.

Doree:                She also just sent me my results. She said, great job. And I was like, great job. What does that mean? I don't know. A lot of feels arbitrary. And

Kate:                    Did the oldest daughter in you though? I was like, I always, I'm like, I did do a great job.

Doree:                That's totally great. Okay. But yeah, it does and I think it's hard for me to not just think about a broader catastrophic context of, and I'm getting older and it's all metaphorical. My car is breaking down, but my life is breaking down. Do you know what I mean?

Kate:                    I'm breaking down. Of course.

Doree:                So that's just like It's a lot.

Kate:                    Yeah. I'm sorry.

Doree:                Yeah, so that's where we are over here. Kate, we have been talking for a long time.

Kate:                    Oh My gosh, we have.

Doree:                We should take a break and we'll be right back. Okay. We should also, I forgot I was talking for so long that I forgot to remind everyone that we have a website forever35podcast.com. We're also on Instagram @Forever35podcast. We always put all the links to everything we mentioned on the show on our website, so you can always check there. We have a Patreon at patreon.com/forever35 on Mondays we release our recaps of the oc, and that show is just getting so ridiculous, but I am finding our conversations about it to be very fun. Like I was saying, we each listened to half of the episode and I was saying to Kate, I kind of just wanted to keep listening because I was really enjoying our conversation.

Kate:                    I will say there are sometimes where I'll be listening to our podcast and forget that it's us and just keep listening. I'm just like, this is fun. And then I'm like, oh wait, I'm supposed to be editing this.

Doree:                Oh my God, I know

Kate:                    critically and instead I'm just like totally. The OC is really keeping me entertained. It's really something.

Doree:                We put our favorite products on our shop my shelf, which is shopmy.us/forever35. We have a newsletter at Forever35podcast.com/newsletter, and you can call or text us at (781) 591-0390, and please do email us at Forever35Podcast@Gmail.com Now, I knew that this was going to be the reaction, Kate,

Kate:                    You sure did. You know I was going to win this battle,

Doree:                But will I?

Kate:                    I'm teasing.

Doree:                Not a battle. I win the war.

Kate:                    Will she win the war? Okay, so we're talking about my strange desire to get the Rachel haircut from friends. Now, I will say I posed this question and the listener response was overwhelmingly positive. So many people were like, Kate, do it,

Doree:                they were

Kate:                    This one text is Kate, please ignore Doree and get the Rachel. I think it would look amazing on you. I mean, now number one, thank you for boosting my ego that it would look good on me. I did run it by both my wonderful stylist and my colorist. Okay, shout out to Onyx on Madison in Pasadena, California. If you want good cut in color. This is just an endorsement. I love them. I see Chi and Danielle and they were both like LOL what? And I was like, just hear me out. So I am getting my hair cut finally, it's been like seven months, eight months maybe I'm getting my hair cut in a few weeks. I'm getting my color done in a few weeks, so I'm just going to go in with an open mind. I actually think I want to cut my hair, cut two inches off and just get it a short bob. But I also was kind of like, what if I just got a blowout and we added some layers and we just saw what it looked like. Just what if. I think the Rachel requires a lot of work, which I don't do, so I don't think it's a realistic cut for me, but there is something about a chunky ass Bob that I am a lo bob that I am. Think of Meg Ryan. Think the Rachel. Think it's 1995 and I don't know, just think that that's kind of where I'm headed. We'll see how it comes out.

Doree:                Look, if this feels right to you, then do it. Don't listen to me. What do I know? I don't know. Shit,

Kate:                    I won't. But you do. You know a lot. And also sometimes I do feel like this is on the same wavelength as the should. I get bangs question of you can want something, but really you don't really want it. What you're searching for is really in your soul.

Doree:                Now we're getting somewhere.

Kate:                    Let's answer this question from a listener. I have a question and a comment they wrote first, what are we doing about purses? I have a large work tote that I like, but on weekends I end up carrying fistfuls of phones, keys, my credit card, and a sundry toddler ephemera. This is true for all other non-work times like doing errands, dinners and morning drop off too. I have tried a small pouch that I live from one bag to the next, but nothing has felt right suggestions. Welcome. Second, I just got a handheld vacuum and it is truly a game changer. It makes cleaning after a toddler so much easier. I have never had a handheld vacuum recommended as a parenting item before and wanted to share with the group.

Doree:                Okay, first of all, listener, you are me and I am you.

Kate:                    Same

Doree:                Because I also was running into this conundrum and I finally solved it with a fanny pack.

Kate:                    Now wait a second. Do you take the fanny pack and then put it into a larger purse if you need to?

Doree:                Yes.

Kate:                    Okay.

Doree:                Because I got that Lululemon one that everyone has, which is not that big, but it's the perfect size. I have a small wallet. I moved everything to basically a coin purse almost, so I'm not carrying a ton of stuff around sunglasses, glasses, keys, phone, lip balm, and then in the back pocket, I also have dog poop bags, so I can just take it when I walk. Bow.

Kate:                    Oh, smart.

Doree:                And yeah, that's it. That's what I keep in there because those were always the things that I was always looking for that I would try to keep in the front pocket of my bag. But then when I would switch bags, it was like I have to move everything and it just wasn't happening. I also have one from Baboon to the Moon, which is a fun little company. It's red. And then I just got another one at Target that I think is trying to be like a CLA v imitator.

Kate:                    I love that.

Doree:                The CLA v fanny packs range from 300 to $400 and this one was $20.

Kate:                    Yeah. Oh, $20 is better.

Doree:                I wanted one that looked a little nicer if I just wanted to, I don't know. So I got that one. But they're all roughly the same size, not too big. I think when they get to be too big, then you're veering into actual purse territory and it becomes less practical to move it from bag to bag.

Kate:                    Yeah, that's an interesting, that's what how I travel. I'll do a fanny pack that I take off when I get onto the plane. They make you take it off and put it into my bigger bag. This is a journey for me. I feel like Goldilocks when I look for fricking bags, but I will say I bought a bag that my friend has that every time I see her, I ask her about this bag and she's used this bag for like 500 fucking years And every time I see it, I'm like, oh, I love your bag. And then I never get it and I forget about it, but they were having a sale, and so I bought one and it just came. This is a company called Rough and Tumble. They make leather goods. They're based out of Maine, out of Portland. The bag that I bought, it's like a large ass tote bag, but the leather is super light, so it doesn't feel very heavy. Some of the problems that I have with, I bought the minimal tote from this company, and again, part of my motivation was every time I would see my friend, she's a friend who lives in Maine, so I only see her once a year, and she always has this bag. I love the style. It's classic, timeless, and this bag, she's had it for 10 years. It's just living its best life. It's very durable. So I just got it. And the other thing I really like about it is that it has compartments. It has a key hook thing, and the shoulder straps are extremely comfortable and it doesn't slide off now. But what I was also thinking of doing is getting myself a couple of pouches from Bagu because I do feel like stuff gets lost in a big tote. And also I really like this idea that you're planting in my head of moving, having one little thing that you're able to move from bag to bag. That's a smart move, and the fanny pack is extra smart because then it can become its own little purse.

Doree:                Right? That's what I like about it. For me, the pouch is ultimately less practical because I want to be able to wear, wear it on its own and have quick access to everything I need.

Kate:                    Well, I also saw that Bagu has a sling bag that was very appealing to me that I wanted to buy, but I don't need any more bags. They have this cross body, it's called the medium nylon crescent bag for $52. It comes in a variety of cool prints and colors, and it's like a larger version of the Uniqlo bag that I love.

Doree:                Oh, Sure, sure, sure.

Kate:                    Anyway, I'm also on that, but I feel like the journey never ends. Speaking of journeys,

Doree:                The journey is long and arduous.

Kate:                    Never fricking ends.

Doree:                Okay. Should we do one more of these?

Kate:                    Let's do one more of these.

Doree:                Do you have a preference?

Kate:                    I don't have a preference. You take your pick.

Doree:                All right. Here's another email. Hi, Kat and Dor. Hope you're both having a lovely week. I've two questions I'd love to hear your answers to and hear from other listeners too. What are your favorite porridge slash oatmeal toppings? Now that my son is weaning, porridge is a breakfast we can share, which I love. I have mine with golden syrup because that's how my dad always made it for me when I was little. And my son has it with a wide variety of fruit purees, but I want to expand my horizons. Second question, what are some early morning self-care ideas for those of us who aren't naturally early risers but have to get up early for one reason or another? I try to have little things to look forward to, a hot chocolate or mug of chai and spritzing my face with rosewater for quick refresh, but I'd love to hear other ideas.

Kate:                    Okay. I love a bowl of oatmeal. In the morning I Googled golden syrup, which seems to be a British thing.

Doree:                This listener wrote favorite with a U, so I assume they were

Kate:                    Oh, Yes.

Doree:                From Grape Britain or Canada or Australia or one of those countries.

Kate:                    They could be from any, I mean, I just Googled golden syrup because I was like, is this maple syrup? It doesn't seem to quite be.

Doree:                Yes, yes, yes.

Kate:                    Okay. I love oatmeal with some brown sugar. I love cooking up some apples first with some cinnamon and sugar and putting that in the oatmeal maybe with some walnuts yu. But I also love savory oatmeal, and I grew up eating oatmeal with just butter and salt. That's how my mom made it. I never had sweet oatmeal until I was an adult, and I got to college and my friend was like, what the fuck are you doing? Because I was dumping salt and butter on my oatmeal. First of all, it's delicious with salt and butter. I love it with some miso and maybe some sesame oil, and there's so many delicious savory oatmeals out there that you could try. So maybe some hemp hearts for a little kind of crunch and texture. Definitely always throw in some ground flax for that fiber. We got to keep those poops right and tight. How about you, Doree? What's on your oats?

Doree:                Well, first of all, I like making oatmeal with whole milk.

Kate:                    Yes.

Doree:                It's very delicious and creamy. I like some chopped almonds. I like some sliced strawberries. I like a little bit of brown sugar or maple syrup, either one, blueberries, any sort of berry, although, raspberries I don't think would really work, but blueberries and strawberries. I also like a banana walnut raisin situation.

Kate:                    Yes, same. That sounds good.

Doree:                Cinnamon always a good little ad, especially to the banana walnut one. I don't really go in all that often for a savory oatmeal, but I enjoy a savory oatmeal. I just don't make it that often. Like a kanji or something I find very delicious, but I don't really know how to make it and don't have occasion to have it that often. But yeah, those are all some delicious options. Oh, there was a years ago when I still worked at Buzzfeed. They did this now sounds so dated, but it was like 2014 or 2015. It wasn't that long ago. Although I guess that was like 10 years ago. They did one of those New Years detox diet things. Yeah, I know. Doesn't it sound crazy?

Kate:                    Whoa. They did that at your work?

Doree:                No, no, no. It was on the website. It was a,

Kate:                    Oh, I remember this.

Doree:                I think they called It the clean eating challenge or something, which now we would never do, but back then felt normal. Anyway, one of the recipes they had in there was this carrot oatmeal that was delicious and you would let it sit overnight and then cook it so you could make an individual portion of it and had shredded carrots and raisins and you can make it with almond milk or whole milk. Then there's some cinnamon, maybe some vanilla even, I don't even remember. And because you were letting it sit overnight, it would kind of soften everything and then you could just cook it in the morning. I think you could even microwave it and then it was so good. That was delicious. So probably, I wonder, I'm trying to even think how you would find it. I'm going to try to find it right now. Everyone's like, it's not overnight oats, but it's kind of like overnight oats

Kate:                    carrot is so delicious in sweet things.

Doree:                Totally, yes.

Kate:                    I love that sounds so tasty.

Doree:                Okay, so I'm finding recipes for this that are just saying you can eat it cold, which I guess you could.

Kate:                    Interesting.

Doree:                Okay. I liked warming it up. Oh, and also you could top it with Greek yogurt. It was so good. I wish I could find this now.

Kate:                    We'll search around for it. Maybe if we find it, we can add it to the

Doree:                Yeah, yeah, because all the recipes I'm finding are for eating it cold, which No, no, thank you. So yeah,

Kate:                    How about the second part of this listener's question. What are some early warning self-care ideas for those of us who aren't naturally early risers but have to get up early for one reason or another? I actually have an idea.

Doree:                Let's hear it.

Kate:                    I thought about this this morning. I was up at five 30 today and I was like, I'll put on my exercise likings because I was going to exercise later today. And then I was like, no, you know what I want first thing in the morning, warm, soft clothes. So I put on my most comfortable sweatpants and sweatshirt and some big cozy socks. I think getting up early and easing into the day, if you need to ease into the day, not all of us are going to get up early and power lift and fucking meditate and do all that shit. I think some of us need a gentle rise. So I love the idea of soft coziness at first thing in the morning. I love the suggestion of a chai or a warm tea or a coffee. Rosewater is lovely. I think something warm just sounds, I don't know, especially in the wintertime. This would obviously change in the summer. I also like to just go outside first thing in the morning, especially if I can see the sun rising. That's always just kind of refreshing and wakes me up a little bit, but also comforting and beautiful.

Doree:                I am not good at waking up super early, so I don't actually have any great suggestions.

Kate:                    Well, maybe other people will.

Doree:                Maybe they'll, yeah.

Kate:                    Alright, Doree, let's take another break. So we are back in our intention setting portion of this episode and last week I wrote that it was my brain that I needed to work on. I was in a really unhealthy little OCD spiral recently that I've coming out of a little bit and that feels like such a relief.

Doree:                I'm glad.

Kate:                    And this week I'm just learning about my new lower histamine life that I'm going to try to live and see what the hell that looks like. Realistically, you have to do these kinds of things within the actual real boundaries of your own life.

Doree:                Yeah. Well I look forward to continuing to go on this journey with you.

Kate:                    You know, I'm going to bring you along no matter what. So, put ona seatbelt,

Doree:                so last week I was just talking about my writing retreat and it went well. I had a great time. The ride there was scary. It was raining so hard, but it was fine. And I got work done and it was nice to have a change of scenery and yeah, it was lovely. And then this week I'm going to try to break the curse.

Kate:                    Oh, Doree.

Doree:                Okay. I mean, I don't know what else to say. I don't know what else to do. I dunno.

Kate:                    You want to break that Curse?

Doree:                Something has to change. I dunno what it's, but something has to, so that's where I'm at right now.

Kate:                    Well, It is time to read and express our gratitude to our Patreon subscribers. Let's do that. These folks all subscribe to our Patreon at $10 level or more. And we thank you. Thank you for being there. We appreciate you. Here they are. Alexander Houghton, Alison Cohen, Amy Mako, Andrea Sepulveda, auntie James and Rum, Becky Hobbs, Haer, Beth, Bethany, Brianne, Macy, Caroline, cc, Chelsea Torres, Christine Basses. Coco being Diana. Diana and Martin Donald Brew, Jr. E Jackson. Elizabeth Anderson. Elizabeth Cleary, Elizabeth Holland, Amelia Cola, Emily Bruer, Emily McIntyre, Fran, Hannah, Heather Kinka, Helen De Moy. Jane Rio. JDK. Gidel. Apdi. Jen. Jen, Jennifer Barrett, Jennifer Hs. Jennifer Olson, Jess Coleman, Jessica Gale, Jillian Beman. Jillian, thank you for your email correcting the pronunciation. Joanna Stone, Josie Alquist, Josie Sig, Julia Putt, Juliana D Chepe. You tell me. Juliana Duff, Kara Bruckman, Karen Perlman, Kate M, Catherine Ellingson, Katie Tron, Kelly Dearborn, Kelsey Wolf, Dena, Carrie Golds, Kim Beagler, Kirsten Collins. Laura, Laura, Eddie, Laura, Hadden, Lisa, Travis, Lizette, Liz, rain, Lynette Jones, M, Marissa, Megan, Monica, Nick, Nikki, Bossert, Pam from Boston, Sarah Bell, Sarah Egan, Sarah, Sarah Buzzes, Shelly Lee, Stephanie Germana, Susan Eth, Tara Todd, Tiffany Griffith, Valerie Brune and Zuli Maundy. Thank you all so much for your support. We really appreciate you. We appreciate everyone listening to this podcast Forever35, which is hosted and produced by Doree Shafrir and Kate Spencer. It's produced and edited by Sam Junio. Sami Reed is our project manager. Our network partner is Acast. We will talk to you all next week.

Doree:                Bye.