Listener Q&A: Paula’s Choice Picks and Planning Outfits

Kate and Doree discuss Paula’s Choice prods they love and answer listener questions about wardrobe apps, walking pads, and Vaseline as a makeup remover. Plus: a Pete Davidson discussion! 


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Transcript

 

Kate:                    Hello and welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. And I'm Kate Spencer.

Doree:                And I'm Doree Shafrir.

Kate:                    We are not experts.

Doree:                You know what, Kate? We're not.

Kate:                    Definitely not.

Doree:                We're not.

Kate:                    No.

Doree:                But we're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums

Kate:                    And other things. We do have other interests.

Doree:                We do, but this show started as a discussion of serums.

Kate:                    It did, and I'll tell you, do you know what I bought recently? I wasn't going to even mention this, but I finally bought the Paula's choice BHA exfoliant.

Doree:                Oh, It's so good.

Kate:                    Yeah. Where have I been for the last six years of doing this podcast that I have never bought this?

Doree:                I don't know.

Kate:                    I bought a tiny mini bottle for $13 at ye ol' sephories per use and I quite like it.

Doree:                It's good. I stopped using their exfoliants when I stopped exfoliating a lot. They also have a good B-H-A-A-H-A.

Kate:                    Oh, interesting. I wonder because this is just BHA,

Doree:                So they have an A, h, A and b, HA peel.

Kate:                    Ooh.

Doree:                And then

Kate:                    spicy.

Doree:                Oh, maybe I'm thinking of their 10% AHA treatment.

Kate:                    Look what I hear you saying is that if you want to exfoliate,

Doree:                Oh no, it does HA, it has BHA. You were right. They just call, it only has a HA in the name, but it has BHA in it. I love Paula's choice. I think their products are great.

Kate:                    Yeah. I am a new fan. I've tried other products of theirs and I've always thought they were fine, but this, I really noticed a glowy difference in my skin and also the first time I used it, it had the effect of when you would watch a sea breeze commercial in the nineties and the person would wipe their face with a cotton pad and with using sea breeze and dirt would be all over the pad.

Doree:                Yes, Yes.

Kate:                    That was my exact experience.

Doree:                We do a product recall, if not on Sea Breeze, then on another product

Kate:                    Stridex,

Doree:                Stridex. and that was part of, and Borre strips also used that

Kate:                    Showing the dirt, showing what comes out of your face.

Doree:                Yes.

Kate:                    I hadn't had that experience and I had washed my face. I had double cleansed my face. I had had makeup on

Doree:                And stuff still came off.

Kate:                    I swiped with this pad and it was like taking a Swiffer to my kitchen floors.

Doree:                I remember first having this experience with the Clinique clarifying lotion, which is an exfoliator

Kate:                    Truly, and we were putting that stuff on our faces day and night.

Doree:                Yeah. I mean, they say that it can be used twice a day, which to me seems like a lot.

Kate:                    I don't think so everybody. I don't think so,

Doree:                But I just remember that satisfying. I would put some on a cotton pad and then you would get dirt on your cotton pad.

Kate:                    Delicious. I mean, the satisfaction of a dirty cotton pad is, there's nothing like it.

Doree:                It's truly satisfying.

Kate:                    Yes. It's weird, but it is.

Doree:                No, I know.

Kate:                    And I think I was pleased.

Doree:                That's why those commercials really emphasize it because they know that to people that this is so satisfying.

Kate:                    I had something called a HydraFacial once, and it's like a machine that sucks stuff out of your pores and then shoots water with serums back into it and the machine has a tank and at the end of the facial, the esthetician was like, here's all the stuff that came out of your face. And there was just a little tank of water with floating fleck of skin and stuff. It was pretty disgusting slash delicious. Empty,

Doree:                Satisfying

Kate:                    When you empty your vacuum.

Doree:                Yeah.

Kate:                    Oh my God. I love empty the vacuum

Doree:                the vacuum of your face.

Kate:                    Yes. We lifted. We rotated our mattress this weekend, which let me tell you, that mattress weighs approximately 7 billion pounds. It's so heavy. I don't know if it's because it's like it's who makes my mattress? Casper one of those foam with coils inside. I don't know Doree, but it was like an iron man trying to get this fucking mattress up. But anyway, we rotated our mattress and so we took it off our bed frame and then we got to see all the gunk behind our bed, just the dust balls that were clumped and it was like, I can't wait to vacuum this up. And I sucked it all up, but it's amazing how much just human skin and hair create disgusting. I'm sorry, did people sign up to listen to me talk about our skin flaking off and turning into dust? Sorry.

Doree:                I think they did.

Kate:                    Sorry. That is gross. But it was just so satisfying. I hate cleaning, but sometimes it is so delicious.

Doree:                Sometimes it's really satisfying.

Kate:                    Really satisfying. If you're listening right now, fyi, this is a listener q and a episode. We will be getting to some listener questions shortly. I just wanted to make sure you listener know what is in your ears

Doree:                And not just wax.

Kate:                    Oh my God. Which speak of satisfying.

Doree:                Also satisfying.

Kate:                    Okay. Wait, I have to tell you something. There is, I have been targeted by an ear wax commercial now. I cannot remember the name of the brand. It's like something wolf, the guy in the earwax tool. It's an earwax tool commercial by some brand that keeps showing up on Facebook. I'm not really on Instagram, and if I was, I'm sure the ads would be there. But on Facebook where I do still check sometimes this ad keeps popping up and it's like this little sucker. Oh my God, here it is. Oh, it's right. I just opened my Facebook. Here it is. This is how targeted I am.

Doree:                What is it called?

Kate:                    Okay. The company is Black Wolf Nation. Okay. The man in the commercial that cleans out his ear is so hot that I have tried to, I have screenshot the commercial and then tried to Google image search this man's face.

Doree:                Wow. Do you think he's real or do you think he's AI generated?

Kate:                    Well, it's a video. Does that mean he's real or could he also be ai? Don't tell me I'm in love with an AI man,

Doree:                So I just Googled it. Now I'm probably going to get these ads also.

Kate:                    You are, But it's okay because this man, he's got salt and pepper hair and some tattoos and he loves cleaning his ears. He's so happy every time he cleans his ears.

Doree:                Oh my gosh.

Kate:                    Do you see him yet? Has he appeared for you?

Doree:                I see him, but I don't want to go too deep because I don't don't want this to take over my feed.

Kate:                    You don't want to go too deep. He's going with his ear cleaning.

Doree:                Exactly. Kate, you get me.

Kate:                    You're missing out because he is shirtless and he's cleaning his ears and he's got stubble.

Doree:                I saw a little thumbnail.

Kate:                    Who is this mystery?

Doree:                He's very attractive.

Kate:                    I want to use him as inspiration for every book I write from here on out.

Doree:                Well, maybe you could write earwax fantasy, fantasy romance, fanfic earwax model. Fanfic

Kate:                    Earwax model fanfic. Anyone want that? Because trust me, when you see this guy, you're going to want it. You're going to want it. And then I look, I went onto this company's website. What is Black Wolf Nation? That sounds like an appropriative name of a company for an ear wax remover. I mean,

Doree:                it's weird. It's weird.

Kate:                    I didn't dig too deep over there, but

Doree:                I have an update.

Kate:                    Talk to me.

Doree:                So in our Sephora sale episode, I talked about how I had a Margiela candle called by the fireplace that I never lit.

Kate:                    I recall,

Doree:                And I want to report that I have placed it under my candle warmer and I've been on for the past 25 minutes. I just had to turn it off. I love the scent. It is extremely intense.

Kate:                    Wait a second. Okay. Does it smell just like a fireplace?

Doree:                Kind of. I mean, okay. The fragrance description on the candle says burning wood and chestnut style description memory in a candle.

Kate:                    Ooh.

Doree:                It's like a lot. Kind of like you were saying with the Joe Malone candles.

Kate:                    You don't even need to burn it.

Doree:                You don't even need to have it lit. It is so intense. This might be too intense for me.

Kate:                    How did you acquire this candle? Did you buy it yourself or did somebody give it to you?

Doree:                No, I bought it because I had heard about the Margiela replica sense and I was curious to try one in candle form and by the fireplace sounded really cozy and up my alley and I objectively like the scent itself, but the power of it is very overwhelming.

Kate:                    It's too much for you.

Doree:                It might be too much for me.

Kate:                    It's a dominant candle.

Doree:                It might too much for me. It's a dominant candle. Yes, Kate,

Kate:                    I mean, could you just leave it? Can you send You smell it without burning it?

Doree:                Yeah, I think I might just leave it without burning it,

Kate:                    Which is kind of nice, honestly, because then it works for the rest of your life.

Doree:                Totally.

Kate:                    I mean, I might be making that up, but you know what I mean? It's not going to work for the rest of your life, but it kind has a long longer staying power.

Doree:                Yes, Exactly.

Kate:                    I have.

Doree:                That's my update.

Kate:                    Okay. I'm glad that you gave that a try. I have been really thinking about how need to use up all the shit that I have before I even venture out into acquiring more shit. That mantra that so many of us have, and then at least I never stick to.

Doree:                I sure do. Kate.

Kate:                    I just recently was like, Kate, you've got to get this shit under control here. Well, I am visiting friends and in my brain I was like, I've got to get this, this, and this for this trip. And then I have had to be like, no, you don't. You already have stuff that you can bring, use and wear. You do not need. What is that? What is that? Is that just ingrained capitalism? What is that? That I'm like, oh, I'm doing something. I need new.

Doree:                I mean, yeah, I think we've been conditioned to think that we always need new things. Yeah. That is capitalism.

Kate:                    Yeah. Well, it's working.

Doree:                Well, Kate, let's take a little break. Before we take a break though, let's remind everyone that our website is Forever35podcast.com. We have links to everything we mentioned on the show on our website. We're also on Instagram @Forever35podcast. You can join our Patreon at patreon.com/forever35. We're doing so many fun things over on the Patreon. We have a new type of episode, a new format we're calling Casual Chats. It's basically just, it's almost like the top of the show, but even more free flowing.

Kate:                    It is really, we go in with no agenda, no knowledge of what we're going to talk about, and we just gab,

Doree:                You know what it is as if you were going to call up a friend and just chat with them. Remember people used to do that?

Kate:                    I do. And the concept now feels so strange to me,

Doree:                But every time I do do that, and mind you, every time I do that now it's scheduled. I'll call you. No, I feel like in our parents' generation, I feel like my mom was on the phone all the time just chatting with her mom,

Kate:                    casually chatting, casually chatting,

Doree:                casually chatting. So we're basically having an old school phone call on these casual chats, and we're doing those every week.

Kate:                    So if you had a parent for me, it was my mom who would talk to a friend while she made dinner. And the cord of the phone was so stretched out. We didn't have a big kitchen, but it just, that cord went everywhere. It was like a tail. That is what this is. If you grew up in the eighties and you know what I'm talking about, or the nineties even.

Doree:                Yes. Before cordless phones were really a thing. Also, the original cordless phones were bad. They were staticky. You didn't get good reception from a cordless phone.

Kate:                    I love you coming in with a hot take about cordless phones 40 years after they come in.

Doree:                I mean, look, the early cordless phones were not good.

Kate:                    I forgot that cordless phones were staticky.

Doree:                Yeah, they were staticky.

Kate:                    Also didn't cordless phones just seem like the fanciest thing to ever exist. A cordless phone.

Doree:                Well, it just seemed like mind blowing. That could have a cordless phone. Anyway, that's what these chats are like. So you can check those out. A patreon.com/forever35. We have a seven day free trial, so you can check us out for seven days. Listen to the episodes, see what you think. We're still doing the recaps of the oc, which I'm having a lot of fun with. I can't speak for Kate, but I'm having a lot of fun with them.

Kate:                    Oh, It's like the most, I look forward to it every week.

Doree:                It's very fun. We have a newsletter at Forever35podcast.com/newsletter. And of course you can always call or text us at (781) 591-0390 and you can email us at Forever35podcast@gmail.com and we're going to take a break.

Kate:                    Here we go. Okay, Doree, first question here. Post break actually connects to what we were just talking about, which I didn't plan, but here it is.

Doree:                Let's hear it.

Kate:                    We received an email. Hello? Or actually they said hi. Hi Kat and Dor I feel like Doree no longer uses Biologique Recherche P50 after being a devote for a long time? I'm pretty skincare minimal, but it's somehow been in my orbit lately. It seems like one of those things that actually works. So I am contemplating would love any and all thoughts. Now, when we first started Forever35, you were a Biologique Recherche P50 diehard. I heard.

Doree:                I was.

Kate:                    Is that fair to say,

Doree:                Kate? I think that's fair to say,

Kate:                    And I don't even know if I'd ever heard of this stuff. It really excited me and I've tried it. It has a potent smell. It's a special product. Take a now Jewelry. Take us now. Doree. Six years later. What's your relationship like with Biologique Recherche P50?

Doree:                So I did pretty much stop using it, not because I think it's a bad product, but because for one thing it's quite expensive,

Kate:                    Quite,

Doree:                It is a little annoying to get, they don't let it be sold at Sephora. You can only buy it through very certain, very specific retailers. There actually is a Biologique Recherche boutique here in Los Angeles now. I haven't been there, but you can get it there. But it just was a little annoying to get. And then also I fell out of love with over exfoliation. I was using P 50 every day, which is too much. No one needs to use P 50 every day. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to take a break from this chemical. I'm going to take a break from chemical exfoliation. And then once I took a break and I added a little bit very selectively back in, I was like, I don't think I need the intensity of the P 50. So that's it. But again, I don't think it's a bad product. I don't think you should use it every day. I actually think that some of the Paula's choice stuff that Kate was talking about that we were talking about earlier in the episode, I think does pretty similar stuff and is a lot cheaper. So I don't know. Yeah, because I think it's great. I don't think you need it.

Kate:                    It's essentially an active exfoliant. So it's got lactic acid, salicylic acid. I mean I love good old pixie glow tonic.

Doree:                Yeah.

Kate:                    Which I think is just one of those acids, if I remember correctly, glycolic 5% glycolic. They also have a salicylic acid toner, I think Pixie, which I like. Yeah, I am with you. Do. I think there are more affordable options, but if you are called to it and you must have it and it's you've got to do,

Doree:                One thing that I will say is you can get a very small size P 50. I think it's still $30 or something, but that is a way to try it without investing. I don't even know what a regular bottle costs now. I mean it's definitely over a hundred dollars. That is a way to try it without investing, making a big investment, I guess I should say.

Kate:                    The big bucks. The big bucks big.

Doree:                Keep us posted. What do you decide to do, listener?

Kate:                    Tell us. We need to know.

Doree:                Alright, next email. Hi Kate. This is just you, Kate. I was watching my local news. This AM and the news anchor mentioned that she uses Vaseline and Warm water to remove eye makeup. She claims it works better than any makeup remover she has ever purchased. Have you ever tried Love the show, original listener here?

Kate:                    Yes, I have tried.

Doree:                Okay.

Kate:                    I think it does work to get makeup off. I think it kind of depends on, I actually like the experience of doing a cleanser, whether like an oil or a bomb cleanser because I mean, I guess vaseline's just pure petroleum jelly, so you could wash it off after. But I would almost use that as a final step. If you've washed your face and then you have the remnants of the eye makeup and stuff, then I would almost do Vaseline last because once that's on your skin, it's occlusive. So yeah.

Doree:                Can you even get Vaseline off with water?

Kate:                    That's a great question. I don't know. I wouldn't assume so just based on what I know on Vaseline.

Doree:                Yeah, this is what confused me about this.

Kate:                    Yeah. But it is a good makeup remover. I have definitely used it to get stuff off. So to each their own, I feel like it's just kind of more of a thing of personal preference. I did dress up for Halloween and then I took my makeup off and I still have this versed balm that I've been using, which works very well. But I couldn't find my pons cold cream. And I was like this Halloween makeup that I have on because I had dripped mascara all down my face to make it look like I had been crying.

Doree:                You looked amazing. I'm sorry to just interrupt here,

Kate:                    But none of it's for,

Doree:                Would you mind sharing what you dressed up as because it was really good.

Kate:                    So my friends were hosting a Halloween party and the invitation made it sound like it had a Halloween theme, kind of like an introduction to a Halloween movie, like the Babysitters here. Maybe there's a party kind of the way my friend who has the party, she and her partner are both writers, so it's a very funny, smart invitation. So I was like, oh, maybe I should dress up on, oh, in the invitation it was Dress Up the Babysitter or Dress Up like the whoever. So I was like, okay, I can go with a Halloween theme. And then I was at Goodwill with my daughter and we were shopping and I just found this dress that was such a cool kind of eighties, nineties prom dress in my size and it was purple. And then that made me think of the whole live through this cover, which is basically kind of an homage to carry the movie and book Carrie and the scene where Sissy Spacek wins Homecoming queen and then the Mean Teens pour pig's blood on her. And so it's this woman, like a young woman with her hair kind of in seventies waves wearing a huge crown with mascara, smudged down her face, screaming, holding flowers. And so that was my inspiration for my costume, Doree, was that album Holes lived through this and three people at the party got exact reference.

Doree:                It was so good.

Kate:                    Oh, that's so nice of you

Doree:                You texted me a picture and I was like, oh, this is spot on.

Kate:                    That's really nice of you. I don't enjoy Halloween and I don't enjoy dressing up and I'm trying to kind of get more in the spirit of things. And this was a very last minute.

Doree:                It was very good

Kate:                    Costume, but it ended up being very fun and it was delightful to me when people were like, are you Holes live through this album cover.

Doree:                So good.

Kate:                    Granted just three people, but three more than zero. But that would've been a good time to use Vaseline to get all the mascara off as well.

Doree:                Yes. Thank you for bringing it back. You're welcome to the email.

Kate:                    Nope, you're welcome. I do what I can. Okay, let's see what we've got here. Oh, this is interesting to me. Here's an email. Hello as always, love your show. Thank you. Was wondering if you have ever looked into a wardrobe app like Style Stylebook was using it heavily before the pandemic and as we have just started going back into the office in a hybrid format, I'm now finding it super helpful. Again, it's a great way to seasonally organize your wardrobe and really take stock of what you have and what you really use.

Doree:                So I remember at one point looking at a stylebook and I think because it was a paid app, I was like, I'm not going to pay for this. And now I'm looking at the website and I see that it's just a one-time charge. It's 4 99, it's not a subscription,

Kate:                    That's it? $4.99, 1 time?

Doree:                And now I'm like, maybe I should just do this.

Kate:                    I actually might need to get it. And I only because I think you photograph your closet, and I say this because I have to clean out my closet soon because our closet moth situation is very bad and I need to take everything out and clean out the closet in order to get rid of the mods because closet mods. So all the clothes would already be out and then I could photograph them. Smart. This is intriguing listener

Doree:                In their FAQ, they say, we recommend that you start with your most used items first and then add in the rest of your closet over time. That's smart. So you kind of do an initial round,

Kate:                    almost like a capsule.

Doree:                And then I assume that as you wear things that you haven't photographed, you photograph them as you wear them, I'm assuming.

Kate:                    I like that.

Doree:                What they think you should do, but haven't used it. But I'm intrigued. Yes, listener. We have not used it, but we are style book curious.

Kate:                    We're sty book. Curious, why did I have to change it to shorten it? I don't know. Delete. Yeah, I would try this out for sure. Especially because I am trying to also get dressed more often into clothes. I don't like to use the term

Doree:                I was like, what?

Kate:                    No, I mean I exercise a lot of mornings and then I kind of just stay in my exercise clothes and I'm trying to maybe put on, I don't want to say real clothes or nicer clothes, but I do like the feeling of putting myself together a little bit, whether that is athleisure wear or with a sweat pant, but kind of styling myself a little bit more just makes me feel a little bit more working alone and being alone all the time is just weird because you dress up for other people in so many ways. Right?

Doree:                Totally.

Kate:                    So I'm trying to channel like 2013 me who was going into an office

Doree:                Channel, all the good things about going into an office.

Kate:                    I miss. There is a lot I miss about going into an office.

Doree:                Yeah, I do too.

Kate:                    I really miss working with people. I really think that is one of the weirdest and so many of us have worked from home, not all of us over the last few years, but a lot of us. And it's like there is so much to be said for getting to be around other people.

Doree:                I'm with you. It's interesting because I feel like that perspective has become sort of demonized because it's often coming from CEOs that are trying to get employees back into the office. And so if you are someone who actually does enjoy going into an office and seeing people, which is not everyone. It's not everyone, but it's hard to vocalize that without being accused of, I don't know, being on the side of being a boomer or being on the side of management or whatever.

Kate:                    Well, it's also hard too because I think folks would be a lot more keen on going into an office if we actually had accommodating if the culture of work was different and we had adequate family leave and rethinking. There's so much that needs to be changed in so many different working environments. So it's like we don't want to go back to the way things were.

Doree:                Not to mention commutes.

Kate:                    Commutes, the cost, the time, the cost of childcare. I mean all of it. Look, it's a nightmare. But I do miss that feeling of going out and getting that 3:00 PM Starbucks with some buds.

Doree:                Totally.

Kate:                    I miss that. In fact, I miss it so much that when I was recently in New York City, I took a selfie in front of my old office building, nobody cared. I was with my whole family and I was like, this is where I used to work.

Doree:                They're like, that's nice.

Kate:                    They were like, that's great. Anyway, shout out to 1515 Broadway.

Doree:                Kate, let's take another break and then we'll come back and have a couple more

Kate:                    Okie Doe

Doree:                questions from listeners?

Kate:                    You got it dude.

Doree:                Alright. BRB.

Kate:                    Okay, Doree, welcome back.

Doree:                Thank you so much.

Kate:                    Welcome back to the pod. Okay, here is just kind of a hot tip from someone they wrote to us listening to episode 286. That's shocking to me that we've done that many episodes, but that's not what this is about. And had to pause the pod for a sec to give a strong wreck for setting up your iPad in the bathroom while using your device. I used the new face and totally agree that it can get boring. So I started studying up my iPad in the bathroom, turning on my go-to feel good. Show Gilmore Girls and doing my best to defy gravity via the new face. I probably use it five times a week with this method and really only skip it if I've gotten the kids to bed a little late and maybe my evening time feels more crunched than usual. Also, if you're going to have a fun night out, I highly recommend using it while getting ready. If you can squeeze it into your day, it just gives your face that extra snatched look. Anyhow. Love you guys report back.

Doree:                So I've started doing this.

Kate:                    Wait, what? Without reading this email. You just have started?

Doree:                Yes.

Kate:                    Oh. Oh, excuse me. Okay, look at you.

Doree:                I think this is a reference to something that I said about wanting to use my device, but it needed to be for 10 minutes and I was like, I don't know what to do. Maybe I should bring my iPad into the bathroom. I believe that that was the conversation. And then I actually did start doing that. And I got to tell you, it does make the time go so much faster

Kate:                    Now what are you watching?

Doree:                I'm usually doing a crossword.

Kate:                    Hold on. You can use a device and do a crossword at the same time. Your brain can do that.

Doree:                I have two hands.

Kate:                    Hold on. I'm just, can you see me right now? I'm trying to figure this out. I'm using a device and then I'm staring at my phone cross wording.

Doree:                No, IPad. iPad. iPad is set up

Kate:                    That's big

Doree:                On like it's stand. So I'm not holding anything in my hand except the device. So device, device, device. And then iPad right here and I'm just boop boop, boop boop.

Kate:                    Look at you. Multitasking.

Doree:                Sometimes I'm reading the internet but I'm usually not watching anything because it's not long enough to really get into something. But it's a perfect amount of time to start a crossword.

Kate:                    Well I do love playing Rum Cube and I could definitely play a rum cube game while I zap my face.

Doree:                There you go. Exactly.

Kate:                    Or do my other favorite game app, Woody puzzle. I dunno if you're familiar with Woody Puzzle.

Doree:                Go on.

Kate:                    Woody Puzzle is a block game. It's kind of like Tetris, just like you're trying to fit little blocks into spaces and eliminate lines of squares. My husband got me into it and now our whole family plays when we are allowed on screens.

Doree:                Interesting. Interesting.

Kate:                    Woody Puzzle. Woody puzzle. Yeah.

Doree:                Woody Puzzle. Woody.

Kate:                    Woody. I guess it's called Woody Block Puzzle.

Doree:                Woody Block Puzzle. Okay.

Kate:                    I'm a fan of it. I'm a fan.

Doree:                I'm intrigued. Kate, I'm intrigued.

Kate:                    Well, you would probably like this. It's just a puzzle game. I had a friend who told me she does jigsaw puzzles on her iPad.

Doree:                Oh, that's interesting.

Kate:                    I never heard of that.

Doree:                You do that?

Kate:                    I didn't either, but she says she does it.

Doree:                I'm going to look into that.

Kate:                    Yeah, that's her nighttime relaxing routine.

Doree:                Oh, that's very interesting. Well, listener, I am right there with you and yeah, Great ideas. Alright, next text. Hi Kate. You briefly mentioned on a recent episode that you have a new walking pad. How has it been going? I love mine mostly because when I take mine out during the workday, I put on a dancey playlist and then dance slash walk while working. Just listen to the full Renaissance album while walking and am now very happy and sweaty. Plus I walked almost two and a half miles and finished some work I'd been avoiding. I bought it to help add more movement to days when I work from home. But dancing in the middle of the day to fun. Music is such a mood booster. Highly recommend anything from the Barbie soundtrack for your playlist too.

Kate:                    I love the Barbie soundtrack.

Doree:                I like that idea. So speaking of the Barbie soundtrack, and then we can get to your walking pad, but did you see the Pete Davidson spoof of the Ken Song?

Kate:                    No.

Doree:                Oh my God.

Kate:                    From Saturday Night Live. Is that right?

Doree:                Live. It's so funny.

Kate:                    Oh, I haven't seen it. Okay, we'll watch after this.

Doree:                SNL Skits keep coming up for me on TikTok and I see them and in a vacuum. They're very funny. I've not sat down to watch a full episode of SNL in a very long time, partly because it's on late. I go to bed early, but it was very funny and very self-deprecating and you're like, oh, this is why Pete Davidson is Pete Davidson. He's in on the joke.

Kate:                    Oh, he, oh, that's right. He hosted. I saw his really sweet, beautiful monologue. I mean, look, Pete Davidson, if I were single in my twenties and that guy rolled in, that's the exact guy I was going for when I was 23. And I get it. I get the Pete Davidson appeal.

Doree:                Totally. They're talking shit about him.

Video:                 No one cares about the work I do. I made a show and no one streamed it. But my mom, when I'm, I do things call, we buy a they tell

Kate:                    That's something that he did

Video:                 And I never sleep alone at night. Because I'm Pete Anyone else, I'd be a freak but I'm just Pete. Looking Like a head on the street. People still call me because of a guy whose name I can't say legally

Kate:                    Alright.

Doree:                Well, you got the idea.

Kate:                    Wait, why do they still call him Skeet?

Doree:                Oh, because it was what Kanye called him.

Kate:                    Oh, Kanye. Wow. He's very charming. This Pete Davidson.

Doree:                He's very charming. I highly suggest watching the whole thing. It's very, very funny.

Kate:                    Doree

Doree:                Kate.

Kate:                    Bringing it back to the walking pad.

Doree:                Oh yeah, sorry.

Kate:                    Bringing it back to the walking pad, which got us started on this tangent somehow you went from Barbie soundtrack to P Davison. Okay. That's not that big of a leap did.

Doree:                Thank you.

Kate:                    I like it and I actually use it, but I don't know if I would use it and listen to dance music. I use it and I work. I just have a lot of work that I do that can be done standing and it's mostly,

Doree:                Yeah. This was going to be my question. Do you have a standing desk? How does this work?

Kate:                    I have a laptop, like an old MacBook Air that I bought, refurbished that I use, and then I have the stand for it that I bought. That's not great. I think I might get a hardier stand

Doree:                so it's not set up in front of your desk.

Kate:                    Well, I work at a big table, so it's on one side. No, but I mean this is very specific to my work setup, but I have a desktop computer that I work on and then I have a laptop that I have put on this little

Doree:                So you're not working on your desktop when you're on the walking?

Kate:                    No, but I think I could and I would just get the thing that moves up and down that I have seen in TikTok. Influencer videos

Doree:                follow up?

Kate:                    Yes.

Doree:                How do you store it and do you store it or do you just leave it out?

Kate:                    I store it. It just has wheels and I just push it under the table. Oh, interesting. And there it is. And I will say I walk it, like yesterday I did it. I was listening to a podcast episode and editing it and I walked at a 2.4, so not fast because I think if I was power walking, it wouldn't be feasible for me to focus. And I also want to say, I don't think this takes the place of taking walks outside. I love taking walks outside. I find them very therapeutic. This for me is more just so that I'm not sitting all the time because look, I'm 44 and I'm trying to keep these bones strong. Osteoporosis is lurking and it's real. So I am trying to stand more to walk more. And so this is just another way when I, instead of sitting in front of my computer listening to a podcast episode and Googling boots or something, while I do, if my brain runs away from me, I walk and I listen to it.

Doree:                Wow, okay.

Kate:                    Yeah. So I walked a mile and a half yesterday while listening to an episode I was editing. So definitely, yeah, it was about 30 minutes. I think

Doree:                This is intriguing to me. My office is so packed with stuff that I don't know if I could do this, but I am walking pad curious.

Kate:                    I have to say this could also be one of those things that in a year is just collecting dust. But I expected to not use it as much and I definitely use it a few times a week, which is what I expected. And I don't think, I'm not going to be somebody who answers emails from the walking pad. My brain can't focus that way, but I can do stuff like meal plan on the walking pad, stuff like that.

Doree:                Right. Alright, well Kate, this brings us to the portion of the show. We like to call intentions or the intention zone,

Kate:                    Highway two, the Intention Z Zone. Well, here's where I am last week. Keep the phone out of the bedroom.

Doree:                How did that go?

Kate:                    Well, I have it in my bedroom right now, honestly, just because I got overwhelmed by the clutter of where we keep screens in our kitchen and I was like, couldn't find cords and I was just like, ugh. So it's in my bedroom, under my bedside table. But last night I put it there at nine o'clock and I just kept saying to myself, you don't need to check it. You don't need to check it. One day of not checking your phone is going to be fine. Let it go. Nothing is happening. And then I got a book and then the time where I would normally be diddling around on my phone, I just had the book and I was reading the book and that was good. That was good. And what is also satisfying when I wake up in the morning and I see the texts that happened after I put my phone away and I realize I didn't, there was no emergency. Everything is okay. It's all okay.

Doree:                Yes, yes.

Kate:                    So this week I am committing to working on my systems. Doree I

Doree:                As someone who is married to someone with ADHD, this is music to my ears.

Kate:                    You hear, you see so many similarities between the two of us. Do you not?

Doree:                It's a real thing. We've been talking a little bit about being the neurotypical spouse of someone with ADHD on excellent adventure.

Kate:                    Oh, fascinating.

Doree:                And someone wrote in this week to say that she is neurotypical and also her spouse has a DHD. And she said, and my two best friends also have a DHD, and I'm very type A, so I relate to you do. I was like, yeah, this is a real dynamic that I think I've gotten very comfortable in.

Kate:                    Thank God, because your patience is appreciated. Doree.

Doree:                Well thank you. I appreciate being appreciated.

Kate:                    So I will tell you one thing I do that I bet other folks do Divergent or not. I bet this is a common thing. You download 8 million apps and then you have no idea where you try everything, but then you don't stick with one. And then you don't ever have a to-do list because it's across.

Doree:                You're talking specifically about to-do apps.

Kate:                    Here's what I broke down. I actually think I wrote down, wrote this down in a note. Let me see if I can find it. Which is the most ADD thing to say. Where did I write this down? Oh my God. Here. It's here. It's okay. I started watching these videos from this guy online. I was Googling to do lists on YouTube to get some tips on how to use the app to Doist. And I came across this man named Carl Pulin. I believe he is Australian or British, and he lives in South Korea. I don't know, he's an interesting guy, but he has all these time management things. And the way he broke down Todoist for me was so helpful. And I actually think is going to change my life. And I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I will talk more about this at another time. But the way that he manages his to-do list in Todoist, he does it by this week, next week, this month, next month as opposed to different projects. And that really helped me. But what I have come to understand is that I need to decide and then definitively declare what my systems are. My todo list, my tasks exist in the Todoist app and that's it. I'm not sometimes putting them in the notes app. I'm not testing out Google tasks. I use Todoist and that's it. My schedule is Google Calendar. That is where my schedule always will be. And then I need a place where I can put projects, which is separate from to do tasks, go somewhere else. One place projects. So I'm testing out Evernote for that. And then for social media, because I do have to be on social media to promote my work, but I don't want to be on the actual social media apps. I am testing out. But what I kind of realized is, and also where do I meal plan, where do I keep my grocery lists? I believe that's going to be the notes app. And I need to pick a system, stick to the location, and then master what my system is and then have those systems available and not have 50 different fucking apps that I'm trying and not one day do a grocery list and to Doist and the next day do it in the Notes app. I need to very clearly define for myself what these little areas are and how I manage them. I had this bizarro revelation watching this guy's videos about this, and that is me trying to, I really need systems in order to get stuff done. As a person with a DD and like a Google calendar, I am really on top of, it works really well for me. My only annoyance is that they don't have an app for my actual computer and I have to use it in a browser. But I don't think it would make any sense to then try to do my Google calendar in the Apple Calendar app. I don't know, still thinking about that. But I am really thinking about how I, where do I meal plan every week so that I can find it so it's not floating across in Google Docs. And then in this, it's just enough already.

Doree:                Kate, Have we talked about the magnetic dry erase meal plan thing that I got for my fridge?

Kate:                    I don't think so. Are you meal planning on a dry erase board? I love that for you.

Doree:                Yes. I think I was inspired by you. You have something like that on your fridge?

Kate:                    We do. We have a magnetic, I have a lot of, what don't I have in terms of fucking band-aids to get my brain to work. I have a dry erase board. I've got everything. Yes. Yeah.

Doree:                I got a specific weekly menu one with

Kate:                    Oh, cute

Doree:                days of the week and then what we're having for dinner. And then there's a little box for groceries and a little box for notes. And Henry loves it

Kate:                    because he likes to see what's going on.

Doree:                He loves to know what's for dinner. He looks at it, he can't read, but he's like, mama, what's on? He knows the days of the week, so he'll ask. He just likes having it. He likes to know what's coming. He likes the plan,

Kate:                    he likes the structure.

Doree:                He likes the structure. And it's actually been super helpful for me also.

Kate:                    Well also he can kind of mentally prepare. I think that's so helpful for all of us, right? To kind of have some plan. And you can emotionally prepare yourself for things, whether it's dinner or schedule.

Doree:                Yep, exactly. And I can just jot down groceries that we need. It's very helpful. So Kate, thank you for inspiring me there. Okay. Should I go? Are you done?

Kate:                    Yes, it's your turn. I'm done. Okay.

Doree:                So last week I said I was going to figure out some work stuff. I have this ongoing. I said I have an ongoing big project that I either need to really double down on and focus on, or I need to set it aside. I was supposed to have a phone call with someone in the middle of last week that would've provided more clarity on this. And then it got pushed to today. So I didn't get more clarity on this until today. But I think my conclusion is that I'm going to double down on it.

Kate:                    Yes. Oh my gosh, this is exciting. A double down.

Doree:                But that means I need to really, speaking of systems.

Kate:                    Oh boy.

Doree:                Yeah, because I may not have ADHD, but I find it very hard to focus on just, there's just a lot of distractions around. And so I need to really give myself a schedule. I might bust out a time timer. I don't know. I think I'm going to use some tools, some A DHD management tools to try to get this done because I need to figure something out. So that is also kind of my intention for this week. Just schedule system, blah, blah, blah.

Kate:                    Doree's doubling down.

Doree:                I'm doubling down. It's happening.

Kate:                    That's so exciting. Congratulations.

Doree:                So I'll keep everyone posted, but that's the plan over here.

Kate:                    Alright, keep me posted.

Doree:                I Will. Now, Kate, we are meant to thank our $10 and above patrons every month. We forgot to do it in October. We're doing it now.

Kate:                    We suck.

Doree:                We don't suck. We just forgot to do it.

Kate:                    It's an extreme reaction.

Doree:                So I'm going to read these names. I believe you read them last month.

Kate:                    Oh, okay. Okay. I'm going to cheer you on.

Doree:                I'll read them this month.

Kate:                    Drum roll. Drum roll.

Doree:                Okay. Thank you. Also, let me just reiterate that we are so grateful for your support. It actually helps keep the lights on, keeps the podcast going.

Kate:                    Literally keeps the podcast going.

Doree:                It literally keeps the podcast going. So we appreciate any denomination of support. But we do like to give our $10 and above supporters just a little bit of extra love here because that's a big commitment and we are very appreciative of it. And you can support us at patreon.com/Forever35. Thank you to the following patrons. Alexandra Houghton, Allison Cohen, Amy Mako, Andrea Sepulveda, Angie James, and ta. Becky, Hobbes, Haer. Beth, Bethany, Brianne, Macy, Caroline, cc, Christine Basses, Coco Bean, Diana, Diane, m Martin, Dr. Josie Alquist. E Jackson. Elizabeth Anderson. Elizabeth Cleary, Elizabeth Holland, Amelia De, Emily Bruer, Emily McIntyre, Fran, Hannah Moss, Heather oca, Helen Des Mo. Jane Thoreau. JDK, jet Apte. Jennifer Barrett. Jennifer Hs. Jennifer Olson, Jess Bin, Jessica Gale, Jillian Bowman, Joanna Stone, Josie Zi. Julia Putt, Juliana Dpe, Juliana Duff, Kara Brugmann, Karen Perman, Kate M, Catherine Ellingson, Katie Tron, Kelly Dearborn. Kelsey Wolf, Donne, Carrie Gold, Kim Beagler, Kirsten Collins, Krista, Kristen Morris. Laura. Laura. Eddie. Laura. Hadden, Lisa, Travis, Lizette, Liz, rain, Lynette Jones, M, Marissa, Monica, Nick, Nikki, Boser, Pam from Boston. Rachel Anderson, Sarah Egan. Sarah, Sarah Boozy, Shelly Lee, Stephanie, Ana, Susan, ETH, Tara, Todd, Tiffany Griffith, Valerie Bruno, and Zulema Lundy. Thank you so much. We really appreciate you and just want to remind everyone. Forever35 is hosted and produced by me, Doree Shafrir and Kate Spencer, and produced and edited by Sam Junio. Sami Reed is our project manager, and our network partner is Acast. Bye everyone. Bye.