A Few Things With Claire And Erica

Let’s talk Thingies with Monica Khemsurov & Jill Singer! They’re the masterminds behind Sight Unseen, our go-to design resource since 2009, and the authors of the new book How to Live with Objects that has helpful tips aplenty (along with ample inspiration). Plus: a hate-gift idea and a belated love letter to Normal People.    How about a donation to Moms for Moms, pitched to us as an A+ hate-gift by a listener?   Monica and Jill’s book How to Live with Objects is out now! Wow, is it great—and what an ideal present for the “person who has everything” type.   Their Thingies, coming through: oversize decor, miniature fountains (Monica’s is from Lily Clark.), only buying the best version of a consumable something (Jill loves the Marie Veronique Barrier Lipid Complex, rice from The Rice Factory New York, and Glaser Organic Farms Almond Butter.), microwaves (David Chang Cooking at Home and Anyday cookware fans unite!), and saved search terms when exploring vintage objects.    Are there entertainment-y things y

Ope! We’re back with a grab bag of questions: What does “After Dark” mean to you? How does one explain what consulting is? Are you signed up for Dua Lipa’s newsletter? What does it mean to actually *build* a bear? All this and more in your ears now!   For some discomfitting Build-a-Bear products for adults, enter The Bear Cave. For other “but what does it MEAN?” After Dark content, check out National Parks After Dark and this edition of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers.    Check out this YouTube video from Charlie Berens for on ope usage and Midwest vs. Everybody’s great ope merch. Also: on the rise of the Midwestern vibe.   Takeaways re: "A ‘Landmark’ as Women Will Coach Against Each Other in Men’s Soccer," which also made us think about this episode of Throwing Fits.   Join us in subscribing to Dua Lipa’s newsletter Service95 and listening to her podcast At Your Service.    Share your thoughts on all of this at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! And try out a Secret Menu

For this glorious ep, we partnered with Noihsaf Bazaar, the Duluth, Minnesota–based resale site curated by real people with excellent taste. Wow, how excited we are to talk secondhand shopping and Thingies with the very in-the-know founder Kate Lindello…and we’ll also take this (any?) opportunity to go nuts for corn nuts.    Kate’s Thingies include Monastery Attar Concentrate (perhaps start with—or gift—the discovery kit), Tibi Style Class, the Dik-Dik from Matek (which makes us think of dickey situations from Nanamica and Mijeong Park), Better Things, Peter Witrak’s mobiles, the wool cloud from Scarf Shop, and, of course, Minnesota in general (and Grandma’s Marathon specifically).    Hit us up at at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq to let us know your dream Thingies guests, and for even more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership and join our Geneva.  Join a super-cool community of buyers and sellers at Noihsaf Bazaar. So much awesomeness to be had! We dare you to find a

We’re wrapping up (heh) this year’s gift guides with ideas for siblings, kids, aunts and uncles, colleagues, and the randos in your life you wanna treat extra nice. Have holiday-shopping thoughts of your own you *need* to share? Join our shiny new Geneva and spread that intel!    For all our ideas, check out the archive of gift guides past—and keep those VMs and DMs coming at 833-632-5463 and @athingortwohq!   A quick thanks to our sponsors: Explore our favorite MoMA Design Store finds—a one-stop shop! Give your hair TLC with Nutrafol. Take $15 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY.   Sisters!   For my sister and me because we both had/are having babies this year, and we are culturally christian literally only for the christmas cheer. Baby's first christmas holiday ornaments that aren't absolutely dreadful. So much cheesy stuff, doesn't have to be baby themed but looking for a cool way to commemorate. Custom porcelain charms from OKS FoxBlossomCo custom bent-wire ornament  Lizzie

It’s that time of year: the unveiling of the best gift guide in the podcast multiverse (we like to think). Part 1 stars your most charming—and trickiest—partners, parents, and grandparents. Next week, tune in for part 2, and, in the meantime, dig into the ol’ present-paralysis back catalogue. For the full episode recap—with ALL THE LINKS!—head to the A Thing or Two site. Get the ecomm support you need with Shopify. Get a free 14-day trial with our link. Shop our favorite MoMA Design Store finds—so many holiday crowd-pleasers! Feel your best in Honeylove and get 20% off with the code ATHINGORTWO. Book that doctor’s appointment already by downloading the free Zocdoc app. Husbands and Boyfriends! 42-year-old male. Recently started dating. Lawyer. Dad. World traveler. Cyclist. Just bought a new house. Moved back to the area (Philly) from upstate new york. photographer. reader. avid home cook. knows a Parisian knot. loves a good meal out. linen shirt wearer. loafers/boat shoes with shorts kind of guy. Enjoys win

We’ve got the French-culture report AND a bunch of glorious Thingies from Jamie Beck, whose book An American in Provence: Art, Life and Photography is out tomorrow, just in time for holiday wish-listing. Related: We take a min. to talk about hate-gifting, sparked by some of the requests we’ve gotten in recent years.    You really have to see Jamie’s book An American in Provence to believe it (and to live vicariously through it, obviously).   Jamie’s Thingies include Dries Van Noten refillable lipstick in Antwerp Vermeil, good lighting (via a soft ring light, natural sunlight, or a fridge) and a chic phone case, cooking over a fire with an Alice Waters–approved egg spoon, Westman Atelier’s Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé and Chantecaille’s Liquid Lumière, and Savon de Marseille for stain-removal (related: Jenny Walton on IG). For some very French gift-giving, she loves anything from Buly 1803.    For all your gifting quandries, hit us up at at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingor

Happy Halloween from two people who nailed the theme! Today we’re celebrating the joy of dressing up for *any* occasion and sharing some more thoughts on travel when it just feels like everyone is going to the same places.    The inspiration behind our conversation about travel: Rebecca Jenning’s article “The Instagram capital of the world is a terrible place to be” for Vox.    If you want some outfit inspo for your next concert, Harry Styles or otherwise, check out this New Yorker Photo Booth feature or Paola Mathe’s GRWM.    For more on the impact fandom has on popular culture, check out Everything I Need I Get From You by Kaitlyn Tiffany.   Come at us with your hot takes! Share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And try out a Secret Menu membership for many more recommendations.   Produced by Dear Media. 

We’re chatting with Recho Omondi, a fashion designer and the host of the incredible podcast The Cutting Room Floor, and you’re going to want to hear her Thingies (and everything else she’s interested in, honestly). Also: a tattoo that got our wheels turning.   If you’re looking for a follow-up to our convo about living with longing, check out this this New Yorker article about choose your own adventure books by Leslie Jamison. See also: Lois Lowry on the 70 Over 70 podcast.   Hit play on Recho’s podcast The Cutting Room Floor; do all your chores! A recent cool guest: Mina White. A few dream guests: Mel Ottenberg and Piergiorgio Del Moro.   And if you’re YouTube-curious, Colin and Samir is a Recho-recommended channel.    Recho’s Thingies include Kinn fine jewelry, Camber hoodies (more ℅ a recent GQ story) Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (specifically the Massachusetts ep), Parachute linen bedding (our other recs: Linoto, and Merci), and her Jenni Kayne Home bed.     Do you have dream Thingies guests? Share the

Introducing our first rockstar guest, Margo Price! She shares her Thingies and talks about writing her memoir, Maybe We’ll Make It, which is a story of perseverance, tell you what.    The fanny-pack discourse: We have an update on the Bandolier, a discussion of pockets ft. Véronique Hyland’s book Dress Code, and a pitch for goofier kids’ clothes inspired by this crewneck with a built-in fanny pack from All Small Co.    What inspired Margo’s Maybe We’ll Make It? Patti Smith’s incredible Just Kids.    Margo’s Thingies include T3 hair dryers and curling irons, Greater Goods CBD/CBN Evening Tincture, Thieves Oil, Acid for the Children by Flea, and two Nashville faves: A Shop of Things and The Continental.    If you’re new to Margo’s music and want a place to start, hit play on "Pay Gap"...and get ready for a new album in January.   Do you have a dream Thingies guest? Thoughts about fanny packs you need to share? We’re ready for them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recom

We're coming to you fresh from our high-school reunions, and there are lots of reflections ahead. On old friendships, yes…and also on dips, chips, and the controversial baby carrot.   Some condiments we’re excited about include Cabi sweet yuzu vinegar, umami dashi soy sauce, and zesty sansho peppercorn miso. We’re also loving Chicas tortilla chips, Burlap & Barrel black lime and Reem’s spice blends, Gjusta Goods marinated olive oil and herbed salt, Ella’s Flats, Zingerman’s pimento cheese, Gotham Greens pesto, McClure’s little pickles, and Breadblok almond thins. For more tremendous munching, head to Portugalia Marketplace in Fall River, Massachusetts (or, you know, online).   An iconic book of our teen years: Swell: A Girl's Guide to the Good Life by Ilene Rosenzweig and Cynthia Rowley.    Do you have thoughts on reunions (or hot snack tips)? Let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And for more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.   Give professional couns

We have an amazing Guest Thingies episode today with Jessi Hempel, prolific tech writer and host of the podcast Hello Monday whose new memoir The Family Outing you have to check out. Also: details about our blossoming relationship with TikTok.    A TikTok follow for your pop-culture PR needs: @mollybmcpherson.    The Family Outing! A memoir! If this description doesn’t suck you in: “By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out: Jessi as gay, her sister as bisexual, her father as gay, her brother as transgender, and her mother as a survivor of a traumatic experience with an alleged serial killer.”   A book that gets at the challenges of memory: David Carr’s The Night of the Gun.   An A Thing or Two rec that Jessi cosigns: this inflatable travel pillow for flying with a kid…but probably for lots of other purposes, too.    Jessi’s Thingies: Potette (as she’s on a potty-training journey that rivals Claire’s), Cliq portable camping chairs for sitting…everywhere, Anne Helen Peterson’s Cu

Updates AND new topics? Wow, this episode really has it all. We issue a correction about Jibbitz, share some third-birthday gift recommendations, and present some alts for words like “affordable” and “expensive,” which are loaded (

We’re so excited about this week’s Guest Thingies with Ellen Van Dusen of Dusen Dusen—great recommendations await! But first, some nuggets of wisdom from famously creative famous dudes.   We’re definitely taking inspiration from Rod Stewart’s model railway side project and Tom Hanks's advice to Austin Butler.    Ellen’s Thingies include being comfortable inside and outside the home (please see: her delightful robes…and brand-new slippers!!), @Favetiktoks420 on Instagram, and cool silverware (especially David Tisdale’s Picnic Flatware, which makes us think of Ahimsa dinnerware for kids). She also loves tile right now—see: Heath Ceramics, her collab with Concrete Collaborative, Fireclay, and Oasis—and you have to, have to check out her backyard mosaic. Last but not least: Her love of bird-watching has us asking when she’s going to start selling the birdhouse she designed for Brooklyn Botanic Garden (in the meantime, the MoMA one we’re all into). Ooh, and as we told Ellen, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a great b

Let’s go in-depth on romance novels! But first, we’re chatting with Madeline Nusser from Allstate Identity Protection, which oh-so-graciously sponsored this episode, to dig into something equally sexy: doing what you can to thwart identity theft.    Go to AIP.com/AThingOrTwo today to see if Allstate Identity Protection is available through your employer. If not sign up there to get a 30-day free trial.. Check out The Washington Post article on the rise of romance in the U.S. and this Twitter thread from Helen Rosner on the weirdness of publishing categories.    Some books that are not romance novels but kind of are:  Normal People by Sally Rooney Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (but her book Instructions for Dancing counts!) Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro   Books we endorse for romance newbs: The Idea of You by Robinne Lee The Roommate by Rosie Danan How to Fake It in Holly

​​You know what we have a lot to say about in this best-of-2011 ep? A lot of things, from high praise for neighborhood restaurants and actually useful apps to sharing weddings FAQs and advocating for yourself at the doctor’s office. If you want to sell others on the Michigan Star restaurant, maybe send them this quickie podcast pitch we did on The Best Advice Show.    Behold, the Covid wedding template of our dreams: Our beloved friends & family, It's only 30 days until our wedding! We're so glad that you are coming and celebrating this special day with us.  A few announcements regarding the wedding:  Serious stuff You must be fully vaccinated to attend the event. Please send your proof of vaccination to EMAIL ADDRESS. For children and adults with underlying medical conditions preventing them from getting vaccinated, we ask that you obtain a negative PCR Covid-19 test result within 48 hours prior to the event. Your health is of utmost importance to us, and we have therefore decided to cancel ANY CHANGES

Join us! We’re revisiting how we approach creativity and talk about people who refuse to be hemmed in by expectations and the algorithm.    For some insight about opening up to what interests you at a time and trusting that it will serve you, check out Steve Martin’s memoir, Born Standing Up, and read Pamela Adlon’s essay for Harper’s Bazaar.   After watching the newest Julia on HBO Max, we’re doing a Judith Jones deep-dive—next up: reading her memoir The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. Another book that’s making us think about creative possibility: Margiela: The Hermès Years.    People who spread their (creative) wings: Stacey Abrams and her romance career as Selena Montgomery, Serena Willaims and her nail technician story, Venus Williams founding her design firm V Starr Interiors the same year she was ranked No. 1, David Lynch and his woodworking, and Bella Hadid, who has a new glassblowing hobby.     Rachel Tashjian’s Opulent Tips newsletter—sign up via DM!—introduced us to the idea of STROLL DONT SCROLL, and

It’s Guest Thingies Day! We’re so excited to chat with Kavi Ahuja Moltz, the CEO of the exceptional scent co. D.S. & DURGA and the sort of person who knows cool stuff, always.   But first: potty-training and a related story from Romper about camping with kids.    Our favorite D.S. & DURGA perfumes include Italian Citrus, Coriander, and Rose Atlantic…and don’t sleep on the candles and genius auto fragrances, either. Ooh, also: This one-minute quiz is surprisingly delightful.   Kavi’s Thingies include traveling with playing cards, Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Cream Blush in Daiquiri Dip, looong walks, and potato chips (Charles Chips in the tin especially—and shout-out to this Eater story about why we don’t have masala chips at our grocers). She also loves fun socks! Her faves are from Simone Rocha and Tabio (see also: Darner and Hysteria), and her standard go-tos are Adidas black with white stripes.     Do you have tips for how to make walking meetings work? Please share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast

It’s time to chat about all the stuff we’re obsessed with lately, most of which has been included in our Monday newsletter—do you get that thing??   Keep an eye on Fat Ham, a play we think will definitely have a second life, ideally on Broadway.    We both got a lot out of Burn Rate by Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, which tells the story of founding, running, and ultimately selling his company all while grappling with severe bipolar disorder. For another excellent memoir about bipolar disorder, read Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind.    Huge endorsement of the walnut larb at Good Night in Woodstock New York. The closest recipe comp we have surfaced is the one from walnuts.org.    For a perfect after-dinner candle, it’s all about Big Night’s Dinner Party one. See also: Epicurious’s story about dinner-party-appropriate scents, No.10 Aboukir by Maison Louis Marie, and Park Life by Boy Smells.   Want to make sorbet at home? Everyday Food from Martha has a vid withThomas Joseph that involves floating an egg to ac

Buckle in, folks! This week, we’re talking about our garden-curator journeys, second-kid thoughts, and the slacker–to–chaos goblin line cook pipeline.    Looking for Fast-Growing Trees? Thank goodness there’s a company that sells exactly those.  Love the Bloomerang lilac shrub, and you clearly need to know about the smoothie kit. If you wanna grow the ~cool~ flowers, check out Plantgem. A few faves they sell: ProCut plum sunflower, crocus saffron bulbs, and Irene Parrot tulip bulbs. Peony fans should investigate Styer’s, David Austin is as good at roses as at customer service, and for regional wildflower seed mixes, look to Wildseed Farms.    How’s you decide whether or not to have a second kid? Please share any and all thoughts you have on this topic with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq.  An article related to this conversation: Emily Gould’s NYT piece "More Kids? After the Last Two Years? No Thanks.”   For thoughts about the present-day incarnation of the slacker, check out

This is a jam-packed episode: We’ve got destination sandwiches. We’ve got photographer Noah Kalina’s Thingies. We’ve got baby-wipes expertise from grown-ups. Ready? Great.     If you’re in NYC, please scurry to & Sons Buttery for their salami cotto sandwich (please also eat at the restaurant—a ham bar!) and Court Street Grocers for their vegitalian. Special shoutout to The Bobbie from Capriotti’s in Wilmington, Delaware, too. For further destination-sandwich reading, check out Helen Rosner's New Yorker story about the plane sandwich and the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook by Mason Hereford with JJ Goode.    Check out Noah Kalina’s Instagram, his curiosity-filled newsletter, his podcasts JPEG 2000 and Do you hear that?, his incredible portraits of chickens, and, wow, so much more.   Noah’s Thingies include the Samsung Frame that turns into art (art!) when it’s off, Cometeer coffee, the Toto Washlet, Water Wipes for when you’re away from your Toto Washlet, (bonus rec from Claire for toddlers: Coterie Wipes), E