Episode #149: Summer Bucket List + Reading List

by admin

This week, we’re sharing our summer bucket list as well as our summer reading list! 

We’re also sharing our favorite podcasts so you have something to listen to while we are on break.


You can stream the episode here, on the blog, or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher. You can find the podcast posts archive here.

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Show notes:

Download the summer bucket list here.

Elsie’s summer bucket list:

  • Make a photo album of her favorite Nashville spots
  • Do more creative projects with her kids
  • Lots of swimming

Emma’s summer bucket list:

  • Visit Nashville
  • Reading
  • Swim, swim, swim

Elsie’s books she’s read recently and loved:

Emma’s book she’s reading right now: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Elsie’s summer reading list:

Emma’s summer reading list:

Elsie’s favorite podcasts:

Emma’s favorite Podcasts:

Comment below and let us know what other podcasts you listen to.

Just a reminder we are taking a summer break. We’ll be returning in mid-August and have a full lineup from then until the holidays!

In the meantime, follow us on Instagram at @abeautifulmess.

Miss an episode? Get caught up!

Episode 149 Transcript

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Emma: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast. This week, we are sharing our summer bucket list as well as our summer reading list because this is the final episode before our break so strap in. We’re also going to be talking about some of our favorite podcasts so hopefully giving you some ideas of other things to listen to while you wait for us to return.

Elsie: Awesome. Okay, so Emma, everyone wants to know how your murder novel is coming along. So before we get into it, do you want to just give us a quick update on how it is going in novel land?

Emma: Yeah, yeah, so I’m still slowly writing. I have, I think 8chapters done out of 22, or something like that, they’ll probably be more than that. I feel like I will be three-fourths done by the end of this summer, or that’s kind of my goal. I would say, I’m not quite halfway, which was my goal for spring, but I’m nearing it. So I reached out to someone, I’m not going to say who because I’m not sure we’re gonna get to work together so I don’t want to like put her on the spot or anything. But I reached out to someone who basically does kind of freelance editor services, where she will read through your work and give you editorial notes. So not checking the grammar, not that kind of thing, more like, hey, this character is kind of flat. Hey, what if we change the timeline here, bigger picture things, not just move your commas around, not that kind of thing. So anyway, I emailed her, and I had to provide a synopsis of what the book is about, and what genre it’s in. Yeah, so I’m waiting to hear back. In my mind, if I get to work with her, then I’ll find out when she has an opening, she’s pretty in demand. Based on that, I could make that my deadline of like, you got to hurry up and finish just because she’s going to give you the notes. So I’m kind of hopeful for that because I’m realizing I need a little bit of a deadline because I think that will help me push at the very end. So I’m trying to kind of create that for myself. But if I don’t hear back from her in the next month or so then I’ll probably have to think of a different, like, okay, we’re going to make this the deadline now. You’re going to try to be done by September 15th or, I don’t know, something like that. So anyway, it’s going well. The last chapter I wrote was actually a sweet one. It’s a pretty dark book. So some of the chapters are a bit of a trudge to write, and in some ways, I really enjoy it, and it’s fun. But it’s also sometimes I’m like, in a mood where I’m like oh boy and here we go for the darkness but this one was actually really sweet chapter, the very last one, I finished. It’s like two characters who have just moved to a new city together. They’re lovers, their partners, it’s two women. They’re talking about potentially starting a family together. They both have different fears and ideas around that. Also talking through the logistics of how that would work for them as a same-sex couple. Anyway, it was just actually really sweet, they’re cooking dinner together in their new house. I don’t know, I finished the chapter and I just felt like, that was nice. That was a nice chapter and a happy moment and a fun write. I think it would be a fun read, too. So anyway, a lot of times I end chapter and I’m like, well, that sucked. I’ll have to make that better later. So it’s nice to have one here and there where I’m like, that was pretty good. I think I did pretty good on that one. 

Elsie: Nice. Yeah, that makes sense. That’s so fun. I’m so excited to read it.

Emma: Yeah, I’ve been collecting too, like just asking friends what kinds of books they like to read. I’m trying to identify all of my like murder novel readers so that I can be like, do I have a murder book for you? Would you mind reading my partially good partially probably a sh*tty first draft and giving me some notes? 

Elsie: Yeah, that’s important. I mean, it makes sense. You don’t want to get your first readers who are like, I mostly like romantic comedy, fantasy. 

Emma: Yeah, They’re like, oh, there was no witches so I didn’t enjoy it. I’m like, yeah, there’s no witches.

Elsie: That’s what I would write actually, no witches, knocked it down two stars. No vampires, down one more star. That’s funny. But no, I am so excited to read it. It’s gonna be a banger. Okay, I know everyone also wants to still read your quarantine novel. So I hope that in the next few seasons, we’ll get some news about it, get a way for people to read them finally. That would be fun. 

Emma: Yeah, we actually have a new project at ABM that we’re not talking about quite yet, but you’ll get to hear about it when we come back from our break. I feel like just where that’s headed with our careers like it’s a big thing that we’re working on. I feel like I’m like, oh, that’s why I didn’t want to publish that book yet because it’s going to happen more in that timeline. I don’t know something about it clicked for me the other day. I was on a walk as usual and I was like, Oh, of course, this is why.

Elsie: Yeah, we’re having a big project happen in August. When we get back in August, we’ll tell you all about it. We’ll probably do a whole episode about it but we’ve been working on something on the side that is pretty special. It’s gonna be an exciting season for this next fall in like holidays and I’m really excited for it.

Emma: Honestly. Yeah. We’re going to talk about our summer bucket list and summer reading list, but we really do, I don’t know. I feel like this is me trying to leave everyone on a cliffhanger. I swear it’s not but we honestly do have a bunch of big announcements for when we return. I can think of three off the top of my head and then as you were talking, I was like, oh yeah, and then that too. There’s gonna be some pretty juicy episodes when we return from our break this August.  Anyway, let’s talk about our summer bucket list and things were planning to do this summer.

Elsie: Okay, so I did not check, sometimes I check what did we say we were gonna do last summer? I have no idea though. I did not check this.

Emma: I don’t even do that. 

Elsie: But I love these episodes. I think what’s cool about it is like sometimes I bet a few times I’ve said the same thing. But I bet, for the most part, it’s different every single time because it’s just the season you’re in and what you’re excited about. This season is definitely interesting. Okay, my first bucket list item is to make a cute Nashville bucket list to do with our kids. So my husband and I have been talking about our long-term plans recently, and we have been in the debate of whether or not we’re going to stay in Tennessee permanently. At the moment, we just don’t know. But I don’t know, it did give me like even just considering the idea gave me a lot of nostalgia and sort of a fire under my a**. So I decided I want to make a photo album for the kids of all of our Nashville spots because it’s something I’ve never done. We have so many cute spots. The other thing is, is that with just like so much COVID for so long, we fell out of some routines that used to be our favorite. The other day, we went to this place where we used to go every Sunday. It just felt so good to be back there and so special. I want to work on that and have the memories. One of my kids is really, really sentimental. I hope that they both turned out to be sentimental, but the older one that she’s really sentimental already. So she really likes photo books and I have just felt sort of like it’s important that I need to get back into making them. I need to sort of like do a speed catch-up. So anyway, that’s one of the main ones that I’m excited to do. So I thought maybe it’d be fun to spend the summer going to our cute restaurants and our cute play places and Dragon Park and all the fun things and just take pictures and just make a book. That’s just for the kids. 

Emma: I love that. 

Elsie: What’s your first one?

Emma: My first one is we really want to visit Nashville. 

Elsie: So yay, that makes me happy. 

Emma: Yeah, we’re definitely going to visit at some point. Elsie has been trying to learn me and it worked because she bought her girls and then my son Oscar matching swimsuits. So now we have to go to Nashville so that he can wear the matching swimsuit and have pool day with his cousins. But also one of my other sister in law lives there and we have a number of friends who live there. So we just want to make sure that we make time to go this summer. So we will be at some point. As a family. All three of us. 

Elsie: I can’t wait. I’m excited. Yeah, the matching swimsuits is everything. It’s so cute. If all it takes is for me to buy one baby swimsuit to get you to come to visit me then I’ll buy a ton more. 

Emma: Works for me. Okay, what’s your second one?

Elsie: Okay, so my second one is so this is my first summer that I’ve ever had a school-age child who is going to be on summer break. So it’s a change of pace, and I have a little sidekick for about two months home with me. So I decided that I want to make this an extra extra extra creative summer. So I’ve been working on my pottery and both my kids love cooking so I thought we could do cooking and baking. They love baking too. Then they both love art and crafts and painting. So I think that for me to just have ideas written down, I don’t even really have to do the prep, I just have to do the idea brainstorm and have the list ready. So I’m excited to do that. I think that if I mean everyone with little kids understands but if you have a free day and you don’t have a plan, then you’ll end up letting your kids watch TV, and not that that’s bad, but obviously making the creative stuff a priority is really special. I’m excited. 

Emma: Yes, absolutely.  My second one is just to read a lot. I have three or four books. We’re going to talk about a reading list. Then also to get as I mentioned, three-fourths done with my murder book, the novel that I’m writing. So that’s kind of my, I don’t know, fun hobby goal for the summer is mostly reading and then some writing.

Elsie: Magical. Yeah, I’m excited to have a big reading summer as well. Okay, and then my last one is swim, swim, swim. Okay, so Nashville does get really hot and we’ve kind of already passed the threshold of where it’s very hot for running outdoors and things like that. So I think I want to make swimming more my exercise. The last few years I was really into my bike, and I love my bike, but it can get kind of boring. I think it’s good to have more things. Last year, I did not swim by myself very much at all because on the weekdays, Colin was at my house, and then on the weekends, my kids were home. They always go in with me and swimming with kids is very different from swimming by yourself. So this year, while it’s a school day, while the kids are not with me, I want to swim more or when they’re napping. I just want to swim by myself more as like a laps type of thing. I feel like that would be such a good habit and I just want to try it.

Emma: I love it. Guess what my third one is? Swim, swim swim. The same thing. It’s Swim, swim, swim. Yes, we joined a neighborhood pool. So our neighborhood doesn’t have a neighborhood pool but there’s one neighborhood in Springfield where anybody can join. It’s just like you have to get on the waitlist and get in. I guess not everybody gets in. I don’t really know but we got in. I think everybody does get in. But anyway, we got in, and we paid our fees.

Elsie: Your pool sounds very snobby. 

Emma: I know. It is called the swim and tennis club because there’s a tennis court or two right by it. So that sounds like fancy fancy. I’m not saying it’s not fancy but if you saw it, you would probably be like, oh okay, like, it’s, you know.

Elsie: Not very fancy. 

Emma: It’s perfect just the way it is. That’s what I’ll say. So, yeah, but I got Oscar a little rashguard swimsuit, and it has a matching swim hat. It all looks like a rubber ducky. Then I got myself, I already have one mom’s swimsuit that I bought to swim with your girls. What I mean by a mom’s swimsuit is something where essentially, I can be holding a kid and they can kind of climb on you and your boobs won’t fall out. 

Elsie: I’ve definitely have had my boobs exposed by my kids before and it’s not ideal. It’s just frustrating. So yeah, a little bit of more a higher neck is all that it takes.

Emma: Yes, I bought a swimsuit top that goes with these high-waisted bottoms. That’s more of that kind of thing because last year, we actually visited this pool with a friend. We didn’t have a membership, but we visited and it wasn’t long after Oscar was born, maybe only a month or two. I remember I actually had the opposite problem. I had a swimsuit that had a pretty deep-vee because I actually ended up breastfeeding while I was at the pool. He was hungry and it was time to eat. But that’s not where we’re at this year. So I’m needing my boobs to stay in the swimsuit. So I’ve got my swimsuit, he’s got a suit. His birthday is coming up and I bought him this little like, I don’t know what to call it, but it’s a little kind of like inner tube sort of but with a roof over it. It’s this baby floaty thing so he can be in the big pool with me. This pool also has a little kid pool that’s very, very shallow. So we’ll probably mostly be in there with little toys. But we can get into the big pool with his little floaty thing and me. But yeah, I just want to make that like a family thing, all three of us. Then also sometimes just me and Oscar, like just having a little pool time. He’s at an age where I’m sure we will just be at the pool for an hour or less most of the time, and that’ll be it but that’s perfect. That’ll be really fun and just something different. I’m excited to take my son to the pool. All these little things are always like, oh, I was dreaming about this years ago and didn’t know if it would ever happen. Now it’s here and I know it probably sounds simple and mundane to some people but it’s not to me. It’s like this life that I wanted and I feel like I’m living the dream. I really do, taking a little baby to the pool.

Elsie: You’re living all your first.

Emma: Yeah, yeah. We joined a neighborhood pool and we just kind of drive a little bit to get there.

Elsie: Well, I’m happy for you. That sounds really fun.

Emma: Yeah, but it’s kind of different from yours because mine is not very fitness. I doubt I will really get to swim much. It will mostly be chasing Oscar around, but that works for me too.

Elsie: That’s mostly what I do. I mean, I love swimming with the kids, but it’s more like lifeguard duty and less thinking about yourself. 

Emma: Like, here’s another snack, your diaper’s wet. Here we go, gotta change into another swim diaper, whatever. So, yes. Okay, well, let’s talk about our summer reading list. 

Elsie: Cool. So I did a list of books that I’ve read recently that I loved and then also books that are on my reading list. So I like have no idea. Most of them are recommended by someone, but I have no idea if I’ll like them or not.

Emma: I just want to put it out there Elsie listens to a lot of audiobooks so I feel like she seems like the heavyweight with reading and I don’t but like, hey, I’m just like reading these paperbacks and stuff. I’m just trolling you a little bit.

Elsie: It’s my first year to read a lot of fiction. I am being very aggressive about it but it’s my main hobby right now. It’s been fun. 

Emma: I saw your list and I was like, holy sh*t, this is a big list.

Elsie: These are only the ones that I liked a lot.  So things I’ve read recently that I loved. So I just finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which is supposed to be like a French accent. I don’t think I can do a French accent but that’s how I’m supposed to be. It is by V E Schwab. So it’s one of those books that I don’t think I had the highest expectations for it because it is so popular. I’ve seen it around so much but I thought it was amazing. I loved it. For me, it was a 10 out of 10. It checked all the boxes of what I love in a book. It was one of the best ones I’ve read lately. It was fun. It was a page-turner. It was interesting. It was different. So it’s about a girl who is immortal and she’s been living for like 350 years. Every person who she meets forgets her when she walks away or goes into a different room or leaves the next day so she can’t really have any lasting relationships. Then she meets one person who remembers her. So that’s the premise of the book and that’s all I’ll say about it. I just really liked it. I thought it was very satisfying, had a great ending. So I hope that if you’re looking for just like a best selling banger, I would definitely recommend it.

Emma: That’s a very interesting premise. I like that. 

Elsie: Is it another fun one? 

Emma: Yeah, I like that. It’s very unique. I haven’t heard that before. So that’s cool. I love it.

Elsie: It was definitely fun, very fun. Okay, so the next one is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. So this book is narrated or read by Tom Hanks so you have to listen to the audiobook. There is no other book, You do not read the pages. You listen to Tom Hanks. I thought it was a wonderful story. It’s sad. It’s very character-driven. It was a big feeler. I had lots of feelings throughout it. I don’t know, I feel like it was kind of like understated, if that makes sense. I really enjoyed it. Obviously like Tom Hanks, it just was the coziest audiobook I’ve ever heard. I wish that if he did audiobooks all the time, like a Tom Hanks audiobook book club, I would for sure join it.

Emma: Tom Hanks if you’re listening.

Elsie: I was like what about Steve Martin? Okay, so the next book that I really enjoy that I read was The Immortalists by Cloe Benjamin. So the premise of this book is four little kids go to a fortune teller and find out when they’re going to die. Then the rest of the book is going through their four lives in order. It kind of has a section for each kid. That’s all I’ll say about it. I really liked the premise. I thought it was really fun to think about. The story for me was pretty good. Do you know what I mean? It was up there. It wasn’t my personal banger. The last one is a book of poetry. It’s kind of a memoir. It’s kind of a poetry book. It is The Terrible by Yrsa Daly-Ward. Okay, so this one was a recommendation from Kate Spears on Instagram. She said it was her favorite book she had read last year or recently, I guess. So I got it right away and read it and it was. It was very beautiful. It was sad. It was pretty quick to read. I read it in bed like the what do you call it? The real book version? Not the audiobook version? Paperback version? Yeah, the paper version. It was like a big book of feelings and really beautiful. It kind of made me want to write poetry. It was inspiring in that way too so that was really great. So tell me what you’ve read recently.

Emma: Okay, so what I’m reading right now, and I can already tell it’s wonderful is the Thursday Murder Club. I have been told that the second book, which I think is just a sequel, I don’t think it’s a full series is also really good. But the premise is there’s four people in a kind of retirement community. They don’t know each other before, but they meet there because they are all residents there. They sort of formed this like group, the Thursday Murder Club, where they kind of solve cold cases. I haven’t got super far into the book yet, but it feels like there’s going to be a present-day murder that they solve.

Elsie: I’m going to add this to my Good Reads right now.

Emma: But yeah, and I was like, you know how we have our dream of having like the bunch of old ladies in elementary school that we redo when we’re older. I was like, oh well, we could have a murder club. This is a great addition. That was part of why I was like, oh, I gotta read this. 

Elsie: Fun. Yeah, that does sound like a wonderful book. I love elderly people as a main character. I think that that is a checkbox for me.

Emma: Yeah, I agree. I’m always interested because I feel like you often get to see so much of their life story in a way and that’s really fun in a book. I’ve been reading the whole series, the whole sexy fairy series of Court of Thorns and Roses. I’ve read three of them so far and I think I might be done. I do love the series but I think I’m done for now because we’re kind of ended was good for me on the third one. So that’s where I’m at. Everybody’s different. I think I’m taking a break for now. 

Elsie: I’m reading the threesome fairy book, which is the second one. I have vowed to myself that this is my last fairy book for the time being. It is kind of fun, and indulgent, I like it.

Emma: Definitely. Okay, now let’s talk about stuff we’re planning to read this summer. So we’re not doing the book club over the summer but we do plan to when we return talk about some of these books if we did, in fact, to get to reading them. So if you want some books to read, you should read some of these because we will probably have an episode where we talk about some of them and there will be spoilers. So just a heads up.

Elsie: Also, just to mention in our show notes today at abeautifulmess.com/podcast, we will link to every single one of these books, so you don’t have to take notes. You can just go there for the reference. 

Emma: Yep, you can buy them wherever you’d like to buy books, but we’ll have them all linked and listed there. 

Elsie: Okay, so my list, tell me if you’ve heard of any of these. So I’m first of all Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. So this is like one of the most recommended books, everyone tells me it’s a 10 out of 10 and so good. I’ve heard lots of people say it was like their number one book of the year, over the last year or two. So I’m excited to read it. But I started the audiobook and I tend to avoid British accent audiobooks because I like zone out a little bit easier. It’s just harder for me to pay attention I can’t explain why. I love a British accent but sometimes it works for me, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m gonna read the paper version so it won’t be as quick but I heard that it’s the type of book where you’re like crying and then laughing, crying and laughing which sounds really appealing to me.

Emma: That sounds exhausting. No, that sounds really fun.

Elsie: Sounds like my life. Okay, and then the next one is called Lonely Castle in the Mirror. This is like a Japanese fantasy bestseller. I just saw it, it had a beautiful cover, sometimes you just like get attracted to the cover. It has a beautiful cover. Anyway, I am excited to try this out just because it’s different. I find bestsellers fascinating, but the bestseller in a different country, I think is double Fascinating. So yeah, I’m very excited to read this one. Then the next one is Sea of Tranquility. So this one’s by Emily St. John Mandel. She’s the one that wrote Station. 11 and then we also read her book Glass Hotel. You read that as well, right?

Emma: No, I haven’t read that one yet. I’ve only read Station 11 but I loved it. So I’m excited to read more from her.

Elsie: I love Station 11. I can’t say enough good things about it. I did also love The Glass Hotel. So I’m excited. I think I’m just gonna fangirl through every single one of her books. So I got this one pre-ordered so it’s sitting in my drawer now and I’m going to try to read the paper copy but you know how that goes. So I might also listen to the audiobook because that’s more friendly towards my mom life sometimes. I mean if I ever get to fly, I’m going on a few trips this summer. I feel like that’s like the best time to read ever. 

Emma: That’s when I get all my reading done. I haven’t yet flown with Oscar so I bet that’s different. But if I’m flying without a kid, I’m like reading, reading, and reading because I’m anxious so I might as well read.

Elsie: Okay, and my last one is a pool read specifically. So it is Book Lovers by Emily Henry. So I loved People We Meet on Vacation, which is one of her last books and it’s just kind of cute. I thought I wasn’t gonna like it and I almost stopped reading it and then I got kind of hooked on it because a lot of it takes place in Palm Springs. She was having her like 30-something crisis of like you’ve completed too many career goals, and now you’re depressed which I have had that recently. So yeah, I really liked it. I just generally think the Emily Henry books have the cutest book covers. They’re so like, yeah, they just look like a pool book. I loved the title Book Lover so I’m excited. Tell us your picks.

Emma: All right. So I have three and they’re really pretty different and pretty random. So the first one is called The Third Victim and I’ve never read this author before. So this is about a lady lawyer and she’s going to have to defend someone who seems very guilty, but I have a feeling they’re not guilty and she’s going to figure that out. But it’s like a murder case and it sounds pretty gruesome. I really don’t know what all happens in the book so this is my understanding based on the back of the book. This was recommended to me by, so I’ve been getting laser hair removal. I always talk to my gal, Shelley, because it makes it go faster because it is a little bit painful. She was like, oh, you’re a reader, let’s talk about books. I was like, yeah, let’s talk about books for 20 minutes. This was one that she recommended. She said she loves this. It’s a series and this is the first. So yeah, I was like, oh, I actually don’t read tons of ones that are centered around lawyers. I like movies that are centered around that. I honestly kind of dreamed about being a lawyer when I was younger. I took the LSAT a few times. I don’t think I would have been a very good one. But I like to learn about it’s fun and so even though this is fiction, I still think it’s interesting to see how authors navigate that. So I’m excited to read that.

Elsie: I think you would have been a very proficient lawyer. 

Emma: I could read through contracts. I don’t know about arguing in court.

Elsie: I mean, I don’t think you would be like a TV lawyer. I think you would be like the girl character on Better Call Saul. I think you’d be like very focused. 

Emma: Thank you. She’s cool. I think that’s great. Okay, second book. I was telling you about this when we were at the bookstore, and I went ahead and order it. It’s called The Bone Witch and its fantasy. I’ve never read this author before or this series. From what I understand, it’s about a young witch who her power has to do with raising the dead. That’s apparently very rare in this fantasy world that I’m going to dive into. So she asked to go learn from an older witch how to control her powers. She’s maybe a little bit ostracized from her community because her specialty is about death and most people are scared of death, of course. This was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, who’s also a big reader. She knows I love fantasies. So I was like, witches, sign me up. So I’m excited to give that a try this summer.

Elsie: That sounds amazing, like, the Karate Kid, but witches.

Emma: Exactly yes. Witches who raised the dead, wax on wax off. The third book is one that I bought while we were on our mother’s day trip and Elsie was telling me, who’s your friend who said this? That we should always buy a book when you travel that way we read it, your friend Kate, that way when you read it you think about the trip that you had been on. It’s like a fun little thing. So anyway, when I read this I’ll remember our mother’s day trip. But anyway, so it’s called That Summer. Basically, this is like total beach read, pool read, wherever you end up in the summer. 

Elsie: Yeah, you can tell by the cover it is a pool book for sure. It is a  pina colada book. 

Emma: Yes, it is absolutely a pina colada book. I’ve read a lot of books by this author. I love this author. So I’m excited that she had another book. I’m definitely gonna read it this summer, maybe by the pool. But we’ll see that will only work for me if my husband’s with me because my son is active and one, won’t be reading if it’s just me and him. But I will read it at some point.

Elsie: Maybe someday you can go to the pool open your own.

Emma: I was kind of thinking that out because we do, at A Beautiful Mess we do summer Fridays, where we get half days on Fridays. Maybe I can have one Friday, where before I go pick him up from daycare I just take a little me time and go read at the pool by myself. Yeah, those are the three books I’m going to try to read this summer. Maybe I’ll read more but those are just kind of what I’ve already bought and have on my shelf ready to go.

Elsie: Magical. Yeah. So everyone, send us what you’re reading. You can leave us those comments on the blog today. I add books to my reading list, especially if you say it was your favorite or your favorite of the year. That is the kind of, that’s what you’re looking for. That’s the keyword. Yeah, not your seven favorite, your first favorite.

Emma: You’re like this was pretty good. It’s like forget it. Don’t bother.

Elsie: Yeah, so we’d love to hear what you read this summer and hopefully this will give you a couple of cute ideas or fun ideas or crying ideas whenever you’re in the mood for. I’m excited to have a reading summer for sure, though. I feel like I have like my whole life I’ve barely read any fiction and I feel like I’m catching up now and it’s so exciting. It’s very fun. We have a listener question. 

Emma: Yes. This is from Rebecca and she says, I’m a routine ABM podcast listener, and I’d love to know what other ABM podcast peeps listen to. I love the impactful yet lighthearted vibe of your podcast and I love the chemistry you too have with each other, and even the guest host you featured. I know she’s really nice. I’d love more podcasts that scratched that itch, and I bet your audience would have some recommendations. So question to the ABM podcast masses, what other podcasts do you listen to? We thought this was a perfect question as we’re about to go on break. So we could maybe give you some ideas of things we listened to and in the show notes for this episode, which again, you can find it abeautifulmess.com/podcast, you can leave your suggestions, but we’re gonna go ahead and give you some of ours.

Elsie: Okay, so I just have two podcasts that I’m really enjoying. I have mentioned these before, but I feel like I gotta give my actual most listen to podcasts. 

Emma: Yeah, all of mine are ones that I’m subscribed to. So real ones I listen to.

Elsie: People always ask me like, what are other podcasts that are like yours? I honestly don’t know the answer. So these are pretty different but I’ll tell you why I love them. So the first one is Ramit’s podcast, which I think it’s just called I Will Teach You To Be Rich podcast, we will link it in the show notes. So his podcast, I’ve been listening to it because last week, we had the interview, and I had to listen to a bunch to get prepared for that. So he, first of all, gets the best guests and his guests they talk about, a lot of times its people talking about their money. A lot of the themes are like love and money. So people talk about their marriage fights, people talking about big hurdles that they can’t seem to get through. The one I just listened to was about, the wife didn’t want to admit to herself that her business was failing but it was a problem between her and her husband. It’s just really interesting stuff like that. It’s almost like listening to a therapy session, which is strange because you get so much access to someone else’s personal life, but it is somewhat anonymous. It’s really interesting to hear people go all in with their stuff. Even when it’s no, a lot of them I relate to, but even when it’s something that I don’t relate to at all, it’s still interesting to listen to and think about how everyone’s relationship with money is so different. I’ve really enjoyed that one. Then the other one I want to recommend is the Sharon’s Says So podcast. So Emma and I have both had a guest episode on there because a lot of her episodes, she goes back and forth between interviews with I would say authors mostly and people like that. Then people like us, she does storytelling episodes where she tells a story, and you just kind of react. So mine was really fun. I really enjoyed it. I think that in a time when it’s been a little bit more of a challenging time in my life and I’m sure in lots of people’s lives and just the general vibe of the last few years has been kind of rough. I feel like learning is power for me. It’s a way to feel like you have some control over your own, what you’re letting in, what you’re giving access to your brain. Knowing that each time you listen to a pocket because I listened to some podcasts in the past that kind of brought me down. This is a podcast that I feel always like I’m learning something and I’m growing as a person by listening to it. So yeah, I would say that for both of these recommendations, and I think that that’s something just like any other type of consumption, books, TV, who we follow on Instagram, all of it, try to find the things that are helping you be more the person who you want to be. 

Emma: Yeah, definitely. 

Elsie: Okay. I’m excited to hear your favorites.

Emma: Okay. Yes. So one we have to mention again, these are all that I’m subscribed to is our third sister Elise sometimes puts out episodes so if you’re not all caught up on any of hers, check that out on her podcast is Elise Gets Crafty. She’s got some bangers so if you’ve missed any of those, check them out. Also, we’ve mentioned this podcast before, but I love it and it’s kind of changed over the years, You’re Wrong About. I know Elsie is a fan too.

Elsie: I just recently listened to one. The hosts have changed a little bit, and one of the hosts left. Yeah, I’ve listened to so many episodes of that podcast, and they definitely do some really interesting topics. I think it’s fun. Jeremy and I were saying how we like how the host Sarah is really compassion leading. She usually never fully sh*t talks anyone and I think that that’s really cool.

Emma: Yeah, I feel like when she does she always gives it context of like, well, you can’t ever. Anyway, she’s yeah a fascinating woman and journalist, but I just love her show. I’ve listened to them all and I think lately last few have been like kind of book reports of old books and just her musings on them, and she’ll sometimes have a guest, and it’s just really fun. So it’s just something that’s a little bit educational, but just really fun. I just really love the host so I think I’m kind of a fangirl. So that and then I also love Crushing with Abby O. This one’s an interesting one because she has all different lengths, some of her episodes are pretty short. So if you’re needing something fun and short, this is one to check out if you haven’t already. She does stories of her life like dating apps, experiences from dating apps, and things like that. Then a lot of her stuff, though is really empowering messages for anyone, especially for women. So I just think it’s a really empowering show and really fun. Then the last one I wanted to mention because I also had Sharon Says So so I’ll skip that because Elsie already recommended it. But the last one I wanted to mention is called Everything Belongs. It’s kind of, if you’re looking for something a little bit more woo-woo, maybe a little bit spiritual, but not necessarily any one particular way of spirituality. This is kind of a fun one and the host Madison she has lots of different guests. So you could kind of pick based on something that you’re interested in, but yeah, that’s one that I really love and subscribe to and have listened to most of them. So it’s a fun one. It’s an uplifting, interesting one.

Elsie: Amazing. While we hope that you have an incredible summer. Definitely make sure that you are subscribed so that you get the notification whenever we come back. We’ll be back in mid-August. So we’re not gone the whole summer we’re just gonna part of the summer. I think that I just want everyone to know that like because I’ve heard a few people be like no, not a break. I just want everyone to know that the point of having these breaks is so that we can do this well for you. Be good at it, not get burned out, and do it for longer. I think that that ensures it so it has a very, very, very good purpose.

Emma: Yeah, absolutely.

Elsie: We are definitely going to unveil some pretty great surprises whenever we come back. So we will see you then and then in the meantime, definitely follow our blog, A Beautiful Mess, and our Instagram @abeautifulmess. We will be there all summer. 

Emma: Bye

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