A Thing or Two with Claire and Erica

Another day, another kookalook collection of topics from us, including new lingo care of (honorary Bob) Jack Schlossberg, wrinkle makeup, minimalist shoes, LaGuardia Airport, and a straw cupdate. 

Wrinkle makeup—not what you think, probably! Check out a couple of looks by @shine__rising and rachy_mua. Related: crackle lips. 

In which we dip our toes into the minimalist shoes conversation: Gait Happens, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and The Infinite Race 30 for 30 doc by Bernardo Ruiz are all relevant on the content front. Some brands of interest: Muki, Vivo Barefoot, and Groundies. They kind of remind us of Prada Sport from the late 90s/early aughts, Miu Miu rope sandals, and ballet flats with wide toe boxes from Sandy Liang and Proenza. Also: Let’s take this opportunity to shoutout Yoga Toes. 

We’ve been considering giving our ComfiLife a break and trying a kneeling chair. Memor and Varier are good-looking options!

In the world of straw cups, Claire got a BrüMate and really likes it! (Don’t get her the MargTini though.)

Where do you stand on Eat/Pray/Love vs. FMK? Do you believe they can coexist? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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We are DELIGHTED to have Alana Cloud-Robinson on today to share her Thingies from her perfect, wood-paneled home (more on that, clearly). She’s the author of the 831 Stories release Hardly Strangers, out tomorrow, and, wow, we can’t wait for you to read this one.

Alana’s Thingies include shoulder pads, thrifting (see: The Council Shop!), her home in Century City, and Irish culture (shoutout to Fontaines D.C., and Say Nothing).

Want more Alana? Check out The Artists Are Frightened, her premier collection of personal poetry.

Also, a really important album that is (somehow) a follow-up to our milk.com conversation.

What are *your* Thingies? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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After this episode, we have some action items for the Bobs: 1. Petition Dairy Queen and Carvel to make their ice cream cake minis available nationwide, year-round. 2. Use “whenharrymetsallying” in a sentence. 3. Send us your thoughts on NYC Marriage Bureau merch. 

We aren’t doing gift guides this year, but we’ll tell you good places to look once it's time! Start with giftguide.substack.com. 

We’re excited to meet Chewbie, Hi-Chew’s new Mascot, but perhaps this is a "say less" situation?

The Rat Pack is still in our lives, and it introduced us to the MeowSquad. 

Speaking of local government initiatives, the NYC Marriage Bureau has merch! We especially love the Witness Tee and "I Got Married in New York City" mug. 

All about Split59’s Raquel high waist crop legging, and we’ll try their Icon legging and report back.

A shoutout to A24’s book Hey Kids, Watch This! It’s full of movie recs, great design, and FUN. 

What menu items do you whenharrymetsally? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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Pre-order Hardly Strangers from 831 Stories and get a free Only One Bed Keychain—and take 15% off any order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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We have some very serious reporting about very serious topics coming your way, including the official Sanrio character rankings, a Jellycat status update, and some wild news from the domain-hoarding beat.  

We have to take a moment to show some love to Kuromi, the third-ranked Sanrio character overall and Sanrio costume-sourcing, ℅  Sueju Design and Nerdy Treasures by Amy. 

How Jellycat became so popular with kids and grown-ups alike. Also: Their pop=ups give Sew Your Soul vibes, in our opinion. 

Let’s talk tech! Our listener Olivia shared her Notion tips, we are flatted for the credit you’re giving us for Google Tabs, and we loved the piece “The Million-Dollar Mystery of Milk.com” by Alex Mayyasi for The Hustle.  

Finally, have you listened to "Longer Gone" yet? 

 Name how much $$ it would take for you to change your email for at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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Get a free Sage guidebook for parents with kids ages 5 to 12 who want to better navigate tech and their digital worlds.

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Just a heads up, this episode will make you want to refresh your bra and underwear drawer! We’re talking Thingies with Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez, the authors of the smart, compelling, and fast-pased book Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon.

As mentioned, bra and underwear Thingies incoming! Chantal absolutely swears by the Tom Bra from the brand Mary Jo, and Lauren likes bras from Only Hearts, Notori Bliss underwear, and Bombas UItra Stretch Calf Socks. Also, shoutout to Le Bon Shoppe’s Her Socks. 

Misc. Thingies include Chantal’s go-to assassin’s pasta and Lauren’s rejection of (most) kids' music. 

Want more of Lauren and Chantal? Lauren writes Puck’s Line Sheet newsletter and hosts the companion podcast Fashion People, and you can find Chantal’s writing in The Cut (see: “The Unbranding of Abercrombie”), for starters.

Friends, you gotta read Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon. We are thinking and talking about it a lot, a lot.

Finally, for those intrigued by Soupstack, check out Anne Helen Petersen’s 3rd annual soup roundup (4th annual coming…sometime, we’d bet?!). Ella Risbridger of You Get In Love And Then is also testing crowdsourced soups, and Becca Freeman shared her favorites too. A few of our own favorites: Ottolenghi’s curried lentil, tomato, and coconut, 101 Cookbook’s red lentil with lemon, Smitten Kitchen’s carrot with miso and sesame, Thomas Keller’s butternut squash. 

Actually good: Souper Cubes. 

Do you have bra and underwear recs we have to know about? Please share them at [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Count on Shopify for all your ecomm needs and get a $1-a-month trial with our link.

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Try L.A. Burdick’s delightful and individually handcrafted chocolates (the ghosts, the coffin!).

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Gather round! We have a whole lot to say about Fudgie the Whale, learning chess, finding your inner paid tier, and a whole lot more. But what’s new? 

This many week post-launch of 831 Stories, we’re so grateful for the love you’ve shared for Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff! If you’re looking for additional recs to hold you over until Hardly Strangers by A.C. Robinson comes out in November, take a peek at our list.

Did you know Fudgie the Whale’s mold moonlights as Santa during the holidays? Check out this CNN article for the deets. If you’re feeling ambitious, we love this Ali Slagle ice-cream cake recipe. 

We are now deeply committed to Jouer’s Skin Barrier Cream. Shoutout to Knockout Beauty’s facialist! 

We’re also hyped on Seed’s Pediatric Daily Synbiotic and Storytime Chess over here. 

"If" by Rudyard Kipling has some good life advice for 8th graders and grown-ups alike. 

What’s your personal paid tier? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Challenge your preconceptions about the real origin of our species and check out Eve by Cat Bohannon, available everywhere books are sold.

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Bobs, you all have been sharing a lot of Thingies that are unignorable. They’ve been moving, unhinged, funny—and we must discuss them. 

We’re loving the nym SNAG: Sensitive New Age Guy, ℅ Maia via the podcast Shameless. 

Portlanders, have you been to The Croc Stop yet—a jibbitz lending library, brought to our attention by Kelly? See also: shoe charms…which we’re kind of charmed by.

Your bathing rituals, friends. Kelsey had a tip on washing makeup brushes in the shower; Rebecca has a tub desk that we could talk about for hours. 

Also, very publicly hoping our favorite establishments follow Garlic Expressions’s lead and give us some bottled salad dressing! Thank you for the comments on this one, Laura and TK.

Keep those Thingies coming! Enlighten us at [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Hire with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link.

Support your hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Challenge your preconceptions about the real origin of our species and check out Eve by Cat Bohannon, available everywhere books are sold.

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Status report: We’re a little bit hanging on by a thread over here, and we’re so impossibly grateful to Duckbill—sponsor of this week’s ep!—for helping us chip away at our to-do lists. (Or, better yet: taking on projects so we don’t have to put them on our to-do lists in the first place.) More on this, along with chore charts, a useful response to the having kids question, and an important discussion of snapping.

Duckbill—a recurring Thingies submission from you all—is an executive assistant for your personal life, led by expert humans and enhanced with AI superpowers. Use the code ATHINGORTWO for 50% off your first two months, plus priority off the waitlist.

Oh, look, a bunch of ideas for how to use Duckbill.

Do you have any Notion tips ‘n tricks? We’re here for them.

Tell us your favorite ways to use Duckbill at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Get support with Duckbill and take 50% off your first two months, plus priority off the waitlist, with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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Want the scoop on what the kids are up to? Casey Lewis is your gal. We’re chatting with the genius behind After School—iconic newsletter and epic new podcast tracking all things Gen Z—about back-to-school trends, curly-hair controversy, and, of course, Thingies.

Some trending BTS items include tube tops and sweats (ideally together?), On shoes, Adidas Campus sneakers, Birkenstock Bostons, *the* Abercrombie camo hoodie, and Dae’s Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream with Taming Wand.

Casey’s Thingies include the Wet Brush (Claire is trying out the Bounce Curl brush, too), fiber (chia seeds!), a walking pad, and the Funky Nassau from the Lot in Greenpoint (combo of white wine and Grapefruit Spindrift).

Subscribe to the After School newsletter and podcast, both. Casey knows how to make trend-tracking very entertaining.

Cooking oil recs from us: Algae Cooking Club and Enzo infused olive oil (Organic Basil Crush and Organic Fresno Chili Crush specifically).

What’s your take on the (potential) skinny jeans resurgence? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Boost your hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month’s subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Turn to Shopify for all your ecomm needs and get a $1-a-month trial with our link.

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We are THRILLED that cultural commentator/overall delight Hunter Harris—of Hung Up and Lemme Say This fame—is joining us today to share her Thingies! We couldn’t chat with her without asking for her takes on all the hot pop culture gossip, so unwrap your Fruit Roll-Up and enjoy!

Want more of Hunter? If you don’t already, subscribe to her must-read newsletter Hung Up and listen to her Wondery podcast Lemme Say This, which she co-hosts with Thingies alum Peyton Dix. 

Hunter’s Thingies are LMNT electrolyte drink mixes, Fruit Roll-Ups, lemon and orange essential oils in the trash can, Rhode Pocket Blush, washing her makeup brushes, iS Clinical Active Serum, and tennis.

She gets her news (aka celeb gossip) from Gossip Time, StraightioLab, Las Culturistas, Who? Weekly, and of course, Reddit influencer snark. 

Want to get in on the accidental Idiocracy x Crocs collab? Share your thoughts at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!