Now that we’ve caught up from our winter break, it’s time to think about one of our favorite topics: goals! We reflect on how we did with our 2021 goals, talk about how we feel going into 2022, and break down the professional and personal goals we want to achieve this year. 

We also talk about Becca’s homemade buffalo chicken wrap, Grace’s outdoorsy weekend in L.A., and more! 

What we read/listen to when thinking of our goals!

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Happier in Hollywood

Obsessions 

Grace: 

Black American Portraits at LACMA

88 acres seed butter

Becca: 

A Discovery of Witches, Euphoria, Bel Air, Wordle

Instagram Obsessions

@dailyrothko

What we read this week!

Becca: 

Crave by Tracy Wolff

The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (again!) 

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

Grace: 

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Outline by Rachel Cusk

Our January Bookclub pick

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Sponsors:

Night: Use code BADONPAPER for 20% off sitewide at discovernight.com

MacMillan Audio: Listen to Olga dies dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez wherever you listen to audiobooks!

Better Help: Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

After a restorative break, we’re back and ready to fill you in on what we were up to over the holidays! We talk about our high highs (Becca finishing the first draft of her book! Grace’s Chappy Wrap collab dropping TODAY!) and low lows (Omicron anxiety). We also break down everything we read and watched during our time off! 

What Grace read over the break

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron *Grace’s Top Recommendation!

Too Late by Colleen Hoover

In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer (out March 15!)

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

What Becca read for over the break

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (out May 3!)

Playing with Matches by Hannah Orenstein

The Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Wish You Were Here by Jodie Picoult 

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand 

What Becca watched over the break

Harlem

Queer Eye Season 6

Finding You

The Long Shot

What Grace watched over the break (and check out 2022 Oscars Best Picture Predictions!)

The Great

Station Eleven

Silent Night

The Last Duel

Mass (content warning: school shootings)

C’mon C’mon

The Truffle Hunters

The Lost Daughter

Passing

What we both watched

Emily in Paris 

And Just Like That 

The Hating Game

Don’t Look Up

Instagram Obsessions

Grace: @socialclubofficiel

Becca: @carolinagelen

Obsessions 

Grace: Ella Ora Skin Therapy Clinic, Smythson Soho Cosmic Travel Diary

Becca: Shop.app, J. Crew oversized cashmere wrap, Sim City BuildIt

What We’re Currently Reading

Grace: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart

Becca: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (again!), Crave by Tracy Wolff

Our January Bookclub Pick

Wish You Were Here by Jodie Picoult 

Sponsors:

Prose: go to prose.com/bop for your free in-depth hair consultation and 15% off your first order!

Better Help: go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper  for 10% off your first month

Hello Fresh: go hellofresh.com/bop16 and use code bop16 for up to 16 free meals and 3 gifts!

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week is our last episode of 2021 and we’re covering holidays past and present! We talk about our favorite holiday memories, recipes, movies, books, gifting advice, what’s on our wish list and more! 

We also talk about our thanksgivings, Grace’s recovery from the cold from hell, and Becca finally being able to talk about her secret project!

Our Holiday Gifting Recommendations

Grace’s Ornaments Rec

Becca’s Candle Rec

Becca’s Socks Rec

Our Go-To Holiday Recipes 

Grace’s Egg Nog Recipe

Becca’s Favorite Stuffing Recipe

Becca’s Favorite Anginetti Cookie Recipe 

Becca’s Christmas List

Ugg Ultra Minis

Leatherology Laptop Bags

Becca’s Christmas Books

One Day In December by Josie Silver

Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan

This Time Next Year Sophie Cousens

So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

Obsessions 

Grace - Jill Stuart Beauty Jelly Eye Color

Becca - eucalyptus shower spray

What we read this week!

If You Tell by Greg Olsen 

State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

Business Minded by Carly Riordan (Out December 28!) 

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner (Out January 25!)

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer (Out March 15!) 

Sponsors:

Hello Fresh - go to hellofresh.com/bop14 and use code BOP14 for up to 14 free meals and 3 free gifts!

Prose - go to prose.com/BOP for 15% of your first order

Better Help - Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

We’re finishing our end-of-year tradition of interviewing each other, and this time Grace is in the hot seat! 

Becca asks Grace your questions about the ins and outs of her job, if blogging has ever impacted her self-image, if she’d ever write a book, her favorite Charleston spots, long-distance relationship advice, if she got her driver’s license yet, and so much more! 

Obsessions 

Grace - Beautypie’s Gingerbread, Almond & Orange Blossom Candle

Becca - Friday Night Lights, Pinhook Bourbon 

What we read this week!

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

If You Tell by Greg Olsen 

Fake by Erica Katz (out Feb 22!)

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer (Out March 15!)

Sponsors:

Uncommon Goods - go to uncommongoods.com/bop for 15% off your next gift  

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week we finally get to discuss our November Book Club pick, Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. This book captured modern dating in a way we haven’t seen before, and honestly, we can’t agree on if the ending was satisfying or not. Ghosts follows Nina Dean, a London woman in her early thirties with a successful career as a food writer and loving friends and family. When she downloads a dating app, she meets a great guy on her first date. When Max tells Nina he's going to marry her on date one, it feels like all is going to plan. But when Max ghosts her, Nina is forced to deal with everything she's been trying so hard to ignore.

Obsessions

ChappyWrap Blankets

Crate and Barrel Sofa

Instagram Obsessions

@marthastewart48

What we read this week

Fake by Erica Katz (out Feb 22)

So, This is Christmas by Tracy Andreen

State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Sponsors

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month 

Everlywell - Go to everlywell.com/bop for 20% off your at-home lab test

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

We’re so excited to continue our yearly tradition of interviewing each other, starting off with Grace interviewing Becca! (Grace will have her turn in the hot seat in a few weeks!)  

Grace asks Becca your questions about bookish things, her new creative projects, career reflections, dating & friendship advice, what she’s learned about herself in the past year, and So! Much! More! 

Becca’s Misc. Mentions:

For Getting Started at Book Writing - Save the Cat writes a Novel

Her GoodReads Account - Follow her here!

Her Splurge Item - Sarah Flint Perfect Zip Bootie in Brown 

Her Favorite Sheets - Amazon Mellani Sheets 

Becca’s Favorite Dinner Party Recipes

Grossy’s Vodka Sawce

Garlic Braised Short Ribs

Coq au Vin

Obsessions 

Grace - Midnight Mass

Becca - The Chunky Chef Zuppa Toscana

What we read this week!

Books To Preorder

If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales

Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino

Books You Can Read Now!

Palm Beach by Mary Adkins

We're Speaking by Hitha Palepu

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

November Book Club Pick:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Night - use code BOP30 at discovernight.com for 30% off sitewide

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first mon

ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It’s been a big year of reading, and today we’re talking about our favorite books from 2021! We each picked a top 5 and also had our listeners weigh in on the best books—from thrillers to romance to non-fiction to backlist—they read this year. If you’re in search of book recs, look no further, we have the best of the best for you!

Grace’s Favorites

- The Push by Ashley Audrain (Mystery/Thriller)

- Good Night Beautiful by Aimee Mollloy (Mystery/Thriller)

-Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Fiction)

-Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Fiction)

-Untamed by Glennon Doyle (Non-Fiction)

-Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee (Non-Fiction)

-The Third Door by Alex Banayan (Non-Fiction)

-Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (Non-Fiction)

-The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Backlist)

Becca’s Favorites

-The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Mystery/Thriller)

-People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (Romance)

-Lizzie & Dante by Mary Bly (Romance)

-Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Romance)

-The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (Fiction)

-The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand (Backlist)

Listener Reccomendations!

-The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Mystery/Thriller)

-Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Mystery/Thriller)

-The Wife and The Widow by Christian White (Mystery/Thriller)

-Olympus Texas by Stacey Swann (Fiction)

-Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Fiction)

-Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (Fiction)

-Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters (Fiction)

-We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride (Fiction) 

-Expecting Better by Emily Oster (Non-Fiction)

-Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Non-Fiction)

-Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Non-Fiction)

-Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell (Non-Fiction)

-The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson (Non-Fiction)

-Indistractable by Nir Eyal (Non-Fiction)

-A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper (Non-Fiction)

-A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Backlist)

-Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand (Backlist)

Obsessions 

The Morning Show 

A Discovery of Witches 

What we Read this week!

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Always, in December by Emily Stone

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

November Book Club Pick:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Better Help - Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month

Everlywell - Go to everlywell.com/bop for 20% off your at-home lab test

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

This week we interviewed Grace Bonney, founder of Design Sponge to talk about her new book, Collective Wisdom! We learn how she got to where she is today, what inspired her to write a book about women over 50, how she found the women featured in her book, and the interviews that had the greatest impact on her.

We also talk about Design Sponge, how it felt to close it down on her terms, and her thoughts on going back to school as an adult! 

Follow Grace Bonney

Instagram - @grace__bonney & @designsponge

Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50

Instagram Obsessions

Grace - @designsponge

Becca - @nanowrimo

Obsessions 

Grace - Nest Pumpkin Chai Candle

Becca - Aerie The Sweat Waffle Crew Neck Sweatshirt

What we’ve read this week

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Always, in December by Emily Stone

November Book Club Pick:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Night - Use the code NIGHTBOP for 20% off sitewide at discovernight.com

Prose - Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your first order

ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

It’s book club week and this month we’re talking about A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin. Capturing start-up culture can be a hit or miss, and we really think Laura Hankin got it right in this book. A Special Place for Women follows a daring reporter who infiltrates an exclusive female-run members club, whose members are far more powerful than she imagined.

We also talk about not knowing what’s next, Becca’s Sweater status, and Grace’s accidental trespassing adventure.

Pick up A Special Place for Women Here 

Startup Books we Like: 

The Herd by Andrea Bartz

Startup by Doree Shafrir 

One by One by Ruth Ware

Ripped from the headlines book

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

Admission by Julie Buxbaum

Our favorite witch books

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Practical Magic Series by Alice Hoffman

Obsessions 

Grace - Stoney Clover Ln X American Girl, You Season 3, Succession

Becca - Succession, The Big Leap

What we’ve read this week

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

We’re Speaking by Hitha Palepu

November Book:

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Sponsors:

Care Of - Go to takecareof.com and enter code BOP50 for 50% off your first order

Better Help - Go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month 

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Since we both celebrated our birthdays recently, we thought it would be fun to spend today’s episode reminiscing and looking forward.

We reminisce on our most memorable birthdays as kids, have a very in-depth conversation about ice cream cake, and talk about how 40th birthday parties are the year to go ALL OUT. We also talk about aging and if/how milestone birthdays spark anxiety about getting older.

Also, Grace recaps her Vienna trip, Becca talks about her trip upstate, and we mourn the loss of a champagne-soaked memory card.

Instagram Obsessions

@rianne.meijer

@p_o_p_k_n_i_t

@theknitedit 

Obsessions 

Becca - Ayr The Pop Jeans

Grace - July Checked Trunk Suitcase

What we’ve read

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Wild at Heart by K.A. Tucker

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

October Book:

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Sponsors:

Night - use code NIGHTBOP for 20% off everything at discovernight.com

Hello Fresh - go to hellofresh.com/bop14 and use code BOP14 for up to 14 free meals including free shipping!

Better Help - go to betterhelp.com/badonpaper for 10% off your first month 

Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!

Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace’s blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!

Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.