curiouser & curiouser Podcast

For my latest podcast episode, I spoke with Sarah Carter of Natural Baby Doulas, a Triad-based doula group that Kevin and I partnered with as we prepared for Maggie’s birth. My pregnancy and birth experience with Maggie were both about as close to perfect as you can get, and I credit that in large part to Sarah.

Kevin and I took her 12-week Bradley Method course and, as a result, felt so informed and supported in the months leading up to Maggie’s birth. I chose to have an unmedicated birth with Maggie, but I wholeheartedly recommend a multi-week birth course like the one Sarah offers regardless of what your birth plans look like. (Sarah also encapsulated my placenta after Maggie was born, and we talk more about that in this episode!)

Sarah is a mother of three and has been a doula for several years, and I know you’ll love this episode as she shares why she became a doula, defines the career for those who might be unfamiliar with the services a doula offers, talks a bit about her own birth experiences, and a whole lot more. I also included a couple of listener-submitted questions at the end of our chat, so be sure to stick around to hear those!

During the podcast, Sarah referenced a couple of resources that I wanted to call out here:

Also, be sure you check out Natural Baby Doulas’ website and their Facebook page!

Okay, ready to hear from Sarah? Here we go!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Sarah_Carter_FINAL.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 16 (Digging Into Doula Services With Sarah Carter Of Natural Baby Doulas) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

In this episode of The curiouser & curiouser Podcast, I talked with Leslie Ann Quillen, the woman behind Fat Loss Foodies. I looooved getting to connect with Leslie Ann via this forum after being a fan of hers for a while. I love the message and lifestyle she’s spreading: centered around cooking and eating REAL food and identifying your body’s needs so you can fuel it accordingly. (It sounds like it should be such a simple concept, but for many of us it’s not! That’s what FLF here to help with.)

Leslie Ann lives just down the road from me in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband and their dog and cat. She left her “day job” a year ago to pursue FLF full time (after initially launching it several years ago), and we discuss what that transition looked like in our conversation. Leslie Ann also talks about her background with food and fitness, and how and when those things started to change for her.

She’s so fun and full of energy, and I hope you love listening to this podcast as much as I loved recording it. I ALSO hope you’ll connect with Fat Loss Foodies via Facebook or Instagram (they have really great Insta Stories!). This is a community you want to be a part of — promise!

Ready to hear from Leslie Ann? Here we go!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Leslie_Ann_FINAL.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 15 (Talking Fat Loss Foodies With Leslie Ann Quillen) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

On this week’s episode of The curiouser & curiouser Podcast, I’m sharing a conversation I had with Beyond Yoga‘s Design Director, Natalia Giacomelli.

If you aren’t familiar with the activewear brand Beyond Yoga, you need some of this clothing in your life! Their clothes are the softest, most comfortable things ever, and they transition so well between workouts and the rest of life.

I became familiar with this brand through Pure Barre (Beyond Yoga is available at our studio), and quickly fell in love with the brand. My connection to BY grew even stronger a few years ago when I became a contributing blogger for the brand. (You can check out my blog posts here, if you’re interested!)

Here’s the best thing about Beyond Yoga, though: They’re WAY more than just on-trend, super comfy, high-quality activewear. (They’re definitely that stuff, which is amazing!) They’re also committed to the inclusion and celebration of women. Women of all shapes and sizes, all ages and life stages, all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Beyond Yoga welcomes everyone, and creates clothing and content to reflect that.

Their website states:

“We are a luxury athleisure brand designed to seamlessly transition from workout to night out. We believe in promoting inclusivity by empowering people to live their best, most balanced lives. We reflect this by never retouching the shape of a woman’s body, offering a range of sizes from XXS to 3X and featuring amazing women doing amazing things.”

They even have a Body Positive Manifesto available on their website, which I love:

I am beautiful INSIDE and out.

Perfection is not the goal.

I don’t waste time trying to fit in.

I promise to be KIND to others and myself.

I am comfortable in my own skin and do not compare myself to others.

So. With that, here’s my conversation with Natalia. I hope you enjoy! (Oh, and don’t forget that you can also subscribe to my podcast using your podcast app. I would be so appreciative if you’d do that, and if you feel so inclined to leave a review, that would be amazing as well!)

Okay, here we go!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Episode_15_-_Final_Mix.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 14 (Beyond Yoga’s Design Director, Natalia Giacomelli) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

I’m so excited about this latest podcast episode to celebrate Mother’s Day. I talked with my mom, Dorothy, and sister, Susan, about our experiences with motherhood. My sister and I had babies within about three months of each other, and getting to be a first-time mom alongside her has been such an amazing gift. Having OUR mom there to offer support and guidance has made it all the better. I’m so fortunate to be part of a family that is so there for one another, and to have a mom who worked so hard to make our childhoods special and full of love. (She’s still pretty great at making us feel that way, in fact.)

The three of us connected via Skype to chat about topics like raising daughters versus sons, whether we always pictured ourselves as being mothers, what we worried about before having children, and lots more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation and, if you’re a mom, too, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY this Sunday!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Mom_and_Susan.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 13 (Talking Motherhood With My Mom & Sister) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

(Just by happenstance, this conversation ended up taking place on National Infertility Awareness Week. What perfect timing! I’m so excited to share this episode with y’all about an amazing organization working to preserve fertility among cancer survivors.)

When I was in grad school for journalism at Northwestern University in 2009 (whoa — that’s been a while), I focused on Health & Science writing and learned about the Oncofertility Consortium while working on an article. I was immediately interested in the work going on within this amazing organization, and have been keeping up with the consortium in the years since.

“Oncofertility” might not be a word you’re familiar with. (I certainly wasn’t when I first heard it!) It’s the intersection of oncology and fertility, and the folks at the consortium are committed to helping people who receive cancer diagnoses go on to create families after their treatment is complete. They do this through:

I spoke with Kristin Smith, a Fertility Preservation Patient Navigator, for my latest episode of the curiouser & curiouser Podcast, and loved learning about the strides the organization has made since I first became aware of them nearly a decade ago.

The word that always comes to mind when I think of the consortium — and that kept rising to the top during my conversation with Kristin — is “hope.” Receiving a cancer diagnosis has to be one of the bleakest experiences possible, but amidst getting information about treatment plans and side effects, talking about ways to plan for a family AFTER cancer has to be a glimmer of optimism and light.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Kristin, and I hope you’ll spread the word about the Oncofertility Consortium. Maybe just bring it up over coffee with your sister, or at your next dinner out with friends. You never know whose future you might change by just getting awareness out about this resource.

(To connect directly with Kristen, please call her at 312.503.3378. Also, if you’re a newly diagnosed cancer patient or a member of someone’s support system, you can visit this website for fertility preservation information.)

Remember, too, that you can also subscribe to my podcast via iTunes to listen there instead!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Kristin_Smith.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 12 (Learning About Fertility After Cancer With Kristin Smith Of The Oncofertility Consortium) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ve certainly heard me talk about The Birth Hour Podcast before. The Birth Hour is a collection of birth stories, and it’s such a wonderful way to get a glimpse into so many birth and pregnancy experiences.

It’s one I recommend to all my pregnant podcast-loving friends, and I even had the honor of being a guest on The Birth Hour last summer to share Maggie’s birth story.

As such a big fan of this podcast, you can imagine how excited I was when the host of The Birth Hour, Bryn Huntpalmer, agreed to be a guest on MY podcast. (What? So fun!)

Bryn and I connected via Skype (she and her family live in Austin, Texas) to talk about the start of her podcast, how she’s added resources beyond the podcast to the brand, how being the host of The Birth Hour has influenced her parenting, and lots more. She even shared some advice with me as I work to get my podcast off the ground.

I’m thrilled to get to share that conversation here with you today.

(Oh, and please be sure to spend some time on The Birth Hour’s website to not only hear some beautiful birth stories, but to subscribe to the podcast, follow The Birth Hour on Instagram, and maybe even sign up for a pregnancy or breastfeeding course!)

Enjoy!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Bryn_Huntpalmer_v2.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 11 (Bryn Huntpalmer of The Birth Hour Podcast) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

Welcome to the 10th episode of the curiouser & curiouser Podcast. Double digits — wahoo! (I remember turning 10 and being SO excited about that. Did that happen to you?)

Anyway…

This week’s episode features Kate of Kate Morris Jewelry, someone I have a feeling you’ll enjoy hearing from. Kate and I met in college (at Samford University) where we were in the same sorority (yay, ZTA!). She was already making jewelry back then, and has continued to hone her craft and grow and define her brand in the years since. This past year, she moved into a full-time role with KMJ, speaking to the great work she’s doing with her business.

I love the style of Kate Morris Jewelry. Her pieces are all thoughtfully designed, and then are handcrafted using beautiful stones and other materials. I love how wearable her jewelry is, whether you’re taking a Pure Barre class or dressing for a night out, you can find a piece of KMJ (often the same piece!) that will work perfectly for your look. I always get compliments on my KMJ pieces when I wear them. (Speaking of, here’s me wearing some KMJ!)

In addition to talking about jewelry, Kate and I dug into new motherhood (her adorable daughter, Collins, is just a couple of months younger than Maggie), our love of Pure Barre (she’s a teacher, too!), and our shared inclination to do ALLTHETHINGS.

I hope you enjoy meeting Kate through this episode, and be sure to keep an eye on her website for her Spring 2018 line, which will be launching soon! Instagram is also a great way to keep up with the brand, so be sure to follow her there.

Here we go!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Kate_Morris_Jewelry.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 10 (Kate of Kate Morris Jewelry) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

How our skin looks has a big impact on the way we feel, and yet sometimes it can be hard to know how to make it look its best. We probably all have habits (some good, some not so great) we developed as adolescents as it relates to skincare, and hopefully those have evolved a bit through the years (as we’ve learned more and as our skin’s needs have changed). Still, lots of us deal with frustrating skin issues or just general skin-related questions:

-Why am I still getting breakouts as an adult?

From a personal standpoint, I’ve become much more interested in and knowledgable about skincare since becoming a Beautycounter consultant a little over a year ago. (I love things like that — where you start to learn about a topic and then just become hungry to know as much as possible.)

This episode features input from two skincare experts who are go-tos in my own life, Janine Berard and Sondie Blackmon. We aren’t talking skincare brands in particular, but instead sat down to talk about common skincare issues and questions, and they offer some great advice. I hope you’ll find this episode interesting and informative, and if you’d like to connect with Janine you can do that at [email protected], and Sondie can be reached at [email protected].

Enjoy!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/Skincare_-_4118_9.36_PM.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 9 (Skincare FAQs) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

I met Laura Holby through Pure Barre (something I have a feeling you’re going to hear me say often throughout episodes of this podcast, because I meet so many wonderful people at the studio!), and immediately wanted her to be my friend. Laura’s just LIKABLE. She’s approachable and funny and put together — she’s a joy to be around.

She’s also, as it turns out, excellent at interior design.

I remember seeing newborn photos after Laura’s son Beau was born (fun fact: he’s just a little over a month younger than Maggie-girl!) and being in awe of her home. It was GORGEOUS. A magazine-worthy house, but also so inviting and cozy looking.

It wasn’t long after that newborn photo session, in fact, that Laura decided to pull the trigger on starting a design company — something she’d been considering for years and felt the time was right to go for — and Dear, Gabby Designs (initially Holby Co. Interiors) was born.

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Laura sat down to talk with me about her love of design, where she goes for inspiration, what it’s been like starting her own business, and more. Whether you’re interested in design or are someone who likes to hear about people pursuing their goals and figuring out the details along the way, you’ll appreciate Laura’s perspective in this episode.

(Oh, and you should go ahead and follow Dear, Gabby Designs on Instagram, and prepare for some swoon-worthy content to start popping up in your feed!)

Enjoy!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/LauraHolby.mp3

The post curiouser & curiouser Podcast: Episode 8 (Interior Design With Laura Holby) appeared first on curiouser & curiouser.

Melissa Campbell and I have known each other for a few years now, but have met in person only twice. We met through my mom (she and Melissa used to work together), and have become friends thanks to being at similar life stages and having lots in common. (Thanks to social media, we’re able to keep up with each other despite living in different states.)

Melissa’s son, Andrew, is eight months old — just three months younger than my daughter, Maggie, and it was so much fun being pregnant at the same time. (Although “fun” isn’t the word Melissa would use to describe her pregnancy. She was incredibly sick the entire time!) Now that we’re both new moms, we’ve enjoyed exchanging texts about breastfeeding (ugh, pumping gets so old!), essential oils for babies, and lots more. I’ve loved getting to share this parenthood journey with her.

But Melissa and I got together via Skype to talk about a journey I didn’t experience myself: one of infertility. My husband, Kevin, and I went through a miscarriage, but were then able to get pregnant with our daughter without any fertility intervention. After a year of trying to get pregnant on their own, though, Melissa and her husband, Sean, realized they’d likely need some extra help to grow their family. Enter month after month (after month after month) filled with first IUIs, then IVF (and all the shots and daily appointments that came with it, not to mention the financial stress of it all).

I’m so appreciative to Melissa for being willing to share her infertility story here from start to finish, and I know it will be an incredibly helpful resource to anyone who experiences infertility, either first or secondhand. She gives helpful advice and context around what to expect regarding specific steps in the process, and talks about why it was so critical that she and Sean be on the same page throughout the journey.

I hope you enjoy this informative episode!:

http://traffic.libsyn.com/curiouser-and-curiouser/MelissaCampbell.mp3

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