Hello, hi! It's a favourite series here on the pod today with an episode featuring my husband Nick, who I affectionately call Handsome Face. In this episode we deconstruct our experience making big decisions together: what works for us and the things we hope will help you to make big decisions in your own partnerships. Here's a breakdown of our advice:

1. Be Open to your Partners' stance

2. Be Honest about your Feelings and Talk A LOT

3. Examine the Pros and Cons TOGETHER (this will have different meaning for each partner)

4. Consider the Long Term Effects and consider the outcomes of your decision on each other over time

5. Talk about it, Talk again, then Talk some more (Take your time)

6. Dig Deep (trust your gut and/or do your research)

7. Don't take yourself too seriously - the decision isn't more important than your marriage

8. Seek Genuine Agreement over one partner conceding or taking defeat to benefit the other partner

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

Welcome to Medium Lady's Mindful Moment of Monday Gratitude! I hope you enjoy this new experiment for 2023 - a weekly BONUS episode all focused on gratitude. This is a more thoughtful and podcast-only extension of my gratitude practice that I share daily on instagram stories @medium.lady.

What are you grateful for today? 

Hello, hi! Today's episode aims to help any listeners who find themselves wanting to read more, but stifled by a Reading Rut. I'll share four different kinds of Reading Ruts and I help you with your "next best steps" depending on which rut you find yourself in. I hope today's episode helps all of the Medium Lady readers out there who want an exciting and satisfying reading life!

If you're in a TIME rut try:

 New Adult Fiction: Great dialogue and low stakes

1. Casey McQuiston

If you're in a rut because your SOURCE for recommendations has gone stale:

Try the library! I love an email newsletter like the Milwaukee Public Library email newsletter

What to do if you're in a TYPE Rut (a.k.a the Genre Rut):

Stay in the genre but reach for diverse authors (Black, Indigenous, Queer, etc). For example if you love Colleen Hoover - reach for Seven Days in June by Tia Williams... or if you love Harry Potter - reach for TJ Klune.

Finally if you're in a FORMAT rut - just try another format or two! Audiobooks, reading on your phone, going back to paper books etc, all great ways to bring novelty back into your reading life.

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Also mentioned:

Medium Lady Reads Playlist

Link to the Winter Whimsy Workshop Invite!

Free printable to plan your month

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

Welcome to Medium Lady's Mindful Moment of Monday Gratitude! I hope you enjoy this new experiment for 2023 - a weekly BONUS episode all focused on gratitude. This is a more thoughtful and podcast-only extension of my daily gratitude practice that I share on stories over on Instagram @medium.lady.

What are you grateful for today?

Hello, hi! This episode is a partner to last week's episode, 57. How to Plan a New Month. I'll deconstruct my own reflections and thought process to set myself up with a plan for February:

1. Read: I've set up four books, all by black women authors, to enrich my reading life for the month

2. Play: I've settled on the theme of "Moody Florals" to infuse my life with texture and colour throughout this winter month

3. Try: I'm going to refresh my sock wardrobe, as a way to build a life full of "Tiny Pretty Things"

4. Think: I'm going to pay attention to when resentment pops up in my thoughts and take a moment to unpack that experience with self-compassion and love for myself.

This episode is a companion to my Free Printable How to Start a New Month and I'll make a few references to that document during the episode. 

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

Hello, hi! I hope you enjoy this new experiment for 2023 - a weekly BONUS episode all focused on gratitude. This is a more thoughtful and podcast-only extension of my daily gratitude practice that I share on stories over on Instagram @medium.lady.

What are you grateful for today?

Hello, hi! Welcome back to the first episode of Season 3! 

We're starting the new season with an episode that I hope will become a cornerstone of the kind of content you can expect from the podcast: thoughtful, intentional and full of opportunity for your own self discovery. This month I will unpack my personal process for deciding on my monthly experiments and I will walk you through the audio version of my new Free Printable - How to Start a New Month (pdf linked here!). 

Here's what you can expect:

Part 1: Look forward and anticipate what is known about the new month

Part 2: Look backwards and appreciate and reflect on all you have learned in the last year

Part 3: Uncover your own favourites and your personal definition of seasonality

Decide the Vibe: Hone in on the things that really "feel" right for the month ahead.

Make choices: Put down on paper a few commitments for how you want to spend your free time in the month ahead.

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You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

Hello, hi! Episode 56 features book recommendations from my reading during Fall and Winter of 2022. I categorize these reviews with three loves, two likes, one bummer and a total wildcard.

This is the last episode of 2022, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for engaging with the Medium Lady Talks podcast and community. Connecting with you has meant the world to me and I will always be grateful for your time and attention. The podcast will take the month of January as hiatus and Season 3 will begin in February of 2023!!

Books reviewed:

This is How it always is by Laurie Frankel

• Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Off hand and totally unplanned Reading Resolutions for 2023

1. Pass on all books that feature children experiencing vicarious trauma (or direct trauma)

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop for Season 3. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady any time, I'm sure we'll become fast friends.

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

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Other Books mentioned:

• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Also mentioned:

• The concept of Good Enough Parenting

Similar to this episode

• Episode 38:Medium Lady Reads Sure-Fire Summer Reading Recommendations

Hello, hi! Today's episode features what has now become an annual Medium Lady holiday tradition: Cozy Christmas Reads! Join me and my bookish friends Jillian @jillianfindinghappy and Stephanie @steffski to talk all about the books that we recommend to readers of all kinds during the holiday period. Assuming you have a bit of time and you have a cozy beverage on hand, we're sure one of these books will suit you just fine! And if not, we mention MANY other books off hand, there should be something for everyone in this episode!

Stephanie’s recommendations

• Things you save in a fire or anything by Katherine Center

Jillian’s recommendations

• Every Summer After by Carly Fortune

Erin’s Recommendations

• Meet me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss

More books mentioned:

• The Grace Year by Kim Legitt

Also Mentioned:

• The Reading Soundtrack ™ for Under the Whispering Door

Similar to this episode

• Episode 41 Red Flag Reads

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.

Hello, hi! Today's episode features the amazing baker and educator, Shani Whisonant from @beginwithbutter and beginwithbutter.com. While Shani's bio calls herself the "Chief Butter Ambassador" and Baking Super Nerd, our conversation also reveals the beginners mindset that she brings to her baking, her personal development and her business. There were many times during this conversation I was either grinning from ear to ear, or I had tears in my eyes! 

Begin with Butter, Shani's goal is to make new bakers and non-bakers into unbelievably proficient bakers, by helping them decode the techniques, equipment and ingredients that advanced home bakers and pros use. Shani share's her origin story and how it all started because she couldn't say no to "the Best Preschool Teacher in the World"!

Also mentioned in this episode:

Shani's baking textbook by Bo Friburg 

Shani's favourite book The Alchemist by Paul Cohelo

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Shani’s red wine black forest pound cake

Similar to this episode:

Episode 52 with Lianne Hannaway

Episode 12 Medium Lady Talks about Growth Mindset

Episode 50 Medium Effort, Mindful Fun and My Origin Story

You can always help out the podcast by providing a rating or review, and sharing it with another Medium Lady in your life! Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss when the new episodes drop. I love to connect with listeners, you can swing by to say hi on Instagram, @medium.lady

Music is Climb by The Ghost in Your Piano. I'm grateful for its use via creative commons license.