Radio 831: A Romance Podcast

Oh, we are excited about this week's Thingies guest! Get ready to dive into the mind of the inaugural 831 Stories author, Alexandra—AKA Zan—Romanoff. We gab with her about Big Fan, fanfiction tropes, Hanson, ocean swims, online vintage shopping, you name it.

Zan's Thingies are Henné Lip Tint, Bask reef-safe sunscreen, Will Rogers Beach in Santa Monica, the Gem App, and the public library.

Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff is out tomorrow, September 10. Grab a ticket to one of Zan's LA or NYC events (we'll be in attendance too!) and dive into the all of the book-universe bonus features (including an epilogue).

Get even more Zan: Read her YA books (Grace and the Fever is very Big Fan–adjacent) and listen to the pop culture + sports podcast she co-hosts with Sarah Enni, On the Bleachers.

More on Canadian Shack fics (um, delightful).

Also, we want to make sure you know that we are in the Jack Schlossberg/Miele fan club.

What's your fandom of choice? Share with us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Follow @haagendazs_us on Instagram and let them know in the comments that we sent you!

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a true throw-back classic episode from last year: Make sure to double-knot your shoes because we're running through a bunch of activewear brands, morning baths, kale phones, butter money, and COTC (corn on the cob, clearly).

You can read more about Vuori's lore in Courier (and try out their Pose fitted polo, Daydream drew, and All the Feels bra for yourself). Other workout wear of interest: Splits59 (specifically their Raquel flared leggings), Wilson (how 'bout these Wynne pleated pants and the pleated court short?), Tracksmith ( their Article One running sunglasses collab!), District Vision, Satisfy, On, Tory Sport, and Sweaty Betty. Curious about cool sports stores? We've heard good things about Distance in Paris, we love FrontRunners in L.A., and we have to hand it to Pete Carlson Golf and Tennis in Palm Desert for going *deep*.

The everything shower! Consider this reel from The Everygirl your primer.

If you're looking to limit your oblivion time, check out the OneSec app…or consider the cocaine/kale phone, via George Mack by way of Trung Phan. Also, the to-google notepad, ℅ Courtney Martin.

Butter sculpture season, our Bama Rush? A great read: "The Secret Feminist History of Butter Cows" by Lyz Lenz.

What activewear brands do you like, how do you morning bath if you do such a thing?! Share with us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Show your hair the love with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month's subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is anybody looking to start a hummus business?!? Do we have some domain names for you! In addition to our GoDaddy closet sale, we also have a grab bag to discuss, including mouth tape, face shaving, rat poop legal battles, WNBA mascots, and more!

Re: personal catchphrases: the title Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner got us thinking.

If you want to hear the case for VIO2 mouth tape that converted Claire, check out our Guest Thingies episode with Glynnis MacNicol.

Claire loved getting dermaplaned at Carrie Lindsey Beauty in Brooklyn.

Erica's nightgown journey involves the Skims Fits Everybody and Soft Lounge dresses, while Claire's includes Taleen, Eileen West, Vermont Country Store, and Salter House—if you're chasing the Victorian ghost aesthetic.

For all your LA luxury cat hotel needs: Check out Chats de The, Purrvana, and Cateau Marmont.

WNBA star to stan: Breanna Stewart. US Open player with peak energy: Taylor Townsend.

Want to start ratemyvcs.com? Great, get in touch via 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Follow @haagendazs_us on Instagram and let them know in the comments that Claire and Erica sent you!

Slip into your new fall shoes from Marc Fisher and use the code ATHINGORTWO to receive 20% off your purchase.

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of you Detective Bobs have already caught on to this, but: We're starting something new! It's officially time to give you the scoop on our romantic fiction entertainment company, 831 Stories…and the first book we're publishing, Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff. It comes out September 10…which means right this second is the perfect time to pre-order it.

Special thanks to Bea and Leah Koch, behind The Ripped Bodice, for kick-starting this journey! Our podcast episode with them from 2019 for a taste.

The authors and titles that made us fall hard for romance include Robinne Lee's The Idea of You, Talia Hibbert (The Brown Sister Series—and our 2021 podcast interview here), Tia Williams's Seven Days in June, Tessa Bailey (start with It Happened One Summer…or our recent chat), Abby Jimenez (loved Yours Truly), Lyla Sage's Rebel Blue Ranch series, and Yulin Kuang's How to End a Love Story.

We also think about what Sanjana Basker shared about romance on the Care So Much podcast all the time.

Sign up for the 831 newsletter, follow 831 on Instagram, and pre-order Big Fan. We cannot WAIT to share it with you.

What was the romance novel that got you into the genre? Tell us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Show your hair the love with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month's subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

Find your new fall shoes from Marc Fisher and use the code ATHINGORTWO to receive 20% off your purchase.

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another great day for Thingies! This time from newsletter legend Caroline Chambers, whose book What To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking (a verified banger!) comes out tomorrow. You're in for a treat.

Caroline's Thingies are Sézane Jimmy trousers (often worn with Sézane Lenny low mules), the Olympics (DUH), having swim-safe kids (New Yorkers: Imagination Swimming), and Taylor Swift singing to Travis Kelce. Also, some romance recs! Pucking Around by Emily Rath, Kulti by Mariana Zapata, and Happenstance by Tessa Bailey.

Hey, The Idea of You fans! Check out Caroline's interview with Robinne Lee on her podcast So Into That.

P.S., if you are as riveted by the idea of "lockstep individualism" as we are, read this Washington Post article "The mysterious tyranny of trendy baby names" by Daniel Wolfe that references Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Names Wizard. And sign up for the Gloria newsletter that surfaced this!

What's your fave thing to cook when you don't feel like cooking? Please share away at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

Tackle stress with Stress Relief from Ritual and take 25% off your first month with our link.

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aaand we're BACK! We are returning from our summer vacation with lots of updates and some Thingies from the great Tessa Bailey. (If you haven't read her books yet: WE BEG YOU.)

If you're looking for good places to start in the Tessa Bailey universe, try It Happened One Summer, Chase Me, and her latest, The Au Pair Affair. She also has an absolutely tremendous TikTok.

Tessa's Thingies include cleansing wipes for her nose piercing, avocados, Blistex, GXVE by Gwen Stefani's Liquid Lipstick, Merit (specifically the cream blush and the highlight stick) "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" by Taylor Swift, the RedHanded podcast, and Apotheke's Earl Grey Candle.

Her first romance read was Hidden Fires by Sandra Brown.

Ahead of Tessa's appearance, we talk LMNT's Watermelon Salt flavor (thanks Nikki Ogunnaike!), romcoms in action movie clothing, and a London stuffie report (Paddington was there, and we found a Miffy x Liberty London collaboration we didn't know we needed).

What's your favorite Tessa Bailey book? Did any Thingies happen during our break? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

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

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know, this episode from last year is an all-time classic—a real Bobs smörgåsbord if you will. We welcome your updates on all of this! Especially how you're footwearing for summer rain.

Our rain-clog conversation has reached new heights! As in: We have a Calzuro review for you.

Holiday shopping season is starting early because the Staten Island Pizza Rat hats are back in stock.

Now onto romance! For an IRL one, try Julia Allison and Noah Feldman. Fictional romances we love include You, Again by Kate Goldbeck (bonus read: this Vulture story about fanfics-turned-bestsellers by Elizabeth Held), The Art of Scandal by Regina Black, Tessa Bailey's books including It Happened One Summer, Hook, Line, and Sinker, Fix Her Up, and Chase Me, and Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. Re: sports romances, see Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, The Deal by Elle Kennedy, Kennedy Ryan in general, and this GQ interview with Phillies player Bryce Harper. Also! Let's talk about Danielle Steel's desk—Samantha Leach did a good profile of the icon for Glamour—and Rachel Antonoff's fall fashion campaign (completely unrelated but we love her email roundups to her vet).

Share the romances you're into with us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or our Geneva!

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consider this episode—one of last year's favorites!—an ode to your embrace of the term "regrettably worth it" aka RWI aka something we get asked to define as least weekly <3

Some regrettably worth it submissions from IG (and our brains) include Skims (related from The Cut), sleep consultants for toddlers, law school, putting your phone in another room after 8 p.m., professional framing, going to Ikea, getting your shoes repaired at Leather Spa (see also: New York Sneaker Society), peeling chickpeas, and stretching.

Do you love car washes as much as Kris Jenner, who compared the experience to Disneyland?

Car accessories that peak our interest include the car trash can, car tweezers, elevated car air fresheners (featuring DS and Durga, Three Potato Four, L:A Bruket, and Hello Adrienne), and, last but *certainly* not least, CarLashes.

Meghan Palmer's That's so Interesting Newsletter gave us some great insights into car conversations.

What are your favorite car listens—songs, audiobooks, all of it? Share them with us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva!

Treat your hair extra-nicely with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month's subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If mid-July has you a bit out at sea with your routines—show of hands?!—this might be just the right time to revisit one of last year's hit eps about creativity and exercise. Let's do this.

For more on morning pages, we direct you to The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. And, a book that comes up a lot despite our mixed feelings about it: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

A YouTube vid Erica followed to write a novel, as recommended by Mary HK Choi.

Some workout wardrobe staples include unitards—check out Girlfriend Collective and Héros—and the posture-correcting sports bra from Forme (more from Fast Company).

If you need a work-out pep talk, you can always count on Coach Bennett. (And while we're here: Thanks for programming this ep, ​​Sarah.)

How do you keep going with exercise? Are you a morning-pages person? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! Grab a Secret Menu membership for more, more recommendations.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let this greatest-hits ep be all the proof you need that things are still a mess! Should you need supporting evidence, might we direct you to Leah Chernikoff's recent article for Harper's Bazaar on the topic?

On gel manicures: Uché Blackstock is going to keep getting them, and Claire is too—but now with Maniglovz to protect her hands from those UV lights (and with CND Shellac whenever she can).

For a one-coat at-home mani, Olive & June Cosmic, Pleasing Pearly Tops, and Dior Glow deliver a shimmery, sheer finish. A listener said Dazzle Dry is one of their Thingies, and multiple of y'all have called-out Londontown Kur Nail Concealer (Nailtiques. For setting yourself up for DIY success, arm yourself with Olive & June dry drops and the brand's clean up brush.

We have a lot of thoughts about mess, and so do some other people. Dig into For Scale's "Exquisite Chaos" installment, "Girl Clutter" by Molly Soda, "What If You Just Didn't Clean That Up?" by Kathryn Jezer-Morton for The Cut, and "This Trend Is a Mess" by Callie Holtermann for NYT. For a listen, check out "How to Keep House While Drowning" on Terrible, Thanks for Asking with guest KC Davis, the author of How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing.

Our convo also reminded us of the books All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior and In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms by Adrienne Salinger (a sampling of some of those pics here).

And a retaliation to the white-box era we've been living in can be found on @officialsadbeige.

For a clustercore explainer, we've got Better Homes & Gardens. For primo examples, we always think of friend-of-the-pod Rumaan Alam and David Land's collection of George Washington paintings in their dining room, and dip into Catherine Newman's home tour on A Cup of Jo.

Two messfluencers to know: Alix Earle and Julia Fox.

On the topic of digital messiness, how many tabs do you have open right now? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], or @athingortwohq—or join our Geneva! For more recommendations, try out a Secret Menu membership.

Get good hair with Nutrafol. Take $10 off your first month's subscription with the code ATHINGORTWO.

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

YAY.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.