Simple

Sometimes it's hard to make time for friends as an adult. And draining. And potentially awkward. But also completely worth it.

In this episode, Tsh talks with co-host Erin Loechner about friendships—how do they make time for the life-giving people in our life? How do they make sure we're a good friend back? How do they set healthy boundaries in these relationships?

They talk about what it means to invite other people into their lives, even when it's messy and inconvenient. Because the crazier life gets, the more meaningful those friendships become.

For links to this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 92, or head here:

• Follow the podcast on Instagram!
• Get 5 Quick Things, the weekly email you can read in under a minute
• Erin's blog, Design For Mankind
• Erin on Twitter and Instagram
• Tsh on Twitter and Instagram
• An easy ice cream tip for entertaining
• Our summer hospitality episode
• The real definition of a mentor
• On making friends and partial solutions
• Voxer
• Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) test
• Turkish çay
• Mercemek (Turkish lentil soup)
• Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake)
• Milk Carton Kids live from Lincoln Theater, on Tiny Desk, and on Spotify

This episode isn’t about any particular educational method—it’s about how we parents go about deciding what’s best for our individual kiddos and our collectives families.

Stephanie homeschools her kids, and we send our kids to a three-day hybrid school—and we’ve also done almost every type of school under the sun. They all have their plusses and minuses, and we’re grateful for them all! Let’s talk about how we decide what’s best for a particular season of life.

Learning loves, learning challenges, limits, freedoms, and particular preferences… deciding how to best help your kids learn is more art than science. The beauty of that is there’s no one perfect way to do this—but there’s a thousand good ways.

For links in this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 91, or check this list:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Audible
• Teaching Textbooks
• Math-U-See
• Evan Moor
• Sequential Spelling
• Story of the World
• Acton Academy
• Follow Stephanie on Instagram
• Follow Tsh on Twitter and Instagram
• Follow the new Simple Show Instagram account!

Chickens, canning, farmer’s markets, and prepackaged food from the grocery store. There’s a place for all of it… and also a place to not make it our thing, guilt-free. It’s all good.

We know we’re “supposed” to eat local, but what does that look like in the real world?

In the spirit of our no/yes season, Tsh and Haley go back and forth and share what they let go of in the name of sanity, even if they'd love to have the time/money/freedom/ability to do [insert local-eating habit here]. But they have managed to do a few things alright in this department, so they talk about those, too.

For show notes, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 90, or check the list below.

• Follow the new Simple Show Instagram account!
• Sign up for a CSA
• Find a local farmer's market
• Wendell Berry's The Art of the Commonplace: Agrarian Essays
• Michael Pollan's books
• Haleys blog, Carrots for Michaelmas
• Haley on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh on Instagram and Twitter

There are so. many. things. to watch these days. How do you choose what to see with your precious few viewing hours? That’s the topic of this episode… How to not be overwhelmed by the onslaught of entertainment choices we have. They say it’s the Golden Age of television—there’s more than any one person can watch. If you don’t want to spend your life in front of a screen, yet you do enjoy the occasional movie and TV show, how do you watch what you want to watch without it becoming an addiction, a time suck, or an attempt in futility? Co-host Kendra Adachi, smart lady of pop culture (among many other things), joins Tsh for this chat. It's a fun way to start this season of essentialism. Thanks to sponsor KIND Bars! Sign up for a free sample box; all you have to pay is shipping. Head here, then use the code SIMPLE to get your box free. And thanks to sponsor, Aaptiv, a fitness app that’s like Netflix for your body! To get 30 days free when you sign up—head here, and use the code theartofsimple.

It’s a new season of The Simple Show! In this episode, we'll pull back the curtain on what we’ll be talking about for awhile. Our days are spent making thousands of decisions, and a bit at a time, it’s from the choices we make that we carve out a life. What we say yes and no to matters, possibly more than anything else. Most of our decisions don’t involve black or white decisions. They lie in the gray. They look like deciding between all good things. They look like distinguishing what’s good from what’s best. Saying no to the 99% of life that’s not for us so we can say yes! to the part that is. Are we great at living this out in our lives? Hell to the no. But we’re sure as ready to give it a try. And we want to talk about it. My three co-hosts are back: Stephanie Langford, Erin Loechner, and Haley Stewart, and we’re also welcoming a fourth! Kendra Adachi is sliding into Simple Show rotation, and I couldn’t be happier about this line-up. Welcome to a new season of The Simple Show!  For links in this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 88, or click below: Follow The Simple Show's new Instagram account! Essentialism, by Greg McKeown The Gap, spoken by Ira Glass Sign up for 5 Quick Things, the weekly, under-a-minute email Fill out a quick, two-minute survey—thank you kindly! Big thanks to sponsor Prep Dish, a healthy meal-planning service that emails you a plan each week. The Simple Show listeners get a two-week free trial—go to prepdish.com/simple and use the code SIMPLE. Also, big thanks to sponsor ShipStation, the easiest way to manage and ship orders all from one place, where you can create labels for all the top carriers. Try ShipStation free for 30 days AND get an additional month free with the promo code SIMPLE. Go to shipstation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and type in simple.

We start our new season of The Simple Show in the next episode, and it's gonna be fantastic. But today I've got a conversation I don't want you to miss. My friend (and AoS writer) Brooke McAlary recently announced she's quitting Jackrabbit, the podcast network she helped found—and when she did, I thought, Hmm.... I could use a good chat with her. So, we poured ourselves some coffee and hit record. We're 8,400 miles away—she's in Sydney, and I'm here in Central Texas. (If you read At Home, it's her house we stayed in for our Christmas down under.) My own work shift was on my mind, so together, we talk about what it looks like to quit something good in favor of something better. We talk about why we need to know our why, and why we need regular reminders of it.   For links to this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 87, or check the list below. Links From This Episode: Brooke's podcast, Slow Your Home Her announcement about quitting Jackrabbit Her thoughts on JOMO Pre-order Brooke's book, Destination: Simple My book, At Home in the World Big thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Aaptiv, a fitness app that’s like Netflix for your body—now with a maternity program! They’re giving you guys 30 days free when you sign up—head here, and use the code theartofsimple.

It's the last episode of our summer series, Women's Work! Tsh talks with Liz Vice, a singer-songwriter. She’s a gospel, soul, and R&B artist from Portland, Oregon who loves story telling—she’s gone from behind the scenes in the film and video world to right behind the mic. It was a line of work she got into accidentally—growing up, she always thought she’d be in film, not in music. Liz talks about the heart behind what she does—what motivates her, the risks she’s taken moving across the country, why she’s choosing to record on her terms, even with its limits. She’s got the heart and soul of a preacher, so you just might find yourself saying “amen” a few times in this episode. For show notes in this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 86, or check the list below. Links From This Episode Liz Vice On Spotify, Instagram, and Twitter A sampling of Liz's music Listen to the whole Women's Work series Big thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Aaptiv, a fitness app that’s like Netflix for your body—now with a maternity program! They’re giving you guys 30 days free when you sign up—head here, and use the code theartofsimple.

Next up in our summer series, hearing from entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives as they let us peek behind the curtain and learn more about what they do—Tsh talks to Alison Glass. She's a fabric and pattern designer... and Tsh has known her since the 7th grade, they lived together for two years in college, and they were each other’s maids-of-honor. You could say they go way back. Alison started fabric designing just a few years ago, but her work has taken off like wildfire. Her fabrics are beautiful, and if you love color, her aesthetic is just up your alley. Listen to Tsh chat with her old friend Alison, and get ready to be inspired. For show notes in this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 85, or check the list below. Links: Alison Glass Design Alison's Instagram Quilt Market Andover Fabrics Harry Potter series (plus the Cursed Child) Big thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Aaptiv, a fitness app that’s like Netflix for your body—now with a maternity program! They’re giving you guys 30 days free when you sign up—head here, and use the code theartofsimple.

Continuing our summer series on creative women who do interesting work, Cat Seto is an artist and author who decided, one day, to head to Paris to become re-inspired in her work. Little did she know, she'd find a whole new style, process, and book idea. Cat talks with Tsh about juggling her work with parenting (she also owns a brick & mortar store in San Fransisco), what it was like to create her book, and the collaborative work she's looking forward to next. If you've ever wondered what it's like to paint, write, run a local shop, or all the above—this episode is for you. You'll love Cat. For show notes in this episode, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 84.

Adding to our summer series on entrepreneurs, artists, and creative women, Tsh talks with a personal chef who decided to multiply her services to thousands of families at a time. Allison Schaaf started a digital company, Prep Dish, out of her love of cooking and nutrition (if you’ve been around this podcast for long, you’ve heard of them—they're one of our regular sponsors). This is Allison’s baby. It's a healthy meal-planning service that emails you a plan, grocery list, and instructions for 1-3 hours weekend prep each week. Afterwards, you’re completely ready for quick meals the week. Tsh and Allison talk about what inspired her to start a meal planning business from her experience as a personal chef, what it’s like to work with a remote team, what her daily routine is like, and how she continually keeps coming up with recipes (they're legit good). If you’re curious about the behind the scenes of running a digital meal-planning service, well—now you’ll know! Listen to Allison and be inspired by her creativity. For show notes, head to thesimpleshow.com and look for episode 83.