The Honestly Podcast

Summary:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! FALL! Join Elle and Laura as they talk all things fall: from cozy sweaters to apple picking and all the fall things in between! Listen in to get inspired and excited about this beautiful season of change and beauty!

Mentioned This Episode:

“The life starts all over when it gets crisp in the fall”.

Fall must do’s:

-Chicago residents check out Edwards Orchard https://edwardsappleorchard.business.site

-Pumpkin Pasta: https://www.blessthismessplease.com/sausage-and-pumpkin-pasta/

-Gratitude List

-Cider competition

-Get your pictures taken (with Laura if you’re smart! lauraarmstrongphotography.com)

Must dont’s:

-Stay away from the creepy things.

-Bonfire candle by Nature Wick

Let’s Be Honest:

Elle and Laura love the book The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn! It’s a great psychological thriller.

Living Honestly:

-Write out some things you’ve been grateful for this fall so far. Going forward, make this a season of gratitude. Be intentional about thanking God for all he’s given you.

Summary:

Organizing life is the never-ending, often overwhelming task of trying to make life doable! Listen in as Laura and Elle talk about their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to organization and share their experiences with making life work!

Mentioned This Episode:

-Look into the Meyers Briggs test! personalityhacker.com is an amazing resource!

-Elle can’t live without her Plum Paper calendar! https://www.plumpaper.com/shop/category/personalized-planners

-Try using the daily five for kids! Trace their hand and write five things they accomplish each morning before getting their vitamins!

-Laura swears by the Marie Kondo method for folding clothes! Her book is a must: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

-Emily Ley’s book, A Simplified Life, provides extremely practical tips and tricks for organizing your life. She focuses on simplifying rather than just organizing and making more space in your life for what matters.

-Come up with simple solutions for cluttered spaces: make bins or baskets for different items. The bins can be less tidy, but they’ll clean up quickly!

Let’s Be Honest:

-The weather is getting colder and it’s time to cozy up the house with an amazing Hearth&Hand fall candle line! Can’t get much better than Joanna Gaines bringing life and delicious scents to your home! (Sold at Target!)

Listener Tips:

-ShopShop is an amazing app that lets you make multiple lists at multiple stores but house them all in one place!

-Try the bullet journal. Keep a running list of things to do daily, both big tasks and small. Use it to take notes and jot down memorable things about your day.

-Keep your cleaning products where you actually need them! It makes you more willing to clean when tools are on hand!

-Set up reminders on your phone! Do it instantaneously so you won’t forget later!

-Come up with certain days for certain events! This family has Friday fun days! It gives everyone something to look forward to.

-Go through a certain room of your house or a certain category on a monthly basis. See what you actually use and love, and if you’re done with it let it go! You can sell items online, donate to good will, or give them to a friend!

Summary:

Three times a day, we’re forced to think about meals! Getting food on the table can truly become a mundane task. Elle and Laura talk about their own struggles and strengths within cooking and remind listeners of the sacred nature of food. You want to miss the tips and tricks to making mealtime less maddening and Elle and Laura’s own hilarious mealtime routines.

Mentioned This Episode:

Ree Drummond cookbooks taught Laura how to cook! https://thepioneerwoman.com/my_cookbook/

Nothing better than the Magnolia Cookbook! https://shop.magnolia.com/products/magnolia-table-cookbook

Ina Garten cookbooks http://barefootcontessa.com/cookbooks

Breakfast Hacks: Try making a routine for different days. The Wilkersons always have cinnamon rolls on Tuesday mornings! Make breakfast casseroles for delicious meals all week!

Lunch Hacks: Laura uses Uber Eats as her lunch hack! Buy the same thing for lunch every day!

Snack Hacks: Banana, peanut butter, and a chocolate chip on top! Use coffee filters for snack cups. Try the Boom-Chicka-Pop kettle corn.

Dinner Hacks: Make different categories for different nights: Italian on Monday, Mexican on Wednesdays, homemade pizza on Fridays!

Let’s Be Honest:

Enjoy the last days of summer by going on a bike ride with your friends and family! Elle got a new bike this year and it was a game changer. Check out these cute bikes! https://www.sixthreezero.com

Listener Tips:

-Store leftovers in individual sized containers!

-Do meal prep in the morning or other times when you’re more fresh. Chip away at the meals throughout the week so you’re more prepared when dinner time rolls around.

-Buy time savers! Try pre-grated cheese, rotisserie chicken, packaged cornbread mix! (Check out themommymentor.net for an amazing blogpost of mealtime prep!)

-Label your fridge! It make the fridge less chaotic, gets everyone in the house same page about where food goes back and eliminate food waste!

-Try making chia seed pudding! Start with chia seed, add almond milk, and let soak. Dress it up with fruit, coconut flakes, and honey!

-Do food prep during nap time!

-Chicken curry tacos! Throw chicken, onions, carrots, potatoes, and coconut curry in a crockpot. Shred the chicken and throw it with hummus and spinach on tortillas!

-Have your kids play restaurant! It gets everyone involved in a fun way and lets mom have the night off!

-Grill all your vegetables and chicken with olive oil!

-Try making grilled cheese with mayo!

Summary:

One of the “messier” tasks in life is taking care of our bodies! Today Elle and Laura talk about not only tips and tricks when it comes to skin care, hair care, and beyond, but they also remind listeners of the unique and beautiful and specific ways that God made each of us! Once again, listeners submit incredibly helpful tips that you won’t want to miss!

Mentioned This Episode:

Elle’s first make up book that taught her everything she knows: https://www.amazon.com/Bobbi-Brown-Teenage-Beauty-Everything/dp/0060957247

Laura’s go to skin care routine: http://www.jamiebgolden.com/2019/05/10-step-skincare-routine.html

Don’t laugh….but check out the Tinkle Razor! https://www.tinkleyourface.com/

Elle’s go to product: Bobbi Brown illuminating bronzer!

Laura’s go to product: Eyebrow pencils! Her fave is Benefit Goof Proof Brow

Body Wash: Love, Beauty, and Planet bar soap. Try Lavender!

Lotion: Sleepy by Lush

FaceWash: Milky Jelly by Glossier, Skinny Coconut Oil for make up remover, Micellar Water Eye Remover

Make up Product: Nars concealer, Tarte mascara

Hair Products: Kristin Ess Dry Scalp Exfoliator, DryBar Dry Shampoo

Perfume: Glossier, Ariana Grande

Let’s Be Honest:

Save the date for the new Stars Wars movie! The Rise of Starwalker comes out December 20!

Listener Tips:

Use African Shea Butter (order in bulk off Amazon) as a moisturizer!

Put concealer under your eyes and over your eyelids to make it look natural and still light and bright!

Use a wooden hairbrush-it grabs the oil at the roots and adds a nice shine to your hair without any unnatural products!

Heat up your eyelash curler when curling your eyelashes!

Use coconut oil instead of lotion-nothing fancy needed!

Everyday we make a million choices around our homes. Do I pick up those clothes or just leave them there for a few more hours? Should I start laundry or wait until I have a free five hours to complete the whole process? Tidy up the junk drawer or let it live in it’s junky glory? Taking care of your home is one of the biggest areas of “mundane” in our lives. Elle and Laura help listeners think through the meaning and purpose behind these simple tasks and give tons of helpful tips from listeners about making the mundane a little less brutal!

Playground Study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O8hHYIMHu0

Hygge (defined as a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality!) If you don’t know about “hygge” yet read The Little Book of Hygge. https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Hygge-Danish-Secrets/dp/0062658808

Best Vacuum Ever: https://www.amazon.com/Miele-Dynamic-Upright-Vacuum-Lotus/dp/B00S1AGLY0

Laura swears by OxiClean! Get your whites whiter and keep your colors colorful!  https://www.oxiclean.com/en

Throw white vinegar in with a load laundry if you’re worried about smells!

Emily Ley’s expert tip is to do a load of laundry every morning. Makes everything shorter and hopefully sweeter.

Try out gloves when you do dishes!

Elle tries to live by the phase: “A place for everything. Everything in its place.”

Let’s Be Honest:

Check out Grove Collective! Elle tried it one month and got wonderfully, insane discounts the first time you try it! Try it for a month and keep it going OR cancel your subscription! Such fun and cute products for an outrageously awesome price.  https://www.grove.co/home

Keep a handheld vacuum underneath your kitchen sink for quick access to kitchen crumbs (especially for the stovetop!).

Immediately dump fresh laundry on your bed, so you have to put it away before bed that night.

Never do more laundry in a day then you’re willing to put away. Keeps the laundry process to under a day!

Make your bed!

Buy a legit garage can with bags that fit and get new bags delivered from Amazon regularly! Bags in the can are a game changer.

Use a razor on furniture and bed sheets. Run it across the fabric to get off pills without tearing or scratching the fabric!

Go through different rooms of your house regularly and purge items that you don’t use or need. Do small area of your home every month, so it’s never overwhelming!

Dr. Bronner’s pure castille soap is an amazing, chemical-free cleaner. It’s affordable and goes a long way! Use it in bathrooms, kitchen, and floors!

Make laundry into a game-pick fun music and enjoy the activity more!

Everyone’s days are determined by many conscious and subconscious habits. Why do hit the alarm seven times before waking up? Why do we skip breakfast again in hopes hitting up the Starbucks drive through again? Why can’t we seem to get a handle of those little habits that nag us? Elle and Laura dive into the courageous task of changing your habits. Habits often go hand in hand with our identity, and making time and space to make and break habits is a process that requires determination. Listen as Elle and Laura dive into tips on changing your habits, share their own strengths and weaknesses, and encourage listeners to lean into habits that will make life more joy filled!

Laura shares her latest love of reusable straws! Help save the environment one super cute straw at a time. http://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-reusable-straws.html

Try out the two minute trick! Start tomorrow by implementing a habit that will only take two minutes. Do 10 sit ups. Drink a cup of water. Lay in bed for two minutes before looking at your phone. Make a call instead of sending a text. Make two minutes of space in your day tomorrow to start something new!

Atomic Habits by James Clear. We couldn’t recommend this book more highly!

The Magnolia Journal manifesto: “We believe in home, that it should restore us from today and ready us for tomorrow.”

Summary:

Elle and Laura dive into the wonderful world of mentorship! They reminisce about their own experiences with mentoring, think through what makes a great mentor, and encourage listeners to find a balance of receiving and giving. 

Let's Be Honest:

Get yourself some overalls for a truly cute and comfortable life. Try out this pair Elle's been rockin all summer: https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/levis-vintage-denim-shortall-overall-short-and-sweet?category=overalls-for-women&color=092&type=REGULAR

Living Honestly:

Find time in the next couple weeks to spend time with someone in a different life stage than you. Make space to give and receive with this person.

Resources:

Try this amazing enchilada recipe at your next dinner party! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/17240411061656775/

Here are some questions to take your conversation deeper:

1. Have you ever had a season of waiting?

2. What was it like to wait? Did you feel angry? sad? disengaged?

3. How will you wait differently in your next season of waiting?