We Have Thoughts With Emily & Katie

Emily is back from Paris, and she brought stories. The trip started with standby chaos: a reroute through Chicago, and the strategy behind getting on a flight to Europe when you're flying non-rev. Once the family settled in Paris, they planned a different kind of trip, with skate culture, shopping and small highlights along the way. Then comes the scariest part: a frightening encounter where someone pulled a gun on her family, plus what it taught her about staying safe and street-smart in the city. We also talk about the flight home and the unrest in France, then move on to AI, misinformation and online influence. We wrap up with recommendations, travel wardrobe hacks and clothing-care tips, some sister stories and advice on texting about politics.

An easy, chatty week with plenty of tangents. After some backstage banter and a concert called off by a storm, the conversation turns to friendship in midlife, weekend homemaking (sewing projects, Lillet Blanc and basil experiments) and the case for actually using the good china, plus Michael's elaborate table-setting story. From there it's home-design rabbit holes and why the details get so expensive, then this week's Petty Betty: selling clutter online and the spiritual case for purging. We also cover perimenopause, travel hacks, women's clothes with no pockets, fall-break negotiations and the flood of campaign texts. We wrap up with listener questions: what do you unfairly judge people for (wedding registries, apparently), and if your husband could anonymously submit one complaint about you, what would it be?

Pour a martini and pull up a chair — this episode is a long, loose conversation about the Enneagram, using Deidre's bingo sheets to figure out which type actually fits. We claim Type Four (individuality, contrarian taste, creative self-recovery, and the emotional weather that comes with it), unpack Type Seven energy (travel, novelty, and stress-driven escape fantasies), and talk about how those patterns show up in therapy, in parenting, and in the way we shop, plan, and feel known by the people we love.

Along the way: helping a child understand grief through Coco, big questions about the afterlife and God's love, Sophie's kid-built sewing venture, Irish family roots, and a hard conversation about the Lindsay Clancy verdict — maternal mental health, systemic failures, privilege, and where compassion has to sit alongside justice. Equal parts playful and tender, like friends at the table who don't want to leave.

In this introductory episode, Emily and Katie finally step up to the mic and tell the story of how they got here — and why now. They dig into the friendship that expanded their worldviews, the politics and family backgrounds that shaped them, and the therapy, EMDR, and slow work of healing that carried Katie through her hospitalization and back to her boutique. Along the way: enneagram chaos, travel personalities, the charm of Richmond, parenting through conflict, and the origin (and closing) of The Guild — Harvey, community relief, grief, and the doors that became a lasting symbol of a shared dream. Equal parts unfiltered conversation and love letter to the friendships that hold us together, this is the show they've been waiting to make.