Episode Summary:
• It’s St. Baldrick’s season! So, of course we have to start with a little hair chat. We kick it off with a heartfelt look at Casie’s 16‑year journey shaving her head to raise money for childhood cancer research — including this year’s family‑wide “Shavee + Trimee” team effort.
• The Turkey Vase Topic Draw unleashes “Tools We Use,” sending us into a whirlwind of digital must‑haves (Dropbox, Google Photos, Marco Polo), ADHD‑friendly essentials (Loop earplugs), kitchen gadgets (avocado slicers and the infamous chicken‑shredding contraption), and high‑energy dog enrichment tools that keep Kenobi and Mattie blissfully tired.
• A classic We Swear We Had a Point spiral into tech ethics and friendship check‑ins, covering Meta’s eerie post‑mortem posting patents, the sweeter idea of recording family stories, and the “Chaos Report” — a grounding reminder that life, job hunts, and millennial exhaustion are easier when shared with your person.
Hey friends — it’s us, your cross‑country BFFs, back with this week’s episode which takes us from hair talk to turkey time to tools we love.
We Begin, Naturally…with Hair
This episode opens with Casie’s hair doing… whatever it wants. What was meant to be a purple‑blue blend has gone full blueberry, and the curls have decided to join the party for the first time in decades. Meanwhile, Kenobi is handing out sticks like she’s hosting a backyard giveaway. It’s fine. It’s all fine. This is the essence of our podcast — real life, real noise, real hair chaos (well, at least for another month or so).
St. Baldrick’s Season is Here Again
Wait. Where’s her hair going? We’re glad you asked. We gave a little teaser to this organization that is close to our hearts: St. Baldrick’s.
This year marks 16 years of volunteering for Casie, and 9 years of going bald to help fund children’s cancer research. Team Live Out Loud is closing in on $200k raised in that time! 🤯
And guess what? This year, the whole family is joining in — with Casie, Sean, and her dad as Shavees, and Casie’s mom and sister Stefanie as Trimees — a new option that lets people donate hair without going fully bald. We love this addition so much! It removes pressure, adds accessibility, and still supports an incredible cause.
We’ll have a full St. Baldrick’s episode coming up March 19th, but this was your little teaser. (We’re also officially part of the Podcasthon Week, March 14-20. Podcasthon is the world’s largest podcast charity initiative, bringing together podcasters globally to raise awareness for charitable causes.)
👩🏼🦲 Want to get a jump on donating to Casie’s beautiful bald head?
You can do that here!
Turkey Time: Tools We Use
Then it was time for everyone’s favorite part of the show: TURKEY VASE TOPIC DRAW! This week’s turkey topic was Tools We Use, and wow did that open the floodgates. We didn’t specify what kind of tools when we wrote these prompts, so naturally we covered a little bit of everything from cloud storage to kitchen gadgets to dog enrichment toys. (We’ve linked our favorites below, and are NOT receiving any endorsements, kick backs, or payments for sharing these with you all — we just genuinely love these tools)
Our Digital Lifelines
• Dropbox — Amber’s long‑term digital safety net and document brain. Casie also jumped in on Dropbox early as a photographer, and both have used it long term for digital organization, file storage, and ease of accessing files between devices.
• Google Photos — We’re currently using Google Photos for their searchability, but Casie is eyeing ENTE as it’s open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and cross-platform.
• Marco Polo — the backbone of our long‑distance friendship for yeaaaarrrs. Marco Polo is a video chat app that enables you to connect on your own time. (Kinda like a voice note — but with video.)
Tools for Our ADHD Brains
Loop earplugs got their moment in the spotlight as Casie has them at her desk, on her nightstand, and a pair that she can adjust to multiple volumes in her bag. She loved them so much, she sent Amber a pair as her Christmas gift this past year.
They help with overstimulation, kid noise, dog noise, and the general volume of existing. They’ve become a household staple for both of us. (If you want 15% off, you can use this link from Casie — she gets rewards points for each purchase)
Kitchen Tools We Didn’t Know We Needed
• Amber’s beloved avocado slicer, which has saved her hands and her sanity.
• Casie’s sister’s mysterious chicken‑shredding twist contraption, which looks fake until you see it in action.
• Also featured in this section: the phrase “aggressive meat” — which we regret and also absolutely do not regret. 🤷🏼♀️🤣
Dog Tools for High‑Energy Creatures
Casie shared the “lifesaver” — an interactive feeder that works the Kenobi and Mattie’s brains and bodies until they’re delightfully exhausted. Amber countered with the kids’ ball pit, which doubles as a canine enrichment zone.
Parenting is parenting, regardless of species. 🙌🏼
And Then We Spiraled Into Tech Ethics, Obviously
Because it wouldn’t be our podcast without a sharp left turn, we ended up talking about Meta patenting tech that could allow accounts to keep posting after someone dies. Our reactions ranged from “absolutely not” to “why is this a thing” to “this feels like Facebook Memories but haunted.”
Amber did pitch the much sweeter idea of recording family stories for future generations — which Casie called out as being way more adorable and significantly less creepy.
Friendship Check‑In: The Weekly Chaos Report
We wrapped with our weekly peak and “what even was that” moment — our grounding ritual that reminds us (and you) that life is messy, funny, unpredictable, and better when shared with your people.
Are we both looking for new jobs? Yes. But are we doing our best to keep on truckin’…also, yes. And this podcast has brought us both a huge about of ✨JOY✨ lately.
So, thank you all for tuning in! We’ll see you next week when we’ll do it all over again.
🌲 Connect with Amber on Threads, Substack, or LinkedIn — you can also check out her pup @JoJotheKeeshond.
🌴 Catch Casie on Threads, Substack, or LinkedIn — you can also check out her pups @PawsitivePointers.
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