Hello! Welcome to episode 87 of I’d Rather Stay In. This week, Stephie is interviewing Megan!

Quick links:

• Cooking Panda subscription box

Episode transcript

Megan
Welcome to I’d rather stay in with your host Megan Myers and Stephie Predmore. This week it is Stephie interviewing Megan, stay tuned.

Stephie
Do you love listening to I’d rather stay in and want to support the podcast? Well now you can visit our website or the link in our Instagram profile and click Buy me a coffee or visit buy me a coffee.com slash IRSI podcast. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can help us cover the costs of creating this podcast. There are no monthly memberships and you could support us at whatever level you’d like whenever you like, whether you buy us one coffee, many coffees or simply continue listening as always, we’re so grateful for your support.

Hello, Megan.

Megan
Hello, hello.

Stephie
What’s up?

Megan
Not a whole lot over here to be honest. I’m trying to think of like something new and exciting to happen and nothing has really happened in the past week since we last chatted. I got my snack box. I guess that’s exciting.

Stephie
That is exciting. Yeah, your subscription snack box with all sorts of like weird shit in it, right?

Megan
Yes, it was not actually not that weird this time. Um, can be a little less.

Stephie
Can you tell the audience which one it is?

Megan
Which box it is, it’s the cooking panda box. It was a lot last time. It was a lot of snacks. And this was actually like a lot more ingredient type things. Like there’s a whole bag of farro. And there’s like salsa or some hot sauce. There’s like some sort of like, umami flavoring stuff, and freeze dried basil. Tajin which already have some team but you can never have too much too. He always have tajin,

Stephie
I saw someone recently put tajin on the rim of their Margarita instead of salt. And I was like, Okay, now that I could get behind. Yeah, I don’t like salt on a margarita. either. I don’t it makes it to bliss.

Megan
Yeah, and also sugar on a margarita is also not good. Please stop doing that restaurants.

Stephie
Right? Unless it’s like a fruity one. And then it kind of makes sense. I just generally prefer nothing on their own my margarita glass but to hear that I can get behind.

Megan
Even if it’s a fruity one then like, more sugar that’s unnecessary. I don’t know. Either way, the only thing that we got we opened was those seaweed snacks. Oh, uh huh. Which reasons like I want to try these. I was like, Okay. If you like seaweed, you would like them all like what they definitely taste to you. Alex so probably like, it is like straight up just like a sheet of Nori with some salt on it.

Stephie
My dad would really like that when my dad was stationed My dad was stationed in Japan when during his first first marriage, when he was in the army, and he used to love like all that kind of stuff he would get like from the street vendors the like, like dried like octopus and stuff. And he loved all that kind of stuff. So I’m sure my dad would be like, yeah, oh, like all about that.

Megan
Yeah, we were thinking that it would actually it wouldn’t be good as a snack but it would be good if you like crumble it up and then add that and like the umami flavoring to either like ramen or just some rice. Yeah, that would probably be good.

Stephie
Like a poke bowl situation. Yeah, yeah. That would be yummy.

Megan
What about you?

Stephie
What’s up? Ah, you know, not too much. Not Not much has happened. And we escaped this past weekend and had a kid free couples weekend. Our friends that we went with don’t have human kids. They have cats. But we went up north in Wisconsin up by lacrosse, and got a beautiful Airbnb, and dropped off the baby with her birth parents and sissy for the weekend. And it was great. It was awesome. It was a great weekend.

Megan
I like how you’re like, Oh, it’s not much and then you proceed to explain like this amazing weekend. I have not been without my children. Me and my husband have not been alone for years.

Stephie
It’s been a while. It’s been a while I know we’re very lucky that we have family so close by and that her birth parents were like literally like we literally passed by like through where they live on the way up north and so I was like hey guys so yeah it was it was very nice so I guess you and Bob should like go do something and I’ll keep the kids is really the takeaway there

Megan
I mean if you want to stay here for the weekend you are more than welcome to do that and we will take away my children we will go to exotic Champaign or something

Stephie
it actually I was very very pleasantly surprised by this Airbnb. So the little cross area is like really beautiful. It’s kind of fun the border by Michigan. very hilly,

Megan
Minnesota, excuse you,

Stephie
sorry, Minnesota. Sorry. I’m so sorry. I was thinking of the wrong other side of the state. Anyway, got my M states mixed up. Um, and the Airbnb was like up kind of it was like, I had one of the higher elevation points and like perfectly overlooked like the valley and it was beautiful and sunny, except there were like murder Hornets. So that was slightly concerning, but only in the afternoon. So the morning in the evening It was great.

Megan
Murder Hornets.

Stephie
Well, that’s what we were calling them. I don’t think they were extremely big Hornets. They were just wasps but they were like, it was like so beautiful in the morning and then we were sitting out there in the afternoon also we were like there was like wasps just like headfirst running into us what is happening so they were like kind of all over the porch but I was definitely in the afternoon so as long as he kept the door closed that it was fine there were there were no wasp issues. So that was the only slight downside was the wasps but other than that it was gorgeous.

Megan
Yeah, I enjoy that. You say the lacrosse is going up north because women if you live in Wisconsin, no crosses not

Stephie
North No, like only like, I don’t know, a third to a half way up the state. But it’s like it was a five hour drive like that was that was heading up north for us when you live like in Illinois. Yeah, we could have gone much further up in the boonies. But we did that

Megan
would have taken much. It would

Stephie
have been a much longer drive. That is That is correct. We only had so much patience. Okay, so this week, I’m interviewing you. you interviewed me? You should be scared. I’m very scary. Very scary. Interviewer. So you interviewed me two weeks ago, and we discovered many things about me mostly that if we live together, you would probably smother me my sleep. Um, so I’m very interested to see what we discover about you during this interview

Megan
danta.

Stephie
Okay, I’m going to start off easy. What is the first thing you do when you wake up every morning?

Megan
Like, aside from go to the bathroom?

Stephie
I mean, if you get up and go pee, first thing you do every single morning, and that’s the first thing you do every single morning.

Megan
I mean, technically it is and then usually I get back into bed. I don’t know if that counts. But the dog likes to come back to sleep after she goes outside. And she prefers it if I’m still in the bed.

Stephie
hardship.

Megan
Yeah, she likes to snuggle a little bit so I’ll do that. But Adam like a normal day. I like to eat breakfast right when I wake up.

Stephie
I also eat breakfast pretty soon after waking up.

Megan
Yeah, usually because I wake up hungry. Yeah, if I stay in bed, it’s because I’m not hungry. But if I wake up that I’m just like, I gotta I gotta go eat now. Sorry.

Stephie
Yeah, like I can survive. Like if I’m gonna go out to brunch. I can survive until it’s time to eat brunch. But I usually eat like pretty soon so I don’t understand the people that just can go hours and hours and hours before they eat doesn’t make any sense to me.

Megan
Depends on what time brunch is because sometimes I will just still eat when I wake up and sometimes I still need to also have brunch. Me I mean usually for breakfast I have a piece of toast anyway and that’s barely breakfast so

Stephie
it really is just a snack. She has such as a piece of toast, even after having In a scary toast dream, that’s true. Go listen to the Stephie interview photostream. Okay, who is someone that you really looked up to as a kid? And who is someone that you really looked at look up to now as an adult? a twofer.

Megan
Oh, okay, so I feel like this is gonna make me sound weird.

Stephie
By no weirder than any of the other things we’ve ever said on this podcast. I’m sure that’s

Megan
true. That’s true. Um, for so the first part is that I do not remember really looking up to anyone as a kid. Okay. And honestly, like, there are no, I can’t think of someone that I look up to now in the sense, like, in the sense that like, traditional sense, I guess, because I’ll explain this. As a kid, I can’t explain the kid thing. But I can explain the now thing. I think, especially in the era of social media, and everything is out there all the time. And then, like everything that you ever do in your life comes back to haunt you, or random things that you say on off days, or truly horrible things that some people do. Yeah. We all know about them. And it is really hard to divorce my brain from those things that they might have done. Yes. And to like, look up to them again, and be like, that’s a person I really admire. Yeah, kind of situation. I think it’s I think it’s because I’ve been burned too many times where there have been people that I that I used to enjoy, in whatever sense. And then it turned out there were horrible people for various reasons. And so now I’m like, Well, I guess I can like their stuff that they do, but I don’t necessarily look up to people. As people.

Stephie
It’s interesting, right? I think that social media has really changed our perception probably for the better actually. of like, what a hero is, right? Yeah,

Megan
I think I think there was definitely like a huge importance on like, well, who’s your hero? Who? Who would you really would look up to, especially our kids, for sure. They’re always like that was used to make you like write papers and stuff on it. Yeah. And I think it’s a weird, like, I think there’s a problem with placing so much importance on those people. Yes, because they are valuable. They’re people. Yeah. And everyone has faults. And that’s obviously what we’ve been seeing in the past, like five years. And so like this weird celebrity, especially, it’s mostly celebrity, like, idolatry kind of thing. I don’t know. Like, it’s complicated, but

Stephie
my answers might like my people, for those types of projects. Were never celebrities. It was always like my grandmother. Or like someone that I knew in real life, because I don’t know, I always thought it was weird the way that like people. Even as a kid, I was thought it was strange that we that people idolize celebrities, like, well, they’re just people. Like, I don’t know, like, they’re just people. Yeah. So for me, it was always easier to just like, look up to people I actually knew. I don’t know. Make sense? Yeah, I don’t know. You can make a really great point, though about I just, I do think that there’s been sort of a new way of looking at how we think about heroes. And that, like, you can’t, you can’t really put anyone on a hero pedestal because that’s just not really fair to them as a person

Megan
either. Yeah. I mean, I know when I was a kid, like because I was a nerdy kid. So there were a lot of teachers that I really liked. And I guess maybe in the sense of like, looking up to them that that would be that classification, but now I’m afraid to like be like, whoever these teachers actually.

Stephie
What did they do?

Megan
What did they do?

Stephie
Right and I just come back, right and like to be clear, when I say it’s a little unfair to people to put them on like a hero pedestal. I don’t mean that like, oh, what if they sexually assault someone that poor person like no, no, no, no. I just mean like, it’s really I think it’s hard to live your life under a microscope and you should be allowed to be a human being, and not have to have this like hero status on you all the time. So anyway, great. Call. conversation for another another time, but I’m okay. If you could opt out of one part of adulting. What would it be? Like I’m not doing that ever again.

Megan
Like someone would do it for me or just like would not exist anymore.

Stephie
Either one. And either way, however it happens so that you don’t ever have to do it again. What is the one thing about adulting? That you would just like, nope, the hell out of?

Megan
I’m cleaning?

Stephie
Yeah.

Megan
I feel like that’s like a really cliche answer. But cleaning.

Stephie
Let’s say, making phone calls.

Megan
I see I don’t really, I don’t really make phone calls. So you have a very I’ve already after that.

Stephie
I will say Megan has the best system of avoiding phone calls. Maybe of anyone that I know.

Megan
You just don’t answer.

Stephie
I do. I do really appreciate how many places allow you to book appointments online these days?

Megan
Yes, it makes everything very easy. Yeah, a couple times, I had a call places recently. And they it was actually kind of shocking, because I think it’s partially because I moved to such a smaller town and they’re just like, we can get you in next week. I’m like, What is happening? I was prepared, but not that prepared? Um, yeah, I would say cleaning because it is never ending. As soon as you get it done, as soon as you get the whole house down, because the whole house takes like forever. Some other part of it is dirty again.

Stephie
Yeah. So shithead, walks through it with dirty shoes, or decides they’re like hungry and has the audacity to use a clean plate.

Megan
No one else cleans up the crumbs around the toaster. My husband will do the dishes, which I immensely appreciate that he does the dishes, but then he’ll just leave what dishes on the counter long enough so that they leave a pile of water on the counter and he doesn’t clean up the water. So then I have to go clean that out. Otherwise, it just sits there being wet. For Bob, good

Stephie
effort.

Megan
It’s I don’t I don’t understand how it happens. But every time every single night, it’s just a pile of water on the counter. And not even like I mean there is a pile of water on the counter where the sink is but also on the island. And you’re like How did this happen? A lot of questions about that. But like the bathrooms gets constantly dirty. And the floors I have a cat who makes a huge mess all the time. And the dog is not super clean. She rips her toys apart. So there’s always little toy bits everywhere.

Stephie
Yeah.

Megan
Yeah. Like if I could just have some if I had if it was normal to have a housekeeper. Right. And you weren’t like an asshole for that? Because like what kind of bougie person does that

Stephie
like housekeeper? That’s not the Brady Bunch?

Megan
Yes, um, yeah, if it was somehow automated, like I have the robot vacuum, but you have to follow it around, you have to empty it out. You have to run it like basically every day for it to be effective. And I never remember. And it also doesn’t get into corners because it’s round. Just a lot of things, a lot of things that I would like to have solved for me.

Stephie
I never feel more guilty in my life. Then when I have to pee after the cleaners have been here, like they’ll leave and I’ll immediately have to pee. And I just like, feel such guilt pain after they’ve cleaned my whole house top to bottom. Slick. I’m so sorry.

Megan
I still have not gotten around to rehiring people. We had people when we looked at Texas and I haven’t done it here. I don’t know why. But when we had them in Texas when we had like break him like once a month or something like that. Yeah, in Texas, I would always have to go to the bathroom. Like as soon as they got there. I would be like, like I’d see them pulling up and I’d be like, I gotta have to pee. Before they come in. Quick, quick, quick. Get

Stephie
it out of it. Yeah, yeah. I’ll leave and it’ll be lunchtime and I’m like, shit. Oh my god. The kitchen is so clean. I don’t want to dirty it. Yeah, it’s just a real conundrum. feel so bad.

Megan
Doesn’t bother me with the kitchen but I was the bathroom I always had to go because they also like always fanned out our toilet paper all fancy. Like, you’re like,

Stephie
Oh, so nice and I’m going to immediately Yeah.

Megan
gonna walk through the walk through the room with my dirty sock v that you just mopped. So

Stephie
Oh my god, so, so much guilt. What are you most proud of?

Megan
What am I most proud of? Um, I am going to be super cliche mom and say, my kids.

Unknown Speaker
That’s not cliche.

Megan
I mean, it’s 100% a cliche,

Stephie
a little bit of cliche, but

Megan
I, I personally think that I have really great kids. I think they, for the most part, are not little jerks. They’re really well behaved in public, which I read the other day, actually, if they are well behaved in public and little buttheads at home, that is actually a really good thing. Because you’ve taught them manners and respect. Yeah. And at home, they feel comfortable enough to be their true self. Uh huh. I was like, Oh, well, I guess that makes me feel slightly better. But also, like, they’re both. They’re both really smart. And they’re both really funny. And they’re both very kind and caring. And I, I feel like I really lucked out. Because I was really nervous about having kids and teaching them the right things. And I still am always concerned about what I am teaching them, because they’re sponges. And I think that I think they’re doing a good job.

Stephie
Yeah, you have very, very kind kids. They’re very, very loving and generous. And I genuinely like hanging out with them. And I don’t genuinely like hanging out with a lot of kids.

Megan
I mean, I usually hate all kids, right? I hate like, I like my kids. I like your kid and like a few other people’s kids. It’s pretty sure about it.

Stephie
It’s a pretty short, pretty succinct list. Like there’s a lot of other kids that I love them, but I don’t necessarily want to be around them all of the time. But I actually enjoy I enjoy hanging out with your kids a lot. They are very, very good kids. And I actually was thinking about that the other day about like the you know, when your kids are kind of split heads at home, but like good and public. Like that’s a good thing. I was thinking about that because like, somebody was like, I don’t believe that Ed like is ever like not an angel and I was like oh she’s got plenty of temper that she lets fly but like just the fact that she you know that your kids like feel comfortable just like having a meltdown or being themselves or whatever with you is a good is a good thing. So yeah, I don’t know. Your kids are great. They’re very funny. I wish I wish we could share with you listeners all of Max’s good one liners. He has some great one liners. I’m not gonna lie.

Megan
They are pretty great. And he is

Stephie
Reece has been wanting to come back on the podcast, so maybe we’ll find a

Megan
Yeah, see you again tonight.

Stephie
Oh, okay, but we’ll let you come back.

Megan
He’s raring to go.

Stephie
He’s raring to go. Okay, what will your next tattoo be?

Megan
So I’m torn because all right, are two things that I’ve been thinking about for a while one is that I want like, I’ve been thinking about getting like a Swedish folk art flower thing, haha. But I haven’t been able to find something that I really like. So I probably have to talk to the artist and like have them make something. Uh huh. Um, so there’s that that I’ve been thinking about. And then the other thing that I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do is that I kind of, I want something sort of related to Texas to kind of commemorate, you know, all the time that we spent there and my kids were born there and we lived lived there for 15 years. I don’t really I don’t want to just get a blue bonnet because that’s what everybody does

Stephie
sure you want something unique because you’re a five

Megan
well I mean, I like blue bonnets but like blue bonnets themselves don’t hold a ton of particular meaning to me yes I don’t have to help you to I don’t want like a cow or cowboy boots or the star or

Stephie
the state of Texas seem like things that would be very you

Megan
know I’m thinking maybe some one of the other texts as well flowers that is not a blue on it. And then I could maybe I really like how yours you have like multiple different kinds of flowers. So I was thinking I could combine that with one like the Wisconsin flower and then what I don’t even know what the Illinois flower is. It’s something

Stephie
it’s something it is something out there. Common blue violet.

Megan
Okay, I mean the isn’t Wisconsin also a violence constant is also a violet. Okay, well, two birds one stone,

Stephie
two birds. one stone. Let’s see. What’s the Minnesota? You could have one for like everywhere you’ve lived?

Megan
Yeah, I don’t know what the Minnesota one is there.

Stephie
Show me lady slippers.

Megan
Ooh, that sounds fancy.

Stephie
Very fancy.

Megan
It is one of those kind of fancy.

Stephie
What is the 43 orchid species that grow in Minnesota? Most people consider it the most beautiful flower in the state.

Megan
Thank you. Oh, really? Most people

Stephie
most people

Megan
it is a pretty flower.

Stephie
In since 1925. This rare wildflower has been protected by state law it is illegal to pick the flowers or to uproot or unearth the plants huh? Guys? We learned something today. Swear we’re gonna just have to do an episode of Stephie and Megan Google shit.

Megan
Can you can you buy them to plant though? Did you buy seeds or something?

Stephie
I don’t know.

Megan
How to figure that out. Because I could pick them in my yard.

Stephie
I mean, no one came to no one came to arrest you. Pick them from your own yard? I don’t know.

Megan
People do you think that it’s illegal to pick bluebonnets but that is not true. It is not illegal.

Stephie
It’s a urban myth.

Megan
Yes, for whatever for whatever reason, I think probably parents who didn’t want their kids picking flowers ravaging side of the road

Stephie
that’s illegal. I mean my mom used to pull that shit a lot she’d be like it’s illegal we’re not gonna we can’t do that that’s illegal

Megan
it’s the same it’s the same lie as you wouldn’t like it it’s spicy

Stephie
which is really just code for I want to not have to share with you offspring.

Megan
Yeah, da says all my food go away Get

Stephie
your own food.

Megan
Unfortunately that won’t work for you but no I

Stephie
like spicy things including just plain old hot sauce bless her little heart what a kid Okay. What is something on your bucket list?

Megan
Oh I was just thinking about this the other day and now I cannot remember what it was

Stephie
that sad sad us

Megan
well i mean i have a travel one and I go into New Zealand is on my travel bucket list. Love to go to New Zealand

Stephie
New Zealand is so pretty. Yeah,

Megan
I mean there’s lots of places that I want to go but that’s like my number one. I think well it’s like New Zealand and Sweden like one and two. Both like completely I mean it’d be completely different but they’re both supposed to be completely amazing and gorgeous. Yeah. I don’t have like crazy things like skydiving or swimming with sharks or anything like that. Because that that sounds

Stephie
ridiculous. Not adrenaline junkies.

Megan
No, I mean, we get tattoos. That’s enough.

Stephie
Sometimes plan sometimes unplanned. That’s enough of a adrenaline rush. Thank you.

Megan
I don’t I don’t need anything more than that. I do like walk on a glass bridge. I don’t need to

Stephie
I don’t even I don’t even want to stand on the like glass. The glass like floor thing at the Sears Tower Willis Tower, whatever the hell it’s called.

Megan
No, because first of all, the thing it like moves, the building moves. And that is enough for me. That’s too much for me, to be honest, but it moves when you’re up there like, no, it moves. And then you want me to go out in the glass ledge?

Stephie
Absolutely not.

Megan
Also, we are post 911 people,

Stephie
like, not just don’t want to

Megan
I’m what planet? Would it people think that after having watched 1000s of people die on TV, as it was happening? I would want to go out on a glass window, right? It’s just on a tall building. No, no, no, no, thank you, it’s your percent

Stephie
0% interested in that nonsense? What inspires you,

Megan
um, hmm. Could be a

Stephie
person, it could be a place it could be a thing. Could be a feeling.

Megan
Um, one thing that I think is inspiring and like the, the meditative aspect of it is gardening. Okay. It’s like an action that like you have a purpose, but it’s also kind of mindless at the same time. Um, and then I think because you’re connecting with the earth and the dirt and everything, like the circle of life. I always get like, really contemplated during that time. Yeah. And it’s kind of like a grounding time. So that is one thing. And then I think another thing that is maybe a little bit underrated these days is that I get a lot of inspiration from magazines. Oh, yeah. Like not necessarily. You know, any specific topic of magazine like definitely food magazines have been inspired by but will also be inspired by like, reading about somebody and Fast Company or whatever, you know, the New Yorker might one or like the New York Times weekly magazine, or the the magazine that I work for, which is all about about Texas stuff. And there’s just I feel like there’s so many interesting stories out there that you don’t necessarily get exposed to. And social media obviously is really good for that kind of thing. But also there’s just something about print. That feels different to me. Yeah, kind of way like I’m not really super into audiobooks.

Stephie
Yeah.

Megan
It just feels different to like, have it in your hands and it does No, yeah, it just the stories usually hit different for whatever reason.

Stephie
Yeah, I can like find, because we get a fine cooking magazine. And I can like see a recipe on like, on the website, and like, not feel very inspired by it. But I can like be flipping through that magazine. And there’s just something about like, Ooh, that sounds really interesting. I want to try that or try a riff on that or I do enjoy good magazine. Hell, I always, I always used to read the pack when flying was a thing I was used to read the like, American Airlines magazine that was like, the season always found something interesting in there. So

Megan
we are both very old people. I always used to read the in flight magazine. And work and I would work on the crossword puzzle as well.

Stephie
I’m not very good at crossword puzzles, but

Megan
I have a lot of useless trivia in my brain. I think that comes from my dad. Yeah, we used to watch a lot of jeopardy. So a lot of random things that would stay in my head.

Stephie
That would make you very good at crossword puzzles. I have a lot of random shit in my head, but not necessarily anything useful, apparently for crossword puzzles or I just like feel too much pressure and can’t complete them. I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Okay. Okay, here’s my last one. Unless I come up with something else while you’re talking, what would be like a perfect day for you? A perfect day.

Megan
It would be starting off with waking up by myself, like not necessarily alone, but like waking up naturally, yes, not by a dog, or an alarm clock, or another human, some persons screaming on the street. Like a child poking me. I’m just like, naturally waking up to a calm house would be nice for once. And ideally, someone would bring me coffee, while I was like still waking up, so I would not have to jump out of bed. And then I could just like leisurely drink it for a little while before I got up. And then I guess it depends on where we would be. So I’ll just have pretend that we’re in some magical place that has all these things that I would enjoy.

Stephie
You could make. We’re making them.

Megan
Excellent. So then I would get dressed. And I would walk to a lovely restaurant within an outdoor patio with a view of something. Whether that is water or the city, or like really good people watching. I really do love people watching especially at brunch. Yeah. And I would have brunch with all my really, really good friends. And it would be like three hours long. Just because we were talking so much. Yes, it’d be amazing. And we’d have all we’d order like the whole menu, because that’s what we do. Yes. And then we would go to a craft fair. And probably buy like a shitload of stuff for ourselves, not for other people, because that’s also what happens when I go to I go with the intention of buying gifts for people and I’m like, I want that. I want that. I want that. Okay, I guess it’s all for me. I do also buy gifts, but most of it’s for me. And then from there, we would go get ice cream. And it would be like warm enough outside that we could sit outside and eat it but it wouldn’t be so hot that it would melt right away. Yes. So be like a really like a cozy ice cream outing. Traveling like,

Stephie
not too cold. All you need is a light jacket.

Megan
That’s right. I would be very happy to eat ice cream with a light jacket on perfect that’s ice cream. And then we would go somewhere where you can just pet kitties and puppies.

Stephie
Ah.

Megan
Ah, which I have been to. I went to a conference once where they had a bunch of puppies and I just got to play with the kitties and puppies for a while and it was the greatest thing ever. It was really really great for seratonin cuz puppies just like to just smell so good. Oh my gosh, they’re so soft. I

Stephie
love their little like puppy bellies. Oh my god, and they

Megan
just kind of like the way that they like run. But they can’t handle it. Yes amazing. mysteries puppies moving to go meet mystery her puppies are still there and they are so little Roly Poly puppy. Um, okay, and then we would go to my favorite bar in Austin, so I guess maybe we’re in Austin because that’s where my favorite bars and they would make us like special cocktails. We would just tell them what kind of things we like and they would make us custom cocktails. Because that’s what they do and they have really good fries there. We need fries. And then we would go somewhere for dinner that also had live music, but like it was one it would be good live music, but also it would not be super loud that it would be Like obtrusive Yes. So you could just listen to it and enjoy it and you’d be like yeah man I really love leon bridges but like he just be in the background. Yes.

Stephie
So you can still have a conversation and enjoy your meal.

Megan
Yes, you could still have a conversation, enjoy your meal and just happens to be like a guy in the background playing the guitar and singing all your favorite songs. Yeah. Totally normal. And then Hmm. I don’t know what we do after that. Those are a lot of good things.

Stephie
Looks like an excellent day.

Megan
My only other thing that like he had maybe topped it off with is like night swimming.

Stephie
Ooh, yeah. That’d be good. Yeah.

Megan
But it has to be hot enough for it to be night swimming. Yeah, and then maybe it might be too hot for the ice cream

Stephie
parlor ice cream part of it. Like, like maybe you have like a hot tub situation.

Megan
Oh, yeah. Okay, change it to like to like hot tub.

Stephie
Yeah. Or like my aunt and uncle had like a little swim spa things it was it was like bigger than a hot tub. So it wasn’t really a hot tub. But it was like heated so my cousins and I could swim in it when it was like snowing out, which was amazing. So like that would be perfect to.

Megan
Yeah. And then or either and then or, and or we would like go inside and there’d be a fire and fireplace. And we’d have like a bunch of like really cozy blankets. Fuzzy cozy blankets. And like, like all it would be one of those couches or like just the whole thing as a chaise. So let’s just like you’re basically laying in a giant bed.

Stephie
Oh my god. Yeah.

Megan
And we would watch a movie, but I don’t know what movie. But it’d be like a good like, kind of sad, but also makes you happy.

Stephie
Imagine Oh, yes. Yeah,

Megan
that’d be good. Everyone just all fall asleep.

Stephie
That’s like the perfect day.

Megan
Yeah, that sounds really nice.

Stephie
I like dream about that. Honestly, such a good day. Okay, good job, Megan.

Megan
I didn’t even include like because I was also thinking of other things. I’m like, okay, go for like, a really like not a hike. But like a nice walk.

Stephie
Like a low impact walk,

Megan
like a low impact, like a nice scenery walk. There’s lots of really nice places in Austin, where you can go like walk around along the river that are nice. Maybe you’re walking to the library. I

Stephie
do love their library. Maybe it’s maybe it’s a nice leisurely walk from thing to thing.

Megan
Yes,

Stephie
your leisurely walk could also wear ice cream to the craft fair, or vice versa kind of thing.

Megan
Yes, I may or may not have done at least 50% of this day. with with with Steph before. So it’s a really good day sets.

Stephie
That sounds like an amazing day, especially the waking up. without prompting from anyone else.

Megan
That usually doesn’t happen. What usually happens is that like we make plans to go, like we already have made plans go to like the craft fair. And then she’ll in the morning, she’ll be like, let’s go to brunch. And I’m like, Okay, and then we go to the craft fair. And then we get like a coffee or an ice cream. And then we go like some other shop. It’s just compounds. So it’s also used, it was always those days to where I’d be leaving. And I’d be like, I’m gonna go out with staff and Bob’ll be like, are you home for dinner? I’ll be like, nope,

Stephie
undetermined, but probably not. Don’t wait, I know.

Megan
I know what’s the 10am right now but we’re probably going to also go out to dinner and then maybe a movie so don’t wait. Basically when you are a mom for a long time, it’s just like you get like a day you just take it. Grab it and take it.

Stephie
Love it. Good job, Megan.

Megan
Thanks.

Stephie
See, that’s a scary

Megan
Oh, you had easy question and easy questions.

Stephie
I went easy on Yeah, I could have gotten harder, but that that didn’t feel right. Because Well, you gave me like good questions. So I was like trying to live up to yours. So you know, it’s fine. Okay, what’s what’s bringing us joy this week.

What’s bringing us joy?

Megan
Ah That is a question

that I’m gonna think about it for a minute

Stephie
I’ll go first so I took myself on a little date on Saturday when we were in Wisconsin they yeah so there was okay so this Airbnb was super cute and the guy that owns it has like multiple properties. And there it’s called like high point rentals or something like that anyway, in the kitchen are these lovely like, mugs like clearly like hand thrown pottery mugs that had like his little like logo on them. I was like, gosh, these are so these are great mugs. Then it got me on this like okay, I need to figure out if I can find where he got them and I didn’t find the place where he got them. But I did find a pottery shop in lacrosse, which was like 40 minutes away. And so Saturday like early afternoon, I was like, I’m going pottery shopping by guy and I just like left and like drove 40 minutes to lacrosse and listen to a podcast on the way there and the way back and I went to this little shop and bought like, honestly, a lot of pottery I bought some stuff for myself and then I bought some Christmas gifts and like the prices were amazing. I felt like I was committing robbery by how many things I purchased for the amount of money that I spent and then there was a little antique store like across the street and I popped in there and ended up buying a set of they they’re one of the songs had a bunch of great like mid century modern glassware. So I bought a set of mid of mid century like champagne flutes for our friend Susannah because she has a cocktail blog and loves glassware and I was like Suze Do you need these and she’s like yes I do. So I got those for her and then I got myself an almond croissant and a tea and on the way back to the Airbnb there was like a little like farm stand and I popped in there and grabbed some apples and some apple cider so that we could have cider mimosas and it was great. It was a great little was a great afternoon. I just took myself out a little a little me date.

Megan
That sounds really nice.

Stephie
That’s very nice. It was literally I had no agenda and really where I was going or when I was going to be back like I came back and that I like took a nap and you know that’s nice 10 out of 10 would recommend

Megan
I did think of something that’s good. I’m

Stephie
glad you’re not joining us.

Megan
I’m not jealous. So the other day I went to Home Goods I can’t remember what the exact reason was I went to Home Goods

Stephie
because Home Goods is great. You don’t need a reason to go to home because

Megan
sometimes they have liquors a Dutch oven type thing even sugars Yeah, what’s your McCall it’s I don’t need a Dutch oven necessarily but I’ve been looking for like the braiser kind of one. Um and le creuset like berry expensive.

Stephie
It is spendy

Megan
it’s like $400 for a Dutch oven. And it didn’t used to be that expensive I don’t think it was that expensive when I got my like I got mine through like doing sponsored content for them. But also it was not that expensive then because that would have been ridiculous. I love the products I think they’re great products. But I’d like to buy it for cheaper. Yeah, and unfortunately our home goods did not have any they did have some staub ones but they didn’t. It wasn’t like the size I was looking for. But they did have some other stuff so I did get like a le creuset small casserole dish that’s an A pretty shade of light blue. Nice because I always need more casserole dishes for like my blog and for magazine work and stuff. Yeah, just because I I have clear ones or had just clear ones and clear ones don’t photograph very well.

Stephie
No they don’t. They don’t look very pretty. They really don’t.

Megan
Um, so now I have a variety. And then I’ve got like some cute little whites. Like they’re smaller than ramekins, so they’re kind of like pretzels and they have patterns on them but they’re also white so I can use them for anything I really wanted to buy like holiday stuff and I didn’t I forced myself to not fall down I don’t need to be a pumpkin spice lady like that but it was hard and I got a couple I got a couple new plates too I think I do I did get a couple of new plates I don’t know where they are I’m trying to like look I can tell

Stephie
I can tell you’re like looking around to see if you can spot what you bought you can’t remember

Megan
I put it all the way and I don’t know where it is now

Stephie
but you’re looking for something you’d be like oh wait I forgot

Megan
I do need to go through my I have like a lot of plates that I need to go through them remember what I actually have because I just end up using the same ones over and over that I like this most used to

Stephie
like so you need to make like a little here’s a project that we can do that will eat up time and doesn’t really need to be done but sounds really productive so we can pretend we’re doing something really great is we can like make like a catalogue of all your shit and then you can like flip through and be like oh here we go here are all my plates.

Megan
I would never look at that. No, absolutely absolutely would but it would eat up a hole Are you thinking like a like a clueless like website situation where like I could just scroll through and like find it

Stephie
Yeah, yeah, it’s except probably. I was really thinking a little less high tech than that more of like a binder but yes, Uh huh. Oh, but

Megan
if you have a binder then you have to like print it out and stuff.

Stephie
I mean, right? Yes, your idea your idea is probably better also it’s probably a bad idea to begin with but it just sounded like a nice thing we could do to eat up time.

Megan
I mean, it is a great idea I don’t have that much stuff that it would be very practical

Stephie
You know, it was helpful I even have that moment where I’m like, Oh, I forgot I had this bowl.

Megan
Yes, I did do that and then I also every once in a while I get rid of something and then like three months later I’m looking for it because I forgot that I got rid of it for her like oh but this would have been perfect and now I don’t get rid of anything. So I can Why

Stephie
do you have so many dishes? I know because I regret it

Megan
and that same day. The same day I also that I went to Home Goods I also went to Target and right buy in like the dollar spot area which I guess it’s not dollars anymore. I don’t know what they call it anymore. The cheap area by area the seasonal seasonal deals. They had this cute little like wooden carved pumpkins cute and I wanted to buy them so bad and I didn’t so instead stupid me bought like actual pumpkins from the grocery store, which will go out be rotten in like three months. Why did I like it was probably the same price.

Stephie
No, it’s fine. It’s fine.

Megan
It’s fine. But buy a new prop. So it makes me happy. So I feel like whenever that happens, I’m like all jazzed up to make stuff again.

Stephie
I love that for you. Yeah, so exciting.

Megan
Well, I really enjoyed answering those questions for you today.

Stephie
I was fun to ask them and it’s always fun to find out more about you. Yeah, like being nosy

Next week’s episode

Megan
to get Well, next week, we will be back with another all new episode.

Stephie
In the meantime, leave us a review on Apple podcasts and listen to us on your favorite platform. You can also follow us on social media at IRSIpodcast or send us an email at Idratherstayinpodcast@gmail.com we’d love to hear from you.

Megan
Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai