Episode 238: Happy things to do during quarantine!

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Rebecca:
Welcome to Parenting Bytes, this is Rebecca Levey, I’m here today with Amy Oztan of Amy Ever After…

Amy:
Hi.

Rebecca:
Hello. And Andrea Smith, Technology Guru Extraordinaire

Andrea:
Hello.

Rebecca:
Hello. Today on the show, we thought we would step away from the doom and gloom for a second because it’s overwhelming. But we would kind of look back on our last six months or so and try to find something or things that actually brought us joy or that we loved or something that made I don’t want to say things easier, but at least a little a little better, a little silver lining that we would share with you. So because we’re still in it, I’m still in for the long haul. So it’s good to start, I think, sharing things that maybe were a life saver or a life improver in the very least. So it isn’t all bytes covid show no

Amy:
Happy Bytes.

Rebecca:
To

Rebecca:
But happy bytes. So Amy, I’m going to start with you, since you you were the one who proposed this whole idea.

Amy:
Yeah, all right, so I’ve got three things that I’ve really been enjoying lately online, and they’re all free and they’re just they’re I I’m just obsessed with all of them. So the first one is called Sunset Selfies, and it’s a guy named John Marshall. And this project started actually back in 2014 when he was living on an island in Maine for a month. And he’s kind of an artsy guy. And he gave himself a challenge that he was going to do a Sunset Selfies every day for 30 days. And what he does is using just like cardboard from the local dump and a knife and scissors, nothing fancy. He makes these silhouettes and then poses with them at sunset. And they are like mind blowing, incredible. And he doesn’t like nobody helps them. Like his role was he had to do it by himself. So he just uses a ten second timer and like, you know, sets up his phone and then runs into the shot and I’ll post my favorites in our post. But you have to go to his Instagram and just scroll through them all. It’s Instagram, dotcom slash Sunset Selfies and the creativity with such like a simple medium. It’s it’s amazing. You’re going to love it.

Rebecca:
That’s so cool, I love when people, like, set their own goals for themselves, I find it so inspiring because that’s a really hard to do and then stick with it. It’s not like anyone would know if you

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
Didn’t do it right.

Amy:
Yeah, it’s just like I’m going to do this and, you know, it started in 2014 with those 30, but then he kept doing it like he just put up another one the other day on Instagram. So, like, you know, it’s just it became his thing. And with the exception of, like, you know, I think he did like some photo shopped in Dragon’s breath fire and a couple of, like, light saber lights, no special effects. It’s just all from the cardboard and his camera in the sunset. So that was my first run. My second one is actually from this past week. I know that I just talked about humans of New York recently, but I’m talking about humans of New York again, because they have been running a 32 post story called Tattletales from Tanqueray.

Rebecca:
Yes,

Amy:
Have you guys been reading this?

Rebecca:
Yes, she’s amazing.

Amy:
Oh, my God. How is her life? Not like an HBO show. I

Andrea:
I

Amy:
Don’t

Andrea:
Just

Amy:
Understand.

Andrea:
Read about that, that’s so funny,

Amy:
Oh,

Andrea:
I

Amy:
My

Andrea:
Just

Amy:
God.

Andrea:
Read it.

Amy:
So her name is Stephanie Johnson. And she was just she was one of their humans of New York Post, like, you know, a year ago. And it was super popular. But, you know, it’s not like his he doesn’t have recurring characters, but something really stuck with Stephanie. And people wanted more from her. And he had been planning on doing other stuff. He was going to do a podcast with her or something else. But her health is really declining. And he was afraid that if they did something more elaborate, they might not get it finished. So he he instead told her life story or she told her life story in these 32 posts last week. And it is a roller coaster. I mean, hurt. She was just like in the middle of like the mythical, gritty Times Square 70s life that you see in movies and just had so many amazing. So she was like the Forrest Gump of Times Square, you know, like all these celebrities. And, you know, she hung out with the mob and she was like this incredibly popular burlesque dancer and she’s African-American.

Amy:
So the fact that she could even get those jobs was amazing and a testament to her. So that is just you have to read it. I’ll post a link to the first one. But really, it was only last week. So you just want to go to the Humans of New York Facebook page and scroll down until you see the first one, one of 32, and just read them all you have to. And in conjunction with it, they set up a go fund me for her because, you know, she’s she’s in failing health and she has medical bills. It raised a million and a half dollars in a week. And because she she is just struck a nerve. And so she says that aside from her medical bills, she’s just going to live her life the way she’s been living it, and that when she dies, the rest is going to go to a charity, to a New York City based charity for underprivileged children called The Association to Benefit Children. So you can still give to that fund. Read her story. She’s amazing.

Rebecca:
It’s so incredible because it’s such a portrait of New York that I think filmmakers have tried to portray, you

Amy:
Yeah,

Rebecca:
Know,

Amy:
Like

Rebecca:
And

Amy:
The deuce.

Rebecca:
Yeah, but they they leave out black people all the time. Like, it’s the weirdest thing when people make these movies about your work, because it’s you know, it’s obviously the critique of Woody Allen, like, where does he live? But

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
I think when you’re talking about especially like Times Square in the 70s and it’s always so that there’s like one black character,

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
I mean, you

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
Know, it’s bizarre.

Amy:
Yeah.

Rebecca:
So, yeah, I always think about that. I always, always think about the Hamilton line, who tells your story. Right. That is the only reason we hear stories or don’t hear stories is that somebody has the power to tell them.

Amy:
Right, and I mean, you know, she her stories were there the whole time, she even had like a column in a really popular magazine back then, but like, you know, do humans of New York has the voice and is lending it to her. And, you know, so she

Rebecca:
Right,

Amy:
Gets to tell her

Rebecca:
You’d

Amy:
Story.

Rebecca:
Think she’d be a consulting producer on the deuced like,

Andrea:
Yes,

Rebecca:
Seriously, right,

Amy:
Ray.

Rebecca:
Like

Amy:
Yes.

Rebecca:
But.

Andrea:
It is great, it is great to see those kinds of stories come alive.

Amy:
And she is just a character.

Andrea:
All right, after STEM..

Rebecca:
Yeah, she’s awesome. All right, what’s your last one, Amy?

Amy:
So my last one is about a little girl in England named Nandi Bushell, and she’s a musician, she’s 10 and she plays bunch of instruments. But what she’s known the most for is she posts these videos of her doing the drums to popular songs. And before recently, she had already had some fame. Like she she’s been posting these videos for a couple of years and had, you know, had a steadily growing fan base. And like she had Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine gave her a guitar earlier this year after she did one of his songs online. She was in a in an ad for a big department store in England in 2018. So she wasn’t totally unknown. But during lockdown, she posted a video of herself doing the drums for Everlong for that Foo Fighters song, which is like my favorite song ever, that he sang right to me at that concert that Andrea brought me to at CBS a couple of years ago and.

Andrea:
That one where you were in the front row screaming your heart out.

Amy:
Oh, my God, he sang it to me and she I mean, she does an amazing job, like she’s she’s a prodigy, like she’s just an incredible drummer. But in the video, she challenges Dave Grohl to a drum battle. And he answered her and he, you know, played Everlong, which he said he hadn’t played since, like they recorded it because, you know, usually somebody else does the drums and then he gave her a challenge back. And it was it was a song called What’s it called? Oh, is it was it was called Deadend Friends, which is another he’s in another band called Crooked Vultures. So it was like one of their songs. And then so she learned that song and played it back to him and he was like, OK, you won this round. And then for the next round he Dave Grohl wrote a song about her and then challenge to learn that like he wrote a song about this girl and posted it. And that’s her challenge. Now she has to learn the song that’s about her. That was a couple of weeks ago. And she just posted last week that she’s taking it very seriously. She’s working on it really hard and that her, you know, her her side in this battle will be coming up soon. So, like, I’m on pins and needles, like checking her Twitter every day, seeing if she’s posted it, because this has just become like the most fantastic, you know, rock battle ever between Dave Grohl and this 10 year old girl.

Rebecca:
Knomo.

Amy:
And the funny thing is, like if you go back in her Twitter feed, like, you know, last year she had another video of her doing Everlong or maybe it was in twenty eighteen that has like 108 likes, including mine, you know, and now she has like almost 200000 followers, like, you know, thousands of likes and all these articles written about her. And it’s it’s incredible. And she is so much fun to watch. She has so much personality. She is just a born performer. And I’m just waiting for the next step in this battle.

Rebecca:
That is awesome. See, that’s making good use of your quarantine time, having a rock battle Dave

Amy:
This

Rebecca:
Grohl.

Amy:
Would not have happened without quarantine, like she like you can look through like a two year history of her playing band songs and like tagging the bands and the Twitter videos and, you know,

Rebecca:
Marie.

Amy:
Like egging them on. But like, you know, that didn’t get very far. And then, like, Dave Grohl is like sitting at home, you know, going

Andrea:
Right,

Amy:
Through Twitter.

Andrea:
They’re all home looking for things,

Amy:
Exactly.

Andrea:
Looking for things to do. Yep.

Amy:
The funniest part is that when Dave Grohl did the, you know, answered her challenge and recorded the first one of himself playing Everlong, it was on his daughter’s drum set.

Rebecca:
That’s hilarious.

Amy:
So, yeah, it’s I I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Rebecca:
That’s awesome. We will be right back with Andrea Smith picks.

Rebecca:
This Halloween may look a little different. The treats don’t have to stop at candy. No tricks you can give out to your kid a KiwiCo hands on science and art project. So then your little monsters won’t go batty with boredom. Amy, I know you got a crate for your teenagers. How did that go?

Amy:
Yeah, OK, so it was so funny because my kids promised to do it with me and then I should have known that when it was time to do it, they wouldn’t do it together. Like my kids, they they’re they’re 19 and 16

Rebecca:
God.

Amy:
And like, they refused to do anything together. So my son and I did it. And we had so much fun, partially because we kind of made it into a competition about who’s better at putting things together. And it was this really cool little like pendulum box. I’ll post pictures of it. I’ll post a video because like, you turn off the lights and you, you know, set this thing going and it does this crazy light show. And at one point, like, yeah, it’s really cool. And like at one point he started to put something together wrong and I called him on it. And then at another point I put something like I gave him the wrong keys. So it was so much fun.

Rebecca:
Oh, poor Fiona. She was probably jealous. That sounds like a really fun time.

Amy:
You know what, her loss.

Rebecca:
Very true, you know, it’s interesting, so like I want our listeners to know you can encourage your children to be innovators and creative thinkers at any age, right? Everyone’s a kid. I mean, you had a great time. Jake had a great time.

Amy:
He’s

Rebecca:
He’s

Amy:
19

Rebecca:
19.

Amy:
And

Rebecca:
He

Amy:
We

Rebecca:
Might

Amy:
Had

Rebecca:
Be

Amy:
A blast.

Rebecca:
Mortified that we’re talking about him, but that’s okay. He’ll never know. You know, it’s hard to find creative ways to keep your it’s busy and like work their brains, and especially now when you really need them to be doing some Hands-On projects. And out of your way. KiwiCo is redefining learning with hands on projects that build confidence, creativity and critical thinking skills. There’s something for every kid or kid at heart, at KiwiCo. Now you can get 30 percent off your first month plus free shipping on any great line at KiwiCo dot com slash parenting. That’s KiwiCo dot com slash parenting.

Rebecca:
All right, Andrea, to you.

Andrea:
Ok, so you guys, you’re going to be so proud of me, I am watching a TV show that I think you have not seen, but if you have, it’s OK because it’s very current.

Amy:
I

Andrea:
But

Amy:
Guarantee

Andrea:
I was trying

Amy:
You,

Andrea:
To

Amy:
I haven’t seen

Andrea:
Say,

Amy:
It, I watch nothing.

Andrea:
Well, you know, it takes me 10 years to get around to watching what Rebecca has seen. And I have found this show that just makes my heart happy. It just makes me smile. It’s called Last Tango in Halifax. It’s on Netflix. It is just so not what I would watch, but it’s about these two elderly people in their 80s and their grandkids put each of them on Facebook and they find each other. They were like junior high school, you know, crushes on each other

Amy:
Oh.

Andrea:
And find each other 60 years later. But what I love the most about it is the English accents and the English words and the funny sayings. It just I just could listen to them read the dictionary, you know, with all of their colloquialisms. And anyway, it’s just it’s this this story about how the two of them get together and, of course, instantly fall in love and want to get married. And their families are so screwed up. I mean, and there’s always some sort of crazy shenanigans going on with, you know, I won’t tell you, but like, you know, one of them is getting divorced. The other one’s like having issues with her. It’s just like so much drama, but it’s so heartwarming. And I have so enjoyed watching this show. It makes me smile.

Rebecca:
There’s

Amy:
Uh.

Rebecca:
A lot of seasons to.

Andrea:
Are there.

Rebecca:
Like, oh, yeah, there’s

Andrea:
Oh,

Rebecca:
Like five.

Andrea:
Did

Amy:
Wait,

Andrea:
You

Amy:
Have

Andrea:
Watch

Amy:
You watched

Andrea:
It?

Amy:
This?

Rebecca:
Yes,

Amy:
Rebecca?

Andrea:
Oh,

Rebecca:
Yes.

Amy:
Of course

Andrea:
You’re

Amy:
She

Andrea:
Kidding.

Amy:
Has.

Andrea:
I was so proud of myself.

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Oh,

Rebecca:
Know

Andrea:
Man.

Rebecca:
It’s funny, it’s funny, my my dad had recommended to me a long time ago and literally Corey and I had just run out of things to watch because we I have like a very specific type of show I like to watch when I fold my laundry and like, that’s it. Like because you can pay attention. You don’t have to pay too close attention

Andrea:
Right,

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
And

Andrea:
Right,

Rebecca:
Like, it

Andrea:
You

Rebecca:
Passes

Andrea:
Don’t have to watch.

Rebecca:
The. So those are the shows and all like literally once a week I get to like one or two episodes while I’m like folding laundry. That was my show for a while.

Amy:
I’m looking at the laundry pile to my right and I’m realizing why I don’t watch TV, I haven’t folded

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
Laundry in years.

Rebecca:
Yeah, it’s I mean, honestly, it’s those are my my kids know they make fun of me all the time. I have my folding laundry shows.

Andrea:
That’s

Rebecca:
It’s.

Andrea:
Funny. Well, I have certain shows I watch on my EKOS show in the kitchen when I’m cooking dinner or when I’m prepping food or something like maybe the Colbert monologue, you know, that I don’t

Rebecca:
Right.

Andrea:
Have to look at. I can just listen to.

Amy:
Right, that’s what

Andrea:
Oh,

Amy:
I’m washing dishes to.

Andrea:
So I get it. So the brand new show for me that I love and think I’m so current. You’ve already seen all five seasons get

Amy:
Well, I

Andrea:
Rebecca.

Amy:
Haven’t I haven’t watched it or even heard of it, and I will

Andrea:
All

Amy:
Try

Andrea:
Right.

Amy:
After

Andrea:
All

Amy:
I watch

Andrea:
Right.

Amy:
All of the things that Rebecca has recommended.

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
But

Rebecca:
Watch

Andrea:
Don’t

Rebecca:
A lot

Andrea:
You love

Rebecca:
Of British

Andrea:
Their

Rebecca:
Tv.

Andrea:
Accent? Don’t

Rebecca:
Yeah,

Andrea:
You

Rebecca:
I love

Andrea:
Love

Rebecca:
Everything about

Andrea:
It?

Rebecca:
It, I have to have subtitles on because

Andrea:
Yeah, me too,

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Me

Rebecca:
Can’t

Andrea:
Too.

Rebecca:
Understand anything they’re saying.

Andrea:
And instead of saying was they say were like,

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Andrea:
You know, it were this instead of it was this

Rebecca:
Yeah,

Andrea:
It just

Rebecca:
Everything’s

Andrea:
This

Rebecca:
A conditional.

Andrea:
Language cracks me up. Yes.

Amy:
Yeah, but, you know, bad grammar is charming in another accent.

Andrea:
Oh, and that accent, it’s wonderful. OK,

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Andrea:
So that’s it, that’s my first one. And then I have two tech gadgets that just are so awesome you have to know about them. So last week. Well, let me back up. You know, Samsung has their Galaxy S20 FE line and their note as 20 line, which Amy’s a fan of.

Amy:
I have the new 20 Ultra.

Andrea:
Uh huh,

Rebecca:
New.

Andrea:
Yep, and and I’m not even going to say how much money you paid for that, but they are very expensive,

Amy:
Well,

Andrea:
As anyone

Amy:
You know,

Andrea:
Knows,

Amy:
Overspread over two years,

Andrea:
Right.

Amy:
You

Rebecca:
It’s

Amy:
Don’t think

Rebecca:
Very

Amy:
About

Rebecca:
Expensive.

Amy:
It.

Andrea:
So a lot of people are looking at these phones thinking, well, I would like that, but like, I can’t I just can’t afford that right now. Samsung was so brilliant. They’ve come out with what they call the Galaxy S20 FE E or fan edition. And basically what they did was they took all the premium features that they’re that were fan favorites, OK, and got rid of what people could live without. And they’ve delivered this fan edition that is 300 dollars less than the starting price of the regular Galaxy S20 FE. So for six hundred and ninety nine dollars, you get a flagship Samsung Galaxy S20 FE phone with 5G connectivity. The triple camera, an incredible 32 megapixel selfie camera on the front, which is a better camera than the regular s twenty and colors. You guys, it comes in purple. I

Rebecca:
Oh,

Andrea:
Mean,

Rebecca:
My God.

Andrea:
Seriously, it comes in like forget the graphite and the silver. It comes in navy blue. It comes in orange. It comes in red. It comes in purple, all these great colors. And the cool thing about it is it’s got for people who like gaming 120 hertz refresh rate, which just means smoother scrolling. But so basically they took away things like K video. Amy, do you use a video

Rebecca:
Oh, my

Andrea:
On

Rebecca:
God.

Andrea:
Your phone?

Amy:
I don’t even know where I would post that.

Andrea:
Right, they took away things that people don’t really, you know, care as much about, and they were able to deliver it all into this amazing six hundred and ninety nine dollars phone that I honestly I don’t know why all phones aren’t like this. Like, why do they have to put in. I get it. There’s early adopters who want to have the best, most amazing,

Rebecca:
And the journalists.

Andrea:
You know, and content creators who want ACT video and who need the 100 times Zoom

Rebecca:
My.

Andrea:
On their camera. So this

Amy:
People

Andrea:
Is only

Amy:
Like

Andrea:
30

Amy:
Me who

Andrea:
Times

Amy:
Like

Andrea:
Zoom.

Amy:
Shiny new things.

Andrea:
Right. Right. So I highly, highly, highly recommend the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Khan edition. If you’re an Android user or if you’re someone who has been thinking about maybe switching sides,

Amy:
Hmm.

Andrea:
Ok, and then the last thing is and I’m a geek and you know it, but I get really excited about my mouse because I still use the mouse. No matter how high end a laptop I have, I still like to use a mouse. And when I used to travel and used to go away on business and would take a laptop, I would still take a travel mouse with me because it just made my life easier for Logitech, which makes my absolute favorite Mixmaster Master three Mouse has a new version of their Amex anywhere. It’s called the Amex anywhere. Three, it is this little teeny palm sized mouse that just it’s great for mobile work. It’s great for your home office. You could take it to the coffee shop, you can travel with it. It stays powered for 70 days on a full charge. It

Rebecca:
Hello.

Andrea:
Gets charged by USB. See if you plug it in for one minute. It gets three hours of charge because a lot of times I’ll get a notification on my computer saying your mouse is at a battery and all I have to do is plug it in for a minute. And the cool thing about these new Logitech mice, I guess we call them,

Rebecca:
Yes.

Andrea:
Is it has something called flow. So let’s say you’re using two different computers or two screens. It will flow from one to the other. So.

Rebecca:
Oh, you got to be kidding. That’s my that’s my thing

Andrea:
So

Rebecca:
That makes me crazy when because you’re sitting there like, what do I do? Where

Andrea:
What

Rebecca:
Do you.

Andrea:
Do I do? So my husband used to have a work computer and a home

Rebecca:
Uh

Andrea:
Computer

Rebecca:
Huh.

Andrea:
And he would want to copy files from one to the other. This you can literally do cut in one or copy in one, click the mouse to number to move it to the next

Rebecca:
Oh,

Andrea:
Screen

Rebecca:
That’s

Andrea:
And do

Rebecca:
Awesome.

Andrea:
Paste and you move your file, you can copy and paste, you can just

Rebecca:
I’m

Andrea:
Easily

Rebecca:
Buying that now,

Andrea:
Transfer text

Rebecca:
Literally

Andrea:
Images.

Rebecca:
Right now.

Andrea:
It’s the coolest thing and it works on three different devices so you can set it up to do your computer number one, computer number two, and then maybe your tablet or your phone. It works with Windows, Mac, iPad, Chrome. Seventy nine dollars and it comes in rows called,

Rebecca:
Mu.

Andrea:
Can I just say rose gold. So they’re really getting hip and trendy. And I love this mouse.

Amy:
That’s.

Andrea:
I mean, Rebecca, if you want and of course it comes in the gray and the graphite and all that, but the rose gold is the new one. If you wanted, you know, a regular four home office one, my Mixmaster three does the same thing.

Rebecca:
Yeah,

Andrea:
But

Rebecca:
Because

Andrea:
If you

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Want.

Rebecca:
Have to say, like, I’m just I mean, this sounds hard to believe, but I am just now working on a laptop and an external monitor. I never

Andrea:
Yep.

Rebecca:
Had one because I just always schlep back and forth to my office. And now that I’m home and have it set up at home, I’m so bad at setting up between the two of them like

Andrea:
Right,

Rebecca:
I really am.

Andrea:
It’s

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Hard,

Rebecca:
End up. Yeah, it’s hard. I set it up and then I stare at one like I

Andrea:
Right?

Rebecca:
Don’t use it the way it’s supposed to be used. And I’m like,

Andrea:
Right,

Rebecca:
This is dumb.

Andrea:
And the most frustrating thing is, is looking at one computer and saying, but I want that file over there

Rebecca:
Yes.

Andrea:
And, you know, what are you going to do? Get out a flash drive, copy, save it. But this just literally is a copy and paste and it moves to the next

Rebecca:
No,

Andrea:
One.

Rebecca:
That’s awesome.

Andrea:
Yep, it’s

Rebecca:
All right,

Andrea:
Good.

Rebecca:
Perfect. All right, I feel so low tech now for my my picks. So the first thing that I bought, probably the only thing I really bought during lockdown when I realized how much I was cooking and I am someone who cooks, I would say usually cook four to five nights a week and then we would like order in and go out the other two. And suddenly I was cooking all seven and it was like a big difference going from four to seven. And I had been wanting this pan forever. I just had my eye on this Staub heritage all day. Pan it’s cast iron but enameled. So it’s not it’s like naturally nonstick. I don’t know how you categorize that, but it’s heavy cast iron, not too heavy with this beautiful enameled finish. So it’s not the kind of cast iron you have to season all

Amy:
Mm hmm.

Rebecca:
The time. And it comes with a glass dome so you can see what’s underneath.

Amy:
Uh.

Rebecca:
But also a lot of these pans don’t come with a lid. And I love that it came with a lid. So it can obviously be on the stove top and it can go in the oven. And I bought this pan Sur La Table. I had like a huge sale. And it is I use it four to five nights a week. That’s what I cook with.

Amy:
Wow.

Rebecca:
Like my other pans are now my sad stepchildren.

Amy:
How big is it?

Rebecca:
It is. I want to see it’s maybe a forecourt or three and a half. It’s three and a half is what it is. And it’s shallow like it’s, it’s, I mean it’s deep enough to, you know, SAT to braise anything like that. But it’s got and it’s actually still on sale at Sur La Table for one forty nine. Ninety six. It’s usually around three hundred, which is why I never bought it and I bought it in this beautiful French blue which is like so beautiful. It is. I love spending

Andrea:
You know,

Rebecca:
So

Andrea:
That sounds

Rebecca:
Much.

Andrea:
That sounds just like that Heston Heston narrowband, Pam, that I talked about a few weeks ago, just a new plan that changed my life because

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Andrea:
It’s nonstick, because you don’t have to season it. Mine is in cast iron mines, just the stainless steel with narrowband expensive. But I mean, it is my new favorite pan, so I totally get that.

Rebecca:
Yeah, it’s just it’s so beautiful, it’s like I guess because also, like, I love I love cast iron with the enamel, like I have my look or say like my big Dutch oven. This is small enough that I use it all the time, like my Dutch oven. I like when I pull that thing out, like I’m pulling it out for something. What I also love about it is because it’s so pretty. I just put it right on a trivett on the table because it’s this beautiful French blue and like the whole the whole thing looks good. So anyway, that was my big purchase for Khan overcovered.

Amy:
It’s another one of those episodes, it’s just going to cost us money.

Rebecca:
You know this really universally, I don’t like maybe UShip, I want to read No.

Amy:
Well, because I have I have a couple of big enameled Dutch ovens, but like you said, like, those are for big things. I don’t have all of all the rest of my cast iron is just plain cast iron.

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
So I don’t use it as much as I should. I really need something like like that.

Rebecca:
You should get this, because the sear that it creates on things is so incredible and then the fact that you can just like shove it in the oven after

Amy:
Right.

Rebecca:
It’s it’s changed. It’s changed how I cook when I cook meat for my family. Like it’s it’s changed that because you and also, like, I don’t know, it just doesn’t generate the same amount of smoke either as my grill pans do.

Amy:
Uh.

Rebecca:
So I don’t know why, but it doesn’t. So yeah, I love it. I do literally do everything in it. I do one pot pastas in it.

Amy:
Uh.

Rebecca:
You know, it’s big enough that you can put a long noodle in there too, for if you do, you

Amy:
Oh,

Rebecca:
Know, one

Amy:
That’s so

Rebecca:
Pot pasta.

Amy:
Key.

Rebecca:
Yeah. So I’m all in on the on the Staub heritage all day pan. The second thing I did during covid which brought me super joy was that I pruned my Instagram. So I decided I never look at Instagram. I’m just one. I don’t I’m one of those weird people out there. I did not like it from the beginning. I do not like it now. I don’t find it that interesting to just look at pictures of people as toxic as Facebook is. I like that. I like the commentary. I like the sharing of stories and links more than I just like people’s random pictures. Even if they have, they put a little commentary. I just don’t find it that engaging or interesting. And I decided that I was going to get rid of every single person on Instagram whose pictures I don’t like. Like, I don’t care if I like I might like them, but I don’t find what they’re posting interesting. And

Amy:
And

Rebecca:
I

Amy:
You’re

Rebecca:
Found

Amy:
Probably

Rebecca:
It.

Amy:
Seeing the same pictures on Facebook.

Rebecca:
Exactly, and I also I think during the pandemic, I didn’t I had already gotten rid of toxic people in twenty sixteen, like that was already gone from any of my feeds. But I just felt like I don’t want to see the people with their feet in their wine glass. I don’t know, like I was I was done. And like the kids who aren’t so cute, I don’t know, I was really over it. So I saw people showing off how they were like scheduling their kids. Every second of the day. I decided to use Instagram the way I thought it should be used to make me happy, which is as a gallery because it’s a visual medium. So I got rid of literally I mean, I can’t I muted like a bazillion people and I have filled

Andrea:
Where are

Rebecca:
My

Andrea:
We

Rebecca:
Instagram.

Andrea:
Where are we in there?

Rebecca:
No,

Andrea:
Did

Rebecca:
You’re

Andrea:
We get muted?

Rebecca:
You’re still there because I

Andrea:
Ok.

Rebecca:
Can’t I wouldn’t I wouldn’t do that. But these were like people, you know, when you when you first get on social media. And I think this is true of most people, but certainly true for those of us who are in the influencer space.

Amy:
Oh, yeah.

Rebecca:
You kind of just followed people back because you felt like it was the right thing to do and because you’re all like in the same space and people probably do that in their work or whatever in general. And in the beginning, because you just want to be you know, the whole thing was like, who am I going to follow and who’s going to follow me back? And then I just realized, like, I don’t really know these people and I don’t really care. And so it brings me no joy. And I never went on it, which is also fine. But I was like so I started filling my feed with photographers, sculptors, painters, museums, chefs, food writers and writer writers, people who were actually posting incredibly interesting visual things. And there’s an account, a weekly column on The New York Times called Five Art Accounts to Follow on Instagram now.

Amy:
Oh.

Rebecca:
So every week I would look at this column, which is amazing, and they pick different people every week to write it. So it’s not like just one art critic writing it and they just put up incredible artists and like museums from little parts of the world and whatever. And you can look through and be like, are these things? I’d like to see my feet in regular basis as someone who has something interesting to say. And that’s what I’ve done over the last few months, is just fill my feed with. Actual artists, and I have to say every day, it’s a joy, like I open it up and I don’t know what I’m going to see, and it’s there’s always something really, like, interesting and provocative and inspirational. And I’m like so into it now. So I feel like I made my own private art gallery

Amy:
Can I

Rebecca:
And

Amy:
Tell you,

Rebecca:
Brings

Amy:
Like

Rebecca:
Me so much joy.

Amy:
I haven’t turned my Instagram, I’m still following all those people, but I rarely look through my feed, I just look at hashtags like I’ll just look at hashtags of, like, pretty food and architecture. And it’s

Rebecca:
Right,

Amy:
It’s

Rebecca:
See,

Amy:
So much happier.

Rebecca:
So much happier, and it’s not that I don’t like like the people I was following you. It’s just that I it’s not what that medium is to me. I feel like it’s a very visual place. And to your point, you mean like a lot of those people are in my Facebook and I see, like, exactly the same thing.

Amy:
They literally put like they double

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
Post and they’re

Andrea:
See,

Amy:
Putting like

Andrea:
I try

Amy:
20

Andrea:
Not to

Amy:
Hashtags

Andrea:
Do that,

Amy:
On Facebook.

Andrea:
I try to use Facebook and Instagram differently, so I’ll put like Instagram for like certain fat cats, you know, certain

Amy:
Right.

Andrea:
Things.

Rebecca:
Right.

Andrea:
And I don’t normally then post those on Facebook. I don’t crosspost.

Amy:
Yeah, like sometimes I’ll post the same picture occasionally, but it’s not like it has a way different description and it’s not, you know, it’s to like the bigger Instagram world, not my not the people actually know on Facebook.

Rebecca:
Right. I definitely also got rid of and I’m sorry if this is people who are listening to us, but giveaways like people who

Amy:
Now,

Rebecca:
Just

Amy:
Gadhia.

Rebecca:
Their posts were always just not that creatively interesting. And for people who want to find giveaways, that’s really great. But I have to say, it is like so liberating, creating a feed that is has nothing to do with influence or products or or just random children,

Amy:
Yeah.

Rebecca:
You know, so

Andrea:
All right, so

Rebecca:
Highly

Andrea:
We all need

Rebecca:
Recommend.

Andrea:
To go look at our Instagram and prune.

Rebecca:
Yes. Prune and just figure out like what actually brings you joy and then find it on Instagram because it’s there, like to Amy’s point, like humans of New York, like that’s just joy, like follow him,

Amy:
Yeah,

Rebecca:
You know.

Amy:
And I think a lot of people that I know use Instagram more like I use Facebook, and that’s

Rebecca:
Right.

Amy:
That’s fine for them. But I don’t want to I don’t want to see in both places.

Rebecca:
That’s how I feel, too, like that’s not how I don’t actually post on Instagram very much, because I feel like I’m a terrible visual person and I don’t like it. So I don’t really post on Instagram. I just don’t it’s just not what I gravitate towards because I know my strengths. And taking great pictures is not one of them

Amy:
Yeah, but you can be

Rebecca:
Is.

Amy:
Sure if I actually take a great picture, I’m going to put it on Instagram because

Rebecca:
All

Amy:
It hardly ever happens.

Rebecca:
Right, usually my kids take a picture, I’m like, oh, send that to me, I put it on Instagram. So that happens. My last joyful bite, which is not joyful, like, well, it’s hard to explain, but it’s a TV show. Get ready, Andrea. You’re going to watch it three years

Andrea:
Or for.

Rebecca:
Before it’s a show that was on this summer on HBO called I Made a You,

Amy:
Oh.

Rebecca:
Which is written and created by McKayla Cole. It is I don’t even know how to explain it. It is about sexual assault, but it’s about memory. It’s about owning your your agency. It’s about a writer with Creative Block. It’s about friendship. It’s about being black in London. It’s about being an immigrant. It’s about so many things. It is so exceptionally well done and original. It’s really a must, must, must see. I can’t. I can’t. It was it’s sometimes devastating to watch, sometimes touching and funny to watch. It is like nothing else on TV, so I urge everyone to watch it. If you have a teenager, you could certainly watch it with a teenager. I don’t think younger than that, but it’s just. Yeah, watch it. Watch it. Get get your free trial of HBO if you don’t have it, just to watch it because all the episodes are out now and you could binge it. It was dropped one week at a time over the summer and it was like a painful week waiting for that episode. It’s so good. She’s such an incredibly poignant and original voice. I don’t even she’s going to do, like, incredible things.

Amy:
Now, my reaction when you said that might have sounded like I watched it, I haven’t, but I’ve seen like a zillion interviews with her and I love her,

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
Like, I need to finally get around to watching my list of shows because this one will be at the top.

Rebecca:
And it’s you should it’s a very fast watch, these are not, like dragged out at all. It’s so you have to watch it because truly, the last episode is maybe one of the most exceptional episodes of TV. You’ll ever watch how she handles a final episode. But it is it’s just remarkable, really.

Andrea:
So this is not one you are Torah folding laundry.

Rebecca:
No, this is

Andrea:
This

Rebecca:
A

Andrea:
Is a watch watch.

Rebecca:
Sit and watch

Andrea:
Ok.

Rebecca:
And you’re not going to watch anything else after it, so it’s it it takes it out of you because there’s so, so many layers and so much going on. There’s tons of great commentary written about it online. But it’s really like you kind of watch it and you think like holy it like it is. You’re like that is some other level of writing and acting and production. It’s really remarkable. So and it’s based out of her true experience of having been refeed at a bar and sexually assaulted and not realizing it for quite a while until her memory started coming back to her. So it’s really I’m making it sound like two dower. It’s really not it’s like serious, but it has so much humor and love and, like, joy in it, too. Yeah. It’s really it’s so remarkable. So it would have come out regardless of the pandemic, but also helped get me through the pandemic in terms of having something to look forward to every week.

Amy:
Hmm.

Rebecca:
And that is it for today. That is our show. That was a lot of stuff,

Amy:
Good stuff.

Rebecca:
The good stuff we got through the pandemic of the first wave

Andrea:
The

Rebecca:
Or

Andrea:
First

Rebecca:
Whatever

Andrea:
Wave won.

Rebecca:
That saved eight. I don’t know what we were on now, but or we never finished the wave or here in New York. We did in

Amy:
Yeah,

Rebecca:
New Jersey.

Amy:
We’re we’re

Rebecca:
But

Amy:
In a happy lull here.

Rebecca:
Yeah, we’re not hopefully not a calm before the storm. Hopefully we’re just in a new lull.

Andrea:
Normal.

Amy:
That that’s

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
What I’m hoping, but on the other hand, I’m taking care of all of the things that I know I might not be able to do in like November and December. Like I finally got my hair cut and colored. I doing doctors appointments, like, do it now.

Rebecca:
Yeah, get your flu shot.

Amy:
Exactly.

Andrea:
I

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Did it,

Rebecca:
Also.

Andrea:
I got it.

Rebecca:
Oh, good, I am I also have so many wipes at this point that

Andrea:
Good.

Rebecca:
I’m going to be one of those people on TV that they show is like the hoarder because I have it on Subscribe and Save on Amazon. And they weren’t in stock for so long. And then all of a sudden they were.

Amy:
A.

Rebecca:
So I have so many wipes. So I’m ready. I’m

Amy:
Well, it’s

Rebecca:
Ready.

Amy:
So funny because like we’ve talked about this before, I don’t know if we’ve talked about it on the show, but I was every winter I was always like a crazy wiper downer during flu season because, you know, when you have little kids, like every winter, you just get sick so many times and all the horrible things. And then a couple of years ago, Rebecca, you turned me on to those hydrogen peroxide

Rebecca:
Uh.

Amy:
Wipes which actually take care of stomach flu. My old wipes were taking care of stomach flu. So I had so many of those. And they’re so much better than the other ones because they only the surface only has to be wet for 30 seconds to work instead

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
Of like four minutes for the other wipes. But so, like, I was in really I also looked like a hoarder. But I’m like, no, this this is what I have on hand every winter.

Rebecca:
Right.

Amy:
So.

Rebecca:
I know I did realize I need to replenish like rice and beans, like I’ve let all that lapse, like now I just have like a normal amount for like maybe a week, you know, like. Oh,

Amy:
Now, my

Rebecca:
But.

Amy:
Husband will tell you I really haven’t gotten out of that mode, like we’ve got pasta and beans and but I bet I use it like I’ve been making so much hummus and so much like I live on wheat pasta, you know, because

Rebecca:
Yeah.

Amy:
It’s zero points on Weight Watchers. So, like, I am made of wheat pasta and white potatoes at this point.

Rebecca:
That’s hilarious.

Andrea:
I still

Rebecca:
Oh,

Andrea:
Have

Rebecca:
My

Andrea:
To

Rebecca:
God.

Andrea:
Switch to that and do some starch,

Amy:
Oh,

Andrea:
I’m just

Amy:
My God,

Andrea:
Like

Amy:
I.

Andrea:
Eating

Rebecca:
Hmm,

Andrea:
Chocolate Borgen lenzer tarts for my

Amy:
Listen,

Andrea:
For

Amy:
I

Rebecca:
That

Andrea:
My

Rebecca:
Sounds

Amy:
Am

Andrea:
Starch.

Amy:
Down

Rebecca:
Good.

Amy:
I am down 40 pounds since

Andrea:
What?

Amy:
February.

Rebecca:
Oh, mama, tough,

Andrea:
Well,

Rebecca:
That’s

Amy:
Thank

Rebecca:
Your

Amy:
You

Rebecca:
That’s your covid look at your covid

Andrea:
What

Amy:
Seriously,

Rebecca:
Achievement, I.

Amy:
But anybody

Andrea:
How

Amy:
Who

Andrea:
Could.

Amy:
Tells you that you need to give up carbs to lose weight, I am eating more carbs than usual because I just eat all the ones that are zero points. I can eat like brown rice and white

Andrea:
I

Amy:
Potatoes

Andrea:
Am so

Amy:
And.

Andrea:
Impressed with you because I, like, gave up Weight Watchers tracking about two months ago

Amy:
Oh,

Andrea:
And,

Amy:
Wow.

Andrea:
You know, it’s been bad.

Amy:
Well, no, see, that’s the difference between the last time I lost weight because, you know, two years ago I lost 35 pounds on Weight Watchers. Now I’ve just determined that I can never, ever, ever, ever go

Andrea:
Can

Amy:
Off

Andrea:
Never

Amy:
Like.

Andrea:
Stop. Yeah.

Amy:
Yeah, until the day I die, I’m going to be counting points because it works. And then as soon as I stop, I just eat an entire cake.

Andrea:
Well,

Rebecca:
Well,

Andrea:
As

Rebecca:
Look, that

Andrea:
I say,

Rebecca:
Is the point,

Andrea:
I

Rebecca:
Right?

Andrea:
The other

Rebecca:
I

Andrea:
Night,

Rebecca:
Mean.

Andrea:
I literally had a linzer tart and a piece of chocolate. Of course it was Rosh Hashanah, but chocolate babka and the apple strudel, I mean, it was like, forget it. But

Amy:
It’s

Andrea:
But

Amy:
A

Andrea:
Then

Amy:
Holiday,

Andrea:
I tried to go. It was a holiday.

Amy:
But

Andrea:
But

Amy:
That

Andrea:
Yes,

Amy:
They like

Andrea:
You can’t stop.

Amy:
I had I had cake this weekend for my husband’s birthday, I had s’mores in front of a fire like I. The great thing about wait, sorry, this is turning into a Weight Watchers commercial. But the great thing about it is that it’s very transactional. So I just exercise so that I can eat a lot of food.

Andrea:
Yeah,

Amy:
So I’m

Andrea:
I’m

Amy:
Not

Andrea:
So

Amy:
I’m

Andrea:
Impressed,

Amy:
Not starving.

Andrea:
We need a picture of you, I haven’t seen you in months and months and months,

Amy:
Oh, my God, I’ll post one.

Andrea:
Please.

Rebecca:
Homechool on Instagram, and I will see it.

Andrea:
Yeah, and Rebecca will cut. You

Amy:
Oh, my God, that Amy’s posting selfies like an.

Andrea:
Know,

Rebecca:
Oh.

Andrea:
I want to see you. See, I miss you guys.

Amy:
Oh,

Rebecca:
Oh,

Amy:
You do?

Rebecca:
Yes,

Andrea:
All

Rebecca:
You, too.

Andrea:
Right.

Rebecca:
All right, well, that is our show for today. You can find links to everything we talked about, probably even Weight Watchers or at our site, Parenting Bytes dot com on Facebook, at Facebook, dot com slash Parenting Bytes. You’ll find links to all of our shows. Please leave us comments, suggestions, whatever you want at our Facebook page. You can always message us there as well. Rate reviews, subscribe and share wherever you’re listening to us. We love hearing from you all and we love reading your comments and Apple podcast. And it’s great. I love it. Every time we discover something new, like reviewed us, it’s such a like

Amy:
I know.

Rebecca:
They don’t they don’t notify us. It’s like I have to go in there, remember Teladoc and

Amy:
It’s

Rebecca:
It’s so

Amy:
Always a warm,

Rebecca:
Wonderful.

Amy:
Fuzzy feeling.

Rebecca:
It really is. And until next week, happy parenting.

Amy:
By.

Rebecca:
Hey, this is our Parenting Bytes disclaimer, everything we talk about on the show is our own opinion, any products we recommend, it’s our own personal recommendation for entertainment purposes only. If you buy something through our affiliate links or you just happen to buy or see or read or watch something that we recommended, it’s at your own risk.

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