In the throes of everything 2025 is throwing at us, we’re discussing how we approach wellness and the small things we do to take care of ourselves (at least a little bit!!!). Major thanks to OSEA for bringing us this episode—10% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO!

Can we start with some praise for OSEA’s Undaria Algae Body Butter? It absorbs quickly, it feels excellent, and it’s making Claire actually moisturize every day.

Claire is also exercising with Cam, opting for phone calls over Zooms, going on “do not disturb” more often, making lunchbox drawings, and watching TV on her phone while doing other things.

Erica’s getting an actual desk setup, eating a fulfilling lunch (shoutout to Chris Gayomali’s Heavies Substack about soup), revisiting her five-year journal, maintaining a saved sentence archive practice, and having high-end fun and heavy snacks. 

How are you taking extra care of yourself right now? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva.

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Before diving into the newness of 2025, we wanted to reflect on our top Thingies of last year. Fashion, framing, food, and a full-blown flurry of favorites ahead! 

Claire’s best-of Thingies include the PJ Library, Wisp, Épice Paris, Bluesafe24 glasses, Caro Chambers, and the Natori Bliss Girl Brief. 

Erica’s Thingies of the year include Biryani Bol, Nelle Atelier (specifically their Laura style), Susan Orlean’s Wordy Bird Substack, Framebridge, Buena Vista Social Club the musical, and, of course, Josh Hartnett’s return. 

What were your 2024 Thingies? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva!

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It’s time to let your inner Larry David out because we have THOUGHTS to SHARE! 

Gen Alpha has a new (jarring??) way to learn their alphabet. 

We were suspicious of isitpacked.com for planning a Disneyland trip, but we’ve changed our tune.

Things we won’t shut up about include OSSA phone straps and Goop Kitchen. 

Let’s discuss Uggs, shall we? 

Do you/kids in your life have daily affirmations? If so, send them in at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or pop them in our Geneva!

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Call it a classic grab bag from this time last year! Please note that we are still in the market for your Notes App intel… 

Gained some wisdom from @OlsenOracle, a perfect fan account (that is maybe even Olsen approved???).

We’re having a Marcella Hazan moment, thanks to, as Food & Wine put it her “radical simplicity.” Some recipes we’ve been cooking: THE tomato, onion, and butter sauce, grilled fish romagna style, pesto, rice and smothered cabbage soup, and chimney sweep’s gelato. 

Speaking of cooking, we must discuss this Julia Child gas stove story by Rebecca Leber for Vox, which pairs well with “How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves,” which she wrote for Mother Jones. 

Your Notes Apping!! See: this packing-list  revelation from@rileejsmith (um, the template). We also love this TikTok from @kiramackenz.

What weird things are you up to in the Notes App? Let us know at 833-632-5463, [email protected], @athingortwohq, or in our Geneva!

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In a rerun of an *absolute hit* episode from last holiday season, we’re talkin’ Thingies with Alison Roman, the woman behind a SLEW of recipes we cook all the dang time. We know you know her, but JIC, she’s the author of NYT bestselling—and gifty!—cookbooks Sweet Enough, Nothing Fancy, and Dining In, she doles out the most delightful kitchen content in A Newsletter and on her Home Movies YouTube channel, and she delivers guidance of all kinds on her Solicited Advice podcast. In essence: She’s full of thoughts, and we want them all.

First things first, what we would bring to a pilot kid-gift swap (thx, Leslie!): Spirograph, Yellow Owl Workshop DIY Pin & Flair Kit, Bastien Contraire Stencil Kit, Majo Ideas Art Pack, and Pop Tubes.

Alison’s tabletop Thingies include beeswax candles (try Greentree Home Candle—maybe in the sangria color?!), candle holders *in general* (e.g., this Sophie Lou Jacobson one), and interesting serving platters including Bordallo Pinheiro's. For the bod, she loves using Laneige’s lip mask as lip balm, and Davines’s Vegetarian Miracle Mask for her hair. On the food front, how about chopped fermented chilies—use them to make her Brothy Chickpeas with Calabrian Chili (and/or these chickpeas)—and, for dessert, Kolsvart gummies. 

Share your Thingies with us at 833-632-5463, [email protected], and @athingortwohq, or drop them in our Geneva!

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Are a majority of today’s topics serendipitously eighties related? Yes. Are we inadvertently excited about that? Indeed.   

Pizza Hut updates! Tomato-basil Pizza Wine and American Girl’s Book It! Set. 

Someone barefoot 24/7: Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mack Hollins.  

And spotted! Cutie eyes on Kacey Musgraves merch. 

We are loving Rivals, which is based on a novel by Dame Jilly Cooper. See also: her takes in this Financial Times interview and “It’s Family ‘Sex Scenes’ Night” by Anya Kamenetz for The Cut.

If you’re in NYC soon, check out Luna Luna at The Shed, and read Joe Coscarelli’s piece on it in the New York Times for more backstory. 

Share your follow-ups and/or recommendations at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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You ready to talk about romance, feminism, and monsters? We sure are, and so is Sanjana Basker, a psychology PhD student and bookish content creator who we’re obsessed with (in a totally normal way). Also: some animal updates, thank goodness. 

Animal Updates! Kacey Musgraves is an NYC rat defender (join the club), the raccoon at LaGuardia has captured our hearts, and Claude has arrived at Erica’s house (by way of Long Island Rabbit Rescue)!

Sanjana’s Thingies are Rivals on Hulu, mass-market paperbacks, Calzedonia tights, @poetssquarecats (see also: @catworkers), and L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil.

Some authors mentioned in this ep include Lisa Kleypas and Libba Bray, and books mentioned include Left of Forever by Tara DeWitt, Office Hours and Sabbatical by Katrina Jackson, Creep: Accusations and Confessions by Myriam Gurba, and Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm by Emmeline Clein.

Want to more of Sanjana? The way she talks about romance on TikTok is an absolute delight, and her episode of the Care So Much Podcast is fantastic.

What romances are you loving right now? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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We are so excited to chat with photo director/visual cultural commentator/incredible Instagram follow Emily Keegin about her Thingies! Also: some thoughts on where to get your gift guides this year, should you not be overwhelmed with them already.

Thank you for respecting our decision not to do 2024 gift guides! If you want past installments, we have five year’s worth here. For the freshest stuff, check out Helen Rosner’s for the New Yorker, Goop (the modern Neiman Marcus catalog?), Caroline Moss of Gee Thanks!, Alisha Ramos of Downtime, T mag, The Strategist’s searchable Gift Scout, and a roundup of Substack gift guides from last year (that’ll point you toward this year’s too, certainly). 

Emily’s Thingies include Thomas Tallis polychoral music from the 1500s (Fifty Shades–coded?), spraying perfume or hand sanitizer on your armpits and vodka on your clothes, passionfruit, Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle, and scrolling through someone else’s Instagram feed.

What are your Thingies lately? Please share with us at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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Welcome to Article Club! A few that require our attention this week span topics from an important anniversary to management tips to recommendation culture. Now off to go eat a personal pan pizza…

Is it an overstatement to say that Book It! is one of our generation’s premier cultural references? This NYT story commemorates the 40th anniversary, and an LA Times article from 1985 made us feel nostalgic. See also: pins for sale on eBay and Tejal Rao’s fascinating review of Chain. 

We loved “Want To Be A Good Boss? Be A Bitch.” by Samhita Mukhopadhyay for Bustle. Here’s to intergenerational slaying!

The Locavore Guide to Shopping NYC by Caroline Weaver is a tribute to physical guidebooks of yore featuring 670 NYC shops. It has a a searchable digital directory too! Relevant: "The Banality of Online Recommendation Culture" by Kyle Chayka in The New Yorker.

Does anybody have any intel on Cutie Eyes? Please share with us at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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Another day, another kookalook collection of topics from us, including new lingo care of (honorary Bob) Jack Schlossberg, wrinkle makeup, minimalist shoes, LaGuardia Airport, and a straw cupdate. 

Wrinkle makeup—not what you think, probably! Check out a couple of looks by @shine__rising and rachy_mua. Related: crackle lips. 

In which we dip our toes into the minimalist shoes conversation: Gait Happens, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and The Infinite Race 30 for 30 doc by Bernardo Ruiz are all relevant on the content front. Some brands of interest: Muki, Vivo Barefoot, and Groundies. They kind of remind us of Prada Sport from the late 90s/early aughts, Miu Miu rope sandals, and ballet flats with wide toe boxes from Sandy Liang and Proenza. Also: Let’s take this opportunity to shoutout Yoga Toes. 

We’ve been considering giving our ComfiLife a break and trying a kneeling chair. Memor and Varier are good-looking options!

In the world of straw cups, Claire got a BrüMate and really likes it! (Don’t get her the MargTini though.)

Where do you stand on Eat/Pray/Love vs. FMK? Do you believe they can coexist? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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We are DELIGHTED to have Alana Cloud-Robinson on today to share her Thingies from her perfect, wood-paneled home (more on that, clearly). She’s the author of the 831 Stories release Hardly Strangers, out tomorrow, and, wow, we can’t wait for you to read this one.

Alana’s Thingies include shoulder pads, thrifting (see: The Council Shop!), her home in Century City, and Irish culture (shoutout to Fontaines D.C., and Say Nothing).

Want more Alana? Check out The Artists Are Frightened, her premier collection of personal poetry.

Also, a really important album that is (somehow) a follow-up to our milk.com conversation.

What are *your* Thingies? Let us know at [email protected], @athingortwohq, our Geneva, or our Substack comments!

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