Today we are joined by Diksha Basu, the author of our November Book Club pick, Destination Wedding. We are so excited to get the inside scoop on this book! Diksha is an author, former actress, and academic from New Delhi, India, and she now divides her time between New York City and Bombay. We explore what ‘home’ means to her, and how that influenced this book. She shares her unique writing process, starting with character development before plot. We also talk about our favorite character (Tina,...
Nov 27, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 152
For our November Book Club we read Destination Wedding by Diksha Basu. This book is exactly what we needed as we are both missing travel, meeting new people, and big events like weddings! The story follows Tina Das, a Brooklynite who is traveling to India with her divorced parents and her best friend to attend a cousin’s lavish wedding. Both Tina and her father are looking for love while on their trip, with some pretty mixed results. This book was such a fun read that will have you laughing, and...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 151
Welcome to our holiday gift guide episode with Caroline Moss. Caroline is the host of “Gee Thanks, Just Bought it,” a podcast about all things shopping. Her podcast explores the fun things she and her guests have found on the internet, bought, and loved. We are big fans and think you’ll like it too! We talk about what we’re eyeing on Black Friday, plus gift ideas for moms, best friends, kids, and the office secret santa. We hope this episode gives you some great gift ideas (we certainly checked ...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Elizabeth Holmes, the author of HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style joins us to talk about royal fashion moments and her new book. Elizabeth shares the analytical lens she uses to observe and report on royal style, thinking about the message behind the clothes just as much as their glamour. We dig into the writing process, photo selection, and her favorite royal outfits (and missteps!). She also shares how recent conversations around race and racism have impacted how she covers Meghan and royal...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 149
For today’s episode, in honor of the cooler temps coming our way, we are sharing our favorite TV shows and movies. Hopefully this list will make your winter quarantine a little more entertaining! We have both found that being inside more has led us both to watching a lot more TV than movies. We still stick to our fav genres- Becca almost exclusively watches Rom Coms, and Grace likes anything with secret agents or lawyers, and of course documentaries! Differences aside, we can both agree that we ...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 148
Alexis Daria is a native New Yorker, award winning author, celeb sighting specialist, who wrote our October Book Club pick, You Had Me at Hola. We get the inside scoop on her choice to write about the world of telenovelas and the ways that her own family mirrors the characters in the story. We learn more about the changes happening in the Romance genre from both the publishing and the consumer side. We get a peek into her writing process and how she writes such steamy sex scenes! We also get her...
Oct 29, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 147
For this month’s book club, we read You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria. This is the story of Jasmine Lin Rodriguez, the lead actress of the telenovela “Carmen in Charge.” She plans to swear off men and follow her Leading Lady Plan, but her plan is compromised when she falls for her co-star, Ashton Suarez. They want to keep things private, but the paparazzi makes this impossible, causing a lot of strain on their budding relationship. This was essentially a RomCom about a RomCom (peak Becca genre)...
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 146
This week it’s Grace’s turn in the hot seat. Becca is getting the answers to all of your most burning questions: will she get another cat? What are her trash person tendencies? How does she find new artists? What was working with Amazon the Drop like? We also learn more about her life as the oldest of three sisters, dealing with being laid off, saving habits, her fall skincare routine, and more. Grace’s Fall Skincare Routine: Farmacy’s Green Clean Cleansing Balm Klur Gel Cleanser Farmacy Green T...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 145
Disclosure: This episode is NOT sponsored by Bath & Body Works. We wish it was, but sadly that is not the case. This week, we are joined by our “fall correspondent,” Olivia Muenter. A Fall themed episode was highly requested, and we knew Olivia would be the perfect person to join us! Olivia is a writer, editor, and digital content creator. She’s also a massive B&BW candle aficionado. We talk fall recipes, getaways, decor, movies, books and of course.. CANDLES. If you are wondering what all of Ol...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 144
Yvanna Cancela represents Nevada’s 10th district in the State Senate, and is the first latina to ever serve in the chamber. Today she joins us to share all the ways you can *still* get involved and make a difference this election. With the election coming SO SOON it’s important to get clarity on the process and the ways that you can donate your time (or money) to help the causes you care about. As the first ever latina to serve in the State Senate, Yvanna is wildly aware of the gender and racial...
Oct 09, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 143
Today’s guest was a huge get for the podcast… JK, it’s Becca! Last December, we took turns interviewing each other and had such a great time doing it that we decided to do it again. So today, Becca is in the hot seat; answering all of your questions about life, career, family, friendships, and quarantine. We also get the RomComPods origin story. Other burning questions: will she ever get a dog? Would she write an Idea of You FanFic? A book about organization? Could she see herself as a full time...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 142
Today we’re discussing our September book club pick: Majesty (American Royals book #2) by Katharine McGee. We’re also joined by the author herself to get a behind the scenes peek at the writing process, the real-life royal inspiration moments, and gossip on what’s next for this series. We loved this book and can’t wait to talk about it with you. Join in the discussion on the Facebook Group . More Katharine McGee: @katharinemcgee katharinemcgee.com Katharine McGee Book Recs: American Wife by Curt...
Sep 30, 2020•2 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 141
We are back to answer more of your career questions! In this episode we dig a little deeper into some of your more specific situations and hear from a listener looking to transition from the dental field into marketing, someone who’s boss refuses to give them feedback, and someone debating what to do about their maternity leave. We also tackle some questions on work and Covid — from motivation to desk decor. “Finding a new career” book recs: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert The Career Code by Hill...
Sep 23, 2020•2 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 140
It’s finally here - the Grossy Pelosi / Bad on Paper crossover episode (AKA Gross on Paper). Dan Pelosi is the creator behind the Instagram account @grossypelosi and website, danpelosi.com. Today, he joins us to talk all things food! Dan shares his cooking origin story: from a childhood spent in his grandparents kitchen to having his own platform. He runs down a list of meals for when you are trying to impress or just decompress, gives grocery shopping tips, and chats ways to repurpose leftovers...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 139
It’s been a while since we have talked about our jobs and answered your career questions so today… we’re doing it! We got so many questions that we split ‘em up into two episodes, so stay tuned for part 2! Today we have a mix of personal questions about our careers and some of your more meaty, specific scenarios. We dig into the different ways we have built up our audience and client base, vetting clients and determining your worth. We talk about our 5-10 year plan (more like, lack thereof!), gr...
Sep 09, 2020•2 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 138
In this episode we are joined by Venita Aspen, an influencer, model, creative, and co-host of the newly launched podcast, Group Chat Realness. Venita tells us about everything from working fashion week to culinary school and her journey to the career she has today — owning her own creative agency, The Aspen Agency. We dive into what keeps her creative and inspired, and how she takes care of herself (mentally, physically, brows & skincare). We learn more about the Aspen Agency, her life as an inf...
Sep 02, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 137
Joining us today is Stef Feldman, the National Policy Director for Vice President Joe Biden’s Presidential Campaign. Stef walks us through her career path from local government in Atlanta to the White House, shedding light on how important it is to work with a political candidate that inspires you and how Joe Biden has inspired and empowered her. She shares her experience working on the campaign, the day-to-day of her job, and then we dive into Biden’s policies and perspectives. We talk about ho...
Aug 28, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 136
For our August Book Club we read The Comeback by Ella Berman. The book follows Grace Turner, a young actress who disappeared from Hollywood at the height of her career. During her rise to fame as a teenager, she was sexually and emotionally abused by Abel Yorke, the director who made her famous. After she’s invited to present him with a lifetime achievement award she begins to plot her revenge. Even though Grace is a pretty unlikeable character we still loved her story and root for her revenge. ...
Aug 26, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 135
We decided to do a lighter episode this week. On instagram we asked you to propose some fun ‘would you rather’ scenarios and boy, did you deliver! Some are crazy (but for better or worse we still made our choice!), some are silly, and we definitely didn’t agree on everything. Which one of us would give up booze? Which one would give up travel? Who would rather have a lobster claw for an arm than a floor length white beard? What could make us give up books? What about quarantining forever? You ca...
Aug 19, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 134
She’s baaaack! Our most popular guest Carly Heitlinger (of the lifestyle blog Carly the Prepster!) joins us this week to catch up on how she is feeling at this point in the pandemic and what she has been doing to cope with anxiety and inability to really plan anything. Anything… but her upcoming wedding, that is! She gives us the scoop on her super-surprise proposal and tells us more about her fiance Mike (and his family). We also talk a little bit about politics and Carly’s decision to endorse ...
Aug 12, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 133
This week we are joined by Traci Thomas! Traci is the host of The Stacks Podcast, a mom to twin girls, and an avid non-fiction reader. We get a behind the scenes look at how she chooses books for the pod, her favorite books of 2020 (and all time), and talk about the book she wishes would be written. We loved getting her perspective as she’s such a big non-fiction reader and both filled up our Bookshop.org carts with her recs while recording this episode. We talk about BLM, Black authors, and how...
Aug 05, 2020•2 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 132
This month, we read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. This the story of identical twin sisters (and their daughters) spanning the fifties through the nineties. Desiree and Stella are inseparable growing up in the fictional light-skinned Black town of Mallard, Louisiana during the fifties in the Jim Crow-era south. When they are 16, they run away together to New Orleans. From there, their lives take completely different turns. Desiree marries a dark-skinned man and returns home to raise her dau...
Jul 29, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 131
In this week’s episode, we chat with Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, the co-hosts of Call Your Girlfriend, about their new book, Big Friendship . The book provides an intimate peek inside their own decade-long friendship and also contains conversations with experts on the topic of friendship and it’s importance to our lives. We discussed their writing process, their thoughts on blending work and friendship, and their evolving thoughts on interracial friendships. We also dive into one of our most ...
Jul 22, 2020•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 130
It’s been a little while since we have talked about quarantine life, so we thought it was time to circle back and share what we have been doing to stay safe, sane, and entertained this summer. We share what our experience in NYC has been like - our expectations of quarantine and the reality. We also talk about the hobbies we have picked up, the activities we have fallen in love with, the books to read and what to watch. Join us in the facebook group and let us know what you are doing in quaranti...
Jul 15, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 129
In this episode, our long-time friend Nicolette Mason joins us! Nicolette is a fellow blogger who is also a writer, strategist, body positivity content creator, and co-founder of Premme (RIP!), which was a plus size fashion brand. She shares her firsthand experiences protesting to support #BlackLivesMatter and Black trans lives and gives tips to first-time protestors. She also has recommendations for educating yourself and how to diversify the content you ingest on a daily basis. She also shares...
Jul 08, 2020•2 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 128
In today’s episode we share all of our favorite quarantine purchases, and we also hear from you! Now that we have been in quarantine for months, and shifted seasons, we have lots of new products that we are obsessed with (and some that have stood the test of time - what is time?) We explore a variety of categories from home, food, kitchen, tech, beauty, clothing, and much more. We are so excited to share your recs and try them out for ourselves. Food/Kitchen/Home: Air Fryer Brightland Olive Oil ...
Jul 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 127
Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Acevedo, the author of our June book club pick, Clap When You Land. Elizabeth is a NYT best-selling author and we couldn’t be more excited to talk to her about the book. We learn of her early start in writing as a rapper and poet, her first job as a middle school teacher, and the road to her first publishing deal. We explore the birth of Clap When You Land, the meaning behind the title, the unique way she developed the characters distinct vo...
Jun 25, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 126
For this month’s book club, we read Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. We absolutely loved this book. It’s prose, written in verse, which makes the story even more engaging (and the lines more powerful and poignant). This is the story of two 16 year old girls, Yahaira and Camino who lose their father in a plane crash. Both girls (growing up in New York City and the Dominican Republic, respectively) grow up loving their father and having a close relationship with him. But upon his death, th...
Jun 24, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 125
Ayana Lage is a freelance marketer and writer in Tampa. More recently, a few of her videos about Black Lives Matter went viral. (We highly recommend her as a resource for everything from virtue signaling to microaggressions , and her stance on Blackout Tuesday , and more to come!) She joins us today to talk about the intensity of the last few weeks, and her thoughts on it all. Everything from how it feels to go viral, what brands can do to be more inclusive (and who is doing it right!), and how ...
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 124
This week our friend Rachael King joins us! Rachael is the co creator of RomComPods, Founder and CEO of PodPeople, a podcast producer, and host of TWO podcasts - The Escape List and Tape Club . We turn the tables a little and Grace interviews Becca and Rachael about the inspiration for and making of RomComPods from the script writing process to casting to ideas for future seasons, and what it’s like working with your best friend. We also ask Rachael all of your podcast and travel questions! Be s...
Jun 10, 2020•2 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 123
