Morning Run with Amy and TJ and iHeartRadio podcast.
Hey folks, it is Saturday, June twenty eighth, and are you up for a recovery run with us? Welcome to this recovery episode of Amy and TJ Rols.
We decided.
Hey, we are runners, and in the real running world, you run all week and sometimes you have to have what's called.
A recovery run.
And please do tell the folks what that means.
Yes, there's actually a definition out there, and I think most runners already know it, but for those of you who don't, a recovery run is a short, low intensity run performed after a strenuous workout to aid in recovery and reduce stiffness. Yes, so everyone needs a little recovery run. See where we're getting to deal with all of the stress your body stiffens with all of the negative news headlines. I mean, there was a with the run at the beginning of the week to.
Answer the other couple of wars going on.
Yees correct, And then all of the personal drama and trauma we've all probably experienced during the week in parenting and relationships and friendships and work, yes.
Even in Venice. Right now, there's tension.
For God's sake, life can be hard, and we all need a recovery run.
Yeah, so we want to keep our runs going with you. We have our Monday through Friday in which we of course talk all the news headlines, but the hey, let's have a recovery run, and we're actually gonna tell you all the things, the tools, and really just some randomness how we go about and how we've gone about surviving some of these very difficult weeks world. Have you got kind of a general list there with some of these things I did on my own, some you did on
your own, some of these things we did together. But these are the things that helped us get through the week.
Yes, okay, So I actually started my week feeling a little heavy. I think a lot of folks did, perhaps with the news of the world. And I finally, and I say finally, picked up one of so many personal journals that had been collecting by my night side in my night's my night stand, excuse me, right by the
side of my bed. And you know, people give them to you as gifts, and it's such a cool thing, and everyone tells you how powerful and transformational journaling can be, and so I actually decided to pick up one of these journals. You saw it, right, It was read and I thought you made fun of it because it said follow your dreams. Doesn't that sound like something you would make fun of me for exactly? Okay? So there was
it was the one that was on top. Yeah, And so I picked it up and I went outside and I committed to thirty minutes of writing in this journal about what I was feeling, what I had learned, what I was learning about myself. And I'm telling you it was transformative. I felt lighter, like all the things that I was thinking and ruminating about.
Wait, just getting it out. Are you supposed to go back and read.
Well, I haven't gone back and read it, but getting.
It out, Okay, that's the point, okay.
And I think maybe yes, of course, when you get past certain points and you can reflect back six months ago, a year ago and see how far you've come, that also is helpful. But I am telling you my body physically felt lighter, my heart was softer, my energy was greater. And I know people like duh, but actually try it. It's amazing. So that was something I did.
Nobody's ever given me a journal and say, hey, lets try this to.
Jay your birthday's coming out.
Oh my goodness, would you, Oh my god, would you? Oh my god? Can you please?
I'll get you a special pen.
Can I have a sweet message in the front y?
Yes, I'll make sure it does.
Guys and gals are so different. This is how you got your piece to start the week.
Ah, I was outside a night journaled. I was on a motorcycle, riding across the state line. I did that, you know, I love.
I didn't realize I didn't tell you I went because I leave so early in the morning. I got out, hopped on the bike at six am, and I was out for a was this a forty five minute probably ride from Lower Manhattan to uh up Cross Fort Lee, the George Washington Bridge, then up north New Jersey. And there's a great state line lookout park up there that I've been going to for years. And went out that it took a few pictures, enjoyed the view this on the bike that morning, nobody.
Out, So I knew you had ridden your motorcycle, but I didn't know you went that far. I mean, that's a commitment, but that's so cool. I love that you did that. I love that you went into nature. How did that did that change how you felt?
Well?
I went, I rode by nature. I didn't go in the nature. I saw it as I sped by. Even when I went to the lookout place, you know, I just stayed right there on the concrete with the bike, looked out at the water a little bit across to New York.
And I came on back.
And how did you feel afterwards? Like before you went and then after, Oh, it's invigorating.
And you know, riding a motorcycle is one of the few things I compared to rock climbing, and I love it because when you're doing it, you cannot have anything else on your mind. You have to play such close attention on a motorcycle that if you're lost in your thoughts somewhere, you're gonna make a mistake. You're gonna miss something.
So that's why I do. I like it.
I love that you have that outlet. That's very, very cool, And it's good to have outlets without each other because we spend so much time together finding something it's rare. But this week I also went out with my girlfriends to a place that I have loved for over a decade that I haven't been back to in I believe a year and a half perhaps, But it's a place called Marie Chrisis.
Probably on me. You have a black boyfriend, heterosexual boyfriend.
It is a gay Broadway singing bar with a piano. If you ever come, yeah, you have come with me a couple of times. But this is a place in the West Village. If you do ever go to New York City, I urge you if you love Broadway and you love show tunes. This is such a unique and spectacular place that's been there the nineteen fifties, and it's exactly the same as it was in the nineteen fifties as it is now in twenty twenty five, and there's
a feeling of community. Where else can you go and just belt out songs and it doesn't matter how you're singing. So anyway, I went there just for two hours.
It doesn't matter how you're singing.
Well, okay, a lot of people are really good in there. Yeah, they're really good.
And they get on to you. If you're not as good, and if you don't know.
Lyrics, just let the really good singers drown you out. And it's just a joyful place, and so it was an outlet that I had not I hadn't experienced in a while. And it really also just it gave me joy, and I just I felt changed because of it. When you start taking the moment to prioritize fun and especially things you've been putting off or what you used to do, and you just make time for it. I mean I
actually was gone because I came back afterwards. I was back home at eight pm, eight thirty, but I was gone for two hours at the most.
Right, What was I doing?
You were chilling at the apartment. Yeah, yeah, you were cool. You you texted me on my way and you said, babe and joy have fun and you said it in all caps, or you wrote it in all caps. But I knew that's because you were on your computer. I knew you weren't screaming that at me. Yeah, but but I I came back happier, and that is something to remember.
That was a fun night, even though we weren't hanging out together.
And then you you experienced some joy through music. What happened you Blanco Brown, Blanco Brown that you were we were talking about what we each did individually first. That gave us some joy.
You you this gave you joy as well. We did this together. But I have I've been on a Blanco Brown kick here lately.
This start.
If you all don't know Blanco Brown, He's a brother from Atlanta who was a country music star and if you're the name that's not familiar, got really popular on TikTok online with that song get Up do the Cowboy Boogie and me that that song?
But why have I been? What song? It started with? What you know what?
It's a Cane Brown song with Marshmallow. Okay, so that song is on a playlist, the playlist runs out and it starts just playing similar music. So I'm getting a lot of country music with hip hop beats under it. And so Blanco Brown came up and I started listening to some more of his stuff and now I'm just hooked. I've had an almost exclusive Blanco.
Brown week the Power of Music, And yes.
I've been blaring that stuff and you don't even know what you listen to, but I'm listening to him and TI rap under a country beat.
I'm loving it. That is amazing, And like that is one of those things where when you listen to something that you love and you find new music AI. That's also the power of AI. What did we do before? Then when they start playing suggested music that's similar to what you like, you discover all sorts of new things.
Yes, well, we're going to tell you the last two things that brought us joy this week. One of them we have to apologize to our kids for and the other let's just simply say meatballs.
Welcome back to this edition of Amy and TJ, and we are taking you on a recovery run with us the things we did throughout the week to bring us some joy, to cover a little bit from all the heaviness that we all experience each and every week. And we talked a little bit about some of the things we did on our own, but there were a couple of things that we did and are doing together that are bringing us joy. Should we talk about meatballs first?
We are on others happened. We've been went back Keto for I guess maybe six.
Weeks now, yeah, six weeks. So obviously people understand Keto. It's uh, you explain.
I'll explain Keto because I was I was a Keto what do they call it? Ketov angela evangelist, Keto evangelist. That's what it is. No, I know, I've tried to really not be so annoying, but yes, I went off of it for a little while. We're back on it, and so yes, we don't really we massively limit our carbs, and we're always looking for some delicious fat. It could be animal fat, it can be vegetable fat. And we got on a meatball kick and so we have we
have been loving meatballs. You can't have the meatballs with the breading, so it's a specific We have to find Italian restaurants that do the meatballs with cheese and tomato sauce.
Let's give our boy credit.
Perry Club.
Ferry Club was that.
West Village, Yes, West Village.
You all can get to brandon our guy over at the Perry Club. Still the best meatball I've ever had in my life, Yes, and at that place.
The problem is it that particular restaurant doesn't open until five PM, and that is almost past our bed time at this point. So we have to find restaurants at least when we're hungry in the middle of the day, which is everyone else's end of the day. And we we actually stumbled on the meatball shop in Hell's Kitchen because Eva, my oldest, was in a play and she was she was in an off Broadway play was that night. It was that night and it was her first paid professional appearance.
The one with the guy. The kid got the lines.
Yes, so we didn't know afterwards. We didn't know until afterwards, but she, I guess one of them, I don't know who. She had a scene with a partner. Someone skipped ahead to the end of the scene and then they had to kind of backtrack and make stuff up an ad lib to get back on track with the script. But I didn't notice. Did you notice?
Yes, because I kept saying always that if he asked her one more time, can I take you home?
I'm going to lose my mind?
Right? We thought that was weird.
That tis then we learned he was trying to get the scene back on track.
So yes, this is, yes, this is These are young budding artists who are still working out their their craft. But anyway, we wouldn't normally probably not ever be in the Hell's Kitchen area because we'd stay downtown in at ten block radius. But we ended up finding the meatball shop and got all sorts of chicken meatballs, veal meatballs. We will be back. We will take a trip just to go back there. It was so good.
The special for the day was the jerk chicken meatball. I think we didn't get that. But and then they were so nice. They allowed us to sit outside and stay hang out and have a drink a little longer.
They were great. But we will be back to that Shoa.
Yes. And then we found a fantastic place to order meatballs in and we went to Parm and we had their meatballs, and then we had their meatball Parm. So we just can't have the pasta. It's just we had a side salad instead, which was lovely. Anyway. So we've been on a huge meatball kick and that has brought us so much joy. We're out to keep finding all the great meatball shops in New York City.
Okay, the last thing that brought us joy.
Look, we don't no, we'd never avoid our kids. We never get an opportunity to avoid our kids. They always need something. So Bean is twelve. Soon as she gets out of school, she darts towards wherever we are. Yes and Elisa's home for the summer, and Ava is actually transitioning to her grown up apartment, if you will. So she's hanging staying at the apartment for the summer. So we got full house all the time. But they all just happen to be out of town this weekend. So what did mama and daddy do.
We booked an airbnb on a lake about an hour and change outside of the city, and we are now giving ourselves some very much needed alone time. And yes, we're together all the time, but we're working and we're managing kids. Tej's been saying this to me a lot lately. We are parenting entirely too much because at our ages, why are we parenting so much? You know, we love our kids. In fact, we're about to go on a family vacation soon enough, so this is actually, I feel
like this is really smart. We deserve this, We deserve this. So we have four nights where it's just the two of us, and honestly, the Wi Fi is spotty. We can't really communicate that well with anybody, which we're not upset about. And yes, we come back and we pretty much go straight into family vacation. So this is a little bit indulgent, but my god, it's it's bringing us joy.
Look, we are blessed to be able to travel and keep working as we're doing it.
But yes, as we do.
I just saw a pontoon boat go by as we were saying, all of that road, but this is great. So it is a stressful week for us. We get up very early and then we end up working later than we should, and we're trying to set better boundaries. But we take the moments to laugh about a meatball, to take a motorcycle ride, to something journal journal.
I can't wait till you start journaling.
And I'm going to make sure I come on here and talk about it.
Maybe read some injuries.
But anyway, we hope that maybe you take some time. Sometimes it's about prioritizing fun or prioritizing yourself or your relationship, and so everybody deserves to go on a recovery run. We hope you can find yours this weekend. But thank you for listening to us, and have a wonderful Saturday, everybody,