POTATO SALAD TRAUMA

Welcome to the carpool podcast with Kelly.

I had a coat that I had since I was selling cars.

And like, it was just, it was an old coat.

But like, it's a coat.

And she goes, you are too successful

to continue to wear this coat.

And Liz.

So he was gone for two weeks.

I'm forever changed by that experience.

I'm not even sure I can get into that right now.

I think I need to internalize some of that trauma.

Your mom time off starts now.

Welcome back to the carpool podcast with Kelly.

And Liz.

It's like a Monday.

Oh, sorry, we're recording on a Monday.

But it's a Monday that feels like a Monday,

but in a good way.

You know what I mean?

Like kind of fresh start of the week.

The week is ahead of you.

You can get so much done.

Yeah, like I'm still optimistic.

Like I'm, it is just my older two are in school.

The younger two are in childcare this week.

And it's just, we have been flying by the seat of our pants.

I think we all, no matter what your child care situation

is in the summer, summer's just got to rock us all.

It does.

And you're hot, you're hot.

It gets dark late.

And I'm so the person, I don't know if you're like this.

First of all, I love that we live in Missouri

because we get all of the seasons.

We really do.

Like we are very blessed for that.

And I get so tired of the season.

Like I swear it off every single.

I, yeah, but then like I love them,

but like I'm not a summer forever person.

Like I'm so ready for winter.

I'm ready for winter.

Like fall will be great.

I want it to be winter, but then in winter

I'm like, I'm so ready for summer.

I can't wait for summer.

Can't wait for it to be 93.

I'll never complain again.

It's like, then I will complain.

Yeah, I know.

It's so true.

The only season that I actually never wish away is fall though.

Yeah.

Fall is a good one.

It's nice.

Fall is a good one.

But I don't like winter.

But yeah, it is.

We're in a heat wave.

It's a lot to handle, but kids are back to school.

Kelly, happy birthday.

Thank you.

I have so much I want to recap about my birthday on.

I know.

We haven't even talked about it.

So Maddie was gone in the field

is what they call it, I think in the Marines.

So he was gone for two weeks.

I'm forever changed by that experience.

I only have that to talk about.

I'm not even sure I can get into that right now.

I think I need to internalize some of that trauma before I...

Well, and you know what?

I kind of mentioned it on my stories.

I was like, yeah, I'm solo parenting.

And someone was like,

well, aren't you living at your parents' house?

So are you really solo parenting?

And first of all, actually makes it so much harder.

Also, our parents travel a lot.

So they're like not really here.

And also like not being in my house with my setup

and like my child-proofing,

it's actually so much harder.

So thank you.

Anyway, Maddie was gone for two weeks.

He came back on your birthday.

So I did not attend your birthday party

because like he was coming home and, you know, all that.

But I do want to hear all about your birthday.

So first of all, Elizabeth's a changed woman

and she went through a lot.

So don't, for some reasons, you have no idea.

Okay, first of all, they have no idea.

And that's fine because it's such the balance of like,

I mean, you just, you want to be, whatever,

I don't even really want to get,

I don't really want to tackle this topic today.

I'm going to move on to my birthday party

because it was such a wonderful night.

So I, we ordered ribs.

So this is kind of my hack.

I like to cater the meat.

And when I can, and we have like a really great place

in the town that I live in and I just ordered ribs.

And they were, I mean, they're cut,

like ribs are so good.

They're one of my favorite food.

I haven't had them all summer.

No, that's not true.

I had them one at a time in the summer.

And I'm like, I want to get ribs for my birthday.

And there's so many, everything goes with ribs.

Like every summer dish you'd ever want goes well with ribs.

You know what I mean?

So we had ribs.

And then mom cut up a watermelon

because I hate cutting up a watermelon.

So mom served me in that way.

Ate it.

Dad made margaritas, which I,

he served me in that way.

And then I went to town on salads.

I had three different types of salads

that you could choose from at this event.

And none of them had lettuce.

So let me break it down for you.

I started with a potato.

I've never made a potato salad.

You can ask Elizabeth, you would have thought

it's all I had going on.

Like every time I was called, I'd be like,

well, here's what I'm thinking with my potato salad.

And I was so stressed out about this freaking potato salad.

It's like combined ingredients, sister.

You are such a good cook.

You make such complicated things

that I would never even attempt.

And she talked to me cumulatively,

probably two hours about a potato salad.

So I think I've noticed something about myself.

When I get stressed about things,

which, you know, we had the Mary Barry interview,

which we can talk about that.

Like I was kind of recovering

from the stress of all that.

When I get stressed, I like to take all of the stress

I have about actual real like work problems

and put them onto things in my life,

like a potato salad.

That is how you cope.

It's interesting.

I would kind of like to explore that a little bit deeper

on just like what that is actually all about.

But you do this often where you want to make one new thing.

And it's never anything complicated, ever.

It's like with my cabbage soup,

like when I just couldn't like,

cabbage soup, it's a potato salad.

It's not, there's been other ones too.

What is that country or chicken fried steak

that I'm still never going to attempt?

You were just like, yeah,

I made chicken fried steak for the first time.

It was pretty good.

It was kind of complicated.

But combining ingredients in a potato salad,

it's freaking out.

I wanted to make a potato salad.

Our grandma had a great potato salad recipe.

And I got the recipe from our aunt.

Now grandma adds MSG,

which you can just apparently buy like a seasoning.

I don't even know what MSG is.

I just know that I'm not supposed to have it.

Mom says it makes the food more addicting.

And I was, oh, so is that what it was?

Is that why I was like so obsessed

with the potato salad?

Like it's a flavor enhancer that like makes food.

Let's just go do a quick, what is MSG?

But Logan always puts it in his cucumbers,

but he is eating cucumbers all the time.

It's the ability to intensify flavor.

But it's a subject of controversy.

I don't know.

Hmm, I don't know.

So anyway, I was like, well, I don't have MSG.

I went to Trader Joe's to like for,

you know, I did, what, it doesn't matter.

There's a lot of drama with,

let's not get sourced in the agreement.

We both have a little trauma.

For my potato salad,

but Trader Joe's didn't have MSG.

So I'm like, I'm not gonna do the MSG.

Like I'll just, you know,

I'm gonna do fresh herbs instead.

Like maybe just grandma didn't have access to dill

and chives as I do.

So I'm gonna do these fresh herbs instead.

Cause I said, I looked up an Aina Garden potato salad

recipe because I was just gonna do that one.

But the thing with Aina is it's a little too,

like I don't want a stone ground mustard.

I'm looking for a mayo base, you know?

I'm looking for like Aina kind of sometimes.

And this is no shade to Aina.

I'm gonna say something.

This is no shade to Aina.

But you have to remember about her recipes

is she doesn't have any kids,

which is totally fine.

Like she, I actually, Aunt Lizzie read her book

and she has like a really interesting reason

for not having kids that I want to spoil.

And I also don't know enough about it.

Why am I talking so much about this potato salad?

It's the guys for the record,

this has been my past week.

Anyway, so you just have to remember that sometimes

we're all looking at Aina's recipes.

Like they're just a little bit.

Sometimes I think unnecessarily complicated.

I'm just gonna say that.

Okay.

Anyway,

I made a potato salad.

Now here's the thing with a potato salad

that's freaking hard.

Let me just break this down for you.

They've got to be soft enough to like cut

without turning into mashed potatoes.

And that's an art.

And that's an art that I didn't have.

Now, since I've done research,

I learned that I should have done an ice bath with them.

I should have pulled them out

and put them in an ice bath.

I just let them cool naturally like an idiot.

So the flavor I thought was there.

I thought was delicious.

Dad goes, I don't know, Kel,

it's kind of missing something.

I said, well, it's missing MSG.

So, sorry.

But they were also like, it was,

they were a little bit,

it kind of, it was like cold mashed potatoes.

With mayonnaise, cause like it wasn't quite.

They were very mashy.

So that's the second place salad.

The third place salad,

I did a tomato cucumber mozzarella.

I didn't have fresh basil in it, showed.

And I was disappointed in myself.

I also had my proportions all out of whack.

I had too much cheese, too much cucumber,

not enough tomato, probably could have used more salt.

Probably should have let that one sit and marinate,

but I didn't.

That was the last place salad.

The first place salad was a last minute addition.

Because one thing about me is I love a broccoli salad.

People don't know this about me.

Did you know this about me?

I don't know.

I feel like broccoli's been a lot of your personality.

So.

A broccoli salad, like if I'm at a barbecue restaurant

and that's an option, like I'm ordering it.

Like I love a broccoli salad.

And my sister-in-law has a really good one,

but she was like traveling when she was coming in

so she couldn't make it.

So I was like, I can make a broccoli salad.

Like I just did a potato.

Like I was kind of, you know,

I was kind of on top of the world a little bit.

So me and chat GBT whipped up

the most amazing broccoli salad.

It was, it was the only salad that was,

there was none left in the bowl.

Wow.

What was that?

Okay, so you chopped some broccoli.

It's all about the chopping.

You chop some broccoli, you chop red onion.

And then you do mayo and honey

to kind of make the dressing

because you want it to kind of be like that.

Like that kind of a little sweet.

And then of course, apple cider vinegar

because it needs a little zing.

And then, I don't remember what else.

I told chat GBT to save the recipe though,

but me and her were just like a work in,

she's a sous chef.

We were working side by side

because she said, can you add sunflower seeds?

I said, I don't have sunflower seeds.

Do you, should I use pistachios or almonds?

And then she's like, hmm, let me think.

And she recommended pistachios.

That was smooth.

And they were delicious.

And then I had golden raisins,

which I love a broccoli salad with golden raisins.

And I randomly had those in my pantry.

So it all, it all came together.

It all came together.

And that was the highlight of my birthday.

My broccoli salad, truthfully.

I wanna talk about what you got for your birthday

because actually, I think I have a new approach to

when you need to come up with like,

what do you want for a gift?

And you're like, I don't know,

like I don't need anything, whatever.

I think I have a new approach.

So I wanna talk about that from you guys or from mom.

Well, actually from both.

So first of all,

what I like about maybe just having a podcast

is that you just talk about

everything going on in your life

and you're very much in your hosting era

and you just got your pool

and you just wanna be the house that everyone comes to.

So I told mom, I was like, you should get her hosting stuff.

And she really, really needs a utensil caddy.

So like kind of take that and run with it.

So mom took that and ran with it

and she got you a whole like hosting set,

like a nice tray, a utensil caddy,

a wine chiller that all goes together.

It was so nice.

It was so pretty.

And it's because you've got something going on.

What do you mean?

In the sense of you're trying to master something in your life

and that thing in your life is hosting.

So that, it's an interest.

You could call it a hobby.

I think women sometimes have a hard time having hobbies

because where do we find the time to fit in a hobby?

But you wanna host and so like

you really wanna master that craft.

So that was like a really nice jumping off point

for a gift.

Now the thing that I got you

or your siblings got you

is we got you a Mackenzie Childs teapot.

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

It's art.

It's Kelly has wanted one for a while.

And for Christmas, she got a Mackenzie Childs,

what's a serving platter, but you use it for your fruit.

So I thought she loves her serving platter.

She's been talking about this kettle.

It was a splurge gift,

but like when you split it with four people

it really wasn't bad at all.

So that's what we got you.

And so what I kind of wanna do in my new home

is I wanna find my Mackenzie Childs.

Like I don't know if Mackenzie Childs is my vibe,

but like what is it from Creighton Barrel or William Snowman?

Like I wanna find a collection of kitchenware.

And then like for every Christmas, birthday, anniversary

it's like just get me a piece from that collection.

And it's a splurge and it's something I wouldn't buy myself

but it's something that's gonna bring me joy

and make me happy.

And over the years

I will eventually like collect this collection

because like William Snowman,

they keep the same collections for years and years and years.

Like it's not going anywhere.

So that's sort of my maybe my new approach.

I'm not sure what it's gonna be for me yet,

but I do feel like you've kind of got the,

well, I just like blue and white.

You like the Mackenzie Child

and you like the, you have your blue lecressé.

And so I also had looked into like getting you

like lecressé mugs or Mackenzie Childs mugs.

And it's just to continue to build your collection

and continue to build these little luxuries

that make you really happy.

So, yeah.

And it's like, I hope my kids fight over

my Mackenzie Child's pieces

because it's like that's so mom.

Like that's what I want them to say.

Like, oh, that was so mom.

So a couple of things.

Chris's gift knocks it out of the park

and she was the perfect person to buy me that.

Now we've kind of decided like

it's gonna be like my bar tray.

So like, first of all,

I can't wait to get rid of the baby brezza.

Like I'm looking down like three weeks left on that.

And then we're done with formula.

I'm very excited.

And then like where the baby brezza and the coffee pot are

like those have to go when I'm hosting a big party

and like that's where we set up the bar.

So like I feel good about that.

The utensil holder is gorgeous.

And I'm already like, was there a matching chips

and salsa bowl?

Because that is the missing link.

Well, we have to go look up the collection.

Because they were, yeah, it was stunning and gorgeous.

Mom also bought me.

Did you know what else she got for me?

Yes, yes.

Our mother, you might not think this is about her.

The woman is such a bargain hunter.

Like she likes nice things,

but not as much as she likes a deal.

And it was kind of like one of those gifts

where it was like, okay, like I didn't know

you thought I needed that so badly.

She bought me three pairs of shoes

from clearance from Marshalls.

Like they were all like 70% off.

And she's like, yeah, they were like,

she bought like three $19 pairs of shoes.

And she's like, you know,

cause you just like never have the right shoe.

And I'm like, oh, I don't, I don't.

No, I know, it's like kind of a dig.

But the shoes are cute.

And at the end of the day, it was kind of headspace.

Cause then she's right.

Cause you know what she's right.

I don't have a summer heel.

Well, for someone to be able to see that into your life

because maybe you're just like a little blind

from all of the sneakers that you have.

She sent me photos when she was there

and she also had sneakers pulled out.

And I was like, for the love of God

don't give this girl any sneakers.

Kind of hurtful, also kind of,

okay, so you think I need better shoes?

I'm happy someone's looking out for me.

Well, one time mom came into my closet

and I had like a coat,

you know what coat I'm talking about?

And she was like, I had a coat

that I had since I was selling cars.

And like it was just, it was an old coat,

but like it's a coat.

And she goes, you are too successful

to continue to wear this coat.

She took it out of my closet.

And I was like, no, our mom,

our mom is so hilarious.

I think she's right.

Well, we have been five different sizes

in the past two years, I mean, you even more,

just like up and down, having babies,

postpartum, whatever, you fluctuate so much.

Buying new clothes is not really

the most fun thing to do.

But when we get dressed or we're going to an event,

I'm like, I don't really know what to wear to this event.

I have jeans, what should I wear with it?

And she's like, well, don't you,

you know what, just throw on like a silk,

a purple silk button up with a bow on it.

And it's like, you think I just have that line around?

It's my favorite thing she does.

She's like, just grab a denim vest,

like a silk pant and like a leopard pump and like walk out.

And I'm like, okay.

So here's what I'm working with.

I've got a jean jacket.

I think they may make silk pants in my height.

You're dreaming.

But she's also, she's always trying to help us grow.

No, she's trying to help us grow.

And I do, I do, you know,

you do need people like that in your life, you know,

how they say, like if your husband brings something to you,

like, hey, I see this in your life,

you should maybe you can improve on

if my husband ever said that to me.

Oh my God, I'd probably like kill him.

But you should really take seriously

what people who are so close to you in your life say

because they know you so truly.

And so when she's like, you need a summer heel,

chances are.

Chances are you need to summer heel.

And like when she looks at my crusty old coat

that I had since 2016, he goes, you need a new coat.

Like she was spot the lie.

Like it was just, she's right.

I need a new coat.

So.

Anyway, I love her.

Couldn't say enough things,

couldn't say enough good things about her.

Okay, then we went to Detroit.

This is a whole other thing.

Oh, then we went to Detroit.

Well, actually before my birthday, we went to Detroit.

For a whirlwind, 22 hours.

Mm-hmm.

We went to Detroit to interview Mary Barra.

Barra.

Oh my gosh.

I knew that.

Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors.

We had 30 minutes with her.

We had multiple Zoom calls.

Multiple Zoom calls with the team.

With like six people on it.

Yeah.

To go over this 30 minute meeting.

Like she is the biggest wig I've ever met.

Well, General Motors is one of the biggest car companies

and she's the CEO and she's a woman.

Like it's just all coming up.

Opportunity of a wise mom.

And she's a mom.

She was, now you guys got to understand.

Like there are things, I mean,

we had to get our questions approved.

Like it was, what is that noise?

Sorry, I accidentally hit a button.

It was chirping.

Yeah, I know, I'm sorry.

So we were nervous.

We had our questions prepared.

Like it was more just like,

I was looking at this as just like a really good opportunity

to meet her and to like just try to share

like what we're trying to do, you know?

Yeah.

She was so much warmer and delightful than I was expecting.

Don't you think?

Yeah.

So she's worked at GM for,

I don't know when she was 18.

She was an intern when she was 18.

And her dad worked at GM.

And her dad worked at GM and now she's the CEO,

which is like such, like that's crazy.

Engineer by degree.

She's worked a ton of jobs at General Motors.

And we did a lot of,

we listened to a lot of her other interviews before this

to kind of get a vibe check.

But all of the other interviews were very like serious

and like stockholders.

And it's like, what about the terrorists?

It's like so serious.

And so we were like kind of nervous,

like is she gonna be down to like make an Instagram reel

with us because that's kind of what we're after.

Anyway, she was,

and I think it was probably refreshing for her

to not have to talk like this such the heavy stuff.

No, and like I, here's the thing.

I did as good as I could have done,

but I am not, I don't,

like I'm not an expert interviewer.

And I actually think I get interviewed a lot.

And to me that's,

I'm way more comfortable answering the questions

than I am asking the questions.

Cause that's, that is a whole other art to,

it is hard.

It's very hard.

And we had 30 minutes and that included pleasantries.

So like this was not like sit down and get to know you.

But like one of my favorite things that she did Liz

was I forgot to introduce Elizabeth because sorry,

like who had, like I was just so stressed

and focused on my questions.

And as we started talking,

she's like, wait, in your Elizabeth, right?

Remember when she did that Liz, she knows your name.

Yeah.

She said, oh, and you're Kelly's sister, you're Liz.

And I'm like, yeah, I'm her.

It was, it was awesome.

It was awesome.

And it was, yeah, it was super, it was just super cool.

So interview should be out soon.

It's funny.

I didn't even tell you this, Cal,

but when I, my first job out of college,

I worked, I did digital marketing for dealerships.

I worked for a company that did it.

And I would have to go to Detroit

cause I had like a client there

and we, my client worked with GM.

So anyway, I had to go to GM.

I actually was in that waiting room that we were in, Cal.

You didn't tell me that.

Like many, many, many years ago.

Well, I know I didn't want to,

you were really stressed out.

I didn't want to bring it.

I didn't really think you would care.

It was just so crazy because I went there

so many years ago for my first job

and then we were there again, like meeting the CEO.

And it was just like a very cool moment of like, wow.

Wow.

Look at how far we've come.

Yeah.

So it was great.

I mean, I would love to have the opportunity

to do something like that again

or like talk to her again or just, you know,

oh, then I went to the Car Seat Safety Lab

and I made more enemies than friends there, I think.

No, not enemies.

No, I don't think so.

But I just, that's where I felt like I could be,

that's where I felt like I could advocate

for like change a lot more, you know?

Like I wasn't going to like waste my 30 minutes

with Mary to like dive into, I mean, that's just,

that's not, that's not what I wanted to ask her.

And like that's not what I thought

she would find interesting.

But then we got to go to the proving grounds

and meet in the Car Seat Safety Lab

and then I asked the hard,

I was like the Car Seat, the technician, engineer,

the girl who tests them all out.

And Kelly gave her, I mean, she just word vomited

every problem she has with every.

It was worse than the potato salad

conversation of earlier.

Yeah, I'm for sure.

No, but it was good.

I think she was really receptive to it

and that was really exciting to,

because sometimes Kelly will try

and talk about this stuff at PR events with.

Oh yeah, you're right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they're like, yeah, I don't know like,

nor do they care, which sure,

like you're in it for PR and fun events.

You're not in it.

This girl is installing car seats

in these cars every day.

She cares.

The other people are respectfully,

they don't care and that's okay.

I guess.

Kelly brought everything up.

She did bring up, everyone's gonna ask

because the interview's gonna come out.

Kelly did not ask Mary Bear

about the third row middle head restraints.

She did talk to the car seat engineer about it.

And we did get an answer of their coming

in all the vehicles,

they're in all of the two vehicles right now.

So that's already a major improvement.

And besides that, I mean,

I did ask about the lower anchors

and this is like really granular.

So if you don't care about this,

maybe like skip forward 30 seconds.

But the lower anchor discussion,

I think is interesting because

I don't expect people to use lower anchors

in the third row for car seats

because a lot of the times children

who are in the third row

have outgrown the weight limit for lower anchors.

And you could always just do a seat belt installation.

So I get that.

But where I kind of wanted to just,

where I was trying to kind of advocate

for why I do think they should add lower anchors

into the third row is for the booster seats

that have latch attachments.

Because boosters with latch,

I'm seeing more and more of them hit the market

because they have benefits.

The benefit meaning it stays in the seat.

So it makes it easier for your child

to always be in the same seat and they're safer

because then when your child's not in it,

it doesn't become a projectile.

So, and again, that's one of those things

where it's like, yeah, you don't have to add it.

I'm like, yeah, it's fine,

but it doesn't hurt anything to add it, you know?

Yeah.

That could all end up being like a supply and demand thing though.

Like if more people are going that route, then, you know,

maybe they'll add it.

But yeah, besides that, I mean, it was very interesting.

I, we, I think we have the real of it list.

We should post that real.

But what I thought was interesting is, and again,

this is just like, you know,

these are these very granular things

when you don't realize how much goes into making a car.

And I didn't say granular one time in an interview

with Mary Barra.

And I don't think anyone's talking about that.

She did not say granular,

but she did say razzle dazzle to Mary Barra.

Barra, you keep saying Barra.

I just, at the, at the end of the interview,

Kelly comes out to me and she has,

you know, I had to sneak the razzle dazzle.

The razzle dazzle.

That's your new hyper fixation word.

Razzle dazzle.

Yeah, whenever we're on these like really different story.

What was I saying?

I'm all over the place today.

I have no idea.

Oh, so we were talking to her and tether anchors.

So on the back of the seats,

there's like the little emblem that has the tether anchors.

So legally, they only have to put the icon.

So the, but GM has decided to write the word tether anchor.

They've also decided to make it in white ink,

because again, legally all they have to do

is make the symbol and like,

what's the word emboss it onto the black plastic.

So like it could look a lot less noticeable,

but GM decided because they want it to be,

because that is a frequent misuse with families.

Like they just don't know what it's for sometimes.

So the fact that it says tether anchor,

it's black and white contrast.

It's way more visible than it,

than found in a lot of other cars.

I want to take a picture of my Ford, just like to compare.

No, I want to take a picture of my Carnival

because I looked at the owner's manual

just to confirm that it was the tether anchor

and not a cargo thing.

Like I was, you know, 99% positive,

but you know, it just, it wasn't clearly marked.

And you're a CPST.

And I'm a CPST.

Well, that's why I looked at my manual.

So I thought that was very interesting.

And the other interesting part was she's like, you know,

the design team doesn't like that

because they don't want me to be visible,

but like we fought for that.

And I'm like, okay.

All right, thank you.

And you know what I noticed the other,

since she pointed that out?

Whose car was it?

Maybe mom's car or something.

It was a BMW.

They have the exact, oh no, I was at the dealership.

I was at the BMW dealership.

And James wanted to get in the trunk of the car.

BMW has the same thing as, it says Tether Anchor.

It's contrast.

It's very clear.

Love to see it.

So shout out.

Love to see it.

Shout out.

Love to see it.

You got the same Stanley that I got?

Mm.

I did.

I'm looking at Kelly.

Did I influence you?

No, you didn't.

You didn't influence me.

Tell me what you think about the 40 ounce.

Okay.

So you guys know we've been at

30 ounce Iced flow stands for years.

Now here's the problem.

I don't work with, I'm like, I still use Stanley's every day.

I'm just like not working with them

in a professional capacity anymore.

So this doesn't even mean product.

And I've lost all but one of my Iced flows.

Are you serious?

I would get a lot and I would just

give them away to people, you know?

So like I was giving a lot away

and I was like, I don't need 10 Iced flows.

I was like, I've got the three.

I had a pink one with my name and a green one

and a blue one.

Where are my Iced flows?

I've left them at places.

No, press car.

I've just left them at places.

Like it's not that they're in my house.

They're gone.

So I have all but one.

Um, so I was like, I'm going to get another one

because sometimes that one's dirty.

And I like this one.

I need to drink more water.

As we all do.

But yeah, I got the same one as you.

And it's just day one of using it.

So I'm like not really ready to talk about it yet.

I haven't even put it in a car yet.

I can't even confirm what that looks like.

Okay. Well, I can confirm.

I'll be like so curious to hear your thoughts.

I have not touched my 30 ounce Iced flows

since I got this 40 ounce flip straw.

Yeah.

So anyway.

So anyway, that was our quick trip to Detroit.

We get back from Detroit and boom, first day of school.

Boom, first day of school in kindergarten.

Crazy Kelly, you know.

Yeah.

I wasn't that emotional.

I was fine.

We also did, like we did decide to hold George back a year

because he has like a late birthday

and that was just a personal decision we made

for our family at the time.

And I have no regrets doing that.

So I say that though, I felt like,

like he was definitely ready for kindergarten.

You know, like he's so ready for kindergarten.

And he was so excited.

Which that makes it so much easier on you though

to like not question if he is ready

and for him to be excited.

Like that just makes it easier.

Last year, when you held him back,

he didn't have a very good transition.

So I don't think he was ready.

I don't think he, I think it also just worked out

with like us moving and then going to a different school

and a meeting.

You know, I've talked to people at lengths about this

and like it's just totally a decision

that you have to make with your kid.

Yeah.

But I would also, I just liked the perspective of

I'm not just holding him back like from kindergarten

because like George would have been finding kindergarten.

But it's just like, it's just everything.

It's like the middle school.

It's the high school.

It's the going to college.

And I just think like having him

and I get him at home for one more year.

Like, okay, I'm the winner.

So he's going to live at home for one more extra year.

Yeah, it's your only opportunity to kind of like

slow things down a little bit.

Yeah, I'll take it.

So the way our all of our other kids' birthdays fall,

we won't do that.

But George just being like end of May,

we just decided that it was the better call for him.

So, and he's the oldest too.

So I kind of feel like when you're the oldest

like you aren't.

I don't want to say he's doing everything for the first time.

Like he doesn't have a sibling to walk him through

or to experience it.

Like he is navigating it for the first time in your family.

So it worked out really well for us.

And Tyler's mom did it with him too

because Tyler has a similar birthday to George

and Tyler had like liked it.

And I was always, I'm an August birthday.

So I was always the oldest in my class.

So I'm not sure you need to justify this.

Is this like a hot button issue?

Yeah, it is.

Yeah.

Oh.

Yeah, sometimes.

But that's okay.

But anyway, we had the first day of kindergarten.

So exciting.

I think you're, I think this is really

going to be your time to shine.

I mean, you've been such a good mom obviously,

but I really think that grade school

is going to be where you know, I agree.

I've been waiting for the grade school years.

I don't, I've said this before,

I'm not the biggest like baby person.

Like I love my babies.

Don't love anyone else's.

Don't love, not that's not true.

I love other people's babies,

but like I just, I think kids are so fun.

Like I think kids are so fun.

And we had a little back to school bash.

On the first day of school, it was a half day.

And then I said, and our pool was finally ready.

So I was like, what if I invited a bunch of people over?

And we had like, how many kids did we have?

Like 14, like young kids,

like kindergarteners and below at our house.

And you know, some of the moms had to work.

So I just took their kids home,

shout out to the expedition max could fit two extra kids.

Love it.

With my four kids, love to see it.

And it was just like,

I just think the grade school years are so, so fun.

I'm so looking forward to them.

Like I'm already so lathered up for trunk or tree.

Yeah.

And I told, I told how this this morning

because it's, it's a layup for content for me.

But like we need to be decorating our trunk.

We need to be going all out.

And like I need to be making content around the trunk

because we always do the like the March Madness style

who has the best trunk.

And I don't even have, I don't even have a dog in the fight.

I should have a dog in the fight.

Well, and after we've seen what Tyler can do

with a hay bale and some plywood, I mean, I'm sorry.

I'm expecting a lot.

We know he can paint.

We know he's creative, like bring it on.

So here's my initial plan that I'm thinking out right now.

So Hattie's birthday is October 14th.

I do think I'm just going to repurpose

Hattie's birthday decorations

and then give my car a little bit more razz-dazz

and make that theme.

So I do think my trunk or tree theme

will be Gabby's dollhouse.

Okay.

I think that's fine though.

Like I don't think what the theme is matters.

I just think it's like sometimes those are the best themes.

Like it's just like a random, like it's Gabby's dollhouse.

So we're going all out for Gabby's dollhouse.

It's never the spooky ones that when it's the target one.

It's the minions.

It's the candy land.

It's always something so random.

So I know.

So Hattie wants to have a Gabby's dollhouse birthday.

I'm like we'll repurpose.

And I love, sometimes I love this.

I love to do things sometimes for one of my kids

and like not the other ones, you know?

Like I don't want to do something that well, I'll enjoy.

It's like, no, we're doing Gabby's dollhouse.

Sorry, George.

We're not doing Minecraft or Pokemon or Reptile

or whatever you think you're into.

Yeah.

We're doing Gabby's dollhouse.

I think that's good for him.

Give him grit.

I just want to put this reminder out there

for everyone that four, Hattie's turning five.

Four is the time for the princesses

because I asked Hattie the other day

her favorite princess and I was like, oh, it's Elsa.

Isn't it?

She's like, no, I don't even like Elsa.

Yeah, I know.

And I think maybe Hattie's kind of a little bit

mature in that way too.

Oh my gosh.

And then guess what?

Hold on, guess what we're gonna do this week?

What?

Guess what movie we're gonna watch?

You're gonna die when I tell you.

Hold on, because I said the movie the other day

and you said, oh my God, we need to watch that.

Oh, Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

Tyler didn't have cable growing up.

And first of all, it shows.

Don't know if it's show, a bit like.

I'm joking, I'm joking.

We just like didn't,

and Tyler was like the youngest with two older sisters

and I was the oldest with like four younger siblings.

So like, you know, he was like watching friends

and like rom-coms, like that's what he watched.

Okay, it does show.

No, it does show.

No, it shows for sure.

And I'm like, oh no, like we were watching,

we've talked about this Disney Channel until we were 15.

I didn't watch friends until I was an adult

and I felt guilty about it.

But we're gonna watch Shark Boy and Lava Girl tonight.

It's like, what a flex.

Where can you watch?

You have to rent it.

Okay, worth the rent.

Worth the $3.99.

Done.

And I think George and Heidi, and I'm really hoping-

You might wanna buy it, Cal.

You might have to buy it.

And I want George and Heidi

to be Shark Boy and Lava Girl for Halloween.

George would be such, that would be so cute.

Bring back Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

We need everyone to, if their kids are old enough,

to watch it because I need to see

some Shark Boy and Lava Girl costumes, like bring it back.

Yeah, so I'm trying to think about

how I can convince them to be Shark Boy and Lava Girl.

Well, they get to dye their hair, so that's exciting.

That's true.

And then you know what else we need to watch?

Spy Kids.

Yes.

I know.

I mean, there's what, four of them?

I am so excited for Spy Kids.

Oh my gosh, wow.

Now those are gonna be exciting to watch.

Those, I'm sad.

I'm sad.

I'm sad for Spy Kids.

Yeah, that's fun.

Oh my gosh, you're living such a fun life.

Well, speaking of kind of living fun lives,

my renovation is underway.

Cal, my cabinets were delivered this week.

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

My timeline is hitting its mark.

We're close.

It's HGTV over there.

I'm so impressed.

I really am.

Thank you.

You've done a good job.

I'm very proud of you.

Thank you.

It's been very hard, and I really,

100% would never recommend this to anyone.

But it's coming right along.

I will be trick or treating in my neighborhood.

So that's exciting.

We'd love to see it.

Can't wait.

Can't wait for the real of the before and after,

because no offense, with the transformation things,

it's like people really only care about the before and after.

And that's why I haven't posted any reels,

because I know if someone's doing a home renovation,

oh my God, does anyone else see this girl

who's trying to take her bedroom into an 80s?

An 80s?

Oh, is that the girl with the columns?

Yes.

I do not follow her.

She's come across my desk too many times.

No, every now and then she'll come across my desk.

I'm like, girl, I've not checked in with you in months,

and you have no updates.

So to do it live is hard,

because I want to see the before and after.

It's hard to keep it interesting.

Nothing is worse than when you see a renovation video

that you're really excited to see how it turns out

and you go to click on their profile

and it says just posted that video that you just watched.

Yeah, nothing worse.

Yeah, no, and I'm not saying they can't be making content,

but it's hard to make that content interesting

and satisfying, because so much of renovation content,

I'm sorry, I need the before and after.

You know who does a really good job?

It's Kylie Katich.

No, I don't follow Kylie Katich.

She does a lot of DIYs, very, very cute.

She will post like, I think she has the project done

and then she starts posting it.

Like it's not a full re-renovation.

Like she'll do a room at a time

and every day she'll release a new video.

And she does it quick and she's DIYing,

so all of that kind of stuff helps,

but it's very satisfying to see.

I wish I could be a DIY girl, but I just can't.

I try, I try, I just, they work too hard.

They work too, they work, they work so hard

and it looks so easy when they post it

in the 30 second reel, and it's just, yeah.

Well, Liz, I think that's our episode.

Okay, what do you think?

Yeah, no, I feel good.

So when are we going back, Kel, it's like,

I think September or we're going back

to two episodes a week.

Yes, September, we're going back

to two episodes a week, so get excited, everyone.

So get excited.

I'm super excited and we're gonna, yeah.

Have a good, good.

I just can't wait for fall, September.

Like my, you wanna know my favorite ASMR right now?

What?

When it's like 45 days to this,

and it's the Sunday night football,

and it's like images of like it being cold outside,

and then like images of chili on the stove.

Like get me there.

And I'm gonna be, I'm gonna watch every Lions game.

I told, I've told all of this multiple times.

We're gonna watch the Lions games.

We're Lions fans.

Okay.

I like it.

It's, it's good to be a fan of something.

It's good to be part of something.

Next time you're in Detroit,

like we've got to catch a game.

I don't have to catch a game.

But if we just like went to the Lions games,

I'm actually liking Detroit.

I'm going back there in September.

So it's nice.

Is football going on in September?

Could you catch a game?

Could I catch a game?

Well, I was gonna catch one.

Pre-season right now.

Let's see.

So number fourth.

Will they be in town when you're there?

Let's see.

Detroit Lions schedule 2025.

Here we go.

Hold on.

Let's just invest in this.

We're all here.

Everyone just take a beat.

No.

Because I have a game.

I have a game.

They have a game.

We have a game.

September, I'll be there the 21st

through like the 23rd

and they're playing the 28th

and I'm not gonna stick around.

No, no, no, no.

But C. Cal, this is also

when it back to the birthday

and like Christmas gift things too.

It's like you just decided

to become a Detroit Lions fan.

So now it's like someone

can get you like a Detroit Lions hat.

You know, I'm just a girl with hobbies.

I'm so interested in that.

It's not even a hobby.

It's just like interest.

It's just like, let me just make this my interest.

Like I'm really inspired by you for that.

Thank you, Elizabeth,

because it's just like all coming up

like Potato Sal, Detroit's Lions,

Mackenzie Child, like Hosting's the Mostine.

Waits like into gardening or something.

I know.

That's gonna be crazy.

It's gonna be really crazy.

So I'm really inspired by you.

Elizabeth, that's so kind.

Everyone find your thing to talk about.

And it can be quite literally anything.

Just making your personality.

And I do think people,

like I like hearing those kinds of things.

Yeah, I do too.

And I think that's why sometimes people

like to listen to our podcast

because we're just talking about things.

Things and stuff.

It's just things and stuff.

And it's just like those conversations.

Like one of my favorite memes ever

is like, how you know you had a good girl's night.

And it's like, Hey, here's that recipe

to the same when I was telling you about.

Totally.

Like that's my, those are my friends.

That's what I'm up to.

Yeah.

And I think that's fun.

I think it's fun.

I like listening about it.

So, oh, we have it to drive.

There is it just Potato Salad.

Oh, no, let's come up with one.

Have I talked about it?

Go ahead.

Have I talked about my Crunchwrap Supremes?

I feel like I have.

See, that sounds like a lot,

a big thing for me to tackle.

This is how let me tell you.

I don't know if I could tell.

It's so easy.

Liz, you say that.

No, it is.

If I can do it.

First of all, if I can do something

and I know people say that,

oh, if I can do it, anyone can do it.

If I can do it, anyone can do it.

Anyone.

So you could do with your eyes closed

and one hand tied behind your back.

No, the folding you would need two hands for.

But it's very easy.

Okay.

Charlotte posted a reel.

I feel like I already made this

as a ditch to the drive through.

I think you did, too.

I'm making them for dinner tonight.

I'll try that.

Well, you know what?

I'm making for dinner tonight,

which is just kind of adjacent.

And this is one we've shared before, too.

But so we had ribs and Tyler's mom

made some pulled pork.

But we had a lot of leftover pork

because I got way too many ribs.

And like, why did I ask her to bring pulled pork

when I was bringing ribs?

Because then it was double pork.

But mom said that was good

to eat just like a lot of pork instead of like,

I don't know, the verdicts out on how that went.

Well, if you're going to ask someone to bring meat,

the meat to ask them to bring is pork.

It's the easiest thing to make.

And barbecue pork.

I don't know.

I got to get the recipe to what this woman did do it.

She brings in two crock pots

and she pulls oranges out of them.

They have a little like teriyaki zing doing,

but not in a way where you also

can't make them barbecue-y.

They were good.

So what am I going to make

with my leftover pulled pork tonight?

You're going to make nachos.

I'm going to make pulled pork nachos.

Yeah.

So good.

The best.

They're just incredible.

Incredible.

And I'm so excited.

Running through your toppings,

your ideal topping scenario.

Totally.

So first of all, you get a sheet pan.

I, the kids, I'm just going to like a la carte there

is like just give them some chips,

some cheese and some, I don't know.

Well, they're going to just kind of scavenge.

Now, are you doing shredded cheese

or are you eating queso?

I don't have queso,

so I'm just going to do shredded cheese.

But in a perfect world, I would do queso.

Maybe, I'm not the biggest queso person.

But from Tyler and I, I'm going to do it upright.

Like I'm going to treat this like,

like a borderline date night.

Like we're going to have fun with it.

Turn on Shark Boy and Lavagirl

and we're going to sit down and eat this.

Except not, because I'm going to probably bring these

to watch Shark Boy and Lavagirl.

Sheet pan, chips, pork, cheese,

shredded cheese in the oven or barbecue sauce

in the oven it goes.

Sweet baby rays.

It's got to be baby.

It's got to be baby rice.

I screwed this up.

I thought I was getting like a nicer like Kansas City.

I'm going to do like an artisanal one.

No, no, that's not the recipe.

That's not everything else about this recipe

is do you, honey, boo,

Ms. Sweet Baby Races, a mandatory.

And then you're going to pull it out

and then you're going to do the sour cream, the salsa,

cut an avocado.

I like jalapenos.

So I'm going to put jalapenos on mine

and that's probably all.

Do you say onions?

I don't think I'm going to chop an onion for this.

I sometimes like to chop an onion.

I sometimes like to do cilantro, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't think it's worth me chopping an onion for.

I just, I try to avoid that in any recipe that I can, but.

Maybe.

Okay. Well, guys, that's going to be our episode.

So thank you so much.

Hope you could keep up with it.

Because we were all over the place.

We had a lot to say, a lot to dump.

It was just a dump.

Happy back to school.

And thank you so much for listening to The Carpal Podcast.

We will talk to you next time.

See you.

Thank you for listening to The Carpal Podcast

with Kelly and Liz.

Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode.

And if you enjoyed riding with us, tell everybody you know.

There's room in the car for everyone.

POTATO SALAD TRAUMA

Ford Expedition

About this episode

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