Everything’s Perfect…Except Thanksgiving Brings Out the Crazy

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Everything’s Perfect…Except Thanksgiving Brings Out the Crazy

Podcast: Everything’s Perfect
Hosts: Autumn Calabrese & Donald (Cortney) Stamper
Release Date: November 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this lively, laughter-filled episode, Autumn and Cortney (Donald) dive deep into Thanksgiving: the joys, the chaos, family memories, and all the quirks that come with the holiday. Their conversation is packed with personal stories, food confessions, playful hot takes on holiday traditions, and honest reflections on gratitude and facing life's uncertainties. True to their brand, they embrace imperfection, finding humor in the messy and meaning in nostalgia.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. The Love/Hate of Thanksgiving Traditions

• Why Thanksgiving is a Favorite:

  • Both hosts share that Thanksgiving brings their favorite aspects of the holiday season: togetherness, gratitude, and food, without the material pressures of Christmas.
  • “It’s really just...being around family. Friends, Friendsgiving. Taking a moment to really be thankful for, you know, gifts and blessings in our lives and that it’s not a material holiday anymore.” — Brittany (04:16)

• Family Quirks: Autumn’s 12-Mile Walk Story:

  • Childhood Thanksgivings involved a somewhat traumatic 12-mile walk in the Cleveland cold, instigated by Autumn’s dad.
  • “He would drive us to our grandparents house in Collinwood, bundle us up and make us walk from Collinwood to my aunt’s house...It was 12 miles, Donald. No, I was seven.” — Brittany (05:53)
  • Sibling meltdowns included her sister throwing herself into a snowbank out of protest.
  • Reflections show that, years later, she voluntarily walks 10–12 miles on Thanksgiving as a personal tradition.
    • “Even though I hated it then...on Thanksgiving I will go walk like 10 to 12 miles around my neighborhood.” (07:30)

• Contrast—Cortney’s Short Trip:

  • Thanksgiving involved simply walking across the street to grandma’s.
  • “We had to walk to my grandmother’s house...It was literally, like, probably not even 100 steps.” — Cortney (09:23)

2. Bathroom Humor & Surviving the Outdoors

• The conversation humorously derails into tales of bathroom struggles on tour, during mountain hikes, and improvised solutions with “nature buckets.”
  • “When we did Marathon on a mountain...there ain’t no bathrooms on a mountain.” — Brittany (11:20)
  • Cortney recounts “pissing in bottles” while touring:
    • “I was like, you guys are a Christian band, and this is not of the Lord—pissing in bottles on the road. Come on.” — Cortney (10:36)

3. Chaos & Camaraderie: Big Family Thanksgivings

• Both hosts grew up in large, loud families.
  • “All of our holidays were huge. Like, 30 people minimum...utter chaos.” — Brittany (15:33)
  • Games in pitch-black rooms, sock chains, and generally boisterous, physical fun among cousins.
    • “We would turn the lights off...the room was pitch black...and you had to reach around and try to find somebody.” — Brittany (17:17)
  • Food central: legendary potatoes, sausage, “slimy chicken,” and various family specialties.

4. Hot Takes on Thanksgiving Food

• Turkey:

  • Mixed feelings—needs to be perfectly cooked or it's a letdown.
  • “There’s a lot of hype around the damn turkey. And you gotta cook it just right or it’s dry as fuck.” — Brittany (22:19)

• Favorite Dishes & Sides:

  • Autumn praises homemade stuffing and her aunt’s unique potato dish. Cortney’s favorites include Brussels sprouts (“candied” sans bacon) and family-favorite Polish sausage.
  • Discussion of “hell no” items: green bean casserole and marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes (Brittany’s pro, Cortney’s a nay).

• Culinary Strategy:

  • Both admit to being strategic at the table: prioritizing who made what, balancing choices, and saving room for dessert.
  • “I can only eat so much before you’re just like, oh my God. Yeah, like, this hurts.” — Brittany (31:13)

• Desserts:

  • Pumpkin pie (with whipped cream!) is non-negotiable for Brittany; Cortney’s weakness is a heaping serving of mac and cheese.

5. Non-Food Traditions & Family Games

• Drawing names for Christmas gifts, movie outings post-feast, and card tournaments like euchre (Cortney) or Scopa (Autumn’s family).
  • “All of the cousins...it was so fun to have all those people together and just like have a moment. We’d have a moment of prayer. Everyone brought a dish.” — Cortney (19:27)

6. Reflection & Gratitude

• Both hosts pause to appreciate this year’s unique challenges and wins:

  • Cortney: Thankful to have left the restaurant job and spend Thanksgiving with family again.
    • “I’m now 40 years old. It’s the first Thanksgiving of my life that I wasn’t with my family. And that really bothered me...I’m just thankful that yet again the universe has showed up.” (36:32)
  • Autumn: Grateful for quality time with her son and for personal resilience during professional uncertainty.
    • “How much really good quality time I’ve gotten with Dom this year...he cracks me up non stop.” (37:32)
    • On resilience and adapting:
      “It’s scary to be in transition. But there’s good things going on with that transition. And, yeah, I feel good about it.” (38:24)

• On taking risks:

  • “If you’re not willing to fail, then you’re probably not gonna try because not everything works...had we not tried, we wouldn’t have known. And that’s just a part of life.” — Brittany (43:33)

7. Manifesting Future Wins

• The two engage in a playful “future gratitude” exercise, imagining themselves a year from now thankful for podcast growth, new business ventures, and life opportunities.
  • “The beverage line is crushing it...weird partnerships and already talking maybe about somebody wanting to buy it." — Brittany (46:04)
  • “The podcast has exploded. It’s opened up so many doors for both of us...book deals, interviews, a lot of appearances on shows beyond just podcasts.” — Cortney (46:22)

8. Hot Takes on Holiday Season Creep & Christmas Culture

• Both bemoan the early onset of Christmas music and store displays, advocating for “no Christmas before Thanksgiving.”

  • “All you bitches with this...it’s time on November 1st. Just turn your Christmas music off for a split second. You got two more days to go.” — Brittany (48:29)
  • Reminiscing about the “magic of Black Friday,” earning the right as a kid to go Christmas shopping with grandma and seeing downtown Cleveland’s decorations for the first time each year (49:53–51:05).

• On Christmas music:

  • Cortney enjoys full-on Christmas radio during the window from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but agrees it’s too much when it drags beyond the season.
  • Brittany says she prefers a mix—not 24/7—and is quick to de-decorate post-Christmas:
    • “The day after Christmas, in my mind, it’s spring...Christmas comes down so fast.” (56:13)

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Family Story:

  • “No, that’s what she said. Legit. Tossed herself, like, threw herself down [in the snow].” — Brittany on her sister’s snowbank meltdown (08:57)

• On Stuffing Recipes:

  • “My grandma made the best stuffing...she would get like day old Italian bread...with celeries, mushrooms, onions...so good.” — Brittany (28:17)

• On Taking Risks:

  • “If you’re not willing to fail, then you’re probably not gonna try because not everything works. I mean, I’ve experienced that.” — Brittany (43:33)

• On Manifesting:

  • “It’s so good to actually pause like we just did and feel in your body what it’d be like to be excited about something that you’re hoping will come to pass.” — Cortney (47:32)

• On Christmas Overload:

  • “I just don’t want to hear [Christmas music] 24/7...give me a little ass shaking or a little normal country...just need a little something in between.” — Brittany (58:35)

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Fun Lightning Rounds

• Favorite Christmas Songs:

  • Brittany: “Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas’” (59:17)
  • Cortney: “‘Christmas Time Again’ by Extreme” (59:42)
  • Both fondly recall NSYNC and other non-traditional hits.

• Holiday Movies:

  • Both love Elf, Home Alone, and Daddy’s Home 2—bringing on some of the episode’s biggest laughs.
    • “You’re an angry elf.” — Cortney quoting Elf (60:58)

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Calls to Action & Upcoming Projects

• Everything’s Perfect Merch: Limited pre-sale sweatshirts, trucker hats (“chaos looks good on me” and “perfect in theory, messy in practice”), available via show notes and Instagram.
• Healthy Holiday Hustle: New December support group/challenge launching—details available on social and in show notes.

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Closing: Heartfelt Thanks

• The hosts wrap up with gratitude for listeners and encourage everyone to share their own Thanksgiving traditions. They remind fans to be present and embrace the unpredictability and beauty of holidays—messiness and all.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a festive, uproarious, and occasionally irreverent plunge into all things Thanksgiving—family foibles, food strategy, tradition, change, and how to feel gratitude even (especially) when life isn’t “perfect.” Whether you’re cooking, commuting, or feeling holiday stress, Autumn and Cortney’s stories, laughs, and honesty capture what makes these imperfect holidays truly memorable.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Brittany]

If you're a custodial supervisor at a local high school, you know that cleanliness is key and that the best place to get cleaning supplies is from Grainger. Grainger helps you stay fully stocked on the products you trust, from paper towels and disinfectants to floor scrubbers. Plus, you can rely on Grainger for easy reordering, so you never run out of what you need. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it it done. If you're not willing to fail, then you're probably not going to try because not everything works. I mean, I've experienced that. I say starting the restaurant because it never really. Like, we opened the doors for two weeks because we got hit. You know, there were so many different things that went wrong on that journey, but look, lessons learned. And it was like, had we not tried, we wouldn't have known. And that's just a part of life.

[Cortney]

I mean, it sucks losing, but it feels good to take. Like, if you never tried that, even though it was an expensive lesson, you.

[Brittany]

Would be sitting with wondering if we could do it.

[Cortney]

I just realign my mind. Well, you look cute.

[Brittany]

Oh, hey, so do you. Well, I would so do you. Minus the fact that we can't see what your sweatshirt says.

[Cortney]

I know, but I can give a little.

[Brittany]

Didn't wear it a little.

[Cortney]

It's warmer than I thought it would be. The. The valley hits different out here.

[Brittany]

I'm telling you.

[Cortney]

I went to Santa Monica for dinner. I was like, what is it? Last night I was like, what is this, Alaska? So, col.

[Brittany]

It really depends. You can go 10 miles in any direction in this city and be in completely different climates.

[Cortney]

Yeah. If you're in Southern California, you need to, like, have your sandals and your snow boots. Exactly.

[Brittany]

Like you need a tank top and a parka and a beanie.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

And layers in between. But. Hey, guys, look at our merch.

[Cortney]

Yeah, we got the.

[Brittany]

Which is gonna. By the time you're watching this. It's now available.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Yes. We're going to throw up the link in the show notes where you can order it. We're doing a pre sale on the everything's perfect merch. We have two different sweatshirts. Which saying did you bring?

[Cortney]

The one that I have says perfect in practice. Messy.

[Brittany]

No, perfect in theory.

[Cortney]

Messy practice.

[Brittany]

It looks like I have chaos. Looks good on me. I think that's what I have on.

[Cortney]

You do also.

[Brittany]

Did you just hear my.

[Cortney]

That's a nice crack.

[Brittany]

We also have hats. That's trucker hats that say everything's perfect. Anyways, you could check out the site order early because it is a pre sale. We probably will sell out on this and then we'll see how long it takes to restock it.

[Cortney]

We're also going to have the link available on our Instagram so you can find it there too.

[Brittany]

Anyways, cheers. Welcome to La La Land.

[Cortney]

Delicious. I know. Never had banana foam before. Well, not this kind of.

[Brittany]

I was like, really? Wow. What?

[Cortney]

Giving it the hot to you.

[Brittany]

Oh, my God. We're off to a great start. Here come the tears. Now I'm gonna cry because you make me laugh and then my makeup gets all messed up. Okay. Anyways, happy Thanksgiving week.

[Cortney]

Yeah, I know this. This was. Is my longest run. I don't know if it currently is, but it for a long time was my favorite holiday. I know. This is good.

[Brittany]

It still is my favorite holiday because you know why I like that? It's really just. I mean, take out the history behind it and let's go to just the.

[Cortney]

Fact other than all the raping and pillaging.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Take out the fact that we were total assholes to get here. I like just being around family.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Friends. Friendsgiving. Taking a moment to really be thankful for, you know, gifts and the blessings in our lives and that it's not a material holiday anymore. You know, like, because Christmas, I love the Christmas season but you know, it's just so become so commercialized with like the gifts and how early it starts and all that that it kind of sucks a little bit of the fun of the holiday season.

[Cortney]

Yeah. There's so much pressure behind it, like keeping up with the Joneses and so much around Christmas. That's giving has been my favorite because you give thanks. You know what I mean? Instead of like the pressure of whatever what you need to buy someone or what would someone would like, you just get to come together and be thankful.

[Brittany]

Yeah. I love it and I love the food. I didn't always love it. As a kid. But let me tell you why I did, but I didn't. Because Bobby Cowell.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Is a little crazy for anybody listening. That's my dad, if you don't know who I'm talking about. So my dad used to power walk when we were little. Like he was really fast and that was like his form of exercise. He would power walk all the time. He got this crazy hair up his ass when I was like seven. Okay. And we're talking Cleveland, Ohio. So you know, we've got a little global warming happening now. But at seven years old, by Thanksgiving, it was usually snowing. Yeah, it wasn't actually snowing. It was cold enough to be snowing.

[Cortney]

Right.

[Brittany]

Okay. So we live, we had lived in this little Italian neighborhood called Collinwood. We had then moved to the suburbs. But. And Thanksgiving was my aunt, my aunt Donna's holiday out in the suburbs. So my dad would wake us up at like 5:30, 6:00 clock in the morning. He would drive us to our grandparents house in Collinwood, bundle us up and make us walk from Collinwood to my aunt's house on Thanksgiving morning. It was 12 miles, Donald. No, I was seven.

[Cortney]

Oh my God. No, that's crazy.

[Brittany]

And there was. I can't make this shit up. We had to cut through this park, the park that he always power walked in. There's this giant hill in that park. So giant. It was the hill we all went sled riding in. And you would like, oh no, like fly down this hill. Okay. It was huge. We had to walk up that fucking thing.

[Cortney]

Oh no.

[Brittany]

See, one year the bridge was out and he made us cross it. Anyways, like it was like, now that sounds crazy. It wasn't like totally. It was out though. They were like literally signs everywhere. Construction girl, this is crazy.

[Cortney]

No matter how you like, this is crazy.

[Brittany]

Welcome to my life. So I didn't like that part of it, but once we got there. But my aunts would all see us along the way and they would stop and they'd be like, bob, let him get in the car. And he'd be like, no, they're going to finish what they started. And we're like, bitch, you started.

[Cortney]

Yeah, we didn't. This wasn't a collective decision we made here.

[Brittany]

This is very. By the way, we had like book bags with like some oranges in there. Okay.

[Cortney]

My God.

[Brittany]

But now you know what I actually like. Even though I hated it then I will, on Thanksgiving I will go walk like 10 to 12 miles around my neighborhood. Much easier to do it here. In L. A. You know, sunshine, blue skies, and it's not snowing.

[Cortney]

I don't think I've ever walked 10 miles in my life, honestly.

[Brittany]

Yes, you have.

[Cortney]

In one setting in one place. Maybe. One time I had.

[Brittany]

Yeah, I bet you have. Walking around, like, amusement parks and stuff, maybe.

[Cortney]

Or, like, I did walk. I walked really far. One time, one of my coaching clients came into town. She's like, let's go for a walk. I was like, okay. My God. I was like, this is who? Somebody turn this bitch off.

[Brittany]

Like, you mean like when you said, let's go for a walk, and we ended up on the top of a mountain? Oh, like that?

[Cortney]

Yeah, like that.

[Brittany]

I bet you walked, like, at work on busy nights. I bet you did 10 miles easy.

[Cortney]

Maybe. I wonder how many steps equals. Equals that. It's interesting. I'll look into it.

[Brittany]

But I think that's 20,000.

[Cortney]

Okay. That's what I was thinking, because 10,000 is, like, five.

[Brittany]

Five miles. Yeah.

[Cortney]

Huh. Yeah. I guess I have done it, like, working and stuff, But I can't imagine walking to a place that's pretty well.

[Brittany]

At seven years old in the snow.

[Cortney]

Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Brittany]

One time, Kaylee was so mad. We were, like, almost there. We're probably, like, three miles away. And she. It. She threw herself into a snow bank.

[Cortney]

Like, leave me here.

[Brittany]

No, that's what she said. Like, legit. Tossed herself, like, threw herself down.

[Cortney]

I can't go on.

[Brittany]

And was like, I'm done. I'm not doing it.

[Cortney]

That's so funny.

[Brittany]

And my dad was, like, arguing with her for, like, a solid five minutes. Like, get up. And she's like, no. She was, like, crying.

[Cortney]

This ain't the plan for me. This is. I didn't know this is where my life is gonna end, but apparently it's here. In the snow.

[Brittany]

In the snow. Bay, man.

[Cortney]

Well, we had to walk to my grandmother's house.

[Brittany]

It's your grandmother's house. We go.

[Cortney]

But it was right across the street. It was literally, like, probably not even 100 steps.

[Brittany]

Oh, my God. That's hilarious.

[Cortney]

To the point where if we had to take a after dinner, we'd just run home and then come back.

[Brittany]

Why wouldn't you just there?

[Cortney]

Well, because it's like this. There are a lot of people, a lot of family. Not that many bathrooms.

[Brittany]

Oh, I see.

[Cortney]

And there's nothing like going number two in your own comfort of your own home.

[Brittany]

I'm gonna really need Kleenex on this set because you get me laughing, and then I'm just Like, the makeup is running. Like, I can't control these waterworks. But I do, like, prefer that that's at home.

[Cortney]

Going at home is the best. When I was. When I was on tour with Anthem Light. This is just a little bit of a sidebar. When I was on tour with Anthem Lights, they were like, you gotta get used to wherever you can. So we literally would, like. Because we went all over the country, didn't fly anywhere. We had a bus, but the bus that we rode on mostly didn't have a bathroom. It just had a bunch of beds and they, like, peeing bottles. I was like, oh, no, that's a thank you. It's barbaric.

[Brittany]

That's like making somebody walk.

[Cortney]

I was like, you guys are a Christian band, and this is not of the Lord pissing in bottles on the road. Come on. Why do you think God invented toilets then? Like, literally, at Target, you'd feel really fancy. If you happen to find a Starbucks, you could have your own little private bath room suite. So that helped me a little bit. Because when I was a kid, and then we'll get back to Thanksgiving, I went to a week long. It was like a summer camp, but it was only, like, five days. And my mom picked me up and I was like, you gotta get me home. Because I did not. This whole time, I was like, this is like, in prison after. I feel like in my memory, there weren't even walls between the toilets. Like, I'm sure there were, but you know those bathrooms.

[Brittany]

You want to hear worse?

[Cortney]

What?

[Brittany]

When we did Marathon on a mountain when we climbed Pico Duarte a few years ago. Me and all the girls, huh? Boo. There ain't no bathrooms on a mountain.

[Cortney]

Yeah, I've never. Outside of a toilet, other than in my pants.

[Brittany]

Literally copying a squat in nature. Like, you had toilet paper with you and you would put it, like, in a baggie afterwards. Yes. This is what I signed. I actively signed up for. I was like, I volunteer as tribute. Like, I don't know. And you're not drinking. I mean, you're drinking water, but barely, right? Because you're not like. And we're, like, surviving on caffeine. Jelly beans.

[Cortney]

Oh, my God.

[Brittany]

You know, by day three, just like a baseball. Okay. It wasn't easy. And that last day, we were like. I was like, okay, I need to go to the bathroom because, like, I need. Like, I hurt.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

And I like, said one of the girls, I waited for it to be night time, but there's like 50, 60 people at this, like, place. Where we're sleeping. It wasn't just our group. So I was like, okay, come with me. You gotta put your head lantern on.

[Cortney]

Oh, God.

[Brittany]

Let me tell you, that was like birthing a child. Okay. And you can't even like, sit like you're squatting. Nature. There's horses next to me. No joke. There's like a horse. At one point I was like, peeing and all of a sudden this horse, like, walks up to my face.

[Cortney]

I was like.

[Brittany]

I am done on this mountain.

[Cortney]

Oh, yeah, that would be hard. I've never done that. My friend did like a white water rafting trip. And there's no. It's like a few days, I guess you raft in camp or something. And there's no toilets, so. And you're not allowed to. Just on the side where the water is, they give you a bucket that you have to in. And you. Every time, one bucket. Your whole group has one bucket. And every time you go, you pour this powder on it. He said. And it's supposed to like, like, I guess, keep it a little more, I don't know, fresh. So when the next person has to. In the bucket. That is the most first of all vile thing I've ever heard. Give me my own bucket.

[Brittany]

First of all, I would be like this. Give me that bucket.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

My bucket's going over here.

[Cortney]

Right.

[Brittany]

Because I'm in the woods where you can't see me anyways.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

And it. All the other animals get to in the woods. Why can't I. Why do I gotta do it on top of somebody else's. That's like a go. When you go in a porta potty.

[Cortney]

Oh, I've never.

[Brittany]

So disgusting.

[Cortney]

I don't like peeing in those.

[Brittany]

Well, I mean, pee like, not. No, I would never. But when you go pee, you're. I can't. Let's not talk about that. But also, when we got home from Pico, we're very off the topic of Thanksgiving because, like, we didn't have enough water or fiber or anything. When I tell you, like, we were all so sick. Like, we all got sick by the last day. Like, bad. I don't know what it was. We just got taken out.

[Cortney]

But Mountain fever.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Like, I had. Monica had a fever. I had a fever. Hannah. We all had fever. Like, but I was having the most insane intestinal cramping. I would just be like sitting there and all of a sudden I'd be like, by myself, screaming in pain.

[Cortney]

That's terrifying.

[Brittany]

It hurts so bad. I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room.

[Cortney]

Oh, my God.

[Brittany]

But I just drank some water and ate some fiber and things balanced. Drink a cup of coffee.

[Cortney]

I'm so regular, if I go irregular, I think I'm dying. Like, when we went on, it was actually the last. The. The kind time that comes to my mind most recently was the last body cruise we did. And I didn't shit for, like, 36 hours. And I was like, you guys, I'm have to be helicoptered off this thing. This is serious. I don't know what's happening, but it's going in and it's not coming out.

[Brittany]

That is not good notice.

[Cortney]

And in my vegan days, it was like, you go after every meal. Morning, night, every meal. It's five times a day.

[Brittany]

So, yeah, bite in, bite. So we're thankful for regularity.

[Cortney]

Thankful for that. Absolutely.

[Brittany]

Great topic.

[Cortney]

So once you. So you were walking to your grandma's.

[Brittany]

We would walk from my grandma's to.

[Cortney]

My aunt Donna's to your aunt Donna's. How many people were there? Like, oh, God. What. What did your Thanksgiving look like growing up?

[Brittany]

They were. All of our holidays were huge. Like, 30 people minimum.

[Cortney]

That's how long it was, too.

[Brittany]

Utter chaos.

[Cortney]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brittany]

Loud. Just loud. So loud. Let's see. My aunts were always good at baking. My dad and my grandma usually did more of the cooking, like the turkey. But my aunt Donna's potatoes are the best on Thanksgiving. They're so good. Like, she does these white. White and red potatoes with, like, olive oil. So. Oh, I can't wait, because I'm going home for Thanksgiving. I'm like, oh, are you making those potatoes? My uncle was always watching. Like, everybody was always watching football in one room. The kids, because we were, you know, like, I'm talking about when I was younger, we would just get into so much chaos. Like, we would be outside football games in the snow, riding bikes. They had a playroom, like, this big playroom, and we would make up the craziest games. We had one game where it was like, sort of hide and seek, but not really, because we were just in the playroom, which is just a giant rectangular room and. But there was a closet in there. It was almost like the attic closet. Like, you could kind of tuck in anyways. But we decided to up it, because.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Brittany]

Kay Jeweler's Black Friday sale is on. Now's the time to get up to 50% off Black Friday deals. With savings this big, you can get gifts for everyone on your list. Plus, if Black Friday lines aren't your thing, skip em at Kay. You can buy online and pick up in store or get free shipping right to your home. This holiday season, unwrap love and savings with K exclusions. Apply ck.comexclusions for details you can't really hide. So we would turn the lights off. Everybody had to wear black, turn the lights off. So the room was pitch black. And if you. You one person was it and you had to reach around and try to find somebody. Some people are hiding in corners and against walls. And if you found somebody, you had to hold them down until somebody else got the light on. And if they wiggled away, you were still it.

[Cortney]

Oh, people got hurt. Yeah.

[Brittany]

By the way, it was like 7 years old up to like 13 year olds because there's an age gap. So that was great. And then we also did this one game because again, there was like, I think there was 11 of us, 10 or of 11 of us that are like very like within four years of each other. This is so stupid. I don't know what was wrong with us. We would all wear like long tube socks like these. Huh. And we would pull them halfway off of our foot and we would tie all of our socks together. So we would stand in a circle and we would tie them all together in like one giant thing. And then we would try to walk.

[Cortney]

Oh, wow.

[Brittany]

First of all, the room wasn't that big.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Second of all, you're all. One leg is all tied together, basically. And then we could never get our socks apart.

[Cortney]

Yeah. Because kids find the dumbest ways to have fun.

[Brittany]

Yeah. But nowadays they're like, let's go virtual reality. And they don't even talk to each other.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

It's the best time.

[Cortney]

So how long did you like, what is your oldest? How old are you when you stopped? Is it when you moved?

[Brittany]

Well, when I moved. They still do it every year. It's not at my aunt Donna's anymore. Her son Joseph married Maria. So it's at their house now.

[Cortney]

Okay.

[Brittany]

So like they took it over because my aunt Donna's in her 70s now.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

So they took it over. They do it at their house.

[Cortney]

That's the thing we had. So mine sounds very similar to yours. It was usually at my grandparents house and it was like 35 of us. They had, they had 15 grandkids and they have four kids. They were all married. And so it's like. And then sometimes a random friend would come or whatever. Like it would continue to grow and so it was packed. But it was so fun to have all those people together and just like have a moment. We'd all, we'd have a moment of prayer. Everyone brought a dish. And it was cool because I went from being very young to into my 20s where I was bringing my own dish. And I remember like my grandfather hand built the bar that he had in his basement. And I remember being a little kid and not even allowed to sit at the bar.

[Brittany]

So like they're trying to give you.

[Cortney]

Restaurant rules right to being there. Well, it's because it's like that's for the grown ups. But then when you become a grown up and every, everyone was really cool like, you guys go enjoy the bar, Grandpa make you a drink. So many good memories.

[Brittany]

That's fun.

[Cortney]

And we kind of, I think our family just kind of all of my aunts and uncles, their kids have. Most of them gotten married and had kids and now it's like everyone doesn't get together in one place for that. We need to have a family reunion for that. But it's a time I'll never forget.

[Brittany]

It was so good. What was, what is your favorite dish to bring? Like once you got older. What was your favorite dish to bring?

[Cortney]

To bring? That's a good question because I kind of always just filled in. I think, I think I would bring like, I think one year I brought Brussels sprouts. And that was really fun because I'd like make them kind of like candied I guess, like cook them with but without bacon because I didn't put.

[Brittany]

Those were your vegan days?

[Cortney]

No, actually when I went to my grandma back then, it was right before I started being vegan. I might have the last holiday there I might have just turned vegan. But yeah, we would. Because one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is my grandpa knew this Polish guy who we would get sausage for the holidays and we had it on Thanksgiving and Christmas but like the rest of the year that it was like the holiday sausage and I freaking loved it. And my grandma. Yeah, yeah, sausage guy and My grandma made. It's like this. Arguably, it might be disgusting. It's like this almost slimy chicken. I think maybe what she did. I don't know the recipe. I think maybe she fried it.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Cortney]

And then put it in a slow cooker with a bunch of onions and stuff. So it got like, gooey. But it was so fall off the bone delicious that we were like, give us some of that slimy chicken. Sticky chicken. It was good. And I was never a big turkey guy. That was the biggest thing until recently in my life. I didn't like. Even when I ate meat, I usually passed on the turkey.

[Brittany]

Thanksgiving turkey, you know, there's a lot of hype around the damn turkey. And you gotta cook it just right.

[Cortney]

Or it's dry as.

[Brittany]

Dry as fuck. And it's not all that interesting. Yeah, I feel like I actually have gotten really good in the last few years at doing a turkey, though, like, and getting it just the right temperature, like that kind of thing. But yeah, if you mess that turkey up and don't give me that white meat.

[Cortney]

Oh, hell no.

[Brittany]

No, I'm gonna need that dark meat.

[Cortney]

My. My dad likes to smoke a turkey and I like it that way. And in Puerto Rico, when we went for Christmas. But I. I think for a lot of holidays and events, turkey is a big thing that they have there.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Cortney]

That's sort of what I gathered from my experience there. But it was the best turkey I've ever had. Mom's turkey. I was like, I don't know what she's slathering. What you deep fry, slather, roll this in. But it just seemed like very tender and juicy and delicious. It really didn't seem like it had a bunch of on it.

[Brittany]

I think a lot of times people. My brother says this all the time. He's like, people overcook chicken and turkey because they're so afraid of.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

You know, bacteria and things like that. And that's when you get it really dry. Like when Bobby does it. Oh my God, it's so good. I'm like, damn, why doesn't my chicken taste like. He's like, you're overcooking it.

[Cortney]

I know, but it's so scary. Cuz I just know if I undercook that by one degree, I'm gonna die.

[Brittany]

I mean, we're playing with my life here.

[Cortney]

Bobby, this is very serious. You want, you want to lose a sister?

[Brittany]

Let me tell you.

[Cortney]

I do. I tell Nell. I'm sure he can't stand my ass because if he's Cooking chicken. I'm watching every single step, and I'm like, you just touch that wrapper and you touch that handle. What are you doing? You gotta disinfect, clean. Like that wrapper was touching the chicken.

[Brittany]

Yes. Salmonella all over your house.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

Covered your kitchen is. It's a breeding ground.

[Cortney]

It really is.

[Brittany]

So, okay, is there anything about, like, funniest memory, like, crazy, Anything for you for Thanksgiving? Okay. No.

[Cortney]

No. Maybe that's why I like, the holiday always was just really good expected. Like, there was never any drama. No one ever gotten fights. It was just, like, really good. I'm trying to think if there was any big food crisis along the way.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Was there ever, like, a fire with the turkey or anything like that?

[Cortney]

Right. But not if. If I ever had something like that. I honestly can't remember.

[Brittany]

Yeah, I don't think we had any of those.

[Cortney]

So what's your favorite dish to bring if you're doing a potluck turkey? A potluck dinner situation?

[Brittany]

Well, I haven't done a potluck dinner situation. Honestly, like, here in la, when I've had Thanksgiving the last few years, I typically make most of the things, but I'll make, like, all fixate recipes. And most people are not aware that.

[Cortney]

That it's.

[Brittany]

That it's like, quote unquote, like, oh, this is healthy compared to, like, the unhealthy version.

[Cortney]

Right.

[Brittany]

I have a question.

[Cortney]

Okay.

[Brittany]

Because I like, in terms of side dish, I guess I would have to fill in, like, whatever, you know, like, what's everybody bringing? I would have to ask, but, like, are there any dishes where you're that are, like, very traditional Thanksgiving that you're like, oh, hell no. Like, some people love the green bean casserole with the crispy onions on it. Yay or nay?

[Cortney]

Okay. I'm sure it's good, but it's a nay for me because my family, and I'm actually thankful for this, they all brought pretty, like, I guess a word I could use is pure vegetables. Like, when we had veggies, they might have some, like, been cooked in a little oil or something. But for the most part, like, we had steamed broccoli or our sweet potatoes were not candied with marshmallows on top.

[Brittany]

But they're so good that way.

[Cortney]

See, I've never had them that way, and I kind of want to keep it that way. Don't your face. Because I just really love sweet potatoes. They're already sweet.

[Brittany]

I know, but I mean, throw a little marshmallow on top and, like, why Not. No, we don't do ours. We don't do our sweet potatoes with marshmallows either. But I've been at plenty of friends houses where they do. And that shit is so good.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

There is a fixing recipe, though, that has. It's just sweet potatoes, but they have. We put candied walnuts on top and it's like cinnamon. Oh, it's so good.

[Cortney]

I do love butternut squash to be on the table. And that's not really a very common. Not like necessarily always common.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

I think you can do so many things with it. And it's pretty and it just looks good on like a harvesty.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

Table.

[Brittany]

The way you fill it and stuff.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

We got a lot of those recipes too. Look at me shamelessly plugging plug girl. I'm like. But as you said, I'm like, oh, we have that. Okay. What kind of stuffing do you guys do? Because there's like a million ways to do stuffing.

[Cortney]

Yeah. I've never made stuffing.

[Brittany]

I should eat it.

[Cortney]

I. I do eat it, but it's not like when I think about what's on my plate, I would rather enjoy. Like, and I like food. Like, I'll put several things on my fork because you have to have the perfect bite, obviously. So I'll do like some mashed potatoes. If there's corn, I'll put a little corn in there. It's free food. It comes out the same way it went in.

[Brittany]

Literally.

[Cortney]

A little bit of turkey. If there's cranberry relish. I like cranberry relish. A little sweet tart.

[Brittany]

You mean cranberry sauce?

[Cortney]

Okay. Yeah. Not ever called relish?

[Brittany]

No.

[Cortney]

I'm gonna fact check your ass right now.

[Brittany]

You go right ahead. I've never heard it called. I mean, maybe there's something called cranberry relish, but not a Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.

[Cortney]

Okay. So.

[Brittany]

Yeah, you just fact checked me, right?

[Cortney]

I didn't type it yet.

[Brittany]

That green bean casserole, somebody used to make it when I was younger. It was delicious. But my grandma made the best stuffing, so it was like she would get like day old Italian bread. Because some people will do it with like wild rice. They'll do it a bunch of different ways. No, Grandma did it with like day old Italian bread and the celeries and the mushrooms and the onions and like.

[Cortney]

I don't think ours had mushrooms, but that sounds good. I love mushroom.

[Brittany]

Like, I think she would do some sort of like chicken broth in there or something to like, so. Oh, my God. I. I Could have just ate the stuffing.

[Cortney]

Yeah, it's really. It's good shit. I usually. Honestly, I hate that because my grandma made stuffing from scratch, and I usually make it. Like, if I'm making it, I buy some kind of boxed thing someplace because it's not what I care about.

[Brittany]

It's so good if you do it right.

[Cortney]

I know. Well, maybe I will. I have a couple days I gotta see.

[Brittany]

Actually, I'm curious to see if anybody's making grandma's stuffing recipe. This is the problem. Grandmas are the best cooks. I mean, my kid's not gonna say that about me when he has kids. They're not gonna be like, grandma's the best cook.

[Cortney]

Hey, maybe I think you're a really good cook.

[Brittany]

Yeah. But I could follow a recipe really well. Like, my grandma did everything just, you know, she just knew the recipes in her head.

[Cortney]

Cranberry relish is a thing, but it does sound disgusting, and I think. I don't like it. I just think I used the wrong word.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

It's raw. And cranberry sauce has cooked cranberries, so obviously they're sweeter and.

[Brittany]

They're sweeter. Yeah. And they turn into like a gelatin kind of thing. Yeah.

[Cortney]

Do you like cranberry sauce?

[Brittany]

I do. I mean, it's not something like where the rest of the year I'm like, oh, let me have cranberry sauce. But like, yeah, no, like you said, give me some dark meat, little cranberry sauce, some potatoes, a little bit of stuffing. But I really try to, like, balance those carbs out. That's where that 12 mile walk came in. I was gonna say, I think came in clutch.

[Cortney]

If you were gonna have what is, like, if the most unhealthy side dish that you would like to have on your Thanksgiving plate, whether it's a traditional side or not, like, balls to the wall.

[Brittany]

Like, I mean, well, I just want pumpkin pie with. With cream. That would be, like, the most unhealthy. Like, that would be where I would go with it. Everything else, again, same thing. I don't really think any of it is, quote, unquote, unhealthy. I think it's about how much of it you eat.

[Cortney]

Mine would be Mac and cheese, and I would eat enough that it would be unhealthy.

[Brittany]

You know what? We don't. We don't do Mac and cheese. We do pasta, but it's not macaroni and cheese. We do like a. Like a pasta with marinara sauce, and it's macaroni cheese.

[Cortney]

Really Isn't I guess it's not. But the fun thing, because my family's so big and it's such a potluck, we would have like, my aunt always brought lasagna.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

We had all different kinds of stuff to eat.

[Brittany]

That's the problem is you really got to sit there and, and, and be strategic because first of all, I can only eat so much before you're just like, oh my God. Yeah. Like this hurts.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

So you really got to decide what's going on that plate. So I kind of look at everything. Right. Who made what? That's a question.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Because I'm gonna know. Yep. And then I gotta like. And oh God, the pull apart rolls, like those are so good. The bread rolls.

[Cortney]

I don't care about rolls that much.

[Brittany]

Oh, yeah, Give me that with butter. Like I can't love bread. So I gotta decide between the pasta, the potatoes, the stuffing, the bread. I know we're gonna eat pumpkin pie later. And my family usually has pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Now which one am I going to do?

[Cortney]

We have pumpkin and apple.

[Brittany]

Oh yeah. And sometimes there's an apple too, actually.

[Cortney]

Huh. And then you got to have your leftovers sandwich the next day, obviously. Same day, girl. I don't know what happened.

[Brittany]

No, I thought you just go back.

[Cortney]

For a second plate we had, we would always be like, okay, I feel a little peckish. It's like how this is before I took gummies.

[Brittany]

You got enough. You ate enough for to last you a week. Me an hour later, what the other.

[Cortney]

What's that Ry Brad doing? And literally my cousin be like, I'll make you the best sandwich. And he put. It's funny because he's a coach and trains Olymp Olympic swimmers.

[Brittany]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[Cortney]

And it's so. It's like, I'm not an Olympic swimmer, cuz. Quit. Put, don't put dressing on my sandwich. Like, don't put bread as a condiment on my bread.

[Brittany]

Okay, but go ahead.

[Cortney]

Yeah, but whatever. Give thanks.

[Brittany]

Give thanks.

[Cortney]

Did you have any non food traditions that jump out or do you still.

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[Cortney]

This is the story of the 1. As head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the H Vac is humming, and his facility shines with Grainger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces. Plus 24. 7 customer support. His venue never misses a beat. Call quickgranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Like, one for me is that I loved every Thanksgiving. And we just started doing this as adults with my brothers and parents, but all of the cousins, we would draw a name for who we were gonna. Who we would get a gift that year for. And I thought that was so fun.

[Brittany]

We did do that when we were a little. Like, if you were gonna be home for Christmas, you would draw the name. So yes, that is something we would do. And we would watch all the adults do it. Because normally, like, when I was really little, like, all the aunts and my dad, like, they all bought for all the kids, but they would draw names for each other. And then, you know, we'd be like, who'd you get? Who'd you get? We want to know who everybody got. So that was fun. The older kids at the end of the night usually went to the movies afterwards. I was too young and I never really got to go to those, but they would go see scary ones. Like, I don't know why but one. The movie Yellow Jacket, I think is what it was called. Some horror movie. Like, I specifically remember them going that year and me being like, dad, I want to go, I want to go. And he's like, no, you're not going to go see that movie. I think it was called Yellow Jacket, something like that. So that was one that they did that. Like, I think those were the biggest things were like, again, more of our traditions when I was young was like, the kids growing up, like, we played that hide and seek game every year for years. We played that stupid sock game for years. Yeah, we really did. Dumb.

[Cortney]

For a while we had euchre tournaments. Like, if you were old enough. If you were. This is when I got older, obviously. So the kids would be playing with toys or whatever, tag playing outside even though it's cold. And when we was fun, though, it was so fun to like, be up with your cousins. Yeah, it was really fun. But we played. Did you ever learn how to play euchre?

[Brittany]

No. What is it?

[Cortney]

It's a card game and you. Only four people can play and you're on a team.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Cortney]

It's two teams. I. It's my. One of my favorite card games, but no one in my life knows how to play it, so.

[Brittany]

Okay, you teach me that. I'm gonna teach you Scopa, which is the it card game that we play now.

[Cortney]

Okay.

[Brittany]

And I'm actually quite good at scopa and I love to beat my dad and he gets so mad about it. So I'm very good at cards in general and I typically win in my dad now. I did get my ass kicked in Florida when my family was there pretty bad. Well, it's frustrating.

[Cortney]

You gotta go back and show them.

[Brittany]

You can't win them all, guys.

[Cortney]

That's right.

[Brittany]

I do typically win and my dad gets so mad about it, so that's fun. Let's pivot for a second.

[Cortney]

Okay.

[Brittany]

You know, it's Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for this year? It's been a year. Can't believe the year is almost over.

[Cortney]

I am thankful. The first thing that comes to mind is I said last year that by Thanksgiving I didn't want to be working at the restaurant. And I remember working there on Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving. I'm. I'm now 40 years old. It's the first Thanksgiving of my life that I wasn't with my family. And that really bothered me because that was an important tradition to me more than any other holiday. I was like, I'd love to spend Thanksgiving with my family. And, you know, a lot of. For all of us, especially, you know, frankly, in the body community, a lot happened and it. There was uncertainty of what things would look like for a while. And I'm just thankful that yet again the universe has showed up. Everything has turned out better than I could have imagined in so many ways. And I'm not at the restaurant this Thanksgiving.

[Brittany]

That's amazing.

[Cortney]

That's a really big.

[Brittany]

That's a big deal.

[Cortney]

I'm so excited about that.

[Brittany]

I love that for you.

[Cortney]

Yeah. What about you?

[Brittany]

I think the first thing that comes to my mind is how much really good quality time I've gotten with Dom this year. That, like, I just freaking love it so much. Like, he cracks me up non stop. Yeah, he's. He's coming out of a nut, like a little bit harder season for himself. And he's just having so much fun and he's so happy and he's thriving and I'm just so proud of him. And like our trip this year when we went, we just, you know, in the summer, we went to Paris and, like, seven days in Paris, just Mom and Dom, you know, that could break either way. Like, kids could get bored, like, what? But we just had the best time. And, like, so I think I'm thankful for that quite a bit. It. It's definitely been a year of uncertainty with everything going on with Bodi, and I think I am still in the height of my uncertainty with all the shifts that are happening. But I guess I would say I'm really thankful for, like, my resilience and just like, okay, let's. Let's figure it out. Marie Forleo. Everything's figureoutable, right? Like, okay. Like, yes. It's just scary to be in transition. But there's good things going on with that transition. And, yeah, I feel good about it. So I'm very thankful for wherever this next chapter leads. Like, I'm sort of at, like, the beginning of this next chapter, and I'm very intrigued.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Like, as I quote, unquote, read the book, I'm like, oh, what's gonna happen to this girl next?

[Cortney]

Yeah, exactly. Like, what's this chapter gonna bring? And I'm excited. I'm here for it, but that the.

[Brittany]

Rest is still unwritten. We'll just quote songs and all the things, so that's where we're at. But that's, you know, like. But that's the fun of it is, like, you really do get to write how it goes.

[Cortney]

Yeah. You know, I feel like, too, it gives me an opportunity, and I felt this in a lot of ways, and it feels so good to remind myself. I. I think I've said this before. Side note, the thing about us doing this podcast together is it's so real how we talk. I can't remember if I've said something while we were recording or if we were just shooting this shit and I said this, but I'm at a place where I'm being reminded, like, who the fuck I am. And sometimes you have to be put in an uncomfortable or unprecedented situation in your life to be able to feel that, to be able to show up for yourself like you did all those other times when you really had to take leaps of faith and bet on yourself. And, you know, I know. You know.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

What I'm saying. So it's like, that there's discomfort as things shift and feel that they become uncertain, but it's also a reminder that the most certain thing that has always been there is you. And it's like, how do you show up in these situations?

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

So it feels good. So I feel a sense of, like, being alive.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

Because, like.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Not just on, like, the coast. Right. Like, oh, yeah, this is, like, for years. I mean, I don't want to say I was on the coast mode because I was working.

[Cortney]

Totally.

[Brittany]

Stop. But it was coast in terms of, like, it was all just. There was, like, green lights. Go create the programs, blah, blah. And now it's a little bit more of, like, figuring out next moves, but so much adventure in that, like, us starting the podcast, which, by the way, some of you keep emailing us, like, something weird is happening and there's ads showing up in the middle of the podcast. Yes, we know. That's how we get to do the podcast. You guys, this takes a lot of time. It's a lot of our own money on upfront. But letting those ads play in allows.

[Cortney]

Us to continue to continue to do this.

[Brittany]

So, yes, there are some ads. We try to keep them limited, but it's. It's not a mistake.

[Cortney]

It's not a glitch.

[Brittany]

It's not a glitch. It's the job.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

So, but yeah, like, starting this or working on the beverage line or like, some things. I guess we're at the point by the time they watch this, we'll have at least announced it, so we could say it. The fact that we're starting this new group for the month of December and just really, you and I getting to work on that, these new adventures together. Like, it's like you said, it's showing up as the most you. You can show up as and not just in this. Like, somebody else has got the reins and I'm just sort of doing my thing. It's like, oh, yeah, we've got the reins now.

[Cortney]

Right?

[Brittany]

And let's. Let's ride it.

[Cortney]

Yeah, it feels really good. It's interesting because it also comes with. There's just so many. So many different feelings and pressures and. But at the end of the. I'm so thankful for it. I feel so much. I think I was in a little rut since the. The pandemic until recently, like a year ago, and now I'm at this creative space again, where, yeah, there's. There's risks. There's things, you know, you try stuff. Sometimes it goes really well. Sometimes you got to keep trying.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

But it feels good to feel that.

[Brittany]

There'S always going to be risks. Like, I think if anybody thinks, like, oh, you're going to start something new and there's no risk. Risk, well, either you got a very Rich mommy and daddy that are backing you up or, like, or there's gonna be risk. Like, that just is what it is. It's like, if you're not willing to fail, then you're probably not gonna try because not everything works. I mean, I've experienced that, you know, obviously, with Bobby and I, you know, starting the restaurant like when we did back in 2018. I say starting the restaurant because I mean, never really. It never really like, we opened the doors for two weeks because we got hit. You know, there were so many different things that went wrong on that journey. It was a very expensive, very expensive life lesson.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

I wish I could get that money back. Would really be helpful towards the beverage line. But look, lessons learned. And it was like, had we not tried, we wouldn't have known, but we know.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

And. And that's just a part of life, you know, it's like.

[Cortney]

And it feels good.

[Brittany]

I mean, it sucked in the moment.

[Cortney]

I mean, it sucks losing, but it feels good to take. Like, if you never tried that, even though it was an expensive lesson, you would be sit with wondering if we could do it. Yeah.

[Brittany]

Yeah. And same thing. That's how I feel about the beverage line. I'm like, look, I'm in it. We're close. I feel all the excitement in my body that I felt as I was creating the original 21 day fix when I was like, I just knew, like, I just knew it was going to be so good. Like, I really know people are going to be so excited to try this. Like, I was sitting in my kitchen yesterday and I was like, oh, God, I am so craving one of the beverages. I was like, damn it, why don't I have any? Like, because I'm waiting for them to ship me the last round. But once they ship me that last round, then it's like, until we're in production, right? I'm like, oh, man, this gotta get it on. I gotta get that on themselves because I need my beverages.

[Cortney]

That's right.

[Brittany]

So good.

[Cortney]

They're so good. The ones I've tried. The versions I've tried are delicious.

[Brittany]

I can't wait for you to try this last round. They should, like, by the time we we're back here next week, we should have them to try.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

And I think you're gonna be like, whoa, big step.

[Cortney]

I can't wait. Okay, so I have an idea. Tell me the manifesting exercise we are going to.

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[Brittany]

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[Cortney]

Like in the snap of a fingers. We're going to be a year from now.

[Brittany]

Okay.

[Cortney]

And we're sitting here saying what we're thankful for.

[Brittany]

Oh, okay.

[Cortney]

So what are you thankful for?

[Brittany]

Oh, the beverage line is crushing it.

[Cortney]

Yes.

[Brittany]

Crushing it. Weird partnerships and already talking maybe about somebody wanting to buy it. It's gotta be the right price though.

[Cortney]

Yes. Congratulations.

[Brittany]

Thank you. What? What are you thankful for?

[Cortney]

Am I thankful for in this 2026 is just how much. Honestly, the podcast has exploded. It's opened up so many doors for both of us. For me, it's opened up other opportunities. Book deals, interviews, a lot of appearances on shows beyond just podcasts. And it's so fun to be able to do it together.

[Brittany]

Fun doing this with you. I know.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

We're gonna hit the road soon.

[Cortney]

That's right. That's right.

[Brittany]

Book tours and TV shows. That's the one I'm really excited for. For.

[Cortney]

I know.

[Brittany]

That reality show that they're talking about giving us.

[Cortney]

I know. It's almost done. Contracts, almost.

[Brittany]

Contracts ready to be signed. Guys, get ready. Bravo, here we come.

[Cortney]

That's right. And our next guest, Andy Cohen.

[Brittany]

Andy Cohen. I just watched him on the Call Her Daddy podcast.

[Cortney]

Was it good?

[Brittany]

It was really good. He's funny.

[Cortney]

He's funny.

[Brittany]

I love him.

[Cortney]

I mean, he's got a. He obviously knows he can spot. Got good tv. That's for sure. He's got skills.

[Brittany]

He is. Seriously. So, Andy, if you're listening, watching, let's get that contract signed.

[Cortney]

Yeah, let's go. I think it's so fun. It's so good to actually pause like we just did and live. Feel in your body what it'd be like to be excited about something that you're hoping will come to pass. That you're working towards coming to pass.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Literal they say it is that your, your body does not know the difference between an experience that happened and you just imagining it happen. That's why we get so worked up over fear because it's like, well, that didn't happen, but you're scared that it's gonna happen. And you can feel everything that you.

[Cortney]

Would feel in your body.

[Brittany]

Yeah. So you can feel all the happiness and all of the joy and all of the positivity just as easily. We just don't typically go there.

[Cortney]

Right.

[Brittany]

But that sure did feel good to just go there.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

I was like killing the game.

[Cortney]

Doing good, excited. Makes the, makes the coming year even more exciting. All that good shit we're thankful for.

[Brittany]

Okay, one more thing before we like wrap this up. So you know, it's the week of Thanksgiving. Now it's time. But all you bitches with this. It's time on November 1st.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Just turn your Christmas music off for a split second. You got two more days to go.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

The day after Thanksgiving actually that was a tradition. I loved when you were asking like non food traditions. So you know, it used to be that the day after Thanksgiving kicked off Christmas season. For reals?

[Cortney]

Yep.

[Brittany]

So when I was little, like literally you didn't see Christmas anything anywhere.

[Cortney]

My grandma didn't have Christmas decorations at our Thanksgiving.

[Brittany]

No, no.

[Cortney]

Like now people usually.

[Brittany]

Now people usually do, but even the stores, you didn't see an ounce of anything. It was a big deal because the day Christmas, Black Friday, you know, that's when people actually get Thanksgiving. The, the Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, that was the day like that was a huge shopping day. Like the malls would be packed because you would go and I mean like from ass crackadon, like we were at the mall at like 7am now it was an. You had to earn the right to go with my grandma and my aunts. You had to be of certain age. You weren't allowed to go until you were a certain age because they were going to shop literally until they dropped.

[Cortney]

This is, this was a marathon, right?

[Brittany]

This was like seven in the morning and you got home at like 10 o' clock at night.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Like they. So when I finally got to go, I remember my first year getting to go, it was such a big deal. Like me and my cousin Shawna finally got to go along and like they would stop for coffee so we got hot cocoa and you walked into the mall and literally the day before there was nothing There was no Christmas anything. And they went so over the top. Like from the ceilings would be Santa's sleigh and the huge, huge ornaments. And then the Christmas music would be playing and it would just be like, oh my God, it's so fun. And we would go all around Macy's and everything because this was downtown Cleveland and like, that's where you would shop and, you know, we would have lunch and oh man, did we get tired. But like, then at the end of the night when we were leaving downtown Cleveland, all the office buildings, it was a big deal. They would. They would light up for Christmas.

[Cortney]

So that's so cool.

[Brittany]

They had the huge Christmas lights in all the windows. And some would be like Christmas trees or a Care Bear coming up out of a stocking. I'm dating myself because this was the 80s kids. But like. And then you would just look like they would drive all around downtown so we could see all the lights. And then we would drive home and you would just crawl into bed. So tired. But it was so much fun.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

But now it's.

[Cortney]

It feels too. It doesn't. And this is probably. We come from where we came from in terms of how we celebrated, but it doesn't feel as special because it goes on for so long. So I'm like, like I'm with you. Christmas is after Thanksgiving or the day of. If you want to have your decorations for Christmas and everything on Thanksgiving, that's fine. I don't judge you for that. I think Christmas music playing on Thanksgiving that can be. Its. Its first time play like that night.

[Brittany]

If you turn the radio on. Okay.

[Cortney]

I feel like a fun tradition. If I was hosting a big Thanksgiving, whatever could be to have the tree but not with no ornaments on.

[Brittany]

Everybody decorate after Christmas.

[Cortney]

I mean, Thanksgiving dinner.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

You all together just sort of like hang an ornament can take pictures. It's like a fun thing to do. But yeah, people are fully decked out. They were fully decked out for Christmas. Some of them before Halloween.

[Brittany]

It pissed me off the other day I was in like, it was still October and I was. I went in Target and it was like every bit of Christmas, everything. And I was like, it hasn't even been Halloween yet.

[Cortney]

Exactly.

[Brittany]

Put the away. It's full. It just turned fall four weeks ago. Can we not skip past fall? I'm still. Everybody's posting their holiday reels, like their Christmas decorations all. And I was like, I.

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[Brittany]

Did not. I was like, here's a pumpkin pie recipe. Here's like, what? I was like, I'm in fall mode.

[Cortney]

Yeah, exactly.

[Brittany]

Now my decorations are up because we have so much travel, like you and I. I. Well, actually, by the time they listen to this, we'll be back from a.

[Cortney]

Is your tree your Christmas decorations are up?

[Brittany]

Not right now, but. Oh, but I'm saying by the time people listen to this, two days before Thanksgiving, my decorations will be up. Yeah, because you and I will have gone to Aruba, and then we come home from Aruba and we're only home. We're only home for a day. And I turn around, you know, I'll be flying the day this comes out to Ohio, and then I don't get back to two days after Thanksgiving. And I just wanted it done already when I came home.

[Cortney]

Yeah, we'll do that, I'm sure. Like, also, my decorations are up. It's so funny because we're obviously talking in the imaginary land that this is the day that it comes out.

[Brittany]

When they're in the confessional and they're.

[Cortney]

Like, I'm so stressed about what if this happens.

[Brittany]

It's like, that was months ago. Yeah, but. Okay.

[Cortney]

Yeah. But, yeah, my decorate decorations are also up because Nell and I, I'm like, we might live in a different apartment. I was just gonna say, we don't.

[Brittany]

Even know what apartment you'll be in.

[Cortney]

But because. Because usually we. I go to Arizona and I don't want to come back. And then it's like setting everything up. It's a real short run. So I'll do it, like, probably a week. The week before.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

Or something like that.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Because by the way, if it's that short of a run, I'm like, why are we bothering exactly.

[Cortney]

Up there.

[Brittany]

Yeah. Okay. One. One more question. If. Where do you stand on it when radio stations decide to only play Christmas music around the clock for a month? Really? Two months. They'll start it now and they'll be like, it's all Christmas music. And they'll do it through New Year's Day.

[Cortney]

Huh.

[Brittany]

I don't Listen to those radio stations?

[Cortney]

Yeah, that's the thing. I. I guess.

[Brittany]

Yes.

[Cortney]

I'm fine with it. The thing is. What I think it's nice hearing, because I only really hear the radio in public places because I don't often listen to the radio anymore. I listen to something on my phone. And so if I don't want to listen to Christmas music, I won't. But I do like stopping in the coffee shop or if I run in the store, if I'm at Macy's.

[Brittany]

Okay, let's rewind it a little bit. Like, like, let's say you did listen to the radio like every time you drove, like you were listening to the radio, you know, like we used to do.

[Cortney]

Right.

[Brittany]

And there's just certain radio stations that they just play Christmas music.

[Cortney]

Uhhuh.

[Brittany]

That doesn't drive you insane?

[Cortney]

I actually think I like it, but only, only, only with the Thanksgiving to Christmas. And I think that from Christmas to New Year's, I mean, Christmas is over. But I guess if you want to play a little bit more Christmas music mixed in with regular music, they don't, though. I know they don't.

[Brittany]

Don't. And also the day after Christmas, Santa Claus is not coming to town.

[Cortney]

He sure ain't. Like, we're singing about 364 days from now.

[Brittany]

I'm done. He done left. He's asleep. That man is tired.

[Cortney]

Let him rest.

[Brittany]

Like, by the way, the day after Christmas, in my mind it's spring. If you guys don't know me, welcome to me. The day after Christmas. You won't see Christmas in this house. House that comes down so fast. Put it away. And I'm always like, why isn't it 85 degrees outside?

[Cortney]

I know. Because actually, Christmas is pretty early in winter.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

And so we have all winter and it really feels like.

[Brittany]

And I'm like, what the. It's spring.

[Cortney]

Yeah. The fact that Valentine's Day is actually in winter doesn't. My mind doesn't think of it that way.

[Brittany]

I know. I always.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Forget. I guess I don't know why I would forget, but, like, I fully expect it to be warm. And it's, It's.

[Cortney]

It's because we blow our load on the month of December, like, obsessed with snow and Christmas and all things.

[Brittany]

Also, it's because we start celebrating so early Christmas that it's like you skip fall and it feels like you've been in winter. It's also a little hard to tell the seasons here in LA because you're watching everybody else in other states, like Bundle up.

[Cortney]

Yeah, it's.

[Brittany]

I mean, guess I got the air conditioning on right now. I was like, we're going to put these sweatsuits on. 80 degrees here in LA today.

[Cortney]

Yeah. So yeah, that's what getting used to being from Ohio because I loved a hardcore winter, a white Christmas, a hot ass summer, beautiful transition spring and fall. And here it's mostly, it's. Everything is very mild. Like our summers are hot. Especially here in the Valley.

[Brittany]

I was just gonna say.

[Cortney]

But it, but it's not like, like, like Nashville summers. You don't. You. You literally need to bring a change of clothes over. Exactly. It just does not feel as intense. We don't have humid on a hot summer day. If you drive over the canyon to the beach, it's going to be like 20 degrees cooler.

[Brittany]

Exactly. It's freezing. Let's just say what it is.

[Cortney]

My friend came to visit and we went to the beach. I made it a little picnic. And when I tell you we were in sweatsuits, like shivering on the beach, he's like, this is fun, isn't it? You can't do this in Ohio. Like, like my teeth are. Yes.

[Brittany]

Yeah.

[Cortney]

But I'm here for the Christmas music.

[Brittany]

Nah, I'm not a scrooge, I swear. But I don't, I just, I'm like, I don't want to hear it 24 7.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Like, because I will put the radio on whenever I get in the car Now a lot of times I switch over to my phone because I'm like, oh, your damn commercials are killing me. But, but I don't only want to hear Christmas music. I love it mixed in. But there are certain radio stations that go only Christmas music for six or seven weeks. And I'm like, that is too much. Just give me a little ass shaking or a little normal country. I just need a little something in between.

[Cortney]

Do you have. Okay, I have another question before we finish. What is your favorite episode? What is your favorite great or one of your top three favorite Christmas songs? You don't have to like, mine's not super traditional.

[Brittany]

I mean, off the top of my head I would, I would say probably Mariah Carey. I don't Want a Lot for Christmas is a good one. I love a good Jingle Bell Rock. Huh.

[Cortney]

I'm looking up the title and also.

[Brittany]

I get excited when you hear like I'm dreaming of a lot. I don't know. But excuse me. I would have to actually like, like, because there's probably other ones that I'm not thinking of right now.

[Cortney]

My Christmas is because of a memory. When we were little, my parents had a CD that was like a Christmas. Like a variety of different artists, and none of them were really traditional Christmas songs. Like, there was one on there that went, give up the dough, Give up the dough. Give up the dough on Christmas, yo. It was so funny. We'd always like, yeah. As little kids. But also on that album was one called Christmas Time again. It's from 1992. It's by a band called Extreme. And that song is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

[Brittany]

I'm gonna tell one that people are gonna laugh at. NSync. Merry Christmas, happy Holidays. That's the most I'll sing for you guys since I know your ears hurt and you just turn the podcast off. That's a good one.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Last thing, because now we're in the Christmas. And we shouldn't be on Christmas yet.

[Cortney]

Oh, yeah, sorry. Okay, go.

[Brittany]

Do you have any holiday movies? Or should we save that for another episode? Because there are so many. Like, that's the one thing I do really love. I love getting into, like, the different holiday movies.

[Cortney]

Me too. One of my. Like, I watched this on a plane last. Last season, and I was like, I. This movie will never not be funny.

[Brittany]

Coming, Papa.

[Cortney]

So. Well, you're an angry elf. You're an ang. So funny. And I also like a traditional one that I like is Home Alone. I love Home Alone. It's just.

[Brittany]

Daddy's Home Too is hilarious.

[Cortney]

Okay.

[Brittany]

Have you never watched it?

[Cortney]

I don't know if I've seen.

[Brittany]

Oh, my God.

[Cortney]

Daddy's Home too.

[Brittany]

So good. It's Will Ferrell. Mark Wahlberg. Oh, God, what's his name? He's, like, so famous. I can't believe I'm drawing a blank on it right now. Anyways, it's hilarious. John Cena makes an appearance in there. Nobody likes you, Br. I walk around quoting the movie. I love a little girl accident. Like, she gets drunk. She's like, mom, you're pretty. Let's go. Can we go to ihop?

[Cortney]

Oh, my God, I gotta see this movie.

[Brittany]

It's so good. Anyways, check it out. Okay, let's wrap it up. If you guys got any Thanksgiving traditions, we would love to hear about it. We're gonna get our giving tree up. We're gonna do our little friends giving so we can donate. Give back. And we've got lots of fun holiday stuff coming your guys's way. Go get your Everything's perfect merch in Time for Christ presents.

[Cortney]

That's right. You can find the link in the show notes, and also it'll be on our Instagram Everything's Perfect official, as well as a link to our challenge. We're doing this holiday group, and I think it's going to be. Yeah, really fun.

[Brittany]

We'd love to have you join Healthy Holiday Hustle.

[Cortney]

Yeah.

[Brittany]

Healthy Hustle for the holidays. I forget what we called it. We're doing great, guys, but it's going.

[Cortney]

To be healthy during the holidays.

[Brittany]

Actually, we got some really good, fun things coming in that group. We're gonna let you guys know what they are, but you're not gonna want to miss it because one thing you and I haven't done yet before.

[Cortney]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brittany]

You can always email us to everything's perfect podcast gmail.com. we will see you guys very soon. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. We are thankful for you guys, and we can't wait to spend the holidays with you.

[Cortney]

That's right. See you guys later.

[Brittany]

Bye. Bye.