Mini-Ep 480: Special Requests + Prod Recs

Summary

Forever35 – Mini-Ep 480: Special Requests + Prod Recs

Hosts: Doree Shafrir & Elise Hu
Date: February 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This mini-episode is all about listener questions, practical product recommendations, and the joys and challenges of midlife transitions—delivered with Forever35's trademark warmth and humor. Doree and Elise read and react to listener notes on going back to school, IVF worries, self-care during rough times, teeth whitening, affordable skincare, and the real talk realities of vitamins and wellness. They also drop in some behind-the-scenes podcast reflections, and tackle current events in journalism with empathy and candor.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Doree’s Hotel: Listener Throwback & Guided Meditation

• [01:48] Listeners request a return of “Doree’s Hotel,” a guided meditation bit conceived during COVID lockdowns.
• Doree reminisces about the origin: “I just imagined what a wonderful hotel stay would feel like during lockdown. And then they got real weird.”
• The duo toy with revisiting it as a longer, Patreon-exclusive episode, referencing their Patreon tier names (“Doree’s Hotel Lounge” and “Doree’s Hotel Spa”).
• Tone: Warm, nostalgic, a little tongue-in-cheek.

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2. Checking in: Journalism’s Rough Patch

• [03:29] Elise shares personal updates and the state of journalism, describing recent industry upheavals:
  • A friend at CBS News is considering leaving due to ownership and leadership changes.
  • Major layoffs at the Washington Post: “...democracy dies in broad daylight. … The management and the business side failed the journalists.” ([04:36], Elise)
  • Emphasizes the critical public role of journalists and voices concern about job losses.
  • Doree empathizes, shifting back to lighter fare with seasonal self-care wisdom: “Point taken. If you could, you had to get away for a week in February and a week in August.”
• Tone: Serious, heartfelt, supportive.

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3. Listener Calls: Advice on Midlife Career Changes

• [09:23] Listener calls in with encouragement for someone considering returning to school for mental health counseling:
  • “I have loved being back in school, even when it’s hard or stressful. It’s also incredibly rewarding. Highly recommend going for it if it’s something you really want to do.”
• [10:12] Kelly in Wisconsin writes about her positive experience going back to school for library science in her thirties:
  • “Once you see the potential of what could be, you can’t unsee it. … Never being too old to do something.”
• Discussion of the reality: financial/logistical strain, the normalcy of being an older student.
• Doree and Elise champion Forever35’s message of self-renewal at any stage in life.

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4. Forever35 Menopause Month & Guest Highlights

• [12:07] Elise celebrates Menopause Month's impact and data-driven successes:
  • “One of our top guests of all time is also Emily Nagoski. So Emily Nagoski is a real podcast queen … a real anchor of Menopause Month for us.”
• Discussion of breaking the stigma and importance of honest menopause conversations.

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5. IVF Fears and Self-Care

• [13:44] A listener nervously beginning IVF treatment asks for advice, especially around restrictions on physical activity.
  • Doree relates her own experience: “It was not fun … You can walk. That’s kind of the extent of what you’re supposed to do.” ([15:24], Doree)
  • Recommends leaning into supportive entertainment, gentle routines, and kindness to oneself:
    • “Finding TV to binge and leaning on your friends and being kind to yourself and doing some calming things at home is just really important.”
• Elise invites community wisdom from listeners similarly situated.

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6. Product Recommendations & Mini-Reviews

Teeth Whitening

• [16:59] Voicemail tip: “Innopro” peroxide-free whitening strips—seaweed-esque, less sensitivity.

Moisturizing Body Lotion

• [17:56] Listener shares:
  • Bio Oil Moisturizing Body Lotion for sensitive/dry skin (ingredients: shea oil, hyaluronic acid, affordable, $13.89)
  • “Unscented and has made a huge difference in my itchy, dry skin from the brutally cold winter we’ve had in Massachusetts.”

Budget Vitamin C Serum

• Elf’s Vitamin C Serum
  • Elise responds with enthusiasm about affordable serum options: “I’m constantly trying to find a vitamin C serum that is lower priced … Elf being reasonably priced, that’s a great recommendation.”

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7. The Vitamin Debate: Serving Sizes & Gummy Joy

• [19:44] Listener texts advice about vitamin dosing. Despite suggested serving sizes:
  • "Your body can only absorb so much of each vitamin, and anything else is just expensive pee, as I understand it."
  • Pushes for the delightful appeal of gummy vitamins.
• Elise: “I need to go the gummy vitamin route. And maybe I’ll give some to my kids.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Journalism Layoffs:
  • “Democracy dies in broad daylight.” ([04:36], Elise Hu)
• On Midlife Career Change:
  • "Once you see the potential of what could be, you can't unsee it." ([10:34], Listener Kelly)
  • “Never being too old to do something.” ([10:50], Doree)
• On IVF and Movement Limits:
  • “It is a bummer … I commiserate with you.” ([15:40], Doree)
• On Product Recs:
  • “Elf being reasonably priced, that’s a great recommendation. I want to give that a try, because I can actually afford it…” ([18:25], Elise)
• On Vitamins:
  • “…anything else is just expensive pee.” ([20:22], Listener Text)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:48 – “Doree’s Hotel” throwback guided meditation discussion
• 03:29 – Elise on the journalism industry downturn
• 09:27 – Listener encouragement for returning to school
• 10:12 – Kelly in Wisconsin on midlife career change
• 12:07 – The impact of Menopause Month & Emily Nagoski highlight
• 13:44 – IVF anxiety, exercise limitations, and gentle advice
• 16:59 – Voicemail: peroxide-free whitening strip tip
• 17:56 – Product texts: Bio Oil lotion, Elf’s vitamin C serum
• 19:44 – Vitamin dosage debate and the case for gummies

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Takeaways

• You are never too old to try something new.
• Lean on community for support in tough transitions—whether it’s IVF, menopause, career changes, or just winter blues.
• Affordable, accessible self-care products matter. Listener-to-listener recommendations reign.
• Joy and delight (even in vitamins!) can make the small routines of midlife more fun.
• Humor and camaraderie, even over the weirdest guided meditations, help everyone stay afloat.

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Elise Hu]

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[Dory Shafrier]

Hello, and welcome to Forever 35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Dory Shafrier.

[Elise Hu]

And I'm Elise Hu. And we're just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums.

[Dory Shafrier]

And this is a mini episode where we hear from you, we share your comments and your thoughts, and we answer your questions to the best of our ability. But please remember, we are not experts. We're podcast hosts. And we always encourage you to seek support first and foremost from a medical and or mental health professional, as needed.

[Elise Hu]

We sure do.

[Dory Shafrier]

First of all, someone texted us SOS with the state of the world, is it time for a Dory's hotel throwback? New listeners need to know the joy and comfort of Dory's hotel.

[Elise Hu]

Oh, is this like, when you would do a bit of, like, a guided meditation?

[Dory Shafrier]

Yes, it's a guided meditation. It was during COVID when you. You know, no one could go anywhere, so no one was staying in hotels.

[Elise Hu]

Mm. Mm.

[Dory Shafrier]

And I just imagined, like, what a wonderful hotel stay would feel like during lockdown. And then they got real weird.

[Elise Hu]

You should do you know what we should do a standalone episode of that. Of just that of you taking us through a Dory's hotel experience and just drop it in the feed.

[Dory Shafrier]

We could do that. I mean, they weren't that. They weren't that long. They were like, 10 minutes, maybe. Yeah, maybe I could do an extra long one. I would have to, like, write it. I think maybe it could go on our Patreon. I don't know. If. I don't know if I want that, like, out in the world.

[Elise Hu]

Okay, let's put it on our Patreon. Yeah, we'll put it on our Patreon for our Patreon subscribers because y' all deserve it. And it's so funny because our Patreon tiers are Dory's Hotel Lounge and Dory's Hotel Spa. So we should do that and do it for our Patreon. That's a great idea.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yes. When we want up with our, with our Patreon, we thought it would be funny to have those be the tiers.

[Hannah Burner]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, that's good. That's good.

[Dory Shafrier]

What else is happening with you, Elise?

[Elise Hu]

Well, I had a couple catch ups today. It's been a really rough time for journalism and the industry that we come from. I had a catch up with my friend at CBS News earlier today who's been on maternity leave and just deciding whether she wants to go back because CBS News is undergoing all of this change as a result of its ownership changes and leadership changes. And then a lot, a lot of my friends at the Washington Post lost their jobs in the absolute hollowing out of the Washington Post newsroom. And you know, when Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post about 10 years ago, he changed the message on the masthead to say democracy dies in darkness. And the reaction to this absolute bloodbath, laying off a third of its staff, getting rid of its entire audio department, its photo department, its sports department. So much of the international desk, the report, the correspondent in Ukraine covering a war zone got an email saying that she was laid off. But the response has been that democracy dies in broad daylight. You know, that it just. Oh, so anyway, my hearts go out to the journalists out there at these institutions that it's like the management and the business side failed the journalists. And when there are fewer journalists, there's fewer people making sense and breaking stories and adding context and making the connections that we so need as a public to be an informed public. And so. Oh. So anyway, I just wanted to talk about that briefly because we haven't yet and just how difficult that's been in other news.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yes.

[Elise Hu]

What else? What else have I got? I have a house guest. I have a house guest this week, a longtime friend who is still gainfully employed at a newspaper. He is a cultural critic, I know. At the Boston Globe. At the Boston Globe. Oh, my goodness, no less. And so longtime film critic friend of mine. He was a critic at the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle and then wound up at the Globe. And I think this is his first Boston winter. And so he texted me about a month ago and he was like, can I come for a week in February? I need to get out of here for a week. And I was like, I love.

[Dory Shafrier]

That's so funny.

[Elise Hu]

The hideaway is open. Because it sounds like it's kind of bleak up there.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah. Going. Yeah, your first Boston winter is like. And this. And this has been a really bad winter.

[Elise Hu]

Okay. Okay.

[Dory Shafrier]

Because it's been, like, extra cold and extra snowy. Like, Boston had a few winters where it, like, barely snowed and it didn't get that cold. And this winter has been pretty rough. So I could see how if this was your. Your first Boston winter, you would be.

[Elise Hu]

Like, what the heck?

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

You would be like, hey, friend in la, could I come stay at your back house? And the answer is yes.

[Dory Shafrier]

So my old boss at the New York observer always said, like, you had to, you had to. If you could, you had to get away for a week in February and a week in August.

[Elise Hu]

Point taken. Point taken.

[Dory Shafrier]

Point taken. Point taken. All right, Elise, we have. Before we get to our emails and texts and etc, I just want to remind everyone that you can also call or text us at 781-591-0390 and email us at forever35podcastmail.com Our website is forever35podcast.com. We have links there to everything we mentioned on the show. We are on Instagram @forever35 podcast. And you can shop our favorite products at shop my US/forever35. And sign up for our patreon at patreon.comforever35, where we have our weekly casual chats, our monthly pop culture episodes, maybe an episode of Dory's Hotel, I don't know.

[Elise Hu]

Yes, that would be rad.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right, we're gonna take a short break, and after the break, we have some advice on midlife care transitions. So stay tuned for that.

[Elise Hu]

We'll be right back.

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[Dory Shafrier]

All right, we are back. Elise, do you want to read this first message?

[Elise Hu]

Sure. The listener writes, I could have been the caller from mini app478 a couple of years ago. I am 37 with two young kids and am in my last semester of grad school to be a clinical mental health counselor. I realize that everyone's financial and logistical support looks different, but I have loved being back in school, even when it's hard or stressful. It's also incredibly rewarding. Highly recommend going for it if it's something you really want to do. Also, if that listener wants to chat, feel free to share my number with her. I'd be happy to talk more. Oh, we could connect our listeners. We could be like a concierge service for folks who are in the same fields.

[Dory Shafrier]

Totally.

[Elise Hu]

So there's your little vote of encouragement from another listener caller.

[Dory Shafrier]

Love that. And we got a nice note from Kelly in Wisconsin who said, longtime listener, first time emailer, love the pod and love Elise on the show. Still miss Kate. Sidebar. I was saying to Kate, like, it's been nice, you know, that people love Elise and they can also miss you. They can like hold two feelings at once.

[Elise Hu]

Two things at the same time. Yeah.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right. I just finished listening to the latest mini app that ended with the listener on the fence about whether to go back to school in midlife. I wholeheartedly agreed with Dory. Do it. I decided to go back to school 10 years ago for a degree in library science. I'm a public librarian now. At 35, after sitting on the fence for six years about whether to bite the bullet, all I can say is I wish I'd done it sooner. In my experience, once you have the awareness that you've lost whatever drive or passion you may have had for the thing that you are currently doing, you won't get it back. I've seen this happen with other people I know who have switched careers or gone back to school later in life. Once you see the potential of what could be, you can't unsee it. And if you are able to see yourself doing the thing that you want to pursue, all the more reason to go forward. Also, I love the refrain on this show about never being too old to do something at the time I went back to school. I thought for sure I'd be the oldest person there and I wasn't a long shot. You are not alone to want to start over again. As long as you are comfortable with the knowledge and financial burden that you will be unemployed or underemployed for a few years and have to give your labor away for free at times in the name of gaining experience, I'd say go for it. Good luck to you. Thanks for the pod. Simply cannot believe you have done nearly 500 mini apps.

[Elise Hu]

Oh my gosh.

[Dory Shafrier]

This pod brings me so much joy and I loved the perimenopause slash Menopause month last year. Thank you for shedding light on a topic that desperately needs to be talked about. It's great to know there's a community of women like me. Thanks so much.

[Elise Hu]

Okay, I'm so glad she brought up Menopause Month because as I mentioned, I think on Monday's show I was or maybe the casual chat. Last Friday I was in an analytics meeting for TED Talks Daily, the show that I host for TED and did. They showed kind of like the top episodes of the year and in the top five was an interview or a feed drop of an interview with 2 Time Forever 35 guest Emily Nagoski, who we also featured last year it during Menopause month. She is the sex educator and researcher who was also going through perimenopause and talked so openly about it. And she and her twin sister Amelia wrote the book on burnout. She wrote Come as you are, which is a great book on like sex ed in general. And if you go into our metrics, one of our top guests of all time is also Emily Nagoski. So Emily Nagoski is a real podcast queen. She is a guest winner or a winning guest. Yeah, just across all sorts of different shows. And she was a real anchor of Menopause month for us. So maybe that's a good reminder for when we do a rerack or rerun of an episode. Emily Nagoski we can hear from her again.

[Dory Shafrier]

Very interesting. Okay.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, the data tells a story and that story is that Emily Nagoski have her on.

[Dory Shafrier]

Just always have Emily Nagoski on. Okay. Then we got this text that said hi, it's the girl who called in about ivf. I start estrogen patches in a week, then injections in March. I am following up because what I wanted to add is that while I know Dory has a podcast on exactly this, the sheer volume of episodes of the podcast has me overwhelmed not knowing where to click. Honestly, I just love any support and wisdom. I'm freaked out about not being able to work out at all. Not a gym rat, but the fact that you can't, like, even do some stretches or quote anything that makes your ponytail bounce has me totally freaked. I just want to note that this text came in before our mini app from last week had run. And I did give some guidance on that mini app about, like, where to start with my IVF podcast because there are a lot of episodes and it can feel overwhelming. So I hear you and I hope that some of our support and wisdom last week was helpful. The thing about not being able to work out is like a real. It is a bummer. I write about this a little bit in my memoir, actually, because it was not fun to, like, not being able to. To work out. You can walk. That's like, kind of the extent of what you're supposed to do. So I, you know, I highly suggest, and I said this last week, but, like, finding TV to binge and leaning on your friends and, like, being kind to yourself and doing some calming things at home is just really important, especially if you're someone who likes to work out. Which, you know, when I did ivf, I was like, going to Flywheel. Remember Flywheel?

[Elise Hu]

Oh, yeah, I do.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah. And going to the gym and like, I definitely, you know, I was Pilates. Like, I did a lot of working out and you do have to just sort of stop for a while and it is a bummer. So, you know, I'm just saying this to, like, I commise. I'm commiserating with you. And yeah, you just have to kind of be kind to yourself about it. And also know that, like, when you are able to start up again, it might take a little while to, like, get back into it.

[Elise Hu]

Sure. So, and listeners, if you have been through this and want to offer any words of wisdom or encouragement to our listener who calls herself the girl who called in about ivf, feel free to call and text us in all the places where you can call and text us. 781-591-0390.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right, we are going to take another short break and when we come back, we have some product recommendations.

[Elise Hu]

Can't wait. We'll be right back.

[Dory Shafrier]

Pretty exciting. All right. We'll be right back. Foreign. Okay, we are back and first going to share a voicemail about teeth whitening.

[Listener Voicemail]

Hey, Dory and Elise. This is for the caller asking about teeth whitening. There's a product, I got it on Amazon called Innopro I N O P R O. They're whitening strips that are peroxide free, so they don't have the thing in it that hurts your gums and your teeth. It looks kind of like seaweed when it's on your teeth. It's kind of like exactly like seaweed. Anyway, I don't know a lot of Instagram influencers. I was influenced to buy it by several people. I think it worked fine. I mean, it wasn't like, oh my God, amazing night and day. But anyway, it's something worth a try. Innopro whitening strips. Bye.

[Elise Hu]

Bye. Great tip. I kind of want to try it out myself since I have a similar.

[Dory Shafrier]

Thing like sensitivity or sensitivity.

[Elise Hu]

Also the staining. Yeah.

[Dory Shafrier]

Well, try it out, Elise, and report back. I'd love to hear.

[Elise Hu]

Okay. All right.

[Dory Shafrier]

Okay. All right. Do you want to read this next text about some products that a listener tried and loved?

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. And also listener, thank you for texting us with some products that you love. This is something that you can do with the mini app anytime. This is just a call out to all listeners. You can just share or also we have a running chat in the Patreon that I just call, like stuff we need or stuff we're looking for or something like that. And you can also put things that you love in there too. So that's a standing invitation for any of you all. You can post it in the Patreon chat or call or text us with products you love. This texter says, I use this daily with Dr. Jart's Tiger Balm as a foundation and it's amazing. And she. She linked us to something called Bio Oil Moisturizing body lotion for sensitive and dry skin. It looks like it has shea oil and hyaluronic acid and is reasonably priced at 1389. So that's one recommendation. She says it's unscented and has made a huge difference in my itchy dry skin from the brutally cold winter we've had in Massachusetts. Like we were talking about earlier in the show. I also have been using Elf's vitamin C serum and really like it. That's not the only time I've heard about Elf's vitamin C serum. And I'm constantly trying to find a vitamin C serum that is lower priced. And so an Elf being reasonably priced, I. That's a great recommendation. I want to give that a try because I can actually afford it since we have no money left after all of Oscar's medical maladies.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oh my gosh.

[Hannah Burner]

Oscar.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oscar. Okay. And Then, Elise, this text was in reference to your recent comment about vitamins.

[Elise Hu]

Oh, yeah, my vitamin intention. How I have those ritual vitamins, and it says to take two. And so I'm like, oh, wait, I'm supposed to take two of these?

[Dory Shafrier]

Yes. Okay. This says. Okay, need to preface this with hashtag not a doctor. But even though my vitamin B12 says to take two, I only take one because the serving size has something like 15,000% the daily recommended value. Actually, I just checked, and it's actually 41. 667%. LOL. Forever. Anyway, your body can only absorb so much of each vitamin, and anything else is just expensive pee, as I understand it. So unless Elise's vitamins are actually formulated to only give her 100 to 200% of each thing she needs, my guess is it's fine to stick with one. Also, I treat myself to gummy vitamins, because if I have to take pills every day, might as well make it as delightful a process as possible.

[Elise Hu]

That makes total sense. Yes. I need to. I need to go the gummy vitamin route. And maybe I'll give some to my kids. Maybe I'll think about that.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right, thanks so much, everybody. We appreciate you, and we will talk to you soon.

[Elise Hu]

Talk to you next time.

[Dory Shafrier]

Bye.

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