Podcast
Two Noras and a Mic
Hosted by Nora & Nora · EN
Oh hello! We’re Nora and Nora and we’re glad you’re here!
From parenting and local faves to current trends and recipes, we are two Noras discussing it all with a whole lot of laughter along the way. As we raise our families in the west suburbs of Chicago we invite you to listen weekly as we dish about all the highs and lows and ridiculous amount of tomfoolery that ensue on this journey. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts as we check out new local spots, interview all sorts of interesting people, and catch up with each other! It’s like inviting two friends over to visit and catch up with without all the hassle of getting ready for company. Leave the entertaining to us and be sure to tune in for a new episode each Monday.
38episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Two Noras and Best Selling Author Sean Ryan
May 1800:35:59Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe podcast becomes a family affair as Nora and Nora welcome Nora's little brother, New York Times Best Selling Author, Sean Ryan! Sean pops by the pod to talking about his new graphic novel, "Xanar & Mr. Tuxedo"! A robot boy who’s relentlessly upbeat and a grumpy old penguin should not be able to exist in the same story without everything falling apart, yet somehow it works and it’s hilarious and heartfelt. Sean unpacks how his middle grade graphic novel 'Xanar & Mr. Tuxedo" went from an idea he first played with years ago to a fully built, wildly visual adventure you can actually hold in your hands.We talk about the real mechanics of the creative process: why “blank page” fear is normal, how smart constraints make writing easier, and how worldbuilding problems can become story solutions. Sean shares the key breakthrough that made the book click, letting his characters come from different worlds, plus why he chose a Jane Austen inspired setting as a mirror for the theme of partnership and teamwork. If you love graphic novels, comics, children’s books, or storytelling craft, there’s a lot here to steal for your own work.Sean also pulls back the curtain on how you write a graphic novel script, panel-by-panel directions, dialogue, expressions, pacing, and how much trust it takes to collaborate with an illustrator. And yes, we get the origin story of his Marvel internship, including the infamous Spider-Man Frosted Flakes box resume.Pre-order your copy today! AmazonBarnes and NobelPaperCutzSubscribe so you don’t miss what we’re making next, and if you enjoyed this one, share it with a friend who loves comics or creativity and leave a quick review.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →Something's Fishy...
May 1100:36:07Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWorld Password Day has us spiraling because somehow we all have a thousand logins and none of them are the right one at the right time. We trade honest confessions about password reuse, the “make up nonsense words” method, and why storing everything in a notes app can feel brilliant until you realize you’re one forgotten step away from a full reset loop. It’s funny, but it’s also a real look at how digital security and everyday life collide, especially when you’ve got family accounts, devices, and endless sign-ins to manage.From there, we jump to a headline that makes everyone wince: a Fenway Park Jumbotron proposal where the answer is “I don’t know.” We talk about the weird pressure of public proposals, what a surprise moment should actually feel like, and share our own engagement stories where the plan goes slightly off the rails. Then we pivot into travel and consumer curiosity, including a double decker airplane seat design that promises more legroom while raising big questions about turbulence, claustrophobia, and whether “innovation” always improves the flight experience.And because our brains work like this, we take a hard turn into fish. Not just eating fish and cooking salmon, but pet fish road trips, goldfish history, Goldfish crackers trivia, aquarium opinions, fishnets, and the darker internet side of catfishing scams. We wrap with highs and lows that get real: parenting through injury, fighting off a cold, celebrating a school musical, and the kind of gratitude that shows up as tears over concert tickets. If you like funny conversation with surprising facts and genuine life updates, hit play, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →A Tip Top Episode About Jobs
May 400:46:04Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailA four-ounce canned margarita that drinks like a full-sized cocktail, a gas-pump mistake that turns into a full-body wardrobe emergency, and the kind of week where you’re sprinting from sports to rehearsals and still trying to be a functioning adult. That’s where we start, and it only gets better from there. We talk about the real work behind a middle school musical, from tech week logistics to the emotional side of getting kids onstage when nerves and peer cruelty show up. One moment with bubble guns in a gym becomes a surprisingly good lesson in leadership, arts education, and how to shift a room’s energy fast. Then we jump to prom culture and how it’s changed, why the pre-prom hoopla can overshadow the actual dance, and why so many kids seem completely wiped out by sleepovers now. From flying-car headlines to fashion nonsense, we also dig into what we’re willing to trust: autonomous air taxis from Manhattan to JFK, self-driving cars like Waymo, and the strange marketing power of Chanel’s heel-only “shoe.” It’s funny, but it’s also a look at attention, safety, and why novelty sells. Our main topic is jobs: first jobs, summer jobs, college jobs, and the stories you carry forever. We swap everything from babysitting as kids to courthouse filing in domestic relations, getting fired and handing over the shirt off your back and theater department gigs. We wrap with kids’ chores, side hustles, and the idea that the most meaningful work might not come with a paycheck. Subscribe, share with a friend, leave a review, and tell us: what job taught you the biggest lesson?Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →This Episode is Fire
Apr 2700:42:28Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailFire is one of those words that sneaks into everything, and once we noticed it, we couldn’t stop. We start with the real-life stuff, the sprint to opening night for a school musical, a week packed with family events, and a little Chicago love with Wrigley Field’s 112th anniversary plus a truly wild baseball moment. Then we take a sharp left into the kind of pop culture details we can’t resist, including a New York Times crossword mistake that had puzzle people furious.From there, we dig into two trends that say a lot about where we are right now: summer fashion and modern family design. We debate “messy girl” style, the return of early-2000s shimmer makeup, and the refreshing idea that the current pants trend is basically anything goes. Then we get into the bigger question: platonic co-parenting. We talk through what it means to choose a parenting partner without romance, how co-parenting apps like Modamily work, and why three-parent arrangements sound practical on paper but can get emotionally complicated fast.Things get even stranger with a keepsake trend we can’t unsee: breast milk jewelry and baby hair jewelry. We ask the obvious questions, laugh at the marketing language, and try to figure out where sentiment ends and chaos begins. We wrap by coming back to fire in the literal sense, from childhood “firefort” memories and fireplace habits to firefighter family stories, quick fire history, and the way fire shows up in music and slang.If you like funny, curious conversations that jump from culture to parenting to history without losing the thread, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find us.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →Calendar People
Apr 2000:45:51Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailYour calendar isn’t just dates and boxes. It’s the story of your life, the mental load you’re carrying, and the one tool that can either calm the chaos or make it louder. We’re two Noras comparing notes on how we actually keep a family schedule running, from paper planners and wall calendars to shared phone calendars that everyone can see.We get specific about what works: weekly planning on Sundays, color-coding each kid’s appointments, and why school calendar subscriptions can be helpful or completely overwhelming. We also talk honestly about the exhausting dynamic of being the only person who “knows everything,” especially when kids won’t write anything down, and how a shared system can give you your brain back. If you’re searching for real-world time management, planning routines, and family organization tips, this is the kind of conversation that makes you feel less alone and more equipped.And because our lives are never just one topic, we weave in the day’s headlines and real moments too: jury duty surprises, a flock of sheep taking over a store in Germany, a pen name scandal around a bestselling thriller author, and a wild wedding story that ends with jail time. We even nerd out on the Gregorian calendar reform and the missing days of 1582, plus why the month names still don’t line up.Subscribe for more, share this with your favorite calendar person, and leave a review if it made you laugh or rethink your system. Are you team paper planner or team phone calendar?Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →Swimsuits and Spacesuits
Apr 600:35:45Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailSwimsuit season brings out everyone’s opinions, insecurities, and oddly strong preferences, so we finally say the quiet parts out loud. We talk through what we actually wear to the pool and beach, why a bikini can feel like a full-time sunscreen job, and why cover-ups, linen pants, and rash guards sometimes do more for our confidence than any “perfect” suit ever could. If you’ve been hunting for real-world swimwear advice, we get into one-piece vs two-piece vs tankini, support and fit, and how the UV index somehow becomes the main character of family vacations.Then we take a left turn into the best kind of chaos: the basket-shaped Longaberger building in Ohio, paying “line sitters” to wait in TSA, and an ice cream dessert at Yankee Stadium that looks exactly like a chicken drumstick. We also try to wrap our heads around a theft of 400,000 European Kit Kats, because where would you even put them, and how would you sell them when everything is barcoded? Somewhere in the middle, we realize we need a refresher on space travel too, including what the International Space Station is and why people are suddenly talking about the moon again.We also share a little swimsuit history that’s wilder than you’d think, from heavy old bathing gowns to the moment the bikini got its name from Bikini Atoll and the idea of an “atomic” fashion impact. We close with our weekly highs and lows, including a broken elbow update, a small moment of not speaking up when we should have, and the joy of finding a show we can actually watch with our kids without stress.Subscribe so you don’t miss what we’re talking about next, share this with a friend who’s packing for spring break, and leave a review if our swimwear real talk made you feel a little more normal.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →A Tisket, A Tasket, An Episode About Baskets
Mar 3000:35:19Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailCoffins, AirPods, TSA, rom-com reboots, and baskets: we know, it sounds impossible to connect, but that’s exactly the fun. We kick things off with real-life catch-up, then stumble into a genuinely startling wellness trend from Japan called coffin laying, a meditation practice meant to sharpen your “gaze at life” by getting closer to the idea of death. It sparks a bigger question about what self-care is supposed to feel like, and where your personal hard lines are.From there, we go full modern-life mode: sleep routines with noise-canceling earbuds, the very real choking-hazard moment of waking up with AirPods in your mouth, and the small tech annoyances that somehow become part of daily survival. Spring break travel brings up TSA lines and airport stress, and we react to the airline comfort arms race, including United’s plan to let passengers buy a whole row and turn it into a mattress-like setup. We also squeeze in a pop culture check on the 13 Going On 30 reboot rumor and when nostalgia crosses into “please don’t remake that.”Then we settle into our main theme: baskets, not caskets. We trace Easter baskets back through spring equinox traditions, old symbols like hares and eggs, and how those stories shape what we still do with our kids today. We talk practical family traditions, why traveling makes holiday routines weird, and how switching to paintable plastic eggs can save your sanity. We also get into bike baskets, toy storage, gift baskets, Longaberger basket nostalgia, and the surprisingly dark (and likely mythic) origin of the phrase “basket case.” We wrap with a classic high-low, including a maddening Samsung beverage center pitcher fail and the peace that comes from decluttering and a quiet moment to yourself. If you enjoyed the ride, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find us.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →Night Cap with the Noras and our Guest Dee Dee Saracco
Mar 2300:38:08Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailA lot of businesses claim they’re built on community. Dee Dee Saracco actually proves it, one tray of stuffed shells at a time. We sit down in her gorgeous new event space for a Nightcap With The Noras and talk about the real work behind a successful catering business, from parish life and early fundraising dinners to feeding packed schedules and building a brand people genuinely want to support.Dee Dee shares the moment her side hustle turns into a full-time leap, how her family’s cooking culture shapes the menu, and why “Gravy Lady” isn’t just a cute nickname. We get into the less glamorous parts too: shared kitchen headaches, the growing pains of scaling, and the operational systems that prevent mistakes when orders get complex. Her partnership with Ann is a masterclass in moving from handwritten chaos to digital processes that free up time for creativity and customer care.If you’re planning a baby shower, bridal shower, first communion, book club night, or any at-home party, Dee Dee’s advice is gold: start with headcount, avoid endless last-minute changes, and stop white-knuckling hosting. Her best tip is also the simplest one: hire a server so you can actually enjoy your own home, your guests, and your food.Listen now, then subscribe, share this with your favorite host, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →What's hAPPening?
Mar 1600:36:29Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailA $100 hot dog topped with caviar and gold flakes should taste like magic, right? We dig into why viral “luxury food” often lands like a regular snack, and how the internet turns menu stunts into must-click culture. From there, we zoom out into the bigger question behind the joke: when does food stop being food and start becoming performance art, and who’s paying the price for it?We also talk about restaurant prestige and the messy ethics that can sit behind it, including the Noma chatter and what it means when young chefs tolerate toxic kitchens for a resume line. Then we lighten it up with wellness trends that feel suspiciously familiar, like Viking-style retreats built on cold plunges, saunas, communal meals, and “nature as a gym” aka camp with better marketing.Finally, we get literal about “apps” and go both directions: appetizers (hors d’oeuvres vs first course, shareable starters we love, and why we’re picky about boards) and applications (the early days of Snake, today’s most-downloaded apps, how to check Screen Time, and when a website still beats an app). We wrap with our highs and lows, including roof leaks, weird prop problems, Nora shoes, and the joy of going home and feeling like a daughter again. If you laughed, cringed, or strongly disagreed with us, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →Showers
Mar 900:33:13Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailEver notice how the smallest rituals shape a whole week? We start with pancakes and land in a smart tour of everyday choices that actually move the needle: strength training as metabolic armor, sunscreen that matters even by a window, and flossing that quietly adds years. Along the way we celebrate two back‑to‑back school galas—one a joyous dance party, the other a sleek cocktail vibe—and talk about how inclusive games like Plinko and raffles make fundraising feel welcoming instead of exclusive.The conversation then shifts to the heart: a brief Sesame Street segment where Andrew Garfield talks grief with Elmo, and why clear, gentle language helps both kids and adults. We test our attention with a New York Times 10‑minute art challenge, slowing down long enough to notice hidden initials and layered patterns in Klimt’s Woman in Gold. That practice of deliberate focus pairs with a story of radical longevity: an 82‑year‑old ultrarunner sporting a 20‑year‑old’s VO2 max and a 3:39 marathon, proof that late starts and steady habits still rewrite limits.Then we open the word “showers” from two sides. First, bathing: a quirky history from waterfalls to hand‑pumped recirculators, plus real‑world routines, hot vs cold debates, post‑workout cooldowns, and the towel systems that keep laundry from taking over your life. Second, celebrations: baby and bridal showers in a world where many couples already live together. We swap stories on registries, diaper raffles, and why a simple luncheon with a thoughtful basket sometimes beats a performative party. We wrap with highs and lows—from community wins to a mudroom makeover that de‑clutters the kitchen—and an invitation to choose presence over autopilot.If this mix of warmth, wellness, and real life made you smile, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick rating or review to help others find us.Mike Haggerty Buick GMCRight on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Transcribe →