Meredith: 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of Mildly Thriving. Oh my God. Today we're talking about I'm Meredith.

Kimberly: 0:14

I'm Kimberly.

Meredith: 0:14

Today we're gonna talk about the holidays since Thanksgiving's coming up. Yay.

Kimberly: 0:18

Yay.

Meredith: 0:20

And if we actually feel excited about the holidays or if it's just

Kimberly: 0:24

yay.

Meredith: 0:25

our nostalgia taking over. Well, this is coming from someone who loves the holidays. I love the holiday season. Yeah. It is my favorite time of year, uh, from Halloween to Christmas. Love it.

Kimberly: 0:35

It's your favorite time of year over, like summer or, yeah. Oh, okay. Cool. Good to know.

Meredith: 0:40

but I feel like. We get this idea in our heads that the holidays are exciting because we think of how awesome they were as kids. Mm-hmm. For some of us, And then when it actually comes around, it's like, oh shit, I have to talk to all of my family and I have to cook for 20 people and I have to host, or someone expects me to fly somewhere, or now I have to buy a bunch of gifts.

Kimberly: 1:00

And we realize why our moms were so stressed out. Yep. At the holidays, and I'm like. I owe you a big apology, ma.

Meredith: 1:08

Yeah, What is your favorite and least favorite thing about Thanksgiving?

Kimberly: 1:13

I hate Thanksgiving food, so that is a thing that I like. Turkey, gross mashed potatoes, blah. Um, I love green bean casserole, so that is like the one saving grace.

Meredith: 1:25

Turkey is a scam, right? Like, is anyone, does anyone actually like Turkey? I need to know.

Kimberly: 1:31

I don't know. in recent years. The turkeys that we've had at Thanksgiving have gotten substantially better. I had really good Turkey this weekend at a friend's giving, but that's because the people that were making it put it in a soy.

Meredith: 1:45

so it wasn't dry as shit.

Kimberly: 1:46

Right. They deconstructed the Turkey and then they put it in the soy. And it was like all of this like much more complicated things that I, I've never made a Turkey because like, why would I,

Meredith: 1:55

I have, it takes all fucking day and it's still gross.

Kimberly: 1:58

Yeah. And my brother took over making the Turkey at our, at our family Thanksgiving and he puts it in like an oven bag and he has a thermometer that he literally travels with, that he puts into the Turkey. So it, it's gotten substantially better than it it did as a kid. And,

Meredith: 2:15

and maybe it's just me. I have tried it. We fried the whole Turkey. Like

Kimberly: 2:19

that's scary. Yeah.

Meredith: 2:20

That was an interesting experience. done it in a bag with like lots of butter, all that fun stuff and. There is not a time where I've been like, oh my gosh, this Turkey is so good. Never once. So I am after this, I'm going to post a poll on our Instagram. I would like to know if anyone else actually likes Turkey or if it's just us that doesn't like Turkey. the best Thanksgivings I've had are ones where we completely went away from traditional Thanksgiving food. we did a seafood boil one year. I know you don't like seafood. Yeah. But that's, that's my jam. Yeah. Um, and then we did chicken and waffles the next year.

Kimberly: 2:57

Yeah.

Meredith: 2:57

And I, it was like fun to come up with something new. but as far as traditional Thanksgiving food goes, what would you say your favorite item is? Green bean casserole.

Kimberly: 3:06

110%.

Meredith: 3:08

Man.

Kimberly: 3:08

Like I, I don't know. It just, it's

Meredith: 3:12

bold choice. Cotton,

Kimberly: 3:13

and I don't even like cream of mushroom soup. I don't even like mushrooms, but I'm like, creaming casserole. Hell yeah. And people either love it or they hate it. Yes.

Meredith: 3:22

And it can be made wildly different. Yes. So,

Kimberly: 3:26

but I use the recipe on the back of the fried onions.

Meredith: 3:30

Okay.

Kimberly: 3:31

So, I

Meredith: 3:32

think the fried onions are the best part of green bean casserole. And once I grew up and realized you could just eat those by themselves, then what was the point of making green bean casserole?

Kimberly: 3:40

Yeah. When I make green bean casserole, I put in the entire package. and apparently you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to use a lot less. But I'm like, why would I, why would I not?

Meredith: 3:49

I pick out the big pieces and eat them, and then I put, yeah, My favorite thing is the Devil eggs.

Kimberly: 3:56

Oh, we never, I don't like devil digs. Wow.

Meredith: 3:58

Wow.

Kimberly: 3:59

I know my brother loves them. You

Meredith: 4:01

you know a

Kimberly: 4:02

person I know. And you think you like them and then they tell you they don't like Devil digs and,

Meredith: 4:06

Well, I told you I didn't like the Sims, so I guess we're even, oh,

Kimberly: 4:10

fuck. Yeah. She just told me right before we hit record that she doesn't like the Sims. So, I'm reevaluating our friendship and Meredith is doing the same. So,

Meredith: 4:20

man, we had a good run. You know?

Kimberly: 4:21

we did.

Meredith: 4:22

Okay. Wait, I got lost per usual. Um, okay. You said your least favorite thing was the food, but your favorite thing was. Getting to spend time with your favorite people,

Kimberly: 4:33

Yes. And it's like you get the whole day in theory, how we've done it is you just have the whole day and everybody hangs out and then you eat this meal and there's not a lot of pressure to like get gifts. That I think comes with Christmas. Like that is a much more stressful holiday. but yeah, and it's like you can have whomever, you can do it with your friends, you can do it with your family. Like,

Meredith: 4:52

I was gonna make that point. I think the point of spending it with your favorite people, I feel like somebody are probably like, ha ha, ha ha. I'm not spending it with my favorite people, but favorite people can be chosen and family can also be chosen. Like absolutely well favorite people are chosen, but yeah, like that's why friends givings are so popular now. It's like, shit, half the time this is 10 times better.'cause it's not stressful and I'm not. having to avoid the, why aren't you married? Why don't you have kids yet? Why

Kimberly: 5:18

Why are you single?

Meredith: 5:19

Yeah. Why are you single? Yeah. Uh, I also feel like it is much more enjoyable when you are the one that gets to hang out and you are not the one that's doing the cooking. percent. I have hosted, and I do love aspects of it. But I put a lot of pressure on myself. I, it is not an, an imposed pressure from anyone else.

Kimberly: 5:38

Yeah.

Meredith: 5:39

And that's a, not an every year scenario.

Kimberly: 5:42

There was one year, the year during COVID, we went over to some friends and we just made tacos for Christmas and it was like, it was fantastic. And then there was one year that we. Decided none of us were gonna get together for Christmas and that we were actually going to charter a boat in January and we went on a sailing trip.

Meredith: 6:03

I love that.

Kimberly: 6:04

And so it was like instead of the, everyone getting together for Christmas, like, let's go to Belize and do this fun trip. So we did that instead. But I still wanted to like see my parents on Christmas, so I actually ordered HelloFresh. They usually have like a Christmas time meal and it was actually really good. Damn. And it was for four people or maybe more, I don't know, but It was just really nice because everything was there. I didn't have to go shopping. Like it just came to me and I was,

Meredith: 6:32

oh, going to the store is half the battle. And if you don't do it early, oh my God.

Kimberly: 6:36

Yeah.

Meredith: 6:37

Peak anxiety

Kimberly: 6:38

I remember that my brother was hosting Friendsgiving one year and they were just kinda like fresh outta college and I don't know that they'd ever done this before. but his roommate was in charge of, of the Turkey, and my brother was like, did you take the Turkey out of? Freezer and it was like the day of, not enough time. It was either the day of or like the day before and it's like, no, apparently that thing has to thaw for like days

Meredith: 7:04

at least, or something crazy. Yeah. So

Kimberly: 7:07

I don't remember what happened. I didn't really care because who cares about Turkey?

Meredith: 7:10

Yeah. I'm, I'm from the south, so, uh, we always had Turkey and ham growing up and I've always preferred the ham. It's just. much better.

Kimberly: 7:22

Yeah.

Meredith: 7:22

Uh, do you appreciate when people come to you or do you feel pressure to go see other people? Like, I feel like that's something big for me. There has, over the years, felt like a pressure to get together with family. Mm-hmm.

Kimberly: 7:34

Mm-hmm.

Meredith: 7:35

But. people's situations vary wildly. Mm-hmm. And it does get stressful sometimes being the one to consistently travel and it gets expensive. And so over the years, I have committed to traveling less. Because it's, it's hard. And I would like some people to come to me.

Kimberly: 7:53

Totally. That's, that's fair. For most years we would go, like my brother and I would like go to my parents. Um, and then as we got into more committed relationships and whatever, usually we would try to coordinate like, okay, we'll do Thanksgiving with my family this year and then we'll do Christmas with your family and, you know, kind of flip flop it. Um, and my parents were always very understanding. They're like. We'll miss you, but you know, we'll see you at another time. there was never this like, you have to be here for Christmas or else. Yeah. They were always very respectful of those boundaries and allowing, uh, myself and my brother kind of to choose and coordinate. And, uh, the last few years we've like gone to my aunt and uncle's and we all meet there and'cause they have a big house, they have space for everyone and. It's good.

Meredith: 8:42

Okay. I'm realizing now that maybe my situation was a little bit unique and maybe it was so frustrating for me because I worked in emergency services for 10 years and I never had a normal schedule. So working shift work, you're frequently working holidays

Kimberly: 8:58

thank you to everyone who works

Meredith: 8:59

the holidays. Yes, God bless you. Um, it's, it's rough and. It did get easier over time, and it's cheaper finding other times than the normal time to celebrate these things. But I will say it did take some time to train my family that like I am not going to be able to be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and if I get one. That's a lucky situation. Right. So we are gonna have to work something else out. And I love you, mom, but it took a lot of years for her to be like, what? You don't have these days off. Yeah. It's like I, and even if you

Kimberly: 9:35

and even if you do, it's like the worst time of year to travel. Yeah. Um, actually this year my brother isn't coming for Thanksgiving and so I called my mom and I was like, how do you feel about us celebrating Thanksgiving the Thursday before? Thanksgiving then we're not trying to like travel during the busiest time of year. Yes. And I called my aunt uncle and I was like, how do you guys feel? And they were like, I guess it doesn't really matter. So we decided to do that instead. We will be home for Thanksgiving, having already like done our celebration and

Meredith: 10:09

I love that. It's so much nicer.

Kimberly: 10:11

It is.'cause it doesn't, I mean the whole point of it is just kind of to do the tradition, it doesn't really matter that. Date.

Meredith: 10:17

Yeah. Only you know that it's the, like, who, who's fucking keeping track of it?

Kimberly: 10:21

It's gonna feel like Thanksgiving. Yeah. Regardless. Yeah. So

Meredith: 10:25

so one of the questions I have on the outline is and I actually think I already asked it, is it nostalgia or do we actually enjoy the holidays? But I do think a lot of it is nostalgia and I miss. The family feeling of growing up and being together with my family. And I don't get to see them that often anymore, especially being out of state. But I also feel like I get my hopes up really high for seeing my family. And I have told this to their faces, so I'm not afraid to say it. It takes about 24 hours for us to get on each other's nerves.

Kimberly: 10:56

wow.

Meredith: 10:57

And I mean, it's not just people getting on my nerves. I get on their nerves too. Of course. And you know, nobody. Gets under your skin like family does. Yeah.'cause they know how to push your buttons.

Kimberly: 11:08

I feel like I'm the opposite because as a kid I hated Thanksgiving.

Meredith: 11:14

Oh.

Kimberly: 11:14

I didn't like the food and I'm the youngest of my family and my cousin that was like closest in age with me was 10 years older than me, 10 years as kids is a lot. Yeah. so it really just kind of like ended up being me sitting around with adults and like they're having a great time. And I was just kinda like, well, I'll go play my Barbies some of the Thanksgivings that we spent with, like our neighbors or, or friends or whatever, those were, those were more fun. And it wasn't until I became an adult. We started drinking and we started the day with, with mimosas. And then like, I think one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is the year that we drank like 20 bottles of champagne in a day. And like it, it just got to be more fun because. I was amongst my peers. Now, I wasn't this kid who was like, just stuck with a bunch of adults

Meredith: 12:07

and now you get to let loose and you're not like, I have to be on my best behavior.

Kimberly: 12:10

Yeah. And I can actually sit and join the conversations with the adults and as opposed to being like, who wants to play Barbies? Like, yeah. You know, hello,

Meredith: 12:20

Somebody play with me. Yeah, I, I agree. And, but I feel like it's a double-edged sword. Um, if my family ever listens to this, they can love you already because we love Mims. Oh yeah. And that's been also a good family tradition, but. I feel like we start drinking with the anticipation of we're all just gonna let loose and have fun. But depending on people's personalities and how many bottles of champagne are involved, there is always a tipping point. And one of us is gonna go past the tipping so

Kimberly: 12:53

Of drinking too much or like saying something like, somebody's throwing up in the backyard. No. Oh.

Meredith: 13:00

yeah. We're, I'm not meaning like somebody's gonna black out. Yeah. Yeah. But somebody's gonna say something or someone might cry. But I think that's just dependent on all of our drunk personalities

Kimberly: 13:11

as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Meredith: 13:11

So someone's gonna bring up something emotional. Yeah.

Kimberly: 13:13

Yeah. No, we're, we don't, we don't really do that, so, Okay.

Meredith: 13:17

have, can I have Thanksgiving at your house? Sweet. so what about. Thanksgiving desserts. Don't look at me like that.

Kimberly: 13:28

I don't like pumpkin pie. I actually don't like pie as a category.

Meredith: 13:34

Okay? So I'm gonna be not judgmental. I love pumpkin pie, but I'm not. Not judgmental.

Kimberly: 13:41

Um, we are getting a cheesecake this year. I think it's a huckleberry cheesecake, which I'm super stoked about. Yeah.

Meredith: 13:47

I just don't think I discriminate with my desserts. I just like them all.

Kimberly: 13:51

I have such a sweet tooth, but pie for whatever reason. Right? Just, yeah. No, I like, Nope. No thanks,

Meredith: 13:59

I love cherry pie, like the tart and the, the bread. I,

Kimberly: 14:02

And maybe that's why I don't like pie is because I don't like fruity. I don't like fruity ice cream. I would rather have like chocolate versus like Sour Patch Kids or Skittles. Like if somebody put a Snickers or Skittles in front of me, I'd probably choose the

Meredith: 14:20

Well, Skittles are gross and I'll die on that hill.

Kimberly: 14:22

I didn't know that about you. I like Skittle. I like the blue Skittles. Mm-hmm. And the purple Skittles. Weird.

Meredith: 14:30

love Sour Patch. Kids hate

Kimberly: 14:33

Hmm. I think Skittles are better than Sour Patch kids, but whatever. I feel like this

Meredith: 14:38

episode, this episode is really, it's, it's driving a wedge.

Kimberly: 14:41

Yeah. I've, I can feel it. I can literally see.

Meredith: 14:45

Okay, fine. So

Kimberly: 14:47

we were Sims, I could see your, um, bar for how much that you liked me going down.

Meredith: 14:52

Oh, that, oh, that's a thing. Yeah. Wow.

Kimberly: 14:55

It's, it's cool. You could play the Sims too, but,

Meredith: 14:58

But I won't.

Kimberly: 14:58

But you won't. That's fine.

Meredith: 15:00

I don't have enough time in my day, Kimberly. Uh, okay. I wanna move on to Christmas now.

Kimberly: 15:07

Okay.

Meredith: 15:09

What are your thoughts on gifts? Okay. We'll start there. What are your thoughts on gifts? Tell me your gift. Giving thoughts.

Kimberly: 15:16

love, I love gifts. I also love not doing gifts. I saw this, TikTok the other day, and it was a mom asking her daughter, what did you get for Christmas last year? And the daughter was like, uh, um, uh, like, she couldn't remember. And I was like, oh, that just kinda like proves this point that like what we remember are the, you know, feelings that we have. Like, I don't know. the years that I have felt extra flush with cash and like bought really nice gifts for people are the years that I really, really enjoyed. I'm realizing that like the giving of the gifts was more fun for me than the receiving. But I also like a year where it's like, let's not do gifts. It does make it a little weird'cause you're like, what do you do on Christmas morning? And we replaced it with mimosas. Like this year. we're going to be with my brother and my sister-in-law's pregnant. And so I thought maybe nobody would wanna do gifts.'cause like she's due right around Christmas. And so I was like, maybe we don't do gifts this year. Just like no stress. And she was like, oh, but you know, it would be so nice for all of us to have at least one gift. Like, can we draw names? And I was like, sure. Like you're, you're the one who's going to, you know, probably feel the least good around this time of year if that is what you want. Like, we'll do it. So. We just drew names.

Meredith: 16:38

I like that. I have been trying to convince my family to do the draw names situation for five years minimum. And nobody wants to do it. And I don't understand why, because they all get stressed out about having to deal with gifts. And like I said, we're all at different points in our life and we're all at different financial stages in our life. And the holidays should be fun and I don't want it to be stressful. And I also, I like the gift giving part of the holidays because I love giving a thoughtful gift

Kimberly: 17:06

Mm-hmm. That's,

Meredith: 17:07

I enjoy that, but not when it's like. Oh shit, I have to think of this person and then this person, it's like you start going down the list and it's like, well, if I get something for this person, then I have to get something for this person. Yeah. And there's this weird social expectation and I'm like, man, it adds up so fast. And I've been doing it since I was 18 years old. Yeah. And you put yourself in debt. Yeah. As a kid. Like trying to be like, oh, I want to get everyone gifts because this is the expectation. It should be fun and enjoyable and not an expectation. And I think everyone's rules around it are different, but the ones that I remember the most are ones where I handmade gifts.

Kimberly: 17:46

Oh, that's cool.

Meredith: 17:47

So last year I did some paintings for people. Oh, that's cool. And I've also done like handmade food related gifts. Like I did some extracts one year. I love doing that, but it's because I put thought into what I gave someone and not like. Oh, here's this thing that I thought you might like that's going to sit on a shelf or, right. I don't even know.

Kimberly: 18:06

like instant garbage.

Meredith: 18:07

Yes. Which I also feel the same about receiving. So, because I, I like consumable gifts a lot because it's not a, a new thing to add to my

Kimberly: 18:19

I just have

Meredith: 18:19

Things that I own. And that's why I like stickers too. It's an easy,

Kimberly: 18:23

yeah,

Meredith: 18:24

easy thing and inexpensive, but. My favorite tradition that I've done was with a previous significant other. Mm-hmm. And we would not exchange gifts. We would save money throughout the year, and we would take ourselves out to a fancy dinner at

Kimberly: 18:40

I love that instead.

Meredith: 18:41

And that, I mean, I always remembered that.

Kimberly: 18:45

I've had some interesting, situations around gifts. The first one was a negative experience. It was the first year that, a previous significant other, and I lived together and I called my parents and I was like, I'm broke. I can't do gifts this year. And they were like, cool, great. No gifts. And I suggested this to my significant other. And so he was like, sure. Like I sure I don't wanna do gifts either. And he suggested it to his mom and she was like, then what's the point of doing Christmas? And it was like

Meredith: 19:19

spending time with the people that you love.

Kimberly: 19:20

Like you can do everything else. Like you can do the meal, you can do like the time together. You can go Christmas caroling, like whatever else you do, just not the gifts.

Meredith: 19:30

you know, being thankful. And for those who are religious, you're,

Kimberly: 19:34

oh yeah, I forgot about that component of it.

Meredith: 19:36

I know neither of us are

Kimberly: 19:38

religious baby, Jesus.

Meredith: 19:39

But yeah, the, I mean, I even think that plenty of people forget that that's the intended purpose and it's really easy to overlook my favorite part about gift giving at Christmas is the stockings. So if I had it my way, which I have suggested in the past as a compromise to drawing names, how about we just do stockings? And that like we all get little things and we're contributing to each other's stocking. Yeah.

Kimberly: 20:04

Yeah. And

Meredith: 20:05

I love getting to decorate and feeling the feeling of nostalgia. I actually love Christmas music. Yeah. Come at me. I know not everyone loves Christmas music, but it also, I'm not religious, but I did grow up religious and I do have some like classic Christmas songs that I love that are just again, super nostalgic. Um. Yeah, but waking up on Christmas morning, having like a nice breakfast together, opening stockings and watching a Christmas movie. Yeah. Like that's, I love that. And like hanging out in your pajamas all day. Yeah.

Kimberly: 20:39

Yeah. A couple years ago I got all of my family members, uh, matching pajamas. And I still like, if we go out to the cabin or, uh, when we get together, I'm like, make sure you bring your pajamas. And then I found out that my aunt and uncle got rid of their pajamas. They were like, oh, they didn't have pockets. I'm like, that's because they were the cheapest pajamas ever.

Meredith: 20:57

because I had to buy so many pairs.

Kimberly: 20:59

Yes. Like, do you realize how expensive it was to buy all of those? So uh, I no longer speak to them because of that. Um, I'm just

Meredith: 21:07

I was like, that's a lie. I could tell

Kimberly: 21:09

Just kidding.

Meredith: 21:09

I'm,

Kimberly: 21:10

but. the matching pajamas is fun. For me, growing up. In Idaho, we always had snow.

Meredith: 21:16

Colorado was the same, and I, it is the one time of year that I miss the snow.

Kimberly: 21:20

Yeah, it just makes it so festive and you can go and play in the snow, you can go sledding, you can go Christmas Carol. Like it just makes the season

Meredith: 21:28

like living in a fucking Hallmark Christmas movie and I love it.

Kimberly: 21:31

Yes. A lot of years we went to McCall Idaho, which is like a little resort town in southern Idaho and they just had a ton of snow and it was awesome. We again, do mimosas on Christmas morning. We play games, Pictionary, like there's so much to do in that time that doesn't have to do with gifts. That is really fun. And there's usually a football game, which I could care less about, but,

Meredith: 21:55

Oh yeah, I forgot. That was on my list of things to talk about. Growing up in the South, the Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving, so that's a big part of, Thanksgiving. I do subconsciously, I guess root for the Cowboys, but I just don't care about football. Yeah. I don't care

Kimberly: 22:10

sports either.

Meredith: 22:10

it go sports. Yeah.

Kimberly: 22:12

sports ball. I do have one another point to add about the drawing of names.

Meredith: 22:19

Mm-hmm.

Kimberly: 22:20

Uh, I think it was last year we drew names and I drew my. Sister-in-law. And so I asked my brother, I said, what should I give for her? And he said she would love some furry slippers and she would love the pasta attachment for KitchenAid. KitchenAid. And I was like. Well, great. Like since I'm only buying a gift for one person this year, um, I'll buy both. And so I told my brother, I said, thank you. And, I think I followed it up with like, oh, what size shoe does she wear? And he, he told me, but I should have explicitly said like, okay, I'm gonna buy both of these things. So I show up to. Christmas and I was like, what did you get for, for your wife? And he's like, I got her the pasta attachment. And I was like, bro? I was like, what? I got her the pasta attachment. And so then he didn't have a gift for her for Christmas,

Meredith: 23:24

good on him for, for being the one to be like, I'll, I'll sit this one out and

Kimberly: 23:28

Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, I would've fought him for it

Meredith: 23:32

As siblings do.

Kimberly: 23:33

Yeah.

Meredith: 23:35

Uh, what are your thoughts on like secret Santa or white elephant activities? Especially, I mean, these are usually associated with work.

Kimberly: 23:45

Yeah. I mean, they can be fun, but I also feel like oftentimes those gifts are. From the dollar store, the$5 bin at Target or whatever, and it's just kind of like this is junk I don't need a singing fish. sign

Meredith: 23:57

Well, white elephant can be fun and it's funny, but the gifts that people are actually going to use are the ones that people are fighting for. Yeah. Like they're, somebody always gets like an alcoholic gift. At least the ones that I've been to. There was like, one person got a really nice. wine set and another person got a nice bottle of whiskey and everyone was like trading for that shit

Kimberly: 24:19

Mm.

Meredith: 24:20

everything else was just like, okay.

Kimberly: 24:23

Yeah. I feel like you just end up with crap that in a couple years, you're just gonna be getting rid of this.

Meredith: 24:29

Yeah, I've really downsized over the years and I do enjoy getting clothing or stickers. But unless it's like an item that I've explicitly expressed that I want, don't guess. Yeah. And I love my grandma very, very much, but she'll just like find random shit and I think it's sweet that she thinks of me, of course, but I have over the years been like, you don't need to do that.

Kimberly: 24:53

Yeah.

Meredith: 24:53

A phone call is totally fine. Also, don't stress about, like, I know she does it because she's enjoys it, so I'm trying not to be a dick,

Kimberly: 25:00

Of course. Yeah. It, it's, don't

Meredith: 25:02

stress yourself out trying to figure out something like that. I'm 36. I don't need. I don't need it.

Kimberly: 25:08

Yeah. Nope. I agree. I think our. Culture of like forcing gifts on people and like,

Meredith: 25:15

but then expecting them in return.

Kimberly: 25:17

Yeah. And then you're like, wait, I, like you weren't on my list of people I was getting gifts for. And so it's just, it just kind of makes the time of year really stressful and awkward and I would just much rather celebrate without gifts than. All of the stress and like, I'm not going to put myself in debt. I'm not going to. And you know, and then some years you're just kind of like, I don't really have the money.

Meredith: 25:44

Yeah. And I think that's fair. I do want to clarify. I don't think that everyone that you get a gift for or everyone that gets a gift, for you, expects something in return, If you've ever seen the Big Bang Theory, there is an episode where Sheldon talks about how he does not like gift giving because you're entering into a social contract and if you get me a gift, I'm required to get you something in return. And what if I don't know you well enough? Then that spirals into how am I gonna get you something that you're actually going to use, and it's way too stressful. So that's what I think of in the gift giving processes. I, his take on it is satirical, but it's also true. It's true. There is a, there is a social contract that you're entering into and it's like, well, am I the asshole if I don't get you something in return? Because I didn't intend to, but it doesn't mean that I don't care about you as a friend or as a person. Right. I just,

Kimberly: 26:32

Yeah. Or I don't, I just don't know what to get you. And that's the other thing is sometimes you end up going and buying something and you're like. I would like this, but you don't know if they would like it. I would get that for myself, so maybe they'll like this, but it's like

Meredith: 26:48

you're chanting that it's gonna be a waste and then you're spending money for no reason. Yep. I love all of my friends by the way, and family. And you don't have to get me any gifts for me to still love you. Just want to clarify.

Kimberly: 27:01

Okay, great. Same. I would much rather not do gifts than do them. I just think Christmas just gets a bit out of hand.

Meredith: 27:11

Yeah, the reasons that I look forward to the holidays don't have to really do with gift giving. I like rewatching those movies that make me feel happy

Kimberly: 27:21

prancer,

Meredith: 27:22

oh yeah, I forgot you and your weird ass Christmas movie. I encourage anyone to send us a message and tell me if you've seen Prancer. I've never heard of this.

Kimberly: 27:34

It's not my fault that you're, uh,

Meredith: 27:36

I wanna know, am I the one living

Kimberly: 27:37

uncultured and, yes. Okay.

Meredith: 27:39

Okay.

Kimberly: 27:40

It is really cute. I think you would enjoy it. Okay. You'll probably cry.

Meredith: 27:44

Okay. I mean, it doesn't take much.

Kimberly: 27:46

We already

Meredith: 27:46

already established that. Yeah. I like the original Rudolph with

Kimberly: 27:51

the Claymation one?

Meredith: 27:52

Yeah.

Kimberly: 27:53

Oh,

Meredith: 27:54

I mean, I don't gravitate towards Claymation, but it's one of those nostalgia things.

Kimberly: 27:59

But I think that's a big part of. The holidays.

Meredith: 28:03

It is,

Kimberly: 28:04

people are trying to recapture a feeling that maybe they had at the holidays or they're trying to do a 180 from the holidays that they had as a kid if they weren't great or they didn't love them. So they're trying to turn that around and either better it for themselves or better it for their kids or

Meredith: 28:22

sometimes it's about taking a break from your day-to-day life. Yes. Like, you know, it's like, oh, I don't have to think about work this week. But you've traded one stress for a different stress.

Kimberly: 28:31

Yep.

Meredith: 28:32

And I know that's not always the intention, but. I figured it was a good thing to talk about just going into the holidays.'cause I get excited and then I get stressed'cause I overdo it. Yeah. And a lot of it is self-imposed. But yeah, I also really wanted to bring up the food thing because fuck Thanksgiving food. I will die on that hill.

Kimberly: 28:54

I will, I will die on that hill with you. Yes. Like

Meredith: 28:56

look, we agreed on something today. High five.

Kimberly: 28:59

um, since we're going to celebrate Thanksgiving the week before. Um, and, but I think we'll still get together with some friends on Thanksgiving. We're gonna do either like grilled cheese or like nice steaks or a charcuterie.

Meredith: 29:16

I love that so much. Last year I did really nice steaks for me and my cousin. Yeah. And it was so good. Yeah. And I like splurged. I went to Whole Foods. I was like, Ooh, I'm gonna get all the nice stuff.'cause it's just two of us.

Kimberly: 29:29

Yeah. I think just making it your own and going, I'm gonna do what I want, and hoping that other people, or asking that other people go along with it or, you know. I just think being flexible of like, I didn't wanna do gifts, but my sister-in-law was like, oh, it'd be nice. I'm like, okay, sure. Fine.

Meredith: 29:50

Being in a new relationship or like having new people in your life and getting to create new traditions with someone. Like this will be my first Christmas with Boca

Kimberly: 30:00

Yeah.

Meredith: 30:01

I'm super excited to spend it with him. But yeah, it's learning new traditions with someone new.

Kimberly: 30:06

Yeah. There was one year we went to my brother's and, we made gingerbread houses but like that's a tradition that we're gonna do is the gingerbread houses and, uh, just not, not to be a bragger, but I had the best gingerbread house. Like, uh, my dad's completely fell apart

Meredith: 30:22

Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well I'm gonna need to see some proof on the social media. So for the record, that's all I had for today's episode. So, uh, I would like to do a poll on our Instagram. I'm going to ask any listeners how you feel about Thanksgiving food.'cause I really wanna know and, do you have any pictures of this gingerbread

Kimberly: 30:40

I bet you I do. Yeah.

Meredith: 30:41

I think you should post that. just so we can see how awesome you are,

Kimberly: 30:45

yeah, you're gonna love it.

Meredith: 30:46

I'm not gonna lie, building a gingerbread house requires a lot of focus, And I gotta be in the right mood to have that focus.

Kimberly: 30:53

The reality is, is you really need good icing.

Meredith: 30:58

Oh, I thought you're gonna say good drugs.

Kimberly: 31:00

I mean,

Meredith: 31:01

because I feel like I need to

Kimberly: 31:02

that was a given.

Meredith: 31:03

I need to be stoned in order to build a gingerbread house.

Kimberly: 31:05

but that can slow you down a bit.

Meredith: 31:07

Oh. So, why?'cause you're eating all of the pieces or,

Kimberly: 31:10

yeah. Oh shit. There's nothing left to decorate my gingerbread house. I have some photos.

Meredith: 31:15

Well, regardless of how anyone feels about the holidays, we hope that you have amazing holidays. We will still be releasing episodes because we know you're dying to, to hear the new episodes.

Kimberly: 31:26

Yeah. We would not deprive you No. Of a new episode Meredith did suggest that we take the break and I was like, no, Meredith,

Meredith: 31:33

We're manifesting that, that people wanna listen even on the holidays. So we're doing it for you.

Kimberly: 31:39

Yeah. Our listeners, our listeners love us.

Meredith: 31:41

Yeah, yeah, they do. But anyways, I hope everyone has fantastic holidays and if you have thoughts about the holidays, please let us know. Mildly Thriving Pod

Kimberly: 31:53

send us Instagram. Send. Yeah, send us

Meredith: 31:54

a dm, send

Kimberly: 31:55

dm. Send us a dm, send us a text, leave us a comment. Or,

Meredith: 31:58

I think we're on TikTok now. Uh, we are, Kimberly is our social media manager at the moment. Yeah. So

Kimberly: 32:03

it's mildly thriving.

Meredith: 32:04

Yeah. We're

Kimberly: 32:07

we're working

Meredith: 32:07

day why we did this,

Kimberly: 32:09

But you know what, Meredith? It's thriving enough. Okay.

Meredith: 32:13

Okay. Bye.

Kimberly: 32:14

Bye. Bye.