Home gatherings, Hollywood, and humor with Lauren Graham and Sam Pancake

In this episode of Second Home, Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls and Parenthood talks about juggling her career in entertainment and homeownership in two major cities. With humor, she discusses her home's design, its influence on her writing as a bestselling author, her upcoming book tour with friend Sam Pancake, and reminisces about her early days in the industry. Graham's down-to-earth storytelling is a source of inspiration for real estate enthusiasts and creatives alike.

Transcript

Welcome to Second Home by Pacaso. I'm Lucy Wohltman, your host. I've been looking forward to today's podcast for a really long time, and here's why. We have a pair of guests today, one, a celebrity and second homeowner, and the other also an actor as well as a standup comedian, but even more relevant to our discussion today.

He's a frequent house guest at his friend's second home. We all know our celebrity guest, Lauren Graham best for her years of entertaining us all from her roles on the Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, as well as the mighty Ducks. Adding to that success, Lauren has directed and is in fact a New York Times bestselling author.

She's written four books today, her most recent book titled, have I told you this already? Is both hilarious and touching at times as we walk alongside Lauren, as she emerges from her early working days in New York City to where she is today.  Together with our other guest, Sam Pancake, we will examine some of the stories that Lauren shares in her book and beyond and in the very near future.

These two will hit the road again on a book tour coming to a city near you. You should check out online if there are tickets still available. You won't wanna miss this. Lauren is one of the hardest working friends I have, as well as one of the most loyal and considerate,  but also no surprise, absolutely positively hilarious, and a gifted storyteller.

I might add that Sam is no slouch in the funny department either. I'm just saying. Welcome, Lauren and Sam. 

Let's dig in. Thank you, Lucy. That was so nice. Thank you. Hello. Thank you for having me. Okay. Okay, let's start. So you guys both live in Los Angeles. We're gonna talk about second homes in a minute.

Lauren, let's start with your location in la. I know it's the east side of la. Did you choose that location? Proximity to sets the studio. How did you happen to live in that part of town? Well. I moved to Los Angeles in 98, let's say 97. Something like, I feel like all the actors lived in West Hollywood and it was.

Just a really charming, like the apartment buildings in Los Angeles are more like the TV show. Melrose Place probably had four apartments in the whole thing. There was like a, like a courtyard in the center. It was just very cozy. I met my neighbor one of the first days, like I lived on, on the top floor.

But as I lived there over the next couple of years, I just kind of felt like a lot of what I loved to do was. Further east and the houses I thought were really charming, like  Spanish houses that are a hundred years old now. They're those sort of like California bungalow kind of style, which I really liked.

And yes, then especially almost all my work was in the valley in Burbank, and actually most of it. Was at this studio that was doing all the half hour shows, because that was the time when sitcoms were huge. So it was really fun lifestyle because you'd work like three days a week or something. 'cause there's so much writing and rewriting that goes on.

Ha. And then, you know, you'd be having a margarita by like 9:00 PM on a Friday and like George Clooney's at the bar.  So fun. He's just, I mean, he wasn't on a, well no, he might've been on a sitcom then. He might've been on, he was on Facts of Life for, while he was on Fax of Life and he was also on Roseanne then, and that shot there too.

Oh, that's right. So yeah, there's just so much of what I did. Some of the restaurants I really liked were over on the east side and so when I, when I started to look for a house, I knew I wanted to be over there.  Then since then, I will go east or west of certain highways like I just, 'cause you get so attached to your neighborhood in Los Angeles because it's so miserable to try to go anywhere else.

Although, I will say I could have also lived in Santa Monica, it was kind of way far east or like by the beach. But now I, I wouldn't, if you were my best friend, I wouldn't go see you in Santa Monica. Well, Sam, I certainly hope you live close to Lauren. 'cause there she put it out there like she's not commuting to you.

I've been more, what's the word, peripatetic, moving around. I've like, well, it's a big word, Sam. Thank you. I'm very, I just wanna prove to you I'm very smart. Well, it depends because like Lauren's always lived in the neighborhood that she lives in, and I've always lived not far away. Like for a while I was in Los Fila and then in Silver Lake for a while.

Then I've kind of been all over. I'm in West Adams now in a guest, well I guess we say an ADU now behind a crafts. It's a craftsman neighborhood. There's all these cute craftsman houses. Cute from the 1910s I think. Mm-Hmm. And they were all built at the same time. And they're all really cute. And every single one is different.

I mean, my friend who lives in the main house, he owns the house. And I like live in this interesting little house with I'm looking at now with my giant fireplace in the kitchen. So at any rate, it's funny because. There's a main street that I live a block off of, and then further North Lauren lives like.

A few blocks east of, and so we are like off the same main artery, even though I'm much further south right now. I feel like this is our version of the SNL skit. The Californians? Yeah. Where we're just like, all we're, all we care about is like, is it easy to get to your friend's house and like what's the best way to get there and, and freeway or no freeway.

We just talk a lot about like what, how should we go? I mean, I don't know, should we go down Highland, hilarious, or, yeah. Or should we jump over to Libre and come back around? Yeah, exactly. Do we jump over the five and around on the 1 0 1, or we just go right down Wilson place? The five is every, the bane of everyone's existence and you just expect people to be late.

Yeah, and I'm sure like you invite people to dinner and expect to be late. Okay. Let's pivot to second homes. Of course, the top of Du Jour and Lauren, your second home is in Manhattan. And we're gonna talk about your most recent book in a minute, which has so much about New York and your early years there.

But I'm just curious, did you always aspire to have a second home in New York? How did it come to be that that was the spot where you took the plunge? Well, I think as an actor, the dream, at least for me starting out  was theater. And my dad grew up in the suburbs of New York. He, he had a very romantic vision of the city.

We lived there briefly. He almost took a job at a law firm there. And my early exposure to theater and the arts was living in DC but we would go into the city and, and I saw Annie on Broadway and it just was really the dream. So it was a work related goal.  To this day, I'm not sure if I had to pick a coast, which it would be, but it was very tied to my dream of being a theater actor and I had just bought my first house.

I  remember I was getting my hair blown dry when I first moved here, and I was a renter, and the hairstylist who was easily 10 years younger than I was, was buying a house. I was like, wait a minute.  I, yeah, I wonder. And, and it really was this, I mean, I was working steadily. Housing prices were very different then, but still, I'm not in any kind of career where you can count on anything.

But I can remember the sort of  leap of  feeling like this was something I could do. On my own and I've since talked to women, but that first idea of buying a house is, um, you almost don't have the language for it or something like, I just was talking to a friend recently who did buy a house and. Is very happy she did and feels like, okay, now I have equity, now I have something that is mine that I own.

And she said, but I, it was a strange thing. I did expect that I would be doing this with a partner or in order to start a family, like it was related to a life kind of place that she wasn't in. And so I would say the Manhattan was on the heels of, I had bought this house, which I really should have held onto.

I'd be the smartest person you knew. And, and it had given me so much confidence. But the, the second time was definitely a leap. But I thought it's a good investment and I can always sell it. And I always feel about myself and my career and I say to people, I could pick up a tray tomorrow. Like, I don't have a sense of being in a rarefied, I think Sam and I talk about this and, and share it.

As an actor, you never really think you're there. But the upside of that. Or you're gonna work again. Like this is the last job. You never think you're gonna work again. Never. That has to be such a strange feeling. And again, let's talk about your most recent book for a minute. 'cause you, you do get some sense of that.

I mean, as I said at the introduction, what a hard worker you are, but also just, it's a lot of waiting around. Right? And so to invest in something like a home probably feels really significant. I think the sense I had, which I was right, but could have as easily have been wrong, is that I was in a time of bounty.

And part of it was like, I should capitalize on this time when I'm very, very busy. And again, I will have options if I can't hang on to both. But I was empowered by having bought a house. I. Literally just understanding what that is. Yes. Just the process of like, I didn't know what the process was. I, nobody sat me down and my father and I actually rented quite a bit throughout my life, and that was part of it too.

He would always say to me, ah, we should have bought the house that we rented. Or, oh, I wish we'd, if we'd stayed in that, like he had a lot of real estate opportunities. He felt that maybe he'd let go and that really lodged itself in my brain where I thought it's really important to, even if it's.  It's a commitment you're gonna change later.

It can be a very helpful thing if, even if you don't think you have the means. Right. I remember friends going, just go find out what would you need? How would you, how would you do it? Now there's, we have more information online and books and stuff, but you had to literally walk into a bank and sit down and say, what do I have and how would I do this?

And that's just really intimidating. Absolutely. Especially as you say, the first time, the way it made sense to me was, this is my work.  You know, I have a lot of family on the East Coast, and again, as I was saying, it was something I thought. This is a tool I can use going forward if I need to or want to.

This is something I can rent out. This is something I can share with family. This is something I can sell if things take a turn and, and it is a place that I'm genuinely going to be all the time. So if it hadn't been also a work town, I don't think I could have done it, and I definitely wouldn't have done it on my own.

Sure. I mean, on my own, I thought, well, you know, I'll do a play. I'll come in and. Do auditions and, and I have, so it's worked out, but it's still something I think about. It just gives me an option if I need it. Real estate is the kind of investing that appeals to me, but this just felt like someplace I would love to be and, and it has been in my life for 15, 20 years now. 

Oh wow. It's really a home to you. Did you know in advance what neighborhood or neighborhoods you wanted to focus in on? Or was it more this is the building, this is the unit and Oh, the neighborhood's great. Well, one, one of the places I used to stay was at a friend's house in this building and oh, and so I kind of  happen to hear of someone in the building, which is a very New York way to find real estate is like.

Word of mouth. Embed yourself. Yeah. Make friends with the doorman kind of thing. Yeah. And then I had another friend who still lives in this other building, and both are downtown. She lived farther east. And especially when you're. Starting out as an actor. I mean, if you're any kind of commuter, you know what trains get you to where, where you need to travel.

Oh, sure. I didn't even think of that. Yes. Yeah. And for many years after college, I lived in Brooklyn. I loved this neighborhood, but I knew for coming and going that it's just more convenient to be in Manhattan and. For auditions and stuff. When I lived in Brooklyn, I would leave the house in the morning with like a giant bag full of like a denim shirt to be a young mom and like a blazer to be a professional and like you just cart these clothes around all day.

So yeah, I I wanted to be a little bit closer to the action.  Well, Sam, and I know firsthand that it's also a place that you do make memories, and I think we've experienced, I've been very fortunate to experience a little less than Sam, but. You're an incredible host and somehow you make it look really effortless.

Sam, what's it like to be around as Lauren's preparing to have friends over when you're the house guest? Tell us behind the scenes, is she like truthfully running around like a crazy woman? Or is she as relaxed as she peers when the doorbell rings?  Listen lady Lauren Graham, Dame Dame. Lauren Graham is first of all, yeah, yeah.

Spell it baby. She's the best hostess.  She's, I'm a southern boy. I like to think I'm a good host. I don't host as much as I'd like to. Maybe it's the southern side of Lauren, or it's just who she is is there's so much food. I, I literally shake my fist sometimes 'cause she gives me so much food and I'm like, lady, listen to me.

I'm trying to.  Stay slim in 35. Yeah. But I still take it. She's a really good hostess. She's a really good cook. The cupboards are full. The counters are full that you can't even look away and you look back and I have a beautiful gluten-free piece of pastry in my hand that she has placed there. She is always putting secret chocolate and packages for me as she did last night. 

Oh my gosh. I, I love that.  Just speaking of home, there's nothing else I would rather do. There's no, I'm not a jewelry person. I don't care about cars. I'm not, I collect art that's like from the flea market, but I do love to have a place, I wanna be the house where people come and gather. I like having Thanksgiving.

I like making special holiday meals. So we all have our own ways we want to use our homes and I. I just love being the, the place that people come. So, so that was the other reason. It felt like  I want a big table, I want just a place for everybody. Both are places have, like, it's very cozy. It's considering guests, it's very gracious, it's very comfortable and like I said, there's always lots of yum, yummy food, foods and drinks.

Drinks and it, I'm just backing that up. I accidentally ordered six loaves of gluten-free bread. Freezer. You know how I did it freezer? I left them on the doorstep for Sam last night. Oh,  I mean this, I'm not patting myself in the back. I needed to get rid of the six loaves gluten. I was like, I don't even, I can't even put these anywhere.

It's starting to make sense. Sam, all the food I had to get rid of a candle that I did. We did candle exchange too. 'cause she's like, I'm not crazy about this smell. I'm like, I'll take it. And I'm like, oh, I got one at home that's gently used. I will leave it for you. That's sandalwood that you'll love.

Think it was Gift of the Magi, the Hollywood version.  Totally. And again, thank goodness you guys live relatively, relatively close together. Yeah. What, what is your decorating vibe at your second home, Lauren? Well, okay. It is different in that my house in LA is an old Spanish house, and the Manhattan is a different time period.

It's a pre-war building, but it's, it's, it's a different vibe. You couldn't, you couldn't do the same thing. Mm-Hmm. I feel like you kind of wanted.  Decorate  in the way the house wants you to, you know what I mean? Like, I wouldn't put a modern spin on a Spanish house, for example. And the philosophy is the same  in that I, I want it to be comfortable.

I want you to be able to put your feet up on things. I want it to look pretty. And you know's very cozy. It's cozy. It's cozy. I'm very into cozy. And say more about that. What makes Cozy Sam, is it a throw blanket? Is it, it's that it's. It's the comfortable, the big stuffed, comfortable couches. It is the like coffee table, ottoman situation where you can't put your feet up if you desire.

Love that. She does have Thanksgiving. There's a situation now where there's a, a couch at a dining room table. Ooh, love that. Even though I know last Thanksgiving I wore a sweater that shed all over it and I still feel very bad about that.  When I started like working on houses, first of all, now I work with a decorator who's amazing and who's a friend.

And that's been a fun kind of collaboration too, where somebody asked me the other day, I had like a business lunch, and they were like, what do you wanna do? And I was like, I wanna work with my friends. I just wanna do things that feel really organic and we have a shorthand and like, that's what's fun.

But when I first started my. Thinking about houses and interiors. I was very into just like white and plain and I think that's gone away now. I'm now, what I gravitate toward is things from different, like some new, some old, more color, more like patterns mixed in together. Mm-Hmm. That comes with confidence too, right.

You talked earlier about your confidence building, right? From buying your first home now to having a second home and I think decorating taste also.  Needs confidence building. I mean, you're like, Ooh, I don't know, like a stripe with a pattern. That's kind of scary. Well, and like everything else, there's so much you could like never look up from a Pinterest page.

Lauren, where do you like to write? We're gonna talk about your books for a second, but I'm, I'm curious, is there a favorite room in the house? Where do you decide to sit down and make it all happen? In my old former house, I had this dedicated office space in this house and. I don't notice a difference.

Actually, I, I wish I had more ritual around work. I do like to be able to sit at a table. I'm not like a lying bed with a laptop person. And so the dining room table is great, and at the old house I would sit at the kitchen table. Mm-Hmm. I feel like that maybe is a cozy issue as well. You go to the office and it comes more naturally.

But speaking of writing, because of this kind of bopping around. I kind of have to be flexible in terms of not needing, like I have a friend who goes to her office and lights a candle and has her kind of ritual and I don't have that as much. Speaking of books, are you able to house many of your book treasures there, things that really mean something, or is the space limited and you kind of reserve that for the primary home? 

Well, the good news in New York apartment is that I have really large windows, but that means. There isn't as much a, a built-in kind of vibe every time my father comes over  to New York, he says, why don't you have more books here? I'm like, dad, I have in la Like all I have are bookshelves and you know, I  treasure my books.

I have a lot of my dad's books now 'cause they have downsized and so he sent me a couple boxes of, he's very into collecting hardcover, so I have some of the books I grew up with. Oh, that's great.  In Manhattan, I have the ceilings are tall and the windows are tall, so I do have a nice big space for hanging art and photographs and stuff, but not as many books as my father would like.

Did you have to make any architectural changes to make the space feel more like you or the way you wanted to live?  I lived there for a very long time without touching it. That's smart. It had been redone in the eighties and. It was kind of a modern style, which isn't usually my vibe, but it really fit the space.

I, I like when like you don't try to make it into  something it's not. So I  eventually redid the kitchen and the bathrooms, but really the footprint is  kind of perfect as it is. Wow. Sounds like Manhattan. You chose wisely. Yes, I did choose wisely and, and in Manhattan, you know, everything can be difficult in terms of permits and.

Building rules and all that kind of thing. So you're really taking something on when you take on a renovation, and I really tend to like  the details of something that's older and kind of that pre-war feeling. It goes with a lot of what we've talked about, which is your love of stories and your love of storytelling.

Even the spaces I am getting a feel for it. It sounds like it has a story and the building has great stories of, of your early days and maybe sleeping on someone's couch. I guess that that begs the question of the whole creative process and this particular space. I, I know that that's something that interests me, but is this space easier in some regards for you to be creative because you don't have the distractions maybe of your primary residence?

Is it. The tall windows or is there anything, I think people really would be so interested in kind of peering behind the scenes of what does it mean to be so creative and to have such a vast career the way you do.  Oh, that's nice. I, I think  to answer your first question, there's nothing to maintain in a New York apartment that is, that is a real plus no gutters to clean.

It's, yeah, that's right. And, uh, no lawn, you know, to tend to, and, and so I would say  it's a place where I can just kind of land. I've learned to or had to learn to kind of be able to work anywhere, even pre the world changing, you know, I'm on a plane or I'm kind, I don't keep regular hours really. And. I am one of those people.

Unfortunately, for me, who does better the more I have to do. I remember my first book of essays that I was writing during the Gilmore Girls Netflix movies. My editor Jen Smith, came to visit set and I had the laptop on the prop sofa. And they'd be like, and we are rolling. And I'd be like, clickety, clackity, clickety clack.

They'd be like, and, and I would like stow it under the sofa. Oh my gosh. Action. And she, she watched that a couple of times and in between takes came to me and she was like, are, are you gonna be okay? Are you gonna finish this? And I was like, this actually is probably the way I'll get more done. Which, you know, if I have all day, I'm like. 

Lemme organize this sock drawer or whatever. So and so in Manhattan, there's, you know, less to do and everything kind of has its place. It's just very soothing to walk into a place that is  simple and kind of done, but it's a home of a certain  kind, which is very low maintenance and just kind of simple. So, and as I've worked more as a writer.

I really value that kind of solitude and that lack of distraction while the pace outside the window in Manhattan is much more active. I think it's just been a real retreat to have quiet space. Tell us a little bit about what people can expect if they come hear you on your book tour. I think that's so cool.

You're doing it knowing the two of you, I suspect the format. It's a little bit kooky and fun and I'm curious what, tell us about, do you read Lauren a chapter or two? Sam, do you interview Lauren? What? What does all that look like? It's mostly songs. It's just us improving  Broadway style, then dance, ballet, and then date, well the dances and food together and separately.

Is there any food? When I was in my college acapella group, we would make macaroni necklaces and throw them out to the crowd. I feel like maybe that's something, bring it back. Bring it back. Pam's eyes just lit up. Oh my God. Very popular. I listen. Lauren Graham macaroni necklace. I'm serious. That could be worth something.

It's so sweet because look out Taylor Swift. I know it. Macaroni now. Yeah. They bring me and they don't, you don't have to do this. I'm not encouraging. In this last tour, they, first of all, I'd never gotten to do a book tour before because I was either working or when the hardcover of this book came out, after not getting covid for a year and a half, I, I got covid and I couldn't do.

All the events I had around it. So  when the paperback came out, well, I guess it was earlier than that, Sam,  who again, is one of my dearest, and at least in LA oldest friends who, who he himself is a wonderful writer. He does one man shows that are incredible about his really interesting childhood growing up in West Virginia.

And, but we had never kind of worked together. I mean, we worked together on liberal, liberal girls. Not in that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not in that way. And Sam, um, I asked him to be the moderator at my talk at the 92nd Street Y, which is a space I love that I've been to before. And if you don't bring a friend. 

You'll get assigned incredible people, but people you don't know. Oh, okay. You get assigned kind of a, a moderator who's sometimes like a local journalist or news person and it's a different vibe. Yeah, it's a different vibe. A friend. Yeah. And I asked Sam to do it, and we just had a great time, but we had a great time.

But I also felt that it had a structure. To it as if he were a journalist. Like, 'cause you don't wanna just get up there and laugh at your old jokes that people don't understand. Like you do want to tell stories and, you know, just make it really an entertaining night for people and, and, um, we, it went well.

So when, when I. Was doing these dates for the paperback. I, we just sort of evolved, didn't it, Sam? We, we, yeah. Have a show now that that Yeah. Was born out of just the experience of just kind of finding out what audiences respond to. Yeah. Yeah. We get a little bit,  the book is a leaping off point, and we do probably, I do read a piece of it that I love and it always makes me kind of cry.

Maybe I should have you read it next time, but at any rate. So introduce me. I introduce her and tell a little story about how we first met, which you'll have to come to the show to see. And then she comes out to, you know, standing ovations every time. Of course, the fans are amazing. And then we just go through some questions and it's, it's always a little bit different, right?

Fun. Yeah. Yeah, fun. And then we do a q and a with like pre-selected audience questions at the end. Yeah. Oh, I, I know there are a lot of people who are so excited that you're starting a second one. And, and as I say that. I think your dates are published online and, and people could take advantage of that.

Do you ever throw her a surprise? Zinger, Sam?  I have a couple of times. I don't know. I'm not a big person who likes to, to be surprised on stage. I mean, if it's an improv show and you're there to do improv, that's one thing. And it's only an hour or so, really. So I haven't done that many zingers or surprises.

Plus we never stopped talking to each other, so I couldn't really have a, a secret from her.  Literally that, that's adorable. We basically tell each other everything. So I don't know. It's not even, it's never been a relationship to surprise each other, like, right. No. Like, you know, I don't know, but I think it's, it's really a fun,  it's just speaking of improv, there is such a trust and a foundation there that  sometimes I can sense, I feel like we just feel each other where we are.

Yeah. Sometimes like  you can sense, I'm going off on a, on a tangent, but Yeah, he knows. I mean the, the very definition of, have I told you this already came from torturing my friends with the same 17 stories that they are, I've already heard, and starting to get self-conscious about that as our friendship is longer.

And so I don't wanna be a story repeater, so I'll just always say like, stop me if I told you this, or have I told you this already? Like, do, do you remember this? This happened already. So that's part of what's kind of organic about the show. And then we try to also tailor it, or we did a show in Dallas and I, I went to grad school in Dallas, so I had some.

Stories of like the places I bounce checks. They're all, they're all stories that my, that's right. So good. They like the local, the local color stories. Yeah. We're doing DC on this one. I'm from West Virginia and she's in Northern Virginia. So we're, I have a, it's gonna be a lot of friends and family, a lot.

I don't even know what the spec special content there is because I didn't, you know, I was a kid there. I didn't, I, I think it's fun or I really like to hear people's stories of like starting out and struggling and like. In Dallas, you know, my entire like acting class would go to the 4:00 PM happy hour buffet at this horrible car and like that was dinner.

Like that was, we just like eat, you know. Oh my gosh. Cheese and crackers. Yeah, like mozzarella fingers or whatever. Little smokies. Little smokies and barbecue sauce. I remember that from college. Like all you can eat wings, buffets. Yeah. Yeah. Wendy's 99 cent menu to look at me alive. Yeah. In DC my memories are being a kid there, my dad taking me to all the museums and to the Kennedy Center, and then. 

Then, um, you know, I still have some really good high school friends who are there, and so that'll, that'll be fun. My mother, some of her siblings will be there. My mom will be there, some cousins, her, her dad and stepmom. It's gonna be, it's gonna be a big old reunion. That doesn't mean we don't care about the rest of the, of course, of course not.

Of course not that we're there for, you, we're there for about each of our cities, but we just do try to think like, oh, what, do we have any experiences here to just kind of make it some local, local flavor. So fun. Well, you know, Sam, you mentioned that you do a piece during the tour that you find kind of moving from the book.

I too found, as I said earlier, some of the parts very touching. You are indeed so hardworking, Lauren and and very compassionate. But in the next chapter I was roaring and I have to say, I think my favorite chapter her. Is about the visits to the health camps and the fact that your friend snuck in Weight Watchers cookies.

I mean, if I gonna sneak something in, it's gonna be a higher calorie count than a weight watcher cookie, right? First of all, Lucy and I have been to one of these camps together. We have, and it's one of our many misadventures, Lucy and I sidebar, whatever, but. Lucy and I met on a bike trip. I went with my dad and she was there with Michelle and we, several things.

First of all, amazing trip. Really beautiful country. My father had been there as a younger man, but it was a time when there weren't digital. What did we have? We had a map. We had a literal map. We had a map. Map. Paper. Map. A paper map. Wow. In like a basket or whatever on the handlebars. Yeah. We were talking, talking, talking, talking, talking.

I sapr. Yep. Chat away. And suddenly we look up and there are no other cycles anywhere. And Lucy, because she's like just such a good, I mean, I think we were both camp counselors, so I, but, but Lucy speaks with such confidence and she was like, oh, I know exactly where we went wrong. Here's what it is. We go back here, we take a left, it's gonna be fine.

No problem. We go back there and take a left. We end up at a monastery like, you know, he knocked on the door and like a man who had probably given like breaking his oath of silence, like answers the door, doesn't know, no one can understand one another. Oh boy, this was the truth. Oh, I wanna see this movie. 

So we both, but we like these adventure things. We like these sort of like, go for a week somewhere and learn something or try something new. And so yes, we did one of those. And thank goodness we're there. Oh, so funny. I wonder if I'll ever be like, if I go back to one of them, if they'll be like, oh, hi. Yeah.

Well, I've read that chapter. Glad to see you be again. Yeah. So  I don't know, but Oh, was a favorite. Do you personally have a favorite  chapter? Me? Yeah. Oh,  I like the first chapter called New Uli, which is about coming from a forgetful family because.  It makes me feel like these are my stories, but the reason I ever even became interested in storytelling, interested in reading was  given to me by my dad who was, who's an incredible reader and really smart and incredible storyteller.

And as I say in the book. There's not a huge variety of the stories, but the ones he has are like real, you know, you're like, oh, here comes this one. Oh, I love the part where this happened. The thematically, the book for me was how do we remember things and does it matter? Kind of like, is your memory of something just as important as the reality of what happened and how. 

People who had the same experience will remember it differently. And, and I'm just from a notoriously forgetful family. I never until this day owned a house key because I guess the theory being, we'll just lose them, so why even have them? So the, the door was just open. That is hysterical. I like that. And, and then, you know, it was interesting for me to kind of try to write about my mom a little bit 'cause that hadn't happened before.

And it, yes, it was sort of through the lens of this. Rescue dog I had. And, uh, I don't know, just trying to make meaning out of choices and loss and, but mainly I try in, in these books to entertain. That's, that's a great place to kind of segue to these shows and, and your books. They really do have like staying power.

Who doesn't remember The Gilmore Girls? I mean, my gosh, you just were there with us for all those incredible years and you've directed, and now you're an accomplished New York Times bestselling author and you're doing this. Sure. I mean, of course it begs the question like, what next? I don't know. You know, it's a time of reflection overall.

And then the 25th anniversary of Gilmore Girls is coming up next year. Wow. 25. I was not aware of until Amy Paladino created the show. It's talking about it and it's, it's really a time for incredible gratitude that I got to be part of something that is meaningful for people, especially something that is of comfort to people and a source of happiness and, and that it has lasted this long is something you, you could never predict or plan.

So what's next? I'll just, if you're a creative person, it sort of like never ends, I think, and that's where the writing and other. It's all part of the same instinct and drive to just make things. And so I'll, I'll never stop making things. You know, there's another book I'm working on and I'd like to do one more TV show and I think we'll do something to celebrate the, the anniversary.

I don't know what that will be yet. We all look so forward to many years to come of you entertaining us in some capacity because. You sure know how to do it. And for those, again, who are listening, check online to see if Lauren and Sam are coming to a city near you because boy, I mean to see you two live would be an incredible experience and talk about entertainment with a capital E.

So I can't thank you both enough. There's just no doubt that there's more laughter to come between the three of us, and I can't wait for the next time to that to happen.  And we're long, delicious dinners.  Absolutely no weight watcher cookies for me. Please. I'd like a, I'd like a real dessert.  Thanks so much for joining us.