A Blonde A Brunette and a Mic
Look forward to time with these two women who have life experience and something to say! Join us each week as we dive into topics that may be raw, unfiltered, funny and even a little controversial. Whatever we discuss will give you our perspective, get you thinking and will keep you coming back for more!
A Blonde A Brunette and a Mic
Season 3 Episode 100 A Humorous Journey Through 2025's Beginnings and a New Segment!
Ever wondered how a zombie apocalypse and a New Year's resolution could fit into the same conversation? As we kick off 2025 with our 100th episode, prepare for a blend of laughter, reflection, and a touch of Texas spirit. Michele recounts her cozy New Year's Eve, while Julee shares tales from a more lively Texas gathering. We fondly revisit standout moments like the daring "Sexual Revolution" episode and the quirky public displays of affection discussions, sharing lessons learned and thanking our listeners for another incredible season.
Join us as we highlight our most downloaded epsiodes - therapist Kate on trauma, and of course, quiet quitting—two themes that resonate deeply in work and relationships. We then lighten the mood with a hypothetical zombie apocalypse scenario, complete with a humorous take on Texas's gun culture. Our culinary curiosity extends to the quirks of processed foods and the Texas diet, where vegetables seem like a rare find amidst the meat-heavy offerings. Through it all, we keep the jokes flowing and the insights sharp, promising you a journey through both the silly and the serious.
We also introduce "What the Hell Ring the Bell," a fun debate segment where we tackle personal grooming preferences—a "Bush or No Bush" showdown that emphasizes comfort and self-confidence. Finally, we swap the usual New Year's resolutions for something more intentional: a word for the year to guide our growth. Revealing our own words for 2025, we share the humor and depth behind our choices, encouraging listeners to focus with us on this exciting new chapter. Follow along and share your thoughts as we embark on another year of "A Blonde, a Brunette, and a Mic.
Hey everybody, this is Michelle and this is Julie. Welcome to a blonde, a brunette and a mic podcast. What is our podcast all about, you ask? Well, we're 250 something. Women with life experience and oh bloody to say, which is exactly what we're gonna do right now. Happy New Year. Happy New Year Wow you sound? So excited, are you being funny?
Speaker 2:I'm being very facetious.
Speaker 1:Oh, you don't think I was excited.
Speaker 2:No, but hey, maybe it just didn't come out in your voice. What'd you do last night on New Year's?
Speaker 1:Nothing.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Absolutely nothing. At one point I thought I'm going to take off my makeup, I'm going to pop some corn and I'm going to get in bed and eat the popcorn and watch TV. That's exactly what I did, and that was at about 10.
Speaker 2:And then you fell asleep.
Speaker 1:And then I fell asleep. Oh, I took a melatonin too. I popped the melatonin before the popcorn and then I popped off to sleep.
Speaker 2:We've had several New Year's Eves out, so it was kind of nice to have one that was a little more chill, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was in Texas, as we all know. I was in Texas having New Year's there, but we did. It was Jesse's, zoe's, boyfriend's birthday, so we did the Texas Roadhouse steak and potatoes.
Speaker 1:Very traditional.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and came home and hung out and just yeah, just hung out and did New Year's there and I don't know, I always think I was in bed around one. So, anyway, to all of you listeners out there, happy new year going into 2025. I cannot believe that it is 2025.
Speaker 1:I cannot believe that we are starting our third season, yeah.
Speaker 2:I know it just keeps getting better and better too, because we have all kinds of fun things, like we'd mentioned in advance to all of you. Michelle is going to share a little bit about a recap on our season this last season, and then we'll get into a little bit about what we're going to be doing, about a recap on our season this last season, and then we'll get into a little bit about what we're going to be doing.
Speaker 1:Third season. Excuse me, third season, 100th episode Yay, who knew that we would be doing that? But here we are, and this last year, I think, was for me anyways I don't know about you, jules I feel like when I was going through the episodes that we did over this last year, every time I would look at one I was thinking I learned something literally from every single episode there was a takeaway, so I was really thankful for that. As I was looking at that list, but what I was checking out was episodes that got the most downloads, and I was looking at one a month. So, as we go back, do you remember the sexual revolution episode?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we played a Beatles song to start off with that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think we did it better then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, no. I mean that one was good because there were so many different things that really relate to today and a lot of it has to do with the female sexual revolution and just you know, the burning of the bras and all the stuff that was happening, that kind of roe v Wade that was transitioning our country really at that time.
Speaker 2:The war, the Vietnam War, I mean we were not privileged to know a lot of this ourselves, because we weren't really there. I mean, I was a teeny, tiny baby. I think you were too right. Well, you were tinier than me at that point because you're younger, but we didn't really know a lot about it.
Speaker 1:So I hear music now that is from that era, and that's all I, that's all I think about, yeah, so yeah, so that was your favorite from, or the one that had the most downloads that you know, back towards the beginning of the year, so as as we go back but yes, I was going to say that was one of my favorite episodes- and episode number. That one was episode number 51.
Speaker 2:51. Okay, so that was right at the beginning of the second season. You guys have to go back and check it out. It was pretty good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then there was the one about PDA.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how do you feel? Have you changed your?
Speaker 1:thought process on that at all. Yeah, how do you feel? Have you changed your thought process on that at all? I mean, I haven't changed my thought process, I've just gotten more creative as to how I do it.
Speaker 2:Oh girlfriend, Like nobody else can see.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean there's that. You know what she's doing. That's how we stand Underneath the table, Underneath the table With her foot.
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, I'm getting really specific. I don't know why it's getting hot in here. Yeah, she's gonna see her, her sweetie, tomorrow there. She's gonna be flying out to see him and she's going to park city. He was just here. She's getting a lot of rig time, so that smile on that girl's face is worth everything. She's a lot happier. She's like yeah, yeah, I don't want to talk about that anymore.
Speaker 1:That one was episode 53. I don't have all the episode numbers as we go through these, but yeah, I might know some of them. Yeah, you might know. Yeah, that one, anyways, was episode 53 and, um, I enjoyed that one as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I still am not all about some strange man sticking his tongue down my throat in the middle of the street well, there's that too. So you haven't, unless I like him yeah, I mean, in that case I'm probably okay with it, just kidding we'll see.
Speaker 1:So, feet under the table and tongues down the throat, there we go, starting the year off right.
Speaker 2:Starting the year off right.
Speaker 1:Then the next one with multiple downloads was grade divorce, the grade divorce episode.
Speaker 2:No, you know, I remember when we first started talking about that one, you'd never heard that term.
Speaker 2:I had never heard of that term, and I mean learned that in itself so our age group or the demographic that we really, you know, kind of cater to in a lot of ways is women our age or younger, maybe a little bit younger. But the whole concept of getting divorced after the kids have flown the nest, after you know, getting divorced after the kids have flown the nest, after you know all of these things have taken place and relationships and stuff, is it's real. I mean it happened. We both are in that same category because we were divorced in our 50s. So, yeah, it was a. I thought that was a really enlightening good one. It kind of made me realize how we are so not alone, because when you're going through the divorce process you do feel so alone, you know, and that was a little bit reinforcing for me anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you're, if you're planning that on your goal list for 2025, you might want to hit that episode. Might help. Yeah, great divorce, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then there was navigating trauma. Yeah, that was with Kate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with Miss Kate. We had Kate, our therapist, on. We talked about trauma and just how people navigate trauma. That one in particular did not have the best audio and so it was great information. We're probably going to get her on again, but really it's like a lot of what she had to say resonated with both of us, I think, and a lot of downloads in that one.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, like you said, the sound wasn't that great, so we definitely need to revisit another one with her.
Speaker 2:We're still figuring all this shit out with our volume and our sound, and, michelle, it's like we're back on video. She did not want that, but she's just totally humoring me um quiet quitting. Yeah, that's another one so quiet quitting had a lot of downloads on it and I think people we were talking about two different things on that.
Speaker 2:One, quiet quitting in relationships, but also quiet quitting at work which was a term that was actually put into place during the pandemic, because you saw a lot of people that were just kind of doing the bare minimum to get by. A lot of people were not being supervised. Now that's not to say that there wasn't a level of production that was really high for a lot of people, because there was. But there were a lot of people that were just kind of, you know, doing the Benjamin thing, just earning a paycheck, the bare minimum they could do. And then when you think about quiet quitting in a relationship, it's just kind of when someone checks out, yeah, and there's no effort being placed towards someone, there's no communication, it's like you know they're not spending time together. That's quiet quitting in a relationship and something to really be mindful of if you're concerned about that or you know needing to have your relationship nurtured.
Speaker 1:So that could be a friend, any relationship really. Yeah, yeah, Because there's so many dynamics in a lot of different relationships friendships, family relationships.
Speaker 2:Actually, good point, friendships there's definitely some of that too. I don't think it's as noticeable with friendships as it would be with someone that you're in a relationship with Right, just because you know it's something that you constantly have to nurture every day. Are we getting to my favorite one yet?
Speaker 1:The zombie apocalypse? Yes, was that your favorite? That was my favorite one, the most used one. Yeah, yeah, but hey it got you thinking, or zombie apocalypse, Michelle.
Speaker 2:you just are pissed off because you have to cook.
Speaker 1:No, I am not pissed off about that. You know I embrace that wearing the apron and the pearls and being in the kitchen. I'm good with that.
Speaker 2:As long as we protect her. And here I'm sounding like I'm such a badass I'm going to carry a gun. Yeah right, I'm not doing that, I'm just going to direct people. We were talking about that when I was in Texas and you know, andrew has his. Is it an AK-14 or AR-15 or some stupid big old gun that I'm like why? Why did you get this? And he was well, because he's in Texas and they can. And I'm just like I just need to stop right now. But it's a very. You even have signs outside some of the places that establishment saying no guns allowed. You know, inside it's everywhere. Really, yeah, they, they have a lot of guns there.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, I'm sure, I don't know, because I've never been in them.
Speaker 2:But honestly it doesn't feel unsafe. It's not that kind of thing. But I just wonder if some big thing happened, if everybody be pulling out their guns and crossfiring at each other, you know, because they all think they're so well-versed on the gun issue.
Speaker 1:If there's some madman doing it, I'd be more than glad that somebody's got a gun shooting back at them.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, like I said, I'm a little bit of a hypocrite on that, because I was like wait what. I'm calling myself a hypocrite. You know it's kind of like anything else that you don't like, but you know it's a necessity at some point. I think there's, I think there's boundaries to some of those necessities. That's just my thought process.
Speaker 1:Life is full of boundaries these days. I mean just like as we get older we learn about boundaries, we're better at setting them. There's just boundaries in everything, Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.
Speaker 2:Michelle just wants to throw caution to the wind and go run naked out in Majorca, spain, or something.
Speaker 1:But anyways, yeah, the zombie apocalypse, yeah.
Speaker 2:That was my fave.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my favorite if we're talking about favorites right now was the one on food processed foods.
Speaker 2:That was pretty eye-opening and the dark side, and you know what I got. To be honest, it's like there's a lot of things that I will not eat after that because you see, or I'm looking at my vegetables by the way, not a lot of vegetables in Texas. I was just going to say I mean, we didn't have a lot, there are not a lot of options for vegetables, a lot of options for meat like steak and pork, belly and whatever meat, but not yeah, you have to search vegetable options, but total side note on that.
Speaker 2:But I think about my vegetables and and then I think about all that meat and it's like is there hormones in it? Do they put hormones in their cows? I don't think they do it as much in Texas. A lot of the stuff that they had for those restaurants there was local and was grass fed.
Speaker 1:Isn't everything big in Texas? How do they get them big if they're not giving them hormones? I don't know.
Speaker 2:Well, they don't get them big, I guess. I mean, I didn't see any of them.
Speaker 1:The only thing that's not big in Texas.
Speaker 2:There are a lot of big things in Texas. I mean I just, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I did kind of start thinking about that because I'm like, well, okay, here's all these vegetables and everything, and I'm like, are they GMO vegetables? Probably? Yeah.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that's all the food we eat. That's the food we eat. So, yeah, a lot of good stats on that episode there's. There's a whole lot out there because so much information is is available now and I think there's a lot of a lot more people that are mindful now because they're starting to be educated on many things that have to do with the food industry so well I think it's pretty enlightening to know that other countries don't allow a lot of the stuff we allow. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that right there tells you something.
Speaker 1:The cell phone drama, the dilemma of having cell phones in the classroom. That was another one that got pretty decent downloads.
Speaker 2:Well, it got downloads and we got a lot of opinions.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And actually I was really surprised that we had people that were upset about the idea of not having cell phones in the classroom.
Speaker 2:There were two parents because of mass shootings, but most of the teachers that we have listening to us. We got a lot of comments from them about oh hell, no, Well, they didn't say it that way but no phones in the classrooms because it's so disruptive, and I am inclined to agree. We had our school time with no phones and we did just fine. God, I sounded like a Gen Z or whatever. I sounded like a boomer. I don't identify with them, but I did sound like one.
Speaker 1:That's okay. I'm embracing the fact that, yeah, and it sounds old fashioned and old more and more every single day.
Speaker 2:And I'm okay with it. Not everything. I like things that are convenient, you know, like I mean, we've talked about AI as an example, and it's like AI is going to be very convenient but it's super dangerous. Yeah, because there are so many bad things that can happen, but there are also a lot of really good things that can happen with it too, and I don't even think we've hit the surface on any of that.
Speaker 1:We did an episode on that one as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just kind of sneaks up on you, like all of a sudden you've got a chat GPT on your computer. I'm like, oh, where did that come from?
Speaker 1:That's what it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do we have any more that you want to highlight?
Speaker 1:Quickly I'm going to highlight the table talk on women's health when. Mb was with us that was another great one. You can, of course, guess what that is about A lot of good information that we talked about in that one. Another one was jealousy and envy. That was a high number of downloads. Teen pregnancy and adoption Open adoption.
Speaker 2:I'm so happy Leah shared her story with us.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That was a good one too.
Speaker 1:And then you know which one got a lot of downloads. It was this dad and asshole. Well, really.
Speaker 2:I'm not really surprised, because the dad, he was an asshole.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2:I even posed that scenario to the people that I was with in Austin, and people that I would have said thought would have said differently, even said it. Yeah that he was an asshole.
Speaker 1:That he was an asshole yeah.
Speaker 2:And I have a tendency to agree and we're not enabling our children at all. I mean, we do coddle them, I think, to some degree, or have coddled them to some degree. Um, if you're able to, you obviously want the best for your children, but at the same time it's like we're not letting them fly either. So there's got to be a better way to get your point across than punitive you know right measures like that, right so but, yeah, I, I like that.
Speaker 2:I like that one because I feel like we are able to really get feedback on what people think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's a legit question you know, it's a legit question and somewhat controversial. Yeah, really, yeah, so, yeah, so that's kind of in a nutshell the last 12 months, some of our more popular episodes and, yeah, I learned a lot this last year.
Speaker 2:So, going into 2025, we have a couple things planned, don't we? We have some fun things planned.
Speaker 1:We do. Yes, we do. You want to tell them about it, Jules?
Speaker 2:Well, we were thinking that that would be really fun to add a little segment at the end of each one of our episodes. That was a kind of a agree to disagree topic, but fun, not like super serious or anything like that, but just something to kind of throw out there that we might agree or disagree on. Typically it's gonna be obviously something that we maybe don't share the same point of view on, otherwise it would be kind of boring. But we are going to do that and have that towards the end of every episode and then, if you guys want to chime in and comment, we would love to hear your thoughts on that. And, michelle, what are we naming that segment?
Speaker 1:I think we're going to call it what the hell ring the bell, what the?
Speaker 2:hell, ring the bell.
Speaker 1:What the hell ring the bell, and what I was thinking was even mid-episode. If something triggers a thought, maybe we stop right in the middle of an episode and say what the hell ring the bell and we'll just interject it there in the middle of the episode.
Speaker 2:Kind of like when we stop and say, oh, that would be a good episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Same. Thing.
Speaker 1:Same kind of thing.
Speaker 2:We're just going to mix it up a little bit and have some fun with it and see where it goes from there. So, with that in mind, michelle's going to ring the bell.
Speaker 1:Oh, here we go when we go. Are you ready? Okay, what's the topic?
Speaker 2:The topic is what is it, Michelle?
Speaker 1:Bush or no Bush, bush or no Bush, bush or no Bush For those of you who do not know what we mean. Are we talking, barbara or George?
Speaker 2:No, we're talking about your vajayjay. Bush or no bush, bush or no bush. What do you think, michelle?
Speaker 1:I think it's dependent on a lot of things. Here I go with my disclaimers, but I think a little bit.
Speaker 2:A little bit like a landing strip.
Speaker 1:But see, that's us. We really need to be asking men this question, right In regard to but me personally a well-trimmed, well-groomed bush.
Speaker 2:Okay, so now let me ask this what men want is great, but really what we want is the most important?
Speaker 1:I know, but see for me, I'm all about pleasing my guy.
Speaker 2:I know, but still it's like how do you feel comfortable?
Speaker 1:Well, it doesn't really have any kind of impact on me whether I have a bush or no bush. Oh, Do you think that it does?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like in the summertime and stuff.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I mean Well-groomed, trimmed, all of that Manicured, coiffed. You know, if you're with somebody and they like it, bald, tear that shit off. That's what I say. Maybe not all the time, you don't have to do it that way all the time, but to throw a little spice and fun in the relationship maybe you have that landing strip and then all of a sudden surprise him with a bald. There's all kinds of possibilities when we're talking about the bush.
Speaker 2:So the bush back in like the 60ss 80s was like literally a bush guys too, yeah, yeah, and it's like not quaffed at all, quaffed, and I'm like fancy words yeah quaffed.
Speaker 1:I do know what that means, though, but it is a fancy I'm all about the bald, the bald, yeah yeah, I'm all about the bald, the bald, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm all about the bald, although when you really think about it you have to kind of wonder do guys think about it being like a child that hasn't gone through puberty yet? I mean perverted guys.
Speaker 1:I have no idea. But that's why I say the possibilities are there. Bush or no, bush, bald or bush however you want to phrase it, you really can do anything unless you permanently get rid of it. Then you don't have options. It goes back, then it's not.
Speaker 2:If you want it to, it will Okay.
Speaker 1:Ding ding ding ding ding. We'll ring it again. We're done with that.
Speaker 2:Done with that topic. So now we know that Michelle likes a nice little coiffed area and Julie's all about being bold. Okay, now that we've had that little segment, we're going to just move on to our closing comments.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Closing comments. Let's wrap this up.
Speaker 2:Zip it up, girl Wrap it up, girl wrap it up, zip it up and now love it up, wrap it up, sip it up, do whatever you need to do.
Speaker 1:Well, so, really quickly, as we wrap it up, do you have a word for 2025? I know we talked about words before. You're big on words, you know. Going into the new year and there you go. What did so I?
Speaker 2:had brought this up before right the word. And every year for the last few years not every year like my whole life, but every year, the last few years I've come up with some kind of word that's helped me stay focused, or focused in the direction that I've wanted to put my attention. And then if I had difficulty or I was feeling like I was taking a slide backward, then I could kind of refer back to that and so I wrote it. I write my the word on my mirror in the bathroom so I see it in the morning and I have it on my bulletin board over here in my bedroom that I keep track of some stuff, and on my phone and it's like on just anywhere you know places that you can see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Michelle and I were talking about it today and she's like yeah, I didn't, I didn't pick a word. I'm like really you didn't pick one. Maybe this is a girl thing, I don't know, because I've talked to other people about it and they kind of were looking at me like why would you do that?
Speaker 1:I think it's just in the last few years become kind of a trend and so it's more known than it used to be. But I can see where it's not really well known.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the purpose behind it makes sense?
Speaker 1:Oh, of course, and it's almost like replacing the New Year's resolution with a word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not big on New Year's resolutions because I feel like you're setting yourself up for failure. It's an all or nothing kind of a thing. So I do try to stay away from that and just maintain the things that I'm doing all year long, or trying to do all year long, and we all have slip ups, right but just trying to stay healthy and just, you know, be a happy person and a good person. You know, just the usual stuff that we talk about. What's?
Speaker 1:your word? I can't believe I don't know your word.
Speaker 2:It's listened Because people.
Speaker 1:Holy shit.
Speaker 2:I know right because people holy shit. I know right I'm listening to you right now. I know because I need to shut my mouth.
Speaker 1:I just say that facetiously because I know you're looking at me like what's she gonna say when she finds out my word so she's gonna remind me of my word all the time when I won't shut up.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I think out loud and so sometimes I just need to stop talking, and everybody that knows me would probably agree. So that's my word. Listen, I like it, listen, yep, I like it, and all of you out there can remind me. And now you know I'm being held accountable.
Speaker 1:She asked me my word and I hadn't thought about a word. I did a word last year and I don't even remember what it was because I didn't do anything with the word. Like you do, you're very intentional about putting it in your face and everywhere you see, and all of that and so kind of, like you say, resolutions set you up for failure. I felt like the word set me up for that. So I think it just depends on perspective. Yeah, so I have been thinking about it and I think I'm just going to have a different word every day.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that idea too, based on different things that are going on in my life at the time and something I've been doing for a while now, and it doesn't happen every day, but I try to, before I wake up and jump out of bed, sit there and do some self-talk and different things about how my day is going to go right. So I think that I can incorporate whatever word it needs to be for that day into it, into that self-talk, before I'm even, like, getting up out of bed. So I like you know how it goes. Okay, I like that.
Speaker 2:I like that a lot yeah.
Speaker 1:So you just have listening to focus on. I obviously have a whole lot of shit to work, oh.
Speaker 2:I have a lot to work on, but I just thought, girl, I'm taking things one thing at a time. Yes, I'm all over the place. People stop telling me you need to be quiet and listen, then I'll. Then I'll know I've made progress. Too funny Humbling, but it's good. It's a good thing, yeah, something you can always improve on.
Speaker 2:So anyway, with that in mind, I think we need to let everybody know we are out on all the socials all the socials we are there and we have our video on youtube and, in addition to actually spotify, we're uploaded on spotify now for our video and then, uh, audio of course, and all the other channels. So we appreciate everybody listening. We're really looking forward to our season ahead and bringing you all kinds of fun, interesting and controversial and, I don't know, challenging topics.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:With that in mind, I think that's a wrap We'll sign off. It's a wrap Starting 2025 with intentions, good intentions and Good listening. What did you say? I'm listening With my listening. It's not with my listening. It's not just about listening, it's hearing. I kind of went back and forth between those. It's very.
Speaker 1:That's a very conscious thought right there. So so good.
Speaker 2:I'm finally mature. Anyway, have a great week, everybody, and we will chat with you next week. Take care, bye.