Episode 5: "New City, New Life"

Starting over is hard. Starting over with a kid, a new city, and a podcast is a whole different level.

This week Haily and Rick talk about leaving Las Vegas after 10 years, retiring from a 15 year career, and landing in Los Angeles with no roadmap and a lot of optimism. The compound dream that started it all, the hard weeks of finding their footing, and what a regular day actually looks like when you're building something new from scratch.

Spoiler: the middle finger is the international hello in LA. They're thriving anyway. 🌴

📲 Find us on Instagram & TikTok: @theagegapeffect 📩 Send us your Caught In The Gap stories — DM us!

The Age Gap Effect is hosted by Haily and Rick — a real couple, a real age gap, and zero filter. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and never miss a conversation worth having.
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🎙️ The Age Gap Effect — because someone had to say it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So we moved to LA.

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Oh, yes, we did.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And I want to say it has been such a smooth transition. Warm and welcoming, everything that you would think and above.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Until someone gave her the middle finger on the freeway.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

I forgot that the state bird of California wasn't the eagle, it was the middle finger. And also the aggressive honking. So it's been a transition because LA operates on a different frequency.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

It's so aggressive here.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

I'm getting used to it. Well, we've survived this move so far. Welcome to episode five of the age gap effect. All right, so we're gonna jump into our cotton the gap before we get into the episode tonight.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

This last week was really precious. I mean, it was it was special. Even though it was a little awkward, it was I went with you to uh take Maverick to school, and once a week they have a dance party out on the asphalt, and we all show up and so cute.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Oh my god, they all dance the cha cha slide. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

And I just got the vibe that people were thinking that uh he brought his grandfather. That could have been just imagine in my head, you know. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it than I should be, but his uh teachers obviously know that we're a couple.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Well, they know about our podcast, yeah. And yeah, they definitely know, but um yeah, you might be the oldest one at parent pickup. Yeah, I've yet to see anyone older. So what happened to you? Um first of all, this has been the craziest week because I feel like we've been busy every second of the day.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Um, we have.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

But we have this nanny that is absolutely amazing, and her whole family has kind of adopted Maverick, so he goes over there, and we joke now that we rent a room from him, and we're also his second family. Um, but she has a dad that's younger than Rick, and Mav keeps referring to him as grandpa. And I have to keep a straight face, but I just want to lose it because it is so funny and innocent.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Well, and you mentioned that he's younger than I am, so that's a little awkward.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

He Mav does not see H. So before we dive into LA, I think we need to address kind of where the whole thing started. And in my opinion, it started with the whole compound idea. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, I think that's probably accurate. That opened up the discussion of where we're gonna live, and it was more than just Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

So we're driving to dinner one day, and Rick looks over at me and says, How do you feel about a compound? And I've always wanted to live in some sort of a compound setup with what are they, ADUs? I always mix it up. It's ADUs, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:13

ADUs, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Guest houses. Um, and just little dwellings where you could have friends come and visit, and we have livestock, fresh herbs, just the whole all the works, but close to a city.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, it has to be close to a major city. We're too much in love with this big city.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I like the convenience. I grew up in the mountains when I was little, and it was a good 35 to 40 minutes to a grocery store. And the idea sounds so beautiful and peaceful and serene until you realize that you are limited on a lot of the modern luxuries that everyone else has. And I wouldn't want to go back to that. So yeah, having that hybrid version is just so cool.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Now we just need to figure out where.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, so we can have mini donkeys.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

You and your mini donkeys.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

I swear that is like my dream.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Well, we do love animals, so we're definitely gonna have some.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, so um that started the animals, that is.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

I don't know about mini donkeys. We'll get there.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Whoa, whoa, whoa. All right. Well, you know what? All I heard was we're gonna have some, and I stopped listening, so I'm just gonna smile and nod.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

As you so often do. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

So that opened up the Zillow rabbit hole, and the idea of Nevada was first because I was still working and Yeah, and you already had a house there.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I had a condo there in Las Vegas, and so it seemed like to move those two residences into one and stay in Las Vegas made all the sense in the world. But my primary residence was the house in California.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah, and it was starting to get a little hectic living out of a suitcase, I will admit. I had a lot of mornings that I was not happy.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Well, balancing between the three places was really getting a little crazy, and we did need to be under the same roof.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

When we started looking into services for Maverick, Nevada's been great, and we've had some amazing help there. But California is more up to date and a lot more advanced when it comes to um special education.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Yeah, that really was the capper, was that it's most important of where we put Maverick for school, what kind of services he gets, and it did look like a much better option in California.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Some of the outside services that I had for him there, on top of full-time school, they're doing in his day-to-day activity here. So now he's able to have free time after school for us to do ABA therapy and speech therapy. So that has been really great because I think that we have really jumped into investing into his future and it it feels good to do that for him.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Yeah, I think the move here made all the sense in the world, even though you had to give up everything in Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

It was a wild card for sure. Um it's been a transition, but seeing Maverick's success at what what three months in? Have we been here for three months? Yes. Wow. In three months, he's already questioning and debating me like he's ready for university. So maybe it was a be careful what you wish for scenario. Now he calls me out on everything, but it has, it's been amazing and very rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Well, moving to LA from Las Vegas was way more difficult for you than me. You had a 15-year career in hair that you were wrapping up, or needed to wrap up so we could move. You'd lived in Las Vegas for 10 years, you'd made all these amazing friends and connections, you knew where everything was. It was much more difficult for you than me.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

It it was a lot harder than I thought. And I think I was a lot more emotional about it. Um, 10 years is a long time, first of all. I'm it's a long investment. And I I had my son during the pandemic, I had him alone and knew I was going into this as a solo parent. Um, and my mom had passed the year before, which is kind of weird. She died on the 29th of August, and I had him the 29th of September. So it was kind of this really cool moment because she always told me I was gonna have a kid, and I built this super group of people that really had my back and they loved me and my child so much, and it really did feel like I was leaving my family, and I was really emotional about it, and we can always go back, and we do, we go back for poker and things like that, but I didn't think that it was gonna hit me that way, and it it really made me appreciate the people that mean so much to me, and and it kind of got in my feels for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

You really did build an amazing network of people that were helping you, helping Maverick, loving you, just really looking out for you.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, I I struggled when we came here because there's so many amazing things about California, and I was excited about the grocery stores and all the benefits of the things of LA, but I was also grieving, I think, this huge transition, and I didn't even factor that in. Which is kind of a weird one because I I don't think it's a a thing in America. We're not all taught about grief, and it comes in so many different forms, right? You don't just grieve a breakup or a death, you can also grieve a major transition, and I I didn't factor that one in. And with my ADHD, I try to hyperfixate on pre-planning everything, and whoo, emotions kicked my ass.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

You were also on the heels of a divorce, and that didn't help.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Yeah, I think there was just a lot to process and downsizing and kind of silencing because my life was so social with events and work, and and I had a lot of projects, so it was nice to have that reset, but it was also a very major paradigm shift.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

And the first time you had to move with Maverick.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Yeah, so I had moved into a different home with him, and I once again I think there was so much going on. I didn't factor that he had gone through a little bit of a behavior regression when we had moved into a new house. Um, and there were things that had changed where he reacted. But I think there were so many moving parts in leaving the state and transferring him with school and all of those that it kind of just flew over my head. So when we moved, it was very rough for the first month.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Well, him not being in school for that first month was really difficult because we had such a hard time getting him in school.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Oh my God. I had to register him four separate times, and there was a paperwork got lost, or we just couldn't seem to get through to the school district. And that also affected him because he was used to such a strict routine that I think his whole world just jumbled. And it was really sad to see him long for his friends and for that social.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Part of my education and autism that's been ramped up pretty quickly here is that these kids do need structure and they thrive with structure. I had no idea.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Oh, he lives for it and he was 85 to 90 percent potty trained when we moved out here, and with everything kind of going askew, he just decided to protest the bathroom and he started having tantrums and just all of these changes really affected him. And I mean, we all were in it, and Rick and I rolled with the punches, but literally, it was you know, sometimes with kids in general, it's like trying to figure out an instructions guide that's written in a language you've never seen. So that I don't know, I think as a parent, you always feel like you can do better, and it's this weird headspace you have to kind of ease up on, otherwise it can be kind of toxic.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

He went through a significant regression when we first moved, and for that first 30 days, like you're saying, I think now he's really leveled out and he's really thriving.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah, he advocates for himself in such a clear and very assertive way now. His language skills have gotten so much better, and you can tell that he's happy.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Well, he should be happy. He has two personal assistants, you and me, that is beckon call.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

I know with no sick peg.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

No, he's so sweet though, and he is really happy. He's we laugh a lot. I mean, that's it's so sweet to see.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Well, they say it all goes downhill after you retire unless you stay active and keep all the joints working, right? So I have really taken that to heart. Recently, I think it's time I addressed this. So I I was diagnosed with a terminal condition that I will I will have to deal with for the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Oh boy, here we go.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

I suffer from an astigmatism. And I I'm not alone, but it it was life-changing when I found out.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

We were at the eye doctor recently, told her she had an astigmatism. She asked him how long she has to go to live.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Well, and then I said, Is it contagious? And then I glared at Rick because I just want to know where this came from. But no, in all seriousness, I had so many ideas when I was younger. I've I've worked in so many different career fields, and it's probably part of the ADHD. But I got my license um 15 years ago, and I remember joking with my mom and my sister and saying, Well, I'll be done in 15. And it sounded kind of crazy, but I like taking those bold moves. And I thought, I'm gonna figure something out along the way because I want to die with this amazing story of all the things I did, and I don't want to settle and stay for longer than 15. I think that's a great time to also explore the world and develop an amazing career that I can travel with and use as kind of fuel as I move on to the next chapter.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

I love it that you call that stuff out because I think you're manifesting what you are gonna do next. And you know you're not gonna settle in one career for a lifetime. You want to do a lot of different things with your life.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

God, what an amazing journey. So I am so thankful that I got to have that chapter. Maybe a year or two before I met Rick, um, that thought kind of popped into my head am I going to continue to grow, open a salon? I've I've done startup projects and I've done a lot of different things throughout my career. But I knew that I I was ready. And so that's why I got into poker.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yeah, this was hair hairstyling was not your dream. It was something that you did, you were very good at, you made a great career out of it. But I didn't feel that it was your underlying passion.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

I think you're right. I liked, I like immersing myself into new, unfamiliar situations because you really do grow in those. And I've done events, I've helped with marketing, um, planning dinners for restaurants. I had never done anything in the poker world, and I had a lot of clients and friends that were poker pros or had worked in poker rooms in different casinos. And I guess the idea of poker kind of became a motif in my life because I never played, but I would always joke, like, oh, one day I'll play.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

Well, and I think volunteering for different causes has always been your nature.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Yeah, I think that's where it all came into play. I was volunteering with different nonprofits. I had a friend that ran a poker nonprof, and it just seemed like such an amazing thing to get into. So that was really what opened the door for me. And I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

And that's how we met. It worked out pretty well.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

I would have never, ever in a million years thought about railing if it wasn't for the poker world.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

I think you need to uh explain what railing is.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

So when you watch someone from afar, it's called railing, and there are so many avenues you can take that. So I make all the bad jokes about railing Rick. That's another episode. I'm making a sweatshirt and everything. I really enjoy making people laugh. I really enjoy entertaining and bringing people together. And comedy has been a passion of mine for a long time.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

I think comedy is your passion, and I think that that's what's so beautiful about watching you open up this next chapter in your life. Now you get to do what you really want to do and what calls to you, and that would be comedy.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

It's been such a crazy transition. Yeah, I said I was gonna leave, and then I met you, and I was already in the process of changing everything up, and now we're here. So I guess be careful what you wish for because when you put the work in and the time and the effort, you really can get what you want out of life and embrace it, but also be happy.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Yeah, you've told me you've manifested a number of things in your life, including your hair career.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

I have this quote tattooed on my arm, and it's from Mike Dooley. And if you don't know who he is, he is amazing. He's on the secret, and he's got notes from the universe. I highly suggest it. So his quote is thoughts become things, choose good ones. And that has been my mantra forever. So I have it on my arm, and I shout out to Mike Dooley because you have gotten me through some hard times, my friend. I also like to screw with Rick and told him that I've been stalking him for the last three years, and I have a whole vision board in the back of my closet with even baby pictures.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

She comes up with some pretty wild stories. So, how do you feel about being in LA now you've been here for three months? You're originally from San Diego, you moved to Las Vegas, and now you're back in California, but in the So Vegas is kind of laid back.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

I feel like California's a lot more um woke or like politically driven. I don't know. I just hear a lot more comments about like Trump and stuff like that here. So it's kind of annoying sometimes. Um and also the sense of humor is different. In Vegas, I think that there are a lot of things that aren't taboo that are considered taboo in other areas of the country. So making a joke that's like sexual or just things that are kind of inappropriate, uh, I feel like more of a Howard Stern in LA. So I've kind of had to adapt to my my surroundings. Like my whole joke about railing you, I don't think I would just jump into telling someone here, like, yeah, I rail my boyfriend on the weekends um because it wouldn't be received, you know, like in Vegas where it's like, okay, there's something here, it's funny.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

So and they don't even play poker.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Yeah. So I'm still trying to find my grounding, but I think that I've learned where to ease it and where I can just jump right into the home base.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

You love the shock factor. I mean, admit it. That's kind of your thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Well, you do it well.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

So hyperbole and Haley both start with an H. Yeah. So it's it's just, I think, figuring out where I'm at. Um, and um, yeah, how I can joke. I can't really just you know make a furry joke right off the bat in the middle of LA fitness or anything like that, if that's what you're asking.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Well, and you found a little uh hyperbole on the freeway the other day, didn't you, with someone?

SPEAKER_00 19:08

I swear to God. Okay, in Vegas, you don't just get the bird flipped off at you like that all the time. It's you know, it's you save that for it's like a special reserve in a wine cellar. And out here, that's like the international hello. So, I mean, things like letting somebody go when they have the right-of-way instead of being assertive is received as me being rude, or at least it is in certain areas, and that's so funny to me because I'm like, what the freak.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

I think it's so funny that people in LA, or myself anyway, when I go to Las Vegas, I think the drivers there are crazy on the road and on the mainly on the freeway. And the roads are beautiful, by the way. But in uh people my friends who live in Vegas won't drive in LA because they think we're all crazy here, but having grown up here, I think I'm just more accustomed to it.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

So in California, you've got to bob and weave. People tailgate in a different way, like you have to be a little bit more on your game. Vegas, it's a city that the roads are absolutely beautiful, you're right. But it's flooded with people that have never been there or are unfamiliar. So no one knows where they're going. That's the difference. It's it's not a sea of people that are all coexist on the regular. Like everyone in LA is just an asshole. You know that from the start. In Vegas, they're assholes that are lost.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

I asked a friend of mine why the car insurance was so expensive in Vegas when I was looking to move there. And he said, you have a bunch of drunk tourists driving around. What do you think is gonna happen?

SPEAKER_00 20:42

They have a really high accident rate. It's it has to do with that. I just know that you grab your ankles when you pay for your car insurance in Vegas. Yeah. So what do you think about LA now, overall? There are a lot of positives that I'm like, I like the routine that I built here. I do like that it sounds so dumb, but there are so many grocery stores in Vegas. We've there's some Whole Foods, there aren't a lot of those really cute small chain like health food stores, and right. Um, I love a good grocery store, it's like my kink. It's so dumb. But that's been one of like the biggest positives because sourcing fresh produce is so important.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

I know we've had a lot of fun going to the farmers' markets lately.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

I like the farmers markets. There's a lot to do. Vegas has a lot to do too. Um, oh yeah. So I mean that in, I mean, don't quote me. I know LA is a lot larger, but there's a a lot that you can get from bold. So that was a nice kind of even swap in a way. Um the traffic here, I still don't like, but I'm adjusting to.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Yeah. This cannot be our long term plan.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

And in LA at 20 minutes is nothing on the road, but everything in Vegas is like five to ten minutes from where you live.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, 20 minutes is four blocks in LA.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Yeah, 20 minutes is ooh, that's like you can get from Vegas to Utah in 20 minutes, crack. I've adjusted. I think I was a little resistant at first because I didn't realize how spoiled I was with Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah, and I've loved LA, I've loved growing up here, but I think it's time to move on.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah, I think it's exciting to think about going somewhere that we have never been. Life is short. Well, maybe in my case, not yours. Maybe a little shorter for me than you, but life is long, so there's time to enjoy. No, but why stay in one place forever? There's so much to explore.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah. Yeah. No, we're gonna have fun exploring these new places.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

So why don't we talk about, like I guess, a day in the life? Because it like life has definitely changed. Um for both of us. Yeah. In Vegas it was crazy because I was still maintaining a work schedule, Maverick, and then you and I were traveling. Um, so it all kind of came to a halt when we moved. And I wish that I was laying by the pool eating bonbons. Well, I would prefer Rick to peel my grapes, but that's definitely not how it is at all.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Moving day actually was fun, you know. I love the fact that we loaded up that truck ourselves. We drove it to LA from Vegas and in caravan style, and we had it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

That was fun. We what did we do? We stayed home for Christmas, and then I had a wedding booked for like last half of the first quarter of January.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Your very last job.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

Yeah, great friend and longtime client got married. So that was a fun send-off. And in the middle of all of that, we went to visit a friend in Nevada City. I packed my house in about seven days, yeah. And then we sat Mav down and explained to him that we were gonna leave, unpack, and then come back and get him. Um, so we left him in Vegas alone. No, I'm just kidding. There's $20 on the counter, son, make it work.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Here's Uber Eats. You know how to dial a phone. You're five. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Home alone's great. Um, but yeah, came back, set up, got his room already, and then jolted back to grab him.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yeah, remember that was Valentine's Day, and then the next day we packed up the truck, caravan to LA.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

That was really cool though, because I brought Sam with us, and Sam is someone that has watched Mav since he was an infant. I think we played it out really well, packing everything, but explaining to him first, having his kind of stuff set up already, and then bringing someone that he was familiar with, very familiar, and giving just that transition a little more of a nice touch.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

She helped so much. That was really great.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yeah, that was great. And to fast forward to now, it it's so crazy how yeah, we had this huge life change that happened in a very quick amount of time. And now, I mean, it's it we have definitely gotten through that initial storm. Um, I wake up every morning before the ricks so that I can have a peaceful cup of coffee, take Mav to school, and then I usually go and do Pilates and then cardio afterwards. Um and usually have a whole morning. Oh, if I got have to make phone calls or schedule anything, I usually do it before Rick wakes up. And then I come home with coffee and wake him up.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Yeah, I have always slept later and always stayed up later my entire life. I think since I was a teenager, anyway, for sure. And it just seems to be the pattern I've kept. And you have this pattern of enjoying the gym and all that in the morning, and it seems to fit really well, and and we've like developed this routine already just in being here for three months.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

And then we usually run our errands together. Um, and then Mav gets out of school, and he's either with his nanny or he's with us. And I feel like I have three days every day of the week.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

We do have a full, full schedule, like there's so many things to do.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

So I worked so much in Vegas that I had child care for Maverick um just because that was our natural flow. So it was nice to find someone out here that was recommended through a really close friend of Rick's because she's been amazing and her whole family has kind of adopted Maverick, but that's also given me this amazing amount of time now to where I can work on our podcast or work on things with the house because there's a lot of things that we are also working on together. And I like to cook, so I I have time to make dinner every night. It's it's been really nice.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Yeah, I feel like I need to schedule time with you to be able to, you know, there are a couple of errands we need to do that have been on the books for what two weeks, three weeks.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

It is funny. I know when we first moved, I hadn't found a gym and I hadn't really gotten into a routine. So I remember I had too much time and it was kind of overwhelming. And I think it was last week you were trying to schedule lunch lunch plans and I had Pilates at one day, and then I had Reiki books the next day. But I I think that's what makes me feel familiar in a new area is finding that rhythm and and those familiar things that I like to do. I like my routine. Um and if I don't work out, I feel like I just like that's my stress relief.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Yeah, no, working out is really important to you, which I think is great. And I love the fact that you don't uh feel that I have to be included.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Yeah, it it was weird at first because we were traveling every two to three weeks in Vegas. So when we moved and we were just here for a while, as much as I complained when I was tired from working and traveling, it was kind of a shock to just be in one state.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Well, I'll tell you, it's really nice to just be in one house.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

That was the fix we needed for sure. I I'm naturally busy anyways, but I have a lot more to do. I mean, God, I've been cooking so much more because I have the time now and the energy, and I love that because I'm still on keto, and you have a completely different style of eating, and so does Mav. So I've been on this whole kick where I'm trying to replace all of the refined sugar in the house and make kind of dupes of the things that they like to eat. Like I was watching a video on how to make homemade cornflakes the other day, and just things that I mean, I'm not trying to like take everything from you guys and sound like a dictator here, but if we can at least make it a healthier version, maybe I won't be such a bitch.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

No, it's really nice. It's it's uh my god, the food is amazing. I didn't even know you could make food at home. I thought it was a takeout or a restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

It's nice to have someone to cook for, um, and someone that won't protest me on what I make because you don't know how to cook. Maybe I'm a little biased.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Certainly not giving you any helpful hints.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

I remember when we first moved, it was funny because I walked outside and I was like, oh my god, there's mint out there. I can pick that and use it for tea. And it's so just the things that you don't realize that you you take for granted when you just have it everywhere because it's kind of a weed, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Well, and uh the flowers in the yard. You're not you weren't used to just being able to cut flowers in the yard and bring them to the house with all the flower arrangements you make all the time.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

I don't know. We still don't have one day that's like the other. Every day is different, it's just definitely the pace has slowed down.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Well, we again it goes back to a rhythm. We found a rhythm with each other that really works, and every day is different, we have different adventures, we go to concerts, we go to dinner parties, and even to go to the nursery to find more flowers is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Yeah, I think when we went to Hawaii, that was a good precursor because I would wake up and go work out, you'd sleep in, and then I'd come back, you'd get up, we'd do breakfast, and there was never any pressure for one of us to get up or or do anything. We just kind of naturally flowed, and we've got a great synergy.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

I think that's really key in our relationship is we're not trying to change each other about anything. That's refreshing.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Except for your high fructose corn syrup intake.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Yeah, well, you know, my diet could use a little work.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

What did I say the other day? I was like, why don't you just bring crack into the house, Richard? Why don't you just bring crack with these Twinkies?

SPEAKER_01 31:18

I do have a little ice cream problem.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Yeah, no, I did find that really I found a recipe though that I thought you liked it. It was kind of a good exchange, and it was with collagen peptides, whole fat coconut milk, monk fruit, and then I used Lily's chocolate chips and I made um like ice cream pops.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Yeah, those were amazing. So I can get past not having uh really good ice cream.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

You're an asshole. I mean, no, but I mean, honestly, okay, I'll put into your terms. You only use premium gas, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

So you've got to think about it like that. Pretend that your body is one of your favorite cars. Are you gonna put shit in it?

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Oh, god, no.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Or are you gonna fill it with premium quality grade A quality shit here, my friend?

SPEAKER_01 32:07

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

No, but I love your cooking. I mean, your cooking is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

It's braggable.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And I like when you cook too.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Oh, yeah. I've cooked two things for you, I think.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Oh, I was talking about DoorDash. Oh. This has been such a crazy transition, but I will say I have never been happier, and Maverick is so happy. It's this was all worth it.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

I think we've all never been happier. This has worked out amazingly well.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

I okay, I have to share. I love when we have people come to visit, especially if they've never been here. And Rick loves to give a tour. Maverick now has kind of taken that on. And it it's really funny. Nobody can start without Maverick coming down to the front of the house and waiting. And like it's like he's a little tour guide at Disneyland.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

It is adorable.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

The other day, we have a mini fridge in our closet, and I like to keep cheese sticks in there. Great. Now everyone knows.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

It's a little embarrassing, but go on.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

No, but so my friends were downstairs, and then Mav comes waltzing down. I didn't even know he was up there with cheese sticks. Like, here you go, I've got a round for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Well, that was after he showed him our room.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Oh, yeah. And then he's walking by, and I heard him say, like, because he's been tr sleeping with us recently and like keeps sneaking in in the middle of the night. So he goes by his bedroom and says, This is my bedroom. And then I hear him say, Wanna see our room? And I looked at Rick and I just said, We're fucked.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

He now controls the entire house.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

So the joke is that we rent a room from Maverick, a shared room, apparently. It's a hostel. That's episode five. New city, new life, one middle finger on the freeway, and we're still standing.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

We're thriving, actually.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Skibbity. If you're going through a big transition right now, new city, new relationship, new chapter, just know the hard part doesn't last. You find your footing, you put fresh flowers in the house, and you figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

And you learn to drive in LA.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Well, we're still working on that. Next week, Ask the Gap, our first listeners episode. We're answering your questions, so get them in now. DM us at the age gap effect on Instagram and TikTok. Nothing is off limits.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Almost nothing.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

Almost nothing. Well, I think that's about it. I don't have a solid opener or a closer, but I think I'm just gonna free ball it every time.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

I think she found the opener.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Before we say goodbye tonight, I wanted to give a quick shout out to our newest sponsor and one of our biggest supporters right now. So thank you so much to the age gap effect. Have a good night, everybody.