It's our last podcast of 2025! Sam shares an update on being back with her boyfriend (it's a rollercoaster, we know), and Amanda discusses why lotto scratchers are a terrible holiday gift to receive from her ex... which somehow evolves into a conversation about how her dad and ex made her feel like she has too many emotions and is too much to handle.

But the episode turns around when Sam and Amanda discuss their favorite Stranger Things characters because after ten years of talking about how much she loves Stranger Things and rewatches it more than Marvel Avengers, Sam finally convinced Amanda to binge watch and catch up on the show. Their answers surprisingly reveal a lot about their personalities!

Lastly Sam and Amanda share three words each that sum up their years, and share their hopes for one another in 2026. We'll preview those words here: empowering, infuriating, fun, calm, unsteady, crossroads, boundaries, vulnerability. Go listen to the episode to hear what's behind those words! Thanks for listening to us in 2025, and see you in 2026!

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After a crazypants October, your girls Sam and Amanda are burnt out and back to randomly crying at work. Amanda's fighting with her co-parent about books and softball through her daughters' therapists, Sam moved in with her boyfriend and broke up a day later. Plus, the state of the world is so bleak and depressing, it only makes them feel even more weary and heavy. But this is one of those conversations where you might not fix anything or come to any revelations, but just talking about it with your best friend makes you feel a bit better.

*Trigger Warning / Disclaimer: This episode does contain comments that may sound like suicide ideation, so please listen with extreme care or skip this episode if you are triggered and take care of yourself. The comments and this episode are not meant to promote it or make light of it--rather Sam and Amanda talk about how those types of comments have been Sam's way of coping since college, and instead of turning away from them because they made her uncomfortable, Amanda's learned to lean in and recognize them as a signal that Sam needs an extra check-in and support. Sam and Amanda have previously talked at length about what those comments mean when Sam brings them up, and how to keep one another safe and supported.

Disclaimer: We are NOT mental or physical health specialists. If you believe you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation, or any other mental health challenges we encourage you to contact your doctor or a medical professional. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, call 911, or go to your local emergency room. For resources on eating disorders, visit https://edrcsv.org/get-help/.

For a great resource to help with understanding depression and anxiety, and advice on how to help and what to say, check out one of our favorites, @realdepressionproject on Instagram.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amanda debriefs a first date with Sam in real time, and while they still have no idea how to date without overthinking it, this is honestly when they're at their best. And by that, we mean at their best being dumb with each other. Debriefing is the fun part of dating, so dive on in with us besties!

Green flags: he likes Taylor (but said she's not as popular with middle schoolers anymore!!!) (it doesn't matter, no one can ever convince us that loving Taylor is cringe); he is as good looking as his pictures; he's a girl dad; he's in therapy.

Red flags: he claims his ex-fiancee broke up with him out of nowhere (what woman breaks up with a man without an inciting incident?); he gave a boring interview answer to one of Amanda's tough shouldn't-be-a-first-date question; and... well, the third red flag might be an Amanda issue.

Other things the BABS still struggle with: getting Sam to ingest nutrients, adhering to proper first date protocol of not asking spicy questions, and being vulnerable enough to name our biggest insecurities.

** In full disclosure, this date happened in September, and while it seemed promising with some back and forth attempts to schedule a second date, nothing materialized. Still, it was fun to hope for a little bit!

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This is a super special episode (!!) because Amanda and Sam invite their first ever guest onto the podcast. Gail, owner of the event planning business Spoonful of Sunshines, invited BABS to speak at their first ever live show (!!), taking place at a festival in Palm Springs in January 2026 called We Are Enough (https://www.spoonfulofsunshines.com/weareenough). In return, Gail shares her story in this episode and how it birthed the idea for the We Are Enough festival.

Gail went to college with Amanda and Sam and even planned Amanda's wedding (oop!). But unbeknownst to college Amanda and Sam who saw Gail as a literal ray of sunshine and positivity, Gail was struggling to live up to her immigrant parents' dreams as she stared at an F on her midterm in the pouring rain and realized she wasn't going to be pre-med. She turned to partying to try and hide how lost she felt.

Post-graduation, Gail followed her love of food into the hospitality industry, but a couple pivotal moments - including the tragic loss of her cousin - changed the course of Gail's life and helped her discover her purpose in life... to help people talk about emotions, destigmatize mental health, and help everyone realize that We Are Enough.

*Trigger warning: This episode does talk about suicide, so please listen with extreme self-care or avoid if those thoughts are triggering.*

Disclaimer: We are NOT mental or physical health specialists. If you believe you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation, or any other mental health challenges we encourage you to contact your doctor or a medical professional. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, call 911, or go to your local emergency room. For resources on eating disorders, visit https://edrcsv.org/get-help/.

For a great resource to help with understanding depression and anxiety, and advice on how to help and what to say, check out one of our favorites, @realdepressionproject on Instagram.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your girls are still going through something. Their sinks are full of dirty dishes, Sam ditched her emotional support podcast lollipop for a bottle of sparkling wine, and Amanda is tired AF from trying to cram in new activities like pole dancing and line dancing and dating again while her daughters are with their dad, then going through the nonstop cycle of making dinner and worrying about creating a strong emotional foundation for her girls' mental wellbeing for the rest of their lives.

She and Sam wonder what it is they're chasing because they're resorting to strolling the grocery store just to feel something and find dopamine hits in the bread aisle. But just when they start to tell themselves they do so much and don't need to endure like performance athletes, Sam's boyfriend told her she should hang out with friends more and not to sleep during the day... and he should now sleep with one eye open (just kidding).

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"Are we going through something?" Even though the basis of our podcast is that we're always struggling with something, it feels like Sam and Amanda are going through something a little extra lately. They're searching for dopamine hits from Costco, Jazzercise, softball, and pole dancing (ok, maybe just Amanda), and they're struggling with FOMO and the loneliness epidemic. However, while Amanda allowed FOMO to coerce her into seeing the Backstreet Boys in Vegas during New Year's, she will not allow FOMO to be the reason she buys her girls Labubus.

Sam also shares an update on both the physical and mental recovery from her breast reduction surgery (shark bites are referenced). Then they get into some co-parenting challenges Amanda's been struggling with over books and markers, and the double standards and expectations for "good" dads and moms (if this episode sounds a little Frankensteined, it's because the original episode got a little too angry and off the rails, so they had to rerecord and stitch the episodes together).

(We recorded this a month ago, so spoiler alert: Amanda did allow FOMO to sucker her into buying Labubus for her daughters LOL).

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In this episode, Sam talks about her breast reduction surgery--something she's really wanted for the last couple years--and how shockingly complex and difficult it's been to say goodbye to her identity as Sam with big boobs. She equates the process or shock of how big of a change it was to... pregnancy and going to law school (it makes sense to her!). There are also references to ball sac boobs, dangling water balloons, and headlights. Just listen to the episode--trust us.

Then they dive into DCC - the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders series on Netflix, which Sam has been telling Amanda to watch for over a year and she's finally gotten on the bandwagon. They discuss their favorites, what it means to portray perfection, and how the DCC women's authenticity, kindness, and friendship is what really transcends it all and makes them worth rooting for.

**Disclaimer: we are ABSOLUTELY NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS OR ADVISORS.

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Amanda and Sam are back for season 2! They address theories about why they stopped talking for a few months (maybe they're not struggling anymore? LOL yeah right), and while it's not as juicy as an explosive feud, it does show the realities of how friendships ebb and flow. They had different priorities at the time (Sam on her health, Amanda on her work) and their conversations were bringing up one another's insecurities and no longer motivating one another.

Don't worry though, your favorite brats are back in the same headspace, leaning on each other instead of their therapist, and on the other side of 40 (!!). Most importantly, they're still struggling... with all the health noise out there, whether achievements are only worth it if they're painful, and how to fuel their bodies with protein instead of lollipops and Redbulls. And yes, we talk about being 40 and walking with weighted vests because we're not just brats, we're basic brats.

Thanks for getting back on this ride with us!

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