Budget Friendly Fall Date and Hangout Ideas!!

Welcome to The In Between Podcast. I'm Astrid.

And I'm Alexis. And we're 2 best friends on a journey to living a fun, intentional life.

We know it's easier to share on a season of life once it's behind you, but what about when you're in the middle of the growth, confusion, and decision-making?

This lifestyle podcast is for the everyday gal who loves to travel, talk about business, relationships, fashion, and everything in between. Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of The In Between Podcast. It's one half of the pod, Alexis, and the other half, Astrid.

And we are so excited to be back. These recordings are always one of the highlights of my week. Um, yeah. And then today we get to jump into budget-friendly ideas for your next date night or your next, um, friendship date night. Um, but we are so excited because we've talked a lot about finances before. And the overall picture and the importance of budgeting. And we also believe that you can still have a lot of fun even on a budget. So we're kind of diving deep into the little details of budgeting this month and more of a fun lens on it. And knowing that it's not an all or nothing, like you now have to stay home and do boring things, we can get very creative with those.

Right. And we know that fall is a season where you're, you're like spending time with family. You've got the holidays, you've got all these like fall Autumn, like the pumpkin patch and going and going leaf peeping. Like there's all these different fun things to do in the fall, and how can you look at spending time, quality time with your people and with your community? It doesn't always have to mean that you're spending money doing it. So I'm excited about this topic too. It's very timely because Matthew and I were just talking about like. budgeting, and we always review our budget at the beginning and end of each month. But it's like, okay, where can we cut spending? Where can we turn the dial down on spending? Kind of like Astrid said, it's not all or nothing. It's just some of these ideas will still cost money, but it's not as much. Like, it's not, you know, do you want to go to Europe? Which is also very fun, but not in the budget this year, this quarter.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Before we start, I got to know what's LEAF. Leaf peeping. You just caught it.

This is probably a very—

I learned so much on this podcast.

Probably a very like white person, like American thing. But leaf peeping is especially in like the Northeast and the Northwest. When fall comes, people travel to those specific places just to see the trees, uh, leaves turn colors. So you're leaf peeping, you're like peeping in on the leaves changing color.

Okay, yes, absolutely love that. I love, I love like grab some coffee, drive around, and peep at the leaves. I will bring this up on my citizenship test appointment October 6th. Be like small talk, you're like, I'm an American. I am cultured.

I love that.

I love that so much.

Um, what did you get into this weekend?

Oh my gosh, it was such a fun weekend. My sister came to visit us from Miami and she came by herself. It was just like her solo weekend getaway. So she has been staying with me. And so my boyfriend and I hosted the family for a game night on Friday night. He cooked out, he made some burgers and then I made—

Did the sequins make an appearance?

Girl, so my family is hooked. We played every day for hours on end. So Friday night. Yeah, Friday night was one of my highlights. We played, I think it ended up being about 10 of us on one board, and we made like 3 different teams or 4 different teams, and it was just a hot mess. And we made up our own rules because the kids made it up, and it was actually really, really fun and very competitive. So we had a blast. And if you've been listening to the pod for a while, I've been dying to paint for a really long time. Finally put it on the calendar. And so I booked a pottery, like a mug pottery painting class for us girls to go to this weekend. And actually one of our listeners, Zoe, is the one who hosted it. Shout out to her and her business, The Potted Cat.

Yes.

It was amazing. Like, it was out in the middle of nowhere. The leaves started to change. We heard like all the nature sounds, the cutest little setup, very relaxing. Just amazing to step away from the everyday life, do something creative. And it was also very interesting how much our personalities pop up when you're doing something creative.

Mm-hmm.

Of like, for me, for example, is, okay, this is supposed to be fun and this doesn't have to be perfect. And it was like a process as I was doing it of letting go. And then I felt so much peace, like the last half of it, of like, okay, I am fully capable of letting go and just being and just creating. So it was beautiful. But yeah, just lots of family time, lots of games, hanging out, walking outside. But what were you up to this weekend?

I spent a little bit of time outside, but it's still very hot here. I know that y'all are tired of me talking about the Houston heat. It's fine. Okay, I'm tired of it too.

But this weekend, Matthew was out of town.

So this weekend was for the girls. I had like 4 different friend hangouts. So much fun. Tried a few new restaurants, went on some long walks, got some coffee and acai. It was just so rewarding to— I'm fully a little over a year into my time here in Houston. And my husband and I moved here last summer. And I took a moment to reflect on the fact that when my husband's out of town, I have community here. And through effort and through putting myself out there and other people putting themselves out there to me, just building strong relationships with different women. And it just feels so good.

Yeah.

So it was really great. Like several of them asked about how my book was going and like holding me accountable. And I'm like, oh, this is just so, so rewarding to like put in effort and to have such like good quality time with my friends here. So I had a great weekend. I also made a little trip to Target and, um, look, I went through like, I just went with no time in mind and I had the best Time. Like, I have not— I probably haven't gone into Target for leisure in a very long time. I usually go in with like a specific purpose. And that was really fun to just like go in, see what's kind of trending, try some things on. I got a sweater for fall, like a cardigan that I had been kind of eyeing, and didn't buy anything I didn't try on and didn't buy anything I didn't like love and like fit my body so well. Another thing I was like proud of myself, I'm like, well, this dress fits and I do like it. But I don't love it, so I'm not buying it. But it's like going through those different mindset things when you're shopping. Got some fall candles. Oh, made some soup. Made my first soup this weekend.

Yes.

Very important podcast update. I made this Whole30 chicken pot pie inspired soup and it was legit. Matthew was like, we need to add this into the rotation. He liked it so much.

Is it high in protein as well?

Yeah, it's like 35, 40 grams of protein per bowl.

Oh, amazing.

Yeah, it was really good. I had 2 bowls yesterday.

That's amazing.

I was like, I need more. And then I'm starting this like wanting to watch nostalgic movies. I don't know, there's something about the fall and the winter and like the holiday season where I'm just kind of craving like nestling in and watching an old movie. So I watched You Got Mail. It was great. I'm like, I haven't seen this in probably 15, 20 years. So it was nice.

That's amazing. I love that. It sounds like such a wholesome weekend, which I know that you're hosting an amazing and really intense summit on— or virtual summit tomorrow. So I'm glad that you were able to take some rest and some mental rest in the middle of all this craziness and didn't overwork yourself where you're like, well, I'm gonna like just keep working the whole weekend until this is absolutely perfect. You, you've been so disciplined on during the week like getting everything done and working late on it, and I'm really proud of you for finding that time to rest over the weekend in the middle of it all.

Thank you. I think because I rested this weekend and had such a great like social slash being at home, like I'm, I'm hosting The first day is like 4 hours live straight and the second day is 5 hours live straight. So I feel like rested and ready, like I'm ready for tomorrow versus I think if I tried to work all weekend and be burnt out, I would not have the energy that I want to have walking into such an important like work summit. So I'm excited. What are you in between right now? We always start each episode with like a weekend update. What we're in between, and then we'll get into our fall budget-friendly hangouts.

Yes, yes. Um, what am I in between right now?

I know, I'm like, what am I in between? What do I want to say?

Well, I feel like mine hasn't changed. Like, the one that comes to mind is it hasn't changed as much from last week, but I would say overall I am learning how to expand my capacity, um, in different ways. Just like Socially, while, um, working a lot, while like trying to find time for myself. I think that because I've always been so structured and like time blocking and all these things, for some reason my mind gravitates to like, once busy season's over, well then I'll plan stuff for November and December and then do the fun things and then hang out with everyone. And so I'm trying to find a good balance right now, or I'm in between adding to my calendar those things that will bring me life and joy without overwhelming my calendar and minimizing those things that really aren't important. And so I think what I have found is I already time block, but especially during this busy season, I need to time block all of my personal Mm-hmm. Fun things a lot more because otherwise there's a lot of time that gets wasted on scrolling, a lot of time that gets wasted in just not having direction. So I am— I've realized this past week, especially as I've been working on this, that if I have direction for my time, then I don't scroll as much. I'm ready to create what I need to create, post for my business, step away, go outside for a walk, Step away, go to the gym, come back, rest. But I have to literally block it there, like rest this evening or go for a walk outside. So that's something that's working for me in this season. And I just feel really happy to have taken that art class this weekend. And actually, I'll be— she's hosting another workshop next month, which is actually making a mug and playing, like manipulating the clay and everything.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, so I'm trying to incorporate more of that because I realized how much my soul was craving that. So yeah, so I'm in between learning how to still live a full life in the midst of a busy season.

Yeah, that's like an ever-evolving experience, is it? Isn't it? Because like how you did that last year might be differently than how you would do it now.

Absolutely.

But it's really cool to hear you listening to yourself. And my, my, yeah, our mutual friend Mimi Um, she just got a new studio and she's doing like more consistent classes. And I've been thinking, it's crazy that you say that because I've been thinking about taking one of her classes, like a pottery class to learn how to make a mug or a bowl or something. Just like I'm, I'm craving using my hands with something. And that's nothing to do with like a screen. Like I want to create without a device.

Absolutely.

So yeah.

What are you in between? Ooh.

This is an interesting one that came up for me this weekend was Matthew and I are headed to 30A this upcoming weekend. We're going to be gone for a week and I'm so excited. I have been to 30A several times. This will be Matthew's second time and there's a part of me that literally wants to plan Nothing. And I'm such a trip planner. Like, I got all the reservations weeks in advance. I've got everything like in a Google Doc or some sort of like list of what we're gonna do. And I just, I am leaning into the fact that sometimes trips can just be vacations where you just like lay.

Yes.

And you're on the beach and you're reading and you're eating yummy food and you're watching movies at night on Netflix and you're just like vibing and I had, I don't think I've actually had a vacation like that in a very, very long time. I can't even like tell you. I don't know when I've had such like a chill approach to a trip.

Mm-hmm.

Because I think when you have PTO and you're taking time off, like you want to make the most of every moment or like, you know, I want to try this new restaurant and I want to go here and I want to go there. And I just can't be bothered, which is interesting. It's a new energy for me, but like, I just can't be bothered to plan or to make any Reservations, so I don't know. I am like in between allowing my planner self to just chill and kind of just being more spontaneous and more in the moment. And it's like, hey, there's so many restaurants. If we can't get into one, we'll go to another. Like absolutely. That is so opposite of me though. So I am leaning into that energy, and I think I've just been so busy with work and planning and. I just don't have capacity for it. And Matt was like, do you want me to make reservations? I was like, honestly, not really. Like, I just kind of want to vibe. I don't want to walk into the week with a bunch of plans.

Yeah.

So that's, that's new for me. I'm not really like that.

Yeah. I'm proud of you. I feel like it's going to be after such back-to-back weeks or months of planning, giving yourself that freedom to not have that load anymore. Because even whenever you're resting at the beach, if you have Dinner reservations at 5, then you're thinking, okay, well, we gotta leave here at 3 so we have enough time to shower, to then get ready, to then go to the dinner reservations and be there. Rather than just like, let's go to the beach and then, okay, we're done, let's go. And then we'll look at a spot, like, just go with it. Or like, okay, we're not gonna eat dinner till 8 PM, let's just grab a pizza and watch the sunset.

Yeah.

So I'm excited for you. I love how much you listen to yourself on what types of rest you need. And right now it seems like you're in a season where the planning needs to rest in order for that to step back in, in a different season. So it's beautiful to see. It's beautiful to see the ebbs and flows and also the freedom that we can give ourselves to not be boxed into a personality of, I am a planner, I am a workaholic in the busy season, etc.

Yeah.

It's like, no, I am capable of flexing in and out of what I need to do.

Yeah, it's like really leaning into being adaptable based on where our energy is, what we have to give, where our capacity is. So I'm leaning into that and just existing. That's my goal next week.

Yes, we love this. Are you guys working remotely from there?

Or yeah, we're working remotely Monday, Tuesday, um, Because like our, the end of our big summit offer, um, ends on Monday. So then I'm just taking Tuesday to wrap things up and then we're taking Wednesday through Friday off. So I'm really excited. Actually, this, um, if you're familiar with where 30A is, it's a highway in between Destin and Panama City Beach. And, um, our good family friends own a condo there.

Oh, cool.

And for Matthew and I's wedding gift back in 2019, they gifted us a week to stay there for free in their condo, which is so sweet. And we're just now using it. And it's like, you know what? Divine timing. It's great.

Yes.

So speaking of like low budget, like literally 4 months ago, we knew we wanted to take a trip this fall, but we also knew because of other trips that were happening, we needed it to be low budget. So I was like, hey, what if we went to 30A and actually used our, you know, 5-night gift card to our friend's condo? So it'll be a low-cost trip and I'm looking forward to it.

Oh my gosh, I love it. There's your tip number 1 is use those gift cards you get for Christmas that always just sit in your wallet. Seriously, I feel like I am the worst gift card user ever.

Honestly, like, I, I feel that I'll like rediscover them and then I'll start to use them and then I'll forget about them and then I'll rediscover them. It's such an interesting cycle.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, let's go ahead and kick things off with some of our ideas for a budget-friendly date night or friend date night. Um, these are of course just a few of the ones that appealed to us, but this will be a great time for you to kind of play into your creativity and create your own thing that might fit the best with your personalities or the season that you're in. So the first one that I have is going to an art museum or any kind of museum or public establishment. A lot of times those are either free or under $10 a person so that you can— well, it depends on the city, I guess, but it's very budget friendly. It's usually something that you can do for a long period of time that you can grab coffee or do something there. The building is beautiful itself as well. And in the Midwest, um, or even in the East Coast as well, in the fall time, usually there's a lot of greenery around, so you can picnic around there or grab a drink. You don't have to do the full dinner and lunch and all of that. Um, but if you're in the St. Louis area, I know the art museum there is right next to So beautiful. And it's so beautiful. And you can— a lot of my clients will go to the art museum and then picnic afterwards there with some wine and cheese and stuff that you can bring from home. So I haven't personally done that. I've mostly gone to the museum to shoot other people on their date nights. But I think I might take a page from my own list over here and do that this fall with my boyfriend.

I love that. And also, depending on your proximity to certain museums, like, I know Thursday nights is date night at one of the museums here in Houston, and they do like an after-hours version where they have like different discounts and things like that. So there's always ways to look at certain nights or days of the week where things are discounted, or maybe they do like an after-hours. But yeah, you're speaking my language. I'm like, there's a natural history museum here that we haven't been to yet. And I want to do that for a day date. That would be really fun. Yeah. Okay, mine was, well, you took picnics, not took it, but you mentioned picnics. That was one of mine as well. Grab a blanket, grab your dog if you have one, go with friends, go with your partner. Go sit outside, especially before it gets too cold. The weather's starting to just get so nice. Like, go spend time outside. Bring food from home. Bring drinks from home. Like, you don't always need to go get something. Yeah, that's a big one. The other one that I was gonna say— this is like really bland, but with the right person, it's freaking perfect— running errands together. So my girlfriend Kate was in town 2 weekends ago. And she is a meal prepper, gym girly like me. And so I was like, hey girl, it's Sunday. She didn't fly out until later that night. And I was like, do you mind if I run a couple errands? And we used to do this together all the time in Nashville when we lived together. We would go run errands. And it's just like such a vibe. You're like in the car listening to music. You're like pulling over, run a quick errand. Oh, next spot. Like so fun. And I think it's It's a way to spend quality time with people and also get things done that you need to get done. So it's like you're layering the productivity side with also have fun. See what your friend needs to do and you need to do and go run errands together. I love that.

Absolutely. I agree that it depends on who you do it with because my boyfriend and I were talking about how much we love running errands together and we'll get sad at each other if it's like, Oh, I was free. Like, why didn't you tell me? I would have gone with you to Walmart, or like, I would have gone with you here. We just love— and it's the best time. And we'll laugh at like the dumbest things, and we just get to catch up, and it's just wholesome. Usually for me, it involves picking up coffee beforehand and then like going together.

I need a little beverage.

Yes, you can make your own beverage at home for an extremely budget-friendly one. The next one for me would be stargazing.

Ooh.

Depending on where you live, you can either, if you have a truck, put a lot of pillows and comforters and blankets and stuff and go stargazing out in the middle of nowhere. Or if you live in the city, maybe that's something you can do is drive out a little bit out of the city, find a cute spot, and then honestly just having cards, having great conversation, Even playing like a game if you want, just having like some sweet cuddle time in nature and stargazing, I feel like can be so, so fun. And bonus points if you watch the sunset together and then go into stargazing, maybe like bring some snacks, some games. But I love, love, love doing that. We actually did that last year. We went out to the lake for a date and did carryout, and we ate out there at sunset and just had the best time. And then we just stayed talking out there so long that we ended up stargazing. So I— yeah, it's one of my favorite memories. So highly recommend.

That's so sweet. Well, I was gonna say catch a sunset. Also, like a sunrise. So going on a sunrise walk. The sunrises lately in Houston have just been unreal. Like, I leave the gym and I see the clouds and I'm like, and I see that the sun peek behind them. I don't know, I'm becoming like a sunrise cloud person, but I think that's such a great idea. It's a way to still be in nature, look around, be present. I love that.

Okay.

So my next one would be making candles together.

Ooh.

So this is actually on my fall bucket list is I want to go and get like, go to Goodwill or an antique store and just get like those $2, $3 cool little like jars or old like bowls or cups. Like there's all these different random things. It's like $2.50 for different kinds of containers. Buy some wax in bulk, and then you can buy different like fragrances or different essential oils, and then you can just make your own candles. And like depending on if you want it to be more healthy, you can like change up what kind of wax you get in terms of like fragrance. But that's something that I really want to do is I want to make candles or like have a friend over and have a candle making or do it with your partner. But I think that's a really cool way to instead of going and buying a candle, which I still love doing, It's like a fun activity and then you have something to take home with you or every time you burn it, you think of that memory of making them together. Matthew and I did that during quarantine actually, and it was really fun.

Oh, I love that so much. I don't know, I've never heard of it or thought of doing it. And for some reason it sounds way more complicated than it actually is. As you were sharing all the steps, I was like, okay, that sounds pretty doable and pretty easy. And like you said, the thought of every time you light it, you think of that person is just so sweet. Yeah, I also—

I was on a walk with my friend Danielle yesterday, and I was talking about how cool it would be to like make a big batch of small candles, like, like from antique stores. And then anytime someone comes to my house, I like give them a candle as like a, like a welcome, like a home, home home gift thing. And I'm like, I just want to be the kind of person that like gives someone something when they come to my house. Or if I go to someone else's house, bring them a candle that I made. Yeah, it's like a fun house favor. Yes, it's a party favor.

I love that. And even like the one of going to someone's house, like if they're doing a dinner party or something, I think that's so sweet and so thoughtful.

I got you this handmade Alexis Teichmiller original candle. What?

Oh my gosh, I feel like handmade gifts— I don't know if it's just getting older, but it's So much better than regular gifts. And my family and I were talking about this weekend, we're like, we love this so much, this is dangerous. Like, you guys are just gonna start getting pottery for your birthdays and for Christmas because I want to keep making this.

It's like the little things, you're like, oh, I'm getting older, I'm starting to appreciate things differently. Yeah, I love it.

Absolutely, absolutely. Um, well, I have a few other ones, but for the sake of time, my last one that I'm gonna pick Oh, last one.

We have, we have some time.

Do we?

Yeah, we can rapid fire. Okay, rapid fire. I don't want to miss out. I want to know everything that you have for us.

I just overprepared because I was like, if she has some, um, I think it'd be so fun to do a painting night, but where you go to the Dollar Tree and you get those small canvases and you get like the cheap paint And then you just spend time outside, kind of like picnic style. And then with your partner or with a friend, you just decide to paint something together with cheap materials. And then at the end, just kind of show it to each other.

Burn it.

Yeah, you can literally do whatever you want. But I think it's even more if you have a theme around it. You're like, okay, something fall-y or paint me. I just think that'd be so funny if you're like, okay, I paint you, you paint me, and then we'll show it to each other at the end.

It's just I love that idea. Have you seen the trend on TikTok right now where they go to Goodwill and buy a painting and then they like paint the trees? They buy like a landscape painting and they like paint the trees orange and then they put little like ghosts and little black cats. Have you seen that? It's like all over my TikTok right now.

Oh my gosh. To make it Halloween?

Yeah, to make it Halloween and like fall themed.

I love it. There you go. That's a great idea.

Yeah, it's kind of like a paint-by-numbers because you already have the landscape, like, framed photo from Goodwill or whatever antique store.

Yeah.

And then you just paint in, like, the fall pieces that you want and make it your own.

Genius. There we go. There's, there's another idea for you. Go to Goodwill, grab some paint, paint your ghost and your bats and all your Halloween things, and send us a picture because we— I need to see this.

I need to see it. Yes, please, please let us know. Um, my next one was going to an open mic night or a jazz night.

Love.

So I just found out there's this coffee shop in Houston that does jazz night every Wednesday night. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay, the jazz night's free. You go in, you get a coffee or a tea or something like that. So it's not necessarily like free, but gosh, you're getting live music for under $10 a person. Like, that's amazing. So do some research on other places in your town that have live music or things like that that you can go to for low cost because that's on my fall date bucket list. Matthew doesn't know, so don't tell him.

He doesn't know.

But we're going to jazz night sometime soon.

Yes. Well, and it's on your date nights too for Wednesdays, so that's perfect.

Exactly.

I love it. I wish there was more live music like that around here because There's something about music that it's almost the same effect of being in nature. It's just so relaxing, so soothing and creative. So I love that for you. On those lines, I recently discovered on my Chase Sapphire rewards points, there's a lot of exclusive events that you can use your Chase rewards points for.

Oh, cool.

So technically, yeah. And then like private, like, exclusive experiences too for restaurants that are usually fully booked or for the tennis matches that were just happening.

The US Open?

Yes.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. So depending on what card you have, you get accessibility to those. But it's almost like your own— you put whatever city you want, you can book experiences and use your points, your reward points for it. So it could be technically free if that's something that you're looking forward to, is use your points and double up on that and take advantage of those private experiences that your credit card might be offering just to you.

Okay, love that. Yeah, going back to like the gift cards, what credit cards are you using? Or like even whenever I used to use Regions Bank, For my debit card, just through using their debit card, you would get certain points every time you spent, and then you could get cash back. Yeah, look into your points because I feel like that's another hidden thing that you don't always think about. Okay, was that yours? Or do I go next? Was that yours?

You can go next. Yeah, it wasn't specifically a date night, but it counts.

Mine's really quick, was just breakfast dates. Like lunch and dinner are more costly. I mean, dinner in general is going to cost you more when you're going out most times. So switch your date nights or things like that to like, maybe you go out to breakfast on the weekend together. It's lower cost. It's a great way to start the day with your friends or like, yeah, if you're wanting to get together with friends, can you go out for breakfast or brunch versus going out for dinner? Um, cause I find that is so much more cost effective than— than like dinner time. And also, usually when you're at dinner, like there, you're getting a drink or a cocktail or even a mocktail. And like those drinks cost more than if you're getting like a $4 coffee at breakfast.

Yes, absolutely. I love that so much. We have been doing a few of those like breakfast dates, especially during busy season. And that was something I didn't even cross my mind. But Nick was like, why can't we do breakfast? And I was like, I guess we could. Why not? And it's been really fun. It's very low key and relaxed. And we get to catch up when life has been busy.

Yeah.

So I absolutely love that. Um, one that I was thinking of was, I guess the initial cost on this is a little bit not budget-friendly as much, but, um, we like to do projector movie nights. And so the initial cost of having a projector, I think, is maybe around $100. But Nick had bought it last year and we've used it quite a bit and it's free, basically free date nights because sometimes we'll cook in and then we'll bring out like a mattress from one of the spare bedrooms and do like a whole setup in the living room with a projector movie night and just like watch like childhood movies. And we've talked about taking turns sharing and watching each other's favorite childhood movies.

Oh yeah.

Yeah, so if you have a projector or if you have— there's some really cool apps now that you can basically project from your laptop or your phone onto, um, your wall or like sheet that you hang. But I think those have been so fun to even just change where we watch movies instead of the couch, just switching over to like a fun living room setup. And it just feels child— like childlike and fun and light. So definitely recommend.

That's a great idea. You could also take your backdrop poles And you could watch it outside in your backyard.

Yes, yes.

And like hang the sheet on the backdrop poles.

Yeah, I love that idea. I just get too freaking cold. I need to, I need to, I know, Miami girl problems.

But I'm like, that was a wrap-up, honey.

Yeah, he got me an electric blanket last year because he's like, you're the coldest person I've ever met.

Hey, just run an extension cord out with the electric blanket. You're good to go.

Yes, I'm literally gonna make that happen the next month for sure and report back to the podcast.

Yeah, my parents— one of the things I think of when I think of like fall is I think of my parents' screened-in back porch. And they have these 2 recliner chairs out there and they have a TV outside in the screened-in porch. And we would always watch like fall movies out there. Like my dad and I would always watch Hallmark. And I just miss the Midwest falls and like watch— there's something about watching TV too outside. You're like bundled up. It's just so lovely.

Yes.

It's kind of like drive-in.

Yeah.

But at your house.

DIY.

Yes.

Did you have any other budget-friendly ideas?

I did. One was, this is more for like a date with your partner, but you could do with a friend too, is going and like getting coffee or boba or something like that. Or you could do it at home, but going through old photos together. So Matthew and I recently did this where we went through a lot of old photos of Piper. Like we started with her as a puppy and then we just went through like all of these photos of her life together. And we were just, it made us so happy. We were cuddling with her like in real time, looking at her life as she grew up. And I think we take so many photos and I love that. Like I'm a very photo-centric person. But I think it would be nice to like be intentional about going back through them. And so Matthew and I, I've thought about doing this where like pull up photos from a past, like your favorite trip that we've taken in the past couple of years. And then like we can show each other some of like our favorite pictures or some of our favorite memories. And I feel like a lot of that reminiscing is a great opportunity to like talk about old memories and like, remember when we did this? And it's just a great—

Yeah.

Like exercise for reflection, and it's lighthearted, but it's also really meaningful because you're looking into your past together. And anyways, we need to do this for all of the trips that we've been on. Next time we're together, we should sit through and like go through Colorado and New York and Paris.

Oh my gosh, it sounds so fun to recap all of our destinations.

I know it does. I love us.

We're cool.

We're the coolest.

But yeah, I absolutely love that idea. I also feel like if you haven't been with your partner or if you haven't had a lifelong best friend, going through childhood things like your favorite trip as kids or your birthdays and sharing those things that are important to you is a great way to get to know each other at a more deep level and share those memories that Meant a lot to you. So I love that. I'm gonna steal that idea. I think it's absolutely wonderful. Something that, that kind of sparked as an idea for me was, um, have you seen— well, I'm sure you have— like the presentation TikToks where they'll do like a million different kinds of presentations?

I've always wanted to be invited to a night or host like a slideshow night. So yes, I'm very familiar. Yes.

Oh my gosh, same, same. We need to just do a slideshow night.

I know.

But I think that would be so fun to do with either your partner or with a friend on a topic of interest that you really want to educate each other on. So let's say your partner is really into sports, or if they're really into something random, maybe they're really into style right now. They get to update you on the fall trends of what's going on right now, or their favorite team and why it's their favorite team. Just something random. And then you can share on yours. I feel like that would be a fun thing to do. I think it would be fun to do once a month because there's so many different interests that you can share on.

Wait, I'm obsessed with that. I think that's such a good idea because I've always, whenever I've seen that trend, it's always been with like 8 to 10 people in a room and like there's planning and everyone's there. But I love the idea of just Matthew and I doing that. Like choose something that you want to teach me or that like is important to you or you're interested in or just something fun. And then pulling it up on the TV and just like nestling in and learning and like talking through things. That sounds like so much fun.

Yeah, and it can be so light. It can be— you can literally talk about Taylor Swift fashion. Yeah, or like Taylor Swift dating the Kelce guy and you're gonna explain the whole drama.

I don't even know what you're talking about.

Oh, there's a rumor that she's dating Travis Kelce, which is one of the The football guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the football guy.

So I, I literally like caught up Nick the other day on it and explained the whole drama to him on it. That could have been a PowerPoint presentation. I'm like, here's Taylor Swift, here's Travis, here's how they potentially met, here's what he said on his podcast, here's what she said, and then just do like a PowerPoint on pop culture.

Can you give us, can you give us a quick like 90-second rundown? Just like tell us. I don't, I don't Can you tell us what happened?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, here's the tea.

Give us the piping hot.

I'm not a Swiftie, but I keep up with her.

Sure.

He went to one of her concerts and wore friendship bracelets, and he tried to give her his number, but she wasn't accepting basically anyone backstage besides her closest friends. So he wasn't able to get into that or give her his number. And so Then he hosts a podcast with his brother and his brother asked him about it. And he was just being silly and he was like, oh yeah, I'm butthurt because I tried to give her her number and I got so rejected. And so then all the Taylor Swift fans started making TikToks about how he's such a great guy and has all the green flags and they approve of him. And then the next TikTok was like, she had a coat on and she was videoing herself. But the shirt that you could see under looked like the colors in the t-shirt of his team. And so people think that they may be actually seeing each other secretly because then he got interviewed in another thing and they asked him about Taylor Swift and he was like, oh, we're not going to talk about her, and then just moved on to the topic. So before, he used to just air out the whole I got rejected thing and the story and kind of be silly with it. And now it's like private. So yeah, but it's, it's, um, great marketing for their team, uh, great marketing for his podcast, and we love it for Taylor Swift if that is true.

There's some sort of brand deal in the layers of all of this. Oh my gosh, that's absolutely okay. Good for her, good for, good for him. Thanks for the tea. This is, this has been Content Corner with Astrid. This TikTok updates.

Yes, yes. Well, I feel like this needs to be a thing. Next time that we hang out, we do a PowerPoint to each other on it. I saw this group of girls, they did with their long-distance best friends. None of them were in serious relationships. So when they all got together, they did a PowerPoint on the different guys that they talked to, or the different guys that slid into their DMs to catch them all up. It was amazing.

We should just do a PowerPoint presentation where we're getting each other caught up. I mean, we obviously catch up a lot, but like on all the random little things in between, LOL, that like, hey, by the way, I don't drink oat milk anymore. I only drink almond milk and here's why.

Or how I killed my plants and I cannot— I've killed so many plants.

You killed your plants for real?

Yeah, the outside ones. I struggle because I never see them. Because they're in my front door and I come in through the garage and I just—

they're the first thing I see. Out of sight, out of mind, baby.

Yeah. So I'm about to dump those in the trash today. And then Wednesday I'm going to go pick up mom's just for them to hopefully not die this fall.

For them to die in 2 months.

Oh my gosh.

We need to add this to something that, you know, you and Nick do together. Maybe you water the plants together.

Yes. Oh my gosh.

That's the only reason that my plants in the house have lasted so long is because Matthew and I share the watering responsibility and it really helps. But I've killed a lot of plants in my day as well.

So much to catch you up on.

Truly. Okay, great. PowerPoint presentation coming at you live. I love it.

That's amazing. Well, I don't have any more date nights.

I don't either. You have more? No, we just ended on such a high note. We just gibgabbed for a bit. Thanks for listening to Ashlyn and I. And in all seriousness, we hope that you walked away with a few fun ideas to do with your partner or your friends or by yourself. Like, you don't have to necessarily do them with anyone, but, um, fall is such a great time to get outside, be intentional before the winter season and the holiday season gets kind of busy. So I'm really glad we did this episode, and I got a few ideas that I'm like, I want to implement here in the next couple of months.

Me too. I am so inspired. Like, PowerPoint is not ready for me. Um, but thank you all so, so much for listening. We are still working on getting our Instagram back. So if you loved this episode, help us share it with a friend or your partner and say, here's some ideas I think we'd love to try out. Um, but you can always connect with both of us in our individual Instagram accounts. My Instagram is @astrajohannaphoto.

And mine is @alexistechmiller. And if you're enjoying the show and you've been a longtime listener, or this is your first time and you loved it, leave us a review on Spotify or iTunes or wherever you're listening. We appreciate you. We're so glad that you're here and we'll catch you next week.