Worth The Hype? Investment Purchases We Love & Hate

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 is one half of the pod, Alexis, and the other half, Astrid.

And today we are chatting through investments and not exactly what you might think whenever the word investment comes to mind, but more about what it is that we have invested in beauty and fashion, in our homes, in our lifestyle that we felt was worth the money and things that we've invested our money in that we're like, you know what, that was an impulse buy or that was definitely not serving me. And we've learned through the years what are the things that work for us and the things that don't. So we will be sharing those with you today.

Yeah. And this kind of goes in line with conscious spending as well because a lot of my items in particular are on the higher ticket side of things. Like these are things that are, you know, not $20 investments. I'm talking like things that are hundreds of dollars that I've invested in over the last couple of years, um, that I'm like, okay, yes, I would now recommend it. And I think this is the thing with influencing, and I know that we had such a great conversation about that in a previous episode a couple weeks ago, is a lot of times influencers are telling you things that they just got and they're like doing a, an unboxing or like, hey, this is, this is what I just got and I love it. Okay, well, what about things that you've had for years or 6 months or like things that you've really, you used a lot. Um, so I'm excited for this because I had a hard time actually figuring out what I wouldn't buy. So sorry in advance.

I love it.

But yeah, so with that, life updates. How are you? What's new in your world? And then we'll go into in-betweens and we'll get into today's topic.

Yes, yes. Okay, life update. Um, I am flying out this Sunday to Europe, so whenever you're listening to this I am already very much basically an Italian citizen at that point. For a few weeks. Yeah, I know, right? I am making myself an Italian citizen.

Love it.

But yeah, I am leaving on Sunday, so I am in final prep mode. I have a really fun wedding this Saturday at one of my absolute favorite venues in St. Louis. It's at Union Station and it's moody and very romantic, and I have always dreamt of shooting there. And so I feel like I'm checking off 2 big bucket list items this week, which is shooting there and then flying for my first European wedding. So I will be shooting for 10 days straight and very excited and also very nervous for what that's going to look like, but mostly very, very excited. And yeah, just mostly in prep mode and I tweaked my back this weekend, which sucked. So I was in deep pain yesterday and it had me so worried, but gave in and I was like, you know what, we're not gonna play with this. I'm gonna go to the chiropractor. Dude, today I'm like a million times better. I had never been to, uh, not a homeopathic chiropractor, like an actual chiropractor. They popped me like a little glow stick and I feel so good.

Sometimes getting your back adjusted, your neck, shoulders, and back adjusted, especially since you've been working on your laptop editing so much. Yeah. Um, I'm glad that you took the time to do that. It really can— sometimes going like the natural route is great, and then sometimes like, I need you to crack the shit out of my back.

I need you to get in there. Your elbow in there. Yeah. Um, but yeah, last thing was this past weekend my parents hosted a little barbecue lunch going away party, which was so sweet because my oldest siblings went on like as exchange students whenever they graduated high school and they were gone for 2 to 3 months over the summer. So I felt like this was my turn. And yeah, it was just sweet to have family time, look through some of my mom's pictures from Europe. She's the sweetest and the cutest and also nostalgic whenever you see like your parents 40 years ago or so. It's so nostalgic. Um, but yeah, I just had a wholesome weekend at home nesting, enjoying every last bit of it and taking off this weekend. But what is going on in your world?

I am so excited for your trip. I cannot wait to hear how much you learn too about yourself and about your work and like even how your work evolves, uh, shooting in different locations. Like I'm just so excited for you to experience that and how sweet. And wholesome for your parents and your family to like throw you a going away party. Like you're leaving for 2 months. We are going to miss you.

Here's a going away party.

That is so sweet.

It's so wholesome. I'm like, it's just 2 months.

It's so sweet though. Um, what's new in my world? So hosting, um, towards the end of June, a lot of, a lot of big things on the work front at Circle, hosting a really big virtual summit, uh, for creators learning so much. And also hosting a bootcamp on the backside of it, launching— at this point when you're hearing this, it'll already be launched, so that's fine. But launching a podcast for Circle, which is really exciting.

Yay.

It's called The Making Of, and I've gotten to interview some of my idols and mentors throughout the year, like sitting down with Amy Porterfield and getting to ask her any question Pat Flynn, Julie Solomon. Like, this is, this is something I've wanted to do career-wise for a really long time. And a skill I've wanted to develop is interviewing and like doing more of that journalistic style of conversation with, with big entrepreneurs. So I feel like a lot is coming to fruition. And yeah, I feel very grateful for All of it. Feel very energized by it. Going home to Illinois for a couple of weeks, really excited to spend time with my family, go back to my roots, put my feet in the cornfield and eat some watermelon and like lay by my parents' pool. I am very excited to have a little bit of downtime in late June. And then I also made the decision to hire a coach.

I don't feel like I've talked to you about this yet. No, tell me more.

It all came out like last week. Not came out.

Big news.

No, this all like came to fruition in the last week. I have a lot of ideas of what I want to do with my business. And we talk all the time about investing in coaching and investing in like people that can help you get there. And I realized that there was a gap and I just need someone to help me fill it. So I'm really excited. I'm going to be working with Maya Elias, who's like Amazing. The best branding freaking queen. I'm just hiring her for 2 sessions and it's going to be super focused. I'm going to go in with exactly what it is that I need and what I want to talk through and what I hope to get out of it. So I approached her and I think hopefully this is just a learning moment for all of us is a lot of times we're like, I want to work with someone, but maybe you don't need to work with them for 3 months. Or six months or a year. Like hey, I know that you help with this specific thing. I have this specific question. I need an hour of your time. How much is that? What's the investment? And her and I were able to have that conversation in like literally an hour on Instagram DMs, and we have a call booked for a couple weeks from now.

So I love that.

I'm really excited about investing in in myself and in my business in that way. So we'll see what comes of it. I'm sure you'll hear it here on the pod first. But with that. What are you in between right now?

Oh, well, first of all, dude, congrats. I feel like there's a lot happening in your world that is the culmination of so much hard work on your end. You started podcasting, what, 10 years ago, if not more?

8.

8 years ago. Yeah. And then now you're at the point where you're interviewing so many incredible people, and you were doing that in the beginning as well. But just to see where your career has taken you and how each skill builds upon itself. For moments like this is really cool. I'm so stoked for you. Everything that's happening, you've worked so hard for it.

Thank you.

And incredible on having a coach. That is huge.

You need some help.

Yeah, we talk a lot about it on here, and I think it's also one of those things where there's times where having someone to help you find that gap, there's only so much you can get from friends and people that are just hearing the the, the high-level part of things. But whenever you can go to someone that can specialize in that specific area and be like, okay, what is your expert opinion on it? Can save you so much time and headaches too. So I'm so excited to hear what that comes, uh, or what comes of it and your experience. I'm sure I'll hear about it in Nice when we meet together in person. You will.

We'll turn it into a brainstorming. I'll get my whiteboard out whenever we're at the beach club and we'll start mapping out, you know, the growth of our business.

You know, balance.

I love that.

Okay, what am I in between? I feel like I am ending a season of my life, and I don't know what's going to happen over the summer, but it just feels like it's going to be different. And I'm excited for it. I'm nervous. I just feel like there's like, I have this energy of just like making decisions and like, okay, we're going after it. And there's just things in my personal life and my career and like overall energy where things have felt a bit stagnant in some areas and just looking for clarity in certain areas as well. And so Yeah, I've just been feeling that a lot this past week where I'm kind of driving around and I'm like, when I come back, I'm not going to be different. So I'm sitting with Astrid, who is in this moment, and I'm appreciating her, all her dreams, fears, hopes, and everything. And I won't be different when I come back. And that's both a grieving process, but also an exciting process. And I can't explain it other than that's just what I feel in my core. And yeah, I think the podcast that will come after this one, we're going to take a small little break, but podcast that will come after this one, I'll have updates, or maybe it's just overall thought processes that have changed, but I'm excited for it. It's also a bit nerve-wracking to just kind of be at the edge of the mountain or the whatever, the road, and you're like, okay, it feels like things are about to change. So that's where I'm at.

You aren't seeing me right now because this is audio only, but my eyebrows raised when you said that.

I was like, okay.

To be on the cusp of change is so exciting and terrifying and emotional and refining and clarifying. Like, there's just so many things that you feel when you are— when you realize that things are about to change.

Yeah.

And, um, my only piece of advice, not that you asked, is go back to other moments where you felt exactly how you feel now and what became of it. You know, those moments where you, you knew something was gonna happen or shift and, um, what, what alchemized on the back end of it. And hopefully that'll give you a little bit of peace in knowing that you can handle anything that unfolds in your life. But I'm really excited to see what this metamorphosis is for you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you for that advice. That's beautiful. Because as you were talking, I was thinking about the last time that happened. And a couple months after that feeling, I quit my job. A lot of things changed, and a lot of things have been different since. So yeah, I, I appreciate that. And appreciate this space to be able to voice that and put it out into the world and share this with our little community that I love so dearly. So I will report back, friends.

Report back, report back. Let us know.

Um, what are you in between?

What I'm in between right now, I would say things I'm in between are So I just finished reading The Alchemist. Have you ever read that book?

No, I've heard great things though. Is it good?

It's a parable book. It's like 35, 40 years old, so it's a bit different than like a lot of things that I think we read now. Um, but I read it in book club and essentially, without getting too far into it, and if you've read the book, this is going to click. And if you haven't, I recommend it. It's a shorter read. It took me like maybe 2 hours.

Mm-hmm.

It's about this journey of a shepherd boy who realizes he has a dream to go to the pyramids and there's going to be some sort of buried treasure there. But he doesn't live in Egypt and he has to get there and he has to find someone to take him to the pyramids. And he— there's this whole journey arc of him believing in himself. Something bad happens and he doesn't believe in himself. And so time goes by. He believes in himself. He hits a roadblock. there's, you know, something stalls and he forgets his dream. And you see him experience that reconnection with his dream over time. And it really resonated with me because I think that I am someone that has a very clear vision of what I actually want and what I actually want to achieve in life. And I have had experiences over the last 8 years of my career, 9 years of my career where I will click into that and I'll get momentum and then I'll click out of it when roadblocks happen or whatever the situation is. And there's a specific character in the book. He owns a crystal shop and he's older. This guy, this young boy comes in, works at the crystal shop for a little bit. And reminds this man of his dream. And the man was like, oh, my dream was always this, but too much time has passed and I don't have the resources. Or, now I do have the resources, but that time for me to do that has just passed. So I like the idea of thinking about it more than the idea of actually doing it.

Hmm.

And I really resonated with that of like, oh, am I the crystal shop owner? Like, am I someone that is going to think a lot about what I want and either be too scared to do it or use a lot of reasons and excuses, sometimes very valid, to not go after it. And I feel like that's my in-between, is like reconnecting with my bigger dreams and not letting so much time pass, um, in between working on them, even if it's like a small pursuit. So yeah, that was a big reminder for me and something that really resonated. And that actually kind of made me a little sad, actually, of like, oh, dang. And I also am very hard on myself. And we just talked about all the great things that are happening in my career. And then I'm like, I'm a crystal shop owner and I'm never going to achieve anything. Okay, I get that I have a lot of range and there's that dichotomy in our dreams. But yeah, that was something that really hit me and I am still processing that.

That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And now I want to read that book because it really sounds like the journey of a lot of creatives and creators. We come up with so many dreams and I'm sure even though you are achieving some dreams, there's other dreams that maybe are just buried deep down in your heart or that you just have close to your heart. And maybe that's what the book was resonating to and speaking to.

Yeah.

And so I think that's just beautiful because at the end of the day, no one from an external perspective can ever tell you like, oh, but you're doing so good. Why are you sad about this? It's like, no, at the end of the day, when we wrap up this life, can we look back and be like, okay, I held that and stewarded that dream. And I'm inspired. Thank you for sharing that. And it's also one of those things where as we get older and growing our careers and things like that, it just— I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it feels more exhausting or trying again and like, oh, okay, I got to face my fears again. Or like, okay, it's not the first time. And so that can feel daunting, but I love that analogy of being able to also get to a point where you look back at it. It's never too late. And we're still so young too. We're only 31 and 29 or 30 and 21.

Got a whole life ahead of us.

Yes, absolutely. What a beautiful, beautiful place to be. So thank you for sharing that. And shout out to book club for choosing such a great book.

Yeah, it was me. I chose it.

Oh, shout out to you. It's me.

We go around and different people choose different books and this was my turn. So that was the one that I chose because I've heard of The Alchemist and I've heard so many people recommend it, especially in the entrepreneurial, like personal development space, but I never have. And I was like, you know what? If I make it a book club, I'll read it because I have accountability. So yeah, I did it.

You did it in 2 hours, baby. That's amazing.

Okay, so investments. Um, and we're not talking about stocks, we're talking about material things. I mean, I guess we could talk about our stock portfolio if you want to. I can pull up my Robinhood.

Not today. I just know it's doing well and I don't understand the rest of it.

Okay, do you want to— should we do what we recommend first and then we can do what we don't recommend? Second.

Yes. Yes. I'm excited for this. I think like some of these items, like you said, are not on the cheap front. And I've heard some of these lists from other people and in, in a way it de-influenced some of the things that I thought I wanted to invest in. And I'm like, oh, okay. Like I actually don't want an Oura Ring now, for example. Like I've heard multiple reviews on it and I'm like, okay, people sharing their experiences helps us. So one of the things, and the first one on my list that I have absolutely loved investing in is Sugar waxing. I have preached about that on the podcast forever, and summer is coming up, but I think it can be truly life-changing if you have sensitive skin, if you have dark hair, if you've ever felt self-conscious about being in a swimsuit because of hair and razor burn and things like that. It was a game changer for me. And so it's not cheap, but at the same time, it saved me time. Because now I don't— I mean, shaving in the shower, if you're doing like a full routine, takes a long time to do. And you gotta exfoliate and you gotta like, you know, do the whole routine.

Only for it to grow back in like 3 days.

I know, all that work and where did it get me? It got me nothing. What did it get me? But yeah, sugar waxing, um, has not only been great because of the results from it, but it's reduced my hair growth over time. So it's giving somewhat laser-like results. It takes about 3 months for you to start seeing the reduction in hair. So that is something that I have done consistently now for pretty much every month, and I have seen such a huge difference. I don't have irritation in my skin. Saves me time. I mean, I got to David Goggins it for an hour or 2 while she's working on me and embrace my mental toughness because it does hurt, but the pain gets better over time.

Yeah.

It does get reduced. And honestly, if you plan it with your cycle where you're either doing it a week after or a couple weeks after and not leading up to it, you're not as sensitive, so it doesn't hurt as much. But yeah, that is an investment that through and through I will always have on my budget and try to prioritize.

And she has influenced me. And now I will also second everything she said because I actually saw slower hair growth and more sparse patches of skin after one wax.

I'm so glad that you liked it. I forgot to follow up on how it ended up going.

Oh yeah, I love it. I've now done 2 services. It does not hurt as bad as waxing either. I mean, the pain difference, it's still, I would say like it's a 6. And for me, waxing is like a 9. So depending on your pain tolerance, but I love it. Couldn't recommend it more. And I've also got some of my girlfriends here in Houston doing it too.

And they all love it.

I love it.

The sugar waxing effect.

Astrid is the sugar waxing influencer.

What's on your list?

Okay. Mine is the Hatch alarm. Love my Hatch alarm clock. It is just under $200. And granted, it's a one-time purchase. There is an app that comes with it as well. You can pay for a subscription on the app, or you can just use the free sounds. Just depends on what you want to wake up to, different kind of meditation settings, things like that. So it could be a one-time purchase or you could sign up for the membership if there's something specific that you want. But I love the Hatch alarm. It has changed my morning routine. It has changed me and my husband's life. We even wake up earlier on the weekends more naturally because of it. I am now more attuned to waking up with the sunrise, quote unquote, because it's a sunrise alarm clock. And I could not recommend the Hatch alarm clock More. I love it. Yeah, it's like really improved my, my sleep in terms of in the morning, like, I'm able to slowly wake up instead of having like a blaring cortisol boosting loud alarm. I wake up to like these melodic charms from a Japanese water garden. And I love that for me. So yeah, definitely worth the investment.

Love it. I am influenced. Honestly, I feel like that's something that I— it's been on my list for a while and I haven't pulled the trigger. And that's going to be fall me because fall with the earlier sunset and all the things, I feel like having a really solid wake-up would be huge. And also not having that alarm, like it's not very soothing. So thanks for the rec.

You're welcome.

The other thing that I have loved investing in is Invisalign. So I, in 2020, yeah, 2019, 2020, my teeth had just shifted quite a bit. I never got my back teeth removed. What do you call those? The tonsils or no?

No, the tonsils is in your throat. Those are called your wisdom teeth.

Wisdom. Yes. The wisdom teeth. So I never got them removed because I had the space for for it. And I had braces when I was younger, and then whenever I took them off, they gave me a retainer, but then I lost it.

Wait, you had braces?

For like a year and a half. Yeah.

When I was in high school.

I didn't see pictures. Oh, well, I'll show you some pictures.

I want to see pictures of brace of you. Dude, should we share something on the podcast Instagram of both of us, pictures of us in braces?

Yes, that will be our swipe through photos for this. Wait, I didn't know you had braces.

I had braces twice.

What?

Yes. My teeth are—

Twice?

Yeah. Long story short, I jumped out of a swing whenever I was young and broke both my wrists and I used my face to catch my fall like every 5-year-old. And it changed the structure of my teeth growth. And so I— these push in, like my, my front 2 teeth push in. And so I had it, didn't wear my retainer, and then I had to get them again for corrective, um, my senior year of high school. Had to get braces back. But continue. Invisalign. Sorry.

Well, yeah, I mean, it's the same thing with me. I didn't wear the retainer, and then when the wisdom teeth started coming in though, I had the room for it, but it started shifting all of my teeth. And so in 2020, I just remember seeing pictures of myself and just feeling so uncomfortable. Actually, it was right after our Colorado trip where I made the decision. I had seen them throughout 2020, but it was after the Colorado trip where I was like, okay, my teeth have shifted a lot more than I thought that they did. And so, yeah, January of 2021, I was like, this year I'm going to fix it. And I got Invisalign, and I have been the worst client because I'm still on— I'm missing 2 more trays. So I've been more diligent about it the last 2 months, but I've just delayed wrapping up the process. But overall though, it's helped me so much feel more comfortable in my own body and my smile. And then whenever I talked, mostly it was my bottom teeth that were super crooked. So I would notice that quite a bit and it just bothered me.

Mm-hmm.

So yeah, 10 out of 10 recommend. Loved Invisalign, much easier than having braces, especially if you're an adult. Nothing wrong with having braces, but it was just an easier alternative where I could always take them off whenever I needed to go to certain events and things like that.

Yeah. Matthew got Invisalign last year and absolutely loved it.

Oh, good.

Yeah, highly recommend. I think it's definitely worth the investment, especially if it improves or bolsters your confidence.

Yes, yes. What's next on your list?

Okay. The Dyson Airwrap. I mean, look at my hair.

It's amazing.

She's got body. This is also something that for me, confidence too. I feel like I take the time to do my hair more now that I have the Dyson. I take time, spend time on it. It feels like I feel better when I actually take the time, whereas I feel like before I would just throw my hair up in a ponytail or a slicked-back bun all the time. And I really like the blowout look. And so I love my Dyson. Full transparency though, that was a gift from my husband. So it was worth his investment for me, but I would still spend my own money buying it.

Yeah.

I also think there's a little bit of a learning curve. So some of the reviews I've seen online are like, oh, it doesn't work. Or I would just say spend some time figuring out what products you need in your hair before you dry it.

Mm-hmm.

Like, you can't just dry your hair and do the Dyson and think it's gonna stay. Like, just like at the salon when you're getting a blowout, they're putting mousse, they're putting product in it so that there's, um, I am not a beautician, but so that there's some texture to it and it actually helps the curls stay longer. I think learning that and then also watching tutorials, I've gotten my routine down. And yeah, it's definitely worth it. I use it about 3 to 4 times a week and I love it.

That's amazing. I have the Shark version of it and I've seen so many people have great success with the Shark, but the times that I tried it, I just looked like a founding father and it was not great. Like a voluminous founding father. Wait, I'm dead. I literally filmed the process because I was like, I'm gonna show my, you know, trying out the Shark thing. And then like halfway through, I was like, this is a disaster. So I agree, it's just, it has its learning curve. You gotta have some patience. I have not had the patience for it yet, but I love the results. And it looks amazing on you. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Um, okay. The next one that I would say is buying my house when I did.

So I bought my house in 2021 and I was in that good interest rate, baby.

I sure did. Under 3%. And it was amazing. Yeah. Um, I was very scared. Like I was, um, freshly like divorced and it was scary to kind of think about buying a house, especially on my own.

Yeah.

But now I am so glad that I did. And I'm so glad that I saved up my money. I didn't know what it was going to be for. I was just like, I should save money and then see what happens. And then at the right time, I was able to use that, buy this house. And now that housing has gone up so freaking much, like rent, and just if you go buy a house, what I bought back then, I could probably not buy right now. Considering the way everything has shifted and gone up in price. And so I'm very grateful that I went for it, that I trusted my gut. And then I was like, okay, I can figure it out. It's going to be okay. And it was going to be just $200 more than I was paying for rent at that time. Obviously the house comes with other expenses, but I knew that I would be able to manage them. And now I feel so grateful. So felt intimidating. But we did it and I feel safe in my little home. Yeah.

I love your home. I love how you've decorated it. I love how you've made it a home. And, um, yeah, I mean, buying a house in late 2020, early 2021, locking in good interest rates, like interest rates now are insane. Even whenever we bought this house in 2022, we were like, oh, a 4.3, you know, that's so high because our investment property that we purchased in Illinois, I think we locked it in at like 2.45.

Nice.

And, you know, 4.3, 4.4 felt really high to us, and now they're like 7%. So yeah, I mean, my heart goes out to anyone that's buying a house right now. Um, yeah, but I'm glad you did it when you did. Okay, um, 2 back-to-back ones that are about my face worth investments. Um, one is Botox. I love her. I think that I, I don't regret it at all. I think I was a little nervous about it in the very beginning, mostly because I was worried about what other people would think. You know, there's like anytime anyone gets any kind of work done, quote unquote, or invests in their physical appearance in any way to make themselves feel good or for whatever reason, I think that's a common thing that can sometimes get in the way of that is like, oh, what are so-and-so going to think? Or like, what if, you know, can I share this on social media? Are people going to be like, oh my gosh, that's so ridiculous. Like, I think that can be sometimes something that can keep us from doing things like that.

But I love my Botox.

I get her twice a year, 2 to 3 times a year. Um, the thing about Botox that I have learned is that it metabolizes, so it fades out of your system, unlike filler, which you have to get extracted.

Mm-hmm.

You get filler put in, it stays in place. Or sometimes it migrates a little bit, and then you get it dissolved. Whereas Botox goes into your skin, it freezes the muscle, and then it metabolizes just like you metabolize your food or alcohol and so on. So that's why you have to get it every— some people get it every 3 months, every 4 months. I'm like every 5 to 6. I have a great place back in Illinois that I like to go. It's cheaper than it is in the city. And so I just plan my Botox Visits when I'm in Illinois, and I really like it. I feel like it. I like the way that it looks without my face being like frozen, you know. So it's worth the investment for me, and I'll probably keep doing it until I decide otherwise because we can always change our minds. The second thing is the Omnilux Contour Face Red Light Mask. Do you know what I'm talking about? The like red light mask.

I saw you post about it in one of your stories and I was like, when did you get a red light mask? That's amazing.

Okay, so really quick, I wanted to talk about Botox prices. Botox prices range for me, it depends on the kind of toxin that you get and it depends on the level of unit. I get Dysport, which is cheaper than Botox. And I get anywhere from 20 to 30 units of that and it's around $11 to $12. So my Botox usually ends up costing like $250 to $300 depending on how many units I get. And again, I'm doing that 2 to 3 times a year. So it doesn't feel like it's like a huge hit to my bank account because it feels very spread out. Now, the Omniluxe Contour Face Mask is around like $350. And I got that as a gift from my sweet, sweet mother for my birthday.

Aww.

And that was like, I asked, I've been like, she's like, what do you want? I'm like, honestly, this is it. This is it. I just like want this mask. And I, because of acne and sunspotting and also my, hereditarily, I am prone to dark spots, like aging spots. And so I already, you know, I'm 31 and I already like have dark spots and that's fine. That's a part of getting older and I love getting older. And if there are things I can do You know, to make those like not be there or lessen or lighten, then I will. And so yeah, the red light therapy mask, it reduces pigmentation and redness, which like from acne and sun damage is something that I really struggle with on my skin. And I'm loving it. I've been using it for about 5 weeks. And I really can tell a difference in my skin, in my appearance.

What specifically?

I noticed the The dark spots lighten, lessen. My face and skin feels brighter. I also feel like the redness that I carry in my cheek area, like my cheek areas right here, has gone down as well. And I use it every day. You're supposed to use it every day for like 2 months. And then you can go down to like a couple times a week as like maintenance. And so yeah, I'm— I really like the results a lot.

That's incredible. I've heard such great things about it, but never from someone that I knew firsthand. I haven't had someone that has bought it yet, so that's so good to hear. I also feel like that is a very solid investment when you think about it per use. Not me girl mathing it, but truly, if you were to go to like a med spa and you're like, hey, I want to go get the red light therapy, that would be very, very expensive.

Yes.

So investing in that once Doing the treatment for 2 months and then you can touch up, keep doing that at your own comfort, the comfort of your own home. That feels pretty great.

I know. I love it. I use it about 4 to 5 times a week. And, I think I'll probably still use it 2 to 3 times a week after the 2 months is over. The great thing about it as well is you can travel with it. It's flat and you can charge it. The Omnilux Contour Face Mask comes with different plugs. So, you can literally charge it for wherever you are in the world. And then, when you're using it, it doesn't require a plug-in. So, as long as it's charged for a trip, I'll bring it to Nice and you can try it if you want to. There's also no downtime.

Red light therapy.

There's no downtime. So, you can use it and go out in the sun. Whereas, a lot of times, the red light therapy in med spas is stronger for sure. It's medical grade and you can't go out in the sun after or be outside.

So yeah, that's amazing. I would almost argue, and obviously I don't know all the details, but I feel like probably consistency of using the red light is probably better for your skin than just doing it that one time that you go or like 2 times a year.

Definitely.

So love both of those. We love investments that are on our self-care. I feel like being able to invest in our self-care is something that I prioritize a lot and that I know you do too. It just makes us feel better every day and just taking care of ourselves. There's nothing more loving than taking care of yourself. So that is incredible. Speaking of taking care of yourself, one of my absolute favorite things that I've invested in is therapy and coaching. I think that I overall have just worked through so much in therapy and being able to invest in that. I remember going through therapy and thinking everyone needs to have access to therapy. And I really wish that that was a statement because therapy is not cheap per session. And sometimes you're going through very deep scenarios and deep depression and you need that support more frequently. But that was something that I was very grateful I had the opportunity to do and that I also chose to do it because I feel like it sped up my healing process. It was a season of truly getting to know who I am as an adult. And I feel like so much of my later 20s have come from that foundation of what therapy taught me about myself and how I can self-regulate, how I can make decisions, how I can heal, how I can choose, how life can look different. Like all these different things that I'm super grateful for. And same with coaching. I feel like I've gotten so many things from different coaches and being able to navigate falling in love again and quitting my job and so many different aspects of it. So 10 out of 10, I feel like leaning into reaching out for professional support has served me 10 times over what I have invested into it.

Yeah. I'm so glad you brought that up. I mean, I echo everything that you said. Investing in— and you even talked, we talked about this earlier of investing in coaching. That's something I'm, you know, doing again. I find too that doing it seasonally when you need it is really important. Like when you start to feel the fact that you need some support, or in your case, like you needed help navigating a transition that was unexpected, you've never experienced that before, and you need someone to almost help guide you through it and like how you want to show up through that transition. And therapy is a great resource for that. So. Fully support that 100%.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Um, did you have anything else on your loved list?

I do. I have one more thing, the Frame TV. I absolutely love my Frame TV. And I think the reason that I love it is that we also invested in a frame for it. Like we have a, you know, a kind of intricate, thick gold detailed frame. And I have seen a lot of mixed reviews of like, it's not really worth it, doesn't look like art. And I think it really depends on what frame you use for the TV.

Mm-hmm.

Um, like we had book club and I had changed the background of the Frame TV to this really beautiful watercolor, um, uh, painting of the pyramids, which was like The Alchemist, the, the journey to the pyramids as like kind of a funny like, oh look. And they were like, Wait, that's not real. Like someone literally thought it was real, and I was like, yes, you know, like that's the vibe. And Matthew and I saved for that TV. We got it on sale for Black Friday. It was around like eleven hundred, I think, on sale or like twelve hundred on sale. So granted, like it's an expensive TV. I don't think that you need it, but if you're on the fence about it, I would definitely say it's worth the investment. We love the. clarity of it. We love it. And make sure that you actually get a frame that you like or else the idea of a frame TV doesn't really look like art. It's just like, here's a TV on the wall that's really thin. So I would say that's the only aspect of it that really took it from something that I liked to taking it to something that I'm obsessed with this and I will always have it.

Wow. Oh, I love it so much. I feel like that has always been such a sore— like an eyesore in houses is just like the big black rectangle and box of the TV. It's like all this beautiful home and art, and then there's just this black rectangle.

Totally.

So 10 out of 10 invention. And so glad that you love it. I hope I'm able to go to Houston soon and see it in person.

Come visit.

I love that so, so much. Okay, let's shift over to things that we regret investing in. So I don't know if I've ever told you this story, but I don't currently dye my hair. And the only time I've ever done something to it, I did balayage in 2015, 2016 when balayage— I think it's still maybe a thing, but it was hot back then.

Uh-huh.

And so she did some red tones into it and I was like, oh, And it looks so great. I was so excited about it.

I need to see pictures of this as well. I need to see braces Astrid and I need to see balayage Astrid.

We're going to do a whole throwback photo dump on our Instagram.

Please.

But I love the result. The thing is, the reason why I regret getting it, first of all, my hair, because it was virgin hair, I was in that chair for 8 or 9 hours. And never again. I was like, I do not have the patience to color my hair unless down the road if I decide I don't want to have gray hair, then I will dye it. Or you know what? I might embrace my full gray hair because I despise sitting in that chair for that long. That was pure torture.

You would look hot with gray hair.

You think so?

Yeah.

My grandma had really solid gray hair and I'm like, you know what? When it starts coming in, I'm just going to I love it.

I support whatever direction you go, but I'm saying you look good with gray hair. Continue.

Thank you. Thank you. So yeah, I regret investing in it. One, the time, but two, it changed the texture of my hair. And so my hair up to that point was where I could wash it and I would walk out and would just be like this cute beachy wavy hair. It didn't look frizzy. It was awesome. And then after I got it balayaged, I always had to do something with it. It was now dry, it was frizzier. And it's just what people have told me is just putting color on your virgin hair could do that. And since I already had thick hair, it was making it even thicker and it just got such a weird texture and I just let it all grow out. And then I just kept cutting it and let it grow out and cutting it. And I haven't done anything since. But to me, it was just a waste of money. It was also so expensive, like close to $300, but which I understand. I was in her chair for like 8 hours. It was like so expensive. I wasted a whole day or spent a whole day there. And then I didn't even like how my hair, like the texture of it, the color was fun, but the texture just screwed it all up. So 10 out of 10 regret that. And now I am a like $25, $30 haircut, girly. I am in and I'm out in 30 minutes. Very low maintenance.

Oh my gosh, I love that story. Um, yeah, I mean, in Houston, I just had a girlfriend get her hair done. She got a cut, balayage, um, $700.

Oh my God, I would cry. I'm sure it looks great, but—

Oh, she looks amazing. I'm like, I was like, yeah girl, you know, I'm like such a support Support whatever if it makes you happy. But I was like, dang, it can get really expensive. This is such a random one, but an Instant Pot.

Oh yeah.

I never use it. It sits in my pantry and like, you know, $200, that's not nothing. I need to probably give it away to somebody at this point because it's— we've lived here.

Or sell it.

Yeah, or sell it. Um, we've lived here for 2 years and we have not used the Instant Pot one time in 2 years. Um, I think that just because I was like, oh, it's an Instant Pot, it's gonna like make everything be quicker. And I think similar to the Dyson, I tried to like use it a couple times, it didn't quite go the way I wanted it to. And so I just like, instead of watching tutorials and leaning into the learning process, I was like, I hate this. I never want to look at it again. And so, oh my gosh, my Instant Pot is collecting dust in my pantry and I just don't feel like it was worth the investment for me.

Well, you know what, you teach me how to use the Dyson and I'll teach you the, uh, Instant Pot because I don't use it as much anymore. But there was a season there I was hyperfixated in the fall. Like, it will cook your food so fast for like soups and things like that. It's It was really great. I loved it whenever I used it, but okay, it was like 2019, 2020 me. I honestly have not used it since, so mine is also collecting dust. Let's have a little Instant Pot IG girls or in-between girls sale.

Yeah, if anyone wants to buy it off of me, um, that lives in Houston, happy to give it to you. Or if you have a really banging Instant Pot recipe that you think I should just push through and learn how to make, maybe it would make my life better. So, but yeah, right now it's sitting on the do not buy, not worth the investment list.

I think, uh, the air fryer took over and that's why Instant Pots are not really like that big of a thing anymore.

That's a good point. I love our air fryer.

Like, I didn't know you had one. That's amazing.

Oh yeah, we, we use it for potatoes a lot. That air fryer single-handedly got us through Whole30, um, because the— you can, you can like have a crispy flavor without all of that like oil. Um, so we'd make our chicken in there and potatoes and anything. Anyways, love the air fryer. So back to you, things that weren't worth your investment.

Okay, this one is on the photography business front, and this is notorious in the photography community, but just buying way too many presets. at the beginning of my photography journey. And honestly, reflecting back on it, I would mostly buy them whenever I felt dissatisfied or lost with my edits. And I was like, oh, my work is just like not it. And somebody will post that they were selling presets and I'm like, this will be it. Like, this is going to fix all my problems. And I have spent way too much money on presets until finally I was like, let me just learn how all of it works and make my own and be able to edit on my own and find what works. And so that has been really great. But yeah, I feel like the first 3 years of my business, I spent a lot of money on presets.

Yeah, I remember that era of like buying presets before Tezza too. Like, I'm sure it's different for photographers, but even like just content creators, I would buy presets for my photos, um, and edit them in Lightroom and then export them and post them on Instagram. Yeah. And now like things like Tezza exist. But that's interesting too that you would do it as a result of like being frustrated with your own editing process. So it's like that like kind of quick fix feeling.

Absolutely. Yeah, I'm all for presets. I think they're great. And if you want them and you love using them on your work, fantastic. I just personally regret it because I was buying so many just out of my own insecurity. And I, if I knew more my style, I think, and I learned from the presets and I'm like, okay, this actually fits my work and I use them. That would have been great. But it was just one of those, like, uh, as a business owner, you know, you just get hit at the right time with like the certain, I'll wrap this up with my other one, which is certain courses that like the marketing was just Really great, and then unfortunately when I got into the course, it there wasn't anything like that I was looking for. What I thought they were going to sell on that course just wasn't there. Everything that they used to mark to advertise it was there. Um, and drop drop the name. Yeah, I've spent a lot of money where I'm like this is going to fix. No, I will not drop the name.

But tell me off.

But you know education. Yeah.

Sorry, go ahead.

Oh no, you're good. I think the internet might have gone out for a sec, so apologies on that.

No, no, but I still, I can still hear and see you. Okay.

Um, but yeah, just a bundle of courses and presets from the education standpoint that I should have looked a little bit deeper into what each of them, like why I was making the purchase and was it truly an investment? Which on the flip front, um, I have— I purchased a pricing course, um, from Annie Graham this past like 2 months. Amazing. Literally learned so much about like the luxury wedding photography world. Blew my mind. Like everything. I was like taking notes aggressively. So there's amazing courses out there, but, um, yeah, there's just— I bought way too many that just didn't serve me.

Yeah. It's also kind of sometimes hard when the marketing is really strong, but the delivery isn't. It's hard to know which courses are actually going to deliver on what they promise. So yeah, totally, totally get that. Completely opposite direction, car wash memberships.

Oh, that's actually on my to-do list for today.

I think that unless you plan on washing your car weekly, it just didn't— like, we ended up canceling mine. I was so excited. I was like, my car is going to be so clean. And I I found myself just not using it or we'd be traveling or my car sits in the garage. And so if I'm not driving it or we're traveling, why do I need to wash it? So I ended up canceling it. It just wasn't worth, even though it was $30 a month, it was still a subscription that was kind of adding up and just not really worth, even though it was a smaller investment, it just wasn't worth it.

I love that. I'm going to go cancel mine today just because I'm going to be traveling. But I've been thinking of it. I'm like, have I really gotten like the full use that it requires? My subscription is $45 a month. And I was like, I don't think so. I think this might just stay canceled. I know your face. So this is my— I'll take this as my reminder that I should not— that I need to cancel and, um, yeah, and do that. So, yeah. Um, okay. This one is one that I— impulse purchase that I had on our New York So for our listeners, it was my— set the scene. We're in New York City. I'm there with my best friend. We're out shopping. It's my birthday weekend. We're having the best time. We go and pick out a few shirts and outfits and things like that in this really cute boutique. And then I see this gorgeous green dress that has a very low V in the front and a keyhole open in the back. Just absolutely stunning. And I was like, okay, you know what? I'm going to try it on. I'm going to see what it all looks like. I look at the tag and the name of the dress was Astrid. And I was like, it's a sign. I need to buy this dress. Also, no, it was not a sign. I needed to be financially responsible and not spend— it was $500 on that dress. And so anyway, I tried it on. It looks so good. And I was like, this is an This is how I convince and girl math my way through it. I was like, this is an heirloom dress. I'm going to wear this so much. I'm going to wear this to my grave. You do that.

You're always like, this is an heirloom. I'm going to pass this on to my daughter. You've done that several times.

It's so good.

It's different girl math. It's emotional girl math. It's sentimental.

If I was their marketing girl, I would sell so much.

I love it.

Um, but yeah, I justified it as saying that it was a classy classic dress that was going to be an heirloom piece, and I bought it. And honestly, I was split between this one because I have loved it. I've worn it multiple times. I do feel like I get a lot of good use out of it. I've worn it to weddings, to a shoot. I wore it that night, and it does like fit very, very well. But at the same time, it ended up being on the regret list because $500 on a dress, like, I could have found another dress that I liked just as much for way less of the price. It was just not— it was very much an impulse purchase rather than like, oh yeah, like, this is totally within the budget, totally within the overall shopping budget. So it was an emotional purchase. It had my name on it. I was very emotionally attached to this dress. So if you see me wearing this long sleeve green dress till the day I die, that's why.

And I do think that it is a timeless piece. Like it is something that wasn't trendy. It was very unique. And it maybe to the fact that it was more, one, expensive, but also it was a dress that you really only wear for more special occasions. It's not something that you're going to use all the time. So yeah, I totally get that. But, um, I'm still glad that you got it, and I had a great weekend with you.

I had the best. It has— it holds so many treasured memories for us. Yes, of course.

Um, that was it on my don't buy. Like, I don't have anything else. Do you have more? Love it.

Um, let me check. I don't think that I do. Oh, my last one. Was flowers because I kill them all. So I— What do you mean flowers?

Like flowers at the grocery store?

Oh. Like a plant.

Yeah.

Nick was so sweet and he surprised me with spring flowers and he bought me 2 beautiful violet things to put outside of my house. And girl, they died. I tried so hard and my mom is convinced that the front of my house just gets too much sun. And so I need to get flowers that are more resistant to that. But yeah, I have spent so much money on flowers. And even the fall, like, I'll get all these beautiful mums and like, RIP within 2 weeks. And honestly, I leave them out there just out of emotional attachment where I'm like, but I loved you. Like, I'm not ready to part with you yet. You will revive if I give you enough water. Oh my God. Anyway, yeah, just the flowers. If you, if you're great with your flowers and your houseplants, just send me the tips.

Okay, good to know. Um, I thought you meant like flowers at the grocery store, like that you— I was like, oh, but also you kill them also. So yeah, of course they die because they're not connected to the earth or any sort of plant. Anyways, um, I loved this episode. I feel like we have done a lot of like deeper episodes lately, and so it was nice to just have like a A fun little girly chat on things that we liked that we invested in and things that we don't. The last thing I'll say on things that I've invested in that I didn't mention earlier was I'm really glad that I invested in my black crossbody Prada purse. I wear her all the time. She's genuine leather. I did get her on a discount. I bought her at like a Prada outlet. So she was $900, which I I acknowledge that that is still very expensive for a purse, but I love her and every time I see her, I smile. So I think if there are ways that if you are drawn to luxury, find luxury outlets and you can really buy things at a pretty steep discount. And they're obviously still very high quality, but they're usually off-season or low quantity, so they get put at outlets. And yeah, I don't regret that investment. I just thought about that. I had it in my notes and I forgot to mention it, so I'll end us there.

We, um, that's such a great high note to end a girly episode on. Thank you.

We're going to end on Prada.

Mic drop.

I want Prada.

See, that, that's an heirloom piece.

That is an heirloom piece. You're so right.

Oh my gosh, I have loved this conversation so much. Just being able to have a little girly catch up on all of it. And thank you all so, so much for listening and tuning in. We will be taking just a little short break in the next few weeks, and then we will be back in August to catch you up on our trip to the South of France and all of what we've been up to over the summer. And just catch up overall in what happened in the last few months. So we love you all. We are always available on our DMs if you want to reach out to us, um, on Instagram @inbetween.pod. And you can always connect with me @astrajohannaphoto on Instagram.

Or me @alexisteichmiller. And with that, we will see you next time.