BABS

This is a super special episode (!!) because Amanda and Sam invite their first ever guest onto the podcast. Gail, owner of the event planning business Spoonful of Sunshines, invited BABS to speak at their first ever live show (!!), taking place at a festival in Palm Springs in January 2026 called We Are Enough (https://www.spoonfulofsunshines.com/weareenough). In return, Gail shares her story in this episode and how it birthed the idea for the We Are Enough festival.Gail went to college with Amanda and Sam and even planned Amanda's wedding (oop!). But unbeknownst to college Amanda and Sam who saw Gail as a literal ray of sunshine and positivity, Gail was struggling to live up to her immigrant parents' dreams as she stared at an F on her midterm in the pouring rain and realized she wasn't going to be pre-med. She turned to partying to try and hide how lost she felt.Post-graduation, Gail followed her love of food into the hospitality industry, but a couple pivotal moments - including the tragic loss of her cousin - changed the course of Gail's life and helped her discover her purpose in life... to help people talk about emotions, destigmatize mental health, and help everyone realize that We Are Enough.*Trigger warning: This episode does talk about suicide, so please listen with extreme self-care or avoid if those thoughts are triggering.*Disclaimer:  We are NOT mental or physical health specialists. If you believe you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideation, or any other mental health challenges we encourage you to contact your doctor or a medical professional. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, call 911, or go to your local emergency room. For resources on eating disorders, visit https://edrcsv.org/get-help/.For a great resource to help with understanding depression and anxiety, and advice on how to help and what to say, check out one of our favorites, @realdepressionproject on Instagram.

Your girls are still going through something. Their sinks are full of dirty dishes, Sam ditched her emotional support podcast lollipop for a bottle of sparkling wine, and Amanda is tired AF from trying to cram in new activities like pole dancing and line dancing and dating again while her daughters are with their dad, then going through the nonstop cycle of making dinner and worrying about creating a strong emotional foundation for her girls' mental wellbeing for the rest of their lives. She and Sam wonder what it is they're chasing because they're resorting to strolling the grocery store just to feel something and find dopamine hits in the bread aisle. But just when they start to tell themselves they do so much and don't need to endure like performance athletes, Sam's boyfriend told her she should hang out with friends more and not to sleep during the day... and he should now sleep with one eye open (just kidding).

"Are we going through something?" Even though the basis of our podcast is that we're always struggling with something, it feels like Sam and Amanda are going through something a little extra lately. They're searching for dopamine hits from Costco, Jazzercise, softball, and pole dancing (ok, maybe just Amanda), and they're struggling with FOMO and the loneliness epidemic. However, while Amanda allowed FOMO to coerce her into seeing the Backstreet Boys in Vegas during New Year's, she will not allow FOMO to be the reason she buys her girls Labubus.Sam also shares an update on both the physical and mental recovery from her breast reduction surgery (shark bites are referenced). Then they get into some co-parenting challenges Amanda's been struggling with over books and markers, and the double standards and expectations for "good" dads and moms (if this episode sounds a little Frankensteined, it's because the original episode got a little too angry and off the rails, so they had to rerecord and stitch the episodes together).(We recorded this a month ago, so spoiler alert: Amanda did allow FOMO to sucker her into buying Labubus for her daughters LOL).

In this episode, Sam talks about her breast reduction surgery--something she's really wanted for the last couple years--and how shockingly complex and difficult it's been to say goodbye to her identity as Sam with big boobs. She equates the process or shock of how big of a change it was to... pregnancy and going to law school (it makes sense to her!). There are also references to ball sac boobs, dangling water balloons, and headlights. Just listen to the episode--trust us.Then they dive into DCC - the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders series on Netflix, which Sam has been telling Amanda to watch for over a year and she's finally gotten on the bandwagon. They discuss their favorites, what it means to portray perfection, and how the DCC women's authenticity, kindness, and friendship is what really transcends it all and makes them worth rooting for.**Disclaimer: we are ABSOLUTELY NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS OR ADVISORS.

Amanda and Sam are back for season 2! They address theories about why they stopped talking for a few months (maybe they're not struggling anymore? LOL yeah right), and while it's not as juicy as an explosive feud, it does show the realities of how friendships ebb and flow. They had different priorities at the time (Sam on her health, Amanda on her work) and their conversations were bringing up one another's insecurities and no longer motivating one another. Don't worry though, your favorite brats are back in the same headspace, leaning on each other instead of their therapist, and on the other side of 40 (!!). Most importantly, they're still struggling... with all the health noise out there, whether achievements are only worth it if they're painful, and how to fuel their bodies with protein instead of lollipops and Redbulls. And yes, we talk about being 40 and walking with weighted vests because we're not just brats, we're basic brats.Thanks for getting back on this ride with us!

Amanda and Sam start off talking about the word lazy and why it triggers them, but it leads them to what they really struggle with: insecurities and unhappiness with their bodies and weight. It's a complicated heavy topic and there's no solving it in an episode or wrapping it up with a nice neat insight. In fact, they struggle with it so much they abandon the topic and segue into talking about going on first dates with the same guy in the same night.

Amanda and Sam take their first reader submission and discuss the concept of "ominous positivity," which leads them down another path of realizing they don't know what words mean including ominous, meme, and anti-hero. They go from sounding bitter about men and dating, to sounding literary as they discuss whether Jay Gatsby is an anti-hero. To Sam's horror, they realize that they are in fact just like Gatsby -- unable to let go of the past.Amanda shares what it was like seeing her ex again, Sam talks about why she wants a boob job, and they both question if they're capable of feeling anything for people anymore.

There's a lot packed in this episode - Sam admits she is still in love with her ex and how hard it is to stop cuddling with him; Amanda talks about Sam being mad at her the weekend before her birthday... even though it was all in Amanda's head, spun up by her own self-loathing thoughts; they finally talk about Asian stereotypes they struggle with and why; and they explain why the podcast is released so inconsistently... because mental health is a rollercoaster, so we're all on it together Brats!