Drama Queens - Work in Progress: Brie Larson & Courtney McBroom

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

Brie Larson and Courtney McBroom are redefining what it means to throw a party — and to live one. From childhood hot-dog experiments to full-blown adult spelling bees, the Oscar-winner and the chef-author spill stories from their friendship and the book it inspired.  Find out how hot queso bonded these friends for life, what qualifies someone as the perfect guest, and why, when it comes to the best parties, the mess might just be the magic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. Hey, Whipsmarties, we are in the full swing of holiday season. Halloween is around the corner, and you know it's just going to snowball into joy and memory-making from there, and that is why I'm so excited to be joined today by not one but two incredible women that are bringing fun and nostalgia and elation for a party back into our worlds. First, Brie Larson is an actress, director, and producer that you likely know whether it's from her Academy Award-winning

performance in room or her title role as Captain Marvel. She is an incredible activist and mind and an incredible host. And through her love of hosting, she met her best friend Courtney McBroom, who is a celebrated chef, producer, and the former culinary director of Milk Bar, a famous dessert and bakery brand that used to be on my way home from work. And I literally had to start going a different way because I was like, I can't, I just can't pull over for six chocolate chip cookies every day. This is unhinged. Courtney is really one of a kind. She's written several cookbooks and published a popular event series about dinner parties.

And over a hot tub of queso, the two realized they shared a mutual love of food and gathering. And that passion has turned into a book called Party People. It is a cookbook slash how to guide for hosts of all occasions. And let me tell you something, this feels like the cookbook party guide friend hang for our our generation. Party people features 100 recipes and party ideas inspired by community and celebration. So let's dive in with Bree and Courtney and talk about how to make your best memories. Well, welcome to the show, gals. I'm so excited to have you and so happy that you are giving us the gift of this book in a time when people need some joy in the realest way. Yeah, thanks. Yeah.

Yeah, we can't say that that was all part of a master plan, but it feels like it now. Yeah, it feels like there's a little something kismet to it. Yeah. Normally, I like to ask people to kind of take us and our audience back because everybody knows what you've been up to and what you are up to. But I have a little twist on the question, not just would your adult self recognize a version of her in your eight-year-old self and vice versa. But I'm actually really curious what you think your eight-year-old selves would think about you grown-up gals as expert party people. Were they little party persons, too? Oh, yes.

We actually were talking last night at dinner about how we would give basically anything. There's no sum of money that would be too much to go back and be eight-year-olds at the same time. No. Play together. And, like, how would we get along as kids? And, like, what would we do? It would be so much fun. To play pretend.

Yes. And like make mud pies. I'm sure we would cook stuff up in the kitchen. We'd probably throw parties. Yeah. I was definitely a party person because my mother, she's an event planner. At that time, she wasn't getting paid to do this type of stuff. It was just how her love language is throwing elaborate parties and making really wild memories. I grew up with my seventh birthday. She turned their chiropractic office. office into a casino and all of my friends wore cocktail dresses and all the parents were the cocktail waiters and waitresses. And we played poker and craps. And it was like lucky number seven birthday. My eighth birthday party was like a two-day Indiana Jones scavenger hunt. He's just always had this really magical mind. So I grew up thinking that, you know, hearing that your grandparents spent three months paper maching you a giant boulder that's going to chase you at your birthday party was like normal that's like what you that's just normal right and now i know that that's not the case and so i think that yeah i was always a party person whether

that was my thing or not you know luckily that was i was never the type of person that was like no don't celebrate my birthday like i think celebration is everything yeah yeah oh right big time. I was like I was the kid that was in the kitchen like waking up before my parents and like sneaking into the kitchen and just like making them breakfast in bed. That would just be huge mess and bringing a team like nah. And then I would come up with like weird like one of the things I love to make the most I called black pepper hot dogs, which was just getting a hot dog and like cutting it into bits, putting it into a skillet and like pouring so much black pepper on it that you couldn't even tell they were hot dogs anymore. And then I would give that to them and my parents were so nice. They would eat it. Be like, hmm this is this is the best thing I've ever had so that's the beginning of my culinary career in general um so yeah i think little me would be very stoked to know that i turned it into an actual career yeah i think this has felt like one of the most natural things i've done it's it's also you know being an actor a lot of stuff is like you're trying to tap into universal emotions and sometimes like it's nostalgia and that food is as well.

Like food is such a direct line to our hearts and to our memories and to comfort. So the two of us together is one of our inspirations was like the gatherings that have meant so much to us in our life and also the foods. So we were able to put like a lot of our family recipes in there. It was super fun to like talk with my grandma about and try and figure out what her recipes are because she's one of those. cooks that it's by feel. She makes pies so many pies up here and it's by feel. And so trying to translate that and decode her pomegranate jelly and like decode my mom's peach chicken recipe was such a lovely, it was an honor to do.

And it looked like the gift of our families that we're passing on and hoping to inspire. That's really beautiful. And you know, it's interesting you brought up, especially the sort of unique experience of being an actor because you know whether it's doing the things on camera that we do or or translating recipes for people you're you're telling a story and when you guys were kind of going back and forth with that part of your story it made me realize anywhere I've ever gone on location the first thing I want to do is dive into the food scene that's how I feel like I get to know a place that's how I get to know people that's how I wind up making

friends is like the other folks who are really excited about that. Do you feel like that tracks especially for you having to travel so much for work that you feel a sense of home? You know, you could be in Calgary or Australia, but if you throw a party on a Saturday for your new co-workers and your crew, suddenly everyone's in a really convivial, familial environment. And the vibe shifts to your point to beginning to create nostalgia. Absolutely. Well, and it also became a huge important aspect of press tours. You know, people know when actors are on press tours usually because you're like wearing outfits and there's photos on the red carpet until you've done it. Like the first time I did it, it felt like this whirlwind and I basically only saw the hotel in the airport because

every 24 hours you're flying to a new country. And I was really disappointed. with myself the first time because there was no time to enjoy the culture. So you're going to Mexico City and they're like, what do you think of where we live, of our country that we love so much? And you're like, I saw the airport. I'm so sorry. And after that first time, I was like, I'm never doing that again because I'm not traveling across the globe and going to the most incredible places and then spending, you know, 10 hours talking with various people and not have something to say about where I am. So my rule is for every stop on the press store, I have to have room to do street food, fancy restaurant, and an art museum. And there's just enough time to do that. And then

you have so much to connect with people over. And you learn so much. You learn so much about cultures. And my other rule is unless this is like some sort of very special situation at a hotel, no hotel food so if it's lunch we're going to like get stuff delivered that's from like whoever your guide is there like this secret spot and it's just a way of understanding tradition and culture and you feel grounded to your point it's like you suddenly are like oh I know where I am right now and we have to figure that out for ourselves you know because nobody necessarily needs us to be grounded at any given moment but I prefer it so you can't be around friends and family, then you got to pull people in and find out like literally where

you are. And then you get to have a human experience. You don't feel like a robot. Something that struck me going through the book, I was like, oh man, this feels some of the vibe, some of the photos. It made me think of my own memories. It made me think of gatherings with friends. It made me think about favorite meals. And it really made me think a lot. And I bet you to love her book, Priya Parker's book, The Art of Gathering, the way she talks about how important it is, not just for memory making, but for our being, to be with people, to experience tradition, to do exactly what you're saying. Like, get out and get to know a place. Suddenly then it's not this two-dimensional thing. You're living in a three-dimensional

world, it feels like this really special, universal importance. And then like you both said, you put really specific personal stories with your family recipes and, you know, these tales that are important to you that then get to become important to other people. Someone might say, like, oh, I want to make that peach chicken for my family. And then it goes out in the world and the ripple effect really spreads. How do you guys think about that, knowing what you've made, if you kind of do like the movie scene where everything stops and then rewinds in high speed, like to the moment you met? Because you met over food, right? You met at a party. You met at a party. Okay, can you tell our friends at home that story? Yeah, of course.

It was a friend of ours. It was like, it was like a, it was a Hillary, Clinton presidential debate party. So it was years and years and years ago. And it was at a friend of our's house and I was making queso. And I was like still, which is like a, I'm from Texas. It's like a very, the most Texan thing you would have. It's not like case. It's the best thing in the world to be clear. Hot to be liquid. It stays that way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was make, I have like a real. There's a recipe and the recipes in the book. Anyway, so I was making it, but I wasn't done yet. Then Brie comes in and she's like, hey, everyone. And like we hadn't met before and, you know, she came over and introduced yourself.

Hey, I'm Courtney. And she's like, what's this? And like just grabs a chip from the table and sticks an end to the pot and eats it. And I was like, I know we're going to get along great. And she loved it. And it was, you know, love at first bite. I think is what that says in the book. Yeah.

I love that so much. It was that. It took me two years into a show from my dear friend, like one of my best friends that I made on that show. to tell me that he hates when people eat off his plate. And I was like, what? You know, I come from a big, loud Italian family. I've never not taken a bite of food off someone else's plate. And I had been eating off my sweet co-worker's plate for two years.

And he finally was like, I'm really proud of myself because our friendship has helped me get over that I hate that. And I was like, what? Huh? And when I read that story in your book, I literally. really like took a picture of it and sent it to him. And I said, oh my God, we were love at first bite too. It was so sweet. I love that. I like that linked in that way. Yeah. Anyone who has a passion for food in that way is always a plus in my book. Yeah. We'll be back in just a minute after a few words from our favorite sponsors. We often think we know our type in dating. Tall, funny,

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hit you well it kind of hit in a roundabout way which is that i did this show lessons in chemistry that is very food centric and the food is another character in this you know normally when i think about a character you think about how they're dressing and maybe their home that they live in their hair makeup all of that but this was like food was another element of how elizabeth expresses herself and shows who she is and i just knew that courtney was the right person to do it. And even though that wasn't something that you had ever done specifically, you had all of the pieces of the skill set to do. You basically had done it. Yeah. But it's really the first time that I've ever worked closely with a close friend like at work. I've done podcasts with

friends. I've done ventures, right? But like the thing about being on set I've always held very sacred is that like I don't usually want people that I know around because. I feel like it shines a spotlight on the fact that like I'm playing pretend. And so I usually just like like nothing around like heaven forbid my mom was ever there. I'd be like oh my God, she knows I'm lying. So I usually keep that private. But when I was there, it was so much fun and we got so much delight in seeing each other work. Like I love to see a side of her that I never get to see. She got to see a side of me. And then also like she was my hand double. So sometimes we'd be wearing like the same outfit. And it was just. It made me feel very, that whole set was very cozy and like having her there was very cozy and fun and collaborative. And so once that came to a close, we were like, well, geez, like, I want to keep working with you. I want to keep figuring this out. And the natural thing was like, well, what if we did a book? And when you think about, you know, there's the big wide world of books, how many there are in the world.

And for both of us, neither of us feel the need to say anything unless we feel like you really ought to say it. We don't need to clog up the world with just talking. And so when we got into it of like, well, how if we put these recipes, we knew we wanted family recipes in it, but how do you organize it? And as we reduced it, we realized that who we are is party people. Like, we are the ones that are like, come over at this day. We're doing Game of Thrones viewing parties or we, the other day, we're like, we're doing a spelling bee.

Come on over and I'm going to figure out how to run a spelling bee. Oh, my God, I love it. An adult spelling bee. It was called the average adult. It was called the first ever and possibly last average adult spelling bee, 20, 25. Incredible. It was incredible. So we are those people.

And so because we've done it so much, the main thing that we talked about was like, you can make the most amazing thing in the world. But if it stops you from being present and like your best friend comes over and starts saying like, oh my God, I'm having such a hard time right now. And you're like, uh-huh, uh-huh. And then you realize, yes, it's not a party anymore. That's new being of service to everybody, which is a lovely thing. But like the memories are for everybody, including the host.

Yeah. So we then spent a bunch of time talking through. Okay, so if we broke it down a type of party, what would be the things that you could do to make this kind of hackable and still be beautiful, still be impressive? but the focus being on interaction with your guests versus yeah and giving people permission to like again hack it you know and not not take it so seriously not feel like you have every single thing from scratch maybe you just take one recipe from the book and you order pizza or like you tell your friend to make something and bring it or get compostable plates yeah you don't

like I'm big on that I'm like if you can if part of it is like I really want to throw a dinner party but I just, it really drives me crazy to then spend two hours after her leaves cleaning up, figure it out. Like, first of all, I love that. There are people who like to clean. Yes, yeah. I love, I love a compostable plate. Why not?

And that's what's really nice. Like, going through the book, it feels kind of like a shift that I think is reflected in society at the moment where women in our peer groups, are like, look, our moms are great. They crushed. But also, they never had fun when they were hosting. You know, you realize, like, our moms were those women who couldn't get their own credit cards until 1974. The generational shift, the divide is big. And the idea that you can be your own modern Martha Stewart, but you don't have to miss the party you're throwing. You actually get to be in it. It sounds obvious, but it hasn't been for so long.

there aren't many books that teach you to do that. And in reading yours, I was like, this is exactly what our friends need. We deserve this. Yes. We do deserve it. Yeah. Yeah. It's basically like, you're going to make a mess and something's like hurt. And like I actually think all of these are like interesting psychological opportunities to get to know ourselves and our loved ones. Like we're saying it's not actually about trying to hold it all together for Christmas. it's like having a laugh because you spilled something, you know, laxing a little bit into it and allowing the party to be the place where you can explore where you're a little rough around the edges.

Yeah. And we talk about in the book, like parties are like liminal spaces that have space for grace. And like, I think there's such a shame-based culture now that like it's important to have these parties and to give people grace if someone like messes up and says they're on. thing or puts their foot in their mouth or like whatever like that's okay like you have many drinks and you kind of like danced on the table and fell off that's okay you don't have to be ashamed about it you know like that's living we all make mistakes we all do stuff we burn the suflay we have one yeah whatever it is it's okay yeah it's a reminder to not be so

afraid of being to use the gen z kids term like don't be afraid of being cringe just let the mess be part of the magic. Exactly. Because if you're so measured that you're afraid to make a mess, are you really having fun in the first place? No. I would argue, no. You're not.

Yeah. Yeah. What do you think you two learned about yourselves from cooking with each other so much to collaborate on the book? I learned what a control freak. I really, truly. I learned that too. Yeah.

Yeah. Stop it like that. yeah i think you know the thing about going on this book journey is it's different than just writing a manuscript so there's like there's the words which then there's the recipe words then there's all of the photos and the photo styling and then there's stories in it and all of that together it's like a multifaceted art piece and i realize that we care a lot about what we're really trying to say underneath all of this like that there's like a piece in this. It's not just, it's a book you can actually read too. That's the other part. It's not

just like you're going to flip it open and look at some recipes. There's like a lot of archival photos from our actual parties over the years and essays and all of these things. But I think that we care a lot. Yeah. And we both care a lot in the same kind of way, which is really helpful. Yeah. We put everything we had into this. And I also learned that I really like working with Courtney still. Yeah. You know, I think it's a really rare thing to be like, we're great. Yeah.

You know, and I think anybody who's out there that's like interested in having like a functional relationship with a loved one or best friend, I think that one of the best things that we established at the beginning was that we would talk through everything. And also that we do check-ins. You do, which I got from another friend who was like, do like whatever you want. Once a week, every two weeks, once a month. once a month you do a how's our friendship going conversation we're both terrified we're like hey is this like the most important thing to me and debris is like okay our friendship is the most important

thing yeah yes this book is awesome together but like you know it's so easy for things to get messy when you start like working you know contracts and money and so yeah and so like we were like straight up the very beginning like both recognized we're how terrified we were like that it was going to do something weird to our friendship but totally yeah it's still good i would say even stronger i would say even stronger than before yeah i love that i work with my best friend too and it's really interesting because we had a lot of that similar experience and i think when you figure out all of your skill sets not only as individual people but the skill sets of your partnership there's like the you and the her and the we you know so it's so it's

And when the we has its own skill set and you figure out how to communicate around, you know, what might be lacking and then bolster what authentically or instinctively does so well, I mean, I don't know about you too, but it's like, sometimes we look at each other and we're like, oh my God, we're best friends and we're crushing. We're cute. Like, we're so lucky. Like, you two are so cute. I love it. We finished our day yesterday, taking ourselves out to dinner, and we played Monopoly deal and ate dinner. Oh, my God, I love it. We're laughing so hard and, like, we're both so tired. I made the biggest mess at our table. I, like, knocked over the soy sauce. I've flung a lime across the room.

For some reason, she, like, had her water, like, on the, oh, yeah, I love my, I left the water on the booth. I don't know why I did that. I'm out of my bed right now. But, you know, it's just an amazing thing that also, like, at the end of a long workday. We're like, let's go to play games. And we're going to do that again tonight. Yeah. It's a very special thing. And I think part of it is you have to have the courage to say that you're not going to be afraid of any conversation that's going to come up that might

make you uncomfortable. And that all has to go out of the window because those conversations are more important than like having secret resentments that. Secret resentments will kill the vibe. They kill the party. Yeah. That's the part. Yeah. That's one hell of a party pooper. A secret resentment almost feels like a ghastly happening with your stove. Like you don't really know it's happening until it might blow up your house and then it's very, very bad. There's just no reason to let it start. Yeah.

I'm also really curious. And, Bree, especially for you. And I think the question came to me because I thought about, you know how we know each other like activism spaces standing up for women supporting equal pay you know these things that are so incredibly important and i realized when i got into a relationship with my partner we'd known known each other for a long time but not you know in the every day and she was like you i used to think you were the most serious person you're nuts you're like so fun you're so quirky you're a weird, like, why aren't you more weird in the world?

And I was like, aren't I? I think I'm weird all the time. And I started to realize, you know, as so many of us are when you're running around and doing the work and you have a moment, you're going to say the important thing. You're going to try to elevate, you know, the serious thing. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, obviously, it's a gift and it's such a privilege of, you know, the spectrum of our industry. but does it kind of feel really fun for you to be not just, you know, Bray Larson and an Academy Award winner and a superhero and an activist, but like to look around and be like, you guys, I'm really fun.

My world is cool. I throw spelling bees, like I'm quirky. Because I love it for you and I've been watching you being like, I need to text her and just be like, this feels like a new kind of permission slip. Yeah, I think that's a good point. I mean, I think part of what you're talking about if I'm understanding your point of view on it is, is that I just feel like there's a lot of chatter in the world. And isn't something I need to say. I don't need to inject myself into things. I'm not somebody that like needs to be on the internet and be like, remember me? Like I'm living, I'm doing my thing. And I read by my life. And so I think because from a artistic standpoint and my life has become so blurred with what that really means when you become like a public person it's sort of like what do what is that exactly but like it it's like of course if i'm promoting a movie then you're doing that and that comes with its own let's be real it comes

with its own layer of protection that you have to put on yourself because yes you have no idea what's going to get taken out of context and then like oh fun something got taken out of context and i'm mid press tour and now i have to try and avoid adding fuel to this non-assistant fire for the next three weeks. So you play this game where you're just like trying to edge around and still desperately dying to be yourself always. I don't think anybody is trying to not be themselves. It's just really hard and vulnerable.

Yeah. And so I think with this book, it gave me the way to feel like this was something worth saying that like this part of me that has been with me this whole time, I think together we were able to find what that means. And so it's not just me trying to be a goofball online. It's like it feels like it feels like it's for something. And maybe I'm also just getting older and I just, I don't care as much about that. I'm like, I've just been through enough being misunderstood things where I'm like, well, I don't know.

You know, it's just totally is and whatever, you know. But I think I can believe what I'm saying more than the fear of being misunderstood. Yeah. I love that for you. I guess for me, I had this kind of aha moment where very similarly to what you just said. I was like, I'm just, I'm living my life. And when I'm having a good time, I usually don't have a phone out. And then, oh, I, I guess maybe the heavier stuff might feel more weighted in the public space. But what I'm realized, is the sort of freedom I'm observing as a reader of your book with both of you and then thinking about it in the ways I know you specifically, is that, yeah, you got to do exactly what you wanted and say exactly what you wanted, but you got to put it in print. You didn't have to worry about how someone was going to clip an interview or nab a sound bite or any of the crazy part that you're talking about. You got to lean into something that is totally artistic, totally free.

rooted in the friendship between the two of you that jumps off the page in the most special way. Like I called my best friend and I was like, oh my God, we're going to do this party and we're going to do this party. And I don't know. It's like I'm so overjoyed for you with the project and then all the stuff that feels really apparent about the freedom underneath it. I'm just really happy for you both. It's very cool.

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So I have a few specific party questions for you. in your opinion what do you think is the ideal party size oh well i think it very much depends on the party okay um but i think for like an intimate like dinner party at home vibes or like casual party i like to say like eight to ten people me too okay and what about a big party if you were going to throw a 40th birthday for someone or something for a hot dog festival yeah we know or spelling bee whatever no limits sky's the limit i mean then it depends depends on your venue. And by venue, I mean, how many people do you want in your house at one time? Right. How much can, can the center hold is my, and how much are you willing to spend?

Because more people is more expensive. It's more expensive. It's more mess. It's true. All of that stuff is true. But you also, I think that doing, we do like bigger parties, like what we're talking about, like 70 people, like twice a year. Yeah. So I feel like you can mentally get your mind around. Like I was saying to Courtney yesterday, I was like, people need to understand that there's a reason why Thanksgiving happens once a year. Yes. And so I think when people go, oh, I just, it seems so overwhelming to have a dinner party. I'm like, dinner parties are not Thanksgiving. That is not fine.

It is not like you're roasting a turkey and like stressing about it all day. It is not like people who maybe bring you stress. Like it's not meant to eat that. This is like, do what you can. kind of thing. And then if you are the type of person that really wants to experience or enjoys being like, we talked with someone yesterday who's like, oh, I cut a turkey in fours and one fourth each goes to a different country and they're prepared different ways. And I'm like, that's fantastic. I can't imagine doing that monthly, but we hear that works. We do like our twice a year,

we do a murder mystery party and we have a hot talk. These are twice a year. These are my, our two events for the year. Truly couldn't do them. more than that. But then you're doing like a backyard party where you're making pizzas and doing a spelling meeting. What do you have bandwidth for? Right. Okay. So that leans into my next question, which is what would you each say is the best reason to throw a party? But maybe that's bandwidth specific. I think that there's no idea too small for a party. Yeah, literally any reason. And it's fun. Like I think you were you were mentioning yesterday, like, like you can just throw a dinner party like the thing that you can make, that's so easy for you to make, invite your people over

and be like, hey, wear something that, like, you've always wanted to wear, but never get to wear. And like, that's so easy. And people will jump on that because everyone has some closet that they want to wear. Where am I going to wear this? I am obsessed with that. Yeah. I have a good one for you. My friends did this two years ago. And it crushed. They threw a Halloween party where you were supposed to dress up as what you wanted to be when you were a kid. Love that. Oh, I love that. It was such a good theme.

I love even, I love a specific themed event during a normal holiday so much. Like, I'm just going to say now what the holiday, the holiday, I want to do a Santa party where everyone dresses as a different Santa. So you're like, be like, you can be Santa on vacation, Santana Santa. It's just like, be Santa, but a different kind of Santa. And like, that's so funny because it's like, whatever. And also I'm the type of person. And we're doing it in July.

You know, like, I don't care. I don't care about any of that. Why not? Just feel like live when you want to live. I think because I come from a world where like I'm usually working in another country on my work. So like what am I just supposed to never acknowledge that time is passing for me? Because I'm in Canada?

No. It's like you do it because I mean, no. It's like you have to do it when you can and the way that you want. And like I just think I've heard people before be like, oh, I've always. wanted to go to blah blah blah on my birthday i always wanted to go to whatever country on my birthday but that's not the good season for it i'm like then celebrate your birthday when it is like yeah it doesn't have to be when you think there's no rules there's no there's no there's literally zero rules it turns out yeah yeah there's no okay maybe not a rule but what about a tip what would you say particularly because

you two host so often is a good tip for being a better party guest I think I mean I love it when a party guest is like can I help you clean even if it's just a little bit like I'm not saying like put all your guests to work but like even it's just like hey I'm going to take this plate that I just ate off of and if it's compostable put it in the compost bin or if it's if it's not compostable like give it a rinse and put it in the dishwasher like that I find to be very nice we love we love a guest who maybe like two hours before the party says, can I bring anything? Because we sure forgot something. Yeah. You can, you can bet that we've already run out of ice. I was just going to say

extra ice always a hit. Ice is like when in doubt, bring ice. And I like to bring like a dustial bottle of wine, which is also like, that's fine. But I really feel like bubbly water and ice is like no one that's bad that you brought that. And I agree. with Courtney, like figure out, I'd say the other tip is find the friend who really enjoys cleaning or doing the dishes. Because they exist. They totally exist. And I usually exist. And I had a friend who was always invited to that dinner party because loved doing the dishes at the end of the night. Yeah. I really appreciate too is like I have, I'm thinking of Aaron. Like we have a friend who's like very much into wine. She always brings really great natural wines. And she always has,

and I love to see her. She also loves to clean. This is a two-hitter. She also will like, she'll go around and like, be like, hey, like, she'll come to me like, do you want a glass of wine? I'm like, yeah, I do. And she'll just like, my glass is always full. It's like, as a I like, I like, I love, like hosting, but also being hosted for. Yeah, care for it. You know what I mean? That's so nice. I know we're in your house, but can I get you something? Yeah. Yeah. Also, the thing, the thing that Aaron did the other day that was just blew my mind is like I had ruffles and french onion dip and she like knew what was happening like she knew her having pizza she were having ruffles and all this stuff and she brought

a sparkling that was paired that was supposed to be paired with it was like yeah bring a wine sure but like ask maybe what it is that because i mean that was like such a gift to me i was like wow what a magical moment yeah also what a sheik person to be like ruffles and onion dip. Gotcha. With a wine? I know. That is my kind of thing.

No, it really knocked my socks off. She was like, oh, yeah, Italian. And I was like, okay, I don't know what that means. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for humbling me. Okay. Aaron sounds like a person I would also like to invite to parties. What is her party person archetype and what are yours?

Oh. I'm the nostalgic one. I love talking about the good old. days in the past with my friends. I love like shedding a tear over 10 years ago. Yeah. I would say Aaron is the one with interesting booze. Yep. She's in there. I would say I'm a combo of depending on my mood of party animal and the know-it-all. I'm sorry to say the know-it-all. She's a party animal I love it. I love it.

I like a party zodiac. You know which one you are? Yeah. Have you thought about it? I have in going through it. And for our friends at home, there's a really fun section in the book where the gals identify the party person archetypes, which include the party animal, which often is me. I'm like, turn up the music.

Let's have a time. Because by the way, that's how we get to the nostalgia. I'm like, if we make a memory tonight, then we get to talk. about it. All the nostalgic ones, thank you. I like this little trifecta we have going here. I don't think I know anyone who's a party pooper. There's a shy one. There's a helper. A classic party archetype. Someone who has the top every story. It's like, oh, I've been there, but this place is better. Oh, you've been there? Oh, I went there seven times already. You know so and so from that. That's usually the person I go, so glad you're here. I'm going to run

into the kitchen. I'm like, you don't have to go. I just don't need to hear the story. now Halloween is right around the corner what are you guys planning because you've just launched a book about parties so I feel like you're going to have a lot of eyeballs on you this Halloween yes well I will say not to brag but I did win the golden skull which is like in my neighborhood which is the award that the house gets who has the best decoration oh my god I love this for you right there I have it next to my Emmy it's exactly And my award from the murder mystery party. I love that so much.

They all have to live together. They all the same thing. They're all quite meaningful. For a Halloween party based on everyone shows up as pop stars. Oh, yeah. I'm planning a pop star Halloween. I like that. I have all of our friends already that I was like,

because I like to do it not on the busy. Our other close friend has like a really special day, Halloween day. Thank her house. Think her house is the best place for trick or treaters. It's super cute. And so it's like I never want to take away. I want more, not less.

I don't want to have people to stop. So I was thinking that I would do something earlier and it would be specifically pop stars. Everybody has to dress as a pop star. She's trying to make me be Taylor Swift. Yeah. Yeah, that's a yes. Yeah.

And I want to be a perfect out. obviously. Yes. No, it's all kind of planned out. It's figured out. Well, I said I wanted to be Madonna from the 80s, though. But I was saying, that's good too. Oh, she could. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to open it up. I was trying to say it was just this year's girlies. Right. Which it makes sense. That's fair. It's funny. It's good. It is. It's good. I don't know exactly. We honestly have so many parties we're throwing before Halloween that it's kind of like, like right now we're really planning we do a hot dog festival so that's like yeah by the way can you tell me a little bit about this i i have a i have a video i need to send to you i don't know what i do i recently had the travel day from hell

and after 14 hours at the airport wound up on a red eye and i had a hot dog before i got on my red eye and then i landed for work and walked outside at lunchtime to get some sunshine and there was a hot dog stand and i was like it's meant to be like this is the universe apologizing to me for this day. So I had gone to bed with a hot dog and then woken up essentially with a hot dog. That sounds like a dream. And it feels as though perhaps that happened to me so we could talk about hot dogs. That's right. I think so. It was to remind you that the hot dogs are unsung for those. They're the best food. The best food. I've never met a person. It's true. It's true. Even the vegetarians and vegans. Yeah, they love their veggie dogs. Yeah, they like an impossible

dog? Yeah. So this is the fourth annual Hot Dog Festival. And we just get a bunch of hot dogs. But is there a dress code? Is there is there any is there any theme past love a hot dog show up? Hot Dog pair? My step that dresses as a hot dog. Yeah. There's trivia. There's hot dog trivia. We're also this year doing a hot dog dressing contest. So you dress up a dog and we vote on which one's the best. Which is the hottest dog. yeah obviously and we also of course have a tally of who eats the most hot dogs which i'm pretty sure is going to be my dog yeah um but we'll see great i love it yeah my dog's stealing

off of people's plates but the only main thing on the agenda is to just hang out and eat hot dogs feels like a perfect excuse to throw a party isn't it beautiful yeah it's wonderful but it's sort of gotten out of I mean I think next year we'll have to like move it outside of a backyard and like you'll need a venue yeah because it's like really grown we have sponsors it's it's so whole stop we've been sponsored by horn dogs too yes we've been sponsored by martin's potato rolls for two years now and walters stop yeah on the east house if you had walters they're so good can we get to hot dog on a stick yeah we have actually we've been working We thought it was going to work out last year. There's a lot of, there's a lot of red tape. We've got to work on the chain.

Also, my connections go as far as an Instagram DM. And if I can't get through it, it's going to take a while. Yeah. We're also trying to put the hot dog champion's name. Oh my God. Joey Chestnut. We're trying to get Joey Chestnut. Joey, if you're listening to this, we really would love to have you.

I have no guarantee of this, but I do feel that. that somewhere in the massive media umbrella of iHeart radio somebody has to know joey chesnot i just got to get to joie hard radio this is our plea please get us you know my publicity team's info we'll send some text messages around support us it feels it feels close yeah it does i kind of feel his spirit i feel his energy nearby joey's Is that you? He's coming for us. Julie?

Yeah. Incredible. Well, gals, I want to be mindful of time. I know we're close to the top of the hour and you've got more of these to do. So I will skip to the end and ask you with the book complete, what feels like your work in progress as best friends and a working pair? Very good question. Very good question. My work in progress, I'd say.

is being finding value in myself slowed down. I have a very earnest adoration for this planet and the people in it. And so it pushes me every day to be like, I want this place to be the best for everybody. Yeah. And so I work really hard in all these different ways for that. And it feels impossible to slow down when that's your quest. Yeah. But there is, of course, a part of me that is like, am I allowed to just rest for a moment? Is that okay, too? And I'm 36 this year, and I feel like that's a big part of the years to come for me

is like getting better at, in a world where there's so much I want to do. And I feel like I have such a limited time on this planet. can I still find value in the being and not the doing? Yeah. So just a little thing. Just a wee philosophical. I'm working on. I'm sure that breakthrough is just around the corner.

Solved by Tuesday. Yeah. Pressure away. One more couple more jobs. I got this. It'll be fine. I think for me, it's work in progress is just continuing to like, I think my dream is to just like be able to inspire people doing what I do the best,

whatever that means and just like and continuing to like be myself in the world and carving my own path and creating something tangible that I can inspire people that can be inspiring to people. And I think this is honestly one of those things. So like continuing on like that journey. Yeah. And it's hard like carving a path out of nothing, you know, not out of nothing. Totally. You know, like, forging a new path is a real thing. It's an important aspect to like see what the path is that's been walked before and go, gosh, I wish that I could just do that, but I got to go the rougher way. Well, and I think it's a, it's scary and really courageous to decide you're going to walk a path while you're laying the bricks for yourself. Yeah. And, you know, we're not always going to get it right. We might have to. edit and make a left turn at some point but to do it and and to have that kind of audaciousness

about your own dreams feels really inspiring and it's it's cool to watch both of you walk these paths together and like you know not to be the cheesiest person in the world shocking I'm fired up about something about the world I really, I really feel like to remind people that they deserve beauty and joy while they are, as you said, earnestly standing up for people around them is so important. Like, this is fuel for us, and it's part of the whole human experience. And even though a party takes a lot of effort, it is, I think, in a way, part of the slowdown. to put your phone down and make memories with your friends for a night.

Like, that's everything. So it's the most gorgeous, beautiful, fun book, but it also has, like, all the deeper messaging in it that makes me feel very excited to have a copy. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for seeing that. Yeah, of course. Thank you, ladies, so much for joining us today.

This was great. Yeah, and we'll connect. Yeah. party. Yeah, we must. It's like, it's been too long. And I'm like, uh, not that it's a bad thing, but I'm like, every time I see you, it's like, there's a crisis and we've got to fix it. And I'm like, I just kind of want to get drunk and like find out how you are. No, no, totally. It makes perfect sense to them. Like, just like come to our murder mystery party. It's fun. It's like, it's a big drama, but it's not a real one. So it's kind of fun to get dressed up and care about something that isn't really

going to affect the world. Yeah, that feels wonderful. And for you, gals, as you think about your calendar, we do, I host every year potluck Friendsgiving, Saturday before Thanksgiving. It's an all-day hang. Sometimes people are asleep by 10. Sometimes it turns into a rager that goes to karaoke. It's a real fucking ball. Please come. Okay, great. That sounds lovely. See you there. Congratulations on this, you guys. It's so cool. Thank you.