The Liz Moody Podcast - What’s Gaby Cooking’s Gaby Dalkin — Couples Therapy, Developing Self-Confidence, And How To Live A Happier Life

Episode Date: June 27, 2018

Gaby Dalkin (@whatsgabycooking) is the founder of one of the most successful food blogs on the planet, What’s Gaby Cooking and the author of the beautiful, bright color and produce-packed cookbook, What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food. She’s also one of the most self-confident, positive people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. I spend a lot of the episode trying to uncover how she became so comfortable in her skin (she tells an amazing story about choosing to keep her lisp that I’m in awe of), and we uncover some pretty interesting secrets. We also talk about the pros and cons of owning your own business, how she gained 20 pounds, and what she did to lose it, the secret to actually wanting to workout (Gaby works out for 90 minutes a day!), how to do a friendship cull and why it’s so important, the role of therapy in her relationship, and so much more. If you love food, are looking to become more confident, or just want to live with a bit more joy, this episode is a must-listen. For every episode of the Healthier Together podcast, there will be a corresponding giveaway and a challenge based on some of the guest’s shared wisdom—one week we might meditate, and another we might try a new skincare routine or tweak our diets, all in the name of actually getting healthier together (versus just listening to a podcast). Come join in (and enter to win!) on Instagram @lizmoody, or using the hashtag #htpodcast. Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by CW Hemp. I’m extremely picky about the supplements that I choose to use and CW Hemp’s full-spectrum hemp extract is one of just a handful that I take daily. By interacting with our cannabinoid receptors (which are all over our body—it’s crazy, and definitely worth a Google!), I find it super helpful in relieving stress and helping me sleep better and longer at night. I typically go for the middle strength mint chocolate, but the unflavored is also great for recipes, like this Lavender Hot Chocolate (which would also be great iced in the summer time!). If you’d like to try CW Hemp for yourself, you can get 10% off your order using the code “healthiertogether.” Visit cwhemp.com/healthiertogether for more details, and if you have any questions (I LOVE talking about this stuff), don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram! Healthier Together cover art by Zack. Healthier Together music by Alex Ruimy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi guys and welcome back to the healthier together podcast. The healthier together podcast is all about coming together and sharing our knowledge to live happier, healthier lives. Each episode, I'll have a guest like a best-selling author, a world-famous doctor, an award-winning chef, a TV or a movie star, I have a celebrity hypnotist and so much more. And we will talk about how to live healthier and happier lives. I'm your host, Liz Moody, and I'm a healthy cookbook author. My new cookbook It's also called Healthier Together. And that comes out next April. I'm a food blogger and I am the food director at Mind Body Green, which is an amazing wellness

website that you guys should all check out if you haven't yet. I am also obsessed with dessert and I spend way, way too much time trying to figure out how to make pies and cakes and candies healthy, which I document on Instagram at Liz Moody. So come hang out and drool with me over there. This is episode four of the podcast and I have been so florist. by your response. I really try to get real and vulnerable and have out-of-the-box conversations with my guests. And I'm so happy to see these actually resonating with you. I've been working on this for so long and it's amazing that real people are actually getting to listen now and

have their lives changed by my guest's messages as much as I've had my life changed by them. As always, if you love it or hate it, please let me know. You can email a healthier together podcast at gmail.com or come talk on insta or at Liz Moor. Moody.com and tell me who you'd love to see on the show. I'm here for you guys. I want this to be an ongoing conversation. So shoot me a message with any of that. And if you do love the podcast, please, please give it a five-star review on iTunes or wherever you listen. It makes such a huge difference to helping people find the podcast, especially in these early stages. And it's so, so appreciated. And share it with the people that you love so that you guys can get healthier

together in real life, you know, with real people off the internet. I'm so, so excited about today's guest, who's one of the coolest people I've had the pleasure of hanging out with in real life. Gabby Dalkin, also known as the amazing woman behind What's Gabby Cooking. What's Gabby cooking is like the food blog. She creates these luscious, California-inspired recipes from stunning farmers' market salads to slutty brownies, which she basically invented, and they are as decadent and delicious as they sound. I'll link them and What's Gabby Cooking in the show notes. She also has a new cookbook out, which is so amazing. It's called What's Gabby Cooking Everyday California Food,

and it's been praised by everyone from the New York Times to the pioneer woman. It's filled with beautiful, beautiful food that will inspire you to eat your vegetables, and I'll leave a link to it in the show notes. Gabby is so likable, and I think that really comes through in this conversation. She's also, weirdly, the alternative universe version of me. We both grew up in Tucson, Arizona. we both played tennis. We both went to college in the Bay Area. We both married our first real boyfriends, despite that being kind of weird in our social circles, and both of our now husbands work

in tech. And now we're both making our way in this crazy food world. But there is one really big difference. Somehow, Gabby has come away from her entire life with this amazingly positive, anxiety-free attitude. She says at one point in the podcast that she thinks there's one time that she felt anxiety, I think that there's one time that I haven't felt anxiety, which I think says a lot about our personalities. We talk about how she got that way because I'm completely fascinated by it, including a really interesting element of how her parents raised her and how we also talk about how adults can sort of cultivate that approach to life, even if we can't go back and redo our childhoods. We also talk about the pros and cons of owning your own own business.

We talk about how she gained 20 pounds at one point in her life and what she did to lose it. We talk about the secret to actually wanting to work out. She works out for 90 minutes a day, which I'll talk about a little bit more later. I find that insane and fascinating. We talk about how she finds delicious food wherever she goes, even though she hates Yelp. We talk about how she got her incredible self-confidence, even in the face of online trolling. She tells this really interesting story of how she could have gotten rid of her list, but she chose not to. says if she focused, she can make her list go away, but she'd rather be excited and talk fast and

be really galvanized and interest in life, which I just find so inspiring to not to choose that over-sounding quote-unquote perfect. So we talk about that. We talk about her relationship, her proposal story, which is really, really sweet. And then we talk about a recent friendship cold that she did and why it's so important to do that kind of stuff. We talk about how travel changes you, fear of death, how she defines success and if she feels like she is successful, and so much more. I'll be giving away a few copies of her amazing cookbook on Instagram, so come and check that out on my page at Liz Moody. And I was thinking about making this week's challenge napping since that's how Gabby said was the best way to spend 20 minutes every day,

but I am personally a terrible napper, so I'm going to do a workout challenge instead. She works out, like I said, for 90 minutes a day, which is insane, but she's also truly the most uplifting, positive, fun to be around, unanxious person I've met. And I'm wondering if there is a correlation there. So to find out, I'm going to challenge myself to work out, like, really work out to the point where I am sweaty and red-faced and all of that for 20 minutes every single day this week. And then I'm going to see how I feel. I'd love for you to come join me tag HT Podcast and at Liz Moody on Instagram so we can all share if it actually makes a difference, how we're feeling all of that. Send me your sweaty face picks. I'll send you my sweaty face picks.

I'll see if I can get Gabi to send some sweaty face picks and we can all look gross and feel great together. All right. Let's get into the show. All right. Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. I'm going to post a picture of what you look like right now, but you look really, really fabulous. So Gabby has eyewasks on under her eyes, and we're sitting in a little business center of our hotel, and she's holding the mic, like, she's, like, sunny and share,

like, ready to perform for us? Do you want to perform for us? What do you want me to perform? Do you have any, like, hidden talents that can... Certainly not singing. It's scary to listen to me sing. So, no, I don't want to remember that. No, I am the least musically talented.

person you'll ever meet. And I love to sing by myself in the shower, in the car, but it is atrocious, to say the least. It's bad. It's bad. I used to think I could sing, and then I, like, gave up on it. I think I just liked the attention as a kid, and so I was like, oh, people are watching me.

I must be great at this, but I just loud. Like, you get really far as a kid just by being the loudest one who you want every see. Were you, like, an attention whore when you're a kid? Uh, yeah, probably. Probably. Probably. You were a tennis player, right? Yes. I grew up playing tennis and I was a swimmer. But maybe I wasn't attention to work because I never played team sports. I was always a solo sports player. But does that mean you are an attention? Yeah, that's what I mean. Like I was, I never, I wasn't into. Also, like, I never played soccer. And like, we both grew up in Arizona. I feel like soccer was a thing. And I suck at running. So I was never a soccer. A soccer wasn't my thing. You know you have to run in tennis. No, but tennis is short sprinting. Socer's like, a long field. So were you like the athlete in like high school? Like what was sort of your social circle? I would say I was an athlete. Did you feel cool in high school? I mean there, no, yes or no?

Like I don't know. Like I was like we partied really hard and we played tennis. Like that's just what we did at foothills. So Gabby and I both grew up in Arizona and then we both went to college in the Bay Area and now she lives in L.A., which I'm kind of jealous of because I'm considering I'm jealous you live in New York. Are you? What do you think of like the New York versus L.A. thing? Like in terms of the food scenes, how they're competitive. Everything.

Well, I think people in California are far more laid back. Like I've been walking around the city, Insta storytelling, and people here are judging me. Really? Yeah, and they like, this guy this morning walked by and you can see them in my story, give me the like death stare. In L.A., nobody cares. But that's because every, like, there's this on-camera culture. Right.

Like, every's like, of course. Everybody's famous. Right, everyone, but I feel more judged in New York. And people here, I don't know, when I'm in New York, I feel like I have this incredible energy that I'm just here to get things done. And in L.A., I'm way more laid back, I think. What do you think of the whole, like, celebrity culture thing in L.A.? I know that you've, you worked as a private chef for number of celebrities and you are friends with a number of celebrities. Yeah.

Is it like a, they're just like us? They're totally normal. thing. Yeah, they are. Like, I get it. And I think people do this, like, when you're a chef or a quote-unquote influencer, which is literally my least favorite word in the entire world. But they have, you know, when they're on, they're on. But when they're not on, they would, like, one of my best friends would just sit here and shoot the shit with us, no problem. Like, they're just normal people. I just feel like the weirdest part of anybody, you included, who makes their life known to the world is the imbalance of information. So, like, if I'm sitting here and talking with somebody, and I've, you know, I know what their kid's name is, but they've never told me what their kid's name is, and they have no idea what my cat's name is. I think that that inequality of information is, because at the end of day, everybody's just doing a job, and some jobs are lauded societally more than other jobs are lauded society. But I think the imbalance of information is always strange to me. It's weird, and it's weird that you see people online all the time that you feel like you're friends with. Yeah.

There are people, like last night I had a book signing at Columbus Circle, and this girl was like, I feel like we're best for. friends. And I was like, we are. Like, we talk all the time on Insta Stories. We have no idea, like, we've never met in real life, but that's just the nature of our society now. We know a lot about a lot of people. Do you talk to a lot of your audience members? I respond to every single person that messages me. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, especially when I ask for, like yesterday I asked for the best chocolate chip cookie in New York. And I've got about 300 DMs that I haven't been able to get through because I haven't had time yet, but I will. I'll set aside an hour today in power. Is there, have you seen the responses though? It's, how do you pronounce it?

Levan, Levine? I think it's Levan. Okay, but here's my problem. Okay. Those cookies have nuts in them. And I am very anti-nuts and cookies. So I'm going to go tomorrow and have one. Just to like, but I have a feeling I'm not going to like it. Have you had the Allison Roman cookies? Yeah, you're friends with her? I interviewed her for the podcast. I think she's hysterical, but I don't like shortbread cookies. I know. I know. I'm also an alien and I don't like peanut butter and sweet things. So I'm very weird. So you started as a super, super picky eater, which I find fascinating because I'm also a really picky eater. And I'm for Arizona water working through. Well, it's like a lot of people who come into recipe development, particularly are picky eaters because they're trying to create food

that they want to eat. Interesting. I never thought about it like that. Yeah. So people are always like surprised. And I'm like, well, that's why I started making recipes in the first place. How did Did you, I know, was it culinary school that made you not piggy? Yeah, so I ate buttered noodles and grilled cheese. I'm not exaggerating until I was 17 years old. Like my mom would throw chicken dive-in in there, which is basically frozen peas and carrots with a layer of pasta, a layer of shredded chicken, and then a mixture of cream of chicken and mayonnaise mixed together with cheese on top and the face you're making right now is amazing because

it sounds disgusting, but it's actually really good. Very anti-California girl. But that's what I ate growing up. And then I got to college and I started eating a few more things and I started cooking for my tennis team. I played tennis at St. Mary's up in the Bay Area. And I loved feeding people. So after college, I went to culinary school. And my teacher, I had no intention to being in the food world at that point.

I just wanted to learn how to cook more. And my culinary school teacher said, if you don't learn how to eat mushrooms and fish and cook a steak, you'll never make it. And I took that as a personal challenge. and now here I am. So what did that look like pragmatically? Like would you cook up a fish and just like sit there for two hours, like trying to stick the fork in it? No, I just had never cooked anything before.

So when I started culinary school, I started private chefing and the blog all within 10 days of each other. And the family I cooked for originally was like, we love fish. And I'm like, that's amazing. Never cooked anything. I've never cooked fish in my life. So luckily we got into fish very quickly in culinary school. And I learned and I tried it.

and I loved it. For me, it was just a case of not being exposed to it from, you know, zero to 22, basically. Right. And I just needed to get over. I draw the line up some things. Like, I'm not going to eat awful or I don't eat intestines or things like that. But, like, mostly. But now, like, fit.

I love octopus. I love me. Yeah, the octopus tacos. Those are ball. Real good. And they're also, like, interesting looking, which I think is fun. They're fun, right? They're visual.

Private chaffing, you have to, like, work a lot around what. people's dietary preferences and stuff like that are. So the first family I cooked for was six people, mom and dad, four kids, and everyone had different eating things. So one of the girls was gluten-free, one of them was a professional surfer, so she needed a ton of protein. The mom was basically a pescatarian. The dad was very much a meat eater. Oh my God. So I was essentially a short-order cook. I'd cook six to eight things a night and like spend gross amounts of money at the grocery store every day. It was a lot of food. food. And then my second client, I cooked for Jessica Simpson for a period of time and she eats

just how I eat. So it was way less stressful because... Which is like just California. California, Tex-Mex, very southwestern influenced here and there, like lots of things with salsa and enchiladas and things like that. And that was less aggressive because she, she doesn't have any food aversions really and neither does her husband and her family. So that's, yeah, that's like crazy. Did you know how to be a private chef? No. How do you... I was winging it.

How do you even know what the rules are? Like when you're supposed to go grocery shopping and like how many meals you're supposed to cook and like how you're supposed to plan that type of day? So my first private chef client was very different than Jess. My first client, I would just do dinners and I would go grocery shopping at like 3 o'clock every day, get there by four, feed the kids a snack after school and then get started on dinner, serve dinner at 7, 7.30 and then bounce. That sounds like a great day. It was cushy. Because I could do the blog in the morning or go to school, workout, whatever. Jess, I would go over, I'd grocery shop every day around 8.30, go over there and make her breakfast, make lunch.

We'd all sit down and have lunch. And then I'd do a snack, make dinner, stick dinner in the fridge, and bounce by three. So it was really, it was, I could never do any of it again because I'll never find, like as many. whatever. The two clients were incredible. Wait, so did you just do private shopping for those two clients? Yeah, each for two years. And then... And then my second, my first book came out and I was going on...

The avocado manifesto? Yeah, absolutely avocados. I think it's like 80 avocado recipes, which was... I pitched as a joke. That's a different story. And then the book was coming out. I was going out on a very condensed book tour for a couple weeks and just was like, if I'm going to do what's got to be cooking full time, now is my moment to

try and make it work. And did it work right away? Um, I mean, it worked. Like, I, I had saved up a lot of money from private chefing. Um, so I had some cushion to, you know, kind of make it make my way for six to eight months. Um, and then it started working. I had to really hustle hard and be scrappy, but yeah, it worked. And at what point did your, your, does your husband work with a full time? No. Oh, no. Oh, no. We don't work either at all. Oh, really? I feel like he, he, he hosts my last. He hosts my last. my Instal Lives on Monday night, but he moonlights and codes for what's got to be cooking. Like he built my website with one of his friends,

but no, he has his own, he has his own job. I'm not allowed. Are we not allowed to ask him for help on what's got to be cooking from like 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. Yeah, same with my. Because he does all the technical stuff, so I'm always like wanting, but he's so busy and you feel guilty about it.

He won't even answer my phone calls during the day. Unless I text him and I'm like, 911, someone hacked my site or whatever it is, he won't, forget it, he's not answering. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what is, he'll chat? Nothing. What does he do? He's actually launching a company right now that's basically going to be Tinder for brands and creative, so matchmaking them together and then producing video on everyone's behalf, editing it, delivering that content to creators like you or me, and that we can post on our channels. That's super cool. Yeah, it launches, I think.

think later this month or early June. So has he always been sort of an entrepreneur, like running his own thing? No, he, this is new for him. Like he, when we, we both met playing tennis in college, and then he was in the advertising world for a number of years in L.A. being a producer, which he's doing in his new company as well, in a matter or in a manner. But yeah, this is his first foray into entrepreneurship. And I think it's great because he's seen me build what's gotby cooking from the bottom up and now he's building his own thing from the bottom up. Yeah, I mean, I imagine it be really, you get to see like the good and the bad of it. Yeah. So what is the good and the bad of it? The good, I mean, God, I love my job. I think my favorite part of my job is meeting the people

that follow what's got to be cooking and how my recipes have changed their life and the people that I get to meet and work with. For example, Matt and Adam, my two best friends who I met through food blogging. Matt Armandaris is a photographer. Adam Pearson is a food stylist. And I have just inserted myself in their marriage and I just, and they're my two best friends. Like they were in my wedding. I love them. We work together on a daily basis. And they do all of your asylum photography. Yeah. How does that work with the Seattle, LA? So yeah, I'm spending a little bit of time in Seattle for Thomas's company right now, but I'm in LA every two weeks. Like I just am splitting my time. So I, we shoot when I'm there. Or like today, I needed something for tomorrow. They're, they're shooting for

food network today so they're just squeezing me in when they're done with food network oh cool so i feel very lucky okay so that's the good yeah the bad i guess i haven't taken a day off in the last five years like like truly that's a true statement um i work when i'm on vacation and by work what do you mean work creating content answering emails working on like scheduling blog posts doing social media i i feel fortunate because I've made a job that centers around my life and all the different aspects of it, whether it's cooking or traveling or entertaining. But that also means I never take a break. But I also never feel like I'm working. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. You're constantly working and you're never working. Right, exactly. Is it weird for you though? Like, is there a line for you on how much you

share and how much you don't share since your job is your life? Yeah. Great question. We don't share. I mean, I don't share everything. That's for sure. Like I'm really private. bit about what like when I'm with my family I just want to be with my family I'm not trying to like put my phone in all my friends faces when we're together that time's really sacred to me so I try and to stay off a social media but Thomas and I are really active he started an Instagram account just to make fun of me a couple weeks ago called what's Thomas eating and he's having a grand old time with it and I'm you know I'm pretty and I'm honest about our lives they're not always perfect and you know it doesn't always look like gorgeous cheese boards sometimes I'm having like

50 cent pasta with garlic and a pound of mozzarella for dinner so you know I just that's pretty much it you know um do you know Kelly Levec yeah I know I we haven't met in person but yeah her husband she's like be well by Kelly and her husband is like be bad by Chris and it's like all of the unhealthy things that he's doing all the time that's amazing I think it's so funny I love the idea of just like the Instagram husband's like controlling. You got to have balance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She is very healthy, though.

I wish I could be that healthy. Yeah. How, I mean, you're pretty healthy. How healthy would you, like, what are the healthy things you do? I would say on a, if you were grading me, I would be a B plus. Okay. Like, I work out every day. I try and eat as many salads as I can.

I don't eat a ton of meat. I just feel like I don't feel great when I'm eating a lot of like burgers and steaks and stuff like that. I would say I eat healthy probably 85 to 90% of the time. And you work out for like an hour a day 90 minutes. Yeah. If I- 90 minutes. Well, so my trainer in LA, the segments are an hour long. So like to say I work out from 9-10. I get there at 8.30 to work out, like run on the treadmill and do all my warm-up. And I just love being at the gym so much. I like to maximize my time there. Wait, what do you love about it? I love my trainer. Okay. She's amazing. Well, there are multiple, but they're all amazing. Is that the secret?

Is that the secret? Is like to have a trainer that you actually want to hang out with? Yeah, I think it might be. And a cool gym. Like the gym, so my gym, Rise Movement, has four or five trainers. Everyone has one client that hour. And they're really cool people that train there. So it's a fun environment to be a part of. And you get really personalized attention because it's just a one-on-one session. And what kind of stuff are you doing? A lot of weights, body work, like climbing. machines, we do deadlift, squats. It's torture. It is.

It's torture, but I would be 900 pounds without it. Have you struggled with like weight stuff in your life? I gained like 20 pounds right when I got to college very quickly. I went, I was heavier than I'd ever been and my hair was really long so I have a fear of having long hair now because it brings me back to that place. We had this thing at St. Mary's called Late Night and it was when it was when And everyone was, from 9 to 11, everyone was done studying, done with all their homework, whatever. And the cafeteria would open up for basically a second dinner.

And I would have nachos every night because I would go and we would basically hold court. And like we'd meet boys and we'd flirt and be idiots. Yeah. And I gained a lot of weight really fast. And I played tennis. Like I was being super active. Yeah. But I lost most of it the summer after my freshman year.

and then I tried to make better decisions about how late I eat at night. So how are you like Oprah? Like nothing after what was seven? No, I'm not like. And I have very little self-control, but I try and make good decisions. You know, like the other night we went to Lilia and we went to dinner at seven. We probably ate for two and a half hours. And I was so full.

So yesterday I just had salad when we filmed together. And then a brownie for dinner. And that was pretty much it. Where is it from? I went, I just got one from Bouchon. after my signing. It was pretty good. Yeah. The cookie there wasn't, but the brownie was well done. Do you just eat your way

through cities when you go? Pretty much. Yeah. How do you figure out where to go? A lot of crowdsourcing. I don't believe in Yelp, so I don't check anything out on Yelp. Why don't you believe in Yelp? I think the majority of people who leave reviews on Yelp are negative. And I don't

want to read negative things. I also stock Instagram, so like I will look at tags of restaurants and see what their food looks like and what people are saying and what kind of people are there. I ask my audience a lot what their recommendations are. And then do you look for like some sort of consensus? Yeah, I will, I kind of look at, like there's a place in Philadelphia that I'm going to on Sunday. I asked where I should eat. And everyone said, I think it's pronounced Zahav. It's this like Middle Eastern, Israeli-style

restaurant and this guy's super famous. And I'm 80 people probably suggested it. Wow. So I knew it was good. And then I did some research. I think he, like, won a James Beard. Like, I think he's very, very well, whatever. So I'm going there based on everyone's suggestions. Do you feel like, I know you live in L.A. And I feel like if I lived in L.A. And if I was cooking for Jessica Simpson, I would have, like, a lot of insecurity,

especially as somebody who has had any sort of weight struggle in the past. Do you, are you, like, 100% confident with, like, how you look generally? I mean, I definitely feel like I could lose five to seven pounds at any moment in my life. But yeah, I just can't, I don't worry about it. I know you posted ones on Instagram. You did like a screenshot of somebody who said something really shitty and negative. About my list? I think it was, it might have been.

I remember you like circling, you're just like, whatever, dude, or something. And I just like, it felt like such a confident. I think it was about my list. Yeah. So I've had a list. since I was at born, like since I started speaking. My mom asked me if I wanted to do speech therapy, and I was like, yeah. And I went twice, and then I was like, this sucks.

I'm never doing it again. Why is this? What do you do? Oh, wait, no, my husband did speech therapy, and he said there's this thing where they make you, like, pick up sprinkles with your tongue. What? Yeah. I've never done that.

There's another speech therapist at the table, and she's like, oh, yeah, that's like a classic technique. I had to, like, blow. So my problems with my S's and things like that. and we had to blow through this straw and I was like this is bullshit like I'm just not I'm not meant to do this I don't care and I just own it and so someone on Instagram

meant to send a message to their friend but they sent it to me by mistake and they're like oh my God her lisp is so annoying and I got it and I wrote back to her I don't get a lot of hate but when I do it's my favorite part of my day because my goal in life is to make people like in L.A. one looks at you when you walk by them on the street so I always look like walk by

and smile and say hi and people are so discombobulated by it but I wrote her back and I was like I'm so sorry my list offends you you know have a great day that was basically all I said and then I circled it like crossed her name out yeah and posted it and I'm like I did that because what happened if I had been in an accident as a kid and you know someone like nicks something and a surgery and the list was not my fault and And, you know, even now, like, it's just like you were born that way. I mean, I think if I really concentrate and take my time speaking, it goes away. But I'm just so excited and I go so fast, it's not going to happen ever.

That's so interesting. So you never went through a period of being embarrassed about it, even when you're, like, 13 and you're embarrassed about everything in the world? No. I did. Never my list. What have you been self-conscious about? I it's really funny you ask that question I was on a plane to Ethiopia a few years ago with my friend Barrett and who he has four girls and he was like I want to know where you get your self-confidence from

and I said I don't know the answer to that let me ask my mom and my dad I'll get back to you they answer all my questions I love them and they told me that when I was younger they just made me do everything on my own if I got into a fight with my best friend Tara I had to go over there and fix it it. If I wanted to go play at someone's house, I needed to call and do something. So they got me in the, like I just had to do things on my own and figure it out on my own. So I don't think I ever really took the time to be insecure about things. I don't know if that really made sense. Yeah, I think it does, do you think there's a way to mimic that as a kid who can't go back in time and like redo their child or as an adult who can't go back in time and redo their childhood? Yeah, and I tell

people with this a lot. Like, I don't, if I'm happy, I don't really care what anyone else thinks about me. Like, I'm really happy with me and my husband and our lives, and I have a great relationship with my friends and my parents. And that's all that matters to me. Like, how do you get to the place where you're happy in that bubble unto yourself? I'm not too hard on myself. Um, like, I'm not the skiniest person in the world, but I love eating and being with my friends. And that means, more to me than being skinny. So I think it's doing things like that and cutting yourself some slack. Yeah.

I feel like I'm good at it on some days. And then I think we live in a world where we're so often exposed to how insanely beautiful, all the most beautiful people in the world are. And how insanely successful, all the most successful people in the world are. And all these crazy trips people are taking. And I just like, I fall into these comparison cycles. and I don't know how to like get out of it. It's not real.

I don't think, I mean, Instagram is such a curated portion of someone's life. And the people who are beautiful and like so skinny and frolicking around in their bikinis, they have insecurities too. We've all got them. It's just whether or not we choose to share them on social media. And the people that are like so successful and have more money than anyone in the world, like they have a lot of problems. And I've watched it.

I've watched marriages fall apart. You know, because like this one family I know had all the money in the world and then marriage fell apart because they basically hated each other. And that was really sad. And so I don't think anyone's life is perfect. It's just what you make of it. So what makes a good life to you? I feel very fortunate to love my job. I have a great relationship with my husband and I have a really supportive family and friend circle.

you and your husband are like the cutest thing ever like I love the lives because I just I love the way that you guys interact and I just think it feels so real he's comic he's we have a good time together how do you feel like there's like a secret or stuff that you've learned that's made your you guys got married really young right we did we got married when I was 25 he was 26 we met when I was seven 18 years old do he was he like your first he's my only boyfriend have you kissed other boys yeah yeah I was a lot of love him and leave him kind of girl in high school and early college and I would be really obsessed with someone we'd like make out go on a date whatever and then I'd be over it yeah I'm same for me I got you and now moving on yeah um my husband's my first boyfriend really I had one boyfriend in high school for like two months and coincidentally he has the same last name as my husband and they're not related isn't that so weird so weird um but we broke up because I I'm pretty sure it's because as we were on this school ski trip. And you know how when you're skiing,

you like spray people with snow when you stop? You know? Yay, like. And I thought it was being really cool and I did that and I slammed into him and we toppled down the mountain and he broke up with me the week after. And I'm like, for sure,

it's because I'm like ungraced on the mountain. Oh my God, I love that. But yeah, Thomas, what was the question? Well, first, okay, I have a lot of questions. First of all, like, were you nervous when you were like, this is the one? Because you like spot him across the room or something. Yeah, I picked him out before.

And you were like, that one. Yeah, well, I picked him out before I even got to college. On the St. Mary's website, I looked, my best friend, Emily, and I looked through every athlete, basketball, football, rugby, soccer, tennis, baseball. And out of all the male athletes, I was like, he looks like my type. And so when I got to college, he had a girlfriend. And I was like, whatever, moving on to baseball.

And we always got matched up playing mixed doubles together. and we always were flirting. And then eventually he had one girlfriend, they broke up. Then he had another girlfriend for a hot second. They broke up. And he wanted to date. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. I've never had a real boyfriend before.

I'm not ready for that kind of commitment because somewhere in my mind, I knew that he was it. Like, and if we got together, it was over. So I was very hesitant to be. We didn't, like, really get serious for the first couple months of our relationship because I was scared. I was really scared. But then did he wear you down?

Yeah, he sure did. Did he know you were the one equally? Like, was he like, this is it for me? I don't. That's a great question. I don't know the answer. This is so weird and juvenile embarrassing, but I went to Tahiti with two of my friends on the tennis team, and we were drunk.

He didn't come with me. And I was like, I'm going to get a tattoo. Let's all go get tattoos. And one of the girls was like, what do you get to get? I said, I'm going to get a dolphin on my ankle. And they're like, okay, I was like, but I'm just going to call Thomas quickly and, like, get his approval. And I called him, and this is when I knew he was for sure the one. And he was just like, your mom will kill you if you do this.

And it snapped me out of my tipsy state. And I was like, you're right. She would kill me. And then I got home. He threw me a surprise birthday party in Tucson with all my friends. and it was over. I knew it was him. How did he propose?

Oh, my gosh. Matt and Adam, my two best friends. He orchestrated it with them. So they called me in October, and they said, we need you to come to Malibu with us and shoot our Christmas card photo. And Matt, you guys, is a professional photographer.

Like, he shoots for Food Network and the Olympics and Copacola and, like, Amazon. And I was like, you want me to shoot your wedding? holiday photo? I'm so honored, of course. So they pick me up. I'm on day seven of a juice cleanse, so I'm kind of emotional.

Man, you're so late. I was, I don't do them anymore, but I did a lot of them for a minute. And Polonix. Love it's amazing. Everything together. I'm so L.A. That was really real.

They picked me up and they're like bickering on the way to Malibu and I'm in the back starving on a juice cleanse. I was like, you guys, please stop. bickering. I was getting very emotional. We get to Malibu, we get out of the car. Matt's acting

so weird. Like he's like flying all over the place and being very weird. Did you suspect anything? Or you're just like my friend is being psycho? He's being psycho. Like we get each other. I'm wearing the grossest outfit. I have no makeup on. My hair's up in a gross

ponytail. I have a shower probably in two days. And you're like probably delirious. Yeah, like completely hallucinating at all times. taking pictures of them and someone taps me on the shoulder and it's Thomas and I turn around and I'm like, oh hey, and I go back to taking pictures and then I'm like, what are you doing here? And Matt grabbed the camera, Adam reported it, Thomas dropped down to one knee and proposed and I completely blacked out. That's so cute. Do you know what he said at all?

No, and it was so windy, I can't hear it. All I know is he gave me this ring, which is a family, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, 1920s vintage ring that's been in my family for a while. I said yes and then he threw a surprise birthday surprise engagement party at our apartment with my family, his family and all of our friends. That night? Yeah. Did you eat food and shower and stuff before you went? No. I had Lulu lemons on the entire time. High quality, high quality stuff. And then what if you, were you nervous about being that? I mean, I know, and on the coast, like people gave me shit for getting married and getting engaged as like 28. Yeah.

To be honest, I didn't even think about it. I never asked anyone. We got married really young though. And now I always joke with him. I'm like, we should have waited four years. Our wedding would have been so much cooler. I think that too. All the time.

I'm like, we have so much more money now. We have more money. We have better taste. We have different friends. Yeah, yeah. I do that. It's one of my biggest regrets actually is because I feel like I have so many,

as you grow up, you kind of settle into your friends a little bit more. And I have all these people I wish I'd had at my wedding. Me too. They never will be. Me too. You have to have a 10-year anniversary party. Do you think people come to that as much?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I do. I mean, maybe they're not going to travel from all over the world for it. But I plan on having like a Moroccan theme party in Palm Springs for our 10-year anniversary. Sounds really nice. Right? Yeah, I think so.

So you weren't, you weren't at all apprehensive about like my dating life is over. I'm so young for all this to happen. And I'm going to be like an old married lady or any of that kind of stuff. I never even thought about it, to be honest. Yeah, I was just like I'm ready to be, like I know it's him. There's no point in dating anymore. I actually wanted to get married even earlier because we dated for seven years. We started, you know, when I was a sophomore in college.

And I had always told them five years and I'm out. Like if we're not married for five years, I'm out. And at that point, I would have been 23 and I didn't know anything as a 23 year old. So I'm glad we waited a few more years. But like I said, our wedding would have been even cooler if we waited till we were 28 or 29. How is your relationship sort of changed as you guys? Because it's such different life phases you met in college and then you're like starting your careers in LA. Now you're like both quite successful.

Yeah. It's been it's been great. It's been a lot of work. Like, you know, when you get married, everyone's like, marriage is work. And you're like, whatever. This is great. Yeah. It's a lot of work.

And I don't think I ever thought about that. What does that mean? I always feel like people say it's work, but it, that what, what is the work consistent? Well, there was a period of time when what's got to be cooking was just getting off the ground that I was traveling all the time. And I said yes to everything. Want to go to South America? Yes. You want to go here. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. I was gone all the time. And that was so hard on our relationship. And we had to have a real talk about it. And I cut back on a lot of my travel because I wasn't getting to spend any time with Thomas. And have you done that love language test? Yes, definitely. What are you? So I'm Words of Affirmation number one,

and then gift giving number two, which is interesting, but it's not about the gift. It's about, like, I want to feel, I think, known and seen in this way that people are like, I've written you this perfect note or like, I made you this perfect cupcake because I knew is what you'd want at this moment. Yeah. And then my husband's literally the opposite. So I am words of affirmation and acts of service. Like if you take the trash out of yours for life. He's constantly, like, unloading the dishwasher and expecting me to, like, love for it. I'm just like, I don't do this love. Thomas is quality time and physical touch, I think.

So you guys are opposites, too. Total opposite. Oh, my God. I literally feel like we're, like, we're living parallel lives. Yeah, it's really creepy. So, so Thomas, he loves quality time. And, like, it's not, I'm okay. I'm super independent.

So you wouldn't notice when you're, like, traveling all over that that would say anything about your, You're loving him. Right. And when we had this conversation, it was so eye-opening to me. And I changed on a dime. Like, I was like, oh, my God, my husband, I'm not with him all the time. Like, this is affecting him. It doesn't affect me so I don't notice it.

And so that's what I'm talking about when I say it's a lot of work, having those really real and honest conversations and, you know, always working on being a better team. Are you a person who believes in therapy? Yeah. I think therapy is totally, I think everybody should probably do it. Yeah, I wish it was more affordable for everybody. Yeah, it is quite expensive. But I think there's a real benefit to having a third party who's not your best friend or not your mom. Because like, yeah, they can pretend to be impartial, but they're never impartial.

So it's amazing to have a third party listen in and say, you know, here, gobbie, you're not even listening to yourself. Like you're doing so-and-so, you're doing all these things that are really whatever. I mean, that's, it's important. Are you guys good at having those talks and like- Now we're really good at it. Yeah. You kind of have to learn to do it together. You do.

And you have to learn how to be vulnerable and be really honest about what you need out of a relationship. And I think it's really interesting because men, you know, as a woman, you have best friends, you have parents, you have a mom, you can call it, you have a sister, you have best friends, you can talk to a, about anything. Like the things my girlfriends and I talk about are literally nothing would be off-limits. I want to take a quick break so I can tell you a little bit about one of my favorite supplements right now, Charlotte's Web. If you're not living under a rock, you've likely heard of CBD. It's the wellness supplement du jour. It's the non-psychoactive component of the hemp or marijuana plant, meaning it won't get you high at all.

And it interacts with a huge number of parts of your body to help bring them back into balance. Charlotte's web takes this one step further. Rather than isolated CBD, it's a full-spectrum hemp extract, which I love because I prefer plants in the whole food form generally. I just assume that nature knows far more than us at this point about everything working synergistically. The company is also vertically integrated, which means they produce everything in the bottle from seed to shelf. With hemp extract or CBD, this is a huge deal, since it can often be contaminated. And if you're taking a contaminated supplement, it kind of beats the point, doesn't it? Charlotte's web is also legal in all 50 states.

So this is how I use it. I usually take two full dropperfuls of the mint chocolate plus, which is the middle strength one out of the three strings. And I put that under my tongue at night. I let it sit there for about 20 seconds since it absorbs better by sitting under your tongue rather than going through the stomach or digestive system. And then I swallow. I really find that it helps promote a healthy sleep cycle for me.

I also keep a bottle at work and I'll take one dropper full just to deal with stress throughout the day. Again, it does not make you feel high at all. I personally find that I just feel way calmer, especially when I'm taking it regularly. I also love to make healthy recipes with it. I have a lavender chocolate truffle recipe coming out in my new healthier together cookbook. And I also have a lavender hot chocolate recipe on my Instagram feed. So clearly I like lavender and chocolate together. I use the unflavored version for recipes, although the mint chocolate one would be super delicious and some chocolate energy balls, which I would love to just, like, have a stash of in my fridge whenever I'm feeling that burst of stress around three in the afternoon.

I feel like you know what I'm talking about there. It'd also be really good in ice cream, I think. So I'll have to try that. If you want to try the CW. Hemp extracts, they have been kind enough to offer 10% off for all healthier together listeners. Just go to CWHemp.com backslash healthier together, C-W-H-E-M-P-com, backslash, healthier together, like the name of the podcast, and use the code healthier together when you check out to get 10% off. Again, that's the code healthier together, c-w-hemp.com, backslash healthier together. And then hit me up on Instagram. I'm at Liz Moody with any questions. I've studied this stuff a ton, and I love talking about it. I truly believe in it and has made a massive difference in my life.

All right, let's get back to the interview. Men have no one to talk to. They're not going to call their dads and be like, Dad, I had a really bad day. Can we talk it out? Or they're not going to be super vulnerable to their best guy friends. It's just not in their nature. I was just talking to somebody who's writing a book about like the plague of loneliness in men

because it's just, it's, I also think it's interesting. Most men, almost all their best friends are like their high school best friends or the one they got thrown together with. And then if they don't get thrown together with more people, they don't really make more friends and then they end up being reliant solely on their partner for that emotional intimacy

and I think it's like a huge problem in today's study but I don't know what the solution is. I think it's knowing that like knowing that you're allowed to talk to other people about your day or express whatever you're feeling. But do you think if like

my husband went to the bar with his friend and he was like, man I'm like feeling really you know sad and whatever. Yeah. Do you think that'd be well received or do you think the other guy would be like, that's not? I think it depends on the friend. Yeah.

You know, I think I look at some of Thomas's friends and I've had really deep conversations with them and they've been incredibly supportive. Yeah. So I think it just depends on the kind of friendship you have and who that person is. I don't think it's going to work for everyone. Are you good at making friends as an adult or most of your friends from like earlier in your life? Um, I have groups of friends like a friend.

a really tight group of friends from high school, a fairly tight group of friends from college, and then a tight group of friends from food blogging that I've made like Matt and Adam, Catherine, Heather, these people that are in my life now. But I think making friends is really hard. And I just went through a friend call, if you will. Wait, so was that like an actual it was, there were people in my life that were sucking my energy dry. Like I called them energy vampires. Just by wanting to hang, like, wanting things from you or wanting to, like, hang out when you couldn't.

Not even that. They were just negative. Okay. Or it wasn't healthy to be around them. You know, there were people that were going through a divorce. And it was affecting how, you know, like, it wasn't fun to be around them on a double date because they were just fighting the whole time. And Thomas and I would walk away from that and be like, oh, my God, like, what did we just

endure for three hours? that was brutal. What do you think is the line between like, like, the expectation with friends and friendships that you put in the time when it's good so that when shit is bad, the person is, like, there for you? Yeah. And being like, this person is an energy vampire and I need to, like, protect myself and not be around them. Great question.

I think, I just think you have to surround yourself. with people who you would bend over backwards for and that will bend over backwards for you and that you can have that relationship with no matter what's going on in your life. And if there's someone who's just taking, that's not okay, in my opinion. And like maybe if they're sucking the energy from you and you're not fine with it, it's almost a sign that they're not that family level friend in the first place. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And if there's someone you hang out with that, you know, when you leave every time,

you feel less than, that's not a healthy situation to be in. So how do you call? Like, do you just stop in? Are you ghosting people? I mean, I ghosted someone, yeah. But also, like, I just, yeah, like, one girl was really mean to me recently and said some really nasty things to me. And I was like, what?

Nobody would ever say this to a friend. Like, you must have some deeper issues with me that you've never expressed to me before. I don't want to be treated like that. So I'm just, I never responded to the message. I haven't called her. It's just, and she hasn't called me. Wow. Yeah.

That's crazy. It's kind of falsy. Like that's, I feel, I feel really impressed with people who, because I feel like on one hand, some of us know people aren't good for us in our lives, but we're so scared of ending up, like, lonely that we just keep them in there just in case anyway, you know? It's true. That's totally true. but the older I've gotten, the older I get, I just feel like I need less.

I just need a few really incredible friends. And it's okay to have a lot of really good friends that aren't a part of my life every day because I have, you know, four or five really amazing friends. And that includes like my mom, my husband, my sister, Matt, like I don't need a lot. My dad, like, I don't need a lot more than that. That's interesting. Um, do you have or suffer from like anxiety or depression or any of those types of things? I don't.

But I know a lot of people in my life that do. But I haven't. What is it like to know? Um, I, I don't. Yeah, like just being totally honest. I once, I can't remember what the situation was. I felt anxiety once about something and I'm totally blanking what it is. I wish I could text my mom and ask her.

Oh my God, I love that. I'm like, I felt not anxiety once. I don't know what it. I truly think it was, I don't know. I have no idea why. I'm going to text my mom and ask her out for this. Yeah, yeah, text your mom to be like that one time I felt anxiety. Like, what was that thing?

That's crazy. So you're basically, like, you're one of the most successful food blogger. Are you okay the word blogger? Yeah. Okay. I know some people hate blogger. But like, I have a blog. Like, there's no good word for it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you call yourself? I say I'm in food media. But to your label list, essentially. You're in a profession, but your label list because you're not a food mediaist. I mean, it depends who I'm talking to. Okay. If I'm, I'll call myself an influencer.

I call myself a content creator. Yeah. Um, CEO. Like, it just, it changes everything. I like CEO, the CEO of what scabby cooking, right? Yeah. Yeah. And you guys have product now, too.

So. Yeah, we do. And we is me. Is your, so you, when you have your, your photographer. Yeah, I have Matt and Adam and I have Sarah who helps me with some social media stuff for Facebook and Twitter. But I'm a control freak, so I do pretty much everything else. Which is why you haven't taken a day off. Yeah, like I would never give someone control of my Instagram because it's my favorite part of my job is responding to everyone's comments.

But when I'm like, hey guys, we did this, we's like, me. It just feels like the right thing to say. So I want to talk about some of that stuff. You just did your line with William Sonoma. What is the process of that of creating a product like? Yeah. So I knew that I wanted to get into products a couple years ago. And I basically called William Sonoma.

And then I said, this is what I want to do. Are you interested? And they said, come on up. Let's cook in the kitchen one day. We'll bring in all these people from the company. And when you said, this is what I want to do. Did you have the product already in mind? Yeah.

I wanted to do salad dressings. Okay, which is not what you've done. Because they were like, that's a terrible idea. And I was like, okay, what can we do? And the first line we did was salsa and like multi-use sauces. So you can use them, you know, for chips and salsa. You can use them to slow cooking. You can use them to brace things in.

Or it's a guacamole based. Guacamole starter. The idea is they're all multi-use. And then we came out with the seasonings a couple weeks ago. All things meet. This is everything. and gobbies go-to, which again are multi-use seasonings that you can use on any number of things. Yeah, so it was just, I cold called them.

I went up there and cooked for them and that I didn't hear from anyone. Wait, so what did you cook? Were you nervous? Yeah, I made all my sauces that I wanted to like bottle of salad dressings. And they, I like had 20 people in the room and I was entertaining and bouncing off the walls and answering questions about being a blogger and creating content and my Instagram channel and all that. And then I don't think I heard from anyone for a couple of months. And I was like, oh, that didn't go anywhere. And then I remember I was picking up my husband from work. And Neil called me, one of the guys at Liam Snoma, who was pretty much the coolest person. And he said,

we're not going to do salad dressings, but here's our idea. Are you in? And I took every ounce of energy for me to not start screaming in the parking lot of my husband's work. And I was like, yeah, what do you need? I'll make the recipes tomorrow. And I went into a deep dark hole and recipe tested for days on end. And then they launched probably a year after that. Is there anything that's been harder about it than you would have thought? William Sonoma is basically the best partner I could ask for. And they deal with all the production side of things. So you just make the recipe? I make the recipe. They find the people that are going to create them and make them shelf stable

without adding any crap to them and do all the distribution. We do the label design in-house of William Snoma. I'm part of the creative process for that. And then it's sold exclusively in their stores. So I feel like a lot of times people with products have a tough time with distribution. And I have built in distribution with my Williams-Snomah family. So how did you decide on those seasonings?

I wanted them to be multi-use. So this is everything. is the blend I use in literally everything. It's all sorts of like herbs and garlic powder and paprika, salt, pepper. So I use it to make salad dressings. I season fish, chicken, vegetables, you name it. It makes really good garlic bread. Does it have like an Italian vibe or like a Middle Eastern?

No, not Middle Eastern. I would say it's like California Mediterranean. Okay. And then this is everything is my version of the Everything bagel blend. which is what's the twist. Yeah, what do you do to make it better? Everything's toasted. There are a couple different ingredients in it

that I just think make it more elevated. And this Instagram person that follows me did a blind taste test with me and the competitor at Trader Joe's. Blind and I won. And I was like very excited about it. And then all things meat, which is for steak and ribs and pork and burgers

and chicken and all that kind of stuff. So multi-use for all sorts of proteins. So where do you, like, get your ideas for flavor combinations and stuff from? Yeah, great question. I don't keep every spice on hand because I don't use them. So these are all recipes that I've just been doing over the course of the years on my blog or when I'm cooking for family or friends or stuff like that. But even, like, in general, like in your cookbook and your blog.

Travel. For sure, travel in the farmer's market. So I go the farmer's market in Santa Monica on Wednesdays, Hollywood on Sundays. When I'm in Seattle, I do the Ballard one on Sundays there. And then my family and I have always traveled quite extensively growing up. We never had like nice cars or anything like that. My mom wouldn't buy us new backpacks every year. We would reuse them, but we spent money on travel. That's awesome. It was looking back when I was a kid, I'm like, I don't get a new Jam's Ford backpack or like my mom's making me reuse.

my comp book for science in seventh grade. Like, what an amazing thing. But looking back now, and like I'd much rather travel than have to do comp book. And since Thomas and I've gotten married, we try and go on a trip or two every year. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to Mexico. What part? Cabo.

I mean, we didn't have any money, so we couldn't have gone overseas. But we went to Mexico, and I'm not kidding you, I gained seven pounds in seven days. Chips and salsa? And tequila and margarita and bakumali like we would go to bed every night so full we were such fatties I love Mexican food did you go what's that flora what's the floor farms oh my god it's like the most beautiful I actually don't love cavo I kind of deeply hate it um I still understand the point especially because people go from L.A and I'm like there's beaches and really good Mexican food in L.A and it's not like you're going to Cabo for like the amazing local culture no we never even left our hotel right so I'm just like

Why are you flying down here? But floor farms, I thought it was just the most magical place. We didn't leave our hotel except for floor of farms, and we were just at Palmya for seven days straight and ate all the food and just laid on the beach and at the pool. And we binge watch Sons of Anarchy while we went there. What's the best trip that you guys that you've ever taken? Me, you personally. I was going to say you guys, maybe you guys together and then you personally. Me personally, I went to Patagonia.

On a press trip with some friends. Do you know Jamie and Kevin from Ann Street Studio? Uh-uh. We went on a press trip probably four or five years ago. For what? For Lawn Airlines. It's a South American Airlines. Oh, yeah.

And we did all of Chile and Patagonia was the most magical place. Is it just stunningly beautiful? It's otherworldly. What does it look like? Like you're on a different planet. The clouds look different. The mountains are stunning. The water is so aqua blue.

The hotels are so, like they're so modern and the architecture is phenomenal. So personally, that would be my most favorite trip. And I think we're going to try and go back next year because Thomas is dying to go. My favorite trip that I've done with Thomas and my family, a year ago right now, we went to South Africa. South Africa is my number one place that I want to go. You have to go. My mom grew up there. And so I've always given her a hard time for not taking me whenever she would go back for reunions.

And I think I just finally wore her down. So did you guys go to Cape Town and like the garden? We flew into Cape Town to the gardens, Table Mountain. My husband, Thomas and I went diving with Great White Sharks. And I'm petrified of the water. There are sharks in a pool. They will come through those gutters and they will get you, especially in the deep end. And so I wanted to go, A, because it was incredible content for Snapchat.

Yeah. And I got an underwater camera to film or underwater case for my phone. And I wanted that moment where sharks swims right up to you at the cage and looks at you in the eye. And I wanted to look at it and say, I see you. And I'm not scared of you. But they literally couldn't care less about us. They just like, how close do they come to? I could have touched it.

But they couldn't. You know, unfortunately a lot of people go sharks diving. And so I think they're just really used to the people in this area. And then the most magical part of the trip is we went up on safari in Botswana and in northern. the northern part of South Africa at this place called Londa Losey. And it was quite possibly the most magical place on the entire planet. I cried like so much when we left. Is it the animals?

The animals, the people, the hotel and the staff, our guides, our guide when he was two years old, had to flee his country. And I'm totally blanking on the country right above South Africa. But he had to flee. there was a civil war and as a two-year-old, him and his family walked through the night for days on end and they made it to this little town and then five years later the safari camp opened up and now he started working there when he was seven and now he works there as a guide and he was the stories he would tell us are phenomenal and the relationship they have with the animals is so

beautiful because they respect them so much more over there and the animals don't they've never felt threatened by anyone at the hotel because everyone just lets them live their lives. They don't interfere with them in any way. So they're not scared of you. So they will walk right up one foot away from your car. Like an elephant? A leopard. Oh my God.

Like a leopard, right? Yeah. A leopard, a lion. Elephants are a little scary when they get really close because they're huge. They're huge and their trunk can just like wipe you out. Yeah. Giraffes, like they, they're just chilling living their lives. And it was really an incredible experience.

I felt very one with the earth when I was there. That sounds so magical. I really want to do it. Do you have taken malaria pills? I think we might have taken malaria pills. Yeah, I think we did. I stopped taking them halfway through the trip, though, because I was like, I haven't been bit by one mosquito.

I'm fine. Do you, you don't get bit? No, I'm the person who gets bit all the time. Yeah, because we're the same person. Yeah. I'm like when like they were like worried about Zika is like I guess I'll just get Zika now. Like I just like assume any mosquito-borne disease. I'm just going to get it. There has to be a cure for Zika soon. I feel like it's about to be in the entire state. I'm not being what. I'm like a hypochondri. I feel like we're the same person except for you somehow got like the no anxiety happy go lucky thing and I got none of it.

I feel like maybe part of it is because my parents are in the medical industry. My dad's a doctor. My mom's a physical therapist. So I grew up hearing a lot about medical things and health things. And we talked about death and like when I was older and ready for it. But I think that might make me, I think about it a little bit more like that maybe. So are you not afraid of death? No, of course I'm afraid of death.

But I also, you know, we're not going to live forever. and I see people in my lives that are getting older, and it sucks to watch them get older and not have taken care of their body and then be falling apart. I know, like, I know their time is limited. Yeah, I think that death terrifies me, but not being able to, like, hike or do the stuff that I want to do, I find maybe even more terrifying. Yeah, but I think we both probably take such good care of our bodies

and are super active, and I can see it both in my grandparents right now, one set of grandparents has done an incredible job. My grandpa, my papa on that side is like 90 years old and golfs pretty much every day. My only swims and plays tennis and golfs. And they're so with it because they've taken such a great job of taking care of their body and their minds. On the other side, my grandparents haven't really been active since they were 40. Are the ones that have taken good care of themselves, the South Africans said? Yeah.

Yeah, they're not, they just lived in South Africa. but my papa is Bulgarian and my Omi is German. Do you think that have you like learned other things about being healthy through your travels? And like do you think other places in the world are generally healthier than we are here? Yeah. Yeah. Although I would say European breakfasts are so decadent sometimes. Yeah.

Like a ham and the cheese and like 80 times of bread. Yeah. And cookies in the morning. Omi loves a cookie. Like she'll eat cookies all the time. But she's the thing about. that is she's so active it doesn't doesn't matter when you're eating cookies um but yeah i would say i i travel i eat and travel so like that's how i explore different cultures and people are just so much more

balanced in other parts of the country than we are here other parts of the country or i mean other parts of the world world yeah um is there anything you've taken from your trips that you're like trying to or have instituted in your life i like how people graze in other in other countries i think like meze and stuff like that is really interesting to me because you can just have a few bites of something late in the afternoon and then have like a lighter dinner. I think a lot of places in Europe eat like that. I'm really into a big lunch and a light dinner and I think I adopted that from, you know, they definitely eat like that in South Africa on safari. Lunch is a big deal, a lot of places and you sit down with your friends and you have a glass of wine and then you have... A lot of

people go home from work. I know. I wish we had that in America. Also, I would like a siesta here. Like, if I could take a little after-in-a-napper? I am a big-time napper. Are you? I don't have time to, because I work, like, in an office. Have you ever worked in an office? I worked in an office for six months right out of college.

Yeah, and I haven't since. And there was a small office. There was no meditation room, so there was no nap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I guess I could do secret naps in the meditation room. Yesterday when I got a tour, someone said they do take naps in there. One of the guys. Yeah, I sold them out.

Yeah, that's not technically allowed. Do you feel like you're successful? Yes, I do because I define success if I'm happy doing my job, and I'm really happy when I do my job. Do you put pressure on yourself to keep growing what's got to be cooking and do you look at numbers from posts and think about if something doesn't do that well and get angry or sad or? or anything? Yeah, I track all my numbers all the time. I'm into math and I like looking at all that

and comparing and contrasting things from last year and this year and all that kind of stuff. But I don't put too much importance on the numbers because I think what's more important is engagement and creating a really engaged audience that will, you know, come along with me on my journey and wants to participate. And I think that's how I define. success and listening to everyone tell me stories about them cooking recipes for my book or my blog is really special for me. How do you think you do that? Do you just think you're like you have a type of personality that everybody's really

interested in or have you taken concerted efforts to make people want to follow along on your journey? Well, I definitely don't think I have a personality everyone's interested in. You're really charming though. Thank you. but I'm sure I rub some people the wrong way. There's no doubt about that. But I think what I do in my real life and on my channels is nothing I do is unattainable.

I'm not this like, I'm not super skinny running around in the bikini, like flaunting my bod. And when I'm in the kitchen, I'm making things really accessible for people and not taking myself too seriously. And I think people are craving that in a world where everything is so. picture perfect all the time and we play the compare and contrast game and I don't think people want to do that all the time and I don't think people do that with me I mean I think people say they'll never make a cheeseboard as pretty as I do but like I make a really killer cheeseboard but nothing you know nothing's unattainable that I do in my opinion it's interesting because I always find

food blogging fascinating because people will go how often do you post new content five or six days a week so people go five or six days a week and visit your site, but it's not like they are going to cook something from your site five or six days a week. So you're still getting people to tune in and read it and they might be making a recipe later. And of course, they

pepper their lives with these recipes, but they're not tuning in because they need a recipe right then, you know? Right. I think it's an interesting thing to what are they tuning in for? Yeah, I think they're tuning in for a little slice of the what's got to be cooking

California Girl Life. Like, it's And now you can bookmark things on Instagram and I only do lives on Mondays. So you're just getting little slivers of it here and there, which I think is important. I think if I did lives every night, they would become people would probably not tune in as often. Yeah. But the recipes are there all the time. Like that's my bread and butter. And different people want different things.

That's why I post so much content because they can always come back to it. Right. That's interesting. Okay. I have a few questions that I like to ask everybody. Okay. Um, so have you ever been to a place in the world and been like these people really got it right in terms of health and happiness? And if so, where was it?

Mm-hmm. Health and happiness. I want to say South Africa, but we already talked about that. So I'm going to think of something better. Can you cut this out? Well, I think. Yeah, we'll do like thinking music. Okay.

Um, gosh. Uh, maybe I don't have a good. answer for this. It could be South Africa. You could just say why you think, because you talked about why you think South Africa is so good for traveling and like it's magical, but what about living there

and how they live their lives? I think in South Africa, people are a little bit more laid back than we are in America and care less about materialistic things. So I think that's great health-wise, like just mental health-wise.

And I think generally they're happy people. They love their country. Like, they love where they live. It's sunny. It feels like California all the time. So, yeah, I guess South Africa. Do you think people are healthy and happy in L.A.? No. I think they're healthy. Yeah. Physically. I think L.A. is a tough place to live. Like, I think you can get really wrapped up in the glitz and glam of L.A. and, you know, you have to have a really great network of people to keep you grounded. Otherwise, I think it's really easy to get lost. Did it take you a while to find that network of people? Yeah, I was really lonely when I moved to L.A.

Because we were just friends with all these people. Thomas knew because he was there a year before me. And I didn't feel like I had friends of my own until I got into food blogging and met Matt and Adam and Catherine and people that are now some of my closest friends. But yeah, it took me a really long time to find my posse. What do you think is the best way to spend 20 minutes every day? Napping. Really? Do you nap every day?

Not every day, but almost every day. Wow. Do you do 20 minutes or would you do longer? No, I'm like a two-hour napper. Do you sleep at night? I go into deep, oh yeah. I go into like deep REM sleep for naps, which I know isn't like what you're supposed to do. But yeah, I go to, I probably nap for like 90 minutes around one-ish if I'm not crazy busy.

I go to bed around 930, 10, and then I'm up by 6.30. Wow. I love sleeping. I'm just impressed. That's just like. It's weird. I'm a 10-year-old on the inside. What is one really good decision you've made in your life and what's one really big mistake?

One really good decision, marrying my husband. I think he really balances me out. and I love him. What is his personality like? And like how does he balance you? He's shy. He's way more shy than I am. And he's calm.

If something bad happens, I will freak out about it really quickly. And I'll be like, oh my God, the world's ending. And he's like, no, gobbie. Like take a chill pill. Let's figure this out. He's very level-headed. Yeah. So he's great.

And it doesn't matter how many times him or my mom and my dad tell me something. I've never listened to any of them. I need someone else to tell me. Or I need to come to the conclusion on my own. One really bad decision I've made. I think early on in my career, I worked with like a brand that I didn't necessarily believe in because they wanted to pay me. And I learned very quickly that my audience wasn't cool with that.

And I think that it wasn't like a terrible detrimental decision, but it was a real learning moment for me that no matter how much money someone's offering you, my audience's trust is not worth that. It's not worth losing that. So you only work with brands now that you like genuinely use. Yeah. Yeah. How does that work?

Will you wait for the brands you really use to reach out to you? Or will you like reach out and be like, I love you guys. I use you. I want to be. I mean, I'm lucky that I've been doing this for a lot, for eight or nine years now. So I know everyone at the brands. Yeah. And I have like a great roster of people I work with pretty frequently.

But I've been offered some huge deals recently. with companies that I just can't support. And my team's like, just do it. And I'm like, I can't. Like, no amount of money is worth pissing people off. Yeah. So you just say no to stuff like that. Well, and your brand is like you were talking about very much built on being on that.

Who I am. Yeah. Like, I don't want to be a sham. What purchase have you made that's helped make you healthier or happier? My trainer, spending money every day or however many days ago on my trainer. Is that kind of a purchase? Yeah. Is there any physical item?

I mean, this is really dumb and kind of materialistic, but I bought the new Tom Ford, or it's not new, the Tom Ford Soleil Blanc perfume a few months ago, and that makes me very happy. Just because you smell. It smells like summer, and it just makes me feel like I'm back being like 12 years old, playing tennis. It smells a little sunscreeny, and it just reminds me of being a kid and not having any cares in the world and just running around and playing tennis every day and get it. and being really tan. It makes me really happy. I love that. And then is there anything that you wish people would ask you about, but they never do?

Oh, whoa. I think so. I guess I would love to talk more about the business part of what's got to be cooking. A lot of people don't ask about stuff like that. And I think because it seems like you have it worked out, like of all the people to be doing food, it seems like you're like really doing it so well. Thank you. At this point, do you feel like that's that?

I think there's always room to grow. Do you feel like you have a natural mind for business? Yeah. Or did you have mentors who kind of helped me? I have an incredible mentor. Her name's Lori Buckle. She has changed my life. What is her sort of?

She came from the magazine publishing world and she has just helped me like really dial in what what scabby cooking is. and her and I are both California girls and she's really helped. I basically word vomited to her for a month about what I wanted what's got to be halfway through my career in blogging best far. And she was like, this is so easy. Like I know exactly who you are and I couldn't pinpoint that. So she really helped me come up with this whole California girl angle,

which I had been thinking about and living the whole time, but I couldn't verbalize it. And I think sometimes when you're so close to something, it's hard to make it like finite. So yeah, I have really incredible mentors in the world. How did you turn her into a mentor? Like I think a lot, I wish I had a mentor, but I have no idea how to go about getting a mentor.

Yeah, it's funny. We met, God, how did Laura and I meet? We met, she was working at Better Homes and Gardens and she reached out to me to start contributing on a quarterly basis to the magazine. And then I got passed off to one of her assistants to like manage everything. And then her and I kept connecting at this conference once a year.

And then she left the magazine world and moved to L.A. and wanted to get into more, you know, digital media rather than traditional print media. And we sat down and I, I think I actually, I think it was a mutual thing. I really helped her create what her next business was going to be. And she helped me create what the next stage of what Scottie cooking was going to be. So it was a mutual thing. Do you think there is a good way to reach out to somebody if you don't necessarily feel like you have something to offer them? Or do you think it always needs to be?

No, I don't think it needs to be. I'll scratch your back. You scratch mine. I love it when people just reach out to me. Like, just cold call. Hey, like, I think what you're doing is so cool. And I'm dying to do this in my career. I'd love to pick your brain and, like, take you out to coffee.

And will you take those coffee meetings? Like, if I have time, yeah. Most of the time, I just take a call. because I am living out of a suitcase for the next six months. But, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be where I am today without the people in my life that have helped me get there. So I think it's really important to pay it forward. That's interesting.

And I think the hardest thing about that, too, though, is you really need to have a clear picture of where you're trying to go so that you're not wasting the time of the person that you're talking to. And I think a lot of people, myself included often, know they want to go somewhere. and have it be some more awesome but not quite sure where it is. Yeah, and we live in, especially in our field, like everything changes on a day-to-day basis.

Who knows what digital media is going to look like in six months, let alone six years? So we always have to be on our toes and thinking about what's coming next and adapting to new technologies and apps and sharing platforms and stuff like that. So, yeah, it's helpful to have some sort. But I don't know where what's got,

cooking's going to be in 10 years. I have no way to. Or do you have you any guess. I always joke that I want to be somewhere between like Martha Stewart and Bethany Frankl and Rachel Ray minus the jail time and the really ugly divorce. So does that look like a TV show? No. I would, I, I, I don't know what it looks like. A talk show type thing? I would love to do a talk show.

That would be fun. Bethel Ray and Beth. Bethany had a very short-lived talk show. Yeah, and Martha did too. Martha. Yeah. And Martha and Snoop have their show. Yes, which is amazing. I would love to be doing something.

I would love to make WebSgave cooking into an even bigger media company and then have some sort of platform that I could help elevate other people that are like coming up in the food and lifestyle world. Which would be useful. Like your husband's company is sort of like that. Yeah. Well, yeah. But also, no, more like something where, like for example, a podcast where I could feature

people who are, you know, not at the top of their career, not just starting, but somewhere in the middle where I can really shine a light on what they're doing for the world and for their community. I would love to be able to give that. Do you ever do that with your platforms now, like on social and stuff like that? I think so. I think it's fun to highlight different people and we do, you know, collaborations on YouTube or Instagram or whatever it is. On Snapchat, we used to do a game show where I would ask people 20 really hard-hitting questions. like if you were a housewife, what housewife would you be? Oh my God, if you're a housewife, would you be Bethany? Well, no.

I think Bethany is a little crazy. I think she would, they're all crazy. That's the point. That's like the one prerequisite of being a housewife. I think if I, I think I'd be friends with Yolanda, Hadid. Yeah, yeah. Or whatever her last name is. If I could be one of the housewives.

Oh, Erica Jane. For sure. Which one is she? She's the like beautiful, crazy blonde one from Beverly Hills that sings all those like like, like, she's big in like the gay club world and sings all those amazing songs. I'm obsessed with her. Wait, I want to, I want to hear your answers to like one or two more of the crazy 20 questions, Snapchat things that you'd ask. Okay, so I used, it would be Game of Thrones or Harry Potter.

I'm Harry Potter, but I've never seen Game of Thrones. Oh, it's so good. But, okay, so what house of Harry Potter would you live in? What's the smart one? Ravenclaw, yeah, Ravenclaw. My mom and Thomas are for sure Hufflepuffs. They're so nice. I'm just like not nice.

I know I'm not, I'm like a little manipulative, but not manipulative enough to be like a Slytherin. And I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor. I would go, I would either be a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. You'd be a Slytherin? I mean, here's the thing. I'm Harry. Like, I'm Harry Potter, and Harry Potter put on the sorting hat, and he was like,

did we put him in Gryffindor? We put him in Slytherin. Like, I think there's a little, I'm also a Gemini. So, you're a Gemini? Yeah, there's a little bit about. I just have a huge conversation with our resident astrology expert at my muddy green about Gemini. Yeah, well, because I've always been like nervous about Gemini's because Trump is a Gemini, Pence is a Gemini.

We can, we'll just forget about them. And I've really had hard time to the number of Germans. Gemini's in my life and then one of my best, like a girl I really, really really like is a Gemini, a very close friend of mine and I was like, how does this Gemini work? And she's like, well, she's a lot of water in her chart in addition. So it's like about the rest of your chart too.

I don't know anything about astrology. I would be very interested to learn about it. I think like Harry, like you can go either way like he might have a lot of water in his chart, which way ends up in Gryffinder ultimately. Right. I'm looking up another one of these questions for you. Hold on. I have them all saved. These are so much fun.

Okay, game show questions. Favorite ice cream flavor. I'm cake better. Fish food from Ben and Jerry's. Taylor Swift or Beyonce. Taylor's song. What? Really?

Yeah. Oh my God. I'm just like not that cool. Like, and not new Taylor Swift. Like, I like her like, our song was a slam screen girl. Like, I like her when she has like the big ring like curls and he like blast her music really loud. Every time I listen to Beyonce, I really like it.

but I just feel like I'm not cool enough for it. When I have to do the Santa Monica stairs, like I do run up and down the stairs 10 times. I only listen to Beyonce. Okay, last question. What it, uh, no, I don't want a really good one. If you, if they made your life into a movie, who would play you? It's a movie, so it could be like a very idealized thing, right?

Yeah. Definitely something very tall. Okay. And that'd be like my one requirement. Like Jennifer Lauren. Oh, my God. I like her. Maybe Emma Stone.

Oh. She's not tall. Okay. But I like her. I like that she's like struggled with anxiety and like overcome it on a personal level. And then I like that she has this vulnerability mixed with humor. I'm really into that because I feel like I almost like used my vulnerability as a humor thing. And I just like the mix of those two things.

Yeah. I would be Emma Watson. Obviously, Hermione. So you have like a Harry Potter problem? I had a Harry Potter license plate frame for a number of years on my car in college. It said I'd rather be playing Quidditch. I am a, I am a closet nerd. I am a big, like an open nerd.

Yeah. She's very cool, though. She's so cool. Like, I don't know if you can have, yeah, I don't know if it has to be that cool play you if you're nerd. Well, but I think she's also kind of nerdy. Like, she's really smart and, like, she is into technology and stuff like that. I also would say Jennifer Lawrence, but she is probably too funny to play. I'm not funny.

You're really funny. No, she's got, like, great one-liners. I have no great one-liners. Yeah. Yeah, I always wonder if she, like, feels the pressure of that, though, now that everybody's like, you're the witty one, and she has to be like, ah, fuck. Like, yeah, I have to, like, say witty things at the time. I believe it.

I would be a lot of pressure. It would be really intense. Every interview you're just like, I don't know. That's my joke. I got it. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you. I hope that your under eyes are moistized.

I feel super moisturized right now. How amazing is she? I just want to bottle up that energy and store it on my counter so I can pull it out whenever I need a dose of that, that zest and happiness in my life. Although I guess I can just listen back to this podcast. So I'll do that. I'll link everything we talked about in the show notes. So be sure to check there. And yeah, thank you guys for listening. I hope you enjoyed it. If you loved it, please do leave a review on iTunes. It helps a ton. And I'll see you guys next week.

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