Caitlin K: 0:31

We're so glad you're here today. Welcome to how to Be a Grown-Up. This is the show that is the adultier adult that you need in your life, that I'm constantly asking for in mine. You might notice that this episode sounds a little different. There's no scream of it's Tuesday.

Ariella Monti: 0:47

It's Tuesday.

Caitlin K: 0:52

Okay, just kidding. Yes, there is With me today is dear friend of the pod and published author, I might add, Ariella Monti, my radiant, grumpy badger, oh you're welcome I like it. Yeah, she's here with me today, while Jenny takes some time to rest and make her knee not bad, good-ish or whatever. This is such a treat for me because you and I literally talk a thousand times a week.

Ariella Monti: 1:22

Yeah, pretty much. Roughly approximately.

Caitlin K: 1:26

Constantly all day long, but I never get to see your face ever, so I'm so glad to see you. Thank you so much for being here, and Jenny and I both really appreciate having you here with us today.

Ariella Monti: 1:38

Yeah, I'm excited. Any like excuse I can find to like hang out with you guys and do a podcast and just ramble.

Caitlin K: 1:46

Well, I mean it's just me, it's just me, so it's still great, but we are continuing our finance February episodes and Ariella is an expert in free stuff. I don't want to say the swear word, but I did say ish and the mind. My notes do say free ish at the library, and she's gonna tell us about all the free ish you can get at your local library, which I'm so excited about, because I feel like this is something I don't know enough about. There is a library four and a half minutes from my house and I don't use it enough, and this is a great way to save some money for yourself.

Ariella Monti: 2:22

So let's go ahead and get to it so there might be stuff here that your listeners will know, but sometimes you just need that little reminder that like, oh, I can do that at the library. So if you know this stuff, listen anyway, because maybe you've got tips and stuff Right.

Ariella Monti: 2:46

And then, additionally, remember that library services are going to vary across systems. Libraries that have more funding and community involvement will generally have more services and options. So what I'm saying here isn't going to apply to all libraries across the US. So, like, as I tell my yoga students, take what you need, leave what you don't Love it. Little disclaimer, folks, little disclaimer that your mileage will vary with this advice. So mileage will vary. Perfect, all right. So the first thing you need to do is get a library card to your local branch. That's like I don't know, wild, like this is. This is what you come to me for. These are the hot tips.

Caitlin K: 3:39

Okay, so just for those of us who don't, I had to go. When I went to the library, I had to show them proof of residency in that area. So I brought like a utility bill, right.

Ariella Monti: 3:50

Yeah, is that common? Do you hear that a lot yeah definitely You're going to need some kind of or even your, your license will be enough. I um, I don't remember having to show anything except for my license, um, but that is going to be different again across library systems. So check on your library's website, your library system's website. It will tell you exactly what you need. Some you have to go in person, some you can do online. So, again, you just have to kind of be prepared, for you know everything.

Caitlin K: 4:25

It does take two seconds once you're in there Even if you're like I don't want to go inside. When I went inside to do mine, I think it took me all of a minute and a half, yeah, and that included the time that I was just like standing there getting stuff out of my purse.

Ariella Monti: 4:38

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Caitlin K: 4:39

It was totally my fault that it took that long.

Ariella Monti: 4:41

So, so, quick, so quick.

Caitlin K: 4:43

Okay, so we talked about getting a local library card. What next?

Ariella Monti: 4:47

Next is get more library cards. What, yes, so? Get more library cards so you can check neighboring systems for either free or affordable non-resident cards.

Caitlin K: 5:02

Oh yeah, so I actually have three library cards, which is I have friends who have like five or six. That's some spy stuff. I know that's spy stuff. Yeah, I have friends who have like five or six. That's some spy stuff. I know that's spy stuff. Yeah, like this is some born identity going into the safe deposit box and finding multiple passwords Right, exactly what I have three library cards so. Okay.

Ariella Monti: 5:24

Depending on your system, you may be able to get a non-resident card to a neighboring library system. So here's an example I live in Johnson County, North Carolina, and I live 30 minutes from the nearest Johnson County library. We've got like five library branches in the entire county but I also live 25 minutes away from the nearest Wake County branch. Wake County is the county seat for the city of Raleigh, which is our capital, and they have lots and lots and lots of libraries. And I also yeah, I also used to work in Raleigh so I was typically closer to a Wake County library than I was a Johnson County library. So I pay $25 a year to access Wake County's library system.

Caitlin K: 6:22

That's it Just $25 a year. Yep, just $25 a year for Wake. County.

Ariella Monti: 6:27

When I was doing a bit of research on this, it of ranged from 25 to 75, depending on the system, um. So, for example, some systems will offer free cards to state residents. So the dover public library system will offer free cards to any Delaware state resident. The Los Angeles system it has a free card for California residents and it's $50 for non-residents.

Caitlin K: 7:04

Okay, still, if that's the yearly fee, that's pretty manageable for all the free stuff.

Ariella Monti: 7:10

You are probably going to get out of it Exactly so having more cards gives you access to a larger catalog of books, programs, services. It increases access when your local systems offerings are limited or the branch in one system is more accessible than your resident branch. So that's why I have a Wake County card, because for a long time the nearest branch was kind of inaccessible after like five o'clock in the afternoon. Like the branches in the libraries in Johnson County are not open as long as the ones in Wake County. I am usually in the, or I'm more often closer at like running errands or going to Target and all of that stuff is usually closer to the Wake County library. So those libraries are closer to me and so it's more accessible.

Ariella Monti: 8:08

Sure, makes sense when it comes to like digital services, depending on how your library system works. So I have a library card to the Johnson County system, the Wake County system and the town of Clayton. Town of Clayton is located within Johnson County but it is its own library system and because I'm a resident of Johnson County I get a free card to the Clayton library. And it wasn't always like that. It used to be $25 and I did not pay that, but once they opened it up I was like sure I'll get another card?

Caitlin K: 8:44

Yeah sure, why not? Exactly, okay, so that makes a lot of sense. You get to. You have more access to more stuff if you have an additional card.

Ariella Monti: 8:52

Exactly I gotcha, yeah, and if you want to put numbers to it, since introducing my kid to libby where I have all three cards, he has read at least 65 dollars worth of owl diary books, and so two cards are free and then one is only 25 a year, and the vast majority of those books came from the non-resident system because they have a bigger collection, and so, even paying that $25 a year, I've already saved 40 amazing, that's pretty awesome, right, okay, all right, you got me, I'm hooked, so get, get more cards, Just get more cards.

Caitlin K: 9:34

Okay, what else do I need to know about this?

Ariella Monti: 9:37

Check your library for free and discounted admissions or tickets. So a lot of times libraries will partner with museums and zoos and you can get in free or at discounted rates. Get in free or at discounted rates.

Caitlin K: 9:52

I did not know that. Oh, my goodness. Okay, well, that right there is going to be a big help because the zoo. Let me tell you, I love the zoo.

Ariella Monti: 10:09

That mess is outrageous, outrageous, yes. So yes, yeah, and I'm into it. I did not see the first cause. I was trying not to just do like libraries near me, so, but the one that I know gets used really, really often is my hometown library on Long Island, so the Sajan Public Library and one of my besties uses the free passes all the time. They have free passes to 27 museums and discounted passes to the zoos and shows.

Caitlin K: 10:37

That is amazing. Oh my goodness, OK yeah.

Ariella Monti: 10:40

So you can do like and again you got to check and see you know what the rules are and stuff. I think with those free passes you have to plan ahead because you have to find out if the passes are available for that weekend and blah, blah, blah. But I mean, if you're, if you have a big family, like, just with a little bit of planning like that, that could be a lot of money that you're saving. There's a bundle for sure, Exactly, and then you can spend it, you know, on an $85 cheeseburger and $100 soda For one kid, For one kid exactly. And then you go through the gift shop and spend another paycheck there.

Caitlin K: 11:30

Oh gosh, oh, that's so true, and I don't know about yours, but mine has to stop at the gift shop every time, and now we have 8,000 stuffies in the house, oh yeah, oh totally there.

Ariella Monti: 11:36

we go Totally every time. But my thing is so, when we go now, like this is not the topic of this show, but we take advantage of having, like zoo memberships and all of that stuff, yeah, so what I will do is I will give him a budget, like I will say all right, I'm going to give you $25. Anything beyond that you need to spend your own money.

Caitlin K: 11:56

He's coming out of yours. Yeah, exactly.

Ariella Monti: 11:58

Yeah, so he'll. He's gotten pretty good about you know.

Caitlin K: 12:02

Mom, this is $23.99. Right, look it, I did it. Mom, yeah, yeah, I'm charging you tax. Okay, so, that's, that's awesome. So we've got get the library card, get multiple library cards, because you have more access to more things, and it also gives you discounts to, or could potentially give you discounts to, places around town to go take your kids and do things. Right, okay, yeah, exactly what else? How?

Ariella Monti: 12:27

else. Can this help us? So you can also, again, depending on the library system, you can borrow more than just books. And I'm not talking about, like you know, when we were kids they were like DVDs and CDs and stuff. I'm talking about like actual stuff, stuff. Now, I had heard this but I have never actually seen it like in the real world until I was doing research for this and I was poking around again at the Seacham Public Public Library's website and they have a library of things. They have birthday lawn signs, tool sets, a bubble machine, what Right? All kinds of things to digitize film. You know, for your younger listeners, film is the stuff that we used to record pictures and moments on and it's a physical thing and like that really cool polaroid that you have.

Caitlin K: 13:23

that your mom got you and she was like why am I buying you this and the? And one like thing to stick in your polaroid camera cost 45. That was life before your phone. Oh, and we used to have to carry them. When we stopped carrying those, we had our phones, our digital cameras, our wallet, and we didn't wear a jacket when we went out in the cold. Everything had to fit into our pockets or our fingers.

Ariella Monti: 13:47

Right, yes, or those little anybody clutches that literally held nothing, held nothing, held none of that.

Caitlin K: 13:53

Like stuff it to the gills and you're supposed to put it on your wrist and it'd be so full of stuff that you would smack people with it. Yes, yeah. Okay, okay. So I feel like that could save a lot of money on just rental costs in general. Exactly, you're going and like renting things. That that I mean. If you even go to Home Depot and rent a carpet cleaner, that costs.

Ariella Monti: 14:14

So much money, so this is a great tip. Right, okay, that was. And the first thing I saw, like I've never gotten one of those lawn signs, because I've seen that renting them is like ridiculously expensive it's the cost of the kid's party, you know, and like sure you? Sure you could potentially like, if you're gonna rent something constantly, like you could buy it but then you gotta store it like, do you have space for an extra bubble machine? I don't have space for an extra bubble machine.

Caitlin K: 14:43

My child's bike is in my living room, if that helps you. His bike is in my living room, so I have no storage, right? So, yeah, I'm not buying any more stuff if I can help it Right? Or it better be able to fold up and stick into a pocket somewhere, exactly, exactly.

Ariella Monti: 14:56

So this you can check your library Again. You know it's going to depend on your actual library. The next time I go to the library in the Wake County system that I go to, I want to see if they have a Cricut machine. Yes, because you can borrow those too, at least in sachem.

Caitlin K: 15:17

You can, I, but I have to see if those, the library and garner has one amazing, oh my gosh, that's killer. Yeah, all right, oh, cool, okay, what else? What else can the library do to help us?

Ariella Monti: 15:25

so you can take classes, workshops, seminars that are typically free or extremely low cost. You know, libraries do try to make sure that everything is free, but sometimes you know you got to pay for something, but they tend to be cheaper than if you were to take them someplace else. In this way, you can learn stuff before you do a thing, and so you're spending less money fixing all the mistakes you made because you were trying to do it. You know, by the seat of your pants, Not that.

Caitlin K: 15:57

I have any Right. I was going to say I feel personally attacked by this, Like I think you might, Right.

Ariella Monti: 16:04

I'm not talking about myself at all If we're going to continue to attack ourselves and each other. You can also test drive a new hobby before you buy all this stuff.

Caitlin K: 16:16

I was just going to say. This is this. Is Caitlin not needing to buy all the embroidery things, right, and then picking up embroidery for half a day and then deciding she was done Exactly so when I was at the library.

Ariella Monti: 16:30

I was at the Wake County library just this past week. I was doing some writing with my, with some writer friends, and I always walk by the display that it's got the classes and everything listed and they had. They had a bird ID class, they had a gardening class and the gardening classes held, held with the NC State Extension Office, with the NC State Extension Office. So you're getting like master gardeners teaching you how to garden.

Ariella Monti: 17:01

Like that's, that's pretty cool. That's it's you know, an all for free. There's a crochet class, you know, stuff like that, and it was all. Yeah, all like all free.

Caitlin K: 17:09

I love it.

Ariella Monti: 17:10

Those are. Those are key. I need to try to pay attention to that stuff a lot more and they often have like I know that same library for a little while was doing like senior bingo or something every like coffee and bingo and stuff. So I like it. Yeah, it can be a place where, if you are new to the area and they have something going on, you can go and you can take the class and you can make friends and be lots of seniors and all that, exactly, exactly, okay, I like it.

Caitlin K: 17:40

What else Is there more, cause I feel like this is already a pretty good list.

Ariella Monti: 17:43

Yeah, so we've got all that stuff, and then on top of that potentially streaming services and other technology access. Nice, yeah, so the Clayton Library has access to Canopy, which is a streaming service specifically for libraries. There are movies, documentaries, tv shows. I was told that there were also like tutorials and stuff. Like a friend of mine was watching videos on, like sewing videos. Oh cool, yeah, so like stuff that you would kind of use youtube for, but is on canopy. I have flipped through it and I don't know if the offerings kind of depend on the library system itself. So I can I can't say that for sure. The adult section is okay, but the kids section is pretty good.

Caitlin K: 18:40

Okay.

Ariella Monti: 18:41

It has like a lot of PBS shows. It has some popular YouTube shows that kids can watch, like without ads or without having to access the YouTube app.

Caitlin K: 18:53

That's the. That's the place. So okay, do you know, is this something that you can access from home or just have to be at the library? You?

Ariella Monti: 19:00

can access it from home. I put it on our TV and I think you just have to put in your library card number.

Caitlin K: 19:06

Yeah, Okay, very cool, I can get down with that. Yeah, that's. I prefer that over the YouTube app, which is on my TV, exactly.

Ariella Monti: 19:14

I just took hours off.

Caitlin K: 19:16

Yeah, okay, yeah, great, yes, all right.

Ariella Monti: 19:19

So, depending on you know what you use Canopy for, um, you could potentially cancel a streaming service. I don't want to. It's not going to replace, like it's not going to replace Disney plus or Netflix. Or you know, if you are a heavy user and heavy user for those services, it's not gonna replace Disney Plus or Netflix. Or you know, if you are a heavy user and heavy user for those services, it's not gonna. You know it's not gonna replace it. But kind of depending on how you use it, maybe you could, or you could maybe go down to another plan, but at the very least it's free.

Caitlin K: 19:50

So adding it to your yeah and add free, right exactly. So that alone is kind of a big deal to me, right, okay, yeah, so those are the highlights and the highlights. Yeah, so my bonus tips here.

Ariella Monti: 20:06

oh yeah, my bonus tips for supporting your library. Because here's the thing if you want those things in your library, you got to support your library. So library services require funding and community support. So use your library and then tell the people in charge of library budgets that you are using the library and what you love about the library, the library and what you love about the library. So, if you're like I loved, I took a class with the master gardeners and they were amazing. I want more of that, please.

Caitlin K: 20:43

Yes, Not just we love the books.

Ariella Monti: 20:45

Right, exactly.

Caitlin K: 20:45

Like all the things that are being provided. It's like a Yelp review, but I think that the important thing here is that they won't get the funding if higher ups don't know that those services are being utilized Exactly.

Ariella Monti: 20:57

Like, and there's only so much you can get you know from data points. You know like, every time somebody signs up for a thing, like, it's a data point, every time somebody takes out a book, it's a data point, and so you have the data points. But having like um email, you know your branch's library director and be like, you know, I really love what you did with the children's section. I love that display that you did. I love the class that I took. You know I'd like to see more of this class, or I'd like to see more of this Like. So how libraries are funded, it's are funded, it's through public funds, but how those public funds are decided is gonna vary. Like I said, like my hometown library, the CHM Public Library, they have library budgets that are I think I probably shouldn't say this, but at least when I was living there, library budgets were voted on by voters, whereas here in North Carolina it's completely different and it's politicians elected officials, are the ones who are determining that stuff.

Ariella Monti: 22:02

So yeah, so you have to figure out, like, who's in charge of the money, and bug them about your library.

Caitlin K: 22:12

It's like what you need to do for all things.

Ariella Monti: 22:14

Yeah, pretty much.

Caitlin K: 22:15

Right, yeah, okay. So, with that said, then what else can we do to support? If we, if we know we need to, like, tell the library and tell the powers that be that we love the library, then what else can we do to support the library? Is there anything else we can do or no?

Ariella Monti: 22:30

Definitely vote. Well, vote for politicians that support the library. Yes, yes. If there is a candidate who is really talking about the library and increasing library services, vote for them. If they're not talking about library services, ask them what they plan on doing. Do you plan on opening? You know, like I don't't have, like a county library, you know the nearest county library for me is 25 minutes away.

Ariella Monti: 22:57

Like I would love one my area, you know I live in a semi-rural area and it's been growing like it's the houses that they're putting in, like they're putting in a new, two new schools, like we could use a library branch. You know yeah, so yeah that if you want to start growing your library's book catalog, you can request that the libraries carry the book. They usually have some kind of materials request form or something like that, where you can ask a library like, hey, I really wish you would carry you know this specific author or this specific book and how would I request that this book gets put on you know the next list when they're deciding what books to get? That's a good way to support authors as well, because authors do get paid. When libraries buy their books or license their books, authors do get paid for it. I think that's it.

Caitlin K: 24:03

And Bray just shut off. It's like we're done. That's dopamine hits over right. Like I got my dopamine. I'm out Bye. No, don't hang up, guys. Okay, so here's what I'm hearing you need a library card. You need more than one library card, because then you get more access to more things. Those more things could be everything from books, programs and services to discounts at events to take your kids to, and cheaper rentals and classes.

Caitlin K: 24:33

So all of these are ways that you can save money for yourself, because you paid at most like $75 a year for a non-local library card, but you could also get the same things, perhaps depending on your branches, if you just go to the library and sign up and show them proof of ID or proof of residency.

Ariella Monti: 24:57

Yeah, exactly.

Caitlin K: 24:59

Sounds easy enough.

Ariella Monti: 25:00

And then between all of it. You've got access to so much stuff and sometimes you don't even remember that like you can get this stuff there until you're.

Caitlin K: 25:10

I forget all the time. Yeah, I'm so glad you reminded me of all of this. Yeah, this is amazing. Okay, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

Caitlin K: 25:19

This is amazing, okay, we'll be, back For links to resources mentioned in this episode. Head on over to ckandgkpodcastcom slash blog to find everything you need, and be sure to follow us on social media. Head over to your favorite social media network and find us at CK and GK podcast. And now back to the show. And now back to the show. Okay, are we back? We're back. Yes, we're back now. So this is since Ariella taught me things, I'm going to make her do my things now and my things we know. We know our obsessions. We have to talk about what we're obsessed with right now, and we have to talk about something random that happened to us, that's funny or sweet or just. You just have to tell someone with our gym. So I would like you to tell me first what your obsession is, your current obsession at the moment.

Ariella Monti: 26:09

So my current obsession are chocolate, hazelnut, uncrustables.

Caitlin K: 26:13

I did not know that these existed. Are we talking about, like a Nutella style Uncrustable? Yeah, is that?

Ariella Monti: 26:20

what we're saying. Yeah, I didn't know they existed until fairly recently either. So my son has avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, which is very, very. It's a diagnosis for extremely picky eating.

Caitlin K: 26:40

So it's like take the chicken nuggets and the macaroni and cheese that your kid eats every day and then remove those two things from their diet.

Ariella Monti: 26:47

Pretty much, pretty much, or or those are the literally only two things, the only two things. And I would so fresh I would cry if my son ate either one of those things. Right, he's always in feeding therapy with a um, um, an SLP, and with a speech therapist. Oh wow, the word like couldn't make it out of my mouth.

Caitlin K: 27:08

It's only a podcast, we only talk. No, exactly, you don't have to have words.

Ariella Monti: 27:11

Words don't mean anything Um. This is why I'm a writer. This is, this is this is why, yeah, no, I I got you this, you.

Caitlin K: 27:20

this is why, um, my rambling tendencies really don't work and I need jen to come back in here and edit anyway, so tell us about these on crusts because I want to eat them in my face, so they are just like the peanut butter and jelly ones, except they are filled with.

Ariella Monti: 27:36

I don't think it's, it's something like nutella, yeah, not, not Nutella yeah not, oh man, and they come frozen and you just take them out. So they have been like I've been trying to add more you know protein into my diet and sneak protein in places and it's got like four grams of protein, which is not bad for something that is basically a dessert.

Caitlin K: 28:01

Yeah, yeah. No, that sounds like a yeah. I would heat that up after dinner. You don't even need.

Ariella Monti: 28:05

That's the thing. You don't even need to heat it up, you just take it out of the refrigerator and just let it defrost, and it defrosts how long, though?

Caitlin K: 28:12

because I'll forget, and I need like an hour. See no, I got it, I'm gonna. I'm gonna put it in the microwave, like I can't wait that long, and I'll forget to take it out. This is the person who, like impulse, says I'm going to bake cookies, has half the ingredients and has to run out to the store in the middle of the thing and forgets to put the butter. So I have no, this is I have to heat it up. See what?

Ariella Monti: 28:34

the good thing, what I've been using it for is, before I run out of the house in the morning, I will take one and throw it into my yoga bag and then teach my class and then, as I'm on the way home, it'll be defrosted. Yeah, because once it's defrosted, I think you've got like eight hours to eat it before I guess it gets questionable. I mean, I don't know, that's not.

Ariella Monti: 28:59

I mean you know Well it is in the last eight hours I'll tell you that't know, that's not. I mean you know. Well, if you do, forget it.

Caitlin K: 29:03

It is going to last eight hours, right? I'll tell you that right now, right, yeah.

Ariella Monti: 29:07

So those have been my. I guess my gripe is that there's at least from what like my husband does, the grocery shopping and the ones he's been getting there's only like four in a box, Whereas you could go to like Costco and get like the peanut butter and jelly ones, like 87 of them. Yeah, you know, so annoying. So that's my gripe currently.

Caitlin K: 29:33

And, to be clear, the reason that you got them is because you wanted your son to eat them. Is that what's going on here?

Ariella Monti: 29:39

Yes, and he didn't want to try it. And now I eat them.

Caitlin K: 29:45

Perfect. No, I think that that's motherhood in a nutshell. I think it's exactly what we yeah, okay, well, mine is my new washer and dryer, so this is exciting, this is a very exciting thing.

Caitlin K: 29:59

Well, what happened was I went to London for work and while I was there I was, I was at a. I was working at a trade show, which means I was behind the booth, but it was also our trade show, like our. We were the hosts of the event, so anything that needed to happen I kind of ended up doing right. So that means that, like at one point we hosted a happy hour and I was basically a bar back nice for hour, like lugging boxes of cases of Bud Light Right, right, not Bud Light, budweiser Everywhere.

Ariella Monti: 30:28

In London Budweiser Really. Well it's an American beer. Oh, so it's an imported.

Caitlin K: 30:34

So it was an American beer and, for whatever reason, people over there like it. I don't. Budweiser is not as terrible as Bud Light. I'm just going to put that out there. However, however, I don't like Budweiser, so I was having the wine that was there, but neither here nor there. What the point of that?

Caitlin K: 30:53

part is my clothes? No, it's fine. My clothes got sweaty and stinky and while I was over there and my clothes were getting sweaty and stinky, my washer cracked down. So I came home to a washer that would not spin and it was a top loader.

Ariella Monti: 31:14

So without the spinning it just didn't drain.

Caitlin K: 31:15

It was just a tub of water so, and it would drain, but it would not agitate, it would not spin nothing. And when it did try to, you would hear it like cranking and I thought maybe it just kind of like fell off of the the drum, like fell out of it. It doesn't matter, I can't fix it. So I was like, forget it, we're, we're overdue. When we got that washer and dryer we had just moved to Austin. Um, I had $0 and I had a seven and a half week old and so we bought a refurbished set. So they were old when we got them. So there we go. Anyway, we got a new washer and dryer and I'm obsessed, can't stop, won't stop talking about them. Love doing laundry. It. The drum is huge. I can fit like an entire thing of like my whole hamper can go in there. It's kind of amazing because my whole hamper could not before, and before I would be like, okay, here's all the socks, they're like I'm going to put them on the bottom and then I, the heavy stuff goes in the top, cause I so like it was just a pain in the butt to do laundry, and now I'm so excited Cause I get to do laundry in a big washer and dryer. It makes me so happy and it fits my entire comforter. Oh, that's key. That is key, so good. So this leads me to my gem of the week. So that happened. I got home on Saturday evening. Sunday, I was like no, I have to do laundry. These clothes smell so bad, like I cannot. They smell so bad. My whole suitcase I have. It's still sitting on the floor. I got back two weeks ago. It's sitting on the floor airing out because it stinks Like. I Febreze the inside of it twice, still waiting for it to not be stinky. Okay, so that's a problem that I will have to deal with another time. And washer and dryer can't fix it. So, uh, then on Monday I was like they were getting delivered on Monday, that's how fast. I was like no, we're on this, you can't do this.

Caitlin K: 33:11

And I was telling my son about how they were going to be here when he got back, like, and so he was like stoked for me because I was super excited and he comes home and he walks in the door and when you walk into our front door, the laundry room is like just on the other side of the entry hall so you could go straight into the laundry room if you wanted to. And all of a sudden, I just hear we're in the future, we're in the future, we're in the future. And I was like what, what's going on? He was like mom, we're in the future with this washer and dryer. This, we're in the future with this washer and dryer. This is the future.

Caitlin K: 33:42

Yeah, he's like they look really good, mom. I'm like no, I know, they're beautiful, aren't they? I love them. And he's like that's a Wi-Fi symbol on it. Now do I have my washer and dryer hooked up to Wi-Fi? No, because why do I need that? I'm not from home, I don't need phone to tell me to do things, and I dismiss the reminder and forget. So it's no, who cares, right? But he was so excited for me. He's like future, this, right here. This, this, this future. We're in the future, we're in the future. And I was like yeah, bud, we are man, I'm stoked that I can fit a whole load of laundry in there and you're stoked that we're in the future. Right, this is a good this is a good purchase.

Caitlin K: 34:33

Pretty happy with this Amazing Like I love kids. Okay, do you?

Ariella Monti: 34:38

have any gems, so my gem is book related. A friend of mine in one of my in my mom's group. She got a, an alert from Kindle like a, like a notification, and it said an author you follow has a book coming out soon and I was the author. So she took a screenshot and shared it in the group and I don't control that Like I. I have nothing to do with that. So it was amazing.

Caitlin K: 35:14

Okay, wait question Did I also receive that picture? If you didn't send it to me, I'll put it up on our Instagram, cause I know I did not. Yeah, okay, send it to me, I'll put it up on our Instagram.

Ariella Monti: 35:22

Cause I would know I did not yeah.

Caitlin K: 35:24

I sent it to me and I'll put it on our Instagram.

Ariella Monti: 35:26

I have to yeah, I have to edit it a little bit, because it's a screenshot of my friend's lock screen, so like.

Caitlin K: 35:33

Oh yeah, no, we'll. No, I'll take, yeah, we'll take care of all that. No, no, no, no, I just that's so exciting, oh, I would have lost my mind.

Ariella Monti: 35:40

Yeah, it was, it was pretty, it was pretty cool, especially cause I can't like it's not like I put a little note in there like okay, this day, like send an alert. You know that was on, probably that's so exciting.

Caitlin K: 35:53

So it was. It was very cool. Oh my gosh, very, very cool Dude, that's so cool. We are in the future because your book is coming. I know, oh my gosh, you guys, I um, I have two of the copies and I have the pre-order, I thought, but this episode is coming out pre, so we can still pre-order if we want to. Right, okay, great.

Ariella Monti: 36:18

Yeah, so you can pre-order. You can pre-order the ebook. You can pre-order the ebook on Amazon, barnes and Noble, kobo, apple Books, all those places. Yeah, so you can pre-order the ebook. You can't pre-order the paperback because Amazon won't let me, or it won't let, they just don't. So if you want the paperback, you just have to order it on march 1st okay.

Caitlin K: 36:42

Well, that's why I've been holding out then, because I want to, I want to keep it, yeah, personally, yeah, I like those, okay. So, in case you don't know, ariela is an author. She writes um spicy books, so if you like those?

Caitlin K: 36:54

you? Um, we'll put links to her the pre-order in the blog post for this episode so you can go check that out, um, and we'll also make sure you can find her author profile on Amazon or Goodreads, whichever whatever you prefer. Um, we'll put that all in the blog post for this episode as well. But, um, I'm so happy for you. Again, I want to thank you so much for being here. Uh, we're gonna. We're gonna wrap this episode real quick. So libraries are amazing. Go to the library, and Jenny would tell y'all to make good choices. So do that and support your local library. Okay, bye.