The Queen And I
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Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Chasing the Sweet Things in Life. Episode four. I know. Episode four. I guess this is real. Yes.

Today's episode is called The Queen and I. We will get back to that. Interesting. All will be revealed. All will be revealed. Yeah. Stay tuned. So happy Life Erickson Day. Who's Life Erickson? So Life Erickson discovered America. He was a Viking.

That in one of his long ships sailed all across the ocean from Norway. That's the truth. That's the total truth. They know his name? Yes. His name was Leif Erikson. And how early was this that he was the true discoverer of America? Well, it's the Viking ages. So, like 1,500 years ago, maybe? 1,200? Wow. Yeah. They have found...

Up in Newfoundland, they have found coins, like Viking coins and stuff. Yeah, totally. And he called it Vinland, which means the land of wine. And I don't know why, because I don't think there's a lot of wine up there. No, I don't think so. Because they probably landed very north. Yes, they did. Well, it was the continent of Northern America. Yes.

No, it wasn't Florida. Exactly. Yes. So all I can say is Columbus who? Yeah, exactly. Can you imagine if we were actually a predominantly Scandinavian culture? I know. If they would have stuck around. I know. There would be...

Lefse everywhere. There would be, you know, lutefisk for everyone. That would be our Thanksgiving dinner. Oh my gosh. Rotten fish. It would be lutefisk. Cloudberries would be everywhere. I'll take the cloudberries. I'll leave the lutefisk. Yes. For those of you who don't know what lutefisk is, it's actually... It's... Fermented fish. It's dried cod that you dilute in lye.

Which is toxic. Yes, but you rinse it out. There's actually food... No, you rehydrate it with lye. Yes, there's actually food-safe lye. But you still have to, you know, rinse it out a lot. Yeah, so the fish becomes kind of gelatinous. No, stop. No, stop right there. That's... I can't. We serve it with potatoes, mashed peas...

The brown cheese and bacon drippings. Well, that sounds yummy. But people still literally eat lutefisk. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. It's a huge tradition, especially around Christmas. Do people actually enjoy it or it's like... I think it's disgusting myself. Have you tasted it? Yes, I have. Several times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very common around Christmas that you get invited to these like...

lutefisk parties it's like masochistic i can't i will say you have to drink a lot of aquavit which is to kill the bacteria probably oh my gosh okay let's get on with it yes so we've talked a lot about your initial home life so many great stories but let's get to when you finally went to school

Yes. You were seven years old? I was seven years. We started school in Norway the year you become seven. And it was a total shock to me because, you know, I had lived a very sheltered life with very few kids around. And all of a sudden I was surrounded by kids. And, you know, they were interested in football and pop stars and everything.

You know, whatever we were interested in the 70s. And I wasn't. I thought they were all so weird. And of course, they thought I was weird. Do you remember the first day of school? Yes, I remember because I can remember the excitement.

I was there with my mom and my grandmother. My mom was heavily pregnant at the time. My sister came like a couple of weeks later. Oh, wow. Yeah, I remember like there was three teachers. So there were three first grades starting at the same time. And there were three teachers standing like on a little podium. And there was a man. I didn't want to have him as a teacher.

Oh, interesting. There was this older, like dark haired woman, which I in my head thought looked like a witch. Oh my gosh. So I didn't want her. Yeah. And then there was this young, really beautiful blonde girl with like big blonde hair. And she was kind of fabulous. And I was like, oh my God, I want to see her.

I want her to be my teacher. Oh my gosh. Did you get to pick? No, it was already decided. So they would call out the names and it started with a guy. He would call out like the 25 kids that was in his class and

And then the witch would call out to her. Oh, my gosh. And I wasn't in any of those. I was like, oh, my God, I'm so happy. I am in this beautiful woman's class. And you were in her class? Yes, I was in her class. Oh, my gosh. Thank goodness. Yeah. And it was kind of they divided the classes kind of where you lived, right?

So you went to the class with kids that lived sort of close to you in your area. Yeah. Did you all ride a bus or did you get taken to school by your parents every day? I actually had to walk every day to school. Oh, it was close enough. Well, I think it was two kilometers. How many miles is that? A mile and a half, maybe. That's not so far. But I mean, today that would never happen. In snow and rain and everything. Up hill both ways.

No, yeah, it was uphill going there. Yeah. Downhill going back. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, eventually, you know, I would get up early and then go to some of the other kids around and we would walk together. Walk together, yeah. Yeah. A really cute thing was that so when we came home,

After the first day of school, around the dinner table, my mom used the word charming a lot about my teacher. Like, oh, such a charming teacher. Everything was charming. I've been trying to remember her name, but it just... Oh, you don't remember? I think maybe she was called Randi, which in English isn't that...

You know, it's Randy, which isn't that perfect. Like in England, it's like, yeah, okay, never mind. I can't remember her name. But two days later, when we had like finished the day, I went up to my teacher and I say, excuse me, miss, I just want to say you're very charming. Oh, my gosh.

I know. And she said to me, and she said, yes, you're very charming to Paul. I think every little kid has a crush on their early school teachers. Yeah, I thought she was very like... Well, some are scary, but the ones that are sweet and pretty and young, like... Yeah, she was all that. And she would, you know, my mom had a clothing store, which was kind of close to my school.

And my teacher would go there sometimes and shop. And she told my mom that. Oh, interesting. She told a story to my mom. Like how amazing she thought that was. That this little boy came up to her and said that she was charming. Oh. Funny story. First day at school. Yeah. So we're sitting there. And all of a sudden we hear this like... Kind of like running water thing. A trickle. Yeah, a boy in my class peed himself. Oh no. The teacher said, well, you know...

His name was Håvard. I can still remember that. My teacher said, you know, just raise your hand and say you have to go to the bathroom. And he was kind of like this, like, bratty child. And he was, oh, I didn't think there was bathrooms here. He said that? Yes, he said that. And it was embarrassing because, you know, his parents were there because it was the first day at school. So every, you know, the parents and my mom and grandmother was all in the classroom because the first day was only like...

I don't know, an hour. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Do you remember his parents reacting or saying anything? I can't. No, I can't remember that. That was kind of a funny reaction saying, oh, I didn't know there were bathrooms. I didn't know it was bathrooms. And he said it in a very like brass, like, I didn't know there was bathrooms here. Did the class laugh or was it? Yes. Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah.

We all thought it was hysterical. Funny. What else? What else about early school? I think I kept a lot to myself because I didn't get the kids. It took you a while to assimilate. It took me a long time to figure out how to deal with them. Yeah. Yeah, the negotiation of... Yeah, because all the boys were into sports and I was not interested whatsoever. I think I did...

Play along a couple of times. In Norway, soccer is very big. We call it football. Which is really just running around and kicking. Yeah, it's nice. And I got asked a few times to play with them. And I would always end up in the goal. As goalie, yeah. Yeah. But I didn't know the rules. I would like...

And I was afraid of the balls. Yeah, of course. You didn't want to get hit in the face. Yeah. So, you know, and I didn't know the rules. And so very soon they didn't ask me anymore about that. Yeah, of course. Got picked last. Yeah. I didn't get picked at all.

Yeah, you know, I was interested in food and antiques and, you know. So, did you hang out with the girls more? I hung out. I certainly did. Yeah, no. I did hang out mostly with the girls. And there was one boy that I hung out a little bit with. He was very into music, but like classical music. Oh, that's cool. He wanted to be a composer. Wow. Yeah. So, we would go to his house and he would like...

Give me like music sheets and tried to like... We were like composing. Yeah, like made fake composing. Yeah, kind of. Yeah. Did he understand music or he was still just... No, no, no. He could play piano and play stuff. A couple of years later... So the school had a band, like a marching band. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And I didn't want to join at all. But...

There kind of was a tradition in the family. I mean, not our side, but my father's parents. My uncle, his kids was in a marching band and several other kids in that part of the family. So I felt like I was kind of getting pushed into... Yeah. So, okay, I did. I joined the marching band and the costumes were awful.

They were red and mustard green. So terrible. Really bad. And I got to sign the clarinet. And I was in the marching band for three years and I never learned to play the clarinet. Did you just fake it? I faked for three years. And you know what the craziest thing is? So once a week we had to go

and take a lesson, like a private lesson. And I had this teacher, and I remember he was this very old man. He had a big beard, big hair. He was a jazz musician. But on the side, he was like teaching kids how to play music. And so what I did, I would come in and I would maybe like play a scale piece.

And that's how far. And then I would always be like, oh, can you play that? You know that song? You just strapped him. Yes. I distracted him for half an hour. Oh, my God. Yes. And I did that for three years. That's a lot of effort. Yeah. Because I wanted to make my grandparents happy. But...

Yeah, but after three years, I was just like, no, this is not working. Yeah, the jig is out. The jig is out. Plus, my lips got super sore from the clarinet. Like, super sore because they became very dry, so I would lick them all the time. Yeah, it was a mess. A total mess. That's insane. I think it's time for a little break. All right. Okay, we will be back.

So I'm looking through the new fall issue of Sweet Fall Magazine, which is so gorgeous, by the way. Thank you. And there's this advertising feature for Noritake. These gorgeous blue plates. I guess it's the Color Wave Collection. Oh, so pretty. They're so chic. I know. And it says right here, you can use code SWEETPAUL.

Sweet Paul in all caps, during checkout to receive 15% off your order. 15%? 15% off. That's good. At noritakechina.com. That's N-O-R-I-T-A-K-E-C-H-I-N-A dot com. Ooh. Such a deal. Perfect for Christmas. It's true. And we're back. Yes. So, I remember being, like, the way I...

Dressed was really important to me really early in school. I remember I was picking my outfits out like Lacoste shirts and, you know, pastel plaid shorts. You know, this is the preppy 80s, right? Yeah. Were clothes important to you early in school?

Do you remember what you would wear and would you pick out your own clothes and stuff? In the beginning, I would wear whatever my mom told me to wear. But very soon, I sort of developed a uniform. Your own little uniform. My own little uniform, which consisted of a white shirt.

A blue cardigan, like a blue knitted cardigan. Blue corduroy pants. And either suede lace-up shoes or loafers. That's for Lili Guben. Yes. Little old man. Yes, totally. I totally dressed like an old man. And, you know, I was very tall. I became tall really early. And I was bigger than the other kids because, you know, I had more meat on me bones. Yeah.

And I remember in sixth grade, we went on an excursion and someone asked if I was a teacher. Oh my gosh. That is so funny. I know. Yeah, I totally dressed like an old man. And I don't know where this came from, but I think I just wanted to stand out from the other kids.

You wanted to look sharp, which probably translated as being older. Yes, totally. And then a little bit later when I started... So in Norway, we do six years, which is considered like... We call it kid school. I don't know what to... So first through sixth. Yes. It's probably primary school. Yes. Right. And then we do seven, eight, nine years.

It's called high school? Yes. High school or mid school. We call it high school. And then when you're done with high school, you don't have to do anymore. Yeah. So in Norway, you can do nine years and that's it. I did three years of, I guess it would be college after that. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. But when I became like 14...

Maybe I became very obsessed about like labels, like fashion labels. Yeah. Of course. And I guess this was the same time because I would, you know, Lacoste was the big thing. Well, yeah, that was the first, well, we in America, it was the licensed deal then. So it was Izod.

Izod had licensed the alligator from Lacoste, so they were called Izod shirts. Now, Lacoste has the brand back. So now Lacoste exists here. But when I was growing up, it was Izod, but it was really the Lacoste polos.

And I remember that being sort of the first brand that I was obsessed with. Yeah, I think I've had like one in every color. And you would like flip the color. Oh, honey. My mother, denim jacket, color flipped. Like I can't wear a denim jacket or a polo without the color. Yeah, it's just, again, it's just that like...

preppy white thing that like it just looks it just looks cooler looks more stylish my mom would always roll up my sleeves and have anything oh yeah yeah that's like her big thing yeah and then of course what I looked forward to most for school was all the breaks

I mean, summer break, winter break, fall break, spring break. Yeah. Yeah, that was my favorite time in school. Yeah, what did you, did you just spend it at home or did you guys travel? What did you do? Of course, for winter, for our holiday break, we would, of course, stay at home because that was like the big thing.

In summer, we had a little cabin by the ocean. So we would go there. Every Scandinavian has a summer house. Yeah, it was like...

Two months of just, you know, ocean and seafood. And it was really magical. I mean, that's the life that everyone literally spends the entire summer. Yeah. Yeah. We would go the entire summer and we would just stay there. With the whole family. Yeah. Which was magical. We had a little boat and we would go on outings. Did you have electricity? Yeah.

Yes. Yeah. A lot of home stone. Yeah, no. Which is candlelight magical. Yeah, and outhouses. Yeah, totally. But it's incredible. Yeah, no, it was absolutely magical. Like, you know, the long, bright Scandinavian evenings in summer. I mean, it's incredible. Yeah. Sun never goes down. No, it's really, it's beautiful.

And then in fall, so we had one week of fall break and the whole family, we had to go away because that was when my grandmother and great aunt would do their canning. Preserving. Preserving. So they would make jams, jellies, chutneys. We have something called saft, which is, you know, this liquid that you mix with water to make like a drink.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Like a syrup. Yes. Yes. Like a syrup that we mix with water. Yeah. Which is delicious. That's like the elderberry flower syrup or the lingonberry syrup, that kind of a thing. Yes. Yes. So your grandmother and great aunt would be like, get out of our kitchen. Yes. And they would just do. They absolutely denied us to be home. We had to go away. It was probably a huge production.

Yeah, it was a huge production. Was everything from the garden that they preserved? Most of it, but they would buy extra berries and apples and stuff like that. And the thing was, the smell was very strong. I remember coming home after and the house sort of smelled like...

Mixed between sweet and a little vinegary. So they pickled too. Yeah, it had a very, very distinctive smell. And they had these huge...

pots and pans that they kept in the basement that they would bring up when there was canning time and tools. Yeah, so it was those two. And I think they got some help from women around. Yeah. And then you would eat everything they preserved over the winter. Over the winter. And the super cute thing was that my grandmother would call

She would call the jam jar the jar of sunshine. So in winter, she would tell me, oh, Paul, can you go down to the basement and get a jar of sunshine?

And that was very sweet. So sweet. Yeah, because we had like a... Well, now you have to create a preserves brand and call it Jar of Sunshine. I know. That's actually very cute. It's a good idea. Yeah. We had a pantry in the basement behind the laundry room, which was kind of cool all year round. And that's where we kept everything. Of course. Yeah. And I have to admit, once in a while...

I would sneak down with a spoon and I would sit on the floor and just eat like him. Yeah, just eat jam. What was your favorite jam? Strawberry. Strawberry? Yeah, it still is.

Still is. Nothing can beat a good strawberry jam. Mine is raspberry. With that has very... The seeds in it still like very... Yes. Like... Oof. On a rye toast with butter. I know. I know. It's so good. Same as always. So, wait. Why is this episode called The Queen and I? I'm confused. Yes. So...

What happened? I think I had, just after I learned how to write, I think I was maybe like seven. I learned it really quick. I wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth of England because we have birthday on the same day. Oh, really? April 21st. That's the Queen's birthday too. And I wrote her a letter and it wasn't to congratulate her on her birthday. It was to inform her

that we had birthday on the same day. Oh, my gosh. I just wanted her to know. Yes. Yes. Of course. It's important. Yes. Yes. So, a couple of months later, we did get a reply. You did? Yes. Were you gagging? Yes. I was very excited. Were you looking at the envelope? Yes. I remember it said Buckingham Palace, and I was like, oh, my God. But, of course, the Queen didn't, right? It was like, it said something like...

She said, the queen appreciates your congratulations. And I was like, I didn't congratulate her. Oh, my. I just informed her. And then it was like, it was a sign by lady, blah, blah, blah. Lady in waiting. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. That is so amazing. And unfortunately, that letter was in the box with pictures that got thrown out. Yes. Because that would have been so much fun, too. But then, years later, I met the queen for real. So...

Fast forward, I had a flower shop in Oslo and the royal family, the Norwegian royal family was clients of mine. I would do like smaller, like private events and gifts and stuff for them. And Queen Elizabeth was coming for a state visit and the royal household called me and said, can you do flowers for Leica? A little private family lunch. And of course, yes, I was very excited to do that. So I went to the palace.

I did my job. And then from the room I was, there was two ways to get out. And it was the way I'm supposed to go, which would have taken me like... Like the servant's entrance? Yes, it was up and down a lot of stairs and kind of like...

Like a maze through, yeah. Yes. I was running late for another thing I needed to do in the shop. So I was like, I'm just going to run down this hallway where I'm not supposed to go. Like, I'm not supposed to go that way. And I had a bucket of flowers in my hands, like leftover flowers. And I looked, I was like looking and see, no, no one's there. It's green light. And I'm walking down the

And all of a sudden, a woman turns the corner and I'm like, oh my God. You know, it's the curly hair, the sensible shoes and the handbag. And I'm like, oh shit. Oh my God, seriously? Oh my God, this is the Queen of England. And I had heard that she wasn't in the castle at that moment. I thought she was out doing some sort of... Yeah. And thank God she was alone. Because if there was someone with her from the Norwegian...

I would have been like, you know, executed on the spot. Yeah, exactly. So I'm thinking, oh my God, what am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to be here. Oh, she's getting closer. She's getting closer. So I just put down my bucket and I stood next to the wall and she's walking towards me and I bow my head and then I did the thing you are not supposed to do. You're not supposed to talk to them. You're not supposed to talk to the queen unless she talks to you.

But I was like, okay, fuck it. You're the only one there. So I said, good afternoon, your majesty. And she said, good afternoon, young man. And then she just walked up. Oh my God. And I was thinking, okay, there's two things going to happen. Either she's going to tell someone. And you're going to be like, yes, I'm going to be killed in my sleep or she's not going to tell anyone. Yeah. And she didn't tell anyone. Of course. Yeah. But I...

Yeah, I completely broke the protocol. Yeah, I spoke to her without. So were you thrilled or freaked out? You know, here's the thing. Royalty and stuff doesn't really freak me out. Yeah. Because honestly, they're just people, just like you and me. Yeah. And I think when in those situations, they just act like real people too. Like they're not as concerned as the protocol is maybe in the past or maybe they're handlers. But...

She, you know, it was just like, whatever. Yeah, she was, I mean, she was just a normal lady. And I'm more nervous about meeting people that I like really, really look up to. Yeah. Like who does something amazing in their field. Not like she's not an amazing woman, but I was more nervous about meeting Nigella Lawson than I was about the Queen of England. Yeah, so interesting.

Of course, if I knew that I was going to meet her, maybe I would have been more nervous. Oh, yeah, of course. The anticipation. She's a person like us. She puts her pants on all the time.

One leg at a time. Yes, exactly. Wow, that's really fascinating. We'll get back to that time in your life. Because I have a million questions, but we'll hold off. Speaking of questions, shall we answer some? Yes, but maybe we should do a little break first. Yes. Sounds good. We'll be back and we have a ton of questions from you guys. So how do you like these new coffee mugs I made? They're beautiful. Thank you. Yeah, your work has gotten...

really great and the

clay and the glazes the way that you've combined them are really beautiful oh thank you i'm very happy so we are talking about my ceramics i do ceramics i've been doing it for a while and if you want to check it out you can go to my instagram which is paul low ceramics or you can check it out on my website which is paul low ceramics.com do it just in time for the holidays

All right, we're back. Yeah, what's up, sweet Paul? What's up, sweet Paul? We have a ton of questions.

I love it. I'm so happy. Hopefully none of them are for me. Okay. They're all for you. Mary from Philadelphia is asking, I am so loving your podcast. Oh, sweet. And especially loving the stories of your childhood in Norway. I am curious to ask two questions. Number one, what culture shock did you feel when you moved to the States? Such a good question. And number two,

And number two, do you ever still experience culture shock in any way after all these years? Well, the first one... The portions of food, probably? Yeah, I mean, when I first moved here, remember, I moved from Oslo to New York City. And I lived in Manhattan. I lived on the Upper West Side. And what struck me was that every time of day I would go outside, there were so many people. Yeah. Why are there so many people out on the streets? Like...

At all hours of the day. Yeah. I think that's what the biggest culture shock for me was. There's probably more people in Manhattan at any given time than there are Norwegians in the world. Yes, absolutely. Yes. I remember taking the subway. I thought it was super intimidating because...

It was so many people. I mean, in the mornings, if a cart came and it was super full, I refused to go in. Yeah. I just could not deal. It was... Yeah. Overwhelming. For sure. All the people. And then, of course, the food. I mean, let's face it. The portions are completely out of control. I remember the first time I was in America. There was Miami Beach. And we had just landed...

I was tired, but super hungry. So we went to this diner on the corner. And I remember I'd never had red velvet cake before. So we had a burger. I remember it was big and it was like...

Oh, is this French fries for the city of Paris? Or is this for me? But I remember ordering a piece of Red Velvet cake and I literally got a quarter of a cake. I mean, I was ecstatic because I was like, ooh, cake. But yeah, it was enormous. So yeah, culture, of course, there was language barriers.

barrier. I mean, I was always good in it. I spoke English well and I could write it, but there were certain words and sayings you guys have that I didn't understand. I remember the first time I met the woman that became my agent, I was showing her a book of clippings from all my articles in Norway. And she came to this one picture and it was a chicken. And she said, oh, that's a little cheesy.

And I look at the picture and I look at her and I was like, no, it's chicken. Oh my God, that's hilarious. So there's things like that. Yeah, that's funny. Do I still experience culture shock? I mean, I become kind of Americanized, I guess. Nothing shocks you anymore? Well, yeah, but let's not get into that. Yeah. It's a lot of stuff that shocks me these days. I think I'm kind of good. Yeah, you can roll with it now. Yeah, I can. For sure. Yeah.

Okay, so Mary goes on to say, I lived in South Korea for a bit. I am American and culture shock came and subsided in waves.

I'm wondering if this is an experience you had or how long it may have lasted if you did. I know this may be a sensitive question since the past three years I myself feel culture shock in the US, as we just mentioned. Thank you. I'm already looking forward to the next episode. Love that. Yeah. So, I mean, yeah, it comes and goes, I'm sure, in the beginning. Yeah, it took me a while to... I mean, the food, of course, I got into really fast and I gained 30 pounds in a year. Yeah.

Because it was also all these things that I had never had before that I had to taste. So I remember one of my like most amazing discoveries, and it's so bad for you, was magic shell. Oh, yeah. You know, that chocolate sauce that you pour over ice cream and it becomes hot. Oh, my God. And it's only like it's palm oil. Yeah, I mean, it's not even chocolate. No, no, no. It's the worst thing you can ever eat.

It was magic. It was magic. I ate that more or less for a year. Yeah. So, you know, no wonder I gained. America will do that to you. I would say everyone that moves to America gain weight. Yeah. Like, how are you supposed to not? Yeah. I mean, the portions are literally out of control. Yeah, it's true. Yeah.

Okay. Mark from Oklahoma City. I really want to go to Norway. What time of year should I go? And is there one thing I should do? What would that be? The time of year. I would go late spring or early fall. Late spring or early fall. Okay. So like end of April until September. That's probably not even high season. So that's a good thing. That's when I would go. That's kind of high season. It is. It's not like August, July, August.

Of course, that's like mega high season. But yeah, any time from late April till early September. Yeah. Beautiful. Remember, it gets up to like maybe high 70s. The summers are beautiful. It's mild. Yeah. The great thing about Norwegian Airlines is they have a lot of small hubs. Yeah. So you could actually fly there very inexpensively and fly to Bergen.

So definitely look into that. Yes, totally. And if there's one thing you should do, I would... This is what I say to everyone. Take the train. Let's say you fly to Oslo, which is the capital. Take the train to Bergen. Can you do it the other way around too? You can to Bergen and take the train to Oslo? Yes, totally. Because the train will go over the mountains. Oh my gosh. It is...

Stunning. Really? Yes, stunning. Oh my gosh, I can't wait to go. And the quality of the trains is amazing. There's great food, you know, great seats. Take like the one that goes during daytime, because you can do a night one too. But the daytime one, you will see it's absolutely beautiful. Yeah, that's the one thing I would tell people to do. Yeah, fabulous. Okay, the GG...

Ooh. And this is Hugo drinking water, by the way. The Gigi asks, do you sell paper magazines or is it just downloads? I'm so inspired. We do sell paper magazines. You can go to sweetpolemag.com slash subscribe and you can buy a single issue.

Or you can subscribe to the magazine. And the great thing is, so one issue is $16. But if you subscribe, it's only $10 and that includes shipping. And it comes automatically. It comes automatically until you decide you don't want it anymore and you just let us know. Yeah. So it's super easy. Yes. Okay, Jamie from New Jersey. What do you...

to get out of a creative rut? Oh, I will go and do something completely different. Something new? Yes. Go for a long walk. Just whatever you're doing, just leave it. Just leave it for a while. Leave it for...

If you're on a deadline, leave it for an hour or two. If not, leave it for a couple of days and then come back to it. Because if you have a little time, maybe go to a movie, see a movie, read a book, listen to a podcast. For sure. For sure. Do something else. Yeah. Well, first of all, you need to give yourself a mental getaway. But also, you can find new inspiration by just experiencing something else. Yes, totally.

And I would also say, wherever you go, always have a little notebook and a pen. Because you never know when you're going to get that really good idea. Like, have a notebook next to your bed. Have a notebook next to your bathtub. Because you never know when it's going to come. To me, my best ideas often come when I'm in the bathtub. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. Anytime you have a moment to clear your head, that's when...

I think creativity can flow. Absolutely. Okay. So Eileen asks, did you celebrate Halloween growing up? Or what was the Norwegian version of Halloween? There is no. No, but isn't in Sweden they have something about burning the witches and that's when they... Yeah, we don't have that. We have... So between Christmas and New Year, we have something called julebok.

which is kids dress up and can go house to house and get candy. We don't celebrate Halloween. Did that holiday always exist, or was it sort of emphasized because of the influence of Halloween? No, that holiday was an old one. And people always dressed up. Yes. I don't think people do. We did when I was a kid. I think that stopped. Now in Norway, they do celebrate Halloween.

Oh, really? Yeah, because, you know, everything is...

It's one big world. The world's getting smaller. Yeah. And it's October 31st. Yeah. But when I grew up, no, there was no Halloween. I remember seeing it in movies and American shows, and I thought that was so incredible. So I was very excited coming here and experienced my first Halloween. Yeah. And I got very disappointed. Yeah, I know. Because I, in my head, Halloween was this like...

cozy, homemade costumes, very like Martha Stewart. Version of... Yes, version of Halloween. Of course, what was roaming the streets was like, you know, sexy nurses and, you know, stuff like that. Just cheap plastic. Yes. It was very disappointing. Yeah. Even for me, like, I remember growing up in a real neighborhood where we all went off by ourselves, the kids, and went to all the houses. And everywhere I've lived since...

There isn't, we never even get any trick-or-treaters. So I guess in the suburbs it still happens, maybe. But I haven't experienced like a true trick-or-treating sort of culture in a long, long, long, long time. Yeah, I remember when I moved to Brooklyn.

There was like a sign-up sheet with the doorman if you wanted trick-or-treaters to come. And I remember I signed up because, oh, this can be cute. And of course, I was, oh my God, I need to go get candy. You overbought? Well, yes, I overbought. And I bought things that was maybe a little too fancy. Yeah. So I bought like Ferrero Rocher and stuff like that. Oh my gosh. Well, because I didn't want to give them like...

Pardon the expression, crap. Yeah. So, of course, I had a lot of people come because clearly... You were the only one that signed up? No, no. It was a lot of people signed up, but clearly I gave the best candy. Oh. So, there was like a rumor in the house. Oh, good. Good. Yeah. So, I got a lot. And I was very like, hmm, these kids aren't really dressed up, should I say?

Oh, yeah, they're just wearing like a plastic mask. Well, not even that. They weren't even wearing anything. And it was like, trick or treat. And I was like, oh, okay. Interesting. You're like, no, not for you. Yes. Okay. Yes. Oh, there's another part to that question from Eileen. Is what do you give trick-or-treaters now? Well, as I said, I gave them Ferrero Rocher. Yeah, but I think the last...

Halloween in Kingston, I think we may have bought just regular candy, but no one came, right? No one came. Very disappointing. So, the answer is nothing because they don't show up. Yeah, and here in Palm Springs, but this is a gated community. They're not going to be able to come in. Yeah, and there's really no kids. And there's no kids around, so...

You know something? We're going to buy some candy and we're going to eat it ourselves. Yeah. No. We're going to buy Atkins low carb candy. Okay. Apples. Apples and bananas.

Food stylist New York City asks, what kind of microphone do you use or do you record in a studio? Ooh, interesting. Pull the curtain back and I don't know. We do not. Clearly with the snoring dogs and lawnmowers going on outside, we do not record in a studio. No, we record at home. We're sitting around the dining room table and

And so what do we use? It's called H5 Handy Recorder. So we record into a SIM card. We have two microphones. What do they call? Audio Technica? I got it on Amazon. Yeah. It was not that much money. And so it records into a SIM card. And what I do is that... So I tried to, in the beginning, to...

I wanted to do everything myself. So I wanted to edit and stuff. Yeah, we had to replace the equipment. We were lucky enough to find a really good editor who consulted on us. Yeah, so now what we do, we record an episode and then we send it to an editor and he fixes everything. He takes... Auto-tunes it. He auto-tunes it. Retouches it. Filters it. Puts on the thin and gorgeous filter and, you know, he sends it back to us. Yeah. Yes, I'm...

So that works really well. I mean, if you are really technical, I'm sure you can do it yourself. But I just could not. I couldn't do. Yeah. This is too much for me. Okay, last question. Red Kitty. Red Kitty. Red Kitty says, how do you like Palm Springs? And have you gotten used to the heat yet? So we moved here in July.

Well, we spent the winter here and then we moved here permanently in July. Yeah. But July and August are like the hottest month. 115 degrees. Well, we had 120 for one day. Yes. I mean, it is really warm. But the great thing is...

It's dry heat. No humidity. So it feels very different from living upstate New York where there is 95 degrees, but there is 100% humidity. Yeah. It's like just being in an oven. It's like toasty, like a dry sauna. You don't feel suffocated. It's warm. Yeah. And things are hot to the touch outside. And, you know, you get in the car and it's really hot. But it's, again, it's not that hot.

Sweaty, suffocating humidity. Yeah. And of course, when it's 120 degrees outside, you don't really do stuff. Oh no, we're inside in the air conditioning. Or in the swimming pool. Yes, exactly. So, you know, the life here, the lifestyle is... Based around heat. Based around that it's really freaking hot. Yes. Everything has central air. Everyone has a swimming pool. You know, you're not sticking a giant...

air conditioning unit in your window for, you know, the summer and then taking it out for, no, it's none of that. Yeah. But how do we like living here? Oh, we love it. Yeah. It's fabulous, right? It's really beautiful. The desert. Yeah. We're very happy. I mean, for me, it's,

I used to live in Norway and then in New York. This is the most exotic I can think of because it's palm trees, cactuses, mountains, wildlife. I mean, the blooms in spring from all the cactuses and stuff, it's amazing. We have olive trees outside our door. We have

orange and lemon and lime trees it's it's literally the most exotic avocados and pomegranates yeah we we call so there are like actually avocados just growing by the yeah at the farmer's market yeah there's people that sell free range avocados because they're just they're forage from the side of the road yeah i love it so funny yeah it's really good

No, so this is an amazing place to live. It really is. It is. Yeah. Blessed. Blessed. Is that it? That's it. That was a long episode, I think. Ooh. So, if you have any questions for us, we do love your questions.

Please, you can either DM us on Instagram at SweetPolMagazine, or you can send us an email to podcast at sweetpolmag.com. Until next time. Okay. Bye. Lestat is snoring at you. He's snoring so loud. And he's sleeping with his eyes open. So weird. Yeah. Hanging off the side of the... Anyway, bye, y'all. Bye. Bye.