Rivers and Roads and Tattoos
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We've all been there. I mean, I've been there. In the line at the grocery store, waiting for your latte at the coffee counter, pick up at your child's school, everyone standing around in silence, eyes down. But what if you smiled first? Colgate is here to give you the confidence to do just that. One smile can break the tension and open the door to a real connection. It's a small gesture with a big reward. Colgate helps you show the world your confident smile.

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Dossie is an icon. She's my eyes and ears. I love this. Get ready for the luxury and drama that awaits us in Italy. Cheers to all the toxic couples in the castle. Season 2 of Band Pump Villa premieres April 24th. Streaming on Hulu. Hello, it is Ryan and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumbacasino.com. I looked over at the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumbacasino.

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Loft meeting y'all. Loft meeting. It is time. It's

It's time to hear from you. It's time for me to do my very best to answer all your questions, concerns, comments. We're all on team show. You know what that means? We're all trying to figure out what's going on in this new girl universe. I'm here right with you. Thank you so much. We got so many emails coming in. It is always hard to choose what makes the loft meeting, but don't worry if you send it in, we just roll you over to the next one. So keep listening. If you sent it in, you will hear your question answered.

I'm live here on the pod. Okay. Let's start with our first email. It says, hi, Hannah and Lamorne. I'm a little behind on the podcast and working to get caught up, but I just heard Hannah mention the season finale song, Rivers and Roads, in a loft meeting and wanted to share a quick story. That song, Rivers and Roads. I love it so much. I love it so much. I think I talked about this on the podcast that...

I fell in love with that song and, um, twofold. It was not supposed to be the finale song. They wanted a different song, but some huge show at the time had just used it for their finale, whatever the alternate song was, Aaron O'Malley would know. And then they ended up with rivers and roads, which made me so happy. They're like, have you heard of this song? And I was like, I have, it's one of my favorite songs ever. And, um, and then I used to

work with an organization called, uh, breathe the children. And they had these big events for youth all over the country called we days. And they had, um, the band perform their head in the heart perform. And I got to introduce the band and they played that song. And it was like this weird full circle moment where I got to introduce that band on stage. Anyway, back to the email. Yeah.

The tangent I just went on for Rivers and Roads. My husband and I met our bestest friends while in grad school in Kansas City circa 2013. We were all poor, so the two things we did together were play board games and watch New Girl. We watched the story of the 50 each time one of us turned 29 and still send New Girl memes, quotes, and gifts to our group chat. We moved to the Northeast from, you know, I just want to say this out loud.

I don't know how many times I've asked the question if it's GIFs or GIFs. GIFs sounds insane to me. So I say GIFs. And then whoever tells me, like, it's this way. And I promptly forget because one just does not sound right coming out of my mouth. We moved to the Northeast for more grad school in 2016, and they followed just a few...

This is beautifully written.

We were committed to maintaining our strong friendship no matter what changes the future brought. So we decided to mark the friendship with themed rivers and roads tattoos.

Oh, you guys know I love a tattoo story. That song is all about living away from your best friends and family and how it will take rivers and roads to reach each other once again. The tattoos all look a bit different, but they all have a rivers and roads component. Our friends still live in New Hampshire and we landed in Idaho, but we've stayed close and have committed to seeing each other at least once in person each year. In 2022, my husband, who is a theologian,

Ooh, baptized their adopted twins, which brought us even closer. Thankful for the part New Girl played in the early days of our lasting friendship. Do either of you have any tattoos or better yet, have matching theme tattoos with someone else? Laura. Laura, this may be one of my favorite emails. Man, what a beautiful bonding with our show.

What a beautiful friendship you have. And then to be involved in the baptizing of their babies, to do something on your body that will be a forever reminder to like nourish and encourage that friendship. Oh, I even ended with a question. That's interesting that we haven't been asked on the show. Five stars, Laura. Five stars. Five stars. Love this. I have zero tattoos.

And it is not for lack of want of one. I love tattoos. I'm also the person, I think I've been to, I don't even know, 50 tattoo parlors in my life because when friends of mine have gone to get tattoos,

Um, I'm a good hang. I'll come and sit seven hour session. No problem. I'll come and sit and talk and chat and hang out with you while you get your tattoo. So, um, I've been to many and I'm always toying, but my problem is I have difficulty, um, committing to something that's permanent.

So it's very difficult for me. I think the only thing I've ever done where I was like, I'm going to do it. And it felt really permanent and big was cutting my bangs in 2008. I was like, oh God, I'd always had long hair, all the same length. And I was like, I'm doing this thing. And

Getting it to grow back would take years and it worked out. So maybe I should have that attitude towards a tattoo because I just have to pick one. That's my thing. I also have to pick one and it feels like, wow, that's such a huge decision. But man, you guys had clarity on what tattoo. And it was also cool that it's not like exact matching. Like you guys just thematically agreed on what was important and they did what was right for you. I want to see pictures of the tattoo, Laura. Can you send an email in with pictures?

So we can, um, we can put them up so people can see. That'd be, Oh, there is pictures. I didn't scroll down. Get out of town. Oh, these are great. Oh, I love them. Oh, I can't wait for everybody who's just listening to be able to see these awesome tattoos. That's so cool. What a special friendship. I love that so much. Thank you for watching the show. I'm so happy. I meant so much to you.

This podcast is sponsored by PayPal. With PayPal, you can easily pool money with your friends. So if you're renting a place at the beach together, no one in the group has to pay for the booking on their own. Or you could pool your money together to buy a gift for a friend with PayPal. It makes birthday season in my friend group so much easier. Or even just use PayPal to split the bill at dinner.

Pay all your pals with PayPal. Download the app now. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool. Hello, it is Ryan. And I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumbacasino.com. I looked over at the person sitting next to me. And you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumbacasino.

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We'll be right back.

We're talking to commissioners, team owners, influential athletes, and the investors betting big on women's sports. We'll break down the numbers, get under the hood, and go deep on what's next.

Women's sports are the moment. So if you're not paying attention, you're already behind. Join me courtside for a front row seat into the making of the business of women's sports. Courtside with Laura Carrente is an iHeart Women's Sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Courtside with Laura Carrente starting April 3rd on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network.

All right, moving on. Alex from Tampa, Florida. Hi, Hannah Lamour. And first, I want to say thank you for creating this show. I regularly watch the series, but it's been so much more fun getting to do it with you guys. It really made me slow down and appreciate each episode for their unique qualities, which brings me to Dice. Dice is a funny episode that tends to just pass by in my regular watches. But this time around, I was thinking a lot about

what a time capsule this episode is. Yes, people still date online, but at least for my generation, Z,

Like, I don't have friends who use Grindr or Tinder or any of those other hookup apps. It's got me thinking what each of the Loftmates accounts would look like. I think Nick would have his favorite drink and just have girls meet him at the bar when he got off work. All of Schmidt's photos would be of him in suits. Maybe a Photoshopped image of him standing next to a famous person. Winston would have the cutest photos and like fun facts to jumpstart conversations. What would Cece have in her dating profile?

Ooh, Alex, what a good question. What would Cece have? Here's the thing. I'm the worst person to ask because I've never had an online dating profile. I don't know if I've ever seen one. So I don't know what people usually put up. I feel like the joke would be on the show that she would just have like one picture that's kind of like far away and not even that cute. And then she'd get swiped on.

I don't think Cece's very into like trying hard to get male attention or female attention. So I think that would be it. She would do the bare minimum and it'd probably just work out fine for her. But I don't know because like I said, I've never really seen a dating profile, all the stuff you're supposed to put in there, I guess. But great question. I feel like Lamorne would probably have a better answer that would probably destroy me.

All right, moving on. Thanks, Alex. Ooh, this is from someone called Simone. Y'all know I love a Simone. It's got a lot of Ys. Hey, OMG. The world understandably has become a really scary place in the last four months or so.

I work as a mentor to high school students. I'm a sophomore in college. Mostly, I'm a sounding board about their issues with their parents, and I make sure they've spellchecked their essays. But as we reach the end of the school year, a lot of kids are panicking. Understandably, they're worried about their friends and families. We live near the border. I keep telling them we're not helpless, that the communities care about them, that I care. But I feel like a fraud. I'm scared, too.

Empty words and platitudes feel hollow. I don't know what else to do, but try to assure them that people are still fighting. What I do know is that new girl has been a constant comfort. This podcast has been a constant comfort. It's hard not to look at the news. It is important for me to stay informed, but when I've reached my limit, I could always visit the loft and escape into a world where at the end of the day, everything is going to be okay because your friends love you and that love is enough.

Sorry, I'm tired and this is a bit rambling. I guess I just wanted to say thank you for providing a reprieve in a dark world. Thank you for the long nights you guys spend sharing a trailer. I know making the series was fun, but it also sounds like it was real work. I'm reminded that we don't have to save the world if we just protect one another. Sometimes protection is just being able to laugh in difficult times. Thank you both for being protectors. Love.

Simone. Oh, Simone, that's so kind. I will say it is the thing that now I get stopped the most about and people want to talk to me about with this show. Initially, when the show was on the air, you know, people would stop me and it was just like, ZZ, take Schmidt back or, you know, quoting funny lines. Those were like much more of my interactions I had with people that loved the show.

And what's interesting to me now is I still get stopped a lot and people want to talk about the show, but they talk about things like what you just shared. They talk about how the show has been there for them during hard times when they need comfort to escape someplace where they're reminded of chosen family and how we don't always have to get along.

Um, but we have to love each other and show up when it really matters. And it's really, it's a lot of people. It's interesting. I feel like it's like the two ends of life or the two points of life that kind of meet. Mm hmm.

in that circle of life. A lot of time when people are having babies, when they're pregnant, they put this show on and they watch a lot of this show or right after they've given birth and they're just kind of in the bed with the baby all the time. This is the show they watch. And then on the flip, when someone has lost somebody and they don't really want to go out into the world yet, they're still processing their grief. This seems to be a show that people like to put on to comfort them then. And

appreciate that so much because I have shows like that. Lamorne has shows like that that you just put on and it feels like family.

It's amazing that New Girls was able to do that, right? It's funny, you know, you book a show, a job, and it's a comedy and it's like super silly. And, you know, you think of the pilot with Cece where she's just sort of like with her, you know, like the line about the party hats. And you just go like, what is this good? Is this going to do in the world? This crazy, silly show? Like it's a funny show and it's really good, but what good is it going to do in the world? And what I've learned is,

is it's done like a lot of good. It's shown up for people when they didn't want to be with people, when they wanted to just be able to dissolve into a space where they didn't have to think and they could just feel like that warm hug and they knew it would make them laugh and they didn't have to do any work around it. And that's important. And it's

Only because I feel like the fans of New Girl are so awesome and they're so tuned in to themselves and vulnerable and brave. I mean, the stories that have been shared with me

It's such a reflection, I just feel like, of how we truly do have the best fans in the world. So thank you for sharing. Thank you for all the work that you're doing and showing up for people. And I'm glad that you have a place and space that you can go and sit and feel comforted and laugh and feel that sense of TV family community. I'm happy about that. So thank you, Simone.

Okay. That's our show. That's our loft meeting. Man, you know, tattoos, dating profiles, and chosen family. That's the jam, y'all. Please make sure you go to our website, themesseronpod.com. We have so much great merch out there. I say this every single time, but it's true. I feel like the New Girl fans kind of got gypped where they didn't get the cool merch.

Um, for this show. So the morning I made sure that, um, uh, the new girl fans didn't go without. So go check it out at the mess around pod.com. Bye for yourself.

for anybody, you know, that loves the show. Um, it's a great gift. I have a piece in every color and every size. It's like my uniform. Cause it's cozy. You know, it's really interesting. I've never, you know, started a little clothing line before, but man, you, I, I got every single blank, which is like before they print it, you can kind of pick, look at all the different kinds of sweaters and t-shirts that I just picked the coziest, um, and the most comfortable. Cause that's how it should feel just like the show. Um,

Um, make sure you follow us on Instagram at the mess around pod. Um, please keep sending in your voicemails, your emails, videos. We'll play videos. Um, I love to see your faces. Um, I love to hear your voices. So please do that. That would be so great. Um, and you can send all that to the mess around pod at gmail.com. All right, babes. Bye.

That was The Mess Around, an iHeartMedia production. Our executive producer is Joelle Monique. Our senior producer is Abu Zafar. Bay Wang provided engineering and editing services. Additional production from Daniel Goodman, Wendy Heisler, and Kyle Chevron. Our theme song was written and composed by Ronald Jukebox Jackson. Catch you next time. Bye.

This podcast is sponsored by PayPal. With PayPal, you can easily pool money with your friends. So if you're renting a place at the beach together, no one in the group has to pay for the booking on their own. Or you could pool your money together to buy a gift for a friend with PayPal. It makes birthday season in my friend group so much easier. Or even just use PayPal to split the bill at dinner.

Pay all your pals with PayPal. Download the app now. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool. We've all been there. I mean, I've been there. In the line at the grocery store, waiting for your latte at the coffee counter, pick up at your child's school, everyone standing around in silence, eyes down. But...

What if you smiled first? Colgate is here to give you the confidence to do just that. One smile can break the tension and open the door to a real connection. It's a small gesture with a big reward. Colgate helps you show the world your confident smile. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.

From the producers who brought you Princess of South Beach comes a new podcast, The Setup. The

The setup follows a lonely museum curator, but when the perfect man walks into his life... Well, I guess I'm saying I like you. You like me? He actually is too good to be true. This is a con. I'm conning you to get the Dilawar painting. We can do this together. Listen to The Setup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.