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Gatherings Podcast in Review

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Two years ago Jessica from Sweet Love and Ginger and I started a podcast called Gatherings Podcast. It’s been an amazing adventure where we get to talk about parties, interview some really cool guests, and share it with the world.

We just wrapped up season two and I wanted to take this chance to share it with you here on the blog. There’s something in there for everybody, we hope you enjoy! 

What Gatherings Podcast is about?

Admittedly, we maybe should have done a bit more research on a title because when you search for it there are a lot of religious podcasts that come up. But that aside, gatherings really is the perfect name for what we wanted to talk about. It wasn’t always about parties, it wasn’t always about making things formal, and it definitely isn’t about the decor. It is all about people, staying in touch, and remembering to reach out to your community in the midst of the hustle and bustle that we’re all dealing with in our day-to-day lives. And keeping things simple. That’s always what we come back to.

I have no idea how two years have passed already, but that means that we’ve made it through two SEASONS of content. Which is crazy. I wanted to take some time to memorialize that here on the Chrystina Noel blog, and to inspire you to take a listen to a few episodes if you haven’t yet. 

Where should I begin?

If you know us in real life, you can dive in anywhere. If you don’t know us in real life, I recommend starting with episodes one and two. It gives you a good introduction to who we are as people, how in some ways we are very different from each other, and allows you to get a feel of our personalities.

If you do know us in real life, you get the gist. You can move on. 

After that, I would scroll through the list of topics to see what appeals to you. There’s something in there for everyone.

What are my favorite episodes?

This is a hard one.  All of the episodes are fantastic in their own way (if I do say so myself), but if I had to pick, my top three were:

  1. S1E6: The Ultimate Themed Party with Miranda from Spooky Little Halloween
  2. S2E3: 10 Overlooked Last Minute Party Items with Madeline from Where Is The Damn Corkscrew
  3. S2E8: Networking at Parties with Sean from The Awkward Networker

Why are these my favorite? Because they’re the most logistically-focused episodes we have. You will leave each of those with very actionable tips for how to make your next party better than your last. And some great stories.

Where can you listen to them?

They’re on Apple Podcasts. And Podcast Addict. And you can go to our website, www.gatheringspodcast.com, or you can just read through the list of episodes below and choose your favorites. 

Gatherings Podcast - Our Party Hosting Styles with Chrystina and Jessica

Topics: Party Styles + Dinner Parties
In our first two episodes we start off with introductions.You learn a bit more about who Jessica and I are, how we met, what are party hosting styles are, and our ideal dinner parties. Jessica is the spontaneous one, and I’m definitely the type-A planner. The contrast leads to some great conversation.
[Show Notes 1][Show Notes 2]

Gatherings Podcast - Hosting Networking Events with Lauren Caselli

Topic: Hosting Networking Events
In S1E3, we had our first guest on the podcast, Lauren Caselli of Lauren Caselli Events. She has a history as a wedding planner in New York City and now lives in Montana hosting top notch event experiences, like her Boss Lady Bashes. We talk about event planning 101, event planning 201, and Lauren talked about her craziest wedding planning story.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 04
Topic: Dinner Party Etiquette
Our most listened to episode was S1E4 with Lizzie Post from the Emily Post Institute. We came prepared with all of our party etiquette questions and she was able to provide insight, tips, tricks, and a few sample scripts to get through the awkward situations. We talk about go-to potluck dishes, advice to deal with the RSVP battle, and what it takes to be a great host.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 05 - Plan a Pizza Crawl with Sara Cornelius from Cake Over Steak

Topic: Cookbooks + Pizza Crawls
In S1E5, we spoke with Sara Cornelius from Cake Over Steak about the logistics of planning her annual pizza crawl (she’s planned three!), who pays, how they pay, how you keep people moving, and how to build your schedule for the day. There’s also a long discussion about excellent cookbooks that everyone should know about. #sorrynotsorry

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 06 - Ultimate Themed Party with Miranda Enzor from Spooky Little Halloween

Topic: Planning the Ultimate Themed Party
This is one of my favorite episodes, mostly because I love Miranda – and how much she loves Halloween. In S1E6, we spoke with Miranda from Spooky Little Halloween about how she plans her epic Halloween party each year. We talk about her annual party, how she comes up with the themes, decor, the best place to shop for supplies, and more.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 07 - Sunday Pancakes with Roaa Elgabrouny

Topic: Sunday Pancakes
In S1E7, we spoke with Roaa about her tradition of hosting Sunday pancake parties. She has been hosting them for months, but her love of hosting parties started long before that when she was inspired by her family’s parties in Egypt. We talk about advice for beginner party hosts, how to keep food warm in the kitchen, and the difference between parties in the US and Egypt.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 08 - The Perfect Tea Party with Andy Hayes from Plum Deluxe

Topic: The Perfect Tea Party
In S1E8 we spoke with Andy Hayes from Plum Deluxe about hosting tea parties, our favorite teas, thoughtful conversation starters, where to begin if you’re hosting a tea party for the first time, and many tea party logistics. This was also the conversation that led to “you can never go wrong with cheese.” Which is totally true.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 09 - Wine Pairing for the Holidays with Vicki Miller from Vinocity Events

Topic: Wine Pairing for the Holidays
In S1E9, we spoke with Vicki Miller from Vinocity about wine pairing for the holidays. Admittedly, we actually started with wine for the holidays and then ended up asking every possible questino about wine when it comes to parties – how much wine to buy, how much to spend, how to chill wine quickly, what wines to pair with spicy foods, and more.

[Show Notes]

The Gatherings Podcast - Episode 10 - Holiday Traditions with Chrystina and Jessica

Topic: Holiday Traditions
In the final episode of Season 1, Jessica and I spoke about our own holiday traditions. We cover all of the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve – and even touch on Valentine’s Day. I spoke about my annual cookie swap parties, my annual mix CD, and my family’s Italian Seven Fishes Christmas Eve traditions.

[Show Notes]

S2E1 - Gatherings Podcast - Dinners with Field Notes, NY

Topic: Farm-to-table Dinners
We kicked off season 2 speaking with Joan Porambo and Kyle MacPherson from Field Notes, NY about their experiences being chefs at a farm-to-table restaurant. They talk about how these host dinners at Lansing Farm, the timing of coking for so many people, and the logistics of hosting outdoors. I also got to ask what it’s really like to be a chef.

[Show Notes]

S2E2 - Gatherings Podcast - Imposter Syndrome with Rosemary & Rye

Topic: Party Hosting + Imposter Syndrome
In S2E2, we spoke with Ana from Rosemary and Rye about feeling imposter syndrome when we are hosting parties. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been hosting, there are still things you worry about, overthink, and question each time you start planning. We cover living in small places, qualifying things before serving, and being worried about not having enough food.

[Show Notes]

S2E3 - Gatherings Podcast - 10 Overlooked Last Minute Party Items with Where Is The Damn Corkscrew

Topic: 10 Overlooked Last Minute Party Items
In S2E3, we spoke with Madeline from Where is the Damn Corkscrew about 10 overlooked party to-dos. She has a handy party checklist that we talked our way through – each sharing our own stories along the way about times when things went well (and not so well) in each of these areas. The summary is that your job as the host is to not make your guests feel like idiots.

[Show Notes]

S2E4 - Gatherings Podcast - The Logistics of Hosting Potlucks with Kristin Donnelly

Topic: Potlucks
In S2E4, we spoke with Kristen Donnelly, the author of Modern Potluck, about her past career as a Food & Wine magazine food editor, the logistics of hosting potlucks, potluck tips for guests, and more. This was also where I learned holidays are just big potlucks (in my family). There may have also been a few tangents about the Pyrex outlet stores and pig roasts.

[Show Notes]

S2E5 - Gatherings Podcast - How to Start a Conference with Chrystina Noel

Topic: How to Plan a Conference
In S2E5 Jessica interviewed me about planning the Blog Connect Conference, a conference hosted by PHLbloggers (my organization) for bloggers to learn how to blog better while getting to network with cool people. I talked about where the idea came from, how to handle the logistics, planning for money, and all of the tips and tricks I learned along the way.

[Show Notes]

S2E6 - Gatherings Podcast - Minimalism with Party Planning with Jennifer Coyle

Topic: Minimalism and Parties
In S2E6 we spoke with Jennifer Coyle from Hello Brio about minimalism and party planning. We cover everything from food and drink to table settings, paper products, and more. We also had a detailed discussion about our favorite sustainable kitchen items. If making your kitchen more eco-friendly is on your list, this episode is for you.

[Show Notes]

S2E7 - Gatherings Podcast - Keeping It Simple with Ali Rosen

Topic: Keeping Parties Simple
In S2E7 we spoke with Ali Rosen, founder and host of Potluck with Ali about tips to avoid party tension, setting yourself up for success, pre-party preparation tips, and tips to keep things simple throughout the rest of the planning process. Not only that, but we get into our famous bakers vs. cookers debate again.

[Show Notes]

S2E8 - Gatherings Podcast - Networking and Parties with Sean Hand from The Awkward Networker

Topic: Networking at Parties
In S2E8 we spoke with Sean Hand from The Awkward Networker about how to transfer the networking skills from the office to entertaining skills at dinner parties, wedding, and more. We discussed how to prepare for an event ahead of time, how to best utilize your plus one, and some of our own stories from along the way.

[Show Notes]

S2E09 - Gatherings Podcast - Brunch is Hell, a chat with Brendan and Rico from Dinner Party Download

Topic: Brunch Is Hell (the book)
In S2E9 we spoke with Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam from the Dinner Party Download about everything from dinner parties to playlists to icebreaker jokes. They shared other possible titles they had for the book, their most memorable dinner parties, and their favorite party playlists.

[Show Notes]

S2E10 - Gatherings Podcast - Kids' Parties and Kids at Parties with Instafather Andy

Topics: Children’s Parties + Parties with Children
In S2E10, we talked with Andy Shaw from Instafather.com about hosting children’s parties; what to do when there are children at adult parties; how to handle yourself when you’re an adult at a children’s party, but don’t know anything about children; and tips and tricks for dealing with all of the chaos.

[Show Notes]

S2E11 - Gatherings Podcast - Our Favorite Events of 2018

Topic: Our Favorite Parties of the Year
In our final episode, Jessica and I did a solo (duo?) episode where we talked about our favorite events of the year. These events included my 29th birthday party, Jessica’s annual cookie party, the 30th birthday party Jess threw for her husband, and my friends’ 10 year anniversary party at a mansion in the poconos.

[Show Notes]

I loved Gatherings podcast, now what?

That’s awesome. If you’re so inclined, we would love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts

We’re on a pause right now from recording episiodes, but absolutely loved recording these episodes. Life has gotten a little bit crazy, and we both need to take some time to go handle things. But there’s definitely a chance that we’ll be coming back. So if you enjoyed the episodes, let us know, and we’ll absolutely take that into consideration. 

The post Gatherings Podcast in Review appeared first on Chrystina Noel Blog.


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