Episode FIVE! This is a big one because we’re revealing our 2020 bnb plans! As many of you know, we each have a Nashville bnb (you can rent them or just see photos here!) and in 2020, we will each be sharing our new Florida bnbs. They are near Magic Kingdom/Universal, etc., and they are each THEMED … you’ll have to listen to the episode for more details!
You can stream the episode here on the blog or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher.
Go Emma!!! I CANNOT wait to see her house! We are both going to be in Florida all week this week, so we’ll share some on IG stories!
First of all, I had a drinking game idea when I was listening to the final draft of this episode. Take a drink every time I say “honestly” because it is honestly way too many times. Haha, oops!
A few of Emma’s favorite Harry Potter purchases …
This sign for an entryway project.
This bean bag chair.
This wall tapestry has the best Professor Trelawney vibes.
And a few of Elsie’s favorite Disney purchases!
I love this Disney snacks print, this poster for my Mary Poppins room, and this one, and this piece for my Alice In Wonderland room. Having SOO much fun! If you have any special Disney art or decor, I’d LOVE to see a link in the comments.
-Are you interested in hearing about the biz side of running an Airbnb? if so, we’d love to hear your questions. You can leave us a comment or email us at podcast AT abeautifulmess DOT com (you can also email us ANY questions for the podcast—we love doing reader questions!)
-If you’re curious to hear more about our thoughts on short-term rentals, you can read them here.
-Here’s a link to David’s Tea (the best of the best!!!)
-Elsie’s grandpa’s popcorn recipe:
Fill the bottom of a large stock pan with canola oil, cover about half the bottom of the pan’s surface with popcorn (one single layer of kernels). I add a bit of butter too (however much you’d typically melt for popcorn), add some salt and just a few sprinkles of black pepper. Heat the pot. When the first kernel pops, cover the pot. Keep covered until the popping begins to slow down. Then remove from heat, make sure it’s mixed well, and serve!
Love you all!!! XOXO! Elsie + Emma
Miss an episode? Check these out!
- Episode #4: Three Things That Make Our Homes Happier
- Episode #7: Our App Story
- Episode #10: How to Decorate Affordably (And Not Just From Target!)
Episode 5 Transcript
Elsie: You’re listening to A Beautiful Mess podcast. Today, we’re sharing our exciting BnB projects for 2020. And let’s just say it’s pretty magical. Also, since it’s Thanksgiving season for us in the U.S. right now, we want to share our thankful list with you. All right. So let’s just jump into it. We are revealing right now what our 2020 BnB project is. And I have to say this is the most excited I’ve ever been for any podcast episode because this is like, exclusive.
Emma: Yeah, we haven’t talked about it. I mean, some of my friends in real life know about it. But we have not talked about it online.
Elsie: We didn’t want to jinx it because we had…I just had my closing last week and Emma’s was a few weeks ago. So until you close, you know, like you don’t want to share, you know, spill the beans and then.
Emma: Yeah,.
Elsie: Be like oops, it fell through.
Emma: Right.
Elsie: All right. So do you want to say what we’re doing?
Emma: Yes. So in 2020, Elsie and I have both purchased a home in Davenport, Florida, which is about 20 minutes outside of Orlando. So it’s like 20 minutes from Disney World…
Elsie: Magic Kingdom!
Emma: Yeah. Magic Kingdom. And then also Universal. And you know, all the parks that are down there in Orlando. So, yeah, I feel like no one’s clapping but I guess it’s just you and I…
Elsie: YAY! We can maybe clapping (clapping sounds). Yes. So they’re going to be very themed BnBs, which this is a big moment for us because we’ve done a couple BnBs now, as you’ve seen on the blog, but we’ve never gotten to do a themed one. And so this is something we’ve always, always, always wanted to do and we are so excited. So we’re going to save it for a bit to reveal what our themes are because we both chose a different theme. But yeah, they’re going to be very theme-y and they are family friendly. They both have five bedrooms, right? Yeah. And they both have a private pool and a private hot tub. So it really is like the perfect family place to stay with a group. And I’m excited to stay there with my family just because it’s nice to have a hot tub because like when we put our kids to bed around 7:00, which I know is early and some people are gonna be like “boo!!” right now, but honestly, it’s amazing.
Emma: Some people are also like, yay, right now.
Elsie: Yeah. They need their sleep. And it’s great. But when we stay in a hotel room together, it’s really awkward. We usually end up sitting on the balcony sharing a glass of wine and being sad. So being able to or, you know, even worse, like watching TV in a bathroom. So being able to like have a little hot tub and a living room and just a little more space to spread out will elevate our family trip to Disney so much. And we’re really excited and it feels like it would be a good fit in that way for a lot of families.
Emma: Yeah, I think, too, the houses are big enough. I mean, it really depends on your family, but it could be like two couples or a few, you know, like more people because I guess so…the one thing I would say is like earlier this year, I went with you and your husband and Nova to China.
Elsie: Yes.
Emma: Because you adopted Marigold, and we didn’t stay at an air BnB, obviously, we were in China, its whole different thing. We stay in a hotel. But when the girls would go to bed in the evening like 7:30 or 8 think we would stay up a little later. We were jetlagged and stuff. But at any rate, it was kind of like there was really no way for me to hang out with you guys. So in that same way, I think it’s kind of fun, like if we go to Disney all together or if our brother comes and his…you know, it’s just nice to have like some space where the adults can hang out and then the kids can go to bed and they’re not disturbed. And, you know, it’s just great so…
Elsie: And honestly, if you’ve been, if you have kids and you’ve been to Disney with kids, you understand that at the end of the day, you need a little bit of adult time, like you just need, you know, a little bit of time to unwind because it’s yes, it’s magical, but it’s also very, very exhausting.
Emma: Trey and I have already been to our house once. And so my house and Elsie’s house are in the same neighborhood. It’s like a two minute walk. It’s very, very close. But they’re not next door to each other. But they’re super, super close. So anyway, we’ve already been to ours. And we saw Elsie’s at the same time. And we also decided to see how far it was to drive to the beach because, you know, this is more central Florida because it’s by the parks. That’s really the big draw. But we were just curious if families want to have a beach day. How long of a drive is it? So we did that just to see. And it took us about an hour to drive from our houses to the beach.
Elsie: Oh really, that’s closer than I thought.
Emma: Yeah, it’s pretty much the same distance either coast. So if you want to go to the gulf or if you want to go to the Atlantic side. We went to the Atlantic side, but they’re pretty much the same, at least according to Google Maps or whatever. So that was nice. So I feel like a beach day is very possible, too. So you could do a park day and then you could do a beach day. But there’s also a pool at the house. Like you said, so you can just chill out at the house and have nap times and stuff. So…
Elsie: Yes, totally. I mean, nap times are so important for a trip like that. Cannot be overemphasized. So let’s share a little bit about how this all came about, because it happened rather quickly. I remember the first time you mentioned it to me as like a possible thing we could do together was when we were in China, actually.
Emma: Mm hmm. So that would have been July of this past year of 2019. Mm hmm.
Elsie: And then the time obviously my brain was kind of like what? Sure.
Emma: Yeah. You’re like yeah whatever. I’m about to adopt a second kid tomorrow I can’t deal with this! Like oh okay. I’ll stop talking you about this. Sorry. (laughs)
Elsie: Yeah, but what we loved about it was…OK, so we have an air BnB together in Nashville. It’s a duplex. We both own one side of the duplex and it is a great Air BnB But for these houses in Florida, it was less money, significantly less money for these homes that are five bedrooms and each have their own pool and their own hot tub than it was for half of a duplex in Nashville. So really like a big part of why we’re doing it is just because it mathematically made sense. I had honestly never thought like the first thing I said when she said Disney BnB was “California, Anaheim?!” and she was like…No, no, no, no, no. Florida.
Emma: Different amount of money.
Elsie: I had never taken a look at real estate in this area before. Honestly. So it was surprisingly very realistic. And the other thing that was cool is that it’s a neighborhood that already has a lot of air BnBs is the house that I bought was already an air BMB So I got to kind of take a look at how I had been renting out and kind of got like a good idea of how it would be. And I also didn’t feel like I was bringing an air BnB into a neighborhood where it was unwanted. It was a neighborhood where it was already very normal. So that felt good to us.
Emma: Yeah the majority of the houses in that neighborhood are short term rentals. It’s just kind of how it is in that area.
Elsie: Yeah, I mean it…
Emma: Very tourist friendly area and community and really state partly because of the parks and also all the beach, beachfront.
Elsie: Definitely. So yeah, we were shopping before that. We were thinking of doing another one in Nashville, which obviously makes a lot of sense because I live here. But just money wise and opportunity wise, nothing was coming up and it just didn’t…so anyway, this fell into our laps and we were so excited because once we started talking through ideas and how we would use it with our families and you know, how other people could use it by renting out as a short term rental. It just felt very magical and right. And so, yeah, we’re really excited. We feel like we’re bringing something kind of unique to the things that are already being offered in short term rentals in the area. Childhood magic.
Emma: Childhood magic indeed.
Elsie: So. All right. So let’s talk about our themes and the design processes so far. So do you want to go first?
Emma: Yeah, I’ll go first. So I forget to, when this episode is going to air. I think I might..
Elsie: It’s the middle of November. I think you’re going to be in Florida when…Emma’s about to go to Florida now, we’re recording this about a week or two ahead. And she’s going to be in Florida working on it when this episode comes out. So maybe you can do an insta story tour.
Emma: Yeah, I’ll have like two weeks where I’m at my house in Florida setting everything up. So anyway, the theme of mine is, it is very much inspired by Harry Potter. And I keep calling it modern Harry Potter because I don’t have the time or budget to make it look like an old English library, although that would be perfect. Right? So it’s a little bit more modern. It’s gonna be very black and white. But like we mentioned, there’s five bedrooms. So four of the bedrooms, they each are getting a theme of one of the houses from Harry Potter. So there’s a Griffin door room, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. And then there’s another bedroom.
Elsie: So there’s kind of a color theme.
Emma: Yeah. It’s a color theme. And there’ll be kind of elements, like I’m hoping to kind of get something of like the animals that represent the houses. Each door has a banner on it that has like the crest, you know, things that I can buy off, you know, Pottery Barn Teen and Amazon and such. So I’m also trying to collect a lot of like Etsy, Harry Potter fan art, things like that. But the idea is just kind of, I know a lot of people will be visiting Universal and will go to Harry Potter world, Wizarding World. And we’ve been there, we went with Penny some years ago, and our brother and I loved it. I really want to go while I’m in Florida working on this house for like half a day. But I’d have to go by myself and…
Elsie: Ooh, I’ll go with you!
Emma: I’m on the fence about it. Would you? Okay. Well, maybe we will go, but. Yeah. Okay. That would be fun because I really want to go. It feels sad to not go because Trey and I didn’t go when we went inside the house. We just went to the beach. And the house is like completely empty. So when we went it was like sleeping on a mattress on the floor in an empty house, which was cool. It was an experience, but it was funny because it’s like, oh, okay…
Elsie: I always think that’s kind of exciting.
Emma: Yeah.
Elsie: Do you have any idea shows you could post in the show notes of when you first got it and it was empty?
Emma: Yeah. I have a great photo of Trey sitting on a mattress on the floor in an empty room.
Elsie: Perfecto.
Emma: Yeah. So it’s very Harry Potter-inspired. It has a lot of nods to Harry Potter and…
Elsie: What’s your favorite thing you’ve gotten so far?
Emma: I mean, I started collecting stuff like right before and after Halloween. So I got a lot of discount Halloween stuff. So there’s a good amount of skulls. I also am building…so in the entryway there are stairs that go to the upstairs where most of the bedrooms are. And in that little spot, it’s like a small wall that’s part of the stairway. It’s kinda like a big triangle. I’m turning that into a platform nine and three quarters. So I’m buying this cart that we’re cutting in half and I’m attaching it to the wall or that’s my plan so far. So it’s gonna look like the platform nine and three quarters, my thought is it’s cute for decor, but also I think people can take their photo in that spot because it’s kind of fun. And then in the dining room, I’m making it into a little bit of an owlery?
Elsie: Yes!
Emma: You know, all the kids at Hogwarts have owls. That’s how they send messages and…
Elsie: Oh, my gosh.
Emma: So I have a whole bunch of fake owls at my house and I’m buying all these bird cages. So there’s gonna be a lot of owls in cages because it’s a little bit of an owlery. And then, yeah, each of the rooms, you know, I’ve picked out paint colors that kind of represent the color of each of the houses. And I’m going to share those and, you know, kind of see you see if people agree or disagree, because it’s definitely one of those things like I think people, I am, very passionate about Harry Potter. I grew up reading the books and love them. Huge part of my adolescence. And I think a lot of people feel that way or are feeling that way now, going through it now. So I’m interested to see what people think of my take on it, because it’s certainly not perfectly true to the books and it’s not meant to be. But I also think, like, you know, if you’ve read the books or even just a really big fan of the movies, there’ll be a lot of things in the house that you’ll kind of know. Oh, that’s a nod to Dumbledore’s office in this one movie or you know. Oh, that’s the snake from, you know, the death eaters in this scene or, you know, whatever. Lot of, a lot of funny stuff like that. So.
Elsie: Well, honestly as soon as I found out you were doing a Harry Potter theme, I was Googling around like Harry Potter themed BnBs. And honestly, like a lot of them are just like a comforter that says like the name of one of the houses or something. So I think that, if you like, put all your effort into it, it’s going to be amazing no matter what. Because not very many people commit hardcore to themes in their BnB. So it’s already kind of a rare thing.
Emma: Yeah. And I also want the house to, like, even if you’re not into Harry Potter, like, I just don’t want it to be just logos everywhere.
Elsie: Right, yeah.
Emma: And I think it’s cool to get official merchandise and we will have some of that. That’s great. But I’m really trying to do more like an interpretation, like truly fan art of like, I love Harry Potter, this is just inspired by it. And if you love it as much as I do, you’ll probably see like the elements and understand it. But it’s just meant to be, you know, fun in that way. And I also think if you don’t care that much about Harry Potter, you just generally heard of it, you’ll probably think the house is really cute anyway. It’s not gonna be just filled with logos. So…
Elsie: I can admit I don’t know much about Harry Potter, but I’m so excited to see it. So I can’t wait to see it. It’s gonna be a great reveal and it will all be on the blog this year.
Emma: It’s kind of a dream come true. I really love Harry Potter. So the thought of like, oh, part of my life this year is getting to decorate a house based on Harry Potter is like, honestly, like, I can’t think of a more fun thing. Like if you had told me that in high school, I probably would have cried and then passed out. It’s just exciting.
Elsie: It’s a magical dream come true.
Emma: It really is.
Elsie: I totally agree. So I guess I’ll tell you about mine? OK. So I had a really hard time choosing a theme because if I’m being honest, I just wanted to do it like every single one of…I’m doing themed rooms and every single one of these rooms…I wanted to make the whole house. So I decided to just kind of break it up room by room because I had too much excitement. And I don’t know, this might be the only time in my life I ever do a Disney themed short term rental. So I got to make it count. Right. So, OK, I decided to just do nostalgic Disney theme…like my some of my personal favorite movies. Room by room. So some of the rooms are, there is a king sized master bedroom that’s Mary Poppins theme.
Emma: Yes!
Elsie: AKA my bedroom. It’s amazing. And well, it was the one that I really want to do. I know that not as many people are like huge Mary Poppins fans as I am, but I had to do it. And yeah, it’s my absolute favorite. I can’t wait for everyone to see, like the linens we found and stuff. It’s amazing. There’s an Alice in Wonderland theme room. There’s a Frozen theme room that has two twin beds. And really, I’m decorating it for my daughters because every little girl right now, especially with like the sequel about to come out, Frozen is just a really important movie. And The snowman is a really important part of our lives right now.
Emma: Olaf, very important.
Elsie: And then I’m doing a Toy Story room that has bunk beds and we found a yellow wallpaper with the red plaid like the Woody shirt as a wallpaper and then painting the bunk beds red. And it just it…Toy Story is my personal favorite. I mean, it’s Pixar, but it kind of counts, right, because it’s in one of the parks and…
Emma: I think it counts.
Elsie: It’s all under the same umbrella. Right. So those are what I’m really excited about. And then I have some like I’m doing a shelf, kind of like a library shelf in the hallway of Mary Blair books, and a couple of years ago, we went to Disneyland in California and our Air BnB had some kids costumes in the closet and I just always thought that was so sweet. So I’m gonna do acostume closet.
Emma: I love that.
Elsie: It’s just sweet. And it you know, it it’s part of the magic. And then for our guest book, we made one of those giant Jenga sets, which is a DIY from our blog. And then we’re going to let people sign it with Sharpies as it goes. I’ve seen it a couple of times in like bars and stuff and just kind of cute and there’s a pool area, so it’ll go out by the pool.
Emma: That’s a fun guest book idea. It’s not really a book, but I love it..
Elsie: It’s a fun thing for people to sign. Yeah. So anyway, that is mine. And I’m just so excited and really feeling the magic. We’re actually going to go in a couple weeks for my birthday and stay at the house for the first time. And oh, I should say how I’m doing my makeover. So Emma’s house and my house was a little bit different. I bought my house furnished and it was already an air BnB. And if I’m being honest like it looks OK, it’s like your average air BnB that you see. It’s not fancy, it’s not beautiful and elaborate. It’s…it’s OK. And I’m keeping as much of the furniture as I can for budget reasons. And also just like the challenge like the design challenge. So I’m doing a lot of painting and a lot of repurposing. And I will obviously change like all the bed linens and things like that. And I’ll probably get a new sofa and make it pretty fresh. But I’m keeping a lot and I’m excited because I think it’s it’s just more of a design challenge than starting with an empty house, which is what we did the last couple times. So I’m excited because this is just kind of a different approach for a short term rental.
Emma: I wanted to mention that too, because…the design challenge aspect of it. So I do think that’s been really fun so far with both these houses is I can see, I can see you doing it from afar. And then I’m doing it myself. So I feel it. But it’s like I’m working with colors and with choices that I normally never would. There’s many of the colors I picked, you know, in the house are not things I would necessarily put in my house, but they have to do with the houses of Harry Potter and same thing for you. Like you’d never put red usually. So to hear you say like, oh, I’m painting one the bunkbeds red, it goes with the Woody shirt. It’s like interesting you know?
Elsie: The Frozen bedroom has been so challenging for me because just Google frozen themed bedrooms and you’ll see like they’re usually a giant mural of the princesses. And that’s kind of it. Because I want it to reflect like the style that I’m proud of. But also, I want it to actually be great for kids. So it is a very big challenge and something we’ve never done before, like forcing yourself into a theme. It’s kind of like we’re on like one of those reality shows, you know, where they have to do the the challenges. We have this…
Emma: “Decorate a bedroom, like Frozen, GO!” And you’re like “ahhh what do I do?”
Elsie: So I do feel like it’s something that I will be very, very proud of by the end of it. And it’s an it’s definitely an exciting challenge and a big break from decorating our own houses. You know, is like so fulfilling and fun. But I know that like to some of our readers, it’s kind of like the same thinRight. I mean, because we have a certain style. So this forces us outside of that box in a way that is kind of exciting.
Emma: I agree. Yeah. It’s been really fun so far, but it is very different than just decorating for your own personal living room or bedroom. And I really love the challenge of it. Creatively, I think it’s just really fun and interesting, but it’s definitely different. And II definitely feel a lot less sure of my choices. And I feel very like, oh, is this true to the thing I’m trying to portray? You know, it’s just all those feelings and it’s fun and it’s challenging.
Elsie: So one more thing that’s unique about my BnB is that we’re going this month and we’re doing a mini makeover. Basically just what we can do in three days and then we’re re-photographing it and we’re going to list it how it is. And then after Christmas, because my assistant Collin is about to have a baby. So after Christmas, a couple months into the new year, then we’re gonna go back and then we’re gonna do more extensive painting, more wallpapering, and we’re gonna photograph it again. So there’s going to kind of be and that’s what I’m going to do my reveals. I don’t mind sharing it when it first goes up for rent, but like I can’t do in three or four days, what I really want to do. And, you know, we don’t want it to sit empty through the holidays, so we are going to just go ahead and kind of list it up how it is best it can be and then next level next year. So that’s the plan. All right.
Emma: Mine will be available in December, but you probably won’t see…I don’t think I’ll share all the tours that quickly because I’d rather spread it out a little bit, but it’ll be up and we’ll link it and share on Instagram and stuff when it is. So you’ll see it. But it’ll be sometime in December.
Elsie: So when this episode goes up in November, they won’t be quite available to rent yet. But we will add in the links to these show notes in the future when they’re listed. And also we will put posts up on the blogs to it on the blog to announce when they’re listed and on Instagram. So you probably won’t be able to miss it if I’m being honest. All right. So they will be available super soon and we will be sharing about them all next year. Just different room tours and stuff because, yeah, we don’t want our blog to become like a Disney Harry Potter blog exclusively. So that’s why we need to spread it out over like six months. All right. So should we? Is there anything else we wanted to say about the BnB projects?
Emma: The only other thing I would say is if…I’m just curious if people are interested in hearing more about like, why did you start investing in short term rentals or like, do you think it’s valuable to invest in real estate versus other things? I’m curious if people are into that. Because every now and again, when we do share about the stuff, it’s we get a mix of I mean, mostly people are just like, that’s exciting. How fun. Let us know when it’s available to rent, you know, which is like super sweet and so supportive. And then every now and again, we get questions around why do you invest in this way? And also just kind of like, how are you able to which, you know, I think if someone’s asking it from a genuine place, I think that’s an interesting question. I listen to lots of like financial podcasts and audio books. And I’ve been reading, you know, Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman since I was in college. So I find that stuff all fascinating. And I’m just curious if people do. But if not, then let’s not talk about it. But I just wondered, if people do they should let us know somehow on Instagram or…
Elsie: If you all want to hear more about the business side of the air BnB or you have questions about running in air BnB investing in one, whatever. Then send us an email at podcast@abeautifulmess.com and let us know. I would personally love to do more detailed episodes about the business side of the short term rentals, but I also get it that it’s not relatable to a lot of people and therefore not as interesting. So either way is great. Like we can do it or not do it. We want to hear what you guys want. All right. So let’s do our thankful list. So this is five things we’re thankful for. It’s the week before Thanksgiving. And this is things besides, obviously, we’re thankful for our families and our health and our jobs. But this is random stuff. So do you like me to go first or do you wanna go first?
Emma: I can go first. Some of mine are kind of straight on, but some are. I don’t know more general. Okay. So here are my five somewhat random things. Some are big, some are very random. I’ll do them in a somewhat random order for you. OK. Five. Number one, my book club pals. So in Springfield, Missouri, where I live, every other Tuesday I meet with a group of women and it’s a book club. And we do books that are like self-help and that type of thing, happiness. And I am really close with a lot of those women. We all share like our lives with each other and they mean a ton to me. Having supportive friends is really important, I think, for mental health generally. And I am immensely grateful that I have that in my life. Number two, and I know Elsie agrees with this one for sure, but our staff at A Beautiful Mess, anytime anyone says something to the effect of how do you guys do so many things or how are you so great at so many things, I want to be like, we’re not. We work with amazing people. That’s the secret, because it truly is. Yeah. And every holiday season I feel it extra in my heart where I’m just like, man, we got lucky in life. We work with the best people. So that’s number two. Number three, I wanted to say is my husband. I know that’s obvious. I know it’s obvious, but I’ll get to more random ones. But I’m currently recording this podcast…
Elsie: That’s kind of cheating.
Emma: It is kind of cheating. I know. But I wanted to brag about him a little because. I’m currently recording this podcast on his equipment. And every time I go to record with Elsie, I call him at least two to three times during his workday and just frantically be like, “I can’t get your mouse to work. I don’t know how to turn the computer on.” Just like a crazy grandma who like doesn’t know, you know, how to do it. And he never cares. He just helps me with stuff. Fixes stuff, cares about what I’m doing in my life and is really supportive. So I just appreciate the support because it’s hard for me to ask for help and I appreciate it that he lets me. All right. And two more random ones. All right. So here we go. One. Salted caramel chocolates recently bought a box of these from Aldi — regret nothing. But I’ve been eating them like crazy. I love them so much. I love anything with chocolate and sea salt. Call me basic. Sign me up, though, for it. And another random thing that I’m immensely grateful for during the season because it’s getting cold where I live is hot tea. OK. Hear me out. So I drink coffee every morning and usually in the afternoon, but I kind of want to drink something hot all day now. And if I drink coffee all day, I start to get a little whackadoodle.
Elsie: Same.
Emma: So, yeah. So I have been switching to after my morning cup of coffee again, I might have another one afternoon maybe, but you two is, two is it for me. I get a little frantic even on two. So I gotta stick with like the non caffeine teas. My favorites is I have one that’s like a ginger tea and I put fresh lemon in it and I love that. And then I also have this one that’s like apple cinnamon and I love that. But I need to get online…
Elsie: I just got apple cider tea.
Emma: Oooh, does have sugar in it, though?
Elsie: No.
Emma: So maybe the ones I saw had sugar and I was like, what? Because I don’t want to drink sugar all day. I need to get online and buy some David’s Tea because I can’t buy that locally and it’s so good.
Elsie: Okay we’ll link the David’s tea because actually, now that you mention it, that is going to bring me happiness. I’m going to do it tonight. Yeah. I mean, you’re like, oh, tea that’s boring, Emma. Trust me, you just haven’t had the right tea yet because. No. Sometimes it’s a thing for real.
Elsie: I went to a David tea shop in real life once and it was like a pilgrimage for me. And it was very special. I really enjoyed it.
Emma: Where were you? That sounds awesome.
Elsie: I think Chicago.
Emma: Are they a Canadian company? Is that true?
Elsie: I’m not sure about that. I don’t know.
Emma: We’ll link them, their tea is awesome. Okay. Tell us your five things you’re thankful for.
Elsie: OK. So just things that make me so happy in life more than they should. And yeah, the first one is flea markets. I feel like when I go to a flea market, I feel like I’m going home in a strange way. And when you move away from your hometown, you do need places you can go, sometimes, that just feels like a comfort and it’s very, very comforting. I have two flea markets. I go to them about once a month. My second one is over-the-top holiday decorators. So we have this neighbor who has no less than 40 inflatables in their front yard, lights, music. Everything is synched and stuff on the roof and everything. And I know because I can see them that it takes like five days to put all up and five days to take it all down. And it’s just — it makes life wonderful. And I want to be a person like that in my life. And I appreciate people like that in my life. All right. So my third one is nostalgic movies like, for example, Home Alone every year. There’s certain movies that you watch once a year. Right.
Emma: Like the original or New York?
Elsie: I like the original, but I like New York, too. We watched New York last year, I think, at your house.
Emma: Yeah, we did.
Elsie: Emma’s husband thinks New York is better. It’s not, but it’s really good also. They’re both amazing. Yeah. And I like the Addams Family and Rosemary’s Baby. We watch at Halloween, you know. And you just have to have these little things. I like watching the claymation Rudolph and, you know, just the different magical nostalgic movies. They just…it is. It’s a sensory memory from your childhood. I also love the Muppets Christmas for for that reason.
Emma: Oh, I love the Muppets.
Elsie: It really brings me back to my childhood.
Emma: I’m just waiting for Nova to get into it because I’m like Miss Piggy and she has her piggy. This is this has got to be a thing, but not yet.
Elsie: My fourth one is my grandpa’s popcorn recipe. And I can kind of type this out in the show notes. I’ve done it before on Instagram a couple times. But basically it’s just a kettle popcorn that you do on your stove with oil and stuff. It has a tiny, tiny bit of black pepper and it’s delicious. And to me, it’s like the only way to make popcorn. And it reminds me of my grandpa, which means a lot. And my fifth one is Yasso cookie dough, ice cream, popsicles, because Emma knows we call it the popsicle diet because I basically just eat them all the time, all day long sometimes for breakfast. It’s kind of like my version of smoking, like my version of addiction is these popsicles. And if you haven’t tried them…
Emma: I don’t know if you should say that (laughs)…
Elsie: Well, you know.
Emma: Okay. Leave it in! That’s hilarious though. No, for real though, you’re like…
Elsie: I love these popsicles. I buy like 10 boxes at a time, literally.
Emma: Oh yeah, no, like 50 percent of the time when you call me, or if we’re getting on a meeting, you will have a popsicle. Mostly eaten. And I often take screenshot photos of you and send them to you later because it is so funny. I’m just like, oh my gosh, it’s 10 a.m. and she’s halfway through a popsicle. And she knew we were about to have this meeting and she’s still just shamelessly eating that popsicle.
Elsie: Yep. No shame. So, yeah, maybe they’ll be my sponsor someday, but probably not. So that one’s for free. All right. So should we close us out with a little bit of a little bit of begging for good reviews?
Emma: Yeah. We should play the Nova clip again.
Elsie: All right. Here it goes.
Nova: Ew, we don’t like meanies, don’t be a meanie! Please leave a review of mommy’s podcast. Remember that she’s trying to do her best and aunt Emma too. Thank you!
I am really loving your ladies podcast. And before you mentioned if anyone was interested in the business side of airbnb’s I was literally thinking – man. They should do a podcast about the business side! Hah! My husband and I were thinking about some day purchasing a house down south and I would love to hear about how this works when you aren’t in the same state, how it’s managed, etc!
Yes, Yes, Yes, please go behind the scenes on short term rentals. I’d especially like to hear how you manage them remotely. I’d like to start doing the same in the next 2-3 years but won’t be local to the properties.
And I’m a new reader/listen who came over from YHL. I am enjoying the podcast very, very much!
Would definitely like to hear more on the business side of the Airbnbs… specifically how I thought it was pretty impossible to get a mortgage on a property you’re not going to be a full time resident of? That’s what’s stopped me from pursuing similar projects further. Exciting stuff y’all have going on!!
Welcome to Florida and congrats on your closings! I’m a native Chicago girl that moved to Naples, Florida, 21 years ago and never looked back.
I think you’ll really enjoy the Orlando area – make sure to check out Mt. Dora which is around 40 minutes northwest of Orlando. I know you’ll both absolutely ADORE this sweet little town. It’s full of vintage homes (early 1900’s) and has THE most charming downtown full of shops & restaurants that is right off gorgeous Lake Dora. Gorgeous granddaddy oaks full of hanging moss. It looks like a little New England town – you’d never know you were in Florida. That’s where y’all should look for your next bnb. 😉
And they go crazy decorating the town for the holidays. My hubs and I are going up there right after Thanksgiving (we rented a little house so we can cook and bring our rescue pups). We’re planning on relocating there in the next 2 years. So excited!
Happy holidays! 🙂
I have an Airbnb about 45 minutes from Disney World as well. I don’t get a ton of traffic from Disney visitors unless they are only spending a day most go to Legoland which is right up the road from me but it’s so fun being part of a family’s vacation.
Emma you should have Owl puppets at your bnb for kids to play with! I’ve been browsing the Folkmanis site for a gift for my nephews like Novas piggy and they have so many owls! Also I would enjoy a business podcast. Keep up the good work!
I’d love to hear more about the business side of AirBnB – I’m thinking about AirBnBing or flipping v soon and would especially love to hear some business/property chat from women.
Have you seen these for the HP house? Love that they are modern and not too cheesy
Love Brandelane art prints for Disney!
I would LOVE to hear more about the business and finance side of a BnB. And even saving for homes in general or any budget tips! I find those so helpful.
I LOVEEEEE the podcast so much! I binged them all and am anxiously awaiting the next one!
Loving the podcast so far – it’s so fun to get new insight into who you both are after reading the blog for years! Nova’s spot at the end is honestly the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.
Also, currently stuffing my face with popcorn from this recipe – I’ve not stopped thinking about popcorn since listening on Monday morning and finally made it tonight. So good!!
I would love to hear not only about the business side of running an airbnb, but also more about investing in realty and the house buying process!
Love the podcast and am so excited about your Florida BnB’s! Now I might finally get my sisters to go on a family Disney trip! They both sound awesome and I can’t wait to see the pictures.
Listening to this podcast now!! I live in Florida, so super excited! And Emma’s if you’re still needing someone to do Harry Potter world with, I’m always down! Lol
Can’t wait to see the finished projects!
Hi!
Not to be annoying if this has been asked and discussed like 100 000 times already but some of the links that you (and other American bloggers that I love) have, for buys you are planning, I can’t see because the company does not ship to Sweden.
And I am ok with shipping regulations, but sometimes I would really want to SEE the stuff. Is it not allowed to take a picture and add it to your post? Or create a small smorgasbord/ mood board of the stuff with the links underneath? Or is it just too much work? Or if you get paid for the usage of links and it gives more revenue? Just want to know. (In this case it was the “bean bag chair”)
Anyway. Your blog is really great, and I have started to listen to your pod too. Love it! Thank you for sharing so much of your lives!
(Ghosts actually using the toilet? Only in America… 🙂 🙂 🙂 )
In this post it’s mainly a laziness / beginning stages thing. I will for sure include a LOT of photos of the products I did buy for my house (I’m sure Elsie will as well) along with links to see how the company displayed it and what it costs on their site. We’re just in the very beginning stages of this particular project so there isn’t as much to show yet.
This is helpful to know though! So thanks for the comment.
I’m definitely interested in hearing more about the personal finance/business side of your real estate investing projects!
The podcast was great! I’m excited to hear more about the Airbnb’s in the future. David’s Tea is a Canadian company and I totally agree it’s the best!! Soooo many options! My favourite part of the podcast is Nova at the end…. “Don’t be a meany!” She’s so cute! Happy Thanksgiving!
I’ve loved every episode of your podcast and this one was so fun to listen to! You could tell how excited both of your were about the B&Bs. My husband and I love going to Disney and Universal, so I was frantically texting him updates as I was listening. I can’t wait to book a stay at both! Congratulations!!
I love the Disney BNB idea! I’m so excited to see the final result! Some of my favorite disney art that I’ve purchased on Etsy is this one https://www.etsy.com/listing/719283502/mary-poppins?ref=shop_home_active_11&frs=1 This shop has so many cool song art pieces that i think would be so cute in a Disney theme room! 🙂
Love from Nashville!
Oh, that’s exciting news! Wishing your the best! (and thank you for the popcorn recipe!!!) xx