0:00

My name is Alex, and I'm gonna be honest.

0:02

Holidays this year kind of suck. No

0:06

right, no right,

0:10

it will be alright forever, No

0:18

right will be all

0:20

right. Ever, So

0:24

I include Thanksgiving in my

0:27

version of the holidays, and if you don't,

0:29

I think there's something wrong with you. Thanksgiving

0:31

my favorite holiday. My actual

0:33

Thanksgiving this year, though, was kind of ruined

0:36

thanks to good old COVID nineteen.

0:38

This time it was ruined because I had it. Literally,

0:41

my tenth day of isolation with no fever

0:44

and and all of those kind of protocols

0:46

that lets you leave your room was

0:48

the day before Thanksgiving, so I had no

0:51

time to prep it all for Thanksgiving. I

0:53

bought a turkey from a grocery store. I went

0:55

to my sister's house and she

0:57

also had COVID, not then but

1:00

before. It's a weird how you have to explain COVID

1:02

situations and we like throw together

1:05

a last minute Thanksgiving. And

1:07

as great as it was because I got to be with my family

1:09

and I should I'm very very grateful, as I should

1:11

be that I got to even be with my loved

1:13

ones on Thanksgiving, because I know so many people

1:16

were not able to this year, it

1:18

still didn't feel awesome, like it felt good

1:20

and you're like awesome, like I'm full, but

1:23

it didn't have like the same energy

1:25

that Thanksgivings usually have, and

1:27

it just kind of like was weak, And it really

1:30

set the tone for my expectations

1:33

of this coming holiday, this Christmas,

1:35

Hanukah, kwanza Um, New

1:37

Year's celebration, which

1:39

usually is very

1:41

inclusive and everybody's together and

1:44

it's just love and happiness, especially

1:46

me with a big family. Were always with my dad's side

1:48

of the family, going caroling and

1:50

and having huge meals together, and

1:53

and and singing all together and just

1:55

kind of physically being able

1:57

to be with each other. And now

1:59

we're doing Instagram Live

2:02

Christmas Carol, me and my siblings and my

2:04

parents, and we're doing zoom

2:06

hangouts with my family and it's just

2:08

like and and and I want to be grateful

2:10

because I know that there there should always

2:13

be gratitude for anything, even if it's not

2:15

your ideal situation. So I don't

2:17

want this episode at all to be about

2:20

not being grateful for what you have, because I'm so grateful

2:22

that I even get to go be with my family for Christmas.

2:24

I'm so grateful that I have family to celebrate with,

2:27

even if it's virtually, and I'm so grateful

2:29

for the technology that allows us to do those

2:31

things, it still sucks like you

2:33

can't be like, oh, it's all great because there's

2:35

an option like, it doesn't mean that it's

2:37

it's a balance of of being grateful, but

2:39

also you're allowed to to feel

2:42

shitty about that. And so that

2:44

got me thinking what happens

2:46

when you can't stick to tradition? And

2:49

is Christmas canceled this year? What's

2:52

up, y'all? It's alex I. Oh no, this is my podcast.

2:55

Let's get into it where we talk about everything, the

2:57

good, the bad, and the ugly, even

3:00

when it comes to virtual Christmas sweater

3:02

parties. We're talking about just

3:04

the holidays this year. Holidays.

3:06

I never thought that we'd have to do an episode on a podcast

3:09

about how different holiday is

3:11

because I feel like, usually in a good way,

3:13

holidays are always the same. My Christmas is always the

3:15

same. We play this saran wrap Christmas

3:17

present game that my mom does every Christmas morning.

3:20

The day before is my dad's birthday. We always

3:22

have his favorite dinner. All of those things are

3:24

always the same, and this year for

3:27

most everybody, It's not going to be the

3:29

same at all. So I'm gonna be talking

3:31

about it with two of my new friends,

3:33

and let me introduce you to them. Uh. He

3:35

is a psychotherapist and counselor specializing

3:38

in the l g B, t Q plus field. He's

3:40

worked extensively with Gay Men's Health Crisis

3:43

of New York. He's also the co host of

3:45

the hot Mess podcast with Alec Mapa,

3:47

and he is the Let's Get Into Its Superlative

3:49

winner for most well groomed

3:52

in twenty It looks like, uh,

3:54

the one and only Matt Dempsey. How are

3:56

you? I am

3:59

doing COVID good, as we

4:01

have learned from our dear Karen, who's

4:03

been on this show quite a bit as well. I'm

4:05

also excited to have another guest with

4:07

us, a regular on the Ellen Degenerous

4:10

Show. You might have heard of it. His new

4:12

weekly digital series called O M. Kalin.

4:14

You know him as the star of the Hilarious Kalin

4:17

Reacts YouTube videos, as well as the new

4:19

movie An American Pickle and the

4:21

Let's Get Into a Superlative winner for coolest

4:23

background. He's got a you guys

4:26

can't see it, but it looks like an upright base

4:28

or maybe no, it's a cello or is it

4:30

maybe I don't know. Okay, we

4:32

got a cello, an incredible light fixture,

4:34

and some kind of picture portrait

4:36

painting a bunch of water bottles

4:38

in the background, which we love being hydrated.

4:41

The one and only Kylin Allen, how are you man?

4:43

I'm wonderful, I

4:46

am very very COVID good Again, it's

4:48

a it's the only answer I can get. Well,

4:51

I'm very excited because you usually

4:53

talk about your Christmas traditions

4:55

or your holiday traditions with others,

4:57

and this year, not only do I get to learn both of your holiday

5:00

additions what they usually are, but we're

5:02

also gonna be talking about what they're gonna be like

5:04

this year. So first things

5:06

first, Klin, you and I are going to go one on one.

5:08

We're gonna talk about how to holiday in. And

5:11

then Matt, you and I are going to talk about hibernating.

5:13

I don't even know what. I guess

5:15

that's just what holidays are. Um.

5:18

And then last but not least, all three of us will be

5:20

talking about if this actually might be the

5:22

best holiday ever. So

5:24

we're gonna be getting into all those things. But before we

5:26

do that, I have a question that I ask all

5:29

of my guests, and that question is what

5:31

are you doing this week that is improving

5:34

your life. I've read every

5:36

single day this week, and I know that that seems

5:38

like whatever, but you have to understand, I did

5:41

not read books. My parents used to

5:43

sign pieces of paper that

5:45

I would give to my teachers that I read, and

5:47

and they were just great parents. I never read like

5:49

we would have to because you know, like when you're in school and your

5:51

parents and you would have to do like the Mike child

5:54

read twenty pages every day.

5:56

My parents did that. You know. My parents are the realist.

5:59

I'd never read damn book my whole

6:01

life. And now I feel pretty Uh,

6:04

I feel pretty good about reading a book. And it's like

6:06

a real book too. It's not like a story, it's

6:08

like a what do they call us? Nonfiction?

6:14

So I'm pretty excited about baby

6:16

steps, baby steps? But Kaylin, what have

6:18

you been doing this week to improve yourself? Uh?

6:20

Well, tonight, I'm releasing my

6:23

my movie musical, So yeah,

6:27

I'm ceting. Had a Christmas EP and

6:29

then I made a visual album. I like to call

6:31

it movie musical because that's more so what it

6:33

is. I love that that comes out tonight. So yeah, I'm

6:35

excited. So by the time people hear this,

6:37

it's out. Yeah all right,

6:40

well you guys gotta go and check it out. You already

6:42

know this. We'll we'll talk more about that at

6:44

the end with Are Not So Shameless promo. But

6:47

Matt, what are you doing this week? Honestly,

6:49

what I'm doing this week that's actually been really helpful

6:51

is not doing a lot of anything. That

6:54

is a great one. We've had that answer before

6:56

and I stand by it. That is maybe

6:58

the best one you can do, because this question

7:00

can be daunting, you know you it can be like, oh,

7:02

Ship, what am I doing? Like I have to be doing something incredible,

7:04

And that's the way that we are as a society. So when

7:07

anybody has the strength to come on here

7:09

and be like not Ship, it's

7:11

like, well,

7:18

look, we're having We're all we're all doing our own

7:20

thing. We have releases, we have book

7:22

reading, we got nothing, and we

7:24

are thriving this week. So I'm hyped

7:26

about it. But let's get into some holiday business.

7:28

So Matt will be with you in justice sec um. But Kaylin,

7:31

it's time for us to go one on one. All

7:34

Right, you just said it. You

7:36

you love the holiday so much. You released your first

7:38

album and it's a Christmas album. What

7:40

what what made you like love this season

7:43

so much? Because there's a lot of holidays and like minds

7:45

Thanksgiving and I have people who love Easter

7:47

for whatever reason, but I

7:50

love Easter by the way, No, no hate to Easter. It's just not

7:52

the best one. Um, But what made you love

7:54

this season, this holiday so much that, like,

7:56

your first album is

7:59

a is a Christmas album? Well, I

8:01

think it has a lot to do with the way

8:03

that Christmas feels. You know, it's

8:05

not necessarily for me the gifts or anything

8:07

like that. But and and actually, because I live in Los Angeles,

8:10

and this is the part that I don't like about living

8:12

in Los Angeles is that I don't like that

8:14

Christmas doesn't feel like Christmas. You know,

8:16

some people get seasonal depression. I feel

8:19

like I have summer depression, like actual

8:22

son, I prefer the winter

8:24

months. So like, I

8:26

just love the way that Christmas music makes

8:28

you feel. It just makes you feel warm, It

8:31

makes you feel like you're at home. Like I love

8:33

the idea of spending my evening, nuzzled

8:36

up on my um on my couch

8:38

watching Christmas movies, Like there

8:41

is a certain feeling that I can't explain. I think

8:43

it has a lot to do with me tapping

8:45

back into my inner child, you

8:47

know. I think the Christmas seasons reminds

8:50

me of being a kid, because Christmas

8:52

was the most exciting day of the year

8:54

for it for me as a kid, and to be

8:57

able to relive that same type of joy

8:59

that comes back to me every single

9:01

year is just phenomenal. I feel

9:03

the exact same way as you. I love I

9:06

love the cold, I love the snow. That's

9:08

why my parents live in Utah. We always do Christmas

9:10

at their house so that we can have white Christmas

9:12

is and and we can snowboard and

9:14

sled and make a snowman, the whole nine.

9:17

It's like, it's it's the best. I

9:19

Fortunately, I am actually going to be driving

9:22

to Utah instead of flying because

9:24

I don't want to, you know, do the whole germs

9:26

thing. So my holiday is not going to be too much

9:28

different other than the fact that I have to drive it. Well,

9:31

I drove home for Thanksgiving and

9:33

I'm originally from Kansas City. Oh

9:36

my gosh, I drove thirty

9:38

three hours. Wow,

9:40

that's wild and art. So what what's your holiday

9:43

looking like this year? What are you doing? Are you staying in l A?

9:45

You're going I'm going to stay in l A. I will

9:47

be going to Kansas City after some more like New Year's

9:49

And my birthday is January four, so more so

9:51

around that time, I've been going home. But for

9:53

Christmas, I'm going to stay here in l

9:56

A. Uh, And I'll spend

9:58

it with my brother and so we're

10:00

going to just you know, make a

10:02

Christmas meal. I'm probably gonna watch all

10:04

the Christmas movies over again. I've already watched

10:06

them one so, you know, drink

10:09

how Coco and just have a good old

10:11

grand Christmas time. I love that.

10:13

And is that is that normal for you?

10:15

Or is that are you usually in Kansas City

10:17

for the holidays? Uh? Well, you know, when

10:19

I was in college, I went to school in Philadelphia,

10:21

and so I would always either pick either

10:24

going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

10:26

Most of the time I went home for Christmas, you know,

10:29

But I think I don't know if I would want to

10:31

go home this year for Christmas because

10:33

it's not the same like I'm not meeting

10:35

in a big family group setting, so like the

10:38

really the only thing that I'm doing is just going home

10:40

and sit at my house, you know, And it's like

10:42

I can do that in any time. I feel like a lot of

10:44

people are the same in the sense of anybody

10:46

who's transplanted. We're all in l a um

10:49

and uh we you know,

10:51

I'm going back to Utah, but a lot of people in

10:53

l a and a lot of transplants in general, are

10:55

staying where they are, and it kind

10:57

of does kill the vibe because if you do go home,

11:00

even though I'm going to my parents and I'll be with my parents

11:02

and my sisters, I'm not gonna get

11:04

to see my extended family. I'm not going to get to go out.

11:07

Like we'll build a snowman directly outside

11:09

of our house and then we'll go right back into

11:11

our house like that. It's it's kind of shitty.

11:13

So, as the holiday expert you are, my

11:16

question is, and it's a big question,

11:19

is Christmas canceled? No,

11:23

you can't cancel Christmas. That's

11:25

what I think, you know, what not

11:28

not canceled in the not canceled

11:30

in like the like it's not existing

11:33

canceled and kind of like it's canceled, but it's

11:35

gonna come back and it's gonna be totally fine again. You

11:37

know what I mean. I'm not I don't

11:39

agree with it. I don't agree with it,

11:42

but I'm saying in that same essence

11:44

that it's like we're canceled because we're all mad

11:46

at it for us, and then we'll come

11:48

back to loving it for who it is and jamming out to

11:51

five even though our girlfriends are are

11:53

are not in love with the song. Maybe

11:56

maybe it's more so you just have a

11:58

feeling towards because like for instance,

12:01

like I'll watch Christmas with the Cranks yesterday

12:03

and they tried to cancel Christmas

12:05

gift, but they try to actually not

12:07

do Christmas. I'm not saying that, I'm saying canceled,

12:10

like you know how you cancel somebody, but you're not

12:12

like you're not You're gonna still look at it, You're still gonna

12:14

see what it's up to, You're still gonna It's like

12:17

it's like just cancel culture canceled.

12:19

So it's not not not like we're not going to celebrate

12:21

it. But is it one? Is it one to not remember?

12:26

I think I think it's going to actually

12:28

be want to remember, because people

12:30

are going are forced to have to

12:33

sit in the spirit of Christmas. We all know on

12:35

Christmas when you go through TV, it's

12:37

like nothing but Christmas movies, Like it's something that

12:39

you really can't avoid, you know, And so

12:41

I think it's kind of inevitable. I think it may be a little

12:44

more grounding this year because maybe people are

12:46

getting as many gifts, or getting gifts at all.

12:48

You know, I'm telling you how didn't buy nobody nor

12:50

gifts. I'm not shipping nothing. Uh.

12:54

You're making me feel like the grin. I

12:57

feel like I'm the one like stay

13:00

stunk um. But uh, but

13:02

I love you. I love that energy. Like I think that

13:05

that's exactly the way that it should be, even though

13:07

I'm trying to be a crank right now, everybody

13:09

needs to be the Christmas with the cranks for the last Like, what

13:11

is it like ten minutes of the movie be those cranks.

13:13

Don't be the cranks the first hour in forty do

13:15

the cranks the last the last ten Um,

13:18

I want to talk a little bit more about like your your

13:20

actual art and your life and

13:23

get a little bit more um

13:25

personal to you. You wrote your song

13:27

Christmas Lives Within You after coming out right

13:29

before the holidays. Can you talk to us a little bit

13:31

more about that. Yeah, So, technically

13:33

I came out November of and

13:37

after that I didn't go home

13:39

for the holidays because I was a little nervous about,

13:42

you know, how people would treat me in Kansas City, or

13:44

how my family would react and stuff like that. So

13:46

I spent Christmas basically by myself,

13:48

and I went to New York and because

13:51

I was like, well, if there's anywhere that's going to feel like Christmas

13:53

is definitely New York City. So I went to New

13:56

York City. And but when I thought

13:58

about it's like I had the privilege to be able

14:00

to be able to afford to go

14:02

to New York and stay in a hotel for a whole week.

14:04

And I thought about all the other l g

14:06

B t Q plus families and youth

14:09

that do not have that option

14:12

and spend the holidays alone

14:14

without a family. And I

14:16

wrote Christmas List Within You to try

14:18

and reassure people that Christmas

14:21

is not about the lights

14:23

of the gleam or the gifts, but

14:26

it's about the feeling and how

14:28

it makes you feel how it makes you feel warm inside.

14:30

And it was also written for so that adults

14:33

didn't think that just because they've gotten older,

14:35

that they have to stop believing in the magic of Christmas.

14:39

I love that because that's true. I mean, you're

14:41

you're you're like a specialist. Now. I didn't

14:43

even know this until now, Like you're a specialist

14:46

in unique Christmas is like in terms of

14:48

like there's no tradition that's too

14:50

strong to not do you know what I mean?

14:52

Like you do you just explain basically

14:55

the synopsis of Home Alone. By the way, um

14:57

the home Alone, which one is at Homelown two? Is that the one where he goes

14:59

to New York? Yeah, you did? You

15:01

pulled a home Alone two, which

15:04

is just makes you even cooler.

15:06

But I think that that's that's absolutely the

15:09

truth is like Christmas is, and

15:11

that's kind of I guess the essence of this whole

15:14

year, but Christmas, the holidays

15:17

this year especially is like it lives within you, Like

15:19

you decide if it's dark and

15:21

gloomy, and you decide if if

15:24

zooming sucks or if zooming is a blessing.

15:26

You know. I mean a lot of people have been zooming for birthdays

15:29

and holidays. Um,

15:31

I think they're kind of I think they're kind of fun. What do you think

15:34

you think that? I think they're like as fun. They're fun

15:36

until it gets like that awkward

15:38

silence of like you're talking about zooming birthday

15:40

party? Yeah, like it was zoom birthday parties, Christmas

15:43

parties. I mean I've seen some hot like ugly

15:45

Christmas sweater parties. Um

15:48

going today? No, you know because

15:50

the sweater is it? Because the zoom parts.

15:53

It's the zoom part. Like, I'm not about to sit out

15:55

here for an hour and just look at you and dance

15:57

in my in my apartment. No, send me a text.

16:00

I'm not the type of person like you know on

16:02

holidays, everybody got to sing you the Happy Thanksgiving

16:05

on the happy Merry Christmas text. I'm

16:07

the person that will post. I was like, no worries,

16:10

already know you're wishing me a merry Christmas,

16:12

No need to text me. Did not blow my phone up

16:14

with a whole bunch of messages saying the same thing. We

16:17

all know what today is. So here's the thing

16:19

is, I thought that I agreed. I thought that I

16:21

agreed with your concept for Thanksgiving, Like I

16:23

was like, damn, I really don't want to do the whole

16:25

like happy Thanksgiving to you too,

16:28

Like we're all excited about texting

16:31

each other something that we all know what is happening.

16:33

But then this Thanksgiving I didn't get too many and

16:35

it was kind of sad, like I was kind of

16:37

like, damn, that really

16:40

hurts that. You guys are right, So if you're

16:42

if you hear this and you know me and you have my phone

16:44

number, please say hey, please save me a Christmas to be.

16:48

Oh my gosh, Well, um, listen,

16:51

I I'm so happy that you're here because

16:53

you turned me a grinch heart and my grint

16:56

my heart grew what is it three times inside

16:58

that or something like it. There

17:01

you go, Well that's exactly my question. So,

17:03

uh, there's so many Christmas movies out there.

17:05

I mean, we got Elf, you got you got

17:08

the Grine, you got Christmas with the Cranks,

17:10

you got Home Alone to so many Christmas movies.

17:13

I want to I want to know what's what do you think

17:15

is the most underrated Christmas movie?

17:17

And what do you think is the most overrated

17:19

Christmas movie? Oh

17:23

that's hard, okay, underwrite

17:25

Christmas movie I would have to say Home Alone, three, the

17:28

third I actually

17:30

love the third one. I think the third one

17:32

is great. Everybody else wants to get all you

17:35

know in our uproar about it, but I think it's

17:37

great. Now overrated

17:39

though, Oh,

17:43

I probably have to say the Christmas Story, thank

17:46

you, Yo. You know how

17:48

overrated that movie is to me. It's so

17:50

overrated to me that when you said it, I had

17:52

to think about what movie that was. That's how

17:54

overrated it. I was like a Christmas story. I was like,

17:56

is that the one about Jesus, because that's the Christmas

17:59

story? And then I remembered it's the one about

18:01

you'll shoot your eye out or something like that.

18:03

And I couldn't

18:05

agree with you more, Kaylin. That's that's a perfect

18:08

a perfect answer. It's

18:10

a perfect answer. All right, Well, thank you

18:12

so much. We'll be talking with you in just a bit when me

18:14

and you and Matt get together and we talked about

18:17

how this Christmas actually could be the best one ever.

18:19

But we'll take a quick break and we will be right back.

18:22

All right, we are back. This is let's get into it,

18:25

and I am now talking with the one and only

18:27

Matt Dempsey. You guys don't get this. I really

18:29

think during the break he was cutting up some

18:31

some fruit. I think it was an apple or banana, and

18:34

I think he just used his jawline. It was wild. It

18:36

was so sharp and so strong butter

18:41

um. He didn't cut any fruit though. Now

18:43

I'm hungry, Matt,

18:45

I asked. I asked, Kaylin this already, But what is

18:47

your holiday looking like? This year? So?

18:50

My holiday is so different. So

18:53

my mom still actually lose in the same house that

18:55

I grew up in, get out

18:57

of literally from birth, So every

19:00

single Christmas looked the

19:02

same, and it's always been. It's always been in

19:04

mad house. And this is the very first year

19:06

that I will not be in Clark, New Jersey

19:09

at my mom's house. So it's

19:11

so it's very different. But normally my my holiday

19:14

looks like I'm just like with my family, We do the food.

19:16

I actually go caroling too with some of my high

19:18

school friends. So I don't get to do

19:20

any of that this year. So what are you gonna

19:23

do this? Yere Okay, So it

19:25

took it took me like a real strong minute to think

19:27

about was I actually going to cancel

19:29

it? Was I gonna try to fly home in some kind

19:31

of safe way and make it happen. I don't know.

19:33

I eventually decided against it, right like I how to do

19:36

the smart thing, and I told my mom

19:38

and I just bawled afterwards. I

19:41

was heartbroken. But once

19:43

I kind of got once I got through that, once I had

19:45

my EMO moment, I um me

19:48

and a few of my other friends. I've got

19:50

like three really close friends actually kind of like my chosen

19:52

family here in l A. And they're not going

19:54

home either, and so we decided to

19:57

rent a cabin up in the mountains up in Lake

19:59

Arrowhead, which near Early if you know it, and

20:02

we're just gonna do our full on kind of Christmas thing on

20:04

our own. But

20:07

I feel so sad for you.

20:09

You lived in the same day you

20:12

you spent your I think you're somewhere

20:14

in your twenties, and you spent those years,

20:17

all every single one of those you are at that house.

20:19

How does it Because first of all, I'm thirty

20:21

eight, thank you though, thirty

20:24

seven years in Clark, New Jersey.

20:26

And now, yeah, this is the first time I won't okay,

20:29

so okay, I'm gonna get out of my own pity party

20:31

for you. But does that make

20:33

you feel you know, I'm trying

20:35

to do that thing where you know I was saying earlier, like

20:37

you balance being sad but also be grateful

20:40

that you get to go up to it. But like that's

20:42

like a new experience, Like it's this is like

20:44

a whole new thing. This holiday in general

20:46

is just so weird. It's super strange. You know, I

20:49

jumped the gun and bought all my Christmas presents

20:51

in like one week. Things are super fast

20:54

and they're rushed and you gotta make last minute plans, but at

20:56

the same time, like everything is still slowed down, like everybody's

20:58

still You're gonna wake up Chris this morning

21:00

and you're gonna be like, what should we do today? And you'll be like,

21:02

oh, the same thing we did for the last year, like

21:05

stay home. What do you think are

21:07

ways that we can make that day feel a little

21:09

bit more special? Well, first of all, let me just

21:11

say like I actually kind of love your vibe

21:13

and kind of what you're going for. I think in this show, which

21:16

is really about trying to not

21:18

just kind of be not just have this kind of toxic

21:20

positivity about things like it's okay

21:22

and ra Ra and you know, put a good spin

21:24

on it and be grateful, but also like acknowledge

21:27

that this fucking sucks. It sucks.

21:30

It's and not

21:32

the good kind, not so it'll like different.

21:36

It's different and it sucks like it's like

21:38

I said, it took me a minute to really just kind of go

21:41

through my own emotional ship to

21:43

then be able to get to a place where I could

21:45

kind of reframe it. So we don't want it to be

21:47

like a toxic positivity, you know, kind

21:49

of vibe where we have to like force this really

21:52

great perspective and not feel the difficulties

21:54

of things. We kind of want to find that balance,

21:57

you know when when we put a positive reframe

21:59

on things and been it in that way, it's

22:01

to help manage the discomfort, manage

22:03

the you know, the shitty stuff that can come

22:05

up when we don't get to see our families or do all the

22:07

other great stuff. Absolutely, and

22:10

and thank you for for giving

22:12

that um perspective of the

22:14

show, because it is really something that we go for, is

22:17

not only being awesome, but like being real,

22:19

like things are great or things are shitty, and

22:21

and this year has been really really shitty in multiple

22:24

ways that affect Christmas, not just not being

22:26

able to see your family, you know, like you also

22:28

there's a lot of people who are either unemployed

22:31

or are furload or

22:34

they are there their cuts, their

22:36

pays got cut and all of these things,

22:39

and it can really kind of take a big damper

22:41

on somebody's mental health and

22:43

and they can feel either physically

22:46

or just mentally alone. What

22:49

advice do you have for somebody who is feeling

22:51

alone, whether it's because they're actually alone or

22:53

because the year was hard on them and they feel like

22:56

naturally, as humans do, they're the only

22:58

person that is understand thing what they're

23:00

going through. Yeah, what's

23:02

your advice or or or tips for anybody

23:04

who's feeling like that? Totally? First,

23:07

first, I would say it is okay

23:09

to not be okay. So let that be

23:12

the starting point that it's fine when

23:14

we're going through ship. You go through ship,

23:16

right, like, you don't have to try and like sweep it up real

23:18

quick. So start there and know that that's

23:20

fine, and know that anything else that you're gonna

23:23

do again is just to help manage it, it's

23:25

not to eliminate it. Right, This isn't

23:27

kind of like a black and white mentality like either

23:29

you're feeling okay or you're not right, Like

23:31

you can feel like ship and put a positive spin.

23:33

That's what helps us give us a little bit more of a balance. So start

23:36

there after that. One

23:38

thing that I've kind of been noticing, whether it's like with friends

23:40

or clients, I've been noticing that a lot of people

23:43

have just kind of resigned themselves

23:45

like, oh, it's a different Christmas whatever, I'm not going to think about

23:47

it. Fine, what can happen

23:50

is Christmas is going to show the funk up. You're

23:52

not gonna have any plans. You didn't have a strategy

23:54

going into it, and then you're gonna get hit with

23:57

so much more challenging

23:59

emotions. So what I would say is

24:02

go into it with some kind

24:04

of plan, Like if you literally cannot

24:06

be with anybody, like if you don't have your own pod or

24:08

or your family or anything like that, make

24:11

sure you can get a zoom situation happening.

24:13

Find a way to connect with people. This

24:15

is an ideal. I did a zoom for Thanksgiving.

24:18

I hated it. I was so grateful

24:20

for it that I got to see my family. But you know,

24:22

people's connections are kind of falling out the audio

24:24

is whacked. There's always like a you know, half second delays.

24:27

People are talking all over each other. It

24:29

sucks. But all of

24:31

this is just to help kind

24:33

of, you know, soften the blow

24:35

a little bit, and you never know, you might be

24:37

able to actually find maybe like some new

24:40

tradition that you can do. You might

24:42

be able to find some kind of like new thing that can

24:44

you know, just be something that you stumbled down that you never

24:46

would have before. So keeping an open mind

24:49

about things that would be my

24:51

strategy. Find some kind of like Christmas

24:53

magic somewhere, even if you're hanging lights in your apartment,

24:56

do something creative in that way and

24:58

bring that spark back for yourself. I'm so

25:00

grateful that you and Kaylin came on the show today because

25:02

honestly, I was coming in with the Grinch vibes,

25:05

like some full on and both of you guys

25:07

are like, no, you don't have to look at it like that, and

25:09

I was like, damn, that's wild.

25:12

You posted a quote, um, I think it was yesterday.

25:15

If you continue to ignore your healing season,

25:17

it will eventually start knocking down doors

25:19

and people to get to you. And

25:21

I think that's exactly what you just touched on,

25:23

right, Like, if you just ignore it, if you

25:26

just brush it off, then you're gonna

25:28

end up getting hit with it later. You can't sweep things

25:30

under the rug and expect that they just like fall through

25:32

the floor, right, Yeah, you

25:35

obviously, as as your profession

25:38

has led you to always have great tips

25:40

um for for the holidays. And I think not

25:43

just Christmas or or Hanukah or or kwanza

25:46

Um, but New Year's is a big one for me. I always

25:48

set my New Year's resolutions, and and on

25:50

New Year's Eve, I actually spent some time by

25:52

myself to reflect on the

25:54

blessings that I had in life, or just reflect

25:56

on the year of whoa, this was a crazy year or

25:59

that was wild. This one's gonna be pretty

26:01

pretty hard. And so I think my

26:03

question is what

26:06

habits or lessons should we take

26:08

with us into the next year and beyond,

26:10

hopefully beyond with with the vaccine

26:13

and everything quarantine mm

26:15

hmm, I would say, I mean this whole

26:17

year, I've been really just trying to frame it myself

26:20

this entire year, to try to keep like some

26:23

some perspective on you know,

26:25

like I think everything happens for us not to us.

26:28

Right, So it's like, is happening

26:31

for us and it doesn't feel like that.

26:33

That's a hold on save that line one more

26:35

time. That line needs its own thing. Everything

26:38

happens for us, not to us, which

26:40

is which is a choice, by the way, that's a perspective

26:43

that we choose to take. So if you're

26:45

if you have that perspective, so like I have, this year, it's

26:48

like, Okay, damn, this year sucks. We

26:50

got well, you know everything, the global pandemic,

26:52

election cycle, you know, civil

26:55

unbreast, We've got so much it happening this

26:57

year and it sucks

26:59

and I think we all felt it. But

27:01

also let's not let it go in vain, like, truly,

27:04

what is this here?

27:06

How is this here for us? What is this giving

27:08

us? And I'll speak personally the thing that I

27:10

know that it's been really helping me force

27:13

a lot of is okay,

27:15

I'll be really like, we're all about it. One is about just kind

27:17

of letting go of physical perfection

27:19

because I know that within myself, as much as I want to deny

27:21

that, sometimes I'm always trying to make sure that my skin is

27:23

clear, that my body is tight, that like my hair is

27:26

good and I'm portant all that stuff,

27:28

and so just really trying

27:30

to force myself to let that stuff go more

27:32

like to make sure that I'm like I'm doing homeworkouts

27:34

and things like that, and I want to stay healthy, but

27:37

I'm not trying to kill myself and really try to you

27:39

know, have like a level of perfection, so

27:42

something like that. But also I take that kind of

27:44

perfectionism with me into work stuff,

27:47

and so I'm constantly trying to think about like what, you know, should

27:49

I be making more content, should I be putting myself out

27:51

there more? Should I be working harder than ever? And

27:53

this year is like no, Uh. There's

27:56

this one therapist to um

27:58

I forget his name, but he was posting a lot and kept

28:00

saying like, we are at that's

28:02

our goal. If we're hitting six of

28:05

workflow of showing up for our lives, you are

28:07

killing it, right. So if

28:09

you're hitting I think that's good. So really

28:11

making sure that we are checking

28:14

in with ourselves, making sure that we're checking

28:16

with our bodies where's our energy at,

28:18

and you know, really trying to listen to that. So

28:20

that's what I take within with me into is

28:23

to not just kind of fly back into the

28:25

other direction where I'm trying to kill it all the time,

28:28

you know, where I want to be excellent, but I'm not trying to be

28:30

perfect. I love that you just inspired

28:33

me to take that because I was I was thinking about the answer

28:35

myself, obviously before asking anybody

28:38

else. And I think I realized and I'm

28:40

have to rewind to the March April version

28:42

of pandemic quarantine. I

28:44

did a ton of things that I had always

28:47

wanted to do or had been meaning to do, like hanging

28:49

up a picture or building a garden

28:51

or anything. And the one thing I want

28:54

to take with me is like, I still we're still gonna

28:56

have downtime, whether it's because it's forced

28:58

or whether because that's what humans do. Like they

29:00

have days where they do they have options

29:02

to do nothing or do something that's not productive,

29:05

or do something that's feeding a different

29:07

you know, energy, and those

29:10

days are important. But I think also utilizing

29:12

those days to sometimes do the things that I've been

29:14

meaning to do, because I think that that was that's something that

29:16

really um affected

29:18

me in a good way with this pandemic, right there

29:21

was something that I really got to take as a lesson totally

29:23

and and doing nothing like truly,

29:26

like when are you saying that too? When I said yeah,

29:28

when I say do nothing like really, I mean it's

29:30

been really nice, and there've been days where I been like this

29:32

is fine right to myself, and it's

29:34

like, yes, binge, Netflix, go

29:37

for it. I love that. I want to

29:39

I'm gonna break let's get into it rule. I'm gonna

29:41

break the segment wall because I feel

29:43

like Klin might have a good answer UM

29:45

for this question as well about what you're

29:48

taking with you into UM

29:50

that you had this year. I mean, that's

29:53

how bad this year was. I almost didn't count, um

29:56

if there's anything that you're taking with you, any mantras

29:59

or any any spiritual things

30:01

that like that came through that

30:03

you're kind of wanting to take with you into the next

30:06

year. Um.

30:08

So at the beginning of the pandemic,

30:10

when it all first happened, I think

30:12

I got very anxious and depressed

30:15

because work slowed down

30:17

and I was used to working, working, working, working,

30:20

And then so from that I

30:22

started to just like do a whole bunch of passion

30:24

projects and I started working, working, working,

30:26

working again, And

30:28

now I don't want to do anything and

30:30

now I realized that I kind of wish

30:32

that I would have taken the time that

30:34

was available to have a reason to

30:37

not do anything. I kind of wish I

30:39

would have not done anything. So

30:41

this next year I planned to just

30:44

sit back a little bit and just rest

30:47

and like, only do what I have to do and

30:49

not necessarily just doing stuff

30:51

to say I did it, you know, so absolutely,

30:54

I think another thing that I'll that I'll i'll

30:56

say to for all three of us, since we live in

30:59

l A and and a lot of the times it's not even just

31:01

Los Angeles, it's it's your own community.

31:03

It becomes so who's doing

31:06

what? And why am I not doing it?

31:08

Or why was I not there any all

31:10

of that situation that's very very

31:12

toxic here in Los Angeles, but can

31:14

happen anywhere. I love that this year,

31:17

because we are all forced to be home, we

31:19

got to take that huge

31:21

amount of energy that we usually all spend or

31:24

maybe you don't and and congratulations to you,

31:26

but I am not one of you that I've been

31:28

spending and I think a lot of people spend on

31:30

other people like well what is he doing? Who's what

31:33

are they doing? I found out that like twelve

31:35

people I know had COVID and I didn't even know it because

31:37

I was so focused on my own business, you know what I mean.

31:39

Like, that's something that I think I'd

31:41

love to try to continue myself

31:44

to take in. Is is Okay, let's focus

31:46

on me first, and then

31:49

if if I have time after I've focused

31:51

on me and I am fulfilled, then I can say, well, what are

31:54

you guys doing? What do you guys been up to? How are you

31:56

Yeah? One of my favorite quotes actually is don't compare

31:58

your behind the scenes to other people's highlight reel,

32:01

because it's really easy, especially with social media, Like

32:03

it used to be really just kind of l a but now it's like

32:05

you get to see everybody's lives, right, It's

32:08

so easy, but you never you know exactly

32:10

what's going on and kind of the noise and the mess of what's

32:13

going on within you. But all you see is

32:15

everybody else's, you know, polished projections

32:17

that are going on out there. So I think this they'll kind of

32:19

crack that a little bit more and help us

32:21

check back in. I love that you said

32:23

that, because I got tired of it. And what I

32:25

did is at first I un followed everybody

32:28

on Instagram only.

32:30

I only followed back people that like I genuinely

32:32

actually knew, and then once I

32:35

followed them back, I muted them all so that

32:37

I didn't see anybody's stuff. So you just see

32:39

what is your What is your Instagram? I don't want

32:41

to know. I don't care, So

32:43

you all doing the same? Is

32:46

your feed? Then just your posts?

32:49

Me and Beyonce? Okay,

32:52

okay, I love two people.

32:55

All right, Well, I have a couple more questions

32:57

Matt before we take a quick break.

33:00

Is there anything else that you feel people

33:03

need to be aware of going into this holiday

33:05

season and going into the Christmas

33:07

Hanukah quantity? I guess chunka were already

33:09

in it, but Christmas Quanza and

33:12

um in the New Year. Yeah,

33:14

I think probably the only thing is just to kind of get

33:17

make sure that you're really paying attention to your body, make sure

33:19

that you're paying attention to what you're feeling, make sure you're paying

33:22

attention to what you need. And I think

33:24

it's so tempting at

33:26

a time like this where we're coming up to the

33:28

end of a year, then you know, kind

33:30

of doing this pandemic thing for about nine months

33:32

who are all just fatigued of thinking about

33:34

it. We start kind of doing some mental gymnastics.

33:37

I think, like, we got the vaccines, things are fine, We're

33:39

gonna be okay, right, and then

33:41

what we feel isn't gonna match what how we think

33:43

things are supposed to be, and then that can

33:46

be the very thing that sucks us up. So making sure

33:48

that you really keep like a realistic

33:50

tab on the fact that we are still in this

33:52

thing and numbers are worse than they ever have been.

33:55

Things are really difficult, and so we're

33:57

all a part of that culture. And so if

34:00

you're feeling yourself dragging, if you're

34:02

feeling yourself kind of being down, that

34:04

makes sense, that's okay. Do

34:07

some things. They'll kind of elevate that as best you can.

34:09

But otherwise, just make sure that you know

34:11

that this is still uh, it's still

34:13

relevant and it still makes sense. I love

34:15

that. I'm so glad we have a psychotherapist on this show right

34:17

now, because there's like I'm I'm I'm

34:20

out here asking questions about snowmen and movies

34:23

and you're like, but make sure you're also mentally

34:25

stable, and I was like, damn, I gotta do that.

34:28

Um, So as we close this out, I do have

34:31

the same question I asked Kaylin to close it out. I need

34:33

your most in your opinion, the

34:35

most underrated Christmas movie and the most

34:37

overrated Christmas movie because starting

34:40

after literally after this podcast, this

34:42

recording, right now, my holiday starts,

34:44

so I have to I have actually no, I

34:46

have one call after this, but that's that's then

34:48

I'm holiday bound. So I'm gonna be watching movies

34:51

and I need to know what you think is the most underrated

34:53

and overrated Christmas movie. Okay,

34:55

I don't know. I'm really struggling with underrated

34:57

and the only reason because the one that comes to mind

34:59

is one that I'm like newly obsessed with and

35:02

it's happiest season on Hulu. It's

35:04

do you know it? Oh? Is that the one? Where is

35:06

that? The one that's it's

35:13

so good? And the reason why it's so good,

35:15

I'll just break it down real quick. The reason why it's so good is because

35:17

of the fact that it's got like legit actors in it

35:20

who actually do a really solid job,

35:22

and it brings all of the kind of

35:25

like most you know, kind of trite

35:27

typical holiday movie, kind of a Hallmark

35:30

movie vibes to it, so it feels

35:32

warm and fuzzy, but it actually has some decent

35:34

acting and gay so I'm

35:36

like, yes, so

35:38

that's amazing. I'm absolutely

35:40

it's underrated though, because it's actually doing pretty well

35:43

well. I think I think it's underrated only in

35:45

the sense of more people need to watch

35:47

it, you know what I mean. Like it's not like nobody's

35:49

giving it to love. I think it's underrated because it's new

35:51

and everybody focuses on the classics, and this

35:54

one really truly might be a new classic. Like

35:56

I have to, I have to. I'm going to pitch in with

35:58

you on this one and I'll give my own answers later.

36:00

But I really think that that movie

36:02

I have not I'm gonna be honest, and I'm gonna

36:04

get flamed for this one after this. I

36:07

do not like Hallmark movies. I do not

36:09

like Lifetime Christmas movies. I'm sorry.

36:12

I'm sorry. My mom, my, mom

36:14

and my sisters will watch them and they'll

36:16

watch him till the cows come home. But

36:19

I cannot stand it. And so when

36:21

my sister told me about this one, I

36:23

literally was like, no, But I like Ship's Creek

36:25

and Kristen Stewart. I I think she's

36:27

I think she's fun to watch um act

36:30

So I gave it a shot and I

36:32

was so impressed after watching

36:34

it, I was like, am I lesbian because I'm

36:37

obsessed with christ And Stewart, I'm

36:39

like, she is so hot. And

36:41

the sister I don't know what the actress is named, the funny

36:43

sister like. The comedic relief was

36:46

incredible. It was just all good. It was all

36:48

great. So I will say that what

36:51

I think is the most overrated movie

36:54

is White Christmas. I don't know if you've

36:56

ever seen White Christmas. This is a classic with being Crosby.

36:59

Have you seen it? I have not seen it, but I have to.

37:01

I have to explain how sad

37:04

our producer Katherine is that both of

37:06

our shifted on her

37:08

favorite Christmas movies. I

37:10

think she's about to burn down her Christmas tree right

37:13

now. Okay, Kavin, let me explain myself. So

37:16

so White Christmas? Okay, I like, I grew up

37:19

watching that with my family, so I have like this positive association

37:21

with it. But then I recently rewatched

37:23

it in its entirety and I'm like, there's

37:26

nothing Christmas about this movie until

37:29

the end of it. That's it. And

37:31

then they come out and say they come out like a sand a wardrobe

37:33

and saying white Christmas. That said, I'm like, what, I

37:36

don't remember this, but it's bad. It's bad.

37:38

Don't watch it. Save yourself, save ussel all

37:40

the time. Well, I appreciate. I'm

37:42

gonna have to do. I'll do. I'm gonna follow

37:44

your advice and just continue not seeing that movie.

37:47

And I'm gonna go watch the season.

37:50

What's it called again, happen the season? Happy Season,

37:52

It's happiest season. I can't remember

37:54

the title, but I remember the movie and it was really really

37:57

good. Give it another watch, painfully adorable.

37:59

All right, Well, we're gonna take a quick break, but thank

38:01

you so much for coming on, Matt. After we

38:03

come back from the break, all three of us are going at it

38:05

for the greatest Christmas ever, and we're going to continue

38:08

debating movies and Christmas treats and all

38:10

of that fun stuff. So don't go anywhere. I'm

38:13

have to look up Christmas movies because

38:15

I don't I really don't watch Christmas movies,

38:17

and so I need to figure out what the

38:19

most overrated Christmas movie is to

38:21

me, Oh, you know, what's the one, And I don't know if

38:23

it's if it's a Christmas movie, what's the one with Arnold

38:26

Schwarzenegger. No, No,

38:29

jingle all the way, Jingle all

38:31

the way. I was gonna say,

38:33

I was gonna say I love it.

38:36

Oh. Oh, I thought you said

38:38

it was overrated.

38:40

It was it is overrated. I'm sorry, Kaitlin.

38:43

I was just I knew. I saw the fire that

38:46

was coming out. Don't come for Turbot

38:48

and Baby. It's either you know what it is.

38:50

It's either that one. It's either that one, or it's

38:52

the one with Matthew Broderick and

38:55

Danny de Vito deck the halls.

38:57

Yes, I'm

38:59

real. Christy Jennewin, I'm

39:02

over too. I'm over to with

39:04

Kylin. Welcome back. We're

39:07

here this, let's get into it. I am here with Kaylin

39:09

Allen, who's very mad at me right now because

39:11

of what we just talked about over the break. Uh

39:14

and Matt Dempsey. Um, we're just gonna

39:16

get straight into it. I apparently hate two

39:18

of the movies that are that are Christmas

39:20

classics. Klin. I'm sorry,

39:23

I don't know what it is. Maybe I just don't like Christmas movies

39:25

in general because those are like those

39:28

areas, I'm really a Grinch, that's

39:30

really and you want to know

39:32

what you want to know? What's crazy is my

39:34

favorite Christmas movie is The Gridge. Okay,

39:38

but but to be honest, if we talk about the

39:40

Granch, the Grinch was

39:43

the good guy. The Who's

39:45

were bad people. They

39:48

were terrible to the Grinch. They

39:50

treated him like trash. Yeah, they did

39:52

treat him, that's

39:55

right. The gay guys saw that slight

40:01

him up in the Mantinea. I

40:05

I have two movies that

40:07

I think are underrated, though, because I don't think that The Grinch

40:10

is underrated. I think it's like The Elf. You know, It's like I

40:13

think. The only reason why I would say and don't I don't

40:15

let me finish my sentence before I get judged. I

40:17

think I think Elf is overrated

40:20

only because I've seen it so many

40:22

times that I do. I cannot physically watch

40:24

that movie again. And I think that that's how everybody

40:26

is. So if you still watch The Elf like regularly,

40:29

then then that's then then that's why I

40:31

think it's kind of overrated. And and

40:33

I got Kalen's mad at me. He's about

40:36

to leave the show. Um, Catherine's

40:38

about to just end the whole podcast in

40:40

general. Uh, I'm I'm

40:42

okay about that, elf because like the

40:45

way I'm about to get I'm about to get attacked

40:47

the thing. But the way I feel that ELF is the way I feel about Taylor

40:50

Swift. I think they're great,

40:53

but I'm not like, I'm not like going crazy for

40:55

either of them like everybody else has. Okay, so you're

40:57

trying to tell me. Then when you watch at

41:00

the end when they started believing in

41:03

the slave Fly, and it's

41:08

not what you're trying to tell me. This

41:10

is disrespect, this is you know an

41:13

y'all. I'm like, I'm acting. I don't

41:15

know you. Oh

41:21

can I redeem myself with trying to say underrated

41:23

Christmas movies? Yeah, come on, come on.

41:25

Okay, so it's not necessarily a Christmas

41:28

movie, but they do celebrate Christmas together.

41:31

What James Franco where he's

41:33

like the crazy rich um but like

41:35

psychopath boyfriend and she he's meeting

41:37

the girl's friends family. I love

41:40

how you always know the actors but not

41:42

the movie. I'm terrible with movie titles. I

41:44

said the whole Christen Stewart movie. I could. I still

41:46

it's a happy season, happiest season. I'm terrible

41:48

with movie names. Um, why

41:51

Him? Have you guys seen the movie? Why Him?

41:54

Why Him? It's um, Brian Cranston's

41:56

in it. So basically like

41:58

this girl takes her pars to go meet her boyfriend

42:01

and he's like this crazy rich dude, but he's also

42:03

like a site, like he's super weird and out there, and

42:05

they celebrate Christmas together and they end up, um,

42:08

they end up all being a happy family.

42:10

I ruined the ending. Um, But you should check

42:12

it out. You should check it out because if

42:15

you haven't seen it, it's kind of a Christmas movie.

42:17

And I know that you guys have watched all the Christmas

42:19

movies already, but you could give that one a shot. And it's

42:21

funny because it's rated are so it's like really vulgar,

42:23

whereas most Christmas movies kind of

42:25

are really like nice and sweet,

42:27

and so that one's fun because it will

42:29

get your edge going. Um that one.

42:31

And I'm also going to say Office Christmas Party

42:34

is an underrated Christmas movie solely because I have

42:36

I sing I sing a song in

42:38

an office Christmas party, So I'm gonna get I'm

42:41

gonna give a little a little ship, a

42:43

little shameless self chromo. So

42:46

we're back on topic. During a normal year,

42:48

people are traveling for the holidays, They're spending

42:50

twice as much money for a ticket home,

42:52

They're trudging through the snow. They are

42:54

seeing their family members that are annoying

42:57

or that they actually don't like, and they have to brave

42:59

conversations with them. We're talking

43:01

about we get to watch all of the Christmas movies. We don't

43:03

have to worry about having to choose and pick and

43:05

and balance it around. We're all

43:07

at our own houses and we don't

43:09

have to really worry about a lot of things. Part

43:12

of me is starting to think the optimistic, the

43:14

Grinch with the three hearts, the three sizes,

43:16

bigger heart, is thinking this actually might not be

43:18

too bad of a Christmas. What

43:20

are you guys thinking about the positives of Christmas?

43:22

What are the positives for you guys that in this Christmas,

43:25

Especially Matt, I'm curious about yours because you do the

43:27

same thing every single year for Christmas,

43:29

and and Kaylin, you're kind of a professional

43:32

and fresh new Christmas is What are

43:34

the positives you guys think of the holiday

43:36

season. I think the positives

43:39

of it is exactly what you were just saying,

43:41

which is that we don't we don't have to

43:43

do all of the annoying parts

43:46

of going home for Christmas and having

43:48

to like you know, deal with that, especially for those

43:50

of us we still don't live in our hometowns and

43:52

having a run around and see this person and see that person

43:54

and make it all happen. I don't have to

43:56

do any of that anymore. So just

43:58

being able to kind of like what Kayley was seeing

44:00

before about you know, wishing that like you would

44:03

have just enjoyed it for you know, enjoyed

44:05

the downtime during this year, really

44:07

being amblen into that for Christmas, like we

44:09

don't get to see our families and that part does suck,

44:12

but really leaning into not having

44:14

to travel, not having to do this stuff and soak

44:16

that up. I love that. Kaylin.

44:19

What about you? You're I mean, you're a professional at at

44:21

New Christmas is so what's special about

44:24

this New Christmas? That you're gonna be with your

44:26

brother, You're gonna be staying home, all of that. It's

44:29

nice that I just get to call all the shots. I get

44:31

to do what I want to do, how I want to do it, when I

44:33

want to do it. You know, it's saving

44:35

money not having to buy a whole bunch of gifts

44:37

for people. And I absolutely

44:39

want to emphasize with Matthew said about

44:41

not having to do a world to where. I mean, you

44:44

know, especially when you work in the industry,

44:46

anytime you go home, it's

44:48

not like just going home anymore.

44:51

It's like you gotta take pictures with people

44:53

you're seeing everybody. You gotta go to

44:55

this house. They want to come over to see

44:57

you, to ask you about your life. I don't have time

45:00

audit me alone.

45:03

Oh my gosh. I'm gonna

45:06

tell you one thing that I'm actually super excited

45:08

about for this holiday season because I'm going to be

45:10

with my my immediate family,

45:12

but I'm not gonna be with my my wider spread

45:14

family with cousins and all of that. You guys

45:16

know those really really hard Christmas tree

45:19

cookies that they sell at grocery stores that most people

45:21

hate. So my family

45:23

loves them, and I love them. We all love

45:25

them. And the problem with them is

45:27

that you get one box and they're all gone.

45:29

Because usually with all the cousins and they're gone this

45:31

year. Don't gotta share them. I'm having so many cookies.

45:34

Can you guys imagine that? How many cookies I'm going to

45:36

have this If

45:38

I don't come back with a real gut,

45:41

Like, if I don't come back from Christmas with a real gut, that's

45:43

the only way that I'm going to say that Christmas was an

45:45

absolute failure. Coming Um,

45:48

since we're talking about food, what do you guys,

45:51

what are your favorite what's the Christmas food of choice? Kalen?

45:53

Oh wow, probably a good

45:56

old hang, a good Christmas hang

45:58

maprol brown sugar, little honey baked

46:00

cam Yeah, with the cherries

46:03

and the pineapple on top. Baby.

46:06

I never experienced the cherries in the pineapple because

46:08

I always buy mine from Honey Baked, like the actual

46:10

Honey Baked Ham store, and they don't give you the cherry

46:12

in the ham. But I've always seen it, and I've always wondered if

46:14

it was a real thing, and you just proved it right to me.

46:18

Matt, what's your what's your Christmas food of choice?

46:20

You know I'm gonna go I'm gonna kind of

46:22

speak to the breakfast side of things because my

46:25

mom every year. I don't know when it's at your

46:27

house. I think it's because I used to be obsessed with like

46:29

eggs, Chris sandwiches from Burger King,

46:32

um, and so she would try to do her version

46:34

of that, and so she did every morning on Christmas,

46:37

and so they hit a little differently Toowich.

46:40

Yes, sir, oh man,

46:43

I'll tell you my My Christmas breakfast has been the same.

46:45

That's another tradition. And luckily, because my mom

46:47

makes it, I'll get to experience it again this year.

46:50

Um, it's the weird. I mean, it's kind of weird, but

46:52

it's only these three things.

46:54

It's sausages, eggs,

46:57

and blueberry muffins. Then nothing

46:59

else is involved. Breakfast.

47:02

You're talking about breakfast, Yeah, breakfast, breakfast

47:04

and just separate. These are separate things, just on the same

47:06

place. You're just one plate. But I feel like

47:08

when I hear most people's Christmas

47:11

breakfast, it's always like some grandiose thing,

47:13

like it's a big brunch short at this whole nine, And

47:15

we've every year it's it's and it's not even muffin

47:18

tin blueberry muffins. We just do a

47:20

big like in a cake pan of

47:23

the blueberry muffin mix and we just

47:25

slice it up. It's it's it's my favorite

47:27

thing and it never changes. I will

47:29

say that I'm glad I don't have to cook. That's

47:32

another thing you don't have to cook, because

47:35

I always have to do all the cooking. You could

47:37

uber Eats or Postmates three meals

47:39

on Christmas Day, have no dishes

47:42

to do, have no cooking responsibilities,

47:45

and you get to eat food that's probably

47:48

with love better than the ship you would

47:50

make anyways. You

47:53

well, I don't accept that, yeah, because I can cook

47:55

my ass off, So I'm

47:57

not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I didn't

47:59

know you guys cooking levels. And when I said that, I

48:02

was like, I'm not talking about myself though I'm the

48:04

chef of the kitchen. So but there

48:06

are some people who are just not blessed

48:08

with cooking abilities, and they can do that

48:11

and they get to have a better meal than they would have had anyways

48:13

exactly. I think the other thing that

48:15

I really love about about the holidays

48:17

this year is because people are home way more

48:20

they're going I'm seeing some Christmas

48:22

masterpieces in their houses like

48:24

you're seeing like because you I'll drive around at night. That's

48:26

the other thing I love to do is like just drive around and seek people's

48:29

Christmas lights. And there

48:31

are some crazy not only in

48:33

my neighborhood, but on Twitter. I saw one that

48:35

was like Avengers themed and they had

48:38

like led screens. You guys see that one.

48:40

People are going hard. That is as MS

48:44

tree. Wow, this

48:47

is more importantly than your Christmas tree. You have

48:49

a place in l a that could fit a twelve

48:51

foot Christmas tree.

48:58

How did you get that in there? It

49:00

came in three pieces because it's art ain't

49:02

real, it's artificial, And so

49:04

I just had to put it to you. And now I don't know what the hell it's gonna

49:07

go after it, but I

49:09

think I'm gonna leave it up all year and make it all

49:12

year Christmas tree. And like you know, dey're right.

49:14

If east and balat day, I

49:17

would like to use your example as a perfect

49:20

time to to fight

49:22

in favor of artificial Christmas trees.

49:25

I think that real Christmas trees. And Katherine

49:28

is your I can't see and I don't want to offend

49:30

you for the third time. Is it real or is it artificial?

49:33

Yeah? I was? Then I'm

49:35

not gonna say what I was going to say before. Um,

49:39

it's so much shedding. Thank you, Kaylin

49:41

said it for me that you know

49:43

what they have now though, which I've been seeing

49:46

like advertisement spores. You can get a living Christmas

49:48

tree, so you get it with the route that's still

49:50

intact and so and you can like technically

49:52

rent the tree. So you rent the tree,

49:55

you have it in your place through the Christmas season,

49:57

and then you get it back and then they replant

49:59

it and you can keep using it every year. Listen,

50:02

that's a great idea. But you know what's even easier

50:04

than that. It's going into

50:06

your garage, opening the box and throwing

50:08

that bitch up, honestly, and

50:11

you know what you can also do. My mom did it one year because

50:13

but then my long story, but my dog

50:15

was allergic to it. Um she got

50:18

a like one of those full time error

50:20

like fresheners. Like it shoots out scent and it just shoots

50:23

out the smell of a Christmas tree. Same ass

50:25

thing. It literally is the same thing. No,

50:27

baby, baby, why not? But

50:30

what I will say when I would say so my

50:32

Christmas tree was bought from Balstom hell,

50:34

which is you talked about the Hallmark movies.

50:37

So that's what they bought a Chrystmas trees because they

50:39

look, this tree costs

50:41

me two dollars, damn.

50:44

And that's why the tree ain't coming dance. You

50:47

should. That's definitely you're gonna have an Easter

50:49

tree. You're gonna you're gonna have a

50:51

fourth of July tree. Halloween.

50:57

Money's worth. You gotta get

50:59

your money he's worth, because I say, what is a tree

51:01

cost? Usually a hundred dollars, two hundred dollars, Yeah,

51:04

if you're getting it from my loans or something. If

51:06

you get a tree, if let's say, if a tree is a hundred

51:08

dollars, you have to use that tree for

51:11

twenty Christmas is before

51:13

you go. We just got the money's

51:15

worth, So you better use that for twenty holidays

51:18

this year so you can make that money worth

51:20

it. Oh my

51:22

gosh, I don't even know this. This last

51:24

segment has just turned into everybody either

51:27

celebrating or roasting each other's thoughts

51:29

on Christmas things. And I'm not even mad

51:31

at it. I'm not even mad at it

51:33

um. But I think the one thing that I will say

51:36

is that New Year's is coming around and We're gonna have a new

51:38

year, and we already have this vaccine

51:40

that's out, which I'm praying is

51:42

as successful as the goal

51:45

is for it to be. And

51:47

if it is, then we might be going we might be going

51:49

back to normal. We might be going back to a

51:52

version of more normalcy.

51:54

What are you guys the most excited about if

51:56

life eventually gets back to to that,

51:59

to that beautiful and we'll see. I'm

52:01

going to Disneyland. I'm

52:04

going to Disneyland. I used to go pre

52:06

The last time I went to Disneyland was

52:08

in February because I would go

52:10

every month. I was season pass

52:12

holder. Like it's the one thing that keeps me saying,

52:15

baby, the moment I can go

52:17

back, I'm gonna be there. Okay.

52:20

I love that. I feel like everybody's gonna get

52:22

the opportunity, you know, when like the NBA

52:25

player wins the championship and they're getting

52:27

interviewed and they're like, so, what's the next thing you're gonna do,

52:29

and they're gonna go, I'm going to Disneyland. Everybody

52:32

gets that opportunity to be that person. Like

52:34

I'm literally about to post an instre and nobody's

52:37

steal if you're listening to this, you better not steal my idea.

52:39

I'm gonna post a video and it's

52:41

gonna be like, I'm gonna find a stranger to just say, so,

52:43

what are you gonna do now that the quarantine's over?

52:45

And I'm gonna turn the camera myself and with my

52:48

loudest, most booming voice, I'm gonna

52:50

scream I'm going to Disneyland,

52:53

and I'm gonna go to Disneyland. I'm gonna be right there

52:55

with you and Klin's

52:57

Kalin is gonna be there, and I'm gonna be standing behind

53:00

into him at Matterhorn and it's going to break

53:02

down after he gets on it and

53:04

I don't get to write it he gets to ride Matterhorn. I

53:06

got a feeling that's what's going to happen. Um,

53:09

Matt, what are you the most excited for?

53:11

Uh? When when life inevitably

53:13

gets back to some form of normalcy. Yeah,

53:16

I mean it kind of sounds like things might

53:18

really kind of take a turn, like around the spring

53:20

on into summertime, that we might be able to start

53:22

the resource honestly, just being

53:25

outside around other people, like having

53:27

the like the energy. I don't even want to talk to anybody,

53:30

just the energy of everybody around me. That

53:32

and more specifically, I want to fucking dance

53:34

like I have not been able to go anywhere go

53:37

dancing, nothing, and I want to go dance.

53:40

Okay, Matt, We're gonna need to connect because I love

53:42

dancing. I love going out dancing. We're

53:44

gonna need to connect that we can all go out, um

53:47

and Kylen. Same for Disneyland, because I'm gonna need

53:49

to go to Disneyland and you gotta have a ride, buddy.

53:51

You gotta have a ride buddy who is down to wait in the lines

53:53

and it is down to go for I

53:56

was gonna say, Kla, Kylen.

53:58

I was gonna say, we're gonna get an escar. We're gonna we're

54:01

gonna pull some strings, nobody, Lie. I

54:04

love that. Uh, let's flip

54:07

it though. What's what's something you guys might miss?

54:09

I know? For me, you know what I'm really gonna miss, especially

54:11

because you were the one that said it, Matt, that it's gonna probably

54:13

open up if things open up around spring summertime.

54:16

I'm gonna miss not having to worry about

54:18

what I look like. M I'm

54:20

gonna have to get my ass in shape because you know that I'm

54:23

not going to go out to the beach for the first time since

54:25

the since two years ago and

54:27

have any form of any form

54:29

of no abs on my body. Like that's just for me

54:32

and that's not for anybody else. That's for me. So I can walk

54:34

around with that confidence of like what you've been

54:36

doing this year. I

54:40

mean, I would say, honestly the same. I

54:43

mean that, but just across the board,

54:45

just not having to give as much of a

54:47

funk about a lot of things, just like really

54:49

kind of just like vegging, chilling.

54:52

I have to do too much. I'm gonna miss

54:54

that. I'm gonna miss that. What about you, Kalen?

54:56

I think I'm gonna miss not having

54:59

to tend carpet events

55:03

if you never By the way, if you've never attended

55:05

the red carpet event, it is by no

55:07

means what you think. It is. So and

55:10

I love you guys, everybody in the media. You

55:12

guys are incredible red carpets.

55:14

I respect you for what the meaning of it

55:16

is, but it is so not fun. And

55:19

I'm so glad that you said it first, so I can

55:21

proudly be with you and say it as well. It's

55:23

not fun. It's not fun, and I don't

55:26

want to go back to it, but eventually we're gonna

55:28

have to. Huh Oh,

55:31

this was such a fun podcast, and by no

55:34

means what I expected it to be. Like, I was

55:36

thinking that everybody is gonna be like me and be like, yeah,

55:38

it kind of sucks this Christmas. You guys turned

55:40

me around. You guys turned this little

55:42

grinch self of mine around. My skin is

55:44

back to normal from being green, and

55:47

and I'm so happy that we got to like we got

55:49

to we got to spend this time together Matt and Caitlin.

55:51

Thank you guys so much. This

55:54

is this is the part of the show I call it not so shameless

55:56

promo. We're going to talk about

55:58

things that we're excited about. Allen, I want you

56:00

to hear. I want to know everything about the Christmas

56:03

experience is what I'm gonna call it that you're releasing,

56:05

tell us some more about it. So basically,

56:08

it is a Christmas card to the LGBTQ

56:11

family. It is all an entire

56:13

career cast. We have one the Sikes, we have Alex

56:15

Nowr, we have m J. Rodriguez, we have an all

56:18

star cast. And basically it

56:20

is the story of how Santa

56:23

Claus fell in love with Mr

56:25

Clause. I play Mr Claus and

56:27

so it is basically just a

56:29

new Christmas classic that I think everybody

56:32

is going to really love. That is neither

56:34

overrated nor underrated. That is just

56:36

perfectly rated. It's gonna be that. I'm

56:39

so excited to see that. That is that sounds

56:41

incredible. And where else can people

56:43

find you? On social media and and and all

56:45

that, You can find me everywhere at the Kaylin

56:47

Allen. I make it real easy. I

56:50

love that. I love that Matt give us some give

56:52

us some promo. What's going on? What can we get

56:54

excited about? And where can we find you? I

56:56

think probably the thing that I'm that I'm most excited

56:58

about doing is actually podcast with

57:01

Alex mop It's called Hot Mess, and

57:03

it's not it's kind of a little bit of a like

57:05

this vibe where we're talking about real things

57:07

that are going on, but also, you know, I get to

57:09

give my real health perspective. Alex

57:12

a comedian and so he gets to give his humor

57:14

in on it, and we get to laugh and we get to kind of

57:16

make light of a lot of otherwise and had

57:19

stuff. But still give a lot of information and

57:21

education around how to actually, you know, kind

57:23

of presenting yourself. So that podcast

57:25

and we have a lot of really cool celebrity guests that come

57:27

onto. So it's been really great conversations. I

57:30

loved I need to be I need to be at it. I need

57:32

to come on that show. I need to be a guest. I'm inviting myself.

57:34

I'm inviting myself to be a guest on your podcast.

57:37

But that sounds incredible. I'm so excited

57:39

to check that out. And if you're listening to this makes you guys, go and

57:41

check out hot mess um. But where else

57:44

can we find you on social media? You

57:46

can find you on Instagram mostly Instagram, and

57:48

it's at m J dem c psych Boom.

57:50

There we go. You know, you can always find me on social

57:53

media at alex ion o ai o

57:55

n oh. It's the best part about having a weird

57:57

last name. But more importantly, ratear podcast

58:00

asked and subscribe to it because that is how we

58:02

grow baby. But thank you

58:04

so much for listening to this podcast. It has

58:06

been a hell of a year. And as the last podcast

58:08

of the year, I want to say happy Holidays,

58:11

Happy New Year. I love you guys, and we'll

58:13

see you in peace.

58:23

We really want you to get the help you need, so if

58:25

you need help, please seek independent advice

58:27

from a competent healthcare or mental health professional.

58:30

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely

58:32

those of the podcast author or individuals participating

58:35

in the podcast, and do not represent the opinions of I

58:37

Heart Media or its employees. This podcast

58:39

should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice,

58:41

counseling, or therapy. Listening to the podcast

58:43

does not established dr patient relationship with

58:45

hosts or guests of alex IONO, Let's Get Into

58:47

It or I Heart Media. No guarantee is

58:50

given regarding the accuracy of any statements

58:52

or opinions made on this podcast. Well,

58:54

if that's a doozy