0:00

This episode is sponsored by boll and branch.

0:02

One thing I love to do is shop smaller businesses, especially around the holidays.

0:07

When you shot boll and branch during cyber week, you're supporting a family run business that crafts the highest quality toxin-free pure organic cotton sheets, and they give fair pay to every one of their farmers and factory workers.

0:20

My signature hymn sheets are so soft with solid stitching.

0:24

I know will last and they feel special.

0:26

You know, when something just feels special.

0:28

In fact, the signature hymn sheets are their all time bestseller and they get softer with every wash this cyber week, gift your loved ones, the best sleep of their lives, or treat yourself with boll and branch, their holiday packaging and famously soft sheets, blankets pillows, and more.

0:44

Make a difference. Everyone will feel get 25% off from November 23rd through December 2nd, with their best offer of the [email protected].

0:52

That's

0:52

25%

0:55

[email protected].

0:55

Exclusions

0:55

may

1:00

apply.

1:01

Hey, there you are listening to the lazy genius podcast.

1:03

I'm Kendra Adichie, and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't today is a fun bonus episode.

1:11

In case you need a laugh. It's your holiday horror stories.

1:15

I am guessing that we always think other people know more than we do that.

1:20

Like other people don't mess up in big ways.

1:22

Like we have that other people know how to take the baggie of Turkey organs out of the Turkey before you cook it.

1:28

But I asked you all to share your holiday horror stories with me on Instagram.

1:30

And today I have a lovely collection.

1:33

Why am I sharing them with you?

1:35

Sometimes we just need a good laugh and we also need solidarity.

1:38

And knowing we're not alone in trying things that don't work in messing up big time in attempting very genius ideas on a lazy budget, again, cooking the Turkey with the Oregon bags still in it.

1:51

So this quick episode is just a funny reminder that we all mess up and that we're all okay.

1:55

Even when it happens. So let's jump into some of your horror stories.

1:58

The first one is from the American field trip, which is actually a really great account to follow by the way I love them.

2:04

Here's what they say. I tried to host Thanksgiving dinner a few days after my daughter was born and then a face Palm emoji, which by the way, is a super accurate emoji for that decision did not delegate it all husband and I made every dish.

2:17

Then I spent the eating portion of the day.

2:19

Also. I need everything to be called eating portions of the day.

2:22

Now I spent the eating portion of the day, sobbing on the bathroom floor, hosted again.

2:26

The next year, use our out of town neighbors apartment for the extra oven and ended up locking the cooking Turkey and the spare key inside one very expensive locksmith visit.

2:38

Later we rescued the Turkey and everyone reported that it was only a little dry.

2:42

Oh my gosh. So I love this so much.

2:45

This is two. This is two separate holiday fails.

2:47

One was just like hosting Thanksgiving days after you had a human, I'm going to just tell you that's never a good idea like on any planet.

2:54

Is that ever a good idea? So just go ahead and put that in your decide once list.

2:57

I will not host anything after having a baby.

3:01

And then the second thing is that you've walked your Turkey, borrow it.

3:06

I was so obsessed with that story and that it was like, it was only a little dry.

3:10

You could, you can imagine a lot of like shrugging of shoulders at the table.

3:14

Like, yeah, it's not, it's not that dry sentences going up in, in tone at the end.

3:20

I love that. Okay. The next one is from Emily Fogarty.

3:23

That time I convinced slash forced my friends into a holiday cookie exchange while pregnant, even though I hate baking again, you guys stop making decisions when you're pregnant or just had a baby.

3:34

It goes without saying, this is a good time to try out a fancy recipe from the magazine that convinced me.

3:40

This was a good idea. In the first place my husband came home from work to find me in tears in the kitchen, several hours, deep into a baking disaster.

3:47

He actually loves to bake and took over the kitchen.

3:50

While I laid on the couch, ordering pizza, I feel like that is turning a genius situation into a lazy genius situation.

3:57

You gave it to the person that matters, and then you order pizza because you're pregnant.

4:01

That's of course that's what you're going to do. Well done.

4:03

The next is from another Emily, Emily Jose tried to go genius and tried a new recipe for a Thanksgiving side this year.

4:10

Several days later, it's still in the fridge.

4:13

How many of you did that?

4:15

Show of hands? And I can't see how many of you made a recipe for Thanksgiving that was new.

4:19

And then it was garbage. We have this expectation that we need to make new stuff for celebrations, but like so much of the new stuff does not get eaten or you don't try it first.

4:30

And the new stuff's just like not great.

4:32

So I don't know.

4:34

Are any of you like, like rehearsal people where you rehearse a recipe before you serve it?

4:40

Some people are good at that. I'm just like, I'm going to make things that I already know.

4:42

I like, but good job trying.

4:45

Emily has a trying a new recipe for Thanksgiving side.

4:47

I love that it's still in your fridge.

4:49

Next one is from a dot prac, prac pregnant.

4:54

Sorry. This person says my dad numbered all the presents.

4:58

I'm assuming Christmas presents a number of all the Christmas presents.

5:01

So my sister and I wouldn't sneak a peak.

5:03

And then he lost his list.

5:05

It was a Christmas that we never forgot.

5:07

There were a few of these.

5:09

There were a few of these like elaborate systems to get kids from, to keep them from opening their presence.

5:14

And then it backfired here is another one.

5:17

Actually let me go find this other one. That was a Christmas present fiasco.

5:22

Okay. Yes. I found it. It's from Trista coop.

5:24

Trista says one of my favorite cringey Christmas memories.

5:28

My mom likes to reuse boxes and bags for Christmas gifts, which is typically genius.

5:33

I wrapped my son's video game and a Pop-Tart box once.

5:37

So he couldn't guess it from the wrapping one Christmas in the mid nineties, my mom wrapped my cousin's new outfit and an old super Nintendo box.

5:46

It was not supposed to be a prank.

5:48

She just didn't think it through his excitement changed to disappointment so quickly.

5:54

All

5:54

of

5:54

is

5:57

sad. Portraits does mom Theresa's his mom is working so hard to make things like fun and creative.

6:02

And also, you know, like cost-effective by saving packaging.

6:05

Oh, we just don't think about that.

6:08

That's a rough one.

6:09

Here's another rough one.

6:11

This one is from Kelly Meyer.

6:14

Kelly says I invited people over on Christmas morning for brunch and it was trying to do as much prep as humanly possible beforehand so that I wouldn't be stressed that morning.

6:23

I mean, that's a really good, like lazy genius approach, right?

6:26

Got my French toast casserole and my egg casserole all prepped.

6:29

And they're nine by 13 pants got their eggy mixtures and separate bowls to pour over right before the oven.

6:35

Last minute I poured the sweet egg mixture over the sausage, egg casserole and the garlic egg mixture over the French toast casserole.

6:43

And didn't realize it until we dug in.

6:46

Let's

6:48

see. I just, this is a reminder, you guys, even when you do things like ahead of time, when you think it through, when you're trying to batch stuff and compartmentalize stuff in a really good way, going in good orders, magic questioning things, things still mess up.

7:02

Like we're going to mess stuff up.

7:04

It's really, really good to, to give ourselves some permission and laughter after the fact I'm imagining there wasn't a lot of laughter in the moment because that was probably a lot of effort.

7:15

And it's really sad when our effort is not like rewarded, but Kelly I'm really, I'm really proud of you probably continuing to host, even after that's over.

7:26

Now, this one is from Lindsay Muldoff, who definitely took the, the genius approach, like pretty strong when she did not have genius skills.

7:37

And this is something that we all do. If any of you have read my book, the lazy genius way.

7:41

I tell a story about trying to make French toast casserole like stuffed French toast for a staff meeting.

7:48

It didn't go well because I didn't know how to do it.

7:53

And basically all I did is took wonder bread and like put cheese in the middle of it and then stacked the bread on top of each other in the oven, like there was no butter, there was no egg.

8:06

It was just, it was like cheese sandwiches stacked on top of each other.

8:10

And I served it. I served it.

8:12

So this, this particular horror story reminds me of my French toast story a little bit.

8:17

So again, Lindsay says my first Thanksgiving with my husband and in-laws and five new coworkers also like props to you for inviting your coworkers to Thanksgiving.

8:25

I decided to make my grandma's legendary dressing.

8:30

Also. I had never cooked before.

8:31

I didn't even know the basics.

8:33

I boiled the eggs for the dressing.

8:37

My mother-in-law looked over in horror as I tried to slice them without peeling.

8:43

I thought the shell got soft and absorbed into the egg.

8:47

I didn't know you had to peel them.

8:50

I'm now very confident in my cooking skills 15 years later, but I started at the bottom.

8:55

See,

8:55

we

8:55

all

8:55

have

8:55

a

8:55

place

8:55

to

8:58

go. We all can go up after situations like French toast and unpeeled eggs in a dressing.

9:05

Lindsey. I love that one so much.

9:06

We'll

9:06

be

9:06

right

9:09

back.

9:13

Okay. I say the best ones for the second half.

9:15

This is from Laura Cohen, 57.

9:18

That one time I grabbed the wrong lidded ceramic container for a holiday girl's night.

9:22

Instead of the spinach dip I made earlier in the day I brought leftover sauerkraut.

9:25

I

9:25

really,

9:25

I

9:25

really

9:25

wish

9:25

that

9:25

all

9:25

of

9:25

these

9:25

moments

9:25

came

9:25

with

9:25

video

9:33

evidence. Like in the moment it happened just to make us all feel better.

9:36

Oh, that's such a good one.

9:38

Tara Jay Hart, that time I made a beautiful cheesecake using salt.

9:43

I thought it was sugar.

9:43

There were a lot of these like missed ingredients.

9:47

Like somebody brined a Turkey instead of an apple cider in apple cider vinegar and basically pickled their Turkey.

9:53

Like you guys, we all do it.

9:55

We all do this.

9:56

This one from Ashton rose cued, Ashton says our first married holiday season.

10:04

My want to be food critic in laws came to our house.

10:07

That sounds like that's probably not very fun.

10:09

While I was at work. The outlet, our Crock-Pot was plugged into shorted out, thereby ruining the roast.

10:14

I was cooking and leaving us with nothing to eat.

10:17

We attempted to salvage things with dessert, a sheet cake.

10:20

I had topped with homemade icing. The moment I sat it down, our cat jumped up on the table and stuck his face in, I mean, seriously videos guys.

10:30

We need videos. This is two amazing BRAC, rich, rich tin.

10:35

I'm guessing. That's what that rage is. Rage 10 says I cooked my first Turkey in the plastic.

10:39

It came in. Apparently you aren't supposed to do that.

10:41

So my question for Rachel did, so you didn't season it or any, you just like cooked the Turkey.

10:47

There's no salt or butter or herbs or anything stuffed in it.

10:51

I'm very curious about, about that situation.

10:55

Oh, that's so good.

10:57

Okay. This next one is from Cindy Bowers.

10:59

Cindy says we were having our family's Thanksgiving feast on Saturday.

11:03

So I decided I'd be super smart and beat the crowds by grocery shopping after Thanksgiving.

11:10

So they were having the Thanksgiving the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

11:13

Yeah. I showed up bright and early at Walmart for cranberries and celery on black Friday, poor Cindy.

11:19

That's a rude awakening.

11:21

Mr. Orange Crocs said we wanted to have Christmas day just to ourselves for once.

11:26

So we invited the family to Christmas Eve dinner.

11:29

No one understood that we had planned what we had planned, even though we were very clear and naturally they all showed up the next day, too best intentions, man, we try so hard.

11:40

We do. We try so hard.

11:41

Mandy white 17, no 77 says while home from college, my dad and I made our first genius attempt at deep frying.

11:50

A Turkey Thanksgiving looked different that year as my brother was recently divorced and my mom was already trying extra hard to make the holiday seem as normal as possible.

11:57

When my dad lifted the Turkey out of the fryer and sat it on the tray, it literally turned to ashes.

12:05

We had bologna sandwiches for dinner.

12:07

It's

12:07

such

12:07

a

12:07

good

12:11

punchline. AK mills, six, 12, y'all this you're not ready for this one.

12:16

Our first Christmas together after we got married, we were living 12 hours away from all family with zero vacation time to travel home.

12:23

So we cat sat for some new friends while they went out of town for Christmas, their cat died two days in and we couldn't get in touch with them.

12:34

I had to take the poor cat to their vet's office so they could hold it in the freezer until the people returned from their trip.

12:40

It was V traumatic as a 22 year old new wife and friend to these people.

12:45

I had to call my dad for a moral support on the drive to the vet.

12:48

When we were finally able to get in touch with them, they weren't very surprised because the poor cat was old and had been acting strange.

12:54

Definitely something we laugh about every year now, but it was not funny at the time.

12:59

No. Can you imagine, can you imagine a pet sitting and the pet dies on your watch?

13:04

That's awful. That is all full.

13:06

This one is not awful.

13:09

This one's hilarious. Alpine flowers says the last Christmas party I hosted in 20, 19 low.

13:15

That was the last of many things for many of us. Wasn't it.

13:17

I texted my friend to get her mold, wine recipe, two bottles of wine, a bottle of cranberry juice and half a bottle.

13:24

Each of, I don't know how to say this word.

13:26

It's the one that looks like coin trow, but that's not what it is.

13:29

And Brandy.

13:31

Okay. Except I didn't think to ask what size of bottles to buy of the spirits.

13:36

Hint smaller than what I bought.

13:38

Some of us wound up totally hammered instead of merrily, merrily, merely mural Mary, instead of merely Mary, I don't remember anyone complaining about it though.

13:49

Actually. I don't remember a ton about the party.

13:50

Oh,

13:50

these

13:50

are

13:50

so

13:55

good. You guys, these are so good.

13:56

I feel like that is sort of a secret ingredient of certain holiday parties is to just get everyone secretly like mildly trashed.

14:03

It's a lot of fun.

14:05

Okay. So Alicia Rees says, I debated between a few family photos for annual Christmas cards and last minute switched out the photo we wanted to use.

14:16

For whatever reason, I made a new project on Shutterfly and went so fast through the ordering process that I didn't bother to check the template.

14:24

One last time when I opened the box, our car said Merry Christmas from the Miller's, which is not our last name.

14:31

We sift them out as a joke and get called the Millers by our family and friends.

14:37

Now, when we send our Christmas cards, that's that might be one of my favorite little stories.

14:42

Cause it's like, you, you make the best of mistakes.

14:45

You know, like a Merry Christmas from the Miller's okay.

14:48

This is the last one does this as my favorite line of any comment that I read.

14:53

This is from post sender, my husband and I hosted friends giving.

14:56

And I got so stressed out that halfway through the evening, I looked at him and said, what if we just kicked everyone out and got new friends that is such an grant five vibe, by the way, he looked at me and sincerely said, we could do that if you want, but I think you'd regret it.

15:13

So now I don't host anymore.

15:16

Welcoming people into your home is great.

15:18

But so is showing up at someone else's home with a salad, leave the hosting to those who genuinely enjoy it and quit trying to be someone you're not.

15:26

There's no shame in being an excellent guest.

15:29

That is the perfect way to end this bonus episode of your holiday horror Stories.

15:34

Thank you for sharing them on Instagram.

15:35

I'm at the lazy genius. If you don't already follow me on Instagram.

15:38

And again, this is just like a quick, like right before Christmas reminder that we are all messy.

15:45

We all have horror stories.

15:47

We all do things that you're like, why, why on earth would 81 fill in the blank, do that thing, but we all do it and it's okay.

15:56

And we can laugh about it and have solidarity in that.

15:59

And we can know that we're still valuable humans, even though we cook a Turkey in the plastic or whatever it is.

16:05

So thank you for joining me for this bonus episode, the Marys of Christmases to you.

16:09

I'm Kendra DACI. And until next time be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about things that don't, I'll see you next week.

16:17

.

0:00

This episode is sponsored by Bolen Branch.

0:03

One thing I love to do is shop smaller

0:05

businesses, especially around the holidays. When you shot boll and branch during cyber week, you're supporting a family run business that crafts the highest quality toxin-free pure organic cotton sheets, and they give fair pay to every one of their farmers and factory

0:08

you shop Bolen Branch during Cyber Week,

0:10

you're supporting a family run business

0:12

that crafts the highest quality, toxin

0:14

free, pure organic cotton sheets.

0:17

And they give fair pay to every one of their

0:19

farmers and factory workers. My

0:21

signature hemp sheets are so soft

0:23

with solid stitching I know will last

0:25

and they feel special. You know when something

0:27

just feels special. In fact, the signature hymn sheets are their all time bestseller and they get softer with every wash this cyber week, gift your loved ones, the best sleep of their lives, or treat yourself with boll and branch, their holiday packaging and famously soft sheets, blankets pillows, and in fact, the signature

0:30

Heres are their all time best seller,

0:32

and they get softer with every wash. This

0:34

Cyber Week gift your loved ones the best

0:36

sleep of their lives or treat yourself with

0:39

Bolen Branch. Their holiday packaging

0:41

and famously soft sheets, blankets,

0:43

pillows, and more. Make a make a difference

0:45

everyone will feel. Get twenty five

0:47

percent off from November twenty third

0:50

through December second with their best offer of

0:52

the year at bowl and branch dot com.

0:54

That's twenty five percent off at

0:56

D0LL and branch dot

0:58

com. Exclusions may apply. Hey

1:02

Heres, you are listening to thelazygenius Podcast.

1:04

I'm Kendra Adachi, and I'm here to help you be

1:06

a genius about the things that matter and Lazy

1:09

about the things that don't. Today is a

1:11

fun bonus episode in case you need a

1:13

laugh. It's your holiday horror

1:15

stories. I am guessing that

1:18

we always think other people know more than we do,

1:20

that, like, other people don't mess up

1:22

in big ways like we have, that other people

1:24

know how take the baggie of turkey organs

1:26

out of the turkey before you cook it. But I

1:28

asked you all to share your holiday horror stories with

1:30

me on Instagram, and today I have lovely

1:33

collection. Why am I sharing them with

1:35

you? Sometimes we just need a good laugh.

1:37

And we also need solidarity in

1:39

knowing we're not alone in

1:41

trying things that don't work, in messing

1:43

up big time, in attempting very

1:45

genius ideas on a lazy budget.

1:49

Again, cooking the turkey with the organ bag still

1:51

in it. So this quick episode is just a

1:53

funny reminder that we all mess up and that we're all

1:55

okay. Even when it happens. So

1:57

let's jump into some of your horror stories. The

2:00

first one is from the American field

2:02

trip, which is actually a really great account to follow

2:04

by the way. I love them. Here's what they say.

2:06

I tried to host Thanksgiving dinner few days

2:08

after my daughter was born. And then a face

2:10

palm emoji, which by the way is a super

2:12

accurate emoji for that decision. Did

2:14

not delegate at all, husband and I

2:16

made every dish, then I spent the eating

2:18

portion of the day, also I need everything to be

2:21

called eating portions of the day now. I spent

2:23

the eating portion of the day sobbing on the

2:25

bathroom floor. Hosted again

2:27

the next year, used our

2:29

out of town neighbor's apartment for the extra

2:31

oven and ended up locking the

2:33

cooking turkey and the spare

2:35

key inside. One very

2:37

expensive locksmith visit later We

2:39

rescued the turkey and everyone reported that it

2:42

was only a little dry. Oh

2:44

my gosh. So I love this so much. This is two

2:46

this is two separate Fails. One

2:48

was just like hosting Thanksgiving days after you had

2:50

a human. I'm going to just tell you that's

2:52

never a good idea. Like, on any planet,

2:54

Is that ever a good idea? So just go ahead and put

2:56

that in your decide once list. I will

2:58

not host anything after

3:01

having a baby. And then the second

3:03

thing is that you walked your turkey into

3:05

the carpet. I'm

3:07

so obsessed with that story. And then it was like,

3:09

it was only a little dry. You could you

3:12

can imagine a lot of, like, shrugging of

3:14

shoulders at the table, like, yeah, it's not it's

3:16

not a try. Sentience is

3:18

going up in in tone

3:20

at the end. I love that. Okay. The

3:22

next one is from Emily Fogarty. That

3:25

time, I convinced slash forced my

3:27

friends into a holiday cookie exchange. While

3:30

pregnant, even though I hate baking. Again,

3:32

you guys stop making decisions when you're pregnant

3:34

or just had a baby. It goes without saying

3:36

this is good time to try out a fancy recipe,

3:39

From the magazine that convinced me this was a good idea

3:41

in the first place, my husband came home from

3:43

work to find me in tears in the kitchen

3:45

several hours deep into a baking disaster.

3:48

He actually loves to bake and took over the kitchen

3:50

while I laid on the couch ordering pizza.

3:54

I feel like that is turning a genius

3:56

situation into a lazy genius duration.

3:58

You gave it to the person that matters and then you

4:00

order pizza because you're pregnant. That's, of course,

4:02

that's what you're gonna do. Well done. The

4:04

next is from another Emily Emily Hoza.

4:07

Tried to go genius and tried a new recipe

4:09

for a Thanksgiving side this year. Several

4:11

days later, it's still in the fridge.

4:14

How many of you did that? Show hands that

4:16

I can't see. How many of you made a recipe for

4:19

Thanksgiving that was new and that was

4:21

garbage? We have this expectation that

4:23

we need to make new stuff for celebrations,

4:26

but like so much of the new stuff does not get

4:28

eaten or you don't try it first

4:30

and the new stuff is just like not

4:32

great. So I don't

4:34

know. Are any of you like like

4:37

rehearsal people or you rehearse recipe

4:39

before you serve it? Some people are good at that. I'm just

4:41

like, I'm gonna make things that I already know I like.

4:44

But good job trying Emily household,

4:46

trying a new recipe for Thanksgiving side. I love

4:48

that it's still in fridge. Next

4:51

one is from a dot prag

4:53

pregnant sorry. This

4:56

person says my dad numbered all

4:58

the presents. I'm assuming Christmas presents.

5:01

I numbered all the Christmas presents. So my sister

5:03

and I wouldn't sneak a peek, and then

5:05

he lost his list. It was a Christmas

5:07

that we never forgot. There

5:09

were a few of these Heres were a few of these, like,

5:11

elaborate systems to get kids from to

5:13

keep them from opening their presents, and then it

5:15

backfired. Here is another one actually.

5:18

Let me go find this other one. That was Christmas

5:20

present fiasco? Okay. Yes, I

5:22

found it. It's from Trista Coup.

5:25

Trista says, one of my favorite

5:27

cringey Christmas memories, my

5:29

mom likes to read these boxes and bags

5:31

for Christmas gifts, which is typically

5:33

genius. I wrapped my son's

5:35

video game in a pop top box once. So he couldn't guess it from the wrapping one Christmas in the mid nineties, my mom wrapped my cousin's new outfit and an old super Nintendo he couldn't

5:37

guess it from the wrapping. When Christmas

5:40

in the mid nineties. My mom

5:42

wrapped my cousin's new outfit in

5:44

an old super Nintendo box.

5:46

It was not supposed to be a prank.

5:49

She just didn't think it through. His

5:51

excitement changed to disappointment so

5:54

quickly. Oh,

5:56

this is sad. Fortress'

5:59

mom, Trish's mom is working so

6:01

hard to make things like fun and creative and also

6:03

you know, like, cost effective by saving packaging.

6:07

Oh, we just don't think about that. That's

6:09

a rough one. Here's another

6:11

rough one. This one is from

6:13

Kelly Meyer. Kelly says

6:15

I invited people over on Christmas morning

6:17

for brunch and was trying to do as prep

6:19

as humanly possible beforehand so that I wouldn't

6:22

be stressed that morning. I morning. I mean, that's a really good, like lazy genius approach, that's a really good,

6:24

like, lazy genius approach. Right? You got

6:26

my French toast casserole. And my

6:28

egg casserole, all prepped in their

6:30

nine by thirteen pans, got their egg

6:32

y mixtures in separate bowls to pour

6:34

over right before the oven. Last

6:37

minute, I poured the sweet egg mixture over

6:39

the sausage egg casserole and the garlic

6:41

egg mixture over the French toast casserole.

6:44

And didn't realize it until we dug

6:46

in. see. I just, this is a reminder, you guys, even when you do things like ahead of time, when you think it through, when you're trying to batch stuff and compartmentalize stuff in a really good way, going in good orders, magic questioning things, things still mess

6:49

I just This is a reminder you guys.

6:51

Even when you do things, like ahead

6:53

of time, when you think it through, when

6:55

you're trying to batch stuff and compartmentalize stuff

6:57

in a really good way, going in good orders,

6:59

magic questioning things, things

7:01

still mess up. Like, we're gonna

7:04

mess stuff up. It's really, really good

7:06

to to give

7:08

ourselves some permission and laughter

7:10

after of fact, I'm imagining there wasn't a

7:12

lot of laughter in the moment because that

7:14

was probably a lot of effort and it's really

7:16

sad when our effort is not like,

7:19

rewarded, but Kelly, I'm

7:21

really I'm really proud of you for

7:24

probably continuing to host even after that's

7:26

over. Now, this one is from

7:28

Lindsey Muldorf, who

7:31

definitely took the

7:33

the genius approach, like, pretty strong

7:36

when did not have genius skills, and this is

7:38

something that we all do. If any of you have read my

7:40

book thelazygenius Way, I tell a story

7:42

about trying to make French

7:45

toast Casserole, like Stephan's host

7:47

for a staff meeting, it

7:50

didn't go well because I didn't

7:52

know how to do it. And basically

7:54

all I did is took wonder bread and

7:56

like put cheese in the middle of it and then stacked

7:59

the bread in

8:01

on top of each other in

8:03

the oven. Like, there was no butter.

8:05

There was no egg. It was just, like,

8:08

it was, like, cheese sandwiches. Stacked on top

8:10

of each other, and I served it. I served

8:12

it. So this this particular

8:15

horror story reminds me of my French toast story

8:17

a little bit. So again, Lindsay says, My

8:19

first Thanksgiving with my husband in laws, and

8:21

five new coworkers. Also,

8:23

like props to you for inviting your coworkers to Thanksgiving.

8:26

I decided to make my grandma's legendary

8:29

dressing. Also, I had

8:31

never cooked before. I didn't even

8:33

know the basics. I boiled

8:35

the eggs for the dressing.

8:39

My mother-in-law looked over in horror as I

8:41

tried to slice them without

8:43

peeling. I thought the shell

8:45

got soft and absorbed into

8:47

the egg. I didn't know you had to

8:49

peel them. I'm now very confident in my cooking skills 15 years later, but I started at the I'm now very confident

8:52

in my cooking skills fifteen years later, but I

8:54

started at the very bottom. See,

8:57

we all have a place to go. We all can

8:59

go up after situations like

9:01

French toast and unpeeled eggs in

9:04

a dressing. Lindsey. I love that one so I love that one

9:06

so much. We'll

9:09

be right back. Okay.

9:13

I see the best ones for the second half.

9:15

This is from Laura Cohen fifty seven.

9:17

That one time I grabbed the wrong lidded

9:19

ceramic container for a holiday girl's

9:22

night, instead of the spinach tip I made

9:24

earlier in the day, I brought leftover sauerkraut.

9:29

I really I really wish that all of these

9:31

moments came with video evidence like

9:33

in the moment it happened just to make us

9:36

all feel better. That's

9:38

such a good one. Tara j Heres

9:40

that time I made a beautiful cheesecake using

9:43

salt I thought was sugar. There

9:45

were a lot of these, like missed ingredients,

9:47

like somebody brined a turkey

9:49

and instead of apple cider in apple cider vinegar

9:52

and basically pickled their turkey. Like

9:54

you guys, we all do it. We all

9:56

do this. This

9:59

one from Ashton Rose queued.

10:02

Ashton says, our first married holiday

10:04

season, my wannabe food critic

10:06

in laws came to our house. That sounds

10:08

like that's probably not very fun. While I was at

10:10

work, the outlet, our crock pot was plugged

10:12

into, shorted thereby ruining

10:14

the roast I was cooking, and leaving us with nothing

10:17

to eat. We attempted to salvage things with

10:19

dessert, a cheesecake I had topped with homemade

10:21

icing. The moment I sat it down,

10:23

our cat jumped up on the table, and

10:25

stuck his faces. I

10:29

need seriously videos. Guys, we need videos.

10:32

This is too amazing. Rack,

10:35

rage rage tin. I'm I'm guessing that's what that

10:37

rage is. Rage ten says I cooked my first turkey

10:39

in the plastic it came in. Apparently, you

10:41

aren't supposed to do that. So my question for

10:43

Rachel, so you didn't

10:45

season it or you just like cooked the turkey.

10:48

There's no salt or butter or Or

10:51

anything stuffed in it, I'm very

10:53

curious about about that situation.

10:56

Oh, that's so good. Okay. This next one

10:58

is from Cindy Bowers, Cindy

11:00

says, we were having our family's

11:02

Thanksgiving feast on Saturday, so

11:05

I decided I'd be super smart and

11:07

beat the crowds by grocery shopping

11:10

after Thanksgiving. So they were having the

11:12

Thanksgiving this Saturday for Thanksgiving. Yeah. I

11:14

showed up bright and early at Walmart for cranberries

11:16

and celery on Black Friday. Poor

11:19

Cindy, that's a rude awakening. Mister

11:21

Orange Crocs said, we wanted

11:24

to have Christmas Day just to ourselves

11:26

for once. So we invited the family

11:28

to Christmas Eve dinner. No

11:31

one understood that we had planned

11:33

what we had planned even though we were very clear

11:35

and naturally they all showed up the next stay too.

11:38

Best intentions, man, we try so Heres.

11:40

We do. We try so hard. Mandy

11:43

White seventeen, No. Seventy seven

11:45

says, while home from college, my dad and

11:47

I made our first genius attempt

11:49

at deep frying in Turkey. Thanksgiving look

11:51

different that year as my brother was recently

11:53

divorced and my mom was already trying extra

11:55

hard to make the holiday seem as normal as possible.

11:58

When my dad lifted the turkey

12:01

out of the fryer and sat it on

12:03

the tray, it literally turned to

12:05

ashes. We had baloney sandwiches

12:07

for dinner. Such

12:11

a good punch line. AKMills six

12:14

twelve. Yo, this you're not ready for this

12:16

one. Our first Christmas together,

12:18

after we got married, we were living twelve

12:20

hours away from all family with zero

12:22

vacation time to travel home. So

12:24

we cat sat for some new friends

12:26

while they went out of town for Christmas. Their

12:29

cat died two days in

12:31

and we couldn't get in touch with

12:34

them. I had to take the poor cat to their

12:36

vet's office so they could hold it in the freezer

12:38

until the people return from their trip.

12:40

It was v traumatic as a twenty

12:43

two year old new wife and friend to

12:45

these people. I had to call my dad for

12:47

moral support on the drive to the vet. When

12:49

we were finally able to get in touch with them. They weren't

12:51

very surprised because the poor cat was old and

12:53

had been acting strange. Definitely

12:56

something we laugh about every year now, but it was

12:58

not funny the time. No. Can you imagine

13:01

can you imagine pet sitting and the pet

13:03

dies on your watch? That's awful.

13:05

That is awful. This

13:08

one is not awful. This one's hilarious. Flower

13:11

says the last Christmas party I hosted

13:14

in twenty nineteen Well, that was

13:16

the last of many things for many of us, wasn't it?

13:18

I texted my friend to get her milled wine recipe,

13:20

two bottles of wine, a bottle of

13:23

cranberry juice, and half a bottle

13:25

each of, I don't know how to say this word.

13:27

It's the one that looks like coin throw, but that's not

13:29

what is, and brandy. Okay.

13:32

Except I didn't think to ask what size

13:34

of bottles to buy of the spirits.

13:37

Hint, smaller than what I bought.

13:39

Some of us wound up totally hammered

13:41

instead of merrelly, merrelly, merrelly,

13:44

merrelly, instead of merrelly,

13:47

don't remember anyone complaining about it though. Actually. I don't remember a ton about the

13:49

I don't remember a ton about that party. Oh,

13:54

these are so good, you guys. These are

13:56

so good. I feel like that is sort of

13:58

a secret ingredient of certain holiday

14:00

parties is to just get everyone secretly, like,

14:02

mildly trashed. It's a lot of fun.

14:05

Okay. So, Alicia Reese

14:08

says, I debated between

14:11

a few family photos for our annual Christmas

14:13

cards. And last minute switched

14:15

out the photo we wanted use. For

14:17

whatever reason, I made a new

14:19

project on Shutterfly and went so

14:21

fast through the ordering process that I

14:23

didn't bother to check the template one last time.

14:26

When I opened the box, our car said,

14:28

Merry Christmas from the millers, which

14:30

is not our last name. We

14:33

sift them out as a joke and get

14:35

called the millers by our family and friends now

14:37

when we send our Christmas cards. That's

14:40

that might be one of my favorite little

14:42

stories because it's like you

14:44

you make the best of mistakes. You know, like, oh,

14:47

Merry Christmas from the millers. Okay. This is the

14:49

last one. This is this

14:51

has my favorite line of any comment that I read.

14:53

This is from sender. My

14:55

husband and I hosted friends giving. And

14:57

I got so stressed out that halfway

15:00

through the evening, I looked at him and said,

15:02

what if we just kicked everyone out and got in front

15:06

That is such an integral five. By the way,

15:09

he looked at me and sincerely said, we

15:11

could do that if you want, but I think you'd regret

15:13

it. So now I don't

15:15

host anymore. Welcoming people

15:17

into your home is great, but so is

15:19

showing up at someone else's home with a salad.

15:22

Leave the hosting to those who genuinely

15:24

enjoy it and quit trying to be someone

15:26

you're not. There's no shame in being an

15:28

excellent guest. That is the perfect

15:31

way to end this bonus episode of

15:33

your holiday horror stories. Thank you for sharing

15:35

them on Instagram. I'm at if

15:37

you don't already follow me on Instagram. And again,

15:40

this is just like a quick, like, right before

15:42

Christmas reminder that

15:44

we are all messy. We

15:46

all have horror stories. We all do

15:49

things that you're like, why why

15:51

on earth would anyone fill in the blank

15:53

do that thing? But we all do it

15:55

and it's okay and we can laugh

15:57

about it and have solidarity in that

15:59

and we can know that we're still valuable humans

16:02

even though We cook a turkey in

16:04

the plastic or whatever it is. So thank you

16:06

for joining me for this bonus episode, the

16:08

Merry Christmas to you. I'm Kendra

16:10

Adachi, and until next time, be

16:12

a genius about the things that matter and lazy

16:14

about the things that don't. I'll see you next

16:16

week.