02x07 - A Weekend Away

[bunniefuu]

[seagulls calling]

[soul music playing]

♪ I got a destination ♪

- [sighs]
- ♪ And I'm on my way... ♪

Okay, let's get everything laid out.

Doing something a little different today.

We are packing
for a little road trip down to LA.

I'm gonna see my friend Heather.

Our friendship began over 20 years ago.
And she's flying in from Texas.

We're meeting in LA,
our old stomping ground,

for a little adventure.

So, I normally dress monochromatically,

not because I think it's stylish.
Because it's really easy.

And when I pack for a trip,
I do the same thing.

♪ I'm taking the expressway ♪

Seeing it all is really helpful.

I used to be one of those,
especially on a last-minute trip,

who throw all in the bag.

Then get there and,
"Oh, gosh, I forgot that thing."

I've become really conscious
of all the things I need

that are just uniform and staples
that you can mix and match.

Let's say if Heather and I are gonna go
for a quick coffee or for breakfast,

white T-shirt, jeans.
I'll toss a blazer in.

And same feeling with colors
that you can mix and match.

You say, great, a cropped black trouser
with a black T-shirt

with small heels,
sweater around the shoulders. Great.

Everything is interchangeable.

That way, if your plans change,
you can easily change with them.

When I was an auditioning actor,
I'd get really nervous.

One time my acting coach said,

"If you're prepared,
there's no reason to be nervous."

The same idea applies to packing.
A little preparedness goes a long way.

Like a Girl Scout. Troop 949.
My mom was my troop leader.

[chuckling] I got some stories.

[pleasant music playing]

And this bag,

I have had this bag for so long.

Easily over a decade.

And when my husband and I
went on our third date,

I met him to go camping in Botswana,

this was the bag I packed.

♪ In my soul, in my mind, in my heart ♪

For five days, I packed this

and my yoga mat.

Okay, heavy things in the bottom first.

Shoes, toiletries, hair.

I always pack with fabric softener sheets
layered in between.

The ones you have in your laundry room.

And then when you open your bag,
it smells so fresh.

I also pack with my own pillowcase.

I use these silk ones.
Looks fancy, it's really not.

But what's helpful

is that you can put a couple
of your fabric softener sheets inside.

Your pillow will smell great,
but at the end of your trip,

you use this for your laundry.

I'll bring a garment bag as well,
just with one outfit for the evening.

♪ Day by day... ♪

Now we get into the things
that bring me joy.

I always have a baseball cap.

I made these for my husband's


For a jog,
it's nice to have a cap in the morning.

I'll just put that in there too.

I always,
always bring photos of my family.

I just went on a girl's trip recently.
My girlfriends were like,

"My God, that's so sweet!
You keep it by the side of your bed!"

Yeah, you could look
at your phone, but it's just...

I don't know, I'm sentimental in that way.

[music continues]

♪ Oh, so so so right ♪

♪ The feeling is right ♪

Just a few more things to do.

And we're on our way.

♪ Oh, so so so right ♪

♪ The feeling is right ♪

♪ I feel good, I feel good ♪

[music ends]

[lively music playing]

Okay, we are going to make some cookies.

Some thumbprint cookies, specifically,
for my friend Heather who's coming

because we're going
on a girl's trip to Malibu.

And we have traveled so much.

Even with our busy lives now as moms,
we still make time for each other.

Her boys are so sweet
and we're so close with them.

They're super close with our kids.

I thought when she goes home to Texas,
she can have a treat to take them.

So, you start with butter and sugar
and cream them together.

This is one stick of unsalted butter.

We'll put some sugars in.
Let's get measuring cups.

[music continues]

A quarter cup of granulated sugar.

♪ You give me good love ♪

♪ Good love ♪

A third of a cup of powdered sugar.

That's one you want to open delicately
because it's not an easy cleanup.

Everyone loves a little treat.

And when these cookies are so tiny,

there's something about it
that feels really sweet.

Okay, we've got that.

Teaspoon of vanilla.

Mm!

I love the smell of vanilla.
I think it's sense recall.

It's such a soothing smell.

I remember reading those teen magazines
in middle school or high school.

Like, "To get a boy to like you,

boys like when girls
wear things that smell like vanilla."

So I was the first at Bath and Body Works,
like, "The vanilla lotion!"

Now it's not a smell that I would wear,
but it's so funny.

One egg yolk and some zest in.

So orange, so pretty.

I think lemon zest is great.

And if we're going to use
raspberry preserves,

that having a little bit of that zest,

that tartness is going to cut
and make the sweetness come out more.

A pinch of salt in.

And now our flours
need to join this party.

Okay.

Let's get involved.

One and one-quarter cups.

This is when I will take the support
of this electric hand mixer.

[whirring]

We'll make these into little ba*ls.
Make sure everything is well blended.

You don't have to do this step,
but I think it's nice if you wanted to.

Have the cookies coated
with a bit of granulated sugar.

You'll barely taste it,
but it'll make it glisten a little.

♪ Sha-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la ♪

[whispering] Just a bit.

Here's our dough.

It looks crumbly, but let me just show you
how it's going to come together. See?

It'll pack together really nicely.

So we'll do this
with lots of little cookies.

And I'm going to do them all at once.

There's our little thumbprint.

I've been making a lot of these.
Heather and her boys will love them.

You know, when I met her, our connection
was through health and fitness.

We would go for runs together,
and now we're moms.

We both have two kids.
Our husbands are really good friends.

It's sweet to watch
the evolution of that friendship.

I think it's great

to go through all that growing up
when you're in your 20s,

then start to figure it out
when you're in your 30s.

And it's really awesome to be in your 40s.

You have to go through all of that
to get to where you're supposed to be.

It's been interesting to watch
as we've gotten older

and more comfortable just as women
and who we are, in our skin and bodies.

She'd have never eaten
these cookies years ago.

I love that Heather would be like,
"Let's have wine too." Yes.

We've just settled into a different era.

[soul music playing]

♪ Trouble don't travel with my baby ♪

♪ He comes and blows those cares... ♪

Okay, so let's get our preserves
and put a dollop in each of these cookies.

Raspberry sounds right for the occasion.

It's such an inviting color. Oh!

Mm.

Not too shabby.

This is gonna pop into the oven
on the middle rack.

They are going to stay in at 325
for seven to ten minutes

till the edges get a little brown.

- [music ends]
- Let's get these out.

Woo-hoo!

See how they drop down a little bit.

We're going to let those cool.

[upbeat music playing]

Now that the cookies are cooled,
we're going to put them here.

I'll get a piece of parchment in both.

We'll stack them in,
and then we will put a ribbon on them.

[music continues]

That is so charming.
I feel like we're in Europe.

So sweet.

I-- You-- I'm sorry. That is so precious.

There are easy ways to show up lovingly.

♪ Bow in a circle ♪

There. Cute.

All right. Let's hit the road.

[lively soul music playing]

♪ I got sunshine lightin' my way ♪

I am headed to LA, my hometown,

which is where Heather and I first met.

She had opened
her very first Pilates studio,

and I was one of her first clients.

I mean, knowing Heather,

we will probably
try to fit in some exercise.

We lived really close to each other,

so we would wake up and meet each other
at the bottom of my street.

And we did this for years,
where we'd meet at that intersection,

and we would run five miles every morning
to start our day together.

And that became
so much a part of our friendship,

taking care of ourselves together.

Now we take care of ourselves
in different ways,

like finding time
for these little getaways.

Just the two of us.

Whenever I head down into LA,
it's about, I mean, with traffic,

it can be a two-hour drive.

So I really try to maximize
as much as I can get in there.

Work and fun.

This time it's just for fun.

So I have it all planned out.

We're just gonna have some drinks
at one of my favorite bars on the beach.

We're gonna perfect
our c*ck-making skills

with the help
of a local bartender I found.

Heather and I are going to do
some pottery, which I'm excited about,

at this small studio
a friend told me about in Malibu.

I'm not sure it's gonna be our forte,
but why not try something new?

And Heather is just the greatest.

She's also truly
the nicest person you'll ever meet.

Fact. And she's one
of my favorite people to travel with,

no matter what we're doing
or where we are.

♪ I'm rollin' ♪

♪ Rollin' ♪

♪ Try to stop us, we just keep goin' ♪

♪ Goin', I'm rollin' ♪

♪ Rollin' ♪

♪ Never stop this river from flowin' ♪

- [Meghan] Let's see how we do.
- Alright. I'll feel artsy for a day.

- Let's be artsy.
- Alright.

Make anything that you want today.

You guys are just gonna jump on in,

so, you are locking in until this clay
is in the dead center like this.

- Isn't that just the way of the world?
- Yes, exactly. [giggles]

You're not gonna do anything
until you're centered.

Okay. It's not going very fast.
Should it be going faster? [laughs]

[Heather] Yours is going
a lot faster than mine.

Oh, not centered anymore.

I don't know what shape this is now.

- [Heather] What are you making?
- [Meghan] I don't know what's happening.

- Huh?
- I made a doorstop.

[laughter]

I'm trying to make a mug,
but there's a hole all the way down.

[laughter]

Look, I have something.

[Rivers] See how quickly
you're lifting up?

- Slower.
- [Rivers] Slow it down.

[Meghan] It's actually therapeutic.

- Right, we're in Malibu. Slow it down.
- [Rivers chuckles]

We have big-time memories in Malibu.
We ran our half-marathon out here.

When I was driving in, I went,
"That's where we stopped."

- [Meghan] We did not prep for hills.
- [Heather] We did not think about hills.

- What place did we come in?
- 13th and 14th? Yeah, we...

- Pretty good.
- And then we went and had mimosas.

- Sure did.
- [laughter]

- [Meghan] Okay. Now I'm scraping.
- [Rivers] Yup.

- They look great. What do you think?
- We both made beautiful mugs.

[Heather] Yes. This looks great.
I'm feeling good about this.

[Meghan] I'm excited to have this mug.

- Beautiful.
- [Heather] So pretty.

- [Meghan] Another one?
- [Heather] It's harder than you think.

- [Meghan] Okay.
- [Heather] Back at it.

[upbeat music playing]

[Meghan] I dunno
if I'm getting the hang of it.

You really have to muscle into this.

- You can do it. Put your back into it.
- You can.

[Meghan] It's fun
if you don't take it seriously.

Yeah, whatever makes us feel better.

Enjoy it like a kid exploring it.

As opposed to,
"I have to make a perfect vase."

- [Heather] Zero pressure.
- [Meghan] It's fun.

[Rivers] It is really fun.

I feel we look like a band right now.
The cover to our album.

Uh-huh.

Pottery, white T-shirts.

- [Heather] Okay.
- [Meghan] Pretty.

[Heather] I feel good about it.
There we go. Finished.

I think it's a very cute shape.

- Plate-like.
- [Heather] Oh, my goodness.

[Rivers] They are gonna go into the kiln,
and they're all yours.

Can we write something inside of them
before it goes in?

If I write a message in the middle
and put an avocado toast or something on,

after eating it, you see like,
"Good morning, my love."

[lively music playing]

- [Heather] I think it's very sweet.
- I think it's good like that.

- [Heather] Looks great. Beautiful.
- Thank you so much. I love it!

[Rivers] You can bring them
over here to the counter.

- [Heather] You'll send these to us?
- [Rivers] Yep. Absolutely.

Not too shabby, right? We'll use that.

- [Heather] The plate's really good.
- I like the shape.

- The bowl's really-- It's practical.
- Yeah.

When you have sides for dinner
you put it in that,

you say, "Yeah, I made that."
What a treat.

- [Heather] Thank you.
- Thank you!

It was so fun.

[Meghan] I've just the thing
to freshen up with at the hotel.

[Heather] Sounds cute.

[soul music playing]

♪ Well I drove all night
To get to you, baby ♪

♪ Nothing's gonna hold me down ♪

One of my favorite things
is to create a spa-like experience,

not just for myself,
but for guests or friends too.

And there are some easy ways to do that.

What do we do every day?
Bathe or shower. Most of us shower.

Think about the indulgence of a bath.

You can create the same thing
in your shower.

They're easy to travel with too.

A shower b*mb.

There's got to be a better word for that.
A shower-- A shower soother.

They're gonna be in molds like this.

You can make them much larger.
I'll use a silicone tray.

Use an ice cube tray
as long as you can pop them out once dry.

Baking soda and essential oils.

Easy as pie.

Let's do about a cup.

Let's do a couple different fragrances.

Make some for the house, for travel,
and also to share with Heather.

I really love the scent
of eucalyptus to start the day.

Eucalyptus... Mm!

Rosemary.

Let's put some peppermint oil in.

I'm being generous here
with as much oil as I'm putting in.

We'll add a little water at a time.

You want this to feel,

here's a callback,

similar to the texture
of damp sand on the beach.

Right? When we did the salt-baked fish,
we had that same texture

where you want to maybe see
a bit of an imprint,

but you don't want it mushy,
you don't want it to sink in.

You're just trying to create
a nice, easy texture

because it can pack down,
and we can put it in these molds.

Once it dries,
it's gonna stay in that shape.

It's easy enough in the shower,
you sit it on the floor.

Once you turn the water on,
you just want it in that atmosphere.

It'll slowly, with the moisture,
start to evaporate.

You'll get this gorgeous scent
throughout your entire shower experience.

Okay, these don't need to be perfect.

Before I move on,
let's remember what scent they are.

So we know that's rosemary,
eucalyptus, and mint.

We can do a bit of that.

Nature's label.

So should we do another little batch?

A little alchemy here.

♪ Good times ♪

Lemongrass. Nice.

And orange.

♪ Time's gonna go my way ♪

Mm! Doesn't it smell great in here?
It really does. [chuckles]

We have dehydrated citrus.
They'll be pressed in there.

These are the lemongrass and orange.

These are peppermint,
eucalyptus, and rosemary.

We'll let these set for a few hours,
and they'll firm up.

I'll pack them up for the two of us.

We have a lot of fun to be had.

[music ends]

[big band music playing]

- [Meghan] Come on, g*ng.
- [Heather] Now we'll feel right at home.

- Hello! There's an expert in the house.
- No worries.

- Hi! Meghan, lovely to meet you.
- Hi. Pleasure.

- Payman. Pleasure to meet you.
- Pleasure.

We decided to come
and familiarize ourselves with the space.

- Good. I'm glad you did.
- Before you showed us the expertise.

What are some drinks you're interested
in, uh, making and drinking today?

What we were talking about
is the idea of classic and modern,

and how to be able to entertain
a guest or group with,

"Here's how you beautifully,
perfectly do a martini,

and here, you have more fun."

- Let's do the 50-50 martini.
- [Meghan] Okay.

That's the if-you-know-you-know
bartender's drink.

[Meghan] We love an if-you-know-you-know.

- Right?
- Love it.

- How can we help?
- [Heather] Yes.

[Payman] You can help by drinking.

- [laughs]
- That we can do.

- We'll be friends for a long time.
- Love that.

The 50-50 martini.

It's basically 50% gin,


Orange bitters, dry vermouth, gin.

And then put some ice.

How did you get into mixology?

A very good question.

So I was a lawyer in New York.

And...

Did you watch Suits?

No, no.

I don't watch basic cable.

[laughing]

I like shows with curse words and stuff.

- I love it.
- Great! I love it!

You went from being a lawyer...

Yeah, it was around 2005 in New York City,

where the whole c*ck renaissance,
uh, was kicking off.

- I was bit by the c*ck bug.
- [Heather] Wow.

[jazz music playing]

We can do a lemon twist on this,
but you could do olive.

I like to put it like that.

- That's your 50-50 martini.
- Okay. You first.

[Payman] It's a lot lighter.
It's like the poolside martini.

Poolside. I like poolside.

- That feels smoother.
- It's lighter.

Oh, okay. I like that.

Great. That's our 50-50.

- That's the 50-50.
- [Meghan] Like it.

[Michael] Maybe you can make
my first martini ever?

I'll make you a 50-50.
He'd like this. It's very elegant.

I'm making this for Michael.

I'll guide you step by step.

Orange bitters.
We'll do one and a half of each.

- Easy.
- There's your dry vermouth.

[Meghan] Oh! Okay,
a little overzealous, sorry.

I've never been a bartender.
I was a great hostess.

Remember when I was a hostess
at Mirabelle? On Sunset?

Oh God. It was a great job. He was like,
"You want to be a waitress?"

I was, "I'm good at hostessing."

That's not my lane,
and I understand my lane.

No, I'll take less tips, but do
the only thing I'm really good at.

Welcome!

That seems plentiful.

- [Payman] You can take a few out.
- [chuckles]

A little too much.

That feels about right.

I'll do a nice little shimmy there.

- How beautiful that looks.
- So fragrant.

I think that'll be better.
Yours is gonna float.

Let's see.

I hope you enjoy it.

- And?
- [Michael] That is fantastic!

Great! You can feel good about yourself.

It feels like speakeasy and cool
and not so aggressive.

Okay, he approves.

[playful music]

- [Payman] Should we move on to tequila?
- We love a tequila c*ck.

[Heather] Mm-hmm.

- She lives in Texas. And...
- Yeah. Ranch waters.

Ranch waters rule.

Yeah, tequila, soda, lime,
and so we have ranch waters at home.

That's an easy one to do.
Let's try something more complex.

This is called the Hedy LaMarrgarita,
named after Hedy Lamarr...

- Love Hedy Lamarr.
- Famous Austrian actress.

[Meghan] Probably one
of the foremost people in terms of STEM.

[Heather] Wow.

She was brilliant.

- I love you've a c*ck named after her.
- Most don't know what I'm talking about.

- But you know what it is.
- Yeah.

In addition to acting,
she invented signal hopping

that laid the foundation for Wi-Fi.

This drink,
I basically make a cordial or syrup

of bell pepper, paprika,
and salt and sugar.

So you're going to do
three-quarter ounces of this.

[Meghan] Go for it, Heather.

I like to build it in a small tin,
so I don't knock it over.

[Heather] Yeah.

And then we're going to do
a half ounce of Kummel.

[Meghan] Never heard of that.

It's a European liqueur
that's made of cumin and caraway.

- [Meghan] Half ounce.
- [Payman] Do half ounce.

Oh, whoa!

Oh, wow.

- That is...
- It's very savory.

...wild.

Then one ounce of lime juice.
Your lime is the green tag here.

[Meghan] I love fresh lime juice.

All right.

You didn't do to the very top,
so do a bit more.

- Okay, just a bit.
- Good.

- Precise, I like it.
- Keep on. That's good.

- [Meghan] Oh! Mixology is like baking.
- There we go.

- It's precise as baking.
- Do you bake bread?

I don't bake bread.
I don't have the patience, um...

I like to say, you know,
cooking is art, baking is science

and mixology is alchemy.

[Meghan] Exactly.

Two ounces of tequila.
We'll use a Blanco tequila.

- Nice.
- [Payman] Whoever wants to pour that.

That's gonna be right to the top.

Perfect. Pop some ice in there.

That's good.

- This one you shake.
- Yeah.

This is what we use as professionals.
It's called the Boston shaker.

- Comes together like this.
- Cup in cup.

Technically, yeah, it's not sealed really
until when you shake it,

the atmospheric pressure comes down
and creates the seal.

Who wants to do the shaking?

You go for it.

- Shake it to wake up the drink.
- Shake it away?

Party, party in a cup.

Take the strainer and...

- Pour away?
- Pour away, yeah.

- [Meghan] Beautiful color.
- [Heather] Really pretty.

[Payman] Put a little
shishito garnish in there.

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ We gotta bring out the sunshine ♪

- Oh. That's delicious.
- Really?

The pepper in it, it's...

I'm so used to ranch water,
but that has a really nice flavor.

Woo!

- Isn't that good?
- That's great.

[Heather] That's a very tasty drink.

Thank you. A little savory.

Hedy LaMarrgarita.

[Heather] Delicious.

- [Payman] Voilà!
- Thank you so much.

- My pleasure.
- Really appreciate it.

- Thanks. Pleasure to meet you.
- So fun. We learned a lot.

- So nice to meet you.
- Thank you.

[jazz music playing]

[Meghan] Fun day.

[Heather] Oh. It's been fantastic.

Watching the sunset.
You know? Taking it all in.

- I have something for you.
- Mm.

A few extra shower soothers to take home.

[Heather] Oh!

This one is peppermint,
eucalyptus, and rosemary.

- Right?
- I love it!

So that's good. You make them
with a flexible ice cube tray.

You make that look so easy.

- [Meghan] Easy. I'll show you.
- Not that easy.

- No, it's so easy.
- Oh, my gosh. I love that.

[Meghan] These thumbprint cookies.

They're just little cookies,
filled with my preserves.

You use your thumbprint
to create the dent to put them in.

- Those are for you guys too.
- Yum!

I love you. I'm so inspired by you.

- Some goodies to take home.
- Love it.

I will. I will enjoy them
and the kids will enjoy them.

Noah and Cody will like these a lot.

I'm gonna like 'em, you kidding?

I've been putting them
in our kids' lunchboxes.

They're like, "Can we have another?"

"No, the rest are for Noah and Cody."
That's the only way I get out of it.

- They're like, "Can we see them soon?"
- Okay, fine.

They're so cute. They love each other.

[Meghan] I'm so glad
you came for this little getaway.

It's good to carve out time for ourselves.

[upbeat music playing]

- [Meghan] Almost 20 years later.
- Here we are together.

[Meghan] Here's to the next 20 years.

♪ I don't know what tomorrow will bring ♪

Mm!

So it gets better.

It's such a good c*ck.

♪ It's a beautiful day ♪

♪ Oh yes, it is right now ♪

Okay, so I've been waiting for the things
we made from our pottery session,

so I can send them to Heather.

Our coffee mugs, for us
when we're old ladies to sit on a porch.

Oh, this is beautiful.

Aww! Nested inside. Look.

Okay. There's a note from Rivers.

"A pleasure to spend
the afternoon with you both."

"I hope you enjoyed our time
making memories and special treasures."

"Heather, through the crack shines light."

"The vessel with the small crack
would make a lovely candleholder."

Oh, no!

Well, there is a wee crack
in Heather's mug.

Great idea.

She certainly can't drink coffee
out of this. That will leak.

Let's make her a candle.

Put some wax sticks in there.

Okay, so we need one of these
to anchor the wick.

Yeah, this is definitely hot enough.

Ooh!

Daniel did this the last time.

We'll add some lavender essential oil.

Hopefully it doesn't come out of the base.

That is a great plan B.

[Michael] Lovely. Hallelujah.

[upbeat music continues]

♪ We've got a beautiful day ♪

[music continues]

♪ Such a beautiful day ♪

♪ Yes, it will be ♪

♪ So happy to be alive ♪

♪ A beautiful day ♪

♪ Tomorrow's too far away ♪

♪ You've got a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day ♪

♪ Oh, yeah, it is ♪