This week, with the clock ticking ever more rapidly, and that festive countdown very much on, we talk about those organised people who, having been ready for Christmas since approximately mid August, like to remind the rest of us about that by asking in faux concerned tones 'And are you all ready for Christmas?', when they know full well the answer is going to be a resounding NO! Jo takes a rather more pragmatic to Christmas and declares one is 'ready' when one is eating cherry liqueur chocolates with your morning coffee, whereas Gill takes on a more panicked approach, not helped by developing a recent obsession with making the 'tension rod garlands' that she saw on Instagram. It's a packed episode though, as Jo learns a lot about hostess trolleys, Gill threatens to cry in the garage with a bottle of Baileys and we discuss why 'Susan' is such an excellent name! Merry Christmas!

This week we are talking about Christmas films, and I think it's safe to say we have some Views on these (how unlike us). We discuss an unusual take on Love Actually, and Gill watches The Holiday for the very first time, and develops an unhealthy obsession with Jude Law's cow, while Jo points out several more practical flaws with his life than his random cow. Jo has some issues with these films from a feminist standpoint, and Gill feebly attempts to argue that mildly objectifying Cary Elwes is also a feminist standpoint...

OK, so we started recording this episode with the very best intentions to talk charmingly about our delightful family Christmas traditions, the importance of traditions, and of creating your own new ones. But somehow, we almost immediately went wildly off topic and starting talking about the times we really did not bring our A game as parents (or maybe we did, depending on how you're looking at it). So if you're feeling a bit Grinchy, a bit Meh, a bit over that elf and his b*starding shelf, and feeling like everyone else is going OTT on the Christmas magic, while you just want a traditional vat of Baileys, this episode is for you!

Here it is, folks! The episode you've been waiting for all year- yes, it's Gill and Jo's 100% infallible*, expert** Gift Guide, in partnership with Laylo Wine, to buying presents for all the difficult people in your life, from the husband who insists he 'doesn't want anything' but really does, to the weird colleague who always stands just a little bit too close to you, to the ever tricky to buy for elderly relatives. We cover helpful topics like why Toffifee is an excellent passive agressive gift, how to give the gift of intimate itching and what to do when your friend simply won't stop giving you cashmere scarves (not a problem we suffer from, tbh). We also cover some gifts for the nice but hard to buy for friends and family, and in a Christmas miracle, Jo doesn't mention The Crispy Swimming Costume!

https://drinklaylo.com/

*This may not be true.

**This is definitely not true.

This week, we come up with LITERALLY the best idea ever, in the form of a club night for menopausal women, including places to sit down, good snacks, and a dress code including slippers, elasticated waists and NO BRAS. Unfortunately, our topic for this week was not 'coming up with an idea for an awesome club night', instead the theme was supposed to be 'Black Friday', to coincide with the upcoming sales madness. We talk about some of our favourite small businesses, and whether you can ever have enough books, or whether we should be trying to find joy in nature, rather than 'things'. And Jo's impending fear of death is not helped by Gill offering to tell her about the time Gill nearly bought a coffin...

This week we received an email from a PR company suggesting a guest for the podcast that got us thinking about the many and varied jobs we've ever had in our lives. This got us thinking how very lucky we are that we are able to sit and chat and drink lovely Laylo wine and call it work, but we have had many jobs in the past that were a great deal less fun, including Gill's stint in PotatoLand and Jo's recent very niche copywriting job. We have some great 'worst jobs ever' from some of you too, and we also touch on the unfortunate fact that Jo's moral fibre seems to be considerably more robust than Gill's...

This week...well, where do we start with the recap? Jo has a distressing Teams call, which may or may not have featured maurading bosoms, Gill is providing a little stability in this chaotic world by taking umbrage at the Patriarchy and then...Jo tells Gill of a practice she has recently become aware of, and it all goes downhill from there! As Jo said in her email to Producer James, we can only apologise...

This week, we're having a general catch up on what's been going on in our lives, including sharing some very exciting news about our new partnership with Laylo wine,. We also chat about Gill's visit to a university open day leading her to be surprised that universities are full of children for some inexplicable reason, Gill's new book Why Mummy Drinks At Christmas, why Jo would be an excellent librarian and Jo's youthful love of what she describes as 'admin based roleplay', and our latest drunken plan to go on a narrowboat holiday...