Scared in the Woods

Our monthly unscripted convo & recommendations

Bethany Bell & Kara Wood

Jan 20, 2025

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‘Tis the week for our unscripted conversation & recommendations!

We have an unscripted convo (rather than writing) about once a month. During this convo, we ridicule each other while discussing books and other things we are currently loving. Why? Because we’ve never felt so alive.

🤓 Awkward? Yes.

😬 Cringy? Mmmhmm.

🤩 Fun? The most.

If you typically read—rather than listen to—our stuff, you can listen to our convo by pressing the “play” button near the top of the post.

**Our posts may contain affiliate links, meaning we get a couple of pennies (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase an item through a link.**

Here are a few highlights and the promised links from this week’s convo:

0:55 — Is it still cool to keep the price stickers on hats?

2:20 — We are thankful to be in January, where we aren’t responsible for all the magic.

4:44 — We discuss the Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix. Also, there’s Snoop again. He just shows up . . . at random times. He and Martha became unlikely friends.

8:00 — Bethany has a couple of recent reads she is really into! She gives both of these books two enthusiastic thumbs up!

First: Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis

DESCRIPTION:
Brooke Nolan is a battered child who makes an anonymous phone call about the escalating brutality in her home.

When social services jeopardize her safety, condemning her to keep her father's secret, it's a glass of spilled milk at the dinner table that forces her to speak about the cruelty she's been hiding. In her pursuit of safety and justice, Brooke battles a broken court system that pushes to keep her father in the home.

Spilled Milk is a novel of shocking narrative, triumph and resiliency.

Second: Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood by

Ashlee Gadd

DESCRIPTION:
Motherhood and creativity can coexist.

You have creative dreams swirling in your heart, but pursuing them while changing diapers and managing the carpool schedule feels impossible. You have no time. No space. You can mother, or you can create. You certainly can't do both (right?!).

But what if you could pursue your God-given creative gifts alongside motherhood, for the enrichment of bothexperiences? What if you stopped viewing creativity as a selfish act, and started to see it as essential to your own flourishing as a mother?

This book is a much-needed permission slip to do just that--through the pictures you take, the stories you write, the meals you make, the music you play, the gardens you grow.

In this unforgettable book filled with rich storytelling and stunning photographs, writer and mother Ashlee Gadd helps you set aside the guilt and discover the sacred connection between creating and mothering. One-part commissioning, one-part pep talk, Create Anyway will propel you forward with a renewed sense of energy, purpose, and enthusiasm for stewarding the creative dreams God has planted in your heart--right alongside the diapers and carpool.

Here's to creating in the margins of motherhood.

Here's to creating anyway.

11:45 — We review The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. Genre: mystery/thriller/suspense. We both read this one for book club this month. Bottom line: it had potential but things went south. We didn’t love it.

DESCRIPTION:
THERE'S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD.

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money―and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.

And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.Bottom line for us: it felt promising, but in the end, we both lacked the imagination needed to really appreciate the magic.

13:20 — We “turn a phrase like Truman” — “The tail wagged the dog.”

16:40 — Kara gives an update on her attempts to abstain from Starbucks (one of Kara’s 24 changes for 2024) and how much money she’s saved by not showing up (testing the guru theory that your daily latte can actually make a difference in your finances)

20:20 — Travis talk. Tay copied our NYC restaurant choice; she sported Chanel to the “Chefs” game; and she sat in the box with Caitlin Clark. Meanwhile, Travis feels like “22 baby, 22.”

24:48 — The “Pedigree of Paula” moment is given to someone who displays class and character in a way that reminds us of our mother. This week, it goes to WNBA star Caitlin Clark because . . . obv.

26:43 — “Sweaty Betty & Dare to Kare!” — we give updates on exercise challenges and wins. Kara kept up her running streak and met her running goals but elected not to show up to PureBarre. Bethany ran a 5k with a heart rate in the red.

32:16 — “Ask Bethany!” — A segment that allows our Knockers to ask Bethany anything you want and receive an honest, unfiltered response! Have a submission? Leave it in the caaaaaaawments!

36:25 — “Taste of Kara”— continuing with our Gilded Age obsession and attempting to make it somehow relevant to everyday life, Kara presents some “High Society Selections” and “Peasant Pivot Options” for items she’s currently into. Let’s be honest: Kara mainly employs the peasant pivot option.

High Society Selection: Staying at luxury hotels. Here’s a great piece on the unreality of all those Insta pics of 5-star luxury joints from Influencers.
Peasant Pivot Option: Use a credit card to get enough points to stay at one (but make sure you pay off your balance each month so you aren’t charged interest!). For our NYC trip, Kara transferred her Chase Sapphire card points to Hyatt’s rewards program and got us 2 rooms, 2 nights each for free at the fabulous Park Hyatt. The points guy has all kinds of great info on how to use points and the best cards out there for what you’re planning.
Luxury for free- what’s better?
High Society Selection: A custom stair runner in a beautiful herringbone pattern.
Peasant Pivot Option: DIY it! Kara bought 3 runners (similar here), these carpet pads, and an electric staple gun and went to work. There are a bunch of tutorials on Youtube. It turned out really well for less than $500 compared to quotes of $2-3k for custom runners.
First: Inspo via Pinterest / Second: Kara's DIY job
42:50 — Have dry skin or other skin issues? Kara has been testing this Amazon Tub Faucet Water Filter. It softens hard water for $29.00. Although it needed to be replaced after 2 months, Kara totally recommends!