Women Around a Table Eating Food (WTF): Unfiltered talk about this curious midlife. And food.

Divorce may happen on paper, but as our dearest of the dear friends Carrie Rosenbloom knows, the real work happens in the family system. The court can divide assets, approve parenting plans and make things official, but it most certainly can’t regulate your nervous system, heal heartbreak, or transform two furious humans into emotionally evolved co-parents by next week.In this episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic sit down with Carrie, an attorney, licensed marriage and family therapist, divorce coach and founder of her practice Divorce Beyond Court, to talk about what divorce really asks of people: legal clarity, emotional stamina, co-parenting maturity, deep self-honesty, and the ability to make major decisions while your inner world does jazz hands in a burning building.Carrie started her career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County, Illinois (the narcotics bureau!) before moving into nonprofit work, family mediation, therapy, and divorce coaching. (For the Julianna Margulies fans keeping score at home, that means our real-life Carrie worked inside the actual Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, made famous—fictionally and scandalously!—by The Good Wife’s Peter Florrick.)Today, Carrie brings lawyer brain, therapist heart, and a whip-smart, ready-fire-aim approach to problem-solving when that’s the tactic the moment calls for. Together, we talk co-parenting, kids, anger, grief, identity, boundaries, and why divorce isn't simply the end of a marriage. It's the start of a whole new family OS...which makes it deeply at home in the Messy Midlife, where reinvention rarely arrives with clean edges or a court-approved timeline.(And because this is WTF, we deliver up laughs, lasting friendship when the chips are down, chai-related digestive truth, and Carrie’s proud epiz-ending carbivore confession: bread, butter, salt, Pringles, pasta and, ideally, a lychee martini.⚖️ Find Carrie: https://www.divorcebeyondcourt.com/

So, Friends: What do we do with all.our.stuff—and all of our PARENTS’ stuff—and all the weird feelings we have about the stuff we have?On this week's Women Around a Table Eating Food podcast, we invited professional organizer Tracy Hoth (rhymes with “both”) to help us better understand the psychology around clutter, and within minutes it was clear this convo was about way more than junk drawers. For a lot of Messy Midlifers, ”housekeeping” has turned into the management of what we keep, what we’ve inherited, and how hard it can be (especially as adult kids) to help aging parents sort through a lifetime of belongings without sounding like Daughter Dictators.Through her company Simply Squared Away, Tracy teaches that organization ain’t about pretty bins and perfection; it's about creating a space that actually works for you in all your youness. And with humor, compassion, and real-world tools for becoming someone who can find the damn thing when they need it, this episode’s super useful, and just the thing if you’ve ever wandered around your house wondering what the actual org is going on here?(Also on the table? Tuna talk, protein-shake prowess, benevolent eggs, sacred sourdough, and Jen’s truly committed relationship with apple cider vinegar.)Fun Stuff:👉🏻Find Tracy at her website Simply Squared Away 👉🏻Listen to Tracy's podcast The Organized Coach here.🎧 Subscribe for more episodes of Women Around a Table Eating Food (WTF)🍴 Follow us @womenaroundatable on Instagram

Former television sports producer-turned-physical therapist Bridget Twedt, PT, DPT, knows a thing or two about reinvention. In this episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Norwalk, Connecticut's High Road PT co-owner dishes with Nic and Jen about her path from covering the Olympics to physical therapy, entrepreneurship, and helping people move through pain with more strength and trust in their bodies.We get into running gait analysis, vertigo, balance training as we age, tendon injuries in midlife women, and why recovery is as mental (and emotional) as it is physical. Bridget also shared listener-friendly insights on why rest alone isn’t always the answer; why appropriate weight-loading matters; and why losing our mobility can feel like a gut punch to our identity.It’s a smart, grounded conversation about healing, movement, and wanting your bod to feel like home again. Also on the table: Nic’s perennial pod-ending question: Bridget’s desert-island “forever food pick” (and the recipe Jen owes everyone)!(Like what you're hearing? Please follow us and consider writing a review. Help us spread the good word about the importance of connecting at ALL stages of life...and eSPECially in the middle of it!)Find Bridget: https://www.highroadpt.com/Learn From Bridget: @highroad.pt

What if your symptoms are not signs that something is wrong with you, but signals that something in you needs care?In this episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic welcome marriage and family therapist, somatic practitioner, and all-around healing force Heather Waxman, LMFT, (who also happens to be Nic’s wife).Together, we talk about burnout, over-responsibility, nervous system regulation, attachment wounds, and why so many high-functioning, midlife women can look fine on the outside while feeling completely fried on the inside. Heather brings a whole-person lens to healing—one that makes room for the body, the psyche, the relational world, and the truth that insight alone doesn’t always change how we live.(THEN Heather lands the line that basically became the spine of the episode… maybe 2026: Symptoms are sacred messengers.)This one is warm, funny, wise, and wildly validating. It’s about learning to treat your symptoms less like proof that you’re broken and more like signals that something in you needs care, rest, nourishment, or simply a softer way forward. Come for the nervous system wisdom, the chemistry, Heather’s wit, and her desert-island food. Stay for the feeling that maybe healing doesn’t have to be one more impossible thing on your list.(Love what you heard from Heather? Learn more about her here at www.heatherwaxman.com.)Jump To The Goods00:00 Welcome + introducing Heather Waxman05:05 Heather’s origin story and “the wisdom inside my wound”08:21 What talk therapy does beautifully—and where some people want more12:09 Why insight doesn’t always translate into lived change17:44 Why so many high-functioning midlife women feel chronically dysregulated18:44 “Symptoms are sacred messengers”22:16 What that actually means in real life, especially with burnout24:49 Why healing should feel more like an invitation than a psychobabble goose chase26:02 Over-responsibility, caregiving, and the toll on women’s nervous systems33:13 What nervous system regulation really is—and why it does not mean being calm all the time40:49 Gentle starting practices: orienting, inner anchors, and slow nervous system support46:13 How Heather helps people feel safe in their bodies again + where to find her

Friends! We’re back for Season 2 and we’re easing in the only way we know how: “Hey girl, hey,” a little chaos, and an honest check-in about what midlife is really doing to us.In this Just Us episode, we talk midlife feelings, women’s health, and friendship…starting with the story behind Nic’s surprise basal cell carcinoma and Mohs surgery (which turned into a much bigger facial deal than expected) and what the aftermath felt like physically-emotionally-existentially. From there, we tumble into the tender: why mortality starts whispering louder at this age, the weird dread Jen feels when Parker simply leaves the driveway, and how we’re all just trying to stay present instead of panicked.Then we zoom out: What surprised us most about Season 1, what made us proud, and what we want Season 2 to look like (Spoiler: More women, reality, laughs and lived experience, and more “you’re not broken” energy.) Plus, the dream guest list is revealed. It’s spicy!There's an amazing lineup of guests coming up. Pull up a chair or put us on in the background, grab a sip or a snack, and join us.Fun Timestamps 00:00 Welcome back + “Hey girl, hey”01:36 Nic’s Mohs surgery + “surprise, it’s more invasive”05:44 Mortality + the “is this the last kiss goodbye?” dread 09:16 “50 & Feral” + Season 2 kickoff energy 11:03 Season 1 reflections: the best part was…seeing each other weekly 13:50 What made Nic proud: feedback + “it’s like a warm hug” 15:11 Dream/reach guests: Sarah Silverman, Tig Notaro, Brené Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, and morrrrre.20:45 What we want Season 2 to bring: women’s voices, midlife support, the big questions

One year ago, this podcast was just an idea and a table. Now it’s a season and a ritual, with new people in our lives who feel like friends.In this "Just Us" season finale of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic gather with Nic’s wife Heather and Heather’s bestie, Samantha, family to dish on what the past year actually cracked open: sacred rage, creative risk, midlife bods, chosen fam, grief, joy, perimenopause, and the radical act of staying present when everything in you wants to check out.This isn’t a neat little wrap-up. It’s a toast…to female friendship that saves you, to projects you don’t overthink into oblivion, and to the next year being just a little more honest, a little more brave, and a lot more delicious.Pull up a chair. We really did this.Stuff we love:Sam’s fam’s kickass Connecticut-based food empire: https://www.laylasfalafel.com/All the timestamps!17:00 — “We Birthed a Podcast”From “let’s just try this” to realizing they created something real.18:45 — “The Year That Dug a Hole… and Found the Sun”Reflecting on surviving a brutal year and finally seeing light again.20:30 — “Friendship That Saves You”A raw moment about being picked up at rock bottom—and not forgetting who carried you.22:50 — “Your 50th Year Is a Launch, Not a Landing”Why this next chapter is about catapulting forward, not slowing down.25:15 — “Joy Doesn’t Have to Be Loud”Redefining happiness as presence, not performance.27:40 — “Chosen Family Hits Different”What it means to have people you’d call at 2 a.m.—no questions asked.30:10 — “Content Is Not a Dirty Word”A surprisingly deep defense of being satisfied and still striving.32:45 — “Being Present Is a Full-Contact Sport”Phones, work, hormones, grief—and why attention is the real flex.35:30 — “The Practice of Being With Yourself”Why presence with others starts with presence alone.38:20 — “Four and a Half Listeners (And We’d Do It Anyway)”Gratitude, jokes, and the softest possible mic drop.40:00 — “Season One: We Really Did This”Closing toast, dance party energy, and what’s coming next.

Your body is changing. Ours are too. And honestly? What the actual fuck.In this Just Us episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic talk candidly—and hilariously—about the messy realities of midlife bodies. Hot flashes. Achy joints. Softness in new places. And yes, we say the word labia. Out loud. Like grown women who are done pretending this stuff isn’t happening.(And in the middle of it all, like any good WTF ep, we dish on some the best TV we watched in 2025. Links below. 👇🏻)The convo feels like a voice text between best friends that accidentally became medicine for other women. It’s funny, a little bawdy, deeply reassuring, and grounded in the kind of friendship that makes you say, “Ohhh, THAT’S happening to you too?” and mean it with love.So if you’ve ever wondered whether your body is broken (it’s not), or felt alone in the weirdness (you’re not), pull up a chair. This episode is about aging honestly and wants you to laugh first, and then quietly hand a friend a mirror and a hug.The Micro-Chapters00:00 – Midlife has entered the chat (and did not knock)02:05 – When your body starts doing… new things06:00 – The ‘wait, that’s happening to you too?’ moment12:18 – Hot flashes + temperature chaos19:04 – Body changes with zero explanation27:52 – Alcohol and midlife: a breakup story34:15 – Sleeping hot, cold, and everything in between41:06 – Styes, CHAZ, and perimenopause surprises46:02 – Let’s talk labia (yes, really)50:07 – Commando days vs. underwear reality54:20 – Vaginal estrogen: things we’re learning late01:09:50 – Midlife bodies, WTF (the thesis)The Stuff We Love🌹Mountain Rose Herbs📺 Famous Last Words📺 Mare of Easttown📺 The Girlfriend🩺 Function Health🩺 Gliss Wellness🩺 East West Integrative Health Clinic (Dr. Lisa Rosenberger)🪷CGM - Continuous Glucose Monitor⚡️Vaginal estrogen: costdrugsplus.com 💪🏻Lisa Maximus: lisamaximus.com

Danielle Beinstein’s website says she helps people navigate the human experience—and after listening to her talk midlife, self-trust, and listening to your body, we’re believers. No astrology degree required.Pull up a chair, friends. In this episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic sit down with Danielle Beinstein to unpack the Chiron Return—WTF it is, why it tends to show up in midlife for so many women, and why this conversation lands even if astrology makes you roll your eyes.Less “astrological event,” more “midlife pattern,” Ms. Dani helps us understand why this 49-51ish moment can feel so disorienting as old coping strategies stop working, our bods get screamier, and the ways we used to push through suddenly feel…off.Together, Dani, Nic and Jen explore…Why midlife can feel like a reckoning WITHOUT being a breakdownHow urgency often disguises itself as intuitionWhat it means to rebuild self-trust after years of proving and performingWhy embodiment matters more as we age (even if you’ve never thought about it that way)Perfect listening for kicking off 2026, this episode is for the astro-curious and astro-skeptics, especially midlife women wondering why the actual fuck everything feels different in their bodies, relationships, sense of self.No charts. No jargon. No cosmic homework. Just a grounded, honest conversation about navigating midlife and trusting yourself a little more as you do.Pull up a chair. You’ll recognize yourself here.(And if you find yourself drawn to how Dani thinks about midlife, self-trust, and listening to your body, you can spend more time with her work. She’s built a life out of marrying her innate intuition with deep study spanning philosophy, spiritual psychology, and consciousness, health, and healing…using them to support people through life transitions with clarity, curiosity, and a very grounded sense of self-trust. You can learn more about her writing and work at daniellebeinstein.com.)Timestamps of the good stuff:00:09:00 — Dani joins the table + instant soul recognition00:14:30 — What astrology actually is (and isn’t)00:22:00 — The Chiron Return, explained for non-astrology people00:31:45 — Why ages 49–51 suddenly feel emotionally louder00:38:20 — Midlife as energetic recalibration (not a crisis)00:45:10 — What Dani wishes women trusted more in this season00:52:40 — Intuition, cycles, and listening to your body01:00:15 — The cosmic permission slips women actually need01:06:30 — Food talk + daily rituals that ground Dani01:10:00 — How to work with / find Dani onlineLinks to good stuff:🌐 About Danielle: https://www.daniellebeinstein.com📸 Danielle’s IG goodness: @daniellebeinstein🫖 Tea Huntress: https://www.teahuntress.com

The holidays have a way of cracking things open.In this very vulnerable Just Us Christmas episode of Women Around a Table Eating Food, Jen and Nic pull up a chair and talk honestly about grief, growth, and the moments that changed everything. Through the lens of A Christmas Carol, they reflect on the memories they’d hope the Ghost of Christmas Past would shine a light on—and the ones they’d rather leave untouched.Here comes some grief, growth, ghosts, and gallows humor—and how we survive loss without becoming Ebenezer forever.Nic shares why, after losing her dad and her brother, she wasn’t ready to return to a beloved Christmas tradition last year—and why this year feels possible. “Time heals,” she says, “but it’s also what you do with the time.”  Jen and Nic talk about the emotional deaths we don’t always name: marriages ending, versions of ourselves falling away, and the quiet rebirths that follow. “What parts of us have had to die in order for the parts of us now to show up?” Nic asks—and the answer lands softly, and honestly.  This episode is about friendship, midlife, food, and telling the truth when it matters most. It’s about laughing when things hurt, crying when you need to, and being grateful for the people who stay. As Jen says at the close, “I’m so grateful that we can bring these parts of ourselves to each other… and to anybody else who decided to pull up a chair today and listen to a little gallows humor about grief and happiness.”  Timestamps of the good stuff:00:00 — Welcome + setting the table for our Christmas episode03:45 — Why A Christmas Carol matters (and why this episode exists)07:30 — AI, creativity, and why Jen and Nic use it very differently12:15 — Holiday rituals, food, and what makes Christmas feel like Christmas16:45 — Watching A Christmas Carol with Dad22:40 — When grief is too fresh to revisit traditions23:45 — “Time heals—but it’s also what you do with the time”27:10 — Back-to-back loss and emotional exhaustion31:30 — Gallows humor, “dead daddies,” and surviving the hard parts36:45 — Emotional deaths, rebirths, and who we’ve become37:55 — “What parts of us had to die for the parts of us now to show up?”41:30 — Gratitude, friendship, and why this conversation mattered1:01:45 — “Pull up a chair” + closing love festLinks to good stuff:☕️ Bodum double-walled glasses that we both love. 🏠 Joanna Gaines/Magnolia, which we both love. 🌰Nutpod Pistachio Dairy-Free Creamer

Pull up a chair for an emotional, decades-in-the-making reunion. Nic and WNBA legend Chasity Melvin hadn’t seen each other since their AAU days…making this ep equal parts catch-up, confession, and two messy midlifers remembering who they were at 17 while Jen watched in awe.From AAU vans, basketball moms, big decisions, and the kind of athletic camaraderie that imprints us hard, the ladies shared laughs along with Chasity’s hall-of-fame-vibe résumé:2,000+ points and 1,000+ rebounds at NC StateA Final Four run12 seasons in the WNBAMore than 4,000 pro points, 2,000 rebounds, and a groundbreaking turn as the first woman hired to an NBA-affiliated G League coaching staff. Part sports radio, part therapy sesh, part giggly old-friend reunion, this one's about confidence, belonging, and pivoting in midlife after you’ve lived several lives on and off the court. Nic’s and Chasity’s teammate energy was so legit it almost made Jen want to run suicides.(Don’t worry: Definitely didn’t happen.) It’s a heart-hitting, funny, beautifully human Women Around a Table Eating Food about friendship, identity, sport, and the courage it takes to build your next chapter…one rebound at a time.🏀 Visit Chasity's website🏀 Check out Chasity's book (At the End of The Day: A Devotional Memoir)women, midlife, friendship, food, Chasity Melvin, WNBA stories, women’s sports, resilience in midlife, basketball friendships, pivoting careers, NC State Wolfpack, women’s podcast, AAU basketball, therapist, journalist, author, commentator

Pull up a chair for the Thanksgiving episode Jen’s been giddy about and where Nic once again tolerated her misty-eyed nostalgia…this time, over our guest’s stories from the front line of television memory-making. Today, we’re joined by Amy Kule…former executive producer behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks. (And, yes: that parade. The balloons, the Broadway block, Santa’s finale. Basically, she shaped the magic we grew up watching in our PJs.)If you loved TV Guide, lived for Entertainment Tonight, or geeked out over how television gets made, this episode is pure nostalgic gravy. Amy walks us through the chaos, creativity, and childhood wonder tucked behind the scenes of a nationally beloved tradition. And because life is sometimes stranger than fiction, we had to talk about Miracle on 34th Street, the movie whose lead character basically had Amy’s job before Amy did. Beyond the floats and fanfare, we also dig into messy midlife rhythms, evolving traditions, cozy lighting, hormones playing the role of The Most™, and how our holiday memories shape who we become. And we promise: even if your house is filled with bad overhead lighting and chaos, you can sit with us.P.S. We’re still new at this podcasting game…sound included. Thanks for rolling with us as we learn, tweak, evolve, and figure out what all these knobs do. Womp.🎧 Subscribe for more WTF🍴 IG: @womenaroundatableStuff we loved talking about...• Amy Kule's second act• Comedic genius behind "sad childhood lighting" and "pump-pump-pump" bits• Best-ever turkey hash and chestnut recipe (thanks to Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock) is in this book. (Page 194 and you're very welcome.)#womenaroundatable #wtfpodcast #midlifewomen #macysparade #amykule #thanksgiving #holidaytraditions #miracleon34thstreet #womeninmediawomen around a table, midlife women, macy’s thanksgiving day parade, amy kule interview, holiday traditions, miracle on 34th street, women in media, women in production, nostalgia podcast, merry wonderer, friendship podcast, food and friendship, behind the scenes parade

Pull up a chair: This one goes deep into the trenches of purpose, calling, and the “Oh right: This is who I am” phase of the messy midlife.In this Just Us episode, Nic and Jen ditch the guests and dish on their professional trajectories…from when they were nudged toward therapy and writing, to a fateful fax-machine epiphany, to the gut whispers that grew louder as they hit their 40s. They trace how two best friends, one a clinicalist (yes, we’re coining it) and the other a storyteller-ist (we’re coining that, too), built parallel careers centered on listening, curiosity, and helping people make sense of their lives.Listen in on how they explore power dynamics in therapy, flattening hierarchies, learning how to hold space, interviewing as an art form, and how midlife shifts our sense of competence, confidence, and identity. With laughs, reflection, and a few “remember fax machines?” moments, enjoy the unmistakable comfort of two women who have spent 30 years growing up—and growing into themselves—together, and the permission to evolve in real time.Weck Jars: https://weckjars.com/Kite Hill Plant-Based Yogurt: https://kite-hill.com/collections/original-yogurt(Come back in two weeks to queue up our VERY special Thanksgiving episode with guest and former Grand Marshall of the Macy's Day Parade, Ms. Amy Kule!)women, midlife, professional growth, career change, therapy, writing, friendship, identity, purpose, calling, Jen Chase-Corwin, Nicole O’Brien, storytelling, personal growth, women’s stories, WTF podcast, Just Us, midlife careers

Pull up a chair because this one’s got meals and feels! In Episode 3, Nic traces the crumbs of her culinary origins to Gram’s Italian kitchen and a legacy of Christmas disguised as carbs. Jen takes you to her dad’s “variety is the spice of life” universe where meal prep’s an art and linguica’s a love language. Nic drops her fave Erin Chase lore. And the big reveal? Just how nutritionally questionable Jen’s solo dinners get when Parker travels. It’s all about our WHY for food and the unforgettable WHOs who make every bite matter (which, let’s be honest, is exactly why we started this pod).Warm, funny, and a wee unhinged, this “Just Us” episode proves that family food stories—and the friends who feed us—are the ingredients to surviving midlife with our digestion (mostly) intact.

What does “strength” really mean? What does it mean to you, Dear Listener? In this loaded and varied conversation, world record-holding powerlifter and coach Lisa Maximus blows up the old-school rules—about women, weights, and what’s possible—one rep at a time. She gets truthy about the emotional side of fitness, why everyone (especially women) should be training for longevity, not looks, and how our so-called “self-governor” is a bold-faced liar. (Plus, she shares her go-to supplements, her go-to mental-toughness tome, and why she believes lifting heavy benefits everyone…not just the “fitspo” crowd).Come for straight talk; stay for the friendship, food chat, and behind-the-scenes messiness that makes WTF feel like midlife therapy with your besties (with snacks). Lisa’s straight-up advice on getting strong, aging well, and ignoring that little voice that says, “you can’t!” will keep you thinking long after the show’s done.⚡️Bonus: If Lisa inspires you to prioritize your healthcare a smidge more, here’s where to find her (along with some stuff she mentioned that she loves):💪🏻 Lisa’s Social Handle (Instagram & YouTube): @lisamaximus💪🏻 Lisa’s Website: https://www.lisamaximus.com💪🏻 Lisa’s App (she has an app!): https://my.playbookapp.io/lisa-maximus🍽️ Lisa’s fave protein powder: https://nitorperformance.com 💰 A discount code for Lisa’s fave protein powder: Lisa20 (20% off five bags) or lisamaximus for 10% off

Some Swiss. A Sarah McLachlan surprise. And one determined “capture” that launched a 30-year friendship. (Spoiler: Nic snagged Jen.) In this debut of Women Around a Table Eating Food (WTF), Nicole O'Brien and Jennifer Chase-Corwin unpack how their through-line of food, friendship, and messy midlife moments became the heartbeat of their sisterhood and the backbone of this podcast that neither of them can agree on whose idea it was. It’s just the two of them this time (and be nice...it's the first flippin' episode!), but you just wait ‘til they invite other inspiring women (and their stories!) to the table.

At Women Around a Table Eating Food (aka: WTF), we don’t sugarcoat midlife...we snack through it. We’re Nicole O’Brien (therapist) and Jennifer Chase-Corwin (journalist)—30-year best friends and curious as hell about relationships (and pretty much everything else)—and the tables between us have seen it all. Tears. Triumphs. Laugh-riots. More cheese boards than we can count (back when cheese didn't f* us up). Now...we invite you, Dear Listener, to join. Expect messy truths, unfiltered stories, some cussin’, expert guests who challenge and inspire us, and conversations that nourish. Come curious and hungry. Bring snacks!