In this special birthday episode of the Uploft Interior Design Podcast, I celebrate my 47th birthday and the milestone of reaching 500 episodes! I reflect on my journey in interior design, sharing how grateful I am for the wisdom and curiosity that comes with aging. I tackle a design question from Emily in Flagstaff about rug size and furniture placement. If you have questions for me, make sure to submit them here.
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[Music]
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Design inspiration, real life makeovers, and the latest in pop culture. This is the Uploft Interior Design Podcast with
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Design inspiration, real life makeovers,
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and the latest in pop culture. This is
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the Uploft Interior Design Podcast with
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Betsy Helmuth.
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Celebrating Milestones: 500 Episodes and a Birthday
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Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday, dear Betsy. Yes. Not only does um this season mark my 500th episode and beyond, I think we’re at 506 now, I’m also having a birthday this week. This is my birthday episode. So, of course, I’m going to answer a design
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question and then I’m going to give myself the gift of dishing on reality TV, my favorite thing to do. and we’re going to be discussing the Love is Blind reunion special because I have so many thoughts and feelings as always. But this season really um made me reflect on my TV watching habits
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and I’ll be sharing all of that with you in the second half of this episode. Of course, the first half we’re going to be talking design, my other favorite topic. But in the meanwhile, I just wanted to ruminate on birthdays and what I’m thinking about and how old I am. I had
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to actually do the math, guys, before this episode aired. I was crunching the numbers in my mind because I could not remember if I’m going to be 46 or 47. Seriously. Uh, turns out I’m going to be 47 after doing that math. And I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful to be 47. I’m
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so grateful to be aging, to be wiser, to be more interesting, to be more interested, frankly. Um, I just have still this curiosity. And I have been in business doing interior design work for over two decades. For nearly half my life, I’ve been a designer. I was talking to my mom
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the other night on the phone. And I was like, “Mom, did you ever see design for me? Like when I was small, I never dreamed of being an interior designer. I never talked about it. Did you ever see any inklings that I would like interior design? Was I constantly like rearranging my room? Was I
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constantly talking about shopping for pillows? Did I even know, you know, what decorative pillows were? Talk to me.” She’s like, “No, no, you were never interested. No, I I never saw anything. One time you mentioned that you like the orange curtains in our house because
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when we would drive up and one of the lights would be on, it would glow and make the whole house look like it had this beautiful warm orange warm orange light. And I think I love that so much because it looked warm, but it wasn’t warm. My mom did not move the thermostat above 55°.
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I was constantly freezing as a child, which is probably the reason why I hate to be cold as an adult. brings me back to shivering in six layers of PJs trying to get to sleep at night because we could not afford heat. Thus, affordable interior design was born. But I don’t
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even remember when I made the leap and thought, “Oh, interior design is for me.” There were a couple of instances that stick out, but I have truly found a passion and a calling with interior design. I can see how much I am helping other people by making their homes cozy,
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by making their homes feel warm with the selections that I’m picking. Not necessarily temperature warm these days, but more inviting warm and special and unique and personal. And it just brings me a lot of joy to have a career I’m so passionate about. And to have a career
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that allows me to explore other passions. passions like podcasting, like writing my memoir. And as I’m aging, as I’m thinking about and reflecting on this year, which I will be doing via copious notes in my diary, via, you know, celebrations with my family where I look back on the past year and maybe
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even the past 46 years. One thing that’s been on my mind is what’s the next dream? you know, I’ve built this firm and I’ve had it for 20 years and I still want that to keep going. I still love it and I’m working with clients even right now. I have this podcast and it’s been going for 10 years
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and I still love it. And when I need to infuse it with something fresh, I can do something like adding in pop culture and that’s been so fun and fulfilling for me. I have my family, my pets. What’s next? I don’t know. So, I’m going to be really thinking about that. I’m going to be
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putting it out there into the universe because I do feel like there’s another dream on the horizon. There’s something else to start reaching for. And it’s time. It’s time to see what I can grab. So, I wonder what you guys are dreaming of. What’s been on your mind? Have you
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always wanted to start something new, but been a little bit afraid? Are you not even sure like me what that next step is? I firmly believe that asking yourself a question and really saying it out loud with intention, your mind can’t help but try and solve it. Your mind can’t help but try and
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look for it. So, for instance, I played this game with my kids the other day because I wanted to show them the power of their minds and the power of what you think about is what you manifest. So, if I told you right now, I want you to look around your space, but not notice
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anything purple. Make sure you avoid all the items that are purple. Don’t look at them. Don’t seek them out. Actively avoid all the things that are purple. If you’re doing that right now along with me, you might be looking at or looking for a lot of purple items so you know to
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avoid them. When you give your mind a task, whether it’s positive or negative, like I said, don’t look for the purple items, right? And it’s immediately looking. What you say to yourself is powerful. So, positioning it as a positive, saying only looking for purple things because
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that way you’ll find those purple things. But in this case, saying what’s my next dream? brain. I want you to be looking for, searching for, and finding that next big goal, that next big thing that’s going to light me up. And of course, I’m going to continue parenting,
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continue running the business, continue doing the podcast, but what else is it
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Mailbag: Design Question from Emily
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time to start reaching for? I’m excited. I don’t know. Next week, you’ll hear from a client of mine who started reaching for something new in her 40s and had huge success. I’m really excited for you to hear from her and working with her, which I’m doing right now. I’m sourcing artwork for this
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client, has just been so inspiring, which is why I asked her to come on the show. All right, guys. Let’s keep reaching for that next dream while I reach into the mailbag because you have sent questions and of course I love to
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Analyzing Emily’s Rug Dilemma
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answer them. Now, if you have more questions, go to uploft.com/mpodcast. Once again, that’s uplift.com/mpodcast. There you’ll see a form. You can quickly fill it out and you can ask me your design questions. I can’t wait to answer them. But without further ado, let’s
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answer Emily’s design questions. She’s writing in from Flagstaff, Arizona. We all know Flagstaff from the show Sister Wives on TLC. That is where Cody lives with his wife and their children, uh, Robin, and it’s where he lived with his three ex-wives before they divorced him
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and moved on. But Robin is still hanging on and so I feel like I know Flagstaff pretty intimately though I’ve never been there. Okay, Emily, let’s get into it. You write, “Hi, Betsy. I was thrilled that you took my question on your episode, Finding the Right Rug in
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Flagstaff.” Thank you. I am back with more pictures to help you fully answer my question about rug size. I neglected to send a picture of the one angle of the room last time, but I have remedied that on the first podcast episode. I appreciated your advice to choose a rug
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with higher contrast to the floor as well as some of the blue from the chairs. I ordered an inexpensive 9×12 rug from Amazon with red and blue and several other colors. I love the colors. I love the pattern and the way it grounds the space with contrast to the floor. You were absolutely right, but I
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am stuck on the size. I’ve included pictures from the angle you were missing the last time. Hopefully seeing a 9 by12 placed will help you with more sense of the scale. The 9 by1 12 obviously fits a big Oh, sorry guys. My nose is twitching. If you’re watching on
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YouTube, you’re like, why is she having facial spasms? I want to sneeze. I do want to sneeze. While um I’m embracing the season because it’s my birthday and whatever, I am also having big allergy issues. At least I hope it’s allergies and not a cold, but it feels like allergies and
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tis the season. Emily, sorry about that. Let me get back into your question. The 9 by12 obviously fits a bit awkwardly because of the baby gate, but it still seems off. Is it too small? The 9×12 is the largest size in this particular rug, but I could find a similar one in 11×4,
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or would a square 12 x 12 work better? The current bland brown rug is 10×10. Square or rectangle? I just don’t know. I admit that it does seem odd that the sofa’s floating in the middle of the room. We p placed it parallel to the big window because the view is amazing and
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we like to leave a walkway behind the couch in order to get to the desk as well as to access the slider door. But any suggestions on furniture placement would be appreciated as well. The room,
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Furniture Placement and Design Solutions
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especially rug size, has stumped me for years. If you suggest a larger rug, I assume the side tables flanking the couch would help to ground it. Thank you for your time and for your expertise, Emily. I’m so happy to help. Let’s get into it. Yes, I love the new colors in
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the rug. I think it really pulls the chair in. This rug has like kind of a traditional pattern, but bold red, blue, um, golden, yellow, and beige hues. I think it really adds a much needed dose of color to this room which basically above the floor is very neutral with um creamy walls, linen
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colored drapes. Heck, even the table lamp on the console back there is like a cream with a neutral shade. Even the artwork is black and white or tones of beige. We need color in this room. And I think stopping at the rug and chairs is a misstep. I definitely think we need additional
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color in here. For me, that would mean swapping out the drapes. For me, that would also mean adding some fresh throw pillows to this couch. Let’s get into this because the view is beautiful out the backyard and I really love it. What I’m asking myself is why we’re floating the couch. Now, I
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don’t mind a floated couch and I think the area rug makes it make sense. And sometimes I will float a couch if say there’s a TV and the room is so large, which this one is, that we would be far from the TV and it would be hard to see it. But you don’t appear to have a TV in
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this room. So that does not seem like a reason to move the couch in. I’m just looking at the room as I’m moving around. So let’s just take people on a tour who aren’t watching on YouTube. But if we’re looking at this room like a clock, at 11:00 is a wood burning stove that’s on a raised blick
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brick platform with a partial brick wall behind it. And then about 3 ft in front of this raised platform, we have a baby gate, I assume, to keep children and pets safe and away from the fire. Then as we move around, we have that really big amazing panoramic window that
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overlooks Flagstaff’s mountains. And then as we move around the room to the adjacent wall, we have that slider. And the slider is flanked with two wood pieces. The console on the left hand side and maybe some kind of in table on the right hand side. As we’re moving behind the sofa,
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that wall has a pass through to the kitchen. It’s kind of just a peekab-oo window. There’s really not too much of a ledge there, and it is a little bit higher than normal. Um, but it is nice to be able to look out at that stunning view when you’re in the kitchen. And
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then circling back around the room, I’m not getting the view of these built-in bookcases and what I would assume is an open walkway to more of the space. Now, when you guys are taking pictures, the ideal is that you would stand in the corner, each corner of the room, and
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take a picture from that 45 degree angle. So, I’m kind of seeing the room from the view of each corner, and I can see each wall in that way, and sort of how it connects to the other wall. That’s my preferred way of taking these images. So, is this rug ill-fitting? Yes.
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Is the furniture in the wrong place? Yes. The questions are, you know, first of all, I don’t like to give exact floor plan or even rug dimensions on the podcast because I do drop it into a floor plan. And for those of you who’ve enrolled in the academy or those of you who’ve been listening to the
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podcast for a while, you know that I like to do my due diligence with floor plans. I map it out on a software program. I try every possible option, leaving no stone unturned. I don’t just make knee-jerk reactions and set it that way, especially when my clients are
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going to be investing in large things like big rugs, more ints, things like that. But it does feel like this furniture is randomly floating for no particular reason. I am not understanding why the couch is not against the wall with the pass through. Now, maybe it’s because then there would
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just be a ton of empty space between the front of the sofa and the start of the chairs, and then that middle room would the middle of the room, excuse me, would have such a large void. But I could see doing like a really large coffee table, which would be really cool. I could see,
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as I’m just flipping through these pictures, putting some kind of console table under the large panoramic window that kind of draws your eye and gives you something else to look at besides just the view. I’m wondering how long this baby gate is going to be there. Is it a permanent
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fixture? If so, I don’t love that the rug goes under it. But if it’s not a permanent fixture, I certainly don’t mind. And I’d rather you get the right size rug for the room than be accommodating this baby gate. Now, a 9×12 rug is a really big rug. The next size up is typically 10×4.
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Then you go 12x 16. And that’s just huge. And surprisingly enough, the room does not look that big, which is why I always love to put it in a floor plan because looks can really be deceiving. But if I were designing this space just on pictures alone, which I would never do,
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I would move this couch underneath the kitchen pass through. I would flank it with an in table and lamp on one side and maybe a floor lamp on the other side. I would do a really wide interesting coffee table. I would keep the chairs opposite the sofa or I could even see putting them
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parallel to each other. One with its back to the slider, one with its back to the built-in wall that I can’t really see from these images. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m thinking I would do that. I’m thinking I would do that. Move this couch back. Put the chairs opposite each other with one of the
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backs facing the slider. Then that opens you up to doing another upholstered piece opposite the sofa. I could see a pretty fun bench over there, like a kind of a chase moment. There’s lots of different things you could do to kind of fill that space and make it feel more
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intentional and designerly. And then also we’re filling the sides of this space with those blue chairs, which I think solves that problem as well because we don’t want all the furniture to just be in the middle of the room and not really be furnishing the entire space. Then I still think based on the
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visual snapshot I’m getting of the size of this room, you might still be able to do that long console table under the window. I’m very intrigued by the possibilities there. But first, you want to place your furniture. So, don’t buy the rug first. First, you want to lock
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in on the furniture arrangement for those primary pieces. The couch, the chairs, the bench or chase question mark, the coffee table. Once that’s locked in, you pick a rug that’s going to define the area. Meaning that the rug is going to be at least partially under all the pieces of seating. At least
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partially under the sofa. Doesn’t have to be fully under. at least partially under the armchairs, at least partially under that chase or bench. Now, you wouldn’t put it under all the furniture. You wouldn’t put it under, say, the console under the window or say the end
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table beside the sofa because that’s wall-to-all carpeting. You’re trying to define a seating area by keeping all the major pieces of seating partially on the rug. All right, that solved that. Emily,
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Transitioning to Love is Blind Discussion
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you’ve got some more work to do. But the bottom line is I cannot give you a rug size until you’ve placed your furniture properly. And I think there’s still still some unresolved issues there. That means more emails to me, but it really is best to answer your question in a
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comprehensive way rather than give you a quick fix that’s still not going to lead to a professionally designed room. There we go. Flag staff. There we go. I also think that Cody and Robin from Sister Wife should call me. They just moved into a new house, $2 million
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mansion, and I know they need design help based on the look of their last space. I work virtually, guys. Call me. Okay, now it’s time to get into Love is Blind. If you are not watching Love is Blind on Netflix, well, you are blind to the fact that there’s amazing
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entertainment out there because this has been a wild ride of a season. People have been calling this season somewhat boring, second in boringness after Minneapolis, which was the previous season. But I must say, I was really into the season. I was following along with the drama on podcasts, on
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Instagram. I was reading spoilers. I was invested each time episodes dropped. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that the reunion was dropping. I was going to stay up no matter what I had going on that night. I was going to fit it in. I knew it was going to be majorly buzzworthy.
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I fell asleep during this 1 and a half hour episode 5 to seven times. Now, sure, I was tired. Sure, I’d been watching this after a long day of work. Then, I took myself out to a Broadway show. Then, I came home and I had my milk and cookies and I was all tucked in
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and woof, this thing could not keep me engaged. I could not keep my eyes open. Boring, boring, boring. Now, were there some interesting revelations? Sure. And I will go through those with you now. So, spoiler alerts are ahead. But overall, it was a big miss. Overall,
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I think the format of like having this
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Key Revelations from the Reunion
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singer at the top, felt a little bachelor to me. They brought in later in the middle of the episode this NBA star who wasn’t even from Denver where the episode was based. He was from LA from the Clippers. I’m like, what? If you’re going to have a star come on, at least
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have them be from the place where the episode was or the series was shot because they make these towns such a large part of the show of the season and then they have an LA Clipper on. Like that just felt lame. Okay, here’s the spoilers. So, we know about Sparkle Megan dumping Jordan
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before the wedding. This was the only season, by the way, that didn’t have even one marriage. Amazing. Wow. Crushed and burned. But, um, I really liked that. Well, I could see that Sparkle Megan and Jordan were never going to work out because she has champagne taste
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and he has a beer budget and she found that charming at first, but that was not going to last. I’m glad that she did not take him to the altar. I mean, I feel sad that she met his son and thought that maybe this could be something. I’m not sure why she even chose to take it
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that far, but the big reveal on the reunion is that she now Jordan was a single father and now she is a single mother. Now, not to say she’s single because she does have a partner of sorts, but she said that it’s been difficult with the partner. The partner was there. They’ve only been together,
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you know, a short time. They met three months before she got pregnant and the kid is now 2 and a half months old. Uh, I don’t see that lasting. I don’t. And I foresee that she will soon be a single mother, so she’s going to get her just desserts in my opinion. But, I mean, I’m happy for her, but she
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also didn’t like that Jordan’s lifestyle kind of revolved around a child and that she wouldn’t be able to travel all the time. And now look at her. Now look how locked in she is. I don’t know. I was not a fan and still am not. And there wasn’t really a big reveal for me. Like
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hip hip for you, Megan. Then the other girls were saying, “Oh, no wonder you got th so thick.” Like KB Calabria of Edmond and Calabria was like, “You got so thick, girl.” She was very skinny before and now she looks maybe somewhat nourished. Like calling somebody thick, I don’t think so.
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I just thought that we were past that in 2025. Anyway, okay. So, um Patrick, if you’ll remember, was the Asian guy who was super into Anna who was also Asian and they shared a connection. Then she ghosted him in the pods. He wound up going with his second choice Casey. He proposed, said he was
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in love. She saw him at the reveal. You could tell she was not into him. She pretended for a while. They almost went on the honeymoon, but before they left, she dumped him, saying that she just needed to take it offline. She still was very in love with him, but wanted to
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take it off the cameras. No, she didn’t. When they got back to Denver, she reached out to him to basically say it was over. He wanted an in-person meeting. She was like, “I don’t want that. I’m not interested.” He said he wants the ring back. Now, the ring was purchased by Netflix. The ring
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did not cost him a dime. The ring is a lab created diamond. So, even if you were to sell it, it’s not worth all that much. Diamonds resold aren’t worth all that much. It wasn’t his ring to begin with. So, the fact that he’s asking for the ring back just felt like kind of an immature reaction to
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rejection. But fine, you want the ring back because, you know, she broke up with you and it’s over. She shouldn’t have a souvenir of a relationship she was never into. And I get that. But I do think Patrick asking for the ring back was kind of petty because like that’s
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not your ring, dude. Like Netflix should ask for the ring back. Okay. Patrick wanted the ring back. She said no. At the reunion, she wound up giving the ring back. The fact that he even still wanted it just shows a level of immaturity that is not ready for marriage. Okay, he gets the ring back.
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Then they invite this NBA Clipper guy on and they have a basketball shootout and Casey does a great job and Patrick is really bad at basketball even though he says he played at one time. He says if she wins this basketball shootout, he’ll give her the ring. Okay. And he does because she wins and he’s
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touted as being this like really amazing guy because he gave her the ring back after this bet. And I’m like what? The whole thing felt immature, felt lame. She was never into you. She was your second choice anyway. You’re kind of desperate to either stay on the show or get married. I think it’s
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more stay on the show and it didn’t happen for you and as well it shouldn’t because you’re kind of too immature for a real relationship at this time. My hot take. Joe and Madison. Joe was never into Madison. Madison’s losing her sight. Madison was, to use Calabria’s word, thicker than he hoped at the
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reveal. He kept having sex with her. He kept making out with her. For me, that’s a problem. Even after he broke up with her, he asked her to go to dinner. He made out with her. He was stringing her along. She was allowing herself to be strung along. He is just in it for the Instagram likes.
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Now Madison’s got a lot of Instagram likes. He was out of her league, but he’s a dip who is in a league of his own as far as I’m concerned and just low class, not cool. Um, Calabria and Edmmond, you know, I spoke about Calabria earlier. She’s a social worker. I do think she has some level of
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emotional maturity, even though she called, uh, Sparkle Megan thick after giving birth two months prior. But um you know Edmund had a trouble childhood and grew up in the foster system and you know didn’t have supportive parents and his fifth grade teacher really was like
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the person who ensured that he got food and he just was not in an emotional place to be on a show let alone to be married. So, I do think the casting was dubious in Netflix from the start, but their job is to create great entertainment, not to pick emotionally mature people. And really, Edmmond
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should have had that filter if he was mature enough to know he’s not ready for this show. Blah blah blah. They did not interest me. They did not interest me last night either. Like, he’s obviously not ready. She’s probably ready for a mature relationship, but if you’re picking that
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guy, maybe not. I just thought that the reunion was boring. I thought Nicole and Vanessa did not add much. I was disappointed by everything that happened. It just felt like a continuation of the last episode since everybody had already broken up since no weddings actually took place.
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Um it didn’t feel like there was any new information besides Sparkle Megan and her baby. And even that wasn’t that hot a take. Well, that’s my hot take, guys. I hope you’re watching. Skip the reunion, but watch all the other episodes. It was entertaining. Um, and
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I’m excited for next season. When’s it
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Closing Remarks and Thanks
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going to drop? I will be there. And I will be here again next week with an all new episode. So, please join me then. Until next time. Bye. A big thanks to our producer Jeremy Young and to Eton and the Embassy for our theme music. And shout out to our parent company, Uploft Interior Design,
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your trusted source for expert interior design. Visit uploft.com to explore our services and book a consultation with one of our talented designers. If you’re enjoying the Uploft Interior Design podcast, please support us by sharing the show with friends and leaving a
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five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It’s the best way to help new listeners find us. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next week with more pro tips and pop culture dish.
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