This week’s live show at Trope Bookshop was full of steamy recs, dreamy vibes, and so much fun! We chatted about everything from what shoes we are wearing to secrets we’ve never shared, and of course, we dove deep into our favorite romance novel recommendations.

🔥At a past live show, a girlie submitted the burning question we’ve all debated at length: “Should I sleep with a 27-year-old if I’m 50?” We’ve polled the chat, asked the room, and almost everyone was fully supportive. So naturally, I was curious when I pulled a similar prompt during the Burning Questions segment this week and the response was… different. Way less enthusiasm, way more “I have follow up questions.”

Now we’re putting it to you: what would you tell this girlie who wants to know if she should have an affair with a hot French 19-year-old?

Is it worth It?
Getting a second puppy: Strong yes.
Having a baby: Less unanimous… but mothers say the ROI improves over time.

The girlies don’t get: the lure of Ariana and Cynthia’s relationship. One girlie did let us know they’ve been friends long before Wicked. Which somehow that makes all the finger-grasping…better? One girlie suggested listening to the Good Hang episode with Ariana for more friendship tea.

Beauty & Fashion: Frosted Lips? No one asked for this. Fairy skin? Intriguing.

👟 Girlies want to know what shoes are we wearing? In the crowd? Boston Birkenstock, Adidas, Sambas and several girlies introduced us to the chic and colorful stylings of Charlotte Stone. One girlie wanted to know if she should get those knee high statement fall boots? Without a doubt, yes. A girlie recommended stuffing the boots with old tshirts as an easy storage trick to help the boots keep their shape. From Carol: I’ll admit to gatekeeping these sneakers. They are a splurge, but worth it. Another girlie in the crowd agreed.

Fully (Green Tomato) Smoothie Lip Scrub? The girlies seemed less than sold about this new beauty product that editors are claiming is a must have. If you’ve tried it let us know.

🎁 Holiday decorating tips: Use a pool noodle to protect your banisters (then invite us to your banister house) and wrap your presents diagonally and around the world.

🏎️ Proper pronunciation: Porsche? Or Porscha? Girlies really will tell you both with their full chest. We took it to the source.

📱Unhinged Algorithms: it was…uh…a variety. Girlies have been served everything from an amethyst crystal dick, to “all I want for Christmas is a new president” wrapping paper, to baby quail content that is also somehow… about dicks??? Anyway. We’re so sorry about how many times we said “dick” here.

and IYKYK…. HOAs aren’t for everyone and waiting for takeoff is dangerous.

🍿 Binge: Frankenstein (Netflix), Pluribus (Apple TV), Maxton Hall (Amazon), House of Guinness (Netflix), All Her Fault (Peacock).

True Crime girlies are excited to check out The Carman Family Deaths (Netflix) and are watching Welcome to Derry (HBO Max) and The Beast in Me (Netflix).

🫢 Skip (or silently ignore):
Eddington, Absentia, and it’s worth mentioning an audible groan filled the room when we asked about All’s Fair.

🎲 Split the Room:
The Materialists (HBO Max), House of Dynamite (Netflix)

🎄Too soon for holiday binges? No one had seen A Merry Little Ex-Mas or Champagne Problems but we will report back.

We asked about the usual book club book picks, and Reese’s Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy got a stamp of approval.

Katie Mitchell, owner of Trope came up to discuss all things romance novel recos. We learned about Shadow Daddies and that if you’re an audiobook lover try listening to anything narrated by Teddy Hamilton (but maybe don’t look him up 😬).

Looking for a romance read? Pick these up at Trope: False Start by Kandi Steiner, Quicksilver by Callie Hart and for an extra steamy vibe this holiday try 12 Days of Smutmas by Dana Leann.

Girlies say it’s worth it to grab that reso at Bird Pizza, even if you’re waiting a while. If you’re impatient maybe try some of these in between?

📍 Open OpenTable
Salud, Puerto, Soul Gastro (the return of a CLT classic).

Carol: I will never tire of the absolute perfection that is the Burning Questions segment of our live shows. Every show is different, every crowd has its own distinct group-chat energy, but one thing never changes: the collective, almost primal desire for whatever a girlie is considering to be for herself. It never fails that a girlie drops a potentially life-altering question in this segment —“Should I move across the world? Take this career leap? Start a family?”— every time the crowd erupts in a feral voting system and then like clockwork, the girlies add, “As long as it’s for you.”

Every room always lands in the same place: choose the life that is most deeply, intentionally, unapologetically yours. The collective swell of support for a fellow human’s quiet, anonymous ask? It lingers. And that, girlies, is the magic.

Skylar: This week, one of the girlies asked: is it a red flag when your date reschedules just to do a FaceTime instead? Resounding yes 🚩. Extra flags on the play? He apparently ghosted the actual date, which truly just feels like one of those moments where I quote Oprah’s famous advice —when people reveal themselves to you, listen.

The chatter around this at the live show reminded me of a guy I had dated when I lived in LA. Scheduling our first date brunch was brutal because of conflicting schedules, and when we finally met, he abruptly ended the date because he had a FaceTime with his family. Kinda weird, right? And also… ok, you could have set that expectation upfront instead of dropping it right before asking for the check. Alas, this was a red flag I ignored.

So naturally we dated for several months. The relationship eventually ended because of one fateful evening. The night he told me not to forget the ice cream sandwiches I’d brought over the visit before…because, apparently, he “didn’t have room in his freezer.”

I may have technically kept my cool (no pun intended) for the rest of the visit, but as soon as I left, I threw those ice cream sandwiches in the garbage outside his house, quietly seething and wondering why he couldn’t have just tossed them himself and pretended he ate them LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. On the drive home, I called him and delivered one of my epic final lines: “I don’t think you have room in your life for me if you don’t even have room in your freezer.”

At every live show, we spotlight Girlies You Should Know - women making your city brighter, bolder, and better.

🍴 Mack Moore
Mack Moore is the founder of Fork the System, a grassroots Mecklenburg County project built on one belief: when the system fails our neighbors, we step up and fix it together.

📸 Megan Easterday
Megan is the owner of Easterday Creative and she just opened a brand-new studio space in CLT! She’s a photographer who blends empathy, humor, and artistry to her visual storytelling.

Want to nominate A Girlie You Should Know?

Gone Googling. Someone at the live show mentioned they googled Alan’s DWTS Donkey Costume…? Now it’s my most recent Google, too. I have regrets. Have a google you can’t unsee? Reply back and let us know what it was.

💌 Know a “girlie with gossip” who deserves the spotlight? Email us at [email protected].

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Think you know where to get the best dirty Martini? We want to try it.

Have a story worthy of a live show re-tell? Tell us!