Shadowing Practice: A Rainy Day in NYC - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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It's a great kind of rainy day here in New York City but let's make the most of it shall we?
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This made my day you have no idea.
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Hi Penny!
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A baby cavalier!
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Thank you for sharing.
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Oh my god.
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The cavalier gods were looking out for me today.
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Super interesting first little stop along the way.
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These are called the Riverside Apartments here in Brooklyn Heights.
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They were built in 1890, so some of the first examples of affordable housing here in New York.
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And I believe it's 176 units right here on Columbia Place and then Joralleman Street.
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But super cool because look at the iron ore railings and everything, balconies, kept exactly as it was.
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Super beautiful.
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Apparently they have pretty not great ongoing maintenance issues because they are
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so old and are some of the few of their type that haven't been converted into like fancy condos yet.
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I'm sure somehow.
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There's no way.
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But that's what I read.
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Got the best seat in the house.
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Currently reading.
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I've been reading for a while because it's a thick'un.
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A thick'un.
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
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And I vow to finish it today because what better to do on a gray day?
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You know when people set up these shots and it's just for the aesthetics and your butt actually really hurts?
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That'll be me.
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I admit it.
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But in like a few minutes.
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So let's get through a few pages.
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Well, that was quite lovely.
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It was pouring rain in there while I was reading.
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Got through some of my book.
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It's true, I did get uncomfortable at some point.
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So I left.
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And now, we're more relaxing to sit for a heart-to-heart than right here along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
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It's been actually so long since I had, like I said, a heart-to-heart.
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But something I've been reflecting on, and something I get asked a good amount, is sort of the late 20s part of life that I'm in.
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And at this stage of life, I feel like it's probably so normal to be starting to think about kind of the big questions of life.
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A big one for me is New York.
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Let's use today as an example.
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I woke up, it was rainy and gray.
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And every time there's this weather, and granted, I'm in a t-shirt.
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It's still summer.
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It's still warm, which I really appreciate.
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But my God, you guys, during the winter, this most recent one, I was like, you know, I don't love this.
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For those who don't know, I was born and raised in LA.
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So I just really am a California girl at heart.
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And I will always think that New York City is the best city in the world.
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I feel that deep in my core and I always will.
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There's no place like it.
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I think it's especially amazing for your early to mid-20s.
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There's just so much opportunity.
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There's so much life that you can pack into just a few years.
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But as your preferences, or I'll speak for myself, as my preferences have shifted over the last few years, but like let's call it a year really, and I enjoy a bit more time to myself,
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a little bit of a slower pace, not going out quite as much.
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I still have my big nights here and there, don't get me wrong.
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And I still love grabbing drinks with friends and all that.
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But it certainly is more time focused on health, more time with my partner, which we'll talk more about him later.
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With these shifting preferences, I have to admit, I have been starting to think about if New York is the best place to be in the next stage.
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Because when I think about Southern California, where my parents are, and the feeling of sun shining down on my skin pretty much every single day.
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And being able to go out into my backyard
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and get down on the ground and hang out with my dogs is quite literally, and superlative on this, probably is my favorite thing in the entire world to do.
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And my favorite feeling.
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And I'm definitely starting to miss that a bit more.
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So, I don't know.
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This is not a definitive announcement by any means whatsoever.
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But I thought I would give you guys a little update that it has been something I've thought a lot about.
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And then something else, if we're getting a little bit juicy, also in the late 20s, I also can't help but start to think about those next steps and family life and all that,
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even though it's still years away.
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On that front, I've always said that I don't think it's going to be New York for me when that time comes.
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So I just love the childhood that I was given by my parents.
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And again, being in Southern California and the sun shining
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and just being outside was such a big part of my life growing up
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that I imagine I'll want to give that to my kids too when that time comes.
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So anyway, these are big topics.
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And I'm just kind of sitting so casually here along the BQE yelling over the trucks.
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But hey, anyway, let's go do some other stuff.
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And we'll circle back to some of these juicy topics later tonight.
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Let's go.
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fabulous my mic did not record this for some reason
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but i was saying
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that one of my favorite parts about moving to brooklyn has been the architecture the brownstones in particular
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which each have their own character traits different shades of red brick different crown molding
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and so much history separately here i was saying
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that a guilty pleasure of mine is figuring out
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which windows go to a bathroom like when they're skinny and have translucent glass.
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A fun pastime for Taylor.
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Best Seat in the House Part 2.
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I don't know if you guys know this about me.
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You probably do.
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I am a cinnamon roll connoisseur.
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It's my favorite dessert.
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This is the apartment 4F cinnamon roll.
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I've ingested probably 200 of these bad boys.
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What's amazing about this cinnamon roll is if you like a slightly crisp exterior, sort of like a croissant, so very flaky and light, don't get me wrong, and then a doughy center,
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this is your cinnamon roll.
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For me, this is an eight and a half out of ten, which is very good.
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My ideal type of cinnamon roll is one where every bite is like the center, just a ooey gooey mess of the cinnamon roll.
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And so my favorite cinnamon in New York City is from Sunday morning in the East Village. So good.
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And that's an ooey gooey.
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Mm-mm-mm.
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And I happily eat this one quite often.
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Twist my arm.
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Whenever it gets to this point, this centerpiece that's left, my romantic roommate is always like, what would you do if I just ate that?
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If I just took that off your plate and ate it?
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I'd say our relationship would be on the rocks.
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happy taylor let's walk that off
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was raining the whole time i was in there
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and now i keep missing the rain it's kind of awesome
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all right one favorite spot on to the next another favorite spot oh yeah can't stop getting them
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One of the women who works here, Estella, is half Costa Rican, half Norwegian.
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So cool and she is just the absolute best.
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She was telling me about other times that people have asked to film inside the store.
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This is Estella, not to cut you off.
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I always used to say no, no, you know, never say never because you never know.
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Even with all the people that have come and filmed you mean?
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Oh totally, yeah, yeah.
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So the first time I said yes, it was one of the last episodes of the original Law and Order.
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because it was 2008 when we were officially in trouble.
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Right, yeah.
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And I said, okay, how much money?
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You know, I'm like, we have to do something.
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So you have to sign all the papers, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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They always lie anyway.
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Yeah, sure.
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They always say, oh, it's going to be two hours.
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Yeah, right.
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You know what happened?
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What?
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Law and Order always has filmed in New York.
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Yes.
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But they changed the name of the businesses.
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They don't use it.
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And so they realized that this flower shop has been here since 1853.
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1853?
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And so they came two days before and said, can we use the name of the flower shop?
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And I'm like, yeah.
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Please.
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This was before social media.
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Crazy like now.
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I said, well, that's great advertisement. Of course.
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Did it help?
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People came in.
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Oh my God.
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People used to come and say, you were, I mean, maybe they didn't buy anything, but just the back that they say, oh, we saw you on Law & Order.
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Yeah.
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It was really cool.
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And you've been here since you said 92.
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92. 92.
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Oh, you've been so great.
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so much and guys come to the store it's as good as it seems she's fantastic everyone here is
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so good thank you of course thank you so much and thank you for the snake plant my first
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hello good how are you um i need a 11 by 14 frame ideally with some uv protection
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It's a colored pencil drawing so I know it fades with the sun.
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Some good looking plants.
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This is froggy.
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This is the one I just got as you guys saw.
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I think I want to reimagine this wall a little bit Because it is so blank,
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we've been thinking for so long what to put here and have just kind of left it on the back burner.
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But I have some small ideas using things we already have.
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I'm going to start by swapping these out.
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And then me putting that back up there.
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And then over there is where we'll get a little bit more of a western theme.
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Maybe like that.
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Hear that thunder?
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Okay, how does this look?
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Should they be closer together?
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Not gonna lie, I am kind of eyeballing this.
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I can't let my snake plant cloud my sense of position.
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I think these two generally in line with that piece of art, like that, would be nice.
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Okay, I'm gonna rip it.
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Thank God for command strips.
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And commit, commit, commit, push.
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I did it.
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My romantic roommate's home state and my home state.
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Here goes nothing and commit.
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I think I feel good about that.
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Let's put Snakey back.
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Okay, how's that?
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Aw, it's cute.
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I like it.
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But then what goes up here?
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You might wonder.
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I have something very special to share with you.
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Just one moment.
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you guys this is a color pencil drawing done by a
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subscriber miss carla franklin who is goes without saying an extremely talented artist
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and she reached out to me months ago asking
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if she could draw my two doggies
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and we did a bunch of emailing back
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and forth to figure out what photos would work the best
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and she combined two of my favorite pictures of each of them
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and mailed this to me remarkably quick she is it's crazy how talented she is
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but i am just
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so incredibly blown away by the detail she got biscuits ginormous eyes perfectly lily's cute little face i'm
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so blown away i can't thank carla enough
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so she didn't ask me to do this
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but of course i'm going to
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if you guys want commissioned drawing by carla send her an email here and i'm also putting her her Instagram right here, all the information.
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Of course, we'll link her down below too, but I'm just so thankful I will have this forever and ever.
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And so I think you've probably figured it out.
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That's what's going right there.
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At that frame store I went into, I bought just a piece of UV protective glass to use in the frame.
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So let's do it.
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Oh my gosh.
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Oh, the light wood goes so well with it too, doesn't it?
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It kind of captures the Western vibe, but it just matches the pup so well.
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All the wood and natural materials, it all just feels so, it's not going here, but it all just feels so cohesive.
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I mean, it could go here.
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Maybe.
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I still think here.
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Aw, the babies.
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This one gets a nail.
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No command strips for this guy.
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So 54 above the baseboard.
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They say comfortable eye level.
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Well, this is a house of tall, learned doctors.
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So maybe up here and I don't care what people say.
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Yeah, I'm gonna do what feels right.
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Let's find the center of this.
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So much work.
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Sorry to my neighbors.
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All right, hell yeah.
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How does it look?
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This makes me so happy.
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Look at them.
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A house full of art, you could say.
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One thing that the rainy weather cannot stop us from doing.
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Let's go.
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I'm done!
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So, as you might have seen, maybe not, I don't know, I ran the New York City Marathon in November.
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It was one of my all-time core memories living here in New York.
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But, as is the case with a lot of people who run the marathon, I stopped running for a while afterwards and got super into strength training.
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And I have no plans of stopping, but at some point, I realized I gotta start running again.
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So now I can successfully say that I have incorporated running back into my routine consistently, and it actually feels so good.
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As epic as marathon training in New York was, like all the cool places of the city that I got to see, I have to say that treadmill running is what has got me back into running consistently
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because it's just so easy to tack on for 30 minutes or whatever after a strength training session.
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Hot take.
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I know everyone finds a treadmill boring and they'd rather run outside.
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I find it kind of relaxing.
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And the way that I structure my runs is by using this training plan that I have with RUNA, which actually keeps me on top of things.
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RUNA is amazing.
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It's a personalized running coaching app that tailors a running plan specific to your goals, your running and injury history,
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how often and what days of the week you actually want to run to fit into your lifestyle.
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And I am a busy girl.
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Not that busy today.
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All right, we just chilled today, but normally I'm on the go.
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And Rana is so great for this because I can adjust my plan as I go.
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Like if I'm traveling, I can use vacation mode to adjust the plan accordingly.
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And my goal right now is simple.
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Just improve, keep up my overall cardio health.
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Wow, I'm strength training and it has been for my routine.
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Finally.
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So if you want to try Rana and set up plan based off your own goals, download Rana using the link in my description with code Taylor Bell or just scan this QR code.
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Thanks to Rana for sponsoring this video and now let's get into it.
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Oh yeah baby, you see that?
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Don't mind if I do.
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My favorite fruit.
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Besides, of course, the mighty tomato.
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Speaking of what?
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Whoa!
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You did not know that when you clicked on this video, you were about to see how to make the best tasting meal you've ever had.
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And it's dead simple.
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Let's do it.
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When you guys see this, you're going to be like, restaurants do that all the time or that dish is everywhere.
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It's actually not because restaurants version of this uses a lot of oil, which I guess is fine.
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But the key ingredient is this bad boy right here.
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Not sponsored.
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This is Kerrygold butter.
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It's Irish butter.
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It is not cheap.
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I'll be the first one to say it.
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So if this is, you know, special occasion so be it
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but this makes all the difference you don't even know what
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i'm gonna make yet let me show you this is for
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dessert don't over index on the nectarine we're not mixing nectarine
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and tomato all right first step boil some water just enough
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to cover the amount of pasta you're gonna make salt your water we want to salt the pasta from within
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so be generous now we Now we get started on the sauce, which is the best part.
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I also will be the first to say this isn't the healthiest meal in the world.
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It's not horrible.
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Well, it's not great, but it is tasty and that's what we're doing right now.
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It is a tomato-based sauce, spoiler alert.
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It's my favorite food.
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So you wanna have your tomatoes.
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Next ingredient.
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Do you really think I'm gonna make a tomato-based pasta dish without a nice dose of garlic?
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Who do you think I am?
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and remember salt as you go it makes a difference we
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have some kosher salt here yum yum yum yum yum little
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on the garlic why not okay sauce begins tomato paste i usually am making this with my partner
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and so i don't usually make it for one
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so i'm gonna more
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or less have things heat this up with some chili flakes
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just a little well to your taste how much like heat
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and you kind of heat it until it turns a darker red a little butter would be good too
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while that's going for a little bit the pasta goes in we've been using rigatoni because it's kind of a
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goaded pasta shape but you can use whatever you want
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all right this is key a nice knob goes in with those tomatoes While that's sitting for a few minutes,
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you can clean up the kitchen.
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This is what my companion is very good at, the clean while going.
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I'm trying to get better.
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When the pasta has just a few more minutes left, add some of the starchy pasta water.
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Not too much, but a couple spoonfuls.
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It makes it nice and thick and more of a sauce.
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Also, a little hack to make something like this even thicker,
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in addition to that pasta water that we already added is to get this Wandra quick mixing flour.
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If you create a little space in the middle where the liquid is, just kind of whisk it in there,
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and then you'll see you get this really nice thick consistency.
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We drain the pasta, and then we add it directly to our sauce immediately.
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Okay, we're not done, but this This is the base and I know that seems incredibly simple.
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Like Taylor, you put garlic and tomatoes.
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I beg to differ.
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There are a couple small changes that I swear make a world of difference.
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Number one, the Kerrygold butter.
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Number two, the tomato paste at the beginning.
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Number three, a few chili flakes.
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It just adds a little bit of heat in a really nice way.
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And then I have two more things that are coming.
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That is what we start with.
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We plate.
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Little amount left for lunch tomorrow.
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Fantastic.
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This is where we make a few additions.
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Number one, basil raw for me generous amount basil is my favorite herb
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and last but most certainly not least I'm gonna give you a close-up for the next one
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this is without exaggeration maybe my favorite bite of food a little bit of burrata a little bit of tomato,
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some basil, cracked pepper on top.
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It's insane.
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I would pay so much for this at a restaurant.
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It's crazy.
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Again, you know, we're not optimizing for nutrition here, but boy are my taste buds happy.
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I probably should say that I didn't film everything I ate today.
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Like I had a very nutritious breakfast and other snacks before my workout and stuff.
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I didn't just eat my cinnamon roll on this today.
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But hey, even if I did, so be it.
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Oh my god.
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And remember earlier when I was talking about my shifting preferences
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and how much time I now have for myself and with my partner and everything, this time of day, normally he's here, he has a work dinner tonight,
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but this part of the day, the hours after work
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when we cook dinner together eat it talk about our days
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debrief what we're thinking about whatever else it might be like
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that is my favorite time of the day you know things
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have definitely changed since I first moved to New York in ways
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that I'm super happy about like I think
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that the last time I had a little bit of an
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existential chit chat on here was in my San Francisco vlog almost two years ago.
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I think even in that video I said I didn't dread the changes I was feeling.
349
Now I really really don't.
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I'm actually very happy about them.
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It also just feels really good.
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I imagine like 30-something year olds feel this even more where they just really know themselves quite well.
353
They know what they like, they know what they don't like.
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I think that there are probably great parts to every age
355
and I'm looking forward to seeing what those things are, you know?
356
I hope that all makes sense and it doesn't just sound like a bunch of platitudes, but if you can relate, whether you're around my age or if you're much,
357
you know, decades older, which is, by the way, so many people in their 50s, 60s, 70s comment on my videos and it makes me so,
358
so happy every single time.
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So anyway, that was a tangent, but if you are in the slightly older demographic, let me know how you kind of felt about this as you started to get into your 30s
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and 40s and have kids and big life changes and move into a house and everything.
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Life's big questions, huh?
362
Hell yeah.
363
I mean, it's just...
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I'm so obsessed with our bedroom.
365
At night time.
366
Oh, it's just the coziest.
367
Big ol' mirror, all these plants, Eduardo, Ying, Perkins.
368
We got baby.
369
Putting on and taking off earrings is low-key a time-consuming process, and you have a bunch.
370
Okay.
371
As promised, I said we would return to the juicy topic.
372
Hang on, is this revealing?
373
I can't tell.
374
Maybe my feet too.
375
Okay, that's better.
376
Understandably, a lot of people have questions about why my roommate slash companion who The jig is up.
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It is my boyfriend So many questions about why he's not in the videos.
378
It's a pretty simple.
379
He's just a very private person and I Completely respect that
380
that that's the short answer really parts of me would love to share him with you guys
381
And for him to say hi
382
but like at the end of the day I've kept
383
that part of my life separate from my YouTube channel for years now, and I now see so much value in it as well.
384
For the most part, I actually love knowing that this thing
385
that is private just for him and I to know about and our friends, obviously.
386
It's been nice actually not broadcasting all of that.
387
While there would be some really nice upsides, I do like that I haven't allowed it to be this thing that people could weigh in on.
388
Oh, and the roommate companion thing.
389
We say that because he and I both think it's really funny.
390
I asked him before this, I was like, people aren't going to believe me when I say that you literally, it was your idea.
391
Right before we filmed the apartment tour, which he filmed, I was like, what would be the funniest thing I could call you in this video?
392
Because it'll be painfully obvious that we live together and that this is our shared bedroom.
393
And he's like, it would be funniest probably if you called me your roommate.
394
I was like, all right, let's do it.
395
We ran with it.
396
And then throughout the video, I'm showing things that my roommate got me for Valentine's Day.
397
and I show you guys me and my roommate's bedroom.
398
It's the most like painfully obvious thing and he and I just think it's so funny.
399
And you'd be surprised how many comments I still get that are like, you're not fooling anyone.
400
Think this through.
401
I literally got someone that said think this through.
402
Anyway, but that's the answer guys.
403
It's, he's a very, I hear he's finished the shower.
404
So I'm being more quiet now.
405
Anyway, until next time, turtle.
406
Out.
407
Good night.
408
Should I tell them that your name is Carmine Leguzio?
409
You can say that.
410
Okay.
411
Ho ho ho.
412
If you say so, whoop.
413
Hang on, I need to butt my pants.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “A Rainy Day in NYC”. This video has 411 sentences and 4200 words to shadow. The speech runs for 28:46. The speaker talks at a steady 146 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 84% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pasta noun | /ˈpɑ.stə/ | Dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating. |
| tomato noun | /təˈmeɪ.toʊ/ | A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit. |
| cinnamon noun | /ˈsɪnəmən/ | A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae. |
| roommate noun | /ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt/ | A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment. |
| preference noun | /ˈpɹɛf(ə)ɹ(ə)ns/ | The selection of one thing or person over others (with the main adposition being "for" in relation to the thing or person, but possibly also "of") |
| basil noun | /ˈbæz.əl/ | A plant (Ocimum basilicum). |
| juicy adjective | /ˈd͡ʒuːsi/ | Having lots of juice. |
| rainy adjective | /ˈɹeɪni/ | Pouring with rain; wet; showery |
| garlic noun | /ˈɡɑɹlɪk/ | A plant, Allium sativum, related to the onion, having a pungent bulb much used in cooking. |
| companion noun | /kəmˈpæn.jən/ | A friend, acquaintance or partner; someone with whom one spends time or accompanies |
| marathon noun | /ˈmæɹəθən/ | A 42.195-kilometre (26-mile-385-yard) road race. |
| cavalier adjective | /ˈkæ.vəˌlir/ | Lacking the proper care or concern for something important, reckless, rash, high-handed. |
| flake noun | /fleɪk/ | A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything |
| nectarine noun | /ˌnɛktəˈɹiːn/ | A cultivar of the peach with smooth rather than fuzzy skin. |
| painfully adverb | /ˈpeɪnfəli/ | In a painful manner; as if in pain. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| blow away verb | To cause to go away by blowing, or by wind. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| get through verb | /ɡɛt ˈθɹu/ | To overcome; to endure. |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| clean up verb | To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy. | |
| get down on verb | To come to be down (hostile to) regarding something. | |
| go in with verb | To commit to something with; to partner with. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- It's true, I did get uncomfortable at some point.
- Let's use today as an example.
- It's still warm, which I really appreciate.
- If I just took that off your plate and ate it?
- Who do you think I am?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been reading · I've been reflecting · have been starting |
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to say · used to come |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't been converted · have shifted · I've thought |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | those who don · ten, which is · women who works |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 109 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/, aesthetics /ɛsˈθɛt.ɪks/, thankful /ˈθæŋkfəl/, thunder /ˈθʌndɚ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shine /ʃaɪn/, exaggeration /ɪɡˌzæd͡ʒəˈɹeɪʃən/, existential /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/, casually /ˈkæʒuəli/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, exaggeration /ɪɡˌzæd͡ʒəˈɹeɪʃən/, personalize /ˈpɜː.sə.nə.laɪz/, ideally /aɪˈdi.ə.li/, remarkably /ɹɪˈmɑɹkəbli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pasta, tomato, cinnamon.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.