Kid's schooling can be a hard area to decide. Public, private, Montessori… plus a curveball: a new “Montessorium” program that blends classic Montessori with a two‑hour AI‑powered learning model. Today, we share the pros, cons, money math, and the emotional side of selecting school for our kids—how it feels to be a working parent trying to make a good decision without falling into the comparison trap.We'll talk about how research, community discussions, shadowing classes, information sessions helped us in making decisions. We will also cover:class size & teacher quality, extracurriculars, logistics, values alignment, social fabric, academic culture and financial reality. Hope you enjoy this episode. Looking forward to discussions and comments!You can find more episodes of Chocolate & Spice: Two Brown Women Talk wherever you get your podcasts—Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and more. And check out our website chocolateandspicetalk.com for show notes, extras, and to connect with us directly. You can always email us at hello@chocolateandspicetalk.com—we love hearing from you.

Today we’re diving into perimenopause and menopause. We'll talk about symptoms and diagnosis, age at which it starts, discrimination women often face, support women need, how exercise and sleep help and how hormone therapy may help. We are so excited for today’s guest: Miranda Zuhlke, a certified Physician Assistant and menopause specialist with the North American Menopause Society. She supports women through hormone therapy, reproductive wellness, and the major health shifts that come with menopause and perimenopauseWe know menopause isn’t always an easy topic—but that’s exactly why we wanted to have this conversation. If you’re going through it, about to, or supporting someone who is, we hope this episode left you feeling informed, validated, and a little less alone. You can always find us at chocolateandspicetalk.com—we’ve got blog posts, episode notes, behind-the-scenes stories, and more. And if you’ve got thoughts, experiences, or questions you want to share, drop us an email at hello@chocolateandspicetalk.com or send us a message on Instagram @chocolateandspicetalk. We truly love hearing from you.Books, and more resources on menopause and perimenopause:Estrogen Matters: Avrum Bluming and Carol TavrisThe New Menopause: Mary Claire Haver, MDThe Hormone Cure: Sara Gottfried, MDPodcasts: You are not Broken: Kelly Casperson, MDWomen’s Health: Heather Hirsch, MD

We're diving into one of the most personal, often polarizing questions in parenting: Do you want a second child? we both have one child each. But we’ve landed in very different places about whether we wanted another. We talk openly about what influenced those choices: our upbringing, secondary infertility, our capacity, our mental load, the cultural pressure we feel as brown women, and how much of this comes from what we were taught growing up vs. what we truly want now.No right answers here—just honest stories and maybe some solidarity if you're navigating this too.Get more info and details on our website: https://chocolateandspicetalk.com/