8/31/26 Lauren and Stephanie

Stephanie is back after a week off, and Lauren DeGregorio of O'playsis in Buzzards Bay pulls up a chair for grant season, chaos gardening, and the question nobody has a good answer to: where do you actually meet people in your 40s?

IN THIS EPISODE

• Coming back from a week away and the guilt of feeling like you missed everything
• O'playsis explained: a collaborative art studio and music lounge on Main Street in Buzzards Bay, where play has no age limit, plus Reddington the resident snake
• Shoulder squirrels, Shelby's souvenir magnets for the business owner brain
• Live show nerves, the aunt who thought everyone could see her, and why the answer is to do it scared
• Football mom season: front page bruises, the ER visit, and the last-season cry
• Canal Farmers Market wrap and the food truck family that showed up every single week
• Chaos gardening: pumpkins volunteering out of the compost pile and tomatoes reseeding themselves
• Pen and paper people versus the brand new Kindle that has never been opened
• Bourne Youth Council lands back to back $5,000 grants and moves the Witches Walk onto Main Street
• Question of the day: the best way to meet people in your 40s
• Wallet Hub's 2026 Money and Relationships Survey, where 26 percent are hiding an account and 75 percent say money fights beat political ones
• Brunch bingo, the bingo cards that ran out 30 minutes before start, and the art of the pivot
• Army Family Day back on base with Sergeant Major Asia, 42 tents and a dunk tank for the commanders
• Haunted Hallows Mashpee: volunteers wanted, 39 days to opening
• The celebrity death rule of three and why our brains insist on it

PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES MENTIONED

Lauren DeGregorio and O'playsis (oplaysis.com), Bourne Youth Council (bourneyouthcouncil.com), Jen Christian of Ask Jen and Carseat Mama, Brooke MacKay, Kono Pizza Cape Cod, Adobo, Bourne to Cater, Shady's, Kind Hearts for Kids, Sharing Kindness, Magic Mirror, Morrissey Manor, the Mashpee Improvement Fund, Mashpee TV, the Mashpee Chamber of Commerce, the Mashpee EDIC, Mass Cultural Council, Bourne Community Engagement Council, SCORE, Allison Reed (Sam and Frank), Indie Art by the Sea, Seaside Le Mans.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

• Mon Sept 7: SCORE segment with Mark on small business accountability
• Sat Sept 12: Seaside Le Mans, Mashpee Commons
• Sun Sept 13: Kindness Walk, Candyland theme, foam machine at the finish line
• Sun Oct 4: Kindness Festival. Nonprofit info booths, youth vendor tables and the Kids Zone are all free
• Four weekends in October: Haunted Hallows Mashpee. Tickets at hauntedhallowsmashpee.com
• Great Gables Witches Walk, moving to Main Street with a parade, a live band and a scavenger hunt

QUOTABLE

"It's scary stuff when you haven't done it. So just do it scared." (Lauren)

"You are the sum of the people you surround yourself with. So what kind of people do I want to be surrounding myself with in this season of my days?"

"I was like, neglect, neglect, neglect. This is how we get these grown."

"You have to be okay during lean months, and you have to be normal during flush months so that you can get through the lean months."

HELP WANTED

Haunted Hallows and the Kindness Festival both need hands. Actors, candy apple sellers, Kids Zone table hosts, vendors and nonprofit booths. Reach out through the show.

Stephanie in the Morning. Every morning we ask and you answer, where locals take the mic. Powered by Lemonadio.

=================================================