Not Without My Sister

What are your hard and fast life rules? When Don told Rosemary, "I don't DO moving", she was inspired to come up with a few of her own. So in this week's main episode we're talking about our ultimate DOs and DON'Ts of life. (Rosemary really doesn't do fancy dress, she wants you all to know.) Let us know your DOs and DON'Ts! (Post-pandemic, can we all just agree that we don't do cheek-kissing to sa...

When did we first learn about plastic surgery – and what would we consider having done? This question is mostly for Beatrice, as Rosemary has already had a lot done, as it happens. We talk about the quest for beauty, Botox as treatment for headaches and the definition of plastic vs cosmetic surgery on this, our whopping 70th episode! Happy 70th birthday to us! (Thanks to non-invasive treatments, w...

Is it ever acceptable to walk out of a job interview if you realise it's not for you?! Answer: YES! We should ALL be walking away from things a lot more often than we do – as attested to by the numerous examples we go through, of situations we should mos def have walked away from. Pls do not judge Rosemary for prostrating herself so embarrassingly – and please, slide into our DMs or email us notwi...

What's YOUR idea of comfort food and why is it a cup of tea and a slice of white toast with Kerrygold?! We're asking the questions that matter on Not Without My Sister today – and yes, Rosemary's McDonald's problem gets several honourable mentions. Let us know what you eat when you need a warm belly hug because we are always open to new food suggestions (as long as it's something Rosemary can orde...

It's the long-awaited mailbag episode! We've gathered some DMs, emails and tragic tales sent to us via the magic of social media (and, er, email) and are discussing them right here! If you'd like to get in touch, please feel free to email us notwithoutmysis@gmail.com, DM us on Instagram @notwithoutmysister or get in touch with us individually on IG @rosemarymaccabe and @beatricemaccabe Love the po...

Have you ever experienced the pang of unrequited love? It may not surprise you to know that both of us have – at various stages of our lives. We talk about the agony (and ecstacy) of fancying someone who has absolutely zero interest in you; whether to confess your love to someone who has no idea; and Rosemary reminisces (again) about the time she handed a gold coin condom to someone because she th...

We're kind of talking about New Year's resolutions – except we're not, because New Year's resolutions have gone out of fashion. So we're rephrasing it to focus more on, you know, goals and objectives; things we'd like to achieve this year; and ways in which we're striving to be… well, better! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting us on Patreon! For the price of a fancy coffee (€4.50/...

In case you didn't know, Rosemary had a baby – and things, as they so often tend not to, didn't go to plan. We sit down to discuss the birth of Atlas Eddie, Beatrice's role on the day, Brandin's unexpected and uncharacteristic lack of chill and the shock of the C-section. If you like the podcast, please consider supporting us on Patreon! For the price of a fancy coffee (€4.50/month) you'll get an...

Rosemary likes to think she's not superficial, so she starts out talking about charitable gifts – but soon the façade is forgotten as we get into the meat of what we'd like to find under the tree this Christmas. It's very clear from this conversation that, as our Mum frequently tells us, we "don't need a thing!" but we'd like some nice things all the same. Please share: what's top of your Christma...

We're talking about handing in your notice in this brand new episode of Not Without My Sister, for which we have returned from our short hiatus! (It seemed fitting to make a comeback and talk about quitting…) So what are good reasons to leave a job? (And are there any bad?) Why do we all hate handing in our notice? And do our bosses ever truly care that we're moving on? If you like the podcast, pl...

We're taking another short stroll down memory lane as we count down to our grand return on December 6th. This is the eighth ever episode of Not Without My Sister, in which we revisit some of our most heartbreaking and humiliating online dating moments (oh, there are many more than we can recount). Not Without My Sister is still uploading NEW content on Patreon each and every Friday, so if you miss...

On this, the sixth episode of Not Without My Sister EVER, Beatrice talked about how she got to where she is now in her career as a fashion designer – and what she learned along the way! We're on our mini maternity leave until December, so thank you for bearing with us as we stroll down memory lane and give a little glimpse into what people get over on Patreon! Because we're still uploading NEW con...

We promised to share some until-now exclusive-to-Patreon content while we're on our little maternity leave, so please enjoy this super extra bonus episode where we talk about just how brilliant we are at taking compliments – and how you, too, can be brilliant like us! If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do so over on Patreon where it's business (almost) as usual and our patrons are getti...

Thanks again for bearing with us while we take this little hiatus-slash-maternity leave break! Here's the very first episode of the podcast, revisited – for those of you who didn't start from the start, or just need a reminder as to where we got the name! We'll have to keep revisiting old episodes now that Mother has told us, in no uncertain terms, that we are NOT to mention her EVER AGAIN! Anyway...

We promised to share some until-now-exclusive-to-Patreon content while on maternity leave, so please enjoy this episode where we detail a few of the books we've read and loved of late! If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do so over on Patreon where it's business (almost) as usual and our patrons are getting a brand new episode every Friday. patreon.com/notwithoutmysister We received a DM...

We're on maternity leave – but we still wanted to give you a little reminder that Not Without My Sister exists! So here's our number one episode of all time, as voted for by YOU: episode 12, Sense & Stupidity, with a new intro tacked on to the old (but much beloved) episode! Thank you so much for bearing with us over these few weeks as we take a little time off and readjust to the newest Mac C...

How good are you at navigating? You know, with a map – or Google Maps, more commonly – from the passenger seat of the car. Can you stay calm? Can you elicit calm in the driver? Do you regularly f*ck up and have to apologise for meandering down country roads? You'll be shocked to know that one of us thinks we're a great navigator! And one of us knows we're not. One of us likes to navigate themselve...

And how do we handle ours? Beatrice doesn't think she has particularly high stress levels, except, oh yes, for the fact that she hasn't slept the night through in almost a decade. So we talk about things like sleep hygiene, to-do lists, how Rosemary's therapist thinks she might have ADHD (but Rosemary thinks she's just got some bad habits a la Ed Sheeran) and whether or not Mammy Mac Cabe has ever...

Why does bad luck keep hampering our every holiday attempt?! Why will Beatrice never again provide nuts for guests? Did Travis really steal Philip Mac Cabe's broken tooth? And has Philip kept up his pointe practice? We answer NONE of these questions in today's episode of Not Without My Sister! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting us on Patreon! For the price of a fancy coffee (€4.50...

Ah, another glorious walk down memory lane as we recount the summer jobs we had in our not-even-remotely-misspent youths (when you live in the country you really have to try to get into trouble): from potting teeny tiny saplings in teeny tiny pots to serving Sunday dinners to middle-aged golfers, we go deep into the cultural and personal ramifications of being put to work at far too young an age....

We're talking about the magical moment(s) we discovered we were expecting – how we felt, who we told and how they reacted – in the latest episode of Not Without My Sister. We'll be touching on unplanned pregnancies, asking how many pregnancy tests is too many pregnancy tests and divulging exactly how Don always knows Bea is pregnant before she does. If you like the podcast, please consider su...

We're talking reality TV on this week's episode – or, rather, Beatrice is quizzing Rosemary on what exactly it is that she enjoys about Love Island, The Bachelorette and true trash TV like Too Hot to Handle. Is it voyeurism? Is it the potential for ogling beautiful people in the sun? Or does she enjoy watching other humans suffer? Or could it be (d) all of the above?! Let us know your thoughts abo...

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell truth from fiction – and we blame fiction, and popular culture more specifically, for tricking us into thinking that certain things would be easy and, more than that, FUN! We talk working as a camp counsellor, the cure-all qualities of Coca-Cola and Rosemary's almost-career as a tennis champ in this brand new, super early and entirely ad-free episode of N...

What's it like to move to another country, thousands of miles from your own? Do you ever truly feel at home? And will we ever go back to Ireland? We chat all things emigration on this week's episode of Not Without My Sister – from cultural differences to things we'll never stop missing, and the family dinners we really miss most of all. If you have any further questions about the practicalities of...

A listener sent us in a quandary – asking how they should react if and when someone's upset. So what's the best course of action if a friend / colleague / partner is upset? Do you pretend you haven't noticed and give them space? Comfort them? Write out a list of reasons they shouldn't be upset? Tell them to cheer up and get on with things? WE PROVIDE NO ANSWERS in this episode but, instead, discus...