Valley Girls Podcast

The Valley Girls chat with Laura Pensiero of Gigi in Rhinebeck about opening a restaurant in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of the Mediterranean Diet for good health, hosting for the holidays without demolishing your good eating habits, cooking well on a budget while reducing food waste, and the burgeoning Food is Medicine movement. Hungry for more f...

The Valley Girls chatted with Sheila Hyer, owner of Convenient Curations , about the bounty of thrift shops in the Hudson Valley, how to evaluate whether a secondhand purchase is worth it, and whether it’s acceptable to give secondhand finds as gifts. (Spoiler alert: IT IS.) Thrifting can scratch your itch for a treasure hunt, support community groups who use resale stores to fund their aid progra...

The Valley Girls chat with Matt Bryant, owner of Bryant Home Improvement, about how to make sure your home can weather the winter (hint: clean your gutters NOW); how to find and source reliable home repair professionals and tradespeople; and how not to be a nightmare client for your contractor. A huge thank you to Matt and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bryant Home Improvement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for sponsoring Season 4 of the podcast! W...

The Valley Girls chat with  Mark Gerlach , a Certified Hypnotherapist (CHt), about what hypnotherapy can and cannot do, (spoiler alert: it won’t make you quack like a duck); whether we can hypnotize ourselves; and the possibilities of astral travel and past-life regression. A huge thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, ⁠⁠⁠Bryant Home Improvement⁠⁠⁠ ! With over 20 years of experience in luxury home bui...

The Valley Girls chat with author Gail Straub about her newest book, Home Inside the Globe , about what she’s learned on her journeys from Paraguay to Paris, from the Sahara to the Himalayas, solo travel for women, and the indomitable human spirit that connects us all. A huge thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, ⁠⁠Bryant Home Improvement⁠⁠ ! With over 20 years of experience in luxury home building,...

The Valley Girls chat with Lena Rizkallah , a financial advisor who started her business mid-life, during the pandemic, with no clients, and now specializes in helping women take charge of their money - and consequently, their power. Hear Lena’s take on how women approach investing differently, generational attitudes toward money, and a 5-step action plan for taking charge of your financial future...

The Valley Girls are back for another exciting season! To kick off Season 4, The Valley Girls welcome back Betsy Jacks , a favorite guest from our episode exploring the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY, to chat about her post-Cole life. (Spoiler alert: it’s still filled with beautiful art.) Betsy shares her new journey painting full-time and her work that, much like Cole’s, uses...

The Valley Girls - including Rebecca and Danielle from season 2 segments "A Capital Idea" and "The 411 of Westchester" - are joined by Melaine Rottkamp of Destination Dutchess and Hudson Valley Tourism to wax nostalgic about childhood summer fun and share their lists of must-do Hudson Valley summertime activities. Also check out our ideas in our two blog posts to supplement your own summer wish li...

The Valley Girls soar to new heights with Anne Swaim, Executive Director of Saw Mill River Audubon in Chappaqua, about why the Hudson Valley is a “crazy-good” birding region, why bald eagles are making a comeback, why you don’t need to worry about the baby birds you see on the ground, how to choose the best binoculars for maximum bird-spotting, the collective noun for a group of turkeys, and the z...

The Valley Girls chat with Gwyn Corso of Denver Skin Therapy , Matt Eyler of Trinity Martial Arts , and mind-body coach & counselor Jenny Baltazar, MA about how skin care, meditation, community, goal setting, structured routines, and altruism can all be forms of self-care; why self-care is non-negotiable; and doing things to make life easier for your future self. Thanks for listening! To help...

Jenny is joined by guest host Brian Gottlock for a special chat with Kathie Bennewitz , Executive Director of Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center in Nyack, NY, about how growing up with the light reflecting off the Hudson River shaped Hopper’s art, how strong women shaped Hopper’s life, and how he didn’t make it big until age 40. Kathie also gave us a ton of wonderful recommendations to...

Jenny wraps up our celebration of Women’s History Month joined by a very special guest co-host, Kingston’s own challah-baking good-time girl Ellen Leifer, for a conversation with Rabbi Sivan Rotholz about the importance of seeing yourself mirrored back to you in spaces of worship and learning; the most bad-ass women you’ve never heard of in Biblical history (and how they were demonized - sometimes...

The Valley Girls had the pleasure and honor to chat with historian and writer Holley Snaith about the enduring legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt, visiting Val-Kill , Holley’s photo restoration project at Val-Kill , the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , Marian Anderson ’s legendary Lincoln Memorial concert, the Eleanor Roosevelt School , and how FDR mixed his martinis . Save the Date! The Hudson Va...

The Valley Girls had fun chatting with Brett Barry and Rebecca Rego Barry , two of the four new owners of Purple Mountain Press . Since 1973, Purple Mountain Press has been publishing books about the Catskills right here in the Catskills. Today, their catalog spans the Hudson Valley, Mohawk Valley, Adirondacks, Lake George and more, with works covering history, art, nature, and folklore. We chatte...

The Valley Girls chat with radio host Sharif Abdus-Salaam about Jazz in the Valley , drawing inspiration from our heroes’ heroes, the centrality of Black artists in jazz history, the joy of college radio, Jen’s enduring love of Michael McDonald, and where to catch up-and-coming jazz performers without even having to head into the City. Listen now and then click over to the blog for more, including...

What better time is there to talk about flowers than the middle of winter, especially when we're talking about winter tulips! In this episode, the Valley Girls chat with flower farmer Lauren Tamraz of ⁠Alchemy Farmhouse⁠ about impermanence, seasonality, beauty, CSAs, getting little treats, the astonishing number of tulip varieties, and flowers as the artist’s muse and medium. Check out ⁠@alchemyfa...

The Valley Girls are back for our third season! We're starting off this season talking with Debbie Gioquindo, aka The Hudson Valley Wine Goddess , about all things Hudson Valley wine, cider, and spirits! Debbie calls the Hudson Valley “a craft beverage mecca” with “something for everybody,” and gives us her best advice about enjoying wine. (Spoiler alert: it’s “drink what you like.” ) Head ove...

This episode - the last one of 2024 - is packed with stories, poems, readings, and even songs to celebrate the season. We’ve been fortunate to assemble an all-star cast of Hudson Valley creatives to bring you comfort and joy, no matter what or how you celebrate. This Hudson Valley Holiday Story Hour is our gift to you; a small token of our enormous gratitude for your support of the Valley Girls so...

Following our fantastic chat in our last episode about supporting small, local businesses, this week we are talking to David Leifer from David Leifer Photography . We chatted about skinny posing, the importance of lighting, and the ineffability of photography as an art. Jenny and David get technical about file formats and we have a philosophical conversation about whether cameras enhance or distra...

The Valley Girls are getting warmed up for  Small Business Saturday and exploring all the ways and reasons to support local businesses during the holiday season (and all year long). Join the Valley Girls as we chat with Jess Davis, VP of the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce ; Danielle Centofanti-Davidson, President of the Rivertowns Chamber of Commerce and owner of Main Street Business S...

Valley Girl Jenny visited ⁠The Thomas Cole National Historic Site⁠ in Catskill, joined by special guest co-host ⁠Brett Barry⁠ of ⁠ Kaatscast: The Catskills Podcast ⁠ and ⁠Silver Hollow Audio⁠ , and production intern Olivia Sippel, for our very first episode recorded on location! They talked to - and walked the site with - Executive Director ⁠Betsy Jacks⁠ . The ⁠⁠Thomas Cole National Historic Site⁠...

Jen’s favorite day of the year is here… It’s Halloween! In this extra special episode, Jen talks with Brian J. Cano, paranormal researcher and ambassador for the Haunted History Trail of New York State , about ghostly and ghoulish happenings up and down the Hudson. Our Valley Girl correspondents are scaring up some spooky fun for us. Rebecca regales us with a tale of a Cohoes showgirl for whom the...

In this episode, Jen chats with David Strout, proprietor of Catch Me When You Can in Saugerties, about antiquing, floral arranging, art, and curating a home you love. Find David at www.catchmewhenyoucan.com and on Instagram @Catchmewyc for more info and for some BEAUTIFUL pictures of his collection! Our Valley Girls’ correspondents, Rebecca and Danielle, are getting us into the spirit for Spooky S...

In this episode, we chat with Lara Hope and Jesse Scherer about the O+ Festival , coming up October 11-13 in Kingston, where their mission is to exchange the art of medicine for the medicine of art. Hear all about the origin story of O+ (which also sounds like the beginning of a joke), their unique model to provide healthcare for all, and their incredible initiative to expand services beyond the f...

The Valley Girls had such a great time chatting with Angel Fonseca and Laura Kandel, co-founders of Hudsy, a non-profit whose mission is to unite and empower the Hudson Valley through impactful storytelling by promoting diversity, providing opportunities, fostering understanding, and driving positive change. Explore Hudsy's offerings at hudsy.tv and learn more about this incredible organization an...