Today we are launching our sizzlin summer selects week where we are bringing you all the very best romance summer recommendations for books, movies, travel and mental health. And what better way to kick off than to celebrate Alicia's birthday. I'm Sarah Wendell. I'm Alisha Rai. Welcome to lovestruck daily where we bring you a love story every single day.
I'm in love with you. To you I'm in love with you.
Happy birthday, Alicia. Thank you. It's my birthday. 66 Six is a good day. Six, six is a good day. I love that we have birthdays just about a week apart. Yeah, no, it's
really nice.
So the minute Gemini season starts, we're both like, yes, yes. It's just us.
It's very, very Gemini of us.
Very July for what else? No one else matters for us in this podcast. Yeah. So do you like your birthday?
I love my birthday.
I love my birthday, too. And I've met so many people who are like, Oh, my birthday, I can take it or leave it? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. It's a day to celebrate you.
It is and i I'll be honest, like I didn't, I didn't love my birthday until I met Kai like I didn't. I didn't look forward to it. Until then, like I always enjoyed it. Like I would just go out I would do my very own thing. Go get my nails done or something, maybe go to dinner with my friends. Like it was very low key
one year, you invited me to a bar class with you. And I was like, Oh my gosh,
we went to bar class and we had a lovely brunch afterwards. I was like sweet day to do whatever I want to do. So it was nice. Yeah. But it was always very low key. Like my family just didn't make a big deal out of my birthday in particular, because I was the only summer birthday. And by then I think everybody was tired. I didn't want to do anything. And you know, like school was getting out. It was like, it was never like a great time of year. But yeah, my first birthday with Kai i said that to him. I was like, oh, you know, nobody. I don't really do anything big for my birthday, maybe? And it was also COVID time. So like, yes, not like it was three months into COVID. June 2020. June 2020.
We were still in that. Wait, hold on, we're gonna keep doing this. Yeah. And
so and so he was like, um, we should do something fun for your birthday. And I was like, okay, like, maybe we can have dinner with just my best friend or husband who were like in our little bubble. Yeah, he was like, Oh, okay. And I can tell you like, wasn't cool with that, really. But so what happened was that on the day of my birthday, I said, Okay, are we going to go to dinner? Or what are we gonna do? And it was like the morning of I think, and he just texted me like, were something really nice. Like, you're going somewhere fancy. I was like, super fancy. And he's like, Yeah, and I was like, I thought we're just gonna go to dinner. He's like, just wear something super fancy. And I'll be over at four to pick you up.
Did you bust out a nine yard? Sorry,
I didn't. I busted out I think I posted out like a Linga though. Like I wear like something very fancy. And very name he can work for and he was like sweating, like sweating like crazy. And I was like, what were you What were you doing all days? Like, don't worry about it. And he went, he showered. And he put on like a suit with like a silk satin jacket. And like, when I saw him, I said something like, I think it's this way like, Oh, you look like you're going to prom or something. And he was like, ah, and we go to my best friend's house. So as soon as I saw a house, I was like, Oh, we are just coming for dinner. We were dressing up for dinner. I don't know if it's something fancy. We go there. And the whole place is decorated like a prom. Oh, like a full like there's like balloons everywhere. Like it says like happy prom on the thing. And oh my gosh. And the theme was Great Gatsby. I was like what is going on? He's like, last month. You told me that you never really enjoyed prom. So I wanted to give you a whole new prom for your birthday. Oh my gosh. So we had a whole prom like we had like a like we crowned king and queen here little sashes for us. I have little king and queen sashes. I got like a little tear right away. Very, very, very cute. Just the four of us, the four of us and my best friend's baby. So my little nephew who's like a year old at the time. That's adorable. And so there's there's photos of us at our own little prom and we all danced together. It was really wonderful. And so it was like just a really nice night. And then last year for my birthday he took me on like a dinner cruise because I love both so we went on to like, like you know like those like it was mostly an older demographic and us dinner cruise in San Diego in the harbour. So it was really beautiful and I loved it. So I don't know what this year. I don't know what the plan is. Don't
you get motion sickness?
I do but not if I'm on top So I couldn't like I had to like scarf down my food down below below and then run back up to the upstairs and fresh air and it was okay. But yeah, so that so I don't know what he's got planned for this birthday. So that's what I'm like looking forward to. I was like this is the first time I like look forward to some kind of surprise on my birthday since I was a kid probably
I'm a little worried about him like y'all already set the bar so high.
I know. I told him I was like, I was like, Are you gonna beat last year's or the year before us? He's like, you're gonna have fun don't worry about it. Okay, it's really good. Like he's very good at like filing away some random thing I say and then like coming out with it, which is a very impressive for. For anybody. It's very impressive. Especially because the bar had before it was so low. Like Wow, a little bit. Yeah, just like high steps right over it. It's amazing. Watch,
watch. Yeah, take you out for coffee, eat to cakepops in front of you and call it a day. He would never He knows no, he would not ever eat somewhere right now. Right now somewhere. Kai is very mad. And he doesn't know why.
Exactly. No, that would kill him or kill soul. To celebrate
today. I have questions because we always do the 36 questions to love to get to know each other better. But I figured it's my turn to ask you silly and thoughtful questions. Just so great. You can get to know you better as well. I love this. And I love that I get to repay the favour next. All right, so the first question, what is your earliest memory?
I think it was actually a birthday. I think it was like two years old. And it's the only thing I remember that early. I know. But I remember coming down the stairs and my mom. We were having a party. I think my party and my mom had put balloons up all over the living room. And I vividly recall being very excited. And that's all Yeah, but I remember like first memory. I know. I remember like skating down that you know how you like scoot down the stairs on your bottom. Like, I remember that. Like I remember scooting down the stairs on my bottom and being like what's going on and then seeing all the balloons.
And so at this point, it would just would have been you and your sister, right? Because your sister had been born, you know?
No, it was just me and my older sister. And I think my older sister was like helping her put balloons on because she was like my little mom. She's four. She's almost five years older than me. So she's She was always like a little mom. So she was like helping her like it was probably like seven or eight at the time. Helping her put things
up. Yeah. All right. So for this question, you have to answer with the first thing that pops into your head. Okay. What are you really, really good at?
I think I'm really good at talking to people.
It's a good thing. You have a podcast?
Am I good at that? That was the first thing that popped into my head. I think I'm good at I think I'm good with people. I think I'm good at talking to them. I think I'm good at understanding them. And you know, empathising, with that
I think you're good at listening to Oh, I
think I am good at listening. I think it's listening is hard. For me. That was a learned skill. Because with ADHD, it's really hard to listen to anything you're not interested in. And sometimes to guys, like I see at parties, where you just get done with conversations and people and you're just like, by me. And I'm like, I have to work so hard not to do that literally all the time, where I'm like, Okay, I'm done. I walk away, but but I have had to, it has been like a skill I've honed to be like, Okay, stay focused, stay in the conversation. So that might be why I'm good at listening. Because I have to be
Well, that's good. Yeah. What is one thing that you like about ageing? I like how little
I care about things. And when I say I like I feel like I care more about a lot of things, but I care less about people's opinions. Like the weight of people's opinions has dropped off like I I was thinking about it and I was like should I be like mad about some something that happened? I was like, should I be mad at them? And I was like, No, I'd rather not because I don't really care like you know if you don't want me you're like me that's okay. And I making my made my peace with that. I think a little bit it stings but I made my peace with it.
I have said many times that the number of the number in the front of your age, you have less than half of that many to give.
I think that's exactly what happened. Right?
Yeah. So I've got like, agreed. I already spent my Yeah. Okay. If you could only keep one thing in your room, not chi. What would it be? A thing not a person not putting no thing not a person. Um, you know what,
I have a necklace from my dad and I always said if I was running out of the house in a fire or an earthquake, that's the thing I would grab. I used to wear it can continuously like I never took it off, was
it the long gold one with the little charm? Yeah, it's a long gold chain
and it has a pendant of neuropathy on it was like a South Indian God or like his his home basically is in South India and my it was my grandfather's and my dad wore it from the time my grandfather died. And then I worked from the time my father died. So from the time I was like, 15, or 16, I wore it and I never took it off. And I took it off a couple of years ago, only because it had grown like it was bothered my neck, like it was kind of a heavy chain. And so I started taking it off. And every time I took it off, I was like felt a little bit of anxious, because I was like, that's what I like have to wear, you know, like have to wear it type thing. And even now sometimes like I'll reach up to like touch it and it's not there. But like it's it's an you know, a safe place now. But my Buckeye wore it for our engagement and I thought that was a really nice touch like I had him wear and he was really touched by that. But that's the thing that I would grab I think that's the thing that you want to run with you thing that I want in the room with me or if I had to like grab it as I was running out the door
we'll be right back after this short break all right, what is the single greatest karaoke song?
Oh, you know what the best one is to get everybody going? Is Beyonce Single Ladies? Oh, that is you make friends with all the women in the club and that was oh, that's always that's usually my priority. If I'm doing karaoke I'm like, let me be friends with all the women that that one or any Backstreet Boys. Song is my usual go to because
it's almost like there's a very specific pocket of your brain that will hold on to Backstreet Boys lyrics for the rest of your natural life.
I do not know why. I do not know why. But like when they sing like, you know, like, are you sexual? Like that will haunt me till the day I die. I'll be humming that on my deathbed and my kid grandkids will be like What did you just say?
Which is a weird song for them to sing to each other? Like do they just Yeah, sure in this way, you know what, like, good for them. Yeah, look after each other's careful feelings. It's a very kind song. You
are sexual buddy. We're we're all for all for dismantling toxic masculinity. Yeah. Awesome. Backstreet Boys.
Yes. And I will tell you so at the end of most Sabbath services, you sing a specific song called Don't Olam. And I think the lyrics in Hebrew or unless they're in they might be in Aramaic, go back, like, a lot of years. But it's a four four time song. So anything in four four time you can put you can put the lyrics to. So for my older son's Bar Mitzvah, he played guitar. My younger son was on drums, and I was singing and we did it to Strawberry Fields Forever. And the whole congregation joined in and then for my younger sons, which was virtual. We did the Backstreet Boys.
I love that. Yes, I want you are my
fire my one desire so we sang the first verse and then switch to Hebrew. And we had like, my congregation was really old, much older than we were like, we were younger by a lot. And you could just see all of these people maybe 1015 20 years older than me and they would pan through on the Zoom and they were rocking out like everyone knows the Backstreet Boys is just a matter versal what would your DJ name be?
Oh my god. Um, yeah, it's a hard one. So when when they I have hearts McGee EJ hearts McGee?
Why Biggie you put me on the spot, Sarah. Yeah. Now we're gonna order some merch
DJ live in Ibiza. I think weekend what are those parties are there's bubbles every phone parties. Yeah, i
j. McGee and the foam. I think it'd be a hit. I would go I wouldn't say up to eight because I go to bed early. But I would go
Yeah, you should go. I like it.
Yeah. All right. Last question for you. Your autobiography is done. It is a full manuscript. It is gorgeous. It is pristine. It needs no edits. What is the title of your?
That's a really good question. I've been thinking about this. So this is a question on the circle which is like one of my favourite reality shows. So I have been thinking about this for a while. And part of me is like maybe it should also be hard to McGee but I can do better than that. How about I tripped on my way to achieve store, the Alicia rice story. I love it. As I actually I actually did trip was on my way running to a cheese store before it close. And I sprained my ankle. And I just think that that it was like a very me episode and I was like, Wow, this would that is my biography.
I should have asked you what would the title of your reality show be?
Oh my gosh, that I don't know. I gotta have to come up with it.
That should be a future episode, we will design our own reality.
Oh, no, I have it. What? It'd be called Book of Love.
Oh, I love it. That's perfect. That is so perfect. And I like it. Well, I am so excited to kick off our sizzlin Summer Celebration. Your birthday. What a great way to start and it does
feel like my birthday always feels like the start of summer for me. So absolutely.
Me too. Once my birthday happens. I'm like, Alright, now it's summer. Let's do the things. Yeah, absolutely. And we are gonna have so many more things for our sizzling summer select week. So please come back every day. This week. We're going to have cook recommendations, travel information. We're going to talk about mental health movies, all the things you love, every everything and most of all, we're going to celebrate Alicia's birthday week because it's day anymore. It's the birthday. We have a sizzlin summer birthday week. Now I have a love to go for this episode. But I'm going to entertain one from you if you would like
no I want you to give share your love to go What's your love to go for me?
What I need you to reassure me here. Am I sick shoe Oh, yay. Love to go this week is backstreets back. All right. All right. Yes. If that song is now permanently lodged in your head like it is mine, you should email us and yell at me about it. You can email us at lovestruck daily at Frolik dot media. You can find us on Instagram and maybe we'll post some cute pictures of baby Alicia. Maybe Yeah, celebrate her birthday week. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter at lovestruck daily. We would absolutely love it if you wished Alicia a happy birthday interview for the podcast because it would give us so much joy. But please come back every day this week. It is sizzling summer celebrations. Our researcher is Jesse Epstein. Our editor is Jen Jacobs. We are produced by Abigail steckler and little Scorpion studios with executive producer frolic media. This is an iHeartRadio podcast and most of all, we wish you a happily ever after. And happy birthday to you Alicia. Thank you I'm in love with you. With you I'm in love with you
