What actually keeps a long distance friendship alive for over two decades? Kelly is joined by her absolute ride-or-die, her best friend Aggie, who flew in from Chicago for this one, and they are getting into all of it.

These two met in the early 2000s on the Chicago club scene and have now survived a coast-to-coast move, heartbreaks, a loss, cancer scares, and somewhere along the way, a whole lot of matching tattoos. In this episode, they share the real, practical things that have kept their friendship not just intact but genuinely thriving for 23 years, including nine of them with 2,000 miles in between.

You'll hear about the importance of stating your intention out loud, why it doesn't have to be 50/50 (just mutual), the power of a FaceTime hit over morning coffee, always having something on the calendar, showing up for the big moments whether they're happy or devastating, and creating your own little rituals that make the friendship feel like home no matter the distance.

This one is warm, funny, and honestly a little emotional. Aggie flew out here and she delivered.

Follow Kelly on Instagram: @KellyRizzo

A special thank you to Home Run Inn Pizza for sponsoring this episode. You can learn more about Home Run Inn (the greatest frozen pizza on Earth) here: https://www.homeruninnpizza.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four years ago, on the night Bob passed away, two women Kelly barely knew showed up at her front door and said, "Where's the kitchen?" They spent the rest of the night doing Kelly's dishes, taking out the trash, and passing out waters to everyone in her house. Kelly has been telling that story ever since, and today she finally gets to tell it WITH them.

Elisha Krauss and Heather Cooney join Kelly for a conversation that is going to genuinely change the way you show up for people. They get into what made them decide to come over that night, why the most powerful thing you can do for someone who is grieving has nothing to do with finding the right words, and how even near-strangers can make one of the biggest impacts of someone's entire grief journey.

They also get practical: meal trains, what to send, what absolutely NOT to do (please stop asking "how are you?"), the dish return situation nobody talks about, and how to use your own specific skills to show up for someone going through any kind of hard season, whether that's loss, divorce, illness, or something else entirely. If you have someone in your life who is hurting, or if you've ever frozen up and done nothing because you didn't know what to do, this one is for you.

This episode was kindly sponsored by Lifeway Foods. Learn more about Lifeway here! https://lifewaykefir.com/

Follow Elisha here: https://www.instagram.com/elishakrauss/?hl=en

Follow Kelly on Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/kellyrizzo/?hl=en

Listen on Apple Podcasts-https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comfort-food-with-kelly-rizzo/id1716987177

Listen on Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/5PW46ZYYpLlUCRPWn0Vfm7?si=100c49d2f5f64975

Visit Kelly’s Kitchen- https://kelly-rizzo.com/

Join Comfort Club:

https://www.comfortclubonline.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one is really special. And really personal.

Kelly recently found a grief journal tucked in her nightstand that she wrote in less than a month after losing Bob. The problem? She had completely forgotten she'd written in it. She opened it expecting blank pages... and found something that stopped her in her tracks.

In this episode, Kelly reads from that journal for the first time in over four and a half years, going through the prompts she answered just weeks after Bob passed: the happy memories, the hardest time of day (nights, always nights), what she was holding onto (keeping the silverware in the right drawers because that's how he liked it), and the last memory they shared together before he left for his final trip.

She also shares the lessons she wrote down that Bob taught her, things like always say I love you, order everything on the menu, and more. And she closes with something really practical: what you should NOT say to someone who is grieving, and what actually helps.

This episode is coming out the week of what would have been Bob's 70th birthday. It feels like the right time to share it.

If you're in grief right now, or supporting someone who is, or just missing someone you love, Kelly hopes this helps. Come find her on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going.

Subscribe, rate, and review. It really does help more than you know.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author Gabrielle Stone joins Kelly for one of the most kindred-spirit conversations Comfort Food has had yet. Gabrielle wrote the cult-favorite memoir Eat Pray FML, its sequel The Ridiculous Misadventures of a Single Girl, and her newest release with husband Tay, Finding You Through Finding Me.

Her CliffsNotes story: married almost two years, blindsided by her husband's six-month affair with a 19-year-old. She filed for divorce, fell madly in love with a "well-known Hollywood actor" (Javier in the book), got invited on a month-long trip to Italy, and 48 hours before the flight, he broke up with her. So she went anyway. Six countries, one month, solo. And wrote a book about it.

Kelly and Gabrielle dig into the love bombing red flags they would have missed at 28, Gabrielle's subconscious "when I love someone, they leave" wound (she lost her dad at 6 and her high school sweetheart at 18), why the relationship after the divorce often hurts worse than the divorce itself, and what it actually takes to reset your nervous system from toxic love to safe love. Plus where Javier is now (still, apparently, doing the same thing at 50).

Honest, raw, funny. The kind of conversation you wish you could have over a bottle of wine.

Grab Gabrielle's books, follow her on Instagram and TikTok, and don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review.

GABRIELLE'S BOOKS ON AMAZON:

Eat Pray FML: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Eat+Pray+FML+Gabrielle+Stone

The Ridiculous Misadventures of a Single Girl: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Ridiculous+Misadventures+of+a+Single+Girl+Gabrielle+Stone

Finding You Through Finding Me: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Finding+You+Through+Finding+Me+Gabrielle+Stone

FOLLOW GABRIELLE: Instagram: @gabriellestone TikTok: @gabriellestone

FOLLOW KELLY: Instagram: @kellyrizzo TikTok: @kellyrizzo

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Smolyansky, CEO of LifeWay Foods — the largest kefir brand in the country — has one of the most extraordinary stories you'll ever hear. Born in Soviet Ukraine, her family defected behind the Iron Curtain when she was just one year old, arriving in America with $116 and no English. Her mother went on to open Chicago's first Slavic deli — and even brought the very first cases of Nutella to the United States. Her father, longing for the kefir he grew up with back home, eventually built LifeWay Foods from scratch.

When Julie was just 27, her father passed away suddenly, and she stepped in as CEO — becoming the youngest female CEO of a publicly traded company in US history. What followed was a decade of immense challenge, personal rock bottoms, and an unshakeable refusal to fail.

Kelly and Julie talk about the immigrant work ethic that shaped them both, navigating grief while running a company, the gut-brain connection and why kefir is having its major cultural moment, and what it really means to turn pain into purpose. Plus they make a ridiculously good smoked fish farmer cheese dip live in the kitchen — and yes, it's as good as it sounds.

This episode was kindly sponsored by Lifeway Foods. Learn more about Lifeway here! https://lifewaykefir.com/

Follow Kelly on Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/kellyrizzo/?hl=en

Follow Julie on Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/juliesmolyansky/?hl=en

Listen on Apple Podcasts-https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comfort-food-with-kelly-rizzo/id1716987177

Listen on Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/5PW46ZYYpLlUCRPWn0Vfm7?si=100c49d2f5f64975

Visit Kelly’s Kitchen- https://kelly-rizzo.com/

Join Comfort Club:

https://www.comfortclubonline.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is about the kind of pain no one talks about enough.

Lala Kent opens up about hitting rock bottom, navigating public heartbreak, a horrific breakup, child custody, and the kind of emotional spiral that can make you feel like you’re not going to make it out.

We talk about what it’s like when your life blows up publicly… and how you find your way back when everything feels lost.

We get into:

• What rock bottom really looked like for Lala
• Dealing with public judgment while privately struggling (while the cameras were rolling)
• The moment she realized she had to rebuild her life
• How she pulled herself out of one of the darkest times
• What resilience actually looks like in real life
• Learning to trust yourself again

If you’ve ever felt like your life fell apart and you had to start over… this one will hit.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The night before my husband Bob passed away, I was lying in bed watching Sex and the City (...And Just Like That)

Specifically… the episode where Mr. Big dies.

I remember feeling completely gutted watching Carrie lose her husband so suddenly. I was thinking, that would be the worst thing imaginable. Trying to put myself in her shoes… trying to understand that kind of loss.

And then, just hours later… it became my reality.

In this episode of Comfort Food, I share one of the most surreal and emotional experiences I’ve ever had—watching a fictional version of sudden loss, and then living it myself almost immediately after.

From standing in my closet surrounded by Bob’s clothes… to realizing I was experiencing the exact moments I had just watched on screen… this is a story about grief, shock, and the strange ways life can mirror art.

We talk about:

• The emotional weight of everyday moments after loss
• Why nothing can prepare you for sudden grief
• The surreal experience of “recognizing” your own grief in something you’ve seen before
• And how deeply certain memories and objects can hold meaning

If you’ve ever experienced something that felt too strange to be real… or had a moment where life felt like it was echoing something you’ve seen or felt before… this episode is for you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if bullying didn’t end in high school?

In this episode of Comfort Food, I sit down with my wonderful sister Kristin to talk about something we almost never hear about… what it’s like to be bullied as an adult.

In my early 30s, I went through an experience that was confusing, isolating, and honestly, hard to even talk about at the time. It didn’t look like the bullying we’re used to hearing about… which made it even harder to recognize and deal with.

We get into:

• what adult bullying actually looks like
• why it’s often minimized or overlooked
• the emotional and professional toll it can take
• and what helped me move through it

This conversation is personal, honest, and something I know so many people quietly experience but don’t always have the words for.

If you’ve ever felt targeted, excluded, or questioned your own reality in a situation like this… you’re not alone.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.