diff --git a/src/utils/dayjs.ts b/src/utils/dayjs.ts
index f830581..459b5c1 100644
--- a/src/utils/dayjs.ts
+++ b/src/utils/dayjs.ts
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ dayjs.extend(timezone);
 dayjs.extend(customParseFormat);
 
 // interpret all date strings as Pacific time, in case this gets built in some
-// other time zone
+// other time zone.  make sure to call the .tz() method instead of just dayjs().
 dayjs.tz.setDefault("America/Los_Angeles");
 
 export default dayjs;
 
-export const parseYMD = (date: string) => dayjs(date, "YYYY-MM-DD", true);
+export const parseYMD = (date: string) => dayjs.tz(date);
 export const parseYMDToDate = (date: string) => parseYMD(date).toDate();
-export const formatShortMDY = (date: Date) => date ? dayjs(date).format("MMM D, YYYY") : "";
-export const formatRSSDate = (date: Date) => date ? dayjs(date).format("ddd, D MMM YYYY HH:mm:ss ZZ") : "";
+export const formatShortMDY = (date: Date) => date ? dayjs.tz(date).format("MMM D, YYYY") : "";
+export const formatRSSDate = (date: Date) => date ? dayjs.tz(date).format("ddd, D MMM YYYY HH:mm:ss ZZ") : "";