As the iconic Mattel doll turns 60 on March 9th, which is quite a milestone, I thought about my own relationship with Barbie and even her boyfriend Ken.
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The original Barbie as she was sold circa 1970s
Fifty Shades of Grief: Coping with mourning at midlife
They say when you lose a loved one, you go through five stages of mourning: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When I lost my best friend, just over a month ago, I went through those five stages in the first 24 hours — and about forty-five more since then. Despair, gratefulness, love, sadness, fury, loneliness, fight, empowerment — they have all been part of my grieving process.
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How Filorga saved my face -- AKA a Venice Film Fest Tale of Midlife Success!
Every once in a while, I do look in the mirror and see a tired, sallow face staring back at me, complete with dark under eye circles and sagging skin. It’s not often, but particularly at the end of a jam packed day at a gem-packed film festival like this year’s Venice International Film Festival, it happens.
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Sofia Loren in 'Two Women' by Vittorio De Sica
More midlife success secrets: Big girls DO cry!
As we travel together on this journey to steer clear of a midlife crisis by feeling instead our midlife success, I wanted to share another secret to growing older gracefully. The power of tears.
We all remember Sofia Loren's perfect quote "If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful" but I'll take it one step further, by saying that the tears I've shed in my life have kept me young at heart.
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With Meg Ryan, at this year's Locarno Festival, photo by Lukas Osiecki
Here we are, Meg Ryan and I: the modern face of middle age
Yup, you read it right. It's not a typo. Both Hollywood's sweetheart and I are now traveling through the second half of our lives. And you know what? We look and feel damn great.
As I sat across from and next to Ryan in Locarno for a couple of hours, I couldn't help but think, like a perfect mantra playing in my head, how beautiful and perfectly grown up she looks. At times, I know she could tell I was elsewhere mentally during our talk. So yes, Meg you were right, I was thinking about how damn great you look and sound, up close and personal.
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