14 Comments

Another Jessica you might enjoy for their anti-beauty culture rants: Jessica DeFino.

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Checked her out. Love it!

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I applaud you for your mindset and sharing it with others! As a 40 year old woman I am trying to age naturally as well! So far I haven’t succumbed to the pressures of injectables or plastic surgery. I was at a party (in SLO) this past week with similarly aged ladies and only 2/12 of us had not had any Botox or fillers! I was in shock and I almost felt outed!

I am looking forward to aging gracefully. My hope is that I will continue to be proud that my face is all mine and nothing more!

I also appreciate your wisdom on honoring natural beauty with your daughter to help her embrace her true self!

Thank you! We need more of this!

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WOW. 2/12 is low, but I’m not totally surprised. I wonder if I would feel more inclined if my husband was into it? Curious how that influences peoples’ decisions.

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Hi Jaime, two points. #1. Those “11s” lines between the eyes. Cause my resting (and picture-taking) facial expression to look mean, bitchy, unfriendly. That would be my reason for Botox, although I abhor the thought of injecting that poison into my face. #2. Sometimes old houses need new windows, a new paint job or roof. Not for me, (yet) but I get it.

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Sigh. I hear you. I think that's been one of the hardest things for me to get used to: my exterior doesn't seem to match my interior!

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In praise of “bat wings”: my young granddaughter loves nothing so much as sucking her thumb and fondling my neck waddle and better yet is fondling/ lightly flicking my arms’ bat wings.

One day recently I was dressed in short sleeves and ready for the gym.

Granddaughter is aware that working out can give you super hero arms.

In her comfortable position, petting my underarm, she looked up at me, worried, “Will your arm get hard when you go to the gym?”

Me: “No. when you get older your skin gets softer and “fluffier” and I’ve lost some weight so I don’t think my arm a will change much”.

Granddaughter, with relief in her eyes “Phew!”.

I now love my bat wings.

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Thank GOODNESS you get to keep your bat wings! So soft and cozy and safe.

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As a woman who, because of battling breast cancer, has lost her hair, her boobs, most of her estrogen, and her uterus…I have worked hard to come to terms with the importance of the inside me being the part of me that people respond to and remember.

I understand the strong urge to stay looking young and fetching too though. Bravo to you for being such a wonderful example to Lulu.

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It is no coincidence I feel the way I do: you have always emphasized character, humor, and style over youth or good looks. Those are what make someone beautiful, and you taught me first, mom.

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In my 30s & 40s I toyed with the idea of boob lifts, chin tucks, eye brow lifts, ect. I finally got to the place (age) that too much work would have to be done to make me look young again. So I decided to "age gracefully" or as your son likes to say, "Grandma is embracing her old age." :)

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I recently watched a video of you jumping on our trampoline not too long ago. While you may be embracing your old age, you certainly aren't ditching your youth, either!

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Those are beautiful stockings. I'll be chasing a feeling while taking an at-home writing retreat next week . . . and then doing some unhinged cleaning and cookie-baking before the family arrives. I'm trying to shorten the span of that last part by forcing the writing retreat on myself. Otherwise the unhinged phase lasts the entire month.

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Unhinged feels like the right word. Wishing you the retreat-iest of retreats ever.

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