It’s a red-letter day, friends: I’m turning 45 today. That means I’m now officially closer to 50 than 40. I don’t know how I feel about that. I rarely think about my age. I’m not afraid of getting older, but personal history (and residual trauma) makes me fear running out of time. Rather than dwell on that, I try to focus on living each day to the fullest and not putting off things that are important to me. That has been one of the best lessons my 40s have taught me so far. Don’t postpone your joy.

That, and not giving any f*cks about other people’s opinions on how I live my life. My circus, not their monkeys.

As much as I love the idea of a spoil yo’self birthday week, I never seem to find the energy to apply myself to making it happen. This week has been just your average, middle of the summer kind of week. I do have fun plans for today and the weekend, though. Nothing too wild: a thrift adventure with a friend, a day trip to Calgary with the fam, pedicures with my SIL. My social battery comes from Temu, so we gotta conserve it, lol!

I did treat myself to a few new books, including Amy Odell’s new biography of Gwyneth Paltrow. As someone who came of age in the 90s, I’ve had a decades-long love/hate relationship with GP, so I was excited to dig into all the behind-the-scenes gossip and drama that the book promised. It delivered some, for sure. There are some very juicy tidbits in there about Brad, Ben, Chris, and her various other boyfriends. (Though, interestingly, very little about her current husband.) The second half of the book is focused on the drama with Goop, which was somewhat less interesting to me because it’s pretty straightforward (Goop peddles nonsense about ‘wellbeing’, sometimes merely silly and sometimes very dangerous). The book reads like an extended Vanity Fair article, which is my preferred style of celebrity reportage, so no complaints on that score. I do wish there was more cultural analysis weaved into the biographical narrative, but Odell sticks mostly to facts. I also got the sense she was pulling her punches, likely to avoid getting sued by Gwyneth, who (allegedly) has a vindictive streak. Anyway, I will repeat here what I’ve said before: I wish Anne Helen Peterson would do a deep, detailed breakdown of GP’s public persona (particularly in the 90s and early 2000s) within the broader cultural Zeitgeist.

If you’ve read Odell’s book, I would love to hear your thoughts 😉

Have a great weekend!