Happy Holidays Ungirdled Friends!!

The Creative Wedge at Hilltop West Shopping Center

in Virginia Beach. You will love it! Cutest gifts ever - 

like a etsy store come to life AND gourmet wines and

cheeses! All either handcrafted or made in the USA

This holiday season, I am grateful for all my wonderful ungirdled girlfriends (as well as my husband, children, family, good health, home, beloved Bogie dog, brownies and the newly-expanded Total Wine store down the street!) I wish all of you a wonderful, happy, healthy, peaceful, blessed holiday season and 2014!

If you're still looking for a great girlfriend gift, may I humbly suggest "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" on amazon? Scroll through the Ungirdled Passion facebook page for some great ideas for pairing the book (it's really a great price, I think you'll agree) with another appropriate gift item your girlfriend will cherish. If you wanna go ahead and "like" the page while you're there, I wouldn't mind a bit. Rumor is you automatically lose 5 pounds when you do! (It's a rumor I'm starting right here.)

You can buy "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" online here at amazon (who ships really fast) or if you're in Virginia Beach, a really cool, new shop, The Creative Wedge at Hilltop West, is now carrying it! This is a really great shop you don't want to miss - everything they sell is either handcrafted or made in the USA. All kinds of great gift items, wine and gourmet cheeses! If they had buff cabana boys serving you brownies as they massaged your shoulders, you'd confuse it with heaven.

Thanks so much to Morgan Chase and Cathy Lewis who had me as a guest on my FAVORITE local radio show yesterday, "HearSay With Cathy Lewis," and all the wonderful, supportive friends who were more than generous for listening and saying such kind things after the show. Love that show, and Cathy Lewis is a marvel - warm, funny, gracious, firing on all cylinders as she does 17 things at once. I want to be her when I grow up.

Thanks so much for your wonderful support and friendship! Have a fabulous holiday season, and remember, the tree isn't the only thing to be lit during the holidays! Make spirits bright WITH spirits - gin, vodka, tequila for example - in a fun, responsible way! 'Tis the season!

PERFECT Gift For A Girlfriend's Special Birthday!

Looking for the perfect gift for a girlfriend's 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th birthday? This gift basket is the gift that she'll appreciate no matter what birthday it may be! The centerpiece is the hilarious book on aging for women of "a certain age," "Aging With Ungirdled Passion." You'll score big points by giving her lots to laugh at when it comes to the "gifts" that come with aging along with items that will actually come in very handy! Readers have suggested other additions like sleep aids, Estroven, Prozac, support hose, and nose hair trimmer. You can customize basket contents for your friend's special needs. You can even add a copy of the book with a personal inscription from the author at no additional charge by going here! What a fun, savvy and thoughtful friend you are! Happy gift-giving!

"Aging With Ungirdled Passion" - Great Pick For Fun Book Club Meetings

Looking for a great pick for your book club meeting? Last night, I attended a wonderful book club meeting where "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" was the book pick of the month! OK, so it was MY book club, but I was honored when one of the very wise, insightful women - a visionary, really - picked the book. I was even more impressed with the dinner menu! She served the TOP TEN ANTI-AGING FOODS! How clever is that?! She even made up little cards to place by all the dishes highlighting the benefits of the foods included in them. Everything was delicious! We devoured:

• Wine
• Bean salsa  and guacamole with whole grain chips
• Wine
• Salad of fresh greens with nuts, berries and grilled salmon
• Dessert of fresh berries and dark chocolate!
• Wine

If you want to do the same, you can google "Top Ten Anti-Aging Foods." You'll get tons of articles.

Topics we discussed from the book included:

• How we feel about aging and the phrase "50 is the new 30"
• How friendships really are like underwear
• Physical changes that occur with age and how we handle them
• How our generation is "aging" vs. our mothers'
• Uterus-falling out syndrome
• Vagazzling

Being that we are all of a "certain age" (mid 40s to mid 50s), we had a great, insightful, hilarious discussion and laughed our heads off! Not to mention a fabulous meal! I think we all looked like teenagers by the time we finished all those anti-aging foods! We certainly acted like them while discussing the book. I had honestly not thought of the book as a centerpiece for book club discussions, but I have to say, it was terrific! You have to admit, it's also a quick, economical ($2.99 for ebook; $6.29 for paperback) read. I am nothing if not cheap and easy! I am so grateful for the support of my wonderful friends and Ungirdled sisters everywhere, and wanted to pass on my friend's wonderful ideas for a book club meeting! Happy reading!

Guest Column! A Pregnant Pause For Menopause!

(Today, beloved Ungirdled readers, is a special guest column by Valerie Johnston for the website Healthline.com on something we've all faced or will face. Enjoy and check out Healthline.com when you get the chance!)

What We Want is a Pregnant Pause for Menopause

First, let it be said that most women agree that there is nothing funny about menopause.  That said, it might as well be approached with humor; every woman who reaches an age when menopause creeps into life is going to experience it.  It might as well have a light-hearted side.  And after a life long struggle with monthly female issues, month after month, year after ragged year, maybe it is time for some levity when, some time into the creep, you suddenly realize: Oh.  No more periods.  Isn’t that worth celebrating?

So, what have you to look forward to if the creeping paws of menopause have not yet set upon you?  It is a slow process.  If you were expecting something that would be a quick-change artist; a dash into the walk-in closet, throw on a new frock, old lady threads, and repeat that over the cycle of the moon, and voilà, you’re now a completed woman (oh, but there is something incomplete), you need the quiet, pregnant pause to reconsider.  Don’t take too long in contemplation.  It’s a long time going down the road, but the road has a quick beginning.

The first thing you might notice – and it may be a couple of months before it slaps its dose of reality – is that your periods stopped.  There may be a sudden twist of regret in the womb: it is the finality of youth and procreative power.  Never again, it echoes, never, ever…  Motherhood does have its joys and sorrows.  The sorrows lose their sting after a time, but the joys last forever.  Never, ever again.  You may suddenly feel like you are the next model, a female this time, for the Old Man of the Year with a scythe draped over your shoulder.  You are bent over, hobbling.  With the end of the year comes the sudden realization: no more periods!  And life did not end after all.  In fact, a look in the mirror and you may not even see a wrinkle or a gray hair.  Isn’t that worth celebrating?

Wait!  Why am I laying here in bed, middle of the night in the dead of winter, and I’m having night sweats?  I’m having lunch with my daughters -- two married, one not yet -- the next afternoon.  The fan in the restaurant is right over our table, and I’m having day sweats!  “Hells’ bells, is it hot in here or is it just me?”  They look at me, shrugging.  I’m positively drenched.  Is there a fire?  Did the sprinklers just turn on?  They don’t have a clue!  Just you wait for mother’s revenge!  I’ll get you, my pretties.

I’m looking in the mirror; just waking up, putting on my make-up, and, even though it is “that time of month,” I suddenly have a happy tune rolling through my head.  “I’m as corny as Kansas in August, I’m as normal as blueberry pie…”  The creeping paws have delivered another piece of pleasure pie: no more mood swings!  Finally, for the first time since we were married thirtummmmmmmmy mmm-mmm years ago, my husband may be able to look at me, listen to me, and he will likely understand everything I said.  Did he change, or did I?  Who cares?  If I was from Venus and he was from Mars, we have finally coordinated a landing in the middle on Earth, but it feels like heaven.  Isn’t that worth celebrating?

Take off the sad face, hold for a good, long, pregnant pause and celebrate the creeping paws of menopause.

Valerie Johnston is a health and fitness writer located in East Texas. With ambitions of one day running a marathon, writing for Healthline.com ensures she keeps up-to-date on all of the latest health and fitness news.

"Aging With Ungirdled Passion" Now Available In Paperback!

Just in time for Mother's Day! "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" is now available in paperback here! "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" has been available as an e-book through Amazon.com on Kindles, iPads, computers and more for several weeks, and the responsive has been fantastic! The warm reception is greatly appreciated! I am so happy to be able to make it available in paperback form. The book also makes a great birthday gift for girlfriends and is a fun beach read. 

Chapters and highlights include:

• My Ovaries Are Going Out of Business, And All My Clothing Is Half Off!
• Middle Age Has Turned Me Into A Real Mother Plucker
• When Your Uterus Has Fallen And It Can’t Get Up
• My Perfect Sleep Number Is Chardonnay
• I’ve Fought The Lard, And The Lard’s Won: Fallen Soldiers In The Battle of the Bulge
• Shift Happens; It’s Best To Be A Man About It.
• The Lyrics To “I’m Fifty And I Know It!”
And lots more!

It’s a fun, reflective read that’s cheaper than therapy and a whole lot more fun. We guarantee you’ve paid more for a sandwich that wasn’t half as amusing or as insightful!

So join the party as we celebrate the important insights that can only be gained from living and loving for the past five or six decades while laughing at the less-appreciated gifts that come with the A.G.E. syndrome. You may be hairier, heavier, and grumpier. But you’re not alone.

Aging With Ungirdled Passion - THE BOOK! Just published!

I am so pleased to announce the publication of "Aging With Ungirdled Passion" now available on amazon.com! It is a collection of new and expanded favorite essays on the gifts that come with reaching "a certain age." A must-read for anyone in possession of a uterus. PLUS it's only $2.99! 

Chapters and highlights include:
• My Ovaries Are Going Out of Business, And All My Clothing Is Half Off!
• Middle Age Has Turned Me Into A Real Mother Plucker
• When Your Uterus Has Fallen And It Can’t Get Up
• My Perfect Sleep Number Is Chardonnay
• I’ve Fought The Lard, And The Lard’s Won: Fallen Soldiers In The Battle of the Bulge
• Shift Happens; It’s Best To Be A Man About It.
• The Lyrics To “I’m Fifty And I Know It!”
And lots more!

It’s a fun, reflective read that’s cheaper than therapy and a whole lot more fun. I guarantee you’ve paid more for a latte and been much less stimulated and more for a sandwich that wasn’t half as amusing or as insightful!

So join the party! Get your copy here today! And remember, you may be hairier, heavier, and grumpier. But you’re not alone. Thanks to my wonderful readers for all their support!! You can now also follow Ungirdled Passion on twitter: https://twitter.com/Ungirdled