Welcome Julie Farley, author of The New Ever After book series, to the Age is Just a Number blog series! I love reading about individuals learning to accept themselves, warts and all. Not that I think Julie has any warts, of course. Keep reading for her thoughts on turning forty-one.

When Harry Met Sally was one of my favorite movies when I was in high school. As I went through my twenties and then my thirties, I always remembered when Sally was lamenting the fact that she was going to turn forty…in eight years. But as I approached the big number, I had the opposite reaction. I wanted to be forty. All of my friends were a little bit older than I was and for some weird reason, I longed to catch up with them. I craved the authority and respect that came with being forty. So the big day came and I roller-skated into the night with my BFFs and the milestone was reached with nothing but smiles.

And then forty-one arrived without any hoopla or excitement. Just another year older. And forty-two came with even less. At first I missed the celebration, multiple cakes and plethora of balloons that came along with the previous year’s milestone, but then a sense of satisfaction and contentment coursed through me something I hadn’t felt in the preceding decades.

I’m finally comfortable with my imperfections; the hair that turned grey rather prematurely, the spider veins I earned from carrying four children, and the muffin top that slowly creeps out of my low-rise jeans. I appreciate people who are real and their messes especially when they’re sprinkled with honesty. I’m on a path that I chose and one that I enjoy. I don’t care about being seen, the next new thing or dancing till dawn. I prefer intimate gatherings, conversations under the stars and things that tickle my whimsy even if they’re not the popular choices.

Life at forty-two is more raw and precious. I’ve gained an appreciation for carpe diem and YOLO the hard way. Moments are treasured and no longer taken for granted. The sky is a little more blue, the tulips a little more yellow, but my eyesight a little bit worse. Forty-two finds me relishing the crisp and the blurry and happily looking toward forty-three.

Link to book one in The New Ever After Series http://www.amazon.com/Tripped-Love-Ever-After-Book-ebook/dp/B00NUHIN04/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414967428&sr=1-1&keywords=tripped+up+love
Link to book two in The New Ever After Series http://www.amazon.com/The-Ever-After-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B00OCZDN3U/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=00DSG5KCEMN15Y8976JD
Follow me on twitter @juliefarley1
Visit my blog at http://www.juliefarley.com.

Coming soon

How Do You Know? – December 2nd

What if you were approaching the end of your thirties and all of the life milestones you took for granted in your youth suddenly seemed out of reach?
On the eve of her thirty ninth birthday, Maggie Piper doesn’t look, act, or feel much different than she did at twenty-nine, but with her fortieth birthday speeding towards her like a freight train, she wonders if she should. The fear of a slowing metabolism, wrinkling of her skin, and the ticking of her biological clock leaves Maggie torn between a desire to settle down like most of her similarly-aged peers and concern that all is not perfect in her existing relationship. When a spontaneous request for a temporary “break” from her live-in boyfriend results in a “break-up,” Maggie finds herself single once again and only twelve months from the big 4.0. In the profound yet bumpy year that follows, Maggie will learn, sometimes painfully, that life doesn’t always happen on a schedule, there are no deadlines in love, and age really is just a number.
Meredith Schorr, best-selling author of light women’s fiction, digs deep in her newest novel and raises the age old issue of the ‘proverbial clock’ that haunts many women, in a way that is refreshing and sassy no matter your age or relationship status.