I love to laugh!
I love to laugh when I read....
A good friend of mine in Maine recommended
Jen Lancaster books to me when I needed to laugh!
So...this began my collection of her New York Times Best Sellers!
THIS is my summer reading list....
among the biographies!
Sure
Jen has made mistakes. She spent all her money from a high-paying job on shoes,
clothes, and spa treatments. She then carried a Prada bag to the unemployment
office. She wrote a whole memoir about dieting…but didn’t lose weight. She
embarked on a quest for cultural enlightenment that only cemented her love for
John Hughes movies and Kraft American Singles. She tried to embrace everything
Martha Stewart, while living with a menagerie of rescue cats and dogs. (Glitter…everywhere.)
Mistakes are one thing; regrets are another.
Mistakes are one thing; regrets are another.
After a girls’ weekend in Savannah makes her realize that she
is—yikes!—middle-aged (binge watching is so the new binge drinking), Jen
decides to make a bucket list and seize the day, even if that means having her
tattoo removed at one hundred times the cost of putting it on.
From attempting a juice cleanse to studying Italian, from learning to ride a bike to starting a new business, and from sampling pasta in Rome to training for a 5K, Jen is turning a mid-life crisis into a mid-life opportunity, sharing her sometimes bumpy—but always hilarious—attempts to better her life…again.
From attempting a juice cleanse to studying Italian, from learning to ride a bike to starting a new business, and from sampling pasta in Rome to training for a 5K, Jen is turning a mid-life crisis into a mid-life opportunity, sharing her sometimes bumpy—but always hilarious—attempts to better her life…again.
Jen
Lancaster was living the sweet life-until real life kicked her to the curb.
She
had the perfect man, the perfect job-hell, she had the perfect life-and there
was no reason to think it wouldn't last. Or maybe there was, but Jen Lancaster
was too busy being manicured, pedicured, highlighted, and generally adored to
notice.
This
is the smart-mouthed, soul-searching story of a woman trying to figure out what
happens next when she's gone from six figures to unemployment checks and she
stops to reconsider some of the less-than-rosy attitudes and values she thought
she'd never have to answer for when times were good.
Filled
with caustic wit and unusual insight, it's a rollicking read as speedy and
unpredictable as the trajectory of a burst balloon.
"To
whom the fat rolls…I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased
to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life.
And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into
our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting; they make me want to
hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and
explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't
matter.
Unfortunately, being overweight isn't simply a societal issue that can
be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It’s a health matter, and
here on the eve of my fortieth year, I've learned I have to make changes so I
don't, you know, die. Because what good
is finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset
diabetes?"
She’s
no Martha Stewart. And that’s why Jen is going to Martha up and live her life
according to the advice of America’s overachieving older sister—the woman who
turns lemons into lavender-infused lemonade. By immersing herself in Martha’s
media empire, Jen embarks on a yearlong quest to take herself, her house, her
husband (and maybe even her pets) to the next level—from closet organization to
party planning.
Maybe Jen can avoid food poisoning if she follows Martha’s dictates on proper storage. Maybe she can rid her workout clothes of meatball stains by using Martha’s laundry tips. Maybe she can create a more meaningful anniversary celebration than getting drunk in the pool with her husband. Again. And maybe she’ll discover that the key to happiness does, in fact, lie in Martha’s perfectly arranged cupboards and charcuterie platters.
Maybe Jen can avoid food poisoning if she follows Martha’s dictates on proper storage. Maybe she can rid her workout clothes of meatball stains by using Martha’s laundry tips. Maybe she can create a more meaningful anniversary celebration than getting drunk in the pool with her husband. Again. And maybe she’ll discover that the key to happiness does, in fact, lie in Martha’s perfectly arranged cupboards and charcuterie platters.
Before
she was bitter, before she was lazy, Jen Lancaster was a badge- hungry Junior
Girl Scout with a knack for extortion, an aspiring sorority girl who didn't
know her Coach from her Louis Vuitton, and a budding executive who found
herself bewildered by her first encounter with a fax machine. In this hilarious
and touching memoir, Jen Lancaster looks back on her life-and wardrobe-and
reveals a young woman not so different from the rest of us.
Prepare to take a long walk in her (drool-worthy) shoes in this hilarious and heartwarming trip down memory lane.
Prepare to take a long walk in her (drool-worthy) shoes in this hilarious and heartwarming trip down memory lane.
I love Jen Lancaster! Have a great weekend, Betsy.
ReplyDeleteThose sound like really FUN reads! I love it and have never read anything of hers. I will have to take a look next time I get to the book store. Have a great weekend- xo Diana
ReplyDelete"explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter."
ReplyDeletePERFECTION!
I've never read anything by her. She sounds like a very clever girl!
ReplyDeleteI have never read her either. she is now definitely on my summer list!
ReplyDeletethank you. laughter is literally the best medicine to me!