Somewhere along the way, women were handed a strange idea about getting older. That after a certain age, life is supposed to get quieter. More predictable. More responsible. Less adventurous. No thanks. I actually think there comes a point in life when we finally have enough experience to know what we like, what we don’t like, who we want around us, and — maybe most importantly — that we don’t need permission to enjoy our lives. This Chapter Gets to Be About You, Too For year

Making friends after 40 is weird. There. I said it. When we were younger, friendships almost happened automatically. School, college, work, kids, sports, neighbors — life constantly put people in our path. You saw the same people over and over, conversations happened naturally, and somewhere along the way, friendships formed. Then one day you look around and realize… wait. How exactly am I supposed to make new friends now? Because apparently walking up to another grown woman