FMG: You're Not Too Old + It's Not Too Late

(But I am and for me it is)

Happy holiday weekend! In the words of one of my Hinge matches*, I hope it’s filled with yacht rock and Red Baron frozen pizzas.

*See how I did that? How I gracefully and subtly shared that my toe has been firmly dipped back into the pool of 5’9 finance bros from Naperville?

In other news, have you ever fallen to the literal ground whilst carrying three pieces of luggage across the so-called “magnificent mile”??? Have you ever face-planted in front of tourists simply trying to experience the magic of Chicago as you frantically attempt to catch the 147 bus heading south??? As of approximately 5:20 p.m. on Thursday, August 29, 2024, I can answer both of those questions with a resounding “yes, chef!”**

Life/Career/Stress/Age: Willa Bennett, current editor-in-chief of Highsnobiety, was named as the new editor-in-chief of Cosmo and Seventeen this week, effectively signaling a new era for both legacy publications and also ruining my day. Despite not being up for, qualified for, or interested in the position, I was still left with a deep pit in my stomach, likely the result of the feeling that I Am Not Doing Enough or Achieving Enough and That I Am Wasting My Potential With Every Passing Day. Though it is not my place or my business to guess or list Willa’s age, I can discern from her inclusion in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list from 2022 that she is around my age (or younger!) and that this therefore makes me A Massive Failure. (Note: Willa’s partner Celeste is a writer at SNL! Another job that I do not want nor have trained for but that I am deeply jealous of!) I’m swept by this phenomenon every time we’re presented with more news of an It Girl excelling in her chosen field (despite never taking one SINGLE dance class or singing lesson in my life, I can’t think too hard about the much-younger-than-me Tate McRae selling out Madison Square Garden).

If one of my dearest, most beloved, and most incredibly talented friends were to tell me that they were feeling similarly afflicted by these feelings of jealousy and self-doubt, it would be the easiest thing in the world for me to nurse them back to confidence. “There’s no set timeline!” I would say, “You have so much time left!”

Unfortunately, it’s much easier to tell my deeply gifted, perfect, gorgeous, and amazing friends that than it is to say it to or believe it myself — so instead of waxing poetic about something I myself am struggling to believe, I’ll share the below list of people who achieved/accomplished/did things at ages the same as or older than my own (reminder: I am 30).

• Lisa Kudrow booked Friends when she was 30 (which was 3 years after she was rejected for a role as a cast member on SNL).

• Meryl Streep won her first two acting Oscars when she was 30 and 32 respectively, but then didn’t win another for over 30 years.

• Stan Lee created his first comic, The Fantastic Four, at age 38, and he created the Marvel Universe a few years later.

• Toni Morrison wrote and published her first novel, The Bluest Eye, at 39 (and she won her Pulitzer at 56 and her Nobel Prize at 62).

• Vera Wang launched her eponymous fashion line at 40.

• Morgan Freeman was nominated for his first Tony at 41 and his first Oscar at 50.

• Martha Stewart was 41 when she published her first cookbook.

• Laverne Cox began starring in Orange Is the New Black when she was 41 and was nominated for her first Emmy soon after.

• Henry Ford invented the Model T when he was 45.

• Julia Child published her first cookbook when she was 50.

• Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first Little House book when she was 65.

NOTE: Some of these stats were found in this article, among others. I cross-checked as best as I could — and if you know of more that I should add to this list, I want to hear them!!

TV: Next week kicks off a FANTASTIC month for reality television, with the below all coming out within weeks of each other. I’m disappointed by current Bachelorette Jenn’s remaining two men (justice for Jonathon!!!!), so while I love Jenn and have enjoyed her season, I’m looking forward to diving into the below:

• September 6: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Season 1 (Hulu)

• September 6: Selling Sunset, Season 8 (Netflix)

• September 18: The Golden Bachelorette, Season 1 (ABC)

• October 1: The Real Housewives of New York, Season 15 (Bravo)

Books: After spending all three summers of my college career working at a summer camp the best summer camp in the world, it’s no secret that camps hold a very near and dear place in my heart. To round out this summer, I’ve chosen to read a string of books set at summer camps — and while their settings may be similar, their contents could not possibly be more different. I just finished The God of the Woods (mentioned in my last newsy), which is about a 13-year-old girl who goes missing from the summer camp her parents own, the same summer camp from which her older brother ALSO went missing 14 years earlier. My friend Maddie is one of the harshest book critics I know (she’s an editor by trade, she can’t help it!!), and she said it’s the best book she’s read in a longggg time.

Equally exciting is Wildfire, which is about two college kids who work at a summer camp and hook up a lot. It’s important to read a variety of content, haven’t you heard?

As a reward for making it this far, see below for proof that a man hopes my weekend is filled with my favorite things. May yours be equally thrilling!!

XO,

Gail

**In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that the Michigan Avenue story was slightly dramatized for effect. C’est la vie!

And as a reminder:

It’s an election year (and it’s feeling… hopeful?!), and it is my duty to remind you that while newsletters like this are crucial for maintaining sanity and levity, I am not a news source and am in no way a replacement for staying informed. For every newsletter you read that makes you smile, I hope you also read an informed take on politics, world events, and social issues (then fact check it!) — and for every heavy piece of news you take in, I hope you also consume and/or create a piece of art that promotes light, laughter, and joy.

---