Val Monroe’s Thingies and the Weirdness of Signatures

Let’s talk about signing your name (hello, strange custom) and dig into Val Monroe’s Thingies! This genius woman—the former beauty director of O, The Oprah Magazine—writes the extremely thoughtful and epically named newsletter How Not to F*ck Up Your Face, and we’re fairly obsessed.

 

Sign up for Val’s newsletter at valeriemonroe.substack.com immediately. This is the moving installment on Facetiming with her granddaughter.

 

Val had a bunch of reading (and audiobook-listening) recommendations: the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel, How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee, Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris (see also: Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris and Rewrites: A Memoir by Neil Simon), The News Sorority by Sheila Weller, The Overstory by Richard Powers, The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

 

For a companion newsletter to Val’s, subscribe to Jessica DeFino’s The Unpublishable

 

Beauty-ish things Val raves about: her aminolevulinic acid treatment experience, Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Brush-On Shield SPF 50, the French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, Laura Geller Baked Foundation, and Tocca Florence Laundry Delicate.

 

Share your favorite Thingies at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. Please!

 

If you’re in the mood for many more recs, there’s a Secret Menu membership for that.

 

Download the Zocdoc app for free and book that doctor’s appointment already.

Get your birth control online with The Pill Club, which will make a $10 donation to Bedsider.org when you use our link.

Feel fresh all day with Native and get 20% off your first order with the code ATHINGORTWO.

 

Produced by Dear Media

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Over 50 & Flourishing
Welcome to Over 50 & Flourishing, the show for any woman who feels like she lost her compass in the sea of midlife. I’m here to tell you it’s never too late to change your course and awaken the healthy, wise, and wonderful woman within. My name is Dominique Sachse, and I love to ask questions, which was why I spent nearly three decades of my life in the TV news business. I also started a YouTube channel in 2014 to connect intimately with my community, and I took an even deeper dive in my book Life Makeover - Embrace The Bold, Beautiful and Blessed You. I’ll be the first to say, I’ve made mistakes, and I’m not afraid to be vulnerable and learn from them. I mean let’s face it, this stage of life can be complicated. Children are moving out, relationships are being examined, our parents are aging, and we’re having to manage all of this along with our menopause! It’s easy to lose sight of ourselves, but can I just say.. we matter. So, whether it’s finding ways to enhance and celebrate our own beauty, taking bold steps toward living our best life in the second half of life, finding ways to be healthier, happier, and more spiritually connected, I will bring you thinkers and innovators who share the same passion of flushing out these ideas. It’s my goal to leave us all feeling inspired, thought and intent-driven, and with a sense of purpose in whatever we pursue. Let’s celebrate growing older together and embrace our Prime. It’s our time!
Over 50 & Flourishing

Dominique Sachse

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