the hot goddess

Pancakes, Penises, and Parties in Midlife

Yeah, some headline, huh? I felt the need for a Fun Friday post as an emotional boost after this difficult but necessary essay. It’s been a week of fun firsts as a midlife blogger and auntie while traveling in Pennsylvania for my niece’s graduation from high school.

I don’t know about you, but making new friends in midlife as an over-60, retired woman is not easy for me. I love how the blogging community has embraced me, and I’ve connected with many blogger friends virtually. But I’d never met any IRL, face-to-face, until this week.

I was a bit nervous about meeting the dynamic and 20-years-younger Libby of The Goddess Attainable. She was my first blogger follower here on WordPress when I started blogging last year — graciously following me back after I found and followed her goddess content. When I was still doubting my courage to be vulnerable and real here, Libby’s supportive comments helped me grow bolder and more confident. So when we arranged to meet during this trip to Philly, I didn’t want to f*ck it up. I don’t know why I can still turn into an insecure 12-year-old at 62, but I’m guessing it stems from being teased and ostracized as a child. Does this happen to anyone else?

I needn’t have been nervous about meeting Libby in person. We connected like old friends, over heaping plates of scrumptious, syrupy blueberry pancakes, perfectly crisp bacon, and golden fried potatoes. We two single goddesses dished about dating, relationships, sex, penis size (yep, we went there), heartbreak, grief, writing, Portugal, budgeting, skincare, sisters, mothers, trauma, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and psychics (long story…perfect for any gathering of goddesses, naturally). Despite our two-decade age difference, nothing was off-limits or awkward, and the hours flew by. I didn’t feel I had to pull my foot out of my mouth even once, which is another first when meeting new folks.

It’s a goddess thang.

I hope we can get together again at some point, and am excited to potentially meet other blogger and Instagram friends IRL too. Thank you for this fabulous first, GA!

This week also was a time for family celebration as my niece graduated from high school. This was a particularly poignant milestone, since we lost her father, my brother-in-law, to colon cancer in 2018. He and my father, her grandfather, died within months of each other. I continue to be amazed by her — and my sister’s — resilience in the face of adversity and loss. She and my sister planned a wonderful family dinner party at a restaurant in downtown Philly, complete with chauffeur. The only family dynamic that night was laughter and giggles among the Wester women. That might not be a first, but it is certainly a precious rarity. I’m very grateful for that.

Three generations of women.
Fly, woman, fly…
Of course, no celebration is complete without auntie’s bourbon.

What about you? What are you grateful for this week? What has you smiling? Any midlife firsts?

Happy Friday! 💜

All images are my own.

The Hot Goddess

Instagram: retired_rewired_inspired

If you enjoyed this please remember to Share, Like, Follow, Comment, Subscribe. (This is my “call to action” I’m supposed to include in every post. Thanks so much for your support!) ❤

42 comments

  2. Okay, I have to admit, the headline stopped me mid-scroll, with a “wait, what was that?”!! Penises and pancakes! what a combo! As a single, mid-life woman I don’t have many friends where I live right now, probably due to being quite busy with work, family, writing and other pursuits. I can spend hours happily talking with a friend IRL and also be quite happy going to the park by myself!

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  5. As others have already stated, that headline definitely caught my eye and made me ‘double-take’!! I’m so happy you got to meet up with another ‘goddess’ and it sounds like you had an amazing connection IRL 🙂 I can totally relate to that inner 12 year old being afraid of messing it all up!! I’m so awkward around new people, I think I can actually hear myself cringing!!

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  6. I’ve met several bloggers in real life now, and they have all been delightful. And yes, I was nervous to meet each one…that will never go away! I’m pretty sure penis size has never come up as a topic of conversation but perhaps I should introduce that one at my next meetup…whaddaya think? 😜 It seemed to work for the two of you…

    Congratulations to you and your family on your family celebration and congrats especially to the graduate!

    Deb

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  9. Well Nat, the door is always open at Chateau Snyder our apartment is like walking into an art gallery which includes the world’s nicest person (my wife Jess) a painting in the ass cat (our boy Nigel) and well me ,your snarky 10 years younger blogger friend 💙 we were only an hour away north if Philly

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  10. Wow! You packed a lot in your week! First, CONGRATS to your niece! May she dream BIG and surround herself with positive people with good integrity. have had a few IRL meetings and each one has been like Open hearts, open doors and opportunities. My heart sang to hear you and a fellow blogger met in the flesh.

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    • Not sure why this posted in the middle of me writing it!! Here is the RIGHT ONE…Wow! You packed a lot in your week! First, CONGRATS to your niece! May she dream BIG and surround herself with positive people with good integrity. Meeting new people through my writing has been such an awesome unexpected outcome!! My heart sang to hear you and a fellow blogger met in the flesh. With such sadness in the world – I love hearing how people can meet and then feel as though they have known each other so much longer – kinda like an old comfy slipper! Be well Nat! Let me know when you’ll be in FL!

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      • The same thing happens to me too 🤷🏾‍♀️. Thank you so much for your kind words, Ruth!💜 I love your wish for surrounding with positive people with integrity. Perfect…and so needed! I look forward to meeting more bloggers in person, and will definitely reach out if I’m in Florida.

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  11. I love love love this post. It’s diffcult for me to go out and make new friends too and when the naysayers say I do too much blogging I get insecure. Do I?

    Thing is, the embrace of the blogging community is so helpful to me at times.Yes, IRL friendships are important, but introverted people need an outlet and for me, blogging helps to keep me less isolated.

    I love that you met a blogging friend and you clicked IRL. Intuition works, and you followed it!

    Thank you for sharing and validating that blogging friendships are real and essential to us. 💟

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    • Thank you so much for this, Claudette! There are naysayers who say you do too much blogging????? What???? No way! I am in awe of you 💜. You write real, relevant, and relatable content in your blog; you write erotic fiction; you write articles on other platforms; you do tarot videos on YouTube; you create and sell lovely jewelry; you’re raising two teens… OMG, woman, I’m exhausted just typing this. You’re right about blogging as an introvert. Blogging has become a medicine for healing too. It’s also my motivation to get me writing every day, even though I don’t publish much of what I write. I can’t imagine having the courage, dedication, productivity, and talent to do all that you do as a writer, artist, and woman. Just wow, Claudette! Please don’t listen to any naysayers! 💜

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  12. How fun to have met a fellow blogger friend IRL and had some family time too. I’ve thought it would be fun to travel around the country meeting fellow bloggers as part of travel, fun, and van life. We’ll see if I ever do it. 😋

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  14. Wow, that is some good alliteration, Natalie! How fun to meet a blogger friend IRL! And I can completely understand the nerves but what I loved most about your description was how smoothly the words flowed off the page and into real life. Beautiful.

    And what a beautiful graduation for your niece. Wow, wonderful, resilience and fun! Love it. Thanks for sharing your week with us, Natalie!

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  15. So excited that two of my favourite bloggers got to meet. I hope I get to meet you two sometime tooo. ❤️

    This week – I’m grateful for hiring my first full time employee in my small business. Small steps towards bigger growth. ❤️

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  16. Your post beautifully highlights that friendships we form here on the blogs are as real as in the physical world. That’s why l love to hear about these in-person meetups with fellow bloggers, and yours sounds delightful and delicious. Btw, when you connect with a like-minded person, age difference often doesn’t come into play. 🙂

    Congrats to your niece! I imagine her graduation was a bittersweet family celebration, with the loss of both her father and grandfather. Thank you for sharing your week, Natalie. And the photo of three generations of women in your family is simply precious! ❤

    What am I grateful for this week? Finalizing a huge academic project as this means I can focus on my creative writing, this summer.

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    • Thank you so much for this beautiful comment, Khaya!💜 Your words always bring smiles. Yes, you are right about age and like minds. I have two dear, long-time friends who are now in their 80s. We connected when I was in my late 20s/early 30s. So grateful for them both.
      Congratulations on finishing your academic project! 🙌🏾 What a sense of freedom to be able to focus on your creative work. That’s a plus for us, too, as I always enjoy reading your beautiful work!

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  17. What a beautiful post! I think it’s awesome that you were able to connect in person with your first follower. You two indeed look like old friends. It’s amazing how we can connect when we remove society’s limitations. Congratulations to your niece and I imagine the bourbon was AWESOME! May your weekend be prosperous and Best Wishes! Leigh

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