Another Year Older and Thankful for Meredith Vieira's Neck

Dear Meredith Vieira, please don't touch a single wrinkle.

I am officially another year older today. I really dislike celebrating my birthday. When Annie was born on the day after my 35th birthday I was like, phew, now I can ignore mine and focus on her birthday instead. But here I am telling the world I'm another year older, so go figure.

Today on my birthday I am thankful for Meredith Vieira's neck. Meredith, for my international readers, is the co-host of the "Today" show, the dominant morning news program in the United States. She turns 56 in December and Meredith looks like a woman in her mid-50s: She is still stunningly attractive but she has wrinkles around her eyes and sagging skin on her neck. Which is all perfectly normal except that so many of our aging celebrities have chosen to turn themselves back into 35-year-olds rather than look their age. And that pisses me off! When did looking your age become such a liability?

A Famous TV Actress who lives in my town is an example of this reverse aging by plastic surgery. She is in her early sixties and everyone knows it, just like everyone knows she went to one of New York's best plastic surgeons a few years ago and had twenty years of aging magically carted away. To run into the Famous TV Actress at the grocery store or a restaurant always causes a jolt—not because she is a celebrity but because she could be mistaken for a woman in her late thirties. Seriously! She's a very nice person in real life but it's just a little freaky that she looks like she could have kids in elementary school.

So I'm grateful for Meredith Vieira's neck and that Meredith is not afraid to look her age on national TV. I always give her a "you go girl" when she wears a v-neck. We aging baby boomers need a role model for aging gracefully and naturally, and Meredith you're my girl.

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Speaking of aging baby boomers, you could find them in droves Sunday at "Love, Loss, and What I Wore" at the Westside Theatre. I loved this little play (actually more a collection of monologues) about "matters of the heart and matters of the closet" (New York Times) by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, who based it on Ilene Beckerman's book of the same title. It's the perfect thing to see with your girlfriends or daughters, especially if you appreciate lines like "Wear Eileen Fisher and you just might as well say 'I give up'" (huge laugh of recognition from the audience).

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Hey, I found the perfect embellishment for my blue coat! M&J Trims pulled through for me just like it always does. As soon as I sew it on I'll share photos with you, dear readers. See you later!