Real Girls Obsessions 8
More books, people, products, podcasts, and places earning our love.
Somehow we’re already at Part 8.
What started as a quick list of things I couldn’t stop talking about has quietly turned into a pretty great collection of books, podcasts, creators, products, places, and random internet rabbit holes that make life a little smarter, a little easier, a little glowier, and definitely more entertaining.
Some I stumbled across myself. Quite a few came from all of you.
Either way, they’ve all earned a spot on our ever-growing Real Girls Obsessions list.
Let’s add a few more.
People We’re Listening To
Chelsea Waterwall on IG - Nostalgia, car dancing, and the soundtrack to raising my three boys.
Why We Love Her: Chelsea completely hijacked my Instagram algorithm, and I’m not even mad about it.
Her reels have become my excuse to turn the volume all the way up and dance around my kitchen or sing in the car like nobody’s watching. She has a gift for bringing back songs you forgot you loved until the first few notes hit. And it takes me right back to car dancing and signing with my 3 J boys (often to widely inappropriate tunes) that we each vibed with hardest: Uproar for my biggest boy, Florida’s Low for #2 (which he called the apple song), and Get Low for me and #3.
Those songs instantly take me back to road trips, baseball tournaments, school drop-offs, and three little boys who somehow turned into men. They’re 23, 20, and 15 now, but music has this incredible way of collapsing time.
One chorus in and suddenly we’re all singing at the top of our lungs again.
Unapologetic Midlife with Mindi Lobuzzetta - Honest conversations about what comes next.
Why We Love Her: Mindi recently invited me onto her podcast, and it immediately felt less like an interview and more like two women comparing notes.
She talks openly about confidence, identity, reinvention, mental health, relationships, and everything that comes with building a life that still feels like your own after decades of taking care of everyone else. If you’re looking for thoughtful conversations that leave you with something to think about, she’s worth adding to your rotation.
Victoria Byrd on Substack and on her pod - Proof that reinvention doesn’t have an expiration date.
Why We Love Her: Victoria also welcomed me onto her podcast, and since then I’ve become a regular reader of her Substack. One of the things I appreciate most is that she isn’t chasing trends or miracle fixes. She writes and speaks thoughtfully about building what’s next, trusting yourself again, and creating a life that actually fits the woman you’ve become instead of the one everyone expected you to be.
She’s also working toward her PhD while continuing to build her business, which I find wildly inspiring. Women really can keep becoming new versions of themselves.
Beeanca411 on IG - So many things to love! She says exactly what you’re thinking… only funnier.
Why We Love Her: Bee has become one of those creators I’ll stop scrolling for every single time. First of all, she starts so many of her reels with, “I’m so glad you picked up the phone,” and somehow it immediately feels like you’re catching up with your funniest cousin. The reel that hooked me was about panty liners refusing to stick where they’re supposed to. It was so ridiculously specific and so completely relatable that I laughed out loud.
That’s what makes her content so good.
Secondly, she says all the things most people wouldn’t dare say out loud, then somehow balances those observations with the exact pep talk you didn’t know you needed. And every now and then she’ll casually drop a word like ‘whilst’ into the conversation.
I mean… come on.
Books, Bookstores & Book Clubs
Yellow Bird Books in Aurora IL - Exactly the kind of bookstore every community deserves.
Why We Love Them: If you’ve been following our Obsessions series, you already know Dr. Alexis Dunne and I are slightly obsessed with If You Give a Cat a Hot Flash. Well… Menopawsy is heading to Yellow Bird Books for Alexis’ first official bookstore event on July 19, and I couldn’t imagine a better place.
Independent bookstores have an incredibly special place in my heart. They’re the ones championing local authors (like me), welcoming self-published writers, hosting events, introducing readers to books they never knew they needed, and building real communities around stories.
Yellow Bird feels exactly like that. Small. Local. Scrappy. Book-loving.
Please support places like this whenever you can.
BONUS: Independent Bookstores (Bookshop.org is a great way to support them.)
Why We Love Them: Because algorithms will never replace a bookseller who says, “You have to read this.”
Maybe it is because I’m an author now. Maybe it’s because I know firsthand how much these stores do for writers.
Either way, I’ve become even more passionate about supporting independent bookstores whenever I travel.
Amazon serves a purpose. Independent bookstores build communities. There’s room for both.
But if you have a local indie near you, walk in. Buy a book. Talk to the staff. You’ll probably leave with three recommendations you never would have found on your own.
Talking Animals Books - The bookstore that believed in me before most people knew my name.
Why We Love Them: Talking Animals will always have a special place in my heart because author and creator Lacey Pruett read THE REAL GIRLS GUIDE TO MIDLIFE, loved it, and invited me in.
We’ve now done two events together, and every visit reminds me why independent bookstores matter so much.
They’re thoughtful, welcoming, deeply connected to their readers, and passionate about introducing people to books they’ll genuinely love.
They’ve built something really special, and I’m incredibly grateful to be a tiny part of it.
The Finlay Donovan Series by Elle Cosimano - Fast, funny, wildly entertaining, and proof that ordinary women can become absolute badasses.
Why We Love It: First of all…In my next life, I’d like to be Finlay Donovan.
This series somehow blends friendship, mystery, crime, motherhood, and laugh-out-loud humor into books you genuinely can’t put down.
What I love most is watching women figure things out together—even when they don’t have a plan, don’t have the experience, and definitely didn’t expect life to head in this direction.
These books are smart, ridiculously fun, and a reminder that sometimes the most capable people are the ones who never saw themselves coming.
Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry - The kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished it.
Why We Love It: I’m not reading this one for the second time because it’s easy. I’m doing it because it isn’t.
As the mom of three boys, this story forced me to wrestle with questions I hope no parent ever has to answer. It challenged my heart in ways very few books ever have.
Lucinda spent years working as a trauma psychologist before becoming one of the bestselling thriller authors in the country, and that experience shows on every page.
She’s also built an incredible second career, sold millions of books, and quietly reminds me that women are capable of reinventing themselves at every stage of life.
Creepy Book Club - For people who like their stories a little darker.
Why We Love It: Started by two best friends (including Ashley Desanno at lotsamiles on IG - a personal fan fav and Dr Emily Reeder), this is the book club for people like me who prefer a reading list that leans more psychological thriller than beach romance.
Creepy Book Club has built a community around books that make you question everyone, trust no one, and immediately text your friends, “You HAVE to read this.”
It’s fun, welcoming, and dangerously good for your TBR pile.
Even more importantly, Ashley and Emily have used the community they’ve built to shine a light on heartbreaking unsolved cases, including the murder of Rachel Hansen. Their companion podcast, Reconsidered: Unsolved, takes a thoughtful, research-driven look at cases like Rachel’s that deserve continued attention and reminds us that behind every headline is a family still searching for answers. The 4 episodes on Rachel’s case should be required listening.
Real Girls Guide Midlife Workbook - Because sometimes you need somewhere to put all the thoughts swirling around in your head.
Why We Love It: A little shameless self-promotion… cuz if I don’t do it… then how do I expect others to??!!
The workbook exists because reading something and actually doing something with it are two very different things. Over the last year at RGG, we’ve talked about everything from menopause and parenting to relationships, confidence, purpose, grief, identity, and figuring out who we become after spending decades taking care of everyone else.
The workbook gives those conversations somewhere to land. It’s full of prompts, exercises, reframes, journal pages, and tiny practices designed to help you get out of your head and onto the page.
Sometimes the answers have been there all along. They just needed somewhere to come out.
Products Quietly Pulling Their Weight
ANUA PDRN - Remember Amanda from Part 7? Yep… She got me again.
Why We Love It: If you’ve been seeing PDRN everywhere lately, it’s because it delivers stellar support for skin repair, hydration, elasticity, and that elusive “you look really well” glow without looking like you’ve done anything dramatic.
I’ve only recently started using it, but I’m impressed enough that it earned a spot here.
I’ll also link Amanda’s ShopMy page here because she doesn’t feature anything that is not fully tested and that actually WORKS!
Aloha Collection Tote - The one that somehow carries my entire life. And that is saying a lot!
Why We Love It: I’ve never really been a purse person. Which probably explains the missing credit cards, misplaced keys, and occasional moment of wondering where I put… well… everything.
This tote has become my answer.
It’s lightweight, waterproof, ridiculously roomy, and somehow works equally well for the beach, airplanes, book events, and the constant back-and-forth between California and Australia.
Apparently I just needed one giant bag instead of twelve small ones.
Salty Crew - Great design never goes out of style.
Why We Love It: One of my favorite humans on the planet, Carrie Trimm Drew, has been part of the Real Girls Guide ride since the very beginning.
She’s also an incredibly talented apparel designer whose work regularly shows up in Salty Crew collections.
There’s something really satisfying about seeing someone you admire doing work that’s instantly recognizable without needing to put their name all over it.
I’ve been a fan of Salty Crew for years (as have my 3 J boys), and now I get an extra kick every time one of Carrie’s designs shows up.
A few of my Carrie favs are: the Ombre Muscle Tank, Mai Tai Tails Skimmer, and Salty Sardine Boyfriend Tee.
Bronwyn Saglimbeni and her Flip Flop Recommendation Featured in Substack - She somehow knows exactly what we need before we do.
Why We Love Her: Our RGG crew has met Bronwyn before. She’s one of my favorite writers, someone I’ve known for decades, and she was also one of the experts featured in The Real Girls Guide to Midlife.
A few weeks ago she wrote about finally finding the perfect grown-up leather flip-flops.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
I looked down while reading her piece and realized I was wearing my middle son’s old Reef sandals… from when he was about fifteen.
I’ve clearly reached the stage of life where I was happily wearing my kid’s hand-me-down flip-flops without giving it a second thought.
Needless to say… I ordered the grown-up pair Bronwyn featured from Zara.
Sometimes the universe knows exactly what it’s doing.
That’s a wrap for Part 8. The full running list of Real Girls Obsessions can be found here.
And if something recently earned a permanent spot in your group chat, your headphones, your nightstand, your beach bag, or your late-night scroll… send it my way.
Some of my favorite discoveries over the last eight installments have come from this community, and I have a feeling we’re only getting started.
#RealGirlsGuidetoMidlife #RealGirlsGuideObsessions #MidlifeFaves
We’ve earned every wrinkle. Might as well make more laugh lines together.
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And if you’ve read my first book and loved it, a quick review on Amazon helps keep it moving!
Thank you for these recs! I'm dying to attend the Creepy Book Club Retreat! Last year's looked amazing!
WE need to go one year AND get you in it!!!