Aging doesn't bug Isabella Rossellini

I love what Isabella Rossellini, 57, has to say in this month's O Magazine (see below.) I'm not past the point of wanting to prove myself, but I'm beginning to see a glimmer of compete screw-it-all freedom in my future, and it looks damn good.

One of the things Rossellini does for fun is act out animal mating rituals on film. The chick is wild! For the complete "O" article, click here.

"When you're young, you need to prove to yourself that you can succeed, have a career, and be financially independent. Now I can just do what I always wanted to. What seemed frivolous, but isn't.

This is a time in my life when a lot of things have lifted. Nobody talks about that! I've had a lot of aha moments, but the big aha about growing older is the mental freedom. I'm older than my teachers. It's fantastic—I was always afraid of teachers, but now I'm not. I just like to study. I plan to get a BA and probably a master's degree.

In interviews, the first question I get in America is always: "What do you do to stay young?" I do nothing. I don't think aging is a problem. What irritates me a little is growing fatter. It irritates me that if I eat what I want to eat, it shows. Yes, my face has wrinkles. But I don't find it monstrous. I'm so surprised that the emphasis on aging here is on physical decay, when aging brings such incredible freedom. Now what I want most is laughs. I don't want to hurt anybody by laughing—there is no meanness to it. I just want to laugh." - Isabella Rossellini

What's in for Fall - at Splurge and Steal Prices

Stylist Kate Shifrin presents the hottest trends for Fall: leather, grommets, leggings, leopard and more. Can real women wear these rock glam styles? See for yourself in this video as my friend Tricia and I model the looks of the season at both high and low price points.

Melanie Oudin inspires tennis players of all ages, shapes, & sizes

There was only one woman featured in the Chicago Tribune's Sports section yesterday, and it was tennis player Melanie Oudin, just 17. Tonight the unseeded 5'6" teen will face off against the ninth seed, Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark, in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. At 5'10, Wozniacki will be one the shorter opponents Oudin has faced in the tournament.

"Melanie Oudin isn't just the biggest thing to hit U.S. tennis since the Williams sisters began winning big a decade ago. She could be the fresh face that helps reinvigorate the sport in this country." -Tim Dahlberg, Chicago Tribune

With her positive attitude, competitive spirit and friendly demeanor, Melanie Oudin makes for a much needed role model for girls in sports. But she's an inspiration to older women too. Yesterday was the first day of the indoor season at my tennis club, the North Shore Racquet Club, and Oudin was the name on everyone's lips.

"Oudin gives me hope, because she plays like me," said Denise, an attractive, fit woman with two kids in college. "She's not very tall, she doesn't have any big weapons, but she just hangs in there and wins." My sentiments exactly, Denise (who by the way, is at least 3 inches taller than I am.)

Today, women's tennis is dominated by Russian women who are close to 6 feet tall. Oudin's opponent in the 4th round, Maria Sharapova, is 6'2" for crying out loud. I may not meet many Russian amazons in my 4.0 matches, but I certainly come across women who are stronger, faster and younger - and at 5'3", I'm usually the shortest one on the court.

What Oudin's surprising success at the US Open demonstrates is the most important trait for success is believing in yourself. And we're never too old for that.

Confessions of a Real Housewife

I hear through the grapevine that Bravo TV is looking to cast The Real Housewives of Chicago. Hey, I'm a real housewife, they should cast me! Although my life isn't quite as colorful as many of the "Housewives" - no arrests, nude photos, or implants (yet) - I've got some dirty little secrets that I'm willing to spill on camera, and here's just a sampling:

1. Even though I have a set of expensive All-Clad stainless cookware, the pan I use all the time is a cheap T-Fal non-stick frying pan.

2. I've never had a flu shot or taken my kids to get one.

3. I know my kids don't always pick up the dog's poop when they walk her, but I turn a blind eye so she gets some exercise.

4. I don't even try to balance my checkbook.

5. I want to love the ultra hip show "Mad Men," but it puts me to sleep.

6. The only food I don't eat is veal, because years ago I saw a program on how miserably the little calves are kept. I'm happy to eat any other animal, however.

7. I buy a Streetwise paper from the homeless guy every time I go to the grocery store, but I resent him for it.

8. I do a bad job on my husband's laundry on purpose so he'll keep doing it himself.

9. I have a crush on Kid Rock, even though I think he's skanky. It's my Detroit roots.

See Bravo - I am very naughty. Don't you want to put me on your show? Or are the real confessions of this real housewife too tame for TV?

Would you accept a jello shot from these women? I did and liked it.

There comes a time when you just gotta cut loose and have some uninhibited, silly fun. If you don't want to attract a lot of attention while doing it, head to a Jimmy Buffett concert, like I did last night. Buffett fans (better known as Parrotheads) know how to have a good time, and most of the fun happens in the parking lot where the tailgate partying is over the top.

Whatever naughtiness you can think up will be completely overshadowed by the crazy costumes, drinking games and limbo contests going on. It's impossible not to be part of the action because everyone is so friendly. My two new friends here, who's names I never learned but who graciously agreed to appear on my blog, offered me and my girlfriends jello shots topped with whipped cream and festooned us with mardi gras beads. Wasn't that sweet?

Much sweeter than the downstate firemen who were only letting women who did beer bongs out of a plastic pink flamingo go up on top of their fire truck. That's insulting. There sure was a good view of the parking lot from up there though.

I'm not a huge fan of Buffett's music, and I can't see myself wearing a coconut bra or a big shark fin on my head. But the laid-back, rowdy carnival atmosphere of the parking lot party was one big spiked watermelon slice of summer fun.

London Visit Opens my Eyes to the Burqa Issue

My family's few days in London were fascinating. The city is truly international. When my daughter's British soccer coach jokingly asked me how I "liked the English blokes" I had to pause. Other than a few taxi drivers and the Beefeater who gave the tour at the Tower of London, I didn't meet any. Like us, everyone we met seemed to be from somewhere else.

This was especially apparent at our hotel, the Mariott Marble Arch, located just off Edgware Road. The stretch of Edgware Road north of Marble Arch is the Arabic capital of London. The street is lined with colorful middle eastern cafes and shops, patrons smoking hookah pipes on the sidewalk, movies in Arabic playing at the Odeon. In addition to being the center of the large immigrant population, the area is a hub for visiting Muslim tourists. Many of the women at our hotel and on the street wore the hijab - headscarf and modest attire - which I have to admit, was a bit disconcerting. My head felt conspicuously bare.

As we settled into the neighborhood, it didn't take me long to realize that the practice of hijab is open to wide interpretation. Some women wore a simple headscarf over regular street clothes or jeans. Others wore the scarf with a full length tailored coat. Teenage girls pushed light gauzy scarves back on their heads to reveal glittery headbands. Other women wore full black robes, edged in gold trim. Many of the more covered women sported designer sunglasses and expensive bags. Their eyebrows were fabulous.

But a few women were completely covered by a burqa, and frankly, it made me uncomfortable. No, wait. It made me mad.

With their covered faces and shapeless limbs, the burqa-clad women seemed worlds apart from the rest of the London population, which I guess is the point, but it seems so cruel. The women had trouble walking down the street or opening their handbags - ultimately dependent on their companions for help to do the most basic things. And despite their helplessness, with no facial expressions to mitigate the severity of their heavy black veils, they looked sinister. I've since read that covered women suffer vitamin D deficiencies from not being exposed to sunlight. Could a woman possibly choose this attire for herself?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't think so. Recently, he announced that the burqa is not welcome in France. He claims the burqa, as well as the niquab which leaves the eyes uncovered, is "a sign of subservience and debasement" often forced upon Muslim women by their husbands and fathers. But it's not that simple.

Although hard to understand by Western standards, some Muslim women wear the burqa by choice, as a sign of religious devotion and commitment to their faith. These women claim that their robes, which do separate them from public society, bring them closer to God. Legislation against the burqa would violate these women's rights, no?

I don't know the answer, but I'll tell you this. It's a gorgeous summer day and I'm about to hit the beach. I'm going to display my hair, neck, arms, legs and even my flabby stomach for all the world to see. And while it may not bring me closer to God, it will certainly give me a chance to appreciate the beauty of nature, as well as dose of well-deserved vitamin D.

Off to Ireland and on to London - Cheerio!

I'm off to Ireland with my husband and kids - we go every other year to visit Liam's parents and siblings in Cork. We're making a quick stop in London on the way back home. I'm sure I'll have lots of interesting experiences along the way, but I won't be blogging about them until I return home. Enjoy the summer!

How to be a Good Sports Parent - Cheer More, Forget the Score

Here's a link to an article I wrote for TribLocal.com about parenting young athletes. The three coaches I interviewed - Pete Caragher of the Flying Fish Swim Team, Rob Etheridge of Euro Soccer Club, and Michelle Casati, tennis pro and former #18 singles player - give some great advice.

We want our kids to do well in sports, but sometimes we aren't aware how our own behavior affects them. Basically, we parents need to -

1. Pay attention to the process of learning a sport, not just the results.
2. Let the sport belong to the child.
3. Encourage our kids, not coach or critique them.

To read the full article, click here.

Wanted: Mature Women in the Movies

I've been continually surprised to find that life after 40 is so exciting. I've done things that I only dreamed of in my 20s and 30s - got in shape, completed a degree, started a new career, sung in a band, kayaked with Orca, took some chances. At 46, I feel more confident, alive, and "me" than ever before, and when I look around at other women my age, it's clear they feel the same.

It's a great time of life, yet I never looked forward to it when I was younger. I figured I'd be sidelined by forty - irrelevant, unattractive, uncool. Why was I so misinformed?

Partly because there aren't enough movies made about older women.

Think about it. How many movies have you seen with older women (and by this I mean over 40) as leads? Or any women at all who aren't desperate for a man, victims of horrible crimes, or knocked up? Where are all the brave, funny, intelligent women who are running businesses, leading communities, creating art? Not in Hollywood films, that's for sure. And the absence of mature female role models is damaging to women of all ages.

According to Debbie Zipp, founder of In the Trenches Productions, an organization dedicated to promoting women over 40 in film,

"Art is a reflection of life. Limiting the roles mature women play in films is not an honest or true depiction of real life. We are many things besides somebody’s mother or grandmother; today’s women over 40, 50, 60 and beyond are also sexy and powerful. If this is the only way our children see women on television and in film, we subliminally tell them that women should take a back seat after they hit 40."

Amen, Debbie! In our youth-obsessed culture, women need to know that the second half of their lives can be every bit as meaningful and thrilling as their first. Let's demand more movies that depict women's lives after 40 the way they really are. And if the male Hollywood establishment won't comply, we mature chicks should make 'em ourselves.

Whoopi Inspires Eyebrowless Trend

A hot trend popping up in NYC clubs and fashion magazines is the absence of eyebrows, reports the New York Times. Fashionistas are erasing their eyebrows, either by bleaching them or removing them altogether. Apparently, one of the inspirations for this style is Whoopi Goldberg.

Wow, I've never noticed that Whoopi has no eyebrows! Perhaps their lack does contribute to her open, friendly, and somewhat androgynous image. Another unlikely influence cited by the eyebrowless is Buddhist monks.

What's your opinion about this look? For me, I'm thinking this is one trend I'll brow out of.