FABULOUS 50 Campaign | Meet Jill

" Don't be afraid to fail - failing is okay.”

Born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens & Long Island, Jill, an attorney is now living in Bucks County. She is mom to 2 “fabulous, strong willed and fascinating” daughters. She’s been married for 33 years and wanted to celebrate being 57.

I’ve loved chatting with Jill, she’s very funny and very deep at the same time.

Here’s what she had to say:

What's the best thing about being over 50?

The best thing about being over 50 is I care way less what other people think - that's just the truth.

How did you mark turning 50?

I marked turning 50 by taking a trip to Europe with my two daughters. We went to Versailles. And we were supposed to bicycle around the grounds, which is a fabulous experience. And instead I have photos of them literally wrestling with each other physically wrestling each other, to the ground over whether one of them was going to be in a picture with another, and who was prettier. (And my daughter's 21 and 18 and they actually were fighting on that trip over who mommy and daddy liked better.) So, clearly, there's no point my going on.

What piece of advice would you give your 20 something self?

Don't be afraid to fail. I was always too afraid to fail, failing is okay. You don't have to be perfect to be loved. And if you're truly loved and you know it, then it doesn't matter.

What do you remember about being taught about beauty from a young age?

What I remember most was my mom wasn't overly concerned with beauty, my mother was absolutely beautiful. She was no nonsense, she never wore makeup. She did her hair, but she wasn't fussy.

I lived in a house with my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, my father my grandfather. My grandmother insisted that she wanted me to look and behave like Grace Kelly, and being beautiful was about everything being perfect- always combing your hair and I rebelled. I didn't wear makeup for years and years and even into my 40s. My grandmother would scold me and say, ‘why don't you wear makeup?’ It wasn't until after I hit 50 I came up with the proper answer (only after she had passed) in which I said, “I was thinking, I don't want to make the other ladies jealous or feel bad, so that's why I don't wear makeup.”

It was like beauty was Grace Kelly perfection.

What is your favorite trait about yourself?

My favorite trait about myself is that I can laugh at myself. I can be a perfectionist, and I can be overly anxious, and I can be overly judgmental and I can do a whole bunch of things that are very unattractive. But I can almost always recognize it and laugh and try and do better.

I feel like I like to use humor. I like to be self-deprecating and human also to make other people feel comfortable and also to help everyone understand, and just be honest that we're all kind of a mess. And if I'll at least admit I'm a mess, maybe you'll feel more comfortable about it yourself.

Are there any myths you would like to bust about being in your 50s?I think that women in their 50s are sexier than ever. And the Hollywoods of the world, they just think of women in their 50s as moms and grandmas, and men in their 50s are playing the lead, and women in their 50s are playing the mother. There's a story about how Sally Field played Tom Hanks love interest in one movie and then in another movie she paid his mother. The distance between their ages hadn't changed.

It's a very liberating, lovely time.

What is your guilty pleasure?

It would have been food, but now that I'm 50 I can't eat anything!

Watching HGTV, usually a show like Hometown because it just seems so sweet and creatively nice, and it's like, it's like a value for me.

If you have a bucket list- what's your favorite thing that you checked off and what do you still want to do?

I want to go scuba diving, that's on my list.

In the Bahamas and went snorkeling with sea turtles, and I thought it was phenomenal. I loved it.

How would you like to be described by people?

Well, I was described by someone and I like this - I am good at being friendly. And I really like that because I've never thought of myself that way before.

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