As I mentioned last week, I adore my mid forties. I feel more like myself than ever before. I have stopped giving most of the fucks. I am no afraid to fail or to try new things. 44 is going to be a banger of a year.
And to celebrate I had a truly excellent birthday week. At this stage in the game I want no presents for my birthday. I pretty much never want people to buy me presents unless it is a spontaneous tinned fish candle that a friend spies and just decides I must have.
Or this perfect twenty euro caftan from a street corner in Paris that Glynnis got me (I wore it to a Sicilian Inheritance event at the Doyletown Bookstore on birthday week…because always be selling the Hot Sicilian even on birthday week…grab one today).
Amazon recently decided to dub it a MUST READ CLASSIC. And I shall not argue with them. Happy birthday me.
What I want for my birthday and other major celebrations is community. I want the people I love to gather and have fun together and that is exactly what I got.
So here was my perfect birthday week:
My friend Lindsay is also a Virgo (I attract them) and her birthday party kicked off the celebrations. We had a neighborhood block party with the very best local parents band in existence, The Panamaniacs (they live on Panama Street). Everything about it served to remind me that Philadelphia is absolutely the greatest city in the world.
On my actual birthday my friends Tara and Mollie sent me to an adorable little spa in Queens Village called Fabriq for a massage which made me feel tremendously loved and taken care of. That night (which is also our anniversary) Nick Aster and I stopped into our local fave Friday, Saturday, Sunday for a birthday cocktail (that involved roasted eggplant) before heading to a birthday celebration for me and three other Virgos. We had a massive spicy seafood boil and then laid down on the couch with fat bellies.
BUT IT WASN’T OVER.
Nick Aster and my friends Tara and Brian then treated me to a Weezer concert (fun Jo Piazza fact, Weezer is one of my favorite bands and I have never seen them live). It was BANANAS GOOD. The arena was sold out and a ton of the parents there had brought their eleven and twelve years olds to their first concert. I didn’t sit down the whole time. Nineties nostalgia is real friends and Rivers Cuomo (another fun Jo Piazza fact, Rivers Cuomo was my first ever celebrity interview) and the dudes totally brought it. Also The Flaming Lips opened and they are a burst of pure joy! Remember this song?
I also put on a flannel and channeled my best Winona Ryder from Reality Bites. Because she was perfect.
Now in celebration of my birthday let me give YOU some presents. I have a ton of great books to give away for full subscribers and so many more to come in the next few months (sadly I can only send to the U.S. but I still love you Canada). I can even try to get some of the authors to sign them! To win comment below and make sure you’re signed up for all the Over the Influence goodies.
SUCH A GOOD FAMILY (Comment FAMILY to be entered to win)
Lorrie has the perfect life. Eden has the perfect life. And their perfect lives are about to implode.
Lorrie and Eden have been best friends ever since they bonded as newcomers to their affluent suburb when their children were little. They’re used to letting themselves into each other’s houses for coffee after school drop-off, and gossiping about their neighbors over wine at their book club. So, when their teenage kids, Knox and Summer, start dating just before graduation, they’re surprised but delighted; after all, they’ve been planning their wedding since the kids were toddlers splashing around in the paddling pool together.
But one night Knox comes home late after a party with scratches on his collarbone, refusing to tell Lorrie what happened, and heading straight for the shower.
The next morning Eden gets a call every mother dreads: Summer is in hospital.
As the fall-out from what really happened that night rips their tight-knit, privileged community apart and decimates Eden and Lorrie’s friendship, none of their lives will ever be the same again.
SECOND CHANCES (Comment SECOND)
Become a thrifting queen and discover the exciting world of secondhand shopping with this comprehensive guide from TikTok style star Macy Eleni.
Macy Eleni is a thrifting expert. Bargain hunting since she was a teen who was short on cash and long on a desire to express herself, she knows that staying on trend without breaking the bank—or increasing your carbon footprint—is not only easy, but also thrilling.
Second Chances is a unique guide to a one-of-a-kind, circular wardrobe. Eleni’s superpower is sniffing out great finds and here she walks you through the art of in-person discovery at thrift stores and vintage shops, estate sales and flea markets, yard sales and antique stores—and online resale platforms. This book will teach you how to organize your existing wardrobe, evaluate pieces you find, and manifest your dream closet.
After more than a decade as a thrifting expert, Macy has compiled every tip and trick in the second-hand shopping world from sizing and repairing to tailoring and cleaning—this book covers it all.
THE BOOK LOVER’S LIBRARY (Comment BOOK)
A heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books that bring them together, by the bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.
In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job.
When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.
As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.
FAMILY
FAMILY and happy birthday 🥳