The Happy Grownup

I say this with love. Jean-Georges Vongerichten is such a glutton. What does this celebrated, evidently insatiable chef talk about when we were having lunch? What and where he’s going to eat dinner? Jean-Georges now has 60, yes, 60 restaurants in such disparate locales as Bora Bora, Shanghai, Qatar, Sao Paulo, Dublin, and next year he’s planning on opening at least half a dozen more. He is 68 years old, and as far as he is concerned, “I think I’m just getting started.” 

Many high-profile chefs now spend as much time on the Food Network or TikTok as they do...

When I was growing up, watching the news meant you had one hour early in the evening. One half hour of local news at 6, national news at 6:30, both delivered by a select group of white men in what looked like dark gray suits because color TV wasn’t popular yet, relaying the day’s events with sonorous solemnity. Where were the women? There weren’t any. Well, not exactly. There were a few females on air, though way past puberty, they were called weather girls. No, they were not meteorologists. They were pageboard young ladies in tasteful shifts with perky...

After 30 years of covering fashion, I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't know Jeffrey Banks. More importantly, I don't know anyone who doesn't like Jeffrey Banks. I almost don't even know how that's possible, but his attitude, his energy, his outlook is consistently positive. What's more, unlike so many other strivers in the industry who are so desperate to make their mark that they would sooner test the boundaries and garner the press that outrageousness usually commands. Jeffrey has been an unwavering advocate of pragmatism, relevance, and timelessness. Fashion is a fool's crush when the rush lasts no...

Thirty years ago I walked into Le Cirque, back when it was the chicest restaurant in New York, when anyone who was anyone, or wanted to be anybody, would jockey for position to be seated and be seen. The marvelous Daniel Boulud was the chef then, Sirio Maccioni, the owner, was the ultimate restaurateur. But Sirio wasn’t at the front desk that afternoon.

Instead, I was greeted by a most uncommon woman. Unlike most demure coquettish haute hostesses of the era, she was statuesque, she was imposing and she stood erect as a cadet in a sl...

Jackie Camacho is my new skincare guru. A mutual friend introduced us, she sent me her line — Cible, one of the most exciting French skincare brands to arrive on this side of the Atlantic — and two weeks later, the difference in my skin was not subtle. It was, frankly, startling. Jackie came up through SkinCeuticals, one of the most hallowed names in dermatological skincare, which tells you everything about her standards. But what makes her genuinely rare is this: she's as fluent in the affordable as she is in the aspirational. She knows what's worth the splurge, what works just...

I don't know about you, but I find Andy Cohen irritating. Who the hell smiles that much?

It doesn't matter whether he's standing in Times Square, freezing his butt off on New Year's Eve. Sitting in the middle of a dozen freshly tucked, cleavage bearing women, talking and tossing trash on Real Housewives reunions, or fairly bouncing out of his host chair on Watch What Happens, baiting Hillary Clinton to diss Ted Cruz, playing ‘Never Have I Ever ‘with Mary J. Blige, or gushing over his buddy Sarah Jessica Parker's new boots. There is that ubiquitous, shit-eating, yet...

The Happy Grownup came about because while I knew the years were flying (at this stage, Time is driving a McLaren like an F1 qualifier) but I couldn’t understand why I didn’t look or feel like I thought I would at this age. 

I mean, yeah, the mirror made it clear that I was on a bridge way too far from 37, (my perfect imagined age), but rather than taunting me, it agreed with me. I looked damned good! Then why I didn’t see people like myself on TV or in print ads? Instead, we only sh...

I have had a crush on Vanessa Williams for…oh, a little over 40 years. I know this sounds astounding now, but back in the ‘80s over 55 million people watched the Miss America pageant and my family never missed it. It was like this well-dressed, benign version of Survivor all in one night: parading beautiful young women, each representing their home state, vying for lucrative college scholarships. But in order to do so, they had to wear gowns, strut around the stage in high heels and a bathing suit and answer pontificatingly inane questions that somehow always ended up in hopi...

Why do I love talking to Dana Thomas? Because she knows more about fashion than just about anybody but doesn’t ever gush about clothes with inane commentary like, “She’s killing it!” “Now that’s red carpet realness!,” or “I die!” Instead Dana is refreshing and candid. She can reveal the elusive way designers instigate desire, explain how a growing trend gets marketed, highlight the industry’s influence on our everyday lives, and tell you why looking good matters more than any of us wants to admit. With pragmatic and witty insight, Dana fascinates when analyzing the times fashion’s designers...

Why do Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, David Beckham, Eva Longoria, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Michelle Pfeiffer, as well as tens of millions of women and men who want to look in the mirror and smile at their own reflection, adore Anastasia Soare? 

Because 25 years ago, this lovely, poised, and determined Romanian émigré came to Los Angeles not able to speak the language, but knowing something the rest of us didn't, that shaping one's eyebrows could dramatically, sometimes breathtakingly, enhance one's appearance in 10 minutes. Oh, everyone knows that now. But that's because Anastasia Soare sho...

To the people who work for her, Cathy Hughes is known as the Queen, Her Majesty, or simply Miss. H.

You may not recognize her name, but there’s a damn good chance you have connected with at least one channel of the extraordinary communications corporation that she founded 45 years ago. Starting with one lone radio station in Washington, D.C., Miss Hughes soon expanded her reach with an insinuating late-night format that instantly became the soundtrack for millions of us during the ‘70s when we wanted to turn the lights down low. The Quiet Storm featured nons...

From the first time I ever saw Jerry Mitchell in the 1991 musical Will Rogers Follies – he was the Indian of the Dawn, barely dressed in a loincloth on an elevated drum – there’s been one through line in his career as a Tony-winning choreographer for Hairspray, The Full Monty, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, La Cage aux Folles, and then as a Tony-winning director-choreographer for Legally Blonde, Kinky Boots, On Your Feet!, Pretty Woman, Boop!, and the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada that’s now playing in London. Every single one of them, without exception, has been...

I will forever be indebted to today’s guest. In fact, because of Winnie Holzman’s startling talent, I have been changed for good. Because on no less than four distinct occasions, her enviable ear for the nuances of speech and behavior have crafted stories that have left me drop-jawed, moved, and entertained. 

First, Winnie was one of the writers of thirtysomething, one of the few TV series that has ever gotten as deeply under the skin of my generation. If you match the ages of the cast, you watched this show swearing Winnie had been hiding under...

Maybe the only person I know who loves movies more than me is Dave Karger, the host of Turner Classic Movies. His knowledge of film first surfaced as film savant for Entertainment Weekly and is now featured in his most recent book 50 Oscar Nights (Running Press, 2024). If you love movies, whether you watch them on the big screen in the dark (where you should be) or on the small screen from your couch (where probably are) you will relish Karger’s enthusiasm, insight and wit for movies both past and present. If you can recall, and have watched, such ge...

I’ve always thought that eating is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Well, it’s not so bad with your clothes off either. But for as much as I’ve enjoyed and I’m grateful for a career writing about both food and fashion, food does something that fashion doesn’t. It engages all of your senses. I’ve never understood anyone who just eats to live. I mean, like, what’s wrong with you? For me, having a passion for what sustains and soothes us is just one of life’s great delights.

And there i...

Linda Ellerbee is possibly the smartest, slyest, news journalist television has ever produced. Speaking with a strong Texas twang abetted by a wry, salty edge and just enough rasp you can imagine her singing Jazz in a cocktail lounge, Ellerbee’s superior storytelling, forthright delivery and wicked smarts made for riveting television on such landmark shows as Overnight and Nick News. Her fearless honesty and knowing insight into how to navigate daily life with logic and just enough humor to pull you though insured that her books, like the can‘t-put-down And So It Goes, would be best sellers. In n...

Today I opened Instagram to see Beth Ann Hardison, one of the first black models, agency owners, and prominent advocate for diversity looking spectacular and beaming magnificently at age 82 in her Gucci gown at the Gucci show in Milan, the label for which she is a brand ambassador.

Beth Ann was one of our first Happy Grownup interviews, and listening again to her insight, wit. unapologetic arrogance and matter-of-fact-damn-she’s-smart attitude got me so excited, that those of you have not yet heard her need to stop whatever you are doing and get inspired by the most in...

You may not know this week’s guest, but after our podcast you’ll probably wish Susanne Lerner lived across the street. She’s a is smart, a savvy entrepreneur, and, even better, she is street smart – in Yiddish you would say she has “seichel." A savvy entrepreneur, who began her clothing company Michael Stars with her husband, and after her his passing has continued to run the 40 year old label on her own with clever ingenuity, energy and clarity that defy the date on her birth certificate. She is logical, she is pragmatic, fearless in a “why-don’t-I-just-do-that” kind of relatabl...

Have you ever met anybody who doesn't want to be cool? I mean, you might as well be searching for a Wooly Mammoth. No such person exists.

But what makes somebody cool? Well, you can have incredible style like Zendaya, incredible looks like Chris Hemsworth, or incredible talent like Bruce Springsteen. But for me, the coolest people have always been anyone who can make me laugh. Growing up, I didn't want to be an athlete like Sandy Koufax or a brooding idol like Montgomery Clift. I wanted to be Dick Van Dyke because I thought everything he...

What if sometime during the last season of Mad Men, Don Draper sorted out his life, gave up angst for more than just Lent, started to get off on his own cleverness and find satisfaction in the memorably creative commercials he created on the way to becoming an icon of the advertising industry. What if he actually became a Happy Grownup? What would he be like?

He'd be like Steve Pacheco. Having embarked on his career path from the moment he watched his first 60 second spot on television, Pacheco’s long, varied and successful career, includes overseeing ad...

I met my husband online about 28 years ago on America Online, not AOL mind you, but America Online – when you didn't tell anyone about such searches because trolling the internet was a primary example of looking for love in all the wrong places. Well, guess what they were wrong, so wrong in fact that we should have been invested because of our foresight.

There are now over 8,000 dating sites around the globe. You name the category. Farmers, sea captains, Christian singles, Jewish singles, Asian singles, geeks, gays, those who are vegan, gluten-free, furries, Trekkies, ridiculously wealthy, bearded, an...

For two decades now, Mario Cantone has become instantly recognizable as Anthony Marantino on Sex and the City, And Just Like That as Charlotte's boisterously loud, kind of in-your-face, very savvy, grounded gay confidant and guardian angel. But when he is on The View or Turner Movie Classics, Mario Cantone is, well, he's still loud, kind of in-your-face, yet savvy and fairly grounded.

Oddly and surprisingly, Mario is probably most like himself as a cabaret performer, where he is a marvelous storyteller, an engaging singer, a brilliant impressionist, and frankly, an unapologetic romantic. I wish Netflix would...

He’s successful, he’s handsome. And I really like his taste. But what I like most about Shawn Henderson is that his mission seems to be in direct opposition of so many of his colleagues in the AD (Architectural Digest) 100. When I look at their realized visions I am impressed by so much overt ingenuity, stark drama, and distinct personality. Very often I no longer have to read the caption, I know who designed that space. But when you open the door, so to speak, Shawn Henderson’s rooms, they don’t scream ‘hey look at me,’ as much as they...

It may be a sunny morning but turn on the TV and here comes the news shrouded in storms and torrential turbulence. That’s why, if you see a guy walking down a New York City street humming or whistling wearing a benign grin, it’s fair to guess, ‘I bet he was watching Rosanna on Good Day New York.

Over 100,000 people in The Big Apple tune in with him to watch and listen to Rosanna Scotto each weekday morning, because instead of getting beaten over the head with yet more examples of people behaving badly, Rosanna keeps...

We’re taught that beauty is fleeing. (it even says so in the Bible, Proverbs 31:30). But the moment you see Cristina Ferrare, you can chuck that adage out the window since she is eternally, time defyingly gorgeous. Signed as a model when she was just 14, I repeat 14!, Cristina quickly became one the first supermodels when the label actually had authenticity.

However, blessed with an inquisitive, adventurous spirit, Ferrere has never relied solely on her looks. She acted in films, hosted multiple TV shows, and became instrumental in jumpstarting the formerly benign Hallmark Channel into a network behemoth, TV...

Search the faces of the millions celebrating New Year’s Eve on Copacabana Beach. Scope out all the blissed-out kids trodding around Disneyworld. That’s a lot of happy faces, but you still won’t find anyone having a better time than Bevy Smith. Wherever this New Ager goes in her myriad guises as TV host, author, motivational speaker (Her Ted Talk has been seen by millions), former beauty and fashion ad director, guest on sass-centric talk shows like The View and Watch What Happens Live and now co-starring on the Amazon Prime series Harlem, Bevy brazenly spreads positivity as if...

He’s the laid back of the five entrepreneurs in Eames chairs on Shark Tank. And yet, few deals that interest him pas him by. That’s because Daymond John puts his faith and energy into what he believes are his three touchstones for success – goals, instinct and fearlessness. That’s because at.23, his goal was to create a clothing company that focused and elevated people in his neighborhood, his instinct was that street kids of color wanted to wear everything four sizes too large, and his fearlessness is because all the experts and two dozen banks he spoke to told...

If you are anywhere - a charity event, an AI conference at MIT, or a seafood restaurant in Montauk - and Norma Kamali walks into the room, go sit next to her. I don’t care who you came there with. I don’t care who she came there with. Tell them to shove over and sit yourself down because Norma will always be the most interesting person in the room.

Pick any subject - health, exercise, longevity, beauty, AI, the magic of last loves, canned tuna, and of course, fashion - just cue the topic, and firs...

If you have been with The Happy Grownup from the outset, you may recall that the first Halgorhythm is “Curiosity is the Best Moisturizer.” I got proof. I have known Rob Smith for a decade or two and while his easy smile radiated from an imposing, very handsome man, dammit if this guy isn’t even better looking at a New Aging 59. What is Rob’s secret? A new act, a mission that was never on his wish, bucket, or to do list when he was younger, or even as his successful career in retail secured his future. Then, seven ye...

In the thirty years I’ve known The Food Network star, he’s always been open about his great loves: his wife Margaret, his three kids, and food. However, depending on the time of day, they’re not necessarily in that order. Luckily for Geoffrey, he’s been able to craft a life completely devoted to what we both agree is the most fun you can have with your clothes on – cooking and eating.

Geoffrey’s restaurants have been hot spots as well as Michelin starred. He seems to be on television every half hour, perfectly groomed, whether hove...

She Is naturally feisty, startlingly honest, effortlessly funny, as refreshing as an ice plunge. But what makes Rosie Perez instantly irresistible is that despite her diminutive size, she is a tower of power. Despite an ugly, abusive childhood and years of self-doubt caused by of an unexpectedly glamourous career, Perez credits her revelatory immersion in psychotherapy, confidence acquired by maturity and tuning out the negativity that pervades her industry, a late arriving love of a lifetime, and her commitment to lifting up New York youths whose hardships she readily relates to, for her pragmatic and doable embrace of happiness...

Dr. Jake Deutsch is anti anti-aging. But he is one of the savviest, most clarifying and motivating advocates of pro-aging. The handsome founder of Oakwood Precision Medicine is such a refreshing geyser of inspiring knowledge about how we should be treating and taking care of ourselves, skillfully melding technological innovation with pragmatic, doable regimens, that just listening to Dr. Deutsch may make you feel better and all that stuff you’re doing to mature with grace. Even better, he’ll probably cause you to stop dead all that stuff you’re doing that, of course, you know is wrong. He’s t...

Bobbi Brown is as much a household name as the iconic beauty queens who came before, but the similarity ends there. Unlike Helena, Elizabeth and Estée, Brown’s name has never been on cosmetics you’d call war paint. Instead, she gained millions of fans and devoted consumers because instead of creating products meant to mask, Brown’s eponymous product line’s initial mission was to effortlessly bring out the best version of you; make up that never had you looking made up. Brown sold her product line to Lauder in 2016. At 59, she had nothing left to prove. But the d...

David Foster has 16 Grammys, 36 Platinum Records, 41 Gold ones and his work with such great pop divas as Whitney, Celine, Barbra and Madonna has sold hundreds of millions of records. Yet, while entering his 50s, Foster walked by his shelves and walls full of trophies, and instead of busting his buttons, said to himself, “Is that it?” Then, he set about reinventing his career, eschewing his signature power ballads for a warmer, more classically melodic sound, which catapulted Michael Bublé, Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli to SRO arena stardom. Now, at 75, this enviably talented, eternally restless artist has begun again, makin...

Author Steven Petrow isn’t afraid of aging. In fact, he’s embracing it. Well, most of it. What he rejects is constant whining about aches and pains, conversations mired in “the good ol’ days,” eating dinner at 4pm, and other self-defeating behavior that he warns against in his very funny and very relevant best-selling book, Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old. Instead, Petrow has opted to focus on what has inspired the title of his newest book, The Joy You Make. This award-winning writer believes that joy is a choice, but one not related to what you...

You want proof that no idea is too far-fetched if the results are unmistakable? Anastasia Soare believed that she could elevate one’s appearance by refining the shape on their eyebrows. No one wanted to back the 40-year-old Romanian emigre. But Soare forged ahead and opened a small salon in LA in 1997. Today, not only do Oprah, Jennifer Lopez and a limo full of Kardashians swear by this vibrant sorceress’ artistry, but her beauty line Anastasia of Beverly Hills is carried in over 2000 stores worldwide and worth billions. Wait till you hear her story and savor her outlook. 'The lady...

For a man just embarking on his New Aging years, Jeremy Langmead has experienced a lot: A seasoned journalist, a respected arbiter of fashion, an innovative retail merchant, a father of two grown sons way taller than he is from his heterosexual marriage, a gently gnarly uncle to his current husband’s daughter, a skin care savant, a prostate cancer survivor. Langmead is honest, open and insightful about all of the above. I love talking to this guy. In 45 minutes, you’ll know why.

Get ready to be mesmerized by Chip Conley. The former CEO of a wildly successful boutique hotel chain, and Chief strategist and mentor to the guys who started Airbnb, is now on a mission to reframe the concept of aging, with best-selling books, like Learning to Love Midlife and his creation of MEA, the Modern Elder Academy, the world’s first “midlife wisdom school.” Conley's insight and enthusiasm hit like a protein shake for the brain.

For more information on the Modern Elder Academy, visit meawisdom.com

No. It’s not that he’s so handsome, which he is, or has hair you’d kill for, which I would with little hesitation. Eric Rutherford beams ceaselessly because after beating the odds of alcohol addiction (32 years sober) and recurring self-doubt, he clearly saw the way forward. What’s sparked Eric’s ascent as a wildly popular and consistently sought after New Aging influencer is trusting his fervent belief that an unshakably positive outlook will help you soar above life’s turbulence ‘til you reach an altitude as blissfully serene as a first-class ticket on Emirates. And he’s pretty sure you...

I adore Elizabeth Stewart. In fact, if you don’t’ fall head over heels for one of Hollywood’s most sought-after celebrity stylists within 15 minutes of meeting her, then you might want to book a session with psychotherapist Dr. Jen Hartstein, our super THG podcast guest last week, since Elizabeth’s charm, taste, confidence and unshakably positive outlook are virtually impossible to resist. 

So, it's no surprise that some of our favorite stars - Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Sandra Bullock, Calista Flockhart (all New Agers, btw), Jessica Chastain, and Amanda Seyfried, not only trust her implicitl...