Tamsen Fadal

I was in Los Angeles last week waiting for a table at a restaurant in Venice when I popped into a little shop next door (the wait was 30 minutes… so clearly I had time 😅). Before long, I was in a dressing room trying on a dress I thought was adorable when a thought popped into my head out of nowhere: Tamsen… are you too old to wear this? No one said anything, the dress fit, and still, there it was. That quiet, familiar noise that sneaks in and tries to sound reasonable. It reminded me of...

There’s something about using the word “reinvention” for women in midlife that doesn’t sit right with me. When I left my 30-year career as a news anchor, I wasn’t “reinventing” myself. I had been talking about menopause on social media for nearly five years. The more I opened up about my experience, the more I heard from other women who were dealing with the same frustrations I was. As the community grew, I quickly realized that menopause was still whispered about. Women weren’t getting the...

I was going through old photos this weekend and noticed the different hair styles I had during different chapters of my life. Short hair, long hair, curls, straight, news anchor hair, post-divorce hair, menopause-thinning hair. If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve seen a few of those eras. At the time, I never thought much about it, but looking back now, I can see how often my hair changed when my life was changing too. Whether it was a new job, new city, new relationship, a loss, or a...

When I was in my early forties, my whole body shifted…downward. I used to have toned arms and loved wearing sleeveless dresses, but gradually, my sleeves got longer. Somewhere in my midforties, I went up a size. And then another. Most of my weight gain went right to my belly. Even my bras weren’t fitting right. And no amount of exercise felt like it was working. It made me feel awful. Then sad. Then self-loathingly bad. And one of the most frustrating things was that I hadn’t made any changes...

Omg, I had to share this photo. 😂 It’s from years ago, back when I was running my matchmaking business in NYC, and it popped up in my camera roll this week. I laughed out loud because… wow. I can’t believe how much life has changed since then. Speaking of life moments, we celebrated Ira’s birthday last week, and it was one of those nights that just felt really full. We went to his favorite restaurant and it was a reminder that slowing down to celebrate the people you love really matters....

A few years ago I was in Paris when I turned to Ira and said: “I think I need to go.” “Go where?” He asked. “Go back home?” “No.” I said. “I need to leave my job.” At the time, I was living in New York City, the place I had always wanted to be, working as the evening news anchor in the city I loved most of all. After thirty years in the industry, I landed my dream role, the one I had spent my entire career working toward. I had everything I ever wanted and there I was, standing in Paris...

A few years ago I was in Paris when I turned to Ira and said: “I think I need to go.” “Go where?” He asked. “Go back home?” “No.” I said. “I need to leave my job.” At the time, I was living in New York City, the place I had always wanted to be, working as the evening news anchor in the city I loved most of all. After thirty years in the industry, I landed my dream role, the one I had spent my entire career working toward. I had everything I ever wanted and there I was, standing in Paris...

In the early 1990s I was anchoring the news in Oak Hill, West Virginia. Several times a week, I taught step aerobics at the Holiday Inn in town. In an attempt to “get physical” enough to burn off the low-fat SnackWells Devil’s Foods cookie cakes I’d eaten the night before, I’d step on and off the low plastic benches for about an hour. I anticipated leaving the class with sculpted bodies and buns of steel. No matter how tired I was, I always made it to that step class. For most of my 20s and...

In the early 1990s I was anchoring the news in Oak Hill, West Virginia. Several times a week, I taught step aerobics at the Holiday Inn in town. In an attempt to “get physical” enough to burn off the low-fat SnackWells Devil’s Foods cookie cakes I’d eaten the night before, I’d step on and off the low plastic benches for about an hour. I anticipated leaving the class with sculpted bodies and buns of steel. No matter how tired I was, I always made it to that step class. For most of my 20s and...

Hi Reader, I’m writing this from my couch… no bra, pajamas on, second cup of coffee of the day in hand. It’s one of those in-between moments of just sitting and preparing for the day ahead. Lately, I’ve been noticing how often I’m right at my edge. Not in a dramatic way. I still get everything done, but the buffer I used to have feels thinner. Little things take more energy, decisions feel more difficult, and instead of brushing it off, I actually feel it. For a long time, my instinct was to...