Quotes from Jen Lancaster

It's a process, but take those little steps toward treating yourself fairly, embracing body positivity, and celebrating what is unique and wonderful about you, and I promise you'll feel a break from all the tension.

For all the precautions parents exercise now, all the helmets and booster seats and sunscreen, wouldn't toddlers be safer without one million followers on Instagram? If nothing else, how can we keep our nation's kids from becoming assholes when thousands of strangers tell them how great they are every day?

Rhetoric won't bring us a casserole after our knee surgery. Philosophy won't cheer us on as we make the case for a promotion. A viewpoint won't take us out to get sloppy drunk when we've been dumped.

In Waco, once best known for the Branch Davidian standoff between David Koresh and the ATF, Chip and Joanna have created a new cult, one of affordable design.

Taking a look at the last decades, it stands to reason that feeding our fears has made us easier to lead, saddling us with only black and white choices on issues nuanced by fifty shades of gray. Divide the people and conquer. Calming down the masses may not be on any leader's agenda, in any party. I suspect no one is coming to save us; we can only save ourselves.

Mine was an era of children having to accommodate, rather than being accommodated. No parents put their children's tastes and proclivities first. That's a relatively new development.

Comedian Maz Jobrani said kids are running the show now, as when he was young, he was forced to play with his parents' friends' kids. Now, as a parent, he's forced to play with his kids' friends' parents.

Despite all indicators pointing people toward happiness and contentment, so many of us are paralyzed by angst and weighted down with unnamed dread, largely because we've been conditioned to believe that danger lurks around every corner.

A common home renovation show refrain is "Why would anyone put linoleum over all this gorgeous hardwood?!" They did this because it was modern, durable, interesting, and easy to clean. Rest assured that when the next generation renovates your house, they're going to be screaming about all the goddamned shiplap.

As adults, though, many of us default again to buddying up with those in proximity to us at home or work, which can be great, provided we like each other. If we don't? We're stuck with them anyway and every interaction becomes a master class in passive aggression.

Of all my own fears—and, oh, there are plenty—social media tops the list. Admitting that it is my chief worry causes me more distress, knowing people in other nations face daily threats to their safety and well-being. I'm terrified that one offhand joke, one out-of-context remark, will set into motion a public shaming, because I see it happen every day.

None of my friends live closer than a forty-five-minute drive from me, and the rest of my tribe lives in different time zones, but distance doesn't matter. Whenever we get together, it's like no time has passed.

What's so scary is that mob rule has displaced due process. The faceless masses are America's new arbiters of justice. I'm so fearful of the court of public opinion that I've stopped saying anything of value online, stopped unpacking what's important in my life, stopped trying to forge any kind of understanding over social media. I mostly post shots of my pets and complain about the weather. It's edgy stuff.

Another study compared fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds who had close friendships to those who were popular, with larger friend groups but fewer close relationships—so the cheerleaders and partiers on the A-list. The study found that at age twenty-five, those who had fewer but closer friends had higher feelings of self-worth and less social anxiety and depression than the cool kids. 174 The lesson here is you should never peak in high school.

That's so funny. Personally, I, too, have always found my swagger coach to be more skilled at providing treatment than an accredited medical professional." Nicole

Despite my best efforts, I'm not quite perfect. Let's just say I'm like one of those Hopi blankets where they leave a tiny flaw so as to not affront the Lord.

My friend created an iPhone app that locates Vienna Beef products across the country. Personally, I came hardwired with an internal GPS that instinctively points me toward coffee shops, cupcake stores and the perfect Chicago-style dog, so I find this technology redundant.

I'm such a fangirl when it comes to other writers. I read 250 books a year, and I'm always talking up books by other authors.

I am going to embarrass myself. I have accepted that fact, and that's just how it's going to be.

As a reader, I notice political views regardless of whether or not the book is fiction. What annoys me is when said views do nothing to advance the narrative.

For me, my party views don't advance my narrative. Until I can find a way to write political satire like my idols Christopher Buckley or P.J. O'Rourke, I'll simply say what team I play for and leave it at that.

Now with social media, people essentially come into my living room, my virtual living room, and tell me everything that is wrong with me.

To be clear, I'm not opposed to apps; I just want them to be geared to my lifestyle. I don't need a virtual NASCAR racing app, but I'd certainly appreciate one that stopped my husband from plowing into the lawnmower every time he pulls into the garage.

I could manage my life so much better if an app could tell me exactly when my parcels will be delivered so I don't spend the day under virtual house arrest.