The “Work Spouse” has gone the way of water cooler chitchat, daily coffee runs with coworkers, and spontaneous commiseration. And that should make a lot of people sad. As a Generation X worker who experienced life in different company offices across three decades, I’ve seen a lot of changes! Now, the human aspect has taken a hit, and some generations will feel this loss more than others. The sanity-saving “work spouse” — often an opposite-sex co-worker who was always simply and literally there for a daily vent or pep talk is now simply…gone. Check out my latest piece on Medium, where I ask: "W ..read more

We've found an array of feel-good gifts that Generation X will love. As you celebrate the season - or want to treat yourself - shop on our Gen X Girls Grow Up Amazon Storefront! ,Peanuts Belgian Chocolate Bar Gift Set ,(This just makes me happy.) ,Skee Ball ,(I used to play this for hours - or until quarters ran out...) ,Mini Ms. Pac Man ,(I was never good at this, but loved playing it at the roller rink arcade.) Grease Mug (There will never be another "Grease" - or another Olivia Newton-John...) '80s Trivia Game , (It's an actual game you hold in your hands - not online!) Brat: An '80s ..read more

Grease was the word, but it’s "Sandy" we heard. Olivia Newton-John helped Generation X believe. In the possibility of reinventing yourself. In the idea that people can change. In that happy endings could exist - literally riding off into the sunset. Her Sandy character was a high school girl with feelings so many of us were about to experience or would some day experience in high school. Grease came out in 1978, and though some of us were just on the cusp of high school and some of us wouldn't be for more than a decade later- Generation X was born 1965 - 1980 after all - we'd all see Grease, b ..read more

I wish I'd read this book sooner. I wish I'd had a friend like author Jen Mann over the past decade. In Midlife Bites (Ballantine Books, 2022), the New York Times bestselling author poses the question many of us wonder: Is anyone else falling apart, or is it just me? Her anecdotes and advice are so relatable. It's not just you. She questions everything with brutal honesty and humor - and doesn't pretend to have all the answers. But she does have some great suggestions and takeaways, which she conveys in her "Jen's Gems" section at the end of every chapter. One of my favorite chapters was her p ..read more

Maybe some things don't change across the decades. I found a photo (Polaroid of course) from my college internship today. WLS-TV (ABC) Chicago’s Creative Services Department, circa 1990. As many of today’s college kids finish their summer internships this week, I’m reminded that not everything can happen online, no matter how well-lit, well-documented, or well-connected they are on social media. You can’t always grab spontaneous opportunities through a webcam. Like technology, my midlife outlook on the work world has certainly expanded over the past decades. (Could us Gen X kids have even imag ..read more

If growing up in the '70s and '80s had a scent, it would be Love's Baby Soft. And now a special film is bringing us back to those amazing, exciting, and angst-ridden times of teetering between tween and teen - complete with record players and landlines! I recently talked with the team who brought this film to life! Check out my Facebook Live video if you missed it last week! And you can view the trailer here! Vicki Speegle - Writer & Producer Stacie Capone - Actress & Producer Sophia Eptamenitis - Co-Producer Holly Harmon - Social Media Manager from Film Sponsor DANA Fragrances #genx ..read more

If growing up in the '70s and '80s had a scent, it would be Love's Baby Soft. And now a special film brings us back to those amazing angst-ridden times of teetering between tween and teen - complete with record players and landlines. It's 1976 and a feisty 12-year old desperate to grow up learns how tough it truly is when her world collides with her super cool 16-year old babysitter. Join me on the Gen X Girls Grow Up Facebook page at 8pm Eastern on Tuesday, July 12th, as I chat with the team who brought this film to life! Vicki Speegle - Writer & Producer Stacie Capone - Actress & Pro ..read more

I hate most of the TV characters I watch, yet I can't stop watching. Why? The older I get, the more I find myself hating on most of the characters on television shows I watch (religiously) week after week. These characters aren't TV's bad guys or girls we're supposed to root against (like I did with the ABC soap opera General Hospital back in the 80's - who remembers Mikkos Cassadine? - or Abu Nazir in HBO's Homeland?), playing nasty parts in horrific storylines (look what William Lewis did to Detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order SVU), or saying mean things (Julie Cooper in The O.C.). So ..read more

A engaging book and revealing look at Generation X that goes behind the nostalgia and makes us wonder... how did we turn out so well? Liz Prato’s collection of essays truly reflects the culture and issues of our generation, and hindsight is 20/20. The book sheds some light on some not-so-nice realities often lost in the more frequent “bubble gum” nostalgia of the 80s. I found this book to be an eye-opening look back, leading readers like me – a Gen X girl – to take a more thoughtful look at the people, issues, and times that shaped our generation. Some of these scenarios raise serious stuff th ..read more

Top Five Observations From My Trip I was a little hesitant to plan a trip alone to Italy to visit my oldest son, a college junior who’s there for a semester abroad. But only a little. I’d be traveling there alone to meet up with him first in Courmayeur, a tiny ski town in the Italian Alps, and would then have lots of time alone later in the week in Rome, while he would be in class. But I was confident I’d be fine. Despite the fact that I didn’t know Italian, didn’t like cheese or meat, dreaded long flights, knew nothing about the country and wasn’t sure how a woman alone with I wasn’t with him ..read more