Thank you to Always for sponsoring this conversation. Through the changes in my life I’ve always been able to depend on my tight girls and Always.

I can hear the clock ticking, and no, it’s not the biological one. I’m talking about the one that has me bending the corner on a new decade. Forty is less than six months away, and while it seems like just another year, I’ve seen a lot happen in a year, but the mental part of turning 4o probably has me over analyzing a few things and asking way too many questions to the homies that are on the other side of the threshold waiting on me with open arms to the oh so exclusive forty club.

They have champagne and stories by the way.

Stories about how things in our bodies change, and about those aches and the fact that while we think we can still hang out and recover quickly the truth is a night out, now takes about 5 days to recover from.

NEVER ask me about my 39th birthday, just don’t.

Recently I’ve started to notice a few changes in my body, and while I know the number to the doctor, there is a sense of comfort in talking about how I might be starting menopause in one sentence and discussing the PTA in the next with my closest girlfriends. We’re all in a different place, our children are different ages but in our quests to take care of ourselves and each other our conversations are moving towards things we can only giggle at, because they were once only thought to be chatter for women of a certain age.

A certain age will surely catch up with you,  and while bladder leaks aren’t something I personally experience I’ve heard enough about them to know this is an issue with women and their post-childbearing bodies. I can relate on the term that Always Discreet Liners and Pads are products that cater to women in all the different stages of their lives.

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Have these conversations, as I move out of my child-bearing years amongst friends makes me feel vulnerable in a good way. Being woman might be one of the greatest and toughest things at the same time. We do a great job of supporting one another during our child-bearing years and then the conversation starts to fall off. This is the time to keep them going, so we are confident in our next stages in life.  You may not be experiencing the same issues as your peers but who’s to say you won’t. The sisterhood and the village is where we talk these things out and learn from one another. Now that the kids are back to school, be sure to make time for that doctors appointment and girl time. Taking care of our bodies isn’t just physical, it comes with connecting to those that genuinely have our best interest at heart.

This post was sponsored by Wendy’s as part of an Ambassador Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own

This weekend over a casual conversation with a friend, we ultimately came to the conclusion that there aren’t enough hours in a day. Not that we didn’t already know this, but we just had to repeat it for good measure.

I don’t even get frustrated any more by the lack of time I have to do everything I want to do. That whole grace thing?  I give myself more than a fair share of it, and I make no apologies. Wherever I can cut back to fit in as much as I can, I do.

One of those cut the corner moments for me comes in the form of eating out when I don’t have the time, or energy to cook. With both kids in activities four days out of the week, my husband and I both working full time, in addition to my side hustles, sometimes worrying about dinner comes at the moment someone says they’re hungry.

Judge me.

The 4 for $4 at Wendy’s is always a winner. It’s good on the pockets, and the chicken offerings work well for me because I don’t care for red meat. The crispy spicy chicken sandwich is my new fave, it has just enough kick to speak to my love of spicy food.  The Wendy’s in our area recently underwent a renovation so eating in serves as our dinner table on those nights when cooking isn’t an option.

I think changing up your scenery and weekly routine from time to time helps you feel like you’re not actually in a hamster wheel. Little breaks from the monotony, (and french fries) help me push through the week. The chatter around what not to eat, how to do the most with the least, and still manage to look like we walked out of a magazine can easily make you feel like you aren’t doing something right.

I’m a champion for self care and if that means eating fast food, so be it. Daily we can only give what we have, and some days the truth is we have nothing extra to give. On those days, use what you have and supplement wherever necessary, even if that means Wendy’s for dinner!