The actress and music star shared an uplifting message after spending much of the month celebrating with family and friends overseas
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NEED TO KNOW
- Jennifer Lopez celebrated her 57th birthday by sharing an inspiring message on Instagram on Friday, July 24
- “When you keep going it just keeps getting better,” the actress and music star wrote
- The actress paired the post with a video set to Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “The Man in the Arena” speech
Jennifer Lopez is embracing another year around the sun with a message of perseverance.
The actress and singer celebrated her 57th birthday on Friday, July 24, by sharing a sun-soaked Instagram video of herself riding in a car with the windows down, her hair blowing in the breeze as she smiled during golden hour.
The clip was accompanied by an audio excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “The Man in the Arena” speech from 1910, which praises those who continue striving despite setbacks.
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“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better,” the speech begins, before continuing with the well-known passage honoring “the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again.”
Lopez kept her own message simple.
“When you keep going it just keeps getting better ✨🥳,” she wrote in the caption.
The birthday post caps off weeks of celebrations for the Maid in Manhattan actress, who has spent much of the month in Europe surrounded by family and friends.
Earlier this month, Lopez traveled to Paris for Haute Couture Fashion Week, where she turned heads in a series of designer looks from Zuhair Murad, Stéphane Rolland and Tamara Ralph, paired with dazzling Chopard jewelry.
The festivities also included an early birthday dinner at the Parisian restaurant Siena, where friends surprised Lopez with a Chantilly-style birthday cake topped with fresh berries and torched meringue, a source previously told PEOPLE.
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“Jennifer was beaming all night. She looked absolutely stunning. You could tell that she was enjoying every moment,” the source said. “The group dined on Mediterranean cuisine before the restaurant surprised Jennifer with a Chantilly-style birthday cake made with fresh berries and torched meringue. Birthday sparklers lit up the cake as friends and fellow diners sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ Jennifer even shared slices of the birthday cake with nearby diners.”
The insider added that “the atmosphere shifted into a late-night scene with live music and Jennifer got up to dance” after dinner. “It looked like the perfect way to kick off her birthday celebrations.”
Lopez later reflected on the evening in an Instagram post.
“Just this feeling… 🥂 Birthday celebrations in Paris!” she wrote. “Thank you to Anastasia and Claudia for throwing me the most beautiful birthday dinner party in Paris…I love you both forever.”
She also thanked designer friends Stéphane Rolland and Tamara Ralph, along with her family, writing, “Mariel, Benny, and my entire fam…thank you for always being by my side and for making my sister’s dream trip to Paris come true in the most beautiful way possible.”
Credit: Noam Galai/Getty for Netflix
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The festivities continued throughout the month. Days before her birthday, Lopez shared highlights from a European getaway with her younger sister, Lynda, who celebrated her own birthday in June.
“A double birthday sister trip is always a good idea,” Lopez wrote alongside the July 19 Instagram carousel. “I love you Lynnie!! Happy birthday!!”
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