Mariah Carey Hasn't Missed a Beat Since Her Breakup: How the Star Is Already Moving On From Her Split With James Packer

Perhaps she's just had more time to process than we have, but we love that Mimi is all smiles and hasn't been shying away from a good time

By Natalie Finn Nov 01, 2016 8:13 PMTags
Mariah CareyScott Barbour/Getty Images)

Mariah Carey, diva behavior? Please. 

More like stoic ship staying afloat in a turbulent breakup storm!

The Grammy winner is just days removed from her split from fiancé James Packer making headlines around the world, and we've gotta ask... Can we hang with Mariah when we suffer a breakup?

Perhaps because she's had a lot more time to process what happened than the rest of us who just found out about it have, or perhaps because she's a mom and is about to launch a tour and simply doesn't have time for mopey nonsense, Carey is already the picture of pressing forward in the most positive way possible.

Moreover, we all know that revenge is best served with a "what, me worry?" smile.

read
Here's the Reason Why Mariah Carey ''Had to Leave'' Fiancé James Packer

#missmonroe and mommy #funinthesun ??

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

Happily for the fans who worship at the altar of Mimi, Carey hasn't disappeared, as so many celebrities do, into some breakup cave.

She and Packer had taken her twins, Monroe and Moroccan, on vacation to Greece in September, and while we've since heard since that a fight on the trip was the tipping point for the couple, Mariah didn't require any lengthy recovery time out of the public eye. Nor has she indicated any intention on her part of hitting the brakes on her signature fabulous lifestyle.

Just got home after a long night at the studio!!!!! New music coming soon yayyyyyy

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

Just days before the split news broke, Mariah was spotted shooting a Christmas-themed installment of James Corden's always-viral "Carpool Karaoke," and then she and ex Nick Cannon got all dressed up with Monroe and Moroccan to throw a family-friendly Halloween party at her house the night of Oct. 24.

Holiday times ??

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

Perhaps breaking up around Halloween is the ultimate time of year to do so—you've got parties lined up, you get to dress up as someone other than yourself, you can either cover yourself with makeup and stay hidden or step out in your sexiest attire. It's actually the perfect breakup holiday. And of course Carey wanted to make the festivities special for her kids, as always.

Considering Mariah looked as good and was smiling as brightly as ever, the news that she and Packer had ended their relationship a couple of weeks prior came as a shock—not least because Carey was still wearing her 35-carat rock of an engagement ring along with her devil outfit at her costume party.

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Mariah Carey's Twins Are the Cutest!

But really, that upbeat, extrovert attitude is vintage Mariah. She is usually the life of the party and relishes the attention that people can't help but lavish upon her. In recent weeks she had grown close to one of her backup dancers in Vegas, Brian Tanaka, as her relationship with Packer soured.

Instagram

"James was not in the right mind for months. Mariah was in essence an abandoned woman," a source told E! News.

And once again, Carey—despite being initially devastated by the split—isn't one to sit and play the victim.

The night after the split news was everywhere, she was out for dinner with pals, including Tanaka, at Nobu in Malibu, no shrinking violet in skin-tight red leather pants and towering heels.

"She was with a group of friend, she had fun and sipped champagne," a source told People. "She was very dressed up, wore her engagement ring and seemed in a great mood. She wanted to show James that she isn't sitting at home crying."

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Mariah Carey & James Packer's Romance in Pictures

#realfriends who don't read Woman's Day #wedontknowyou We love you #Australianlambs ?? @stellabulochnikov

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

On Sunday night, Carey—back to wearing just her famous butterfly ring—and Tanaka were both at West Hollywood hot spot Catch. "She was with friends and dancing and singing, and having a blast," a source told E! News.

The "Dream Lover" singer also returned to social media that night for the first time since the breakup was reported, captioning a pic taken with a pal at the restaurant, "#realfriends who don't read Woman's Day #wedon'tknowyou We love you #Australianlambs @stellabulochnikov"—a pointed reference to Australian publication Women's Day, which took a more Packer-friendly approach in breaking the split news.

HEDO / AKM-GSI

She then enjoyed family time with her son and daughter on Halloween last night, taking the kids to a festive dinner at Au Fudge, the kid-friendly social house co-owned by Jessica Biel, in L.A. We were told that Monroe and Moroccan decorated Seedling masks and worked on other art projects while Carey and her party had dinner and cocktails; the group left sporting the restaurant's trademark cat ears that they purchased in the marketplace.

Carey thanked the staff and said she'd absolutely loved her time there.

Yes, we'll have what she's having.

Next up, while Carey was forced to cancel the South American leg of her Sweet Sweet Fantasy world tour due to promoter negligence (so, entirely unrelated to her personal life), she's due in Mexico City on Nov. 8, followed by a show in Monterrey on Nov. 9; then she gets to work up a Thanksgiving appetite in paradise, enjoying a three-night engagement in Honolulu Nov. 23, 25 and 26.

As Carey pointed out herself in a teaser for Mariah's World, premiering on E! Dec. 4: "I don't know what other people think about me, and they don't know my story. They don't know my life."

Production is ongoing and, while the timing is just one of those things considering her story's unforeseen recent plot twist, there couldn't be a better time to settle in and get to know Mariah better.

She has proved time and again, this past week included, that she is all about living life to the fullest—and that is why the five-time Grammy winner hasn't missed a beat.

About the end of her marriage to Cannon, Carey summed it up for Complex recently: "...life happens and it was supposed to happen. It's fine. For [my children], I wish it hadn't happened that way. For me, it was..." she sang a few bars of "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," "Guess it's over. Call it a day..."

And with all that she has learned and experienced over the years, combined with all that's on her plate in the near future, we have a feeling she's humming a similar tune this time around.