Jennifer Aniston, life after brad Options

[HappyHeart]

IN FINE FORM
Jennifer Aniston filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, her husband of four-and-a-half years, in March, but three months later on June 24, on the Chicago set of her romantic comedy The Break Up, she was radiant in a curve-hugging Prada dress. "She looks great – glowing," one observer told PEOPLE.

SUPPORT SYSTEM
In the weeks following the split, Aniston got plenty of help from her Friends, especially BFF Courteney Cox. The two are so close that, in April, Cox named Aniston godmother to Coco, her 1-year-old daughter with husband David Arquette. "Jennifer has the biggest heart," Cox told PEOPLE, "and there could be no better godmother."

WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND
Aniston's constant companion? Her corgi-terrier mix, Norman (with her near her Chicago hotel June 19). "She loves that dog," says a source on the Break Up set. "She's always talking about Norm. He's, like, 9 years old. Every time she goes back to the trailer, he's waiting for her at the door."

STAYING FIT
Not one to nurse a broken heart over a pint of Ben & Jerry's, Aniston has been working hard to maintain her famous figure. The actress (stretching on the balcony of her Malibu beach house June 15) has been hitting the treadmill and elliptical machine at her Chicago hotel. "She's attractive, stunning and the tiniest thing!" marveled one local fan.

GOOD COMPANY
Playing exes in The Break Up, Aniston and Vince Vaughn (on their Chicago set June 24) work very closely, and have even dined out together. But Vaughn denies rumors that he's giving his costar a shoulder to lean on. "She's a bright girl and a smart girl, she can take care of herself," he said recently.

MOVING FORWARD
Despite the media coverage of her ex's relationship with Angelina Jolie, Aniston (on set in Chicago on June 21) isn't looking back. In addition to The Break Up, she's wrapped the movies Friends with Money and Derailed since the split, and a source tells PEOPLE, she "feels a weight has been lifted off her. She's the best she's been."

PLAYING MOM
Back home in Malibu over the Fourth of July weekend, Aniston reunited with Cox and Coco. While some have wondered whether she and Pitt parted ways because she did not want kids, she recently told a British magazine: "I love children. Having a family is something I have always wanted. It's always been a constant natural desire for me."

FRIENDLY FACE
Even before her movies open, Aniston (greeting fans in Chicago on June 27) is already winning hearts, at least around the Break Up set, where she regularly stops to chat with admirers, sign autographs and even, on one occasion, dispense a birthday hug. As one star-struck fan told PEOPLE, "She seemed so warm and happy – it was thrilling to see her."

She sounds happier than ever. Good for you Jen!

[xquizit]

Yum. Vince Vaughn.