My Past Accomplishment: Leaving the Rat Race
After earning my degree in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations from Boston University, it took me a couple of years after graduation to find a job I truly enjoyed – doing book publicity at Penguin Grop (USA) and DK Publishing. My enjoyment stemmed from the fact that I wholeheartedly believed in the products I was pushing. I’ve always been an avid reader, and who doesn’t like to know about the latest and greatest book?
When I moved to Omaha almost three years ago, I had difficulty finding a job. Since I couldn’t do exactly what I was doing back in New York City, I applied for publicity positions at advertising agencies. I thought it could be interesting to promote different products on a daily basis rather than all books, all the time. By the time I was hired almost 7 months later by a local agency, I was itching to get back in the game. Unfortunately, promoting health insurance and farm equipment companies proved less exciting than pitching bestselling books, and within a couple of months I became disenchanted with my job.
I understand that work is called work because it’s not necessarily fun, but I’ve always had a hard time sticking with things that don’t provide me any sense of enjoyment or fulfillment. I envy people who can work a grueling 9-5 job because they understand that the benefits – hearty salary or excellent health insurance outweigh the negatives. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people. I’d rather make less money doing something I love, something into which I can throw all of my energy and passion.
With the support of my soon-to-be husband (emotionally and financially), I gave my two week notice and officially left the rat race for greener pastures shortly before my May 2008 wedding. Of course I was terrified to leave, to enter the unknown. Did I make the right decision? Check back tomorrow to see what I’ve accomplished since I made my escape.
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This chic girl’s ability to pull off a mustard blazer and daytime sequins is quite impressive. She is quintessentially New York City, and I wouldn’t mind walking in her fabulous shoes for 24 hours.
(via The Sartorialist)
My Past Accomplishment: Finding Love When I Least Expected It
In the Spring of 2006 I was invited to a high school friend’s wedding – and I didn’t want to go. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to support her or to be part of the celebration. I was hesitant to attend because I was the only one of my group of friends not invited with a guest. It wasn’t an oversight; all the other girls were in serious relationships, and I was not. I was afraid I’d be the singleton sitting alone drinking at the table while all my friends danced the night away with their partners.
Thankfully, my mom and grandma talked me out of my pity party. They also persuaded me to wear a particularly sexy halter dress. “You never know who you’re going to meet,” explained my grandmother. Rather than doing the smokey eye and pale lip look, I tried a different route – black eyeliner and red lips. I bought a new pair of heels to go with my little black dress. It was a new look to match my new positive attitude.
I did spend the night drinking but not by myself. I also did more dancing than my coupled friends, many of whom had boyfriends who hated to dance. And there were far more single guys in attendance than I anticipated, and my outfit caught the eye of one in particular. (The green frilly shirt he wore with his tuxedo caught mine.) He was friends with the groom and happened to also be an alumni of Boston University. We spent nearly the entire evening together, and, when the party ended, we shared an innocent kiss.
We saw each other the next morning at brunch and then got together a couple of weeks later… although I was living in NYC and he was in Texas. We continued to visit each other once a month or so until he proposed to me 11 months after we met. And the rest, as they say, is history!
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The Worst: Waking up in the middle of the night with a headache so severe you are totally nauseated.
The Best: Having a husband voluntarily get out of bed to grab you super strength Motrin and a cup of water.
Thanks, J!
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My Past Accomplishment: Surviving Heartbreak
During my last semester of college, my head was telling me to move to Los Angeles after graduation to pursue a career in film publicity and promotion – but my heart wanted me to relocate to Washington, DC to live near the boy I’d been dating long distance. We met during Spring Break the second semester of my junior year, and, except for the summer before my senior year, we were living in different states.
Partly because it was difficult to find a job out in Hollywood and partly because I was anxious to see how our relationship would change if we lived in the same city, I ended up in the nation’s capital. Little did I expect our relationship to change so suddenly – and not for the better. We used to talk about one day getting married, moving to Colorado and getting a truck and a yellow lab. But just three months after I moved to DC to be near him (thankfully we had decided not to live together), I learned in a most dramatic fashion that he was cheating on me – and had been for months.
I was devastated. Thrown through a loop. Did I really rearrange my life for the opportunity for us, as a couple, to work? And we didn’t? He was my first true love, but I was not his. I was young and naive. Even after I found out that he was cheating on me, I didn’t want us to break up. I wanted him to want to be with me, not her, and to get help for his infidelity. He didn’t want that, and I was shattered even more – if possible.
I didn’t think I would ever recover from the heartbreak. It was debilitating. And to be honest with you, it took years to finally be able to move on. The impact of the break up affected me significantly, but despite all of the pain, I did survive – and that’s an accomplishment.
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