Life Lately
I know I'm going to regret saying this as soon as I hit "publish" but life seems to be settling down a little. This is relative, of course. Normal for James and myself looks to most people like a three ring circus gone terribly wrong. My father has been visiting Tennessee this week to make sure it's a place he'll be happy in retirement (it is, big sigh of relief). The food and company has been wonderful, and I'll be quite sad to see him return to New York.
This is in part because I love my parents very much, and I hate being so far away from them. It's also because once he's gone, I know I have to get down to the tricky business of rebuilding my work routine. You see, at the end of March, almost six months exactly to the day, the job that I moved down to Tennessee to take was eliminated from my company, and I found myself without work and without a network and with a hard decision to make: do I find another office job and stick with a traditional career or do I take a big risk? And chase after a dream?
I chose to chase after a dream, after a handful of long conversations with James. My dream, of course, is to never change out of pajamas, so starting my own company and working from home writing freelance and doing social media consulting seemed like the perfect move. So far, it has been. It's a lot more work (and, let's be honest, a bit less money) than the corporate jobs I held in the past, but what it lacks in structure and designer clothing it makes up for in happiness and personal satisfaction. I'll take that deal any day of the week.
It's also going to give me more time to work on pet projects, like this here blog, which I haven't had the time or creative energy to focus on. I've got a handful of novels-- all fiction, all chick lit, all in awful, varied stages of first draft-- and a graphic novel idea that I'm outlining. I've always said that writing is what I'd like to do for a living. And you may have seen me not-so-humble brag on Facebook, but I'll be writing about cookbooks for Food Network's FN Dish blog on a weekly basis as well. (First installment here.) Books and food. Those are the things that stir my soul. Those are the things I want to focus on.
I've also had a project with Kallie (from Happy, Honey + Lark) that I'll be formally announcing later this week. It's been delayed four times and most of you fine folks already know what it is (am I the worst at keeping secrets or what?) but I think you'll like it and I know we're excited to put it together. Spoiler: It involves booze and snacks. Yay, booze and snacks!
Have you ever had to make a huge, life-altering decision about your career? Tell me all about it.
-MV.