Sex and the City... Minus the Sex and the City

I'm ready. Ready to go home. Ready to take on the world. Ready for a job, a house, a home. Ready to be in the same city as my family, my friends, my boyfriend.

I was in an interview for the Globe and Mail the other day and today was the photo shoot. I got asked a few times what I want to do when I am done, where I want to go. I was asked what I want to be and what I want to work up to being. I knew all the answers of course. I know I want to work in an agency, as a columnist, or doing freelance. I know I want to live in West Vancouver where there are still more trees then cement. I know I want to write ads, articles, a book, or in a column. And I know I want to work up to being either a creative director or my own boss.

But what I really want, and what I really need to experience before I can enjoy all of the things ahead, is to feel at home. I want to go to Calgary, I want to settle in for a year, I want to be close to my mom, and I want to be able to say 'I'm home' and have the stay be longer then the time away.

I have so many big dreams; so many life goals. I want the 2 story house, 5 dogs, maybe a kid or two (and that's a maybe), a nice car, some wide open space and solitude, a job I love in a place I can hope to call home. I want people in the industry to know my name. I want to drive in from my acreage to attend Galas,shows, and events. I want to be known.

But I want to stay at home curled up on the couch or walk hand and hand with a husband around our land with the dogs in tow. And I want to be able to call my mom every single weekend until I am at least 55 to talk about our weeks.

I want a place to call home and I want the people I love to be there.

From what I hear, a job in advertising often crosses the line from 'I work to live' to 'I live to work'. Don't get me wrong, I love advertising and the entire process and the late nights and the 'aha' moments and the long long long periods in between those 'aha' moments, and I plan to work extremely hard to get to a point in my life and career where I can say I have it all, I just hope I can fit in what really matters.

Excuse this heartfelt blog entry. The house I was born in is being torn down soon to make room for infills and there is some sickness in my family that scares me. I am just trying to cope with being away and cutting the ties of my youth in order to form knots onto the ropes of my future - a future I am very anxious to start.

I also suppose that my nearly windowless basement apartment is not helping in the slightest. Nor is the fact that my brothers birthday is tomorrow and I will not be around to celebrate. On top of the fact that my parents are going away for a vacation during the time that I will actually be home for holidays.

However! My boyfriend will be coming to visit me this weekend to stay for a nice visit and I am really hoping it will pull me out of this slump. Give me something/someone to hold on to. See hope in his eyes.

I have no doubt in my mind that I will be successful in whichever career path I choose; I am responsible, driven, enthusiastic, and rarely give up. But the thing I want to be successful at is living life to the fullest, and that means spending every spare minute with family and friends and traveling the world.

I suppose this is why I am dreaming of the life of a freelance writer; a career in which I can feel productive and successful (because anyone that knows me knows I do not put down work until it is completed), while still being able to have time for all of the important things.

In conclusion... I want to be a combination of Carrie from 'Sex and the City' and Leigh Anne Touhy from 'The Blind Side'. These women are my idols. Carrie for the career and fun, Leigh Anne Touhy for the personality and life. Hopefully one day when people think of these two women in conjunction 'Sarah Kirkpatrick' will be the hybrid.

A plan within a plan.

13 days until Toronto. or is it 13 days left of Calgary. With a new place, new classes, and a new job waiting it's hard not to be excited to get started. But with friends, family. and my boyfriend its hard not to be sad to leave.

Then there is the excitement of the new classes for the semester. However, there were some major switch ups and now I am with the other class. I did not take a lot of the first year classes that integrated the two groups so I don't know many people from this class, but I'm excited to get to know them. Having 2 days of class a week will be great. Finally feel like going to class is worth while since its more then a blip in my day. Now the only concern is keeping busy so I don't go stir crazy the other 5.

I have a trial work day at a doggy daycare not far from my house. I am really excited to try it out. I don't think there would be such thing as a bad day at work or losing interest in my job if I get to be around dogs all day. I wonder just how much I will like it. Part of me wants to love it, but part of me wants to hate it so that I dont follow through with my most recent career idea of owning my own doggy daycare, therefore wasting 4 more years of my life in school (Shout out: yes mother... education is never wasted.. I know). I can only imagine how wonderful the day will be getting to spend it all with dogs and playing, I'm not opposed to cleaning either.

There are so many things to focus on its hard to get a set plan in order. As an extreme planner, organizer, and perfectionist of time, it is difficult to live day by day, which I have heard is the best method. So for now I will plan only for what I know, to go to Ottawa on the 1st, visit for 4 days, drive to Toronto on the 5th, school on the 6th and 7th, trial work day on the 8th... and then hopefully real work days after?

But what do I want to do with my life? I know what I WANT in my life.. but the income to acquire those wants is where I generally get stuck. I can tell you one thing, I would not be one of those people who commits suicide after winning the lottery, I have enough plans to last me a lifetime for that money without being bothered by it.
So Advertising, Writer, or Owner of {insert cool doggy daycare name here}?

I guess only time will tell. My internship slightly soured me to the world of copywriting but school always seems to perk me up about it again. And writing? I would love to write a book on relationships, or a column about my thorough and dramatic opinions. The problem with this: success in these careers are based on readership and likeability, I'm not sure I want to leave my income up to something so unstable. And then Doggy Daycare. One of those jobs that has the perks of happiness and fulfillment but slightly lacking on the 'big house and many trips' front.

Conclusion? I will be a freelance copywriter who writes a book at night once I get my Doggy Daycare off the ground an have enough people working under me to take lots of time off.
Or just go into advertising and own lots of dogs and write a book at night.

*Sigh* If only there were more complete times associated with these plans... it would truly satisfy my obsessive compulsive need to plan my life to the tee. God damn living life day by day and accepting spontaneity.

I am now going to write up my plan for the day... down to the minute... starting with hitting the 'publish post' button, just to ease the tension of flexibility.