Petite Career Girl's 2nd Birthday

(My very first picture and very first blog post.)

Hi Ladies,
Exactly two years ago from today, I started Petite Career Girl. I gotta tell you that I'm still surprised that I actually did it. (Delighted, but surprised.) It's a big deal putting your pictures up on the internet and there are a million things that you don't know that you'll realize that you need to know about running a blog. To be honest, had I known how much I had to learn...I probably wouldn't have started it to begin with. :) 



In honor of today, I want to say thanks to all my readers for supporting me and making blogging so much fun. Thank you for all your kind words and advice...especially through my food, bug and cat related crises. :) I want to send a special shout out to Marcy Very Much and Robin Charmagne for always being there for me when I need blog/cat related advice. :) Thank you to all my sponsors for giving me the opportunity to represent you. Lastly, thanks to all the bloggers on my blog roll...you always continue to inspire me!

I also thought I would take the time today to catch you up on what's going on in my personal life. It's been a long time since we chatted...

The Goings-on of Merrie K:

If you remember back to March, I had taken a little break from blogging. My life had been turned upside down, which I talk about here, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Frankly, I planned to stop blogging permanently. Between the condo flooding, daily trips to the hospital and multiple moves (3 times within the past year and all to different states) - I was exhausted.

I had finally moved to Charlotte in February and I didn't even know where my hair brush was, much less where any clothes were that you would actually take pictures of. It was so bad that I had to tell my friends that I couldn't meet them at any nice restaurants because I looked like a mess. I had been living in leggings for months. I hadn't worn heels (in public) since November of the previous year, nor put on any makeup. Every day, from January to February, I had literally woken up, driven to the hospital, "did my thing" until noon, got lunch and then went home. What would I have dressed up for?

My life sort of started again when my treatment ended and I moved back to Charlotte. Luckily for me, I had received this one suit from Chadwicks and they had been so patient and kind with me during the move and flood, but I still had yet to take the pictures. As I said, I looked and felt like a wreck, so the last thing I felt capable of was putting on a suit and impersonating a successful business woman. However, when I finally got back into my condo, I forced myself back to humanity, cleaned up, dusted of my camera and managed to take the pictures.


They weren't the best pictures, but they did the job. As soon as I started getting dressed, little lights went off in my head. Parts of my brain that hadn't fired in months, suddenly pulsed with excitement. I began to remember why I loved blogging so much. By the time I finished getting ready, I wanted to go back into my closet and commune with all of my clothes. By the time I finished the post, I wasn't scared of the camera anymore. By the next morning, I was dying to blog again. Two days later I wrote another post and after that, I knew I wouldn't stop.

This whole saga was pivotal in my life, because as you may remember, I had been enveloped in the warm bosom of Corporate America since I graduated from college. To a certain extent, I had never wondered where my next pay check was coming from, whether I would have good health insurance or what I would be doing 20 years from now. (I would be getting up every day and driving into work...Duh!) Now, due to my illness I was out of a job (FMLA only kicks in after you've been at a company for a year) and feeling fragile. 

While I was on leave from work and feeling like a wreak...blogging was the one fun, interactive thing I had going on in my life. Without my family, I never would've made it. Without blogging, it would've been a pitiful existence, because the one great thing about blogging is that you can do it from anywhere. From your bed, in your nightgown, with dirty hair...it doesn't matter. You can chat with people, talk about fun stuff and find out what's going on in everyone's life.

Anyway, when I moved to Charlotte it was time to figure out what I was going to do with my life. I immediately thought of going back to Corporate America, because it was what I knew. But as soon as a I said it, I realized how exhausted I was. I'd been working non stop for the past 15 years, ignoring my health and making work come first. But the money was so great and I really loved being a Project Manager. I worked with great people (honestly, IT can be A LOT of fun), and I truly felt like I was contributing something (software!) to the world. It was cool.

However, during my hesitation it dawned on me that I didn't have to go back to Corporate America right then and there. It's true, I wasn't just starting college with my whole life ahead of me and money coming from The Bank of Mom and Pop, but in a way I had something better. I had savings, life experience and a mind brimming with so many ideas that I was literally seeing glitter (plus my only dependents eat cat food). My mind was like a Go-Go dancer from the opening credits of an Austin Powers Movie: grinning while I shimmied on stage in a gold sequin mini dress and pastel pink wig.

My life of climbing the corporate ladder had taken all of my focus, and frankly that had started when I went to high school and began to care about my grades, but now I was like a 7 year old. Nothing was out of the question. Nothing was not worth doing. If I woke up one day and wanted to go hiking by the creek: Bye! If I got up one morning and wanted to build a fort then, dang it...I did it! If I decided that I wanted to start a lemonade stand - who's gonna stop me? Either you buy the lemonade or you don't. I'll still wish you a great day, right before I go home and enjoy an extra gooey, grilled cheese sandwich. :)

With this frame of mind, I realized that I didn't have to go back to work that day. I had this great hobby and maybe, just maybe, it could become a full time job. (Are you crazy? How do you make a living blogging? Is that a real career?) Huh? I don't know. How do I pay my bills doing it? What a great question! Want to loan me some money? :)

Other bloggers had done it...why not me? Well actually, there are a million reasons why. Other bloggers are bigger, much bigger. They have sponsorships, ads in Time Square, spouses that can support them, maybe trust funds...what do I know? I had none of those things, but I did have the appetite to put my life in my own hands and a little common sense. I can't describe to you what happened, but every day it seemed a little less like a crazy idea. A few months later it became a determination. Ready to join me in the insanity? Come on! :D

I'm not saying that I'll never get a "regular job" again, but I'm giving this a go right now. There are certainly no guarantees, and I definitely have my "what the heck are you doing?" days, but most of the time I don't think I'm crazy. Look to see a lot more stuff coming out of Petite Career Girl! I've got ideas oozing out of the hopper, and I think we are all going to have a lot of fun! :)

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