Sunday, April 19, 2009

Memories....

As I stood in front of the salmon painted house, I felt nauseous.

I had been on countless interviews all over the city and now, here I was in front of the one and only Arts and Leisure magazine in the area. My head was spinning and I was certain I would botch this interview as well.

The good news was, this opportunity came looking for me. Sort of. I had applied six months earlier then didn't hear anything. That is until one day when I was working my cashiers job at Target and I got the call on my cell. City Magazine was interested and the Editor wanted to meet with me personally.

As if the stuccoed building wasn't enough to intimidate the heck out of me, the Editor-in-Chief was even more so. Tall, blonde, fashionable and obviously she had her poop together if she was manning the helm of this ship. I wanted to tuck my tail and run.

She greeted me at the door, firm handshake and all. Then she lead me into the open sitting area and prompted me to take a seat. As I fidgeted, she sat down next to me and then proceeded to flip through some papers held together in a file folder- my portfolio.

"Great shoes," she said as she peeked up over the pages of my writing history. My life flashed before my eyes.

And then as if we had talked for hours over my goals and the magazine's needs, she told me they were looking for a Festival/Events Column writer. And it was mine if I wanted it.

Just like that. The next thing I knew, I was attending and writing about some of the most note worthy engagements in Roanoke.

This monumental experience turned into three years of part-time freelancing as a City columnist. It was amazing and so memorable.

Why am I writing about this you ask?

"Running in Heels" on the Style network has spurred all of my nostalgia. It's a terrible show, what with it's cattiness and backstabbing. But it reminded me of days long gone, when I was young and passionate about my career in writing.

Ahhhhh, to be young and accessory savy again. So much has changed since that magical time. I'm married and a mom now. And though I'm still passionate about writing, my inspiration differs greatly from black-ties and wine festivals. As you know my muse is one, so the bulk of my creativity hovers somewhere between snot and spit-up!

Oh, and those great shoes.....

They've been traded in for a trusty old pair of Crocs!

1 comment:

Lorraine said...

Interesting article. Sounds like that was a lot of fun - quite the experience! You are not so old, though - that couldn't have been too long ago! But having kids certainly does change your life completely, huh? You'll have so much more stuff to write about - and more insights to go with it (kids teach you so much, I'm joyfully discovering). But I remember when I was young and attractive - seems SO long ago. I was never accessory savvy, definitely, but also never really had to "work" at my looks. I do miss that!