Deep Thoughts From Starbucks

As you saw from my pictures below, I had the pleasure of meeting up with several college friends of mine at Starbucks over Christmas break. I for one am a complete sucker for coffee shops. I was in absolute heaven that evening because I have always wanted to just "hang out" and talk to friends in a coffee shop. I think I may have watched one too many episodes of Friends. Unfortunately, I rarely get to do just that. So I was pretty pumped that after dinner we moseyed on over to the famous coffee chain to continue chatting it up!

One of our conversations was actually brought up by yours truly. And that was that none of us who were sitting in the group actually thought we'd end up doing what we are currently doing. For instance, I never in a million years thought I'd be living in a 5th wheel being a domestic diva. Another friend was working in insurance and she never thought that's what she would be doing. Another one was back in school getting her masters in a completely different field from her Bachelors. To sum it all up, we are all educated women with college degrees, yet none of us were actually "using" our degrees.

I remember in high school I applied for college because it was the norm and what high school graduates are "supposed to do". When I started school my major was in counseling. Unfortunately for reasons much longer than I care to bore you with I changed my major. And honestly I picked a major that was "easy". I thought, I'd love to own my own boutique or be a buyer for a corporate company. But, my two roommates were also Retail Merchandising majors, so for all I know, maybe I was just following them. (And for the record, I still think those would be amazing jobs!)

Now fast forward to the present. I constantly hear successful people say to do what one loves. Have a passion for your job. Well, when I was in high school, I only had two loves. One was acting. But I immediately dismissed the idea of trying to make it in Hollywood because I didn't want to be a "starving actor". I'm just not a risk taker and wanted to make sure I was financially taken care of. The other thing I really enjoyed was reading. I also loved to write. I always did well in English and my favorite class was creative writing. I kept a journal pretty faithfully while I was in high school but for some reason didn't make the time to do so once I was in college. Another idea that crossed my mind when I was in high school was to be a journalist. But not for the news. That was too boring for me. No, I wanted to work for a fashion magazine. But, again, that required moving because fashion magazines aren't based out of Oklahoma. So I dismissed the idea. Now that I'm steadily approaching my ten year high school reunion, I realize that what I did was limit myself.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not feeling sorry for myself or thinking that I made a bad choice by getting my degree in Retail. I had a great college experience and made wonderful friends. But what I can do is learn from my experience. Hopefully several years in the future I will have a child who will be graduating from high school and I can share my reflections with them. If they do not want to go to college straight out of high school then I will fully support them in finding out who they are as a person and what they want out of life.

With that being said, I've decided, with the encouragement of my "Starbucks Gang" to write a book. And really it seems to make sense to me. I distinctly remember when I was in elementary school saying that I wanted to write a book then, as well. And I was inspired by (go figure) a house. In my mind, I would write a book about two best friends and all the mischief and adventures they would have in this particular house. However, I spent more time on drawing the title than I actually spent on writing. Hey, like I said, I was only in elementary school!

So, although I say I'm going to write a book, I may start and completely hate the process. If that's the case, then I'm not going to force myself into doing something that I don't have to do. But, I've already thought about some key characters and a plot. However, don't ask what I'm writing about! I think my story line is pretty original and I don't want someone to take my idea and run with it. Of course, it's going to be a Fiction book and will more than likely be considered chick lit; which is my fave!

Being the consummate day dreamer that I am (which is not a bad thing, I'm really hoping that characteristic will help me with this whole process) I already have visions of the New York Times Bestsellers List, book signing events at Barnes and Noble, and a phone call asking if someone amazing can turn my book into a screen play. Hey, I'm just sayin'....It can happen!