Food for Thought

* Memories last a lifetime

Show I LOVE: Cashmere Mafia

Back in 2007 ABC had a wonderful idea to premiere a show that cast light on the difficulty of being a woman, a CEO, and a fashionista. I randomly found it when I was in college and I think this show convinced me that I should go to business school and rule the world. While I am still on the journey to understanding what this means, I spent a weekend re-watching all the shows. While I remembered each and every one, they meant something different to me this time around.

As a young woman trying to navigate the work world and find my footing, watching the triumphs and obstacles these women face gives me insight that I can not get anywhere else. The show was released during the Writers Strike and I do not think people were ready for what these women were bringing. It was not a show about women drowning in their insecurities, dying to fall in love with the perfect man, and swarmed with their issues. These women were smart, successful, struggling with relationships but understood they were not defined by them, and fabulous. Personally, ABC made a mistake in canceling the show.

Here is a list of things I have learned from watching Cashmere Mafia (I pray they will bring it back!)

1. Dictate your own reality and future.

In one of the episodes, Juliet discovers her husband is not only having an affair, but has lost the majority of their money and is using her as a front for his hedge fund. Instead of getting angry, she calls for their divorce. When he tries to do some other nonsense, she has his car repossessed. While these are extreme situations, Juliet never loses her cool. She decides what is going to happen to her and how much she is going to take. As women, we forget our power and our ability to harness it.

2. Always have a group you can lean on.

These four women met in business school and became the outstanding the women they are now because they supported one another. The work world is tough and people usually have ulterior motives. You need to surround yourself with the best people possible outside of work in order to guarantee your success.

3. Understand the implications of winning and losing

In the first episode, Mia is promoted to over her fiance. He leaves her. While I am in no way condoning his behavior, sometimes we assume everyone will be happy with our success. This is not always true and some people might feel alienated. We should always be striving to be our best, but understand what will happen to certain relationships and situations. So many times we act surprised. One of my mentors told me to always rehearse the worst scenario. Sometimes winning can be the worst scenario, and that is okay. We just need to be cognizant of it. Then keep it moving!

4. Know what you value

The work world has a way of forcing us to compromise our integrity. We make decisions that we know are wrong or would otherwise avoid. I once met the Assistant Superintendent of Boston Public Schools and she told me to know what I value before I take one more step. Knowing what you value keeps you inline with your own personal mission. At the end of the day you have to live with yourself and look at yourself in the mirror.

5. Dress fabulously

Dressing well is essential. Not just because of the numerous articles that say women who wear make-up/are more attractive get paid more, but because of how dressing your best makes you feel. Have you ever gotten dressed haphazardly and walked out the door and felt downtrodden? You just felt wrong and this wrongness oozed out of your pores. Everybody sensed it. I believe dressing well impacts how you feel about yourself but is also a reflection of sense. If you love yourself and are confident, then you would dress yourself as such.

Hopefully, you have a netflix account and will watch the seven Cashmere Mafia episodes on netflix. It will be well worth your $7.99.

Theta Family

My sorority is composed of families. When I was first initiated, I joined the Hot Pink and Black Family. There were two of us, my mom and I (we call them mom/daughters). My mom graduated my first year and I was alone. That is until I began my family the next year. Now, 5 years later, I have great great grandchildren. We are missing four or five people from this picture, but I could not be any more proud!

Also, congratulations to Kappa Alpha Theta for raising over $15,000 with our annual fundraiser, Mr. University! All money goes to Court Appointed Special Advocates, our philanthropy! Way to go ladies!

Blah

Lately I have been feeling a bit blah. Blah and stuck. My life is great. I have great friends and I have a great future ahead of me. However, I am in this place of uncertainty that I feel might drive me crazy pretty soon. I am waiting to hear back from the graduate schools I applied to in January. My friends who have applied to other programs have already started to hear from theirs so I have been receiving a swarm of emails every day about their acceptances. I am beyond ecstatic for them, but it is difficult to know that my future hangs in the balance. Where I go to graduate and for what have serious future implications. A friend of mine from college told me that when she was trying to decide about business school she realized that every decision you make that these times in your life change your entire trajectory. That is nerve wrecking.

However, this is not the only uncertainty I have right now. I am waiting to hear back from a variety of people for my job which just leaves me here waiting and twiddling my thumbs until I am able to hear back from them. I have discovered some new blogs in this process thelondoner.com (Thanks Alexis!) and girlwithcurves. Needless to say my life feels sad in retrospect. Sad is actually the wrong word. Uneventful is better.

I am hoping that this trip to L.A. this weekend will give me the boost I need to realize how wonderful my life is despite the current situation. Yes, waiting to know what the future holds is horrible and can bring about some levels of anxiety, but there is something comforting about not knowing. There is something awesome about an unknown future. It makes me feel like I am not stuck and that I am constantly changing and developing. Maybe instead of sitting here and wondering about these topics I should make the changes and plans in my life that I claim I never have time to make. In the next month my life will change forever. I should be relishing in the calmness so then I can celebrate change.

Here is to celebrating the future!

*ignore the chipped nail polish