Life Makeover!

I think my mom still subscribes to this blog. That is probably it. Seeing as I haven't updated in going on two years. I won't be upset if even she has unsubscribed ;)

In any case, instead of starting ANOTHER blog that I do not keep up with I figure, I'll just give this one a shot again.

The flavor of this might be a bit different than before. As I read through my old posts, they were very focused on professional development etc... blah! This is about a life makeover.

Those posts and that engergy from 2008 did carry me far and I used alot of my own advice to further my career. Interestingly enough the commute to the city and blog died at the same time. No surprise.

Because I was prego I took a new, higher paying job the suburbs closer to home. Meanwhile, my husband took a new job in the city. We commuted together for about 2 months.

Fast forward to today: 2+ years has passed... to summarize. Took promotion job opportunity in October. I had a baby, born in February 2009. She is the best baby in the whole world (I am her mom, I can say that:) I went back to work 7 short weeks after she was born (Side note: if you ever find yourself pregnant and you MUST return to work for financial reasons, do yourself a favor and take all 12 weeks the government says you can have. Your emotional well being will thank you!)

I worked LONG, HARD, hours. I worked nights talking to people in Shanghai, Singapore, Germany, Brazil, and Mexico. I wanted people to know that just because I had a baby, didn't mean being successful was any differnt. The harder I worked, the more pressure was put on me by myself and others. The more pressure, the more I worked. It was a never ending cycle. Every time I looked at the calendar months were passing faster than ever before.

The faster they passed, the faster I fell behind. I couldn't keep up. My job grew and grew and I tried to keep up. In January my inbox had over 1000 unread emails. I deleted them so I could have a fresh start to 2010. By March the unread emails were over 1000 again. Insane. I couldn't keep up. On average I recieved 175-200 emails per day. 95% of them requiring a response or some action on my part. I kept trying to make this work.

As the months went on, the hours got longer, but I also got more tired. I was up so late working, I'd come in later. The days were meshing in to each other. To top it off I felt like I never saw my baby. Or my husband for that matter.

I don't know exactly what or when the tipping point was, but one day I realized... it doesn't matter how many hours I work, or how hard I work. I am never going to make "them" happy. I am never going to be "happy". I couldn't continue down this path. Where would I be in 10 years... richer? yes. miserable?... most likely. Have missed out on majority of my daughters formative years? yes. The only positive to the opportunites that lie ahead for me were more money and free international travel. Don't get me wrong both great things.

So I quit that job. I am now working as an independent consultant for my former employer, doing what I love and do best... RECRUITING!

One step in the right direction to my life makeover.

Step Two. As much as I loved our house, it was a bear in a sense. Holding us back from things and places we'd rather be. Given the market is horrible we decided to see if we could rent out our house. We did and within 10 days from signing a lease, we were relocated to a downtown hi-rise in Chicago!

What a change this is!
Floors reduced: 3 to 1
Sq footage reduced: 2000 to 1000
Garage space reduced: 2.5 to 1 paid spot
+ Deciding to sell 1/2 of all of our "worldly possessions" including: a car, dining room set (which I LOVED :(, couches and many other suburban items that are non-essential in city. A grill, patio set, garage storage shelves etc...


Its interesting the girl that used to write this blog in 2008, would have probably looked at what I have just done as moving backwards. And in some cases, sure, it probably is. Do most people understand trading a gorgeous home for a plain 2 bedroom apartment? No, probably not. But I'm grown up and confident enough in my decisions that I'm ok if not everyone understands.

Status: We are one month in to our new city life and I feel like we did the right thing. Apartment is slowly but surely coming together. Baby girl loves the city. We take walks daily and she loves taking in all the sights and sounds of the city!

I hope you'll join me as I attempt to document our new life in the city!