Sarahs Style Emporium

This article first appeared in Onya Magazine, August 2010.
While some of the circumstances in 2012 are slightly different, the sentiment remains.
Oops - I did it again. ;)

~

Crunch time.

I hand over the letter, slightly shaking, terrified. The person across the table opens it with a knowing look on their face, reads the content and smiles a funny little smile, a knowing smile but a smile with disappointment behind it.

I have just quit my job. My steady, stable, well paid, close to home, flexible, source of main income, job. And I don’t have a job to go to.

I’ll pause here while you decide what to say. Do you cringe inside, smile and say, ‘Wow, that’s really brave!’ Or maybe I sense that hint of ‘Oh my god, what have you done?!’ Perhaps you know me well and your first reaction is to say ‘Congratulations!’

So, now that you have decided how you feel about my life changing decision, I have one question to ask you before I tell my story. Would you do it? Would you quit your job, with no job to go to, when you still have a mortgage, and rent, and bills and unexpected expenses? Think about that now, then assess it again after you finish reading. I wonder if you will feel the same way.

Three years ago I was eighteen months out of University, desperate to make my mark in the world and chomping at the bit to find a place to work that would provide me opportunities, support my beliefs and put an expensive education to good use. I applied for many, interviewed for few and finally was offered my current position.

I remember the interview well – my future boss said she liked my shoes and I knew I was in. I remember sitting in the interview, nervous beyond belief, telling her that I was looking for a company where I could move up, spend many years learning and grow with the business. It wasn’t until two years later she told me that she didn’t believe a word of it.

As a part of Generation Y, we don’t tend to stay in jobs the way our Baby Boomer parents did. My father has worked for the same company since he was 17, with the exception of a midlife crisis of about 12 months where he decided to be a builder – this was something that I aspired to do, (stay in a company for a long time, not be a builder) but have discovered is not the way my generation does business.

We like to be challenged, motivated and offered tasks with responsibility, encouraged and given opportunities to be creative.  Generation Y doesn’t care, to a point, how much they are paid. We want to make a contribution. We want to change the world.

After three years in my role, I feel I have learnt all there is to learn. I have tried different things and decided the things I don’t want for my future. Now I have an opportunity to explore new territory, learn more and discover what I am really passionate about and what I do want for my future.

The saddest part of leaving your job is most often losing the friendships you have formed in the workplace. Often, you spend more time with the people in your team at work than with your family, and I won’t deny that the thought of not seeing some of these people every day nearly brings me to tears.

As someone who lives alone, the people I work with are my family. They know my quirks and nuances, laugh at my jokes and share my stories and successes. I recall starting at this company and feeling like I didn’t fit in. It took me a good six months to feel like I belonged but I imagine it will take much longer to feel okay with not seeing them every day.

It’s my second last day today and I am nervous about finishing up, but excited about all the opportunities that lay before me. The decision to quit without a job to go to was not made lightly and I still question it four weeks after it was made, but I am confident that I have a strong support network in place and should things go pear shaped, my family will be there to help me pick up the pieces.

At the end of the day, I have decided to leave to try new things, explore opportunities and discover where my passions lie. I want to know what I am good at, what I enjoy and what I can be happy doing eight hours a day, five days a week. If that means less money, then that’s ok. If it means a longer commute, that’s ok too. I’ll make new friends and learn new things – and scary as that might be, it’s the right thing to do for me.

So I ask you again – would you quit your job with no job to go to? Would you do it for less money if it meant your personal happiness? What would you sacrifice to be challenged and motivated? I may be the Girl Without a Platinum Card – I may not even have a card after this decision – but I know my happiness is worth more than anything plastic can buy.

Editor’s Note:

To Sarah, our Girl Without a Platinum Card,
The whole Onya Magazine team, and we’re sure your loyal readers too, wish you all the very best on the completion of your (stable) job tomorrow. Whilst you’re not exactly sure what the next step of your life will entail, I’m sure that you’ll approach it in the same style and grace that you approach everything else in your life. You are brave, beyond belief, to pursue happiness and experience over money and security, and while some people may not get it, while some people may think it’s silly, I know it’s nothing like that at all. Your passion and talent will not go unrecognised and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people fighting for a piece of you in the months to come. Best wishes for this next chapter in your life. And don’t worry, if it all goes pear shaped, I’ll start a collection. After all, fighting for your passion and dreams is something worth supporting.

Love,
Sandi  Sieger – Your Editor and Friend

This article first appeared for Onya Magazine.

How quickly time flies when you are having fun. Or when you are not.

On Tuesday, it was St Valentine’s Day – the traditional day when lovers share with each other their undying passion and desire to spend the rest of their lives together.

I just heated up a microwave meal for one.

But all is not lost, because after much soul searching – well, actually, not much – I am finding that I am quite enjoying the Five in Five concept and the way it is actually expanding my horizons and introducing me to new people. It feels okay to take a risk, to jump in the deep end or take a leap of faith. Who knows what might happen? Perhaps next year I’ll have someone to share my microwave dinner with.

Unfortunately though, in terms of dates, I don’t have too much new information to share with you. Officially, I haven’t been on another date, however, I have had much interaction and the prospects are definitely there.  Come to think of it – perhaps I do have a bit to share.

One of the best parts about the Five in Five concept is that is provides a talking point, not only with those people you have just met, but also with those whom you spend a lot of time with. It seems everyone knows someone single once you start chatting about it; all you need is a conversation starter.

While chatting with the people you know is a great – and easy – start, finding ones you don’t is a little harder. However, if you have a confident friend, she (or he) is the perfect wingman. For example, last weekend while crashing a friends barbeque by the Yarra on a Sunday morning, my confident friend, let’s call her Lola, decided to randomly approach the guys at the BBQ pit next to us.

A simple smile and a handwritten phone number later, Miss Lola and I were giggling like we were in high school. And, after a minor false start (boys who have been drinking all day can be excused) a date was set and a string of text messages with Ryan Gosling followed. Stay tuned for the date.

Meanwhile, the power of Twitter saw me set up a lunch date and I was actually feeling pretty good about the Five in Five deal. While the date with Kevin Rudd didn’t go ahead (the guy cancelled but he had good reason – massive respect to Kev for giving me the truth straight up) I hit Valentine’s Day with a massive case of the singles.

The speed-dating event I had so been looking forward to seemed like a pain the butt: time when I could be reading Vogue, eating Thai or simply having an early night. The persistence of a certain barman and friends (yes, Lola was there) encouraged me to come out and I headed to the event despite my own reluctance.

And this is what I learnt. I love meeting new people. It doesn’t matter where or how, I just love new people. And if it so happens that I am in a room full of them who are single? All the better for me.
If you are open to the idea of meeting new people, then almost like magic, opportunities present themselves – be it because you strike up a conversation with friends, or because your wingman decides to take matters into her own hands.

Speed dating was fun – Come back next week to read the next instalment of my Five in Five experiences to see how many matches there were, how the catch ups went and whether Ryan Gosling was as good in real life as he was via text.

NB: Brad Pitt finally got back to me. Two weeks to the day after saying he would call next week. His excuse? He did text – I didn’t get it. Should I follow up? Vote now.

To support Sarah, and raise funds for Concern Australia, visit her fundraising page here.

This article first appeared for Onya Magazine

Coming in to week two of Five in Five, I was feeling good. My date with Brad Pitt had gone well and as Carrie Bradshaw always says, ‘the only thing you need to get a date, is another date’.

But perhaps I was too early in feeling confident. The dating game seems to be a minefield of talking with little action, mind games and hundreds of years of speculation, Chinese whispers and opinions.

When you think about everything you talk about in your inner circle of friends, the ‘rules’ that apply to men and women are almost hard wired – we believe the most ridiculous things about the opposite sex because someone had an experience once and we feel this taints every man or woman with the same brush.

The book and film He’s Just Not That Into You, tried to teach us about the ‘rules’, but still gave the leading lady a happy ending – ultimately making her the exception to the rule after telling us for two hours that very rarely are we the exception to the rule.

A dating ‘textbook’ I flicked through this week (purely for research purposes) advised that women should never, ever, hit on men – apparently they like the thrill of the chase, a caveman inspired theory relating to the whole hunter/gatherer/ego/superior sex thing.

It seems the only thing women are supposed to do, is ignore men. To be fabulous all by themselves – wear that brilliant dress for you. Make sure your underwear matches – for you. Put on heels, lipstick, earrings. Shine. And don’t think about boys. Sounds easy right? This leads to the one key component essential for those on the dating circuit.

I have a very close friend who has pretty much had a boyfriend since we were 15. Even when a relationship ended, she would be out soon after, and while she would sit in a bar talking to her girlfriends, it was always her who managed to come home with phone numbers. She is the most amazing and confident person I know.

And herein lies the key to dating. Confidence. Believing you are amazing and fabulous and worthy of any boy who glances your way. Accepting a compliment with a smile and not justifying it to yourself or anyone else. Looking in the mirror and knowing you are AMAZING.

Last week, while walking to work; headphones in, sunglasses on; I was stopped by a man in his car – I assumed for directions. When he apologised for stopping me and continued on that he had to simply to tell me how beautiful he thought I was, my first reaction was to smile – then immediately wonder what was wrong with all the other girls on the street that morning – what was so special about me?

Why don’t we ever have confidence in ourselves? And to those who have it – how do the rest of us get it?

Perhaps this lack of confidence comes from the very general lack of action on the part of the male species (see how all this ties in?) because guess what? Brad Pitt never phoned (if you are thinking ‘as if Brad Pitt would phone her’, refer to last week’s article) even after saying twice (once at date end, once via text the next day) that he would.

How do you think that makes a girl feel? We wonder what we said, what we did (or didn’t do) and so on and so forth. Right back to square one where we lack the confidence to approach anyone.

Dating isn’t easy – I never (or anyone else for that matter) said it was. I truly believe that to win at any game takes work, patience, dedication and a want to succeed. But, this assumes both teams are playing by the same rules and when it comes to dating, this doesn’t seem to be the case.

My five dates in five weeks may need to stretch to six (weeks that is, not dates) but this week taught me a few lessons about the game I am playing. I’ll go into week three feeling more fabulous about me and less reliant on the actions of others.

You can raise funds for Concern Australia by contributing here.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of celebrating my birthday at the Couturing.com launch party - a fabulous extravaganza held at Melbourne's GPO with everyone I know and love.

There were cocktails, polaroids and the most gorgeous array of outfits I have seen in quite some time. Given it was my birthday (and I'd had the day off), I frocked up - nothing but couture for a party of this nature.

Me and Sandi Sieger, Editor of Onya Magazine (and fantastic friend!)
Image thanks to Styled By Sally

Following an epic day - I visited the Body Freedom Day Spa and gave my credit card a bit of a workout on Bourke Street - I was really looking forward to a night with my fashion friends.

Couturing.com is bringing together the best of everything in fashion and have even created a window display at the iconic GPO to showcase Australia's finest. Akira, Lisa Ho, Willow, Manning Cartell and Anaessia are all featured and will be on display for two weeks.

Couturing Creators: Thom and Lisa
Image thanks to Couturing.com

I had a brilliant time at the function, then continued on at the Money Order Office with Sandi and Dan (have you heard what Dan is doing? You won't believe it. Check out of Feast of Dan here...) to sip Laurent Perrier and feel wonderful.

Thank you to Lisa and Thom for having their party on my birthday and to everyone who wished me well!

I don't look a day over 21... right? Image thanks to Meagan Harding of StyleFarm

Fashion Note: Top by Zara, Skirt by Rodarte, Shoes by Wittner, Vintage Bag