Hey Not A Model, Tell Me Where Have You Been?

Let's talk balance. 

I'm currently working on finding a sense of steadiness in my work life, social life, city life, suburb life, love life and writing life.

I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and I'm still getting used to my new routine. While I'm enjoying the new opportunity, the division between commuting, early mornings, skyscrapers, subways, home-cooked meals, events, dates and late night everything has taken its toll.

I know I haven't given my all to Not A Model lately and it does not leave a good taste in my mouth.

After a long day of work at a desk, I find it difficult to come home and sit at a computer and write something inspiring. However, when I see my posts becoming less and less frequent, I feel guilty.

I'm trying to keep it all together. I'm trying to schedule every important person and event in my life, while trying to remember to keep my sanity.

On Friday, I debated skipping a party I was invited to. It was the 1 year anniversary of the photography studio Hermann & Audrey. How could I say no to Stefania? If you read this blog regularly, you can see her photography everywhere (*ahem logo) and I always support the other photographers (Cory, Steve, Javier, Jalani) and I enjoy their events.

So I sucked it up.

I went to work during the day in the city, went back home to the suburbs, swiped some liquid liner on my lids, zipped up my knee high boots, grabbed a friend and drove back to the city at night. Was I exhausted? Sure. Was I happy I went? Most definitely. Besides, aren't Saturdays for sleeping in?

 [Me marveling at Javier Lovera's beautiful photography - credit: Kristina Dhillon]

"In today's society we sometimes forget to balance our hearts and our heads; this is the reason we stop laughing." -Yakov Smirnoff

Lately, my laughter isn't as frequent, but I know I'm just finding my way like everyone else.

Writing is my passion. I love my readers and I still have so much left to say, capture, write and share. It won't always be perfect, but I want to keep this going for as long as it makes me happy.

My heart lies with a pen and a message. Hope you're still listening.

Suburban Girl in the City Part 1

I'm not new to city life. I've worked, partied, lunched, dinnered, shopped, interned and any other "ed" you can think of... I just don't live there.

While I have my qualms about living in Italian suburbia, I know eventually I will make the move to the city and be able to stroll to work, rather than schlep. With my new internship, I'm now a serious commuter. My commute takes about an hour or more depending on different factors. It's heinous and I've yet to master the art of being a morning person.

In no particular order, I've noticed 4 types of commuters:

The "overly prepared" person
You know, the person who has a full nutritious lunch packed, gym bag ready, another bag filled with what looks like an extra pair of shoes while holding some sort of thermos probably filled with a healthy protein packed smoothie. Their I-pod is fully charged and reading material is readily available if needed. They are super alert and probably could perform First Aid or pull out an extra shirt for someone like me when I spill tea all over my outfit. Yeah, that person.

The "glassy eyed, rolled out of bed, half asleep" person
You know the person who looks like they haven't had an inkling of sleep.  It makes you wonder what exactly they were up to last night. They're dozing off, with their head bobbing up and down and then they snap out of it, embarrassed. However, within three blinks they're nodding off again while other people watch, waiting for them to a) miss their stop b) fall on the person next to them c) get their stuff stolen.

The "look me in the eye again & I'll set you on fire" person
It's not cool to be chipper in the morning to this person. They're angry. You have no idea why and you definitely don't want to know. Maybe they're peeved because they have to go to work. Maybe their kids had tantrums and all three wanted to wear Halloween superhero costumes to school. Either way, the worse thing you can do is send a meek smile their way. Smiling is dangerous, and the morning is never a time to be a daredevil.

The "I'm so important on my phone even though there is no service" person
My phone has no service, so your phone must have no service, yet this person is enthralled. Maybe they're playing brickbreaker, browsing through photos, or compiling text message drafts, either way they give the illusion that wherever they're going next is very special. It's as if the world just got a signal that it may end, and this person will be the one to save it... if they can only get a few more bars.

So where do I fall in these categories? I'm a mix of probably every person I just described, but I've never fallen asleep on public transit, well I did in Barcelona, but that's a whole other blog post.

I will be writing more about my city/suburb musings. Here's to all the commuters out there!