i love my job. you already know that about me – i consider it a dream job, and i know that i’m really, really fortunate to be happy doing what i do, working with great people, getting my science kick every day, and being around food 24/7. i used to think that the only thing i’d change about my current job is not having to sit all day long [i walk over to the test kitchen quite a bit in my job and will be over there working in short spurts, but the rest of the time, it’s an office job], but then i got a standing desk. and a stool. so now i’m up and down constantly throughout the day… problem solved!
and yet being the daydreamer that i am, of course there are other jobs that i fantasize about… jobs that sound glamorous to me because they are creative and involve my favorite hobbies, and maybe because they’re inaccessible to me. but they’re fun to dream about, and i’m notorious for doing some hard daydreaming when i’m supposed to be studying/working on a project or paper/doing something i don’t wanna do [hence this week’s selfie sunday challenge!], so OF COURSE that’s why i’m posting about these today. :) but i got this list in my head and wanted to share. [as a side note, obviously part of the challenge with many of these jobs is breaking into the industry and being successful, so that sort of goes along with it… i think about what it would be like to be successful in these jobs, at least enough so that i wouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck.] so, for the sake of daydreaming, here are 12 jobs that i dream about:
{my darling little cat nibbles up in a tree, looking up for her next move}
1. food critic – i love love love trying new foods and will literally try anything you put in front of me, and i love writing about food. i’m a detail person, and i think i would really enjoy going to a restaurant, ordering a bunch of the food and drinks that the restaurant is known for, trying bites of each one, and then writing my thoughts on it. when i went to amsterdam this summer, there was a food critic at the table across from us at one of the restaurants we ate at, and she had her notebook and was analyzing and evaluating each bite of her meal and then writing furiously about it. it was fascinating to watch, and i was like, i could do this. i mean, i practically already do just that. the only difficult part for me is that i’m my dad’s daughter – like him, i get tired of eating out when i do it a lot and just want to eat at home, so i’m not sure if this job would wear on me. but it sounds right up my alley.
2. travel or city blogger/writer – this is something i think about all the time. wouldn’t it be cool to travel around and discover the things to do in a city and then write about it?? i mean, who wouldn’t love that job? [this is me being my mom’s daughter this time… she was a travel agent for a while and loves planning trips. as do i.] even if i just did it in the city that i lived in, i think it would be so fun to try all the things to do – the restaurants and bars and shopping and museums and everything else – and then review them. i’m hoping to put together a dallas guide for this blog soon, so i’m kind of doing that in a sense, but it would be awesome to make a living off that. like rick steves… that guy has it goooooood. when i lived in milwaukee during the summer before my senior year, i put together an extensive milwaukee city guide… the only bummer is that that was almost four years ago and i haven’t been back since, so who knows how much of it is still up to date.
3. author – because i’ve always wanted to write books… i’ve started at least 20 in my life and haven’t finished any of them. either life gets in the way or i come up with a better idea. but someday.
4. nail polish namer or paint namer – this sounds so silly, but someone has to do it, right?? when i was a kid, when i went to home depot with my dad, i would hang out at the paint chip section and gather up the paint chips with the prettiest names and take them home. i just loved them, and i always told my mom that that’s what i wanted to do when i grew up – name them.
5. children’s fashion designer – you already know about my obsession with children’s clothes from this post. i just can’t shake it.
6. food stylist – this was a serious dream job of mine for a long time – i got to dabble in it during my food styling internship in milwaukee, and it’s the ultimate reason why i started culinary school. BUT [there’s always a but] going through culinary school, i’ve realized that although it’s the type of job i love in theory [i seriously LOVED my job in milwaukee], when i’m actually the one in charge of doing the cooking and the styling and ensuring that everything comes out perfect, i’m just not sure. i’m a perfectionist, yes, but i hate “performing” for people in almost any sense, and it’s a lot of pressure being a food stylist. what if the dish i was making just didn’t cooperate? would i be able to figure out what to do? the thought makes me nervous. most of the time, food stylists are under a time constraint, and although culinary school has made me better at working quickly, i still like to take my time… anyway, these are the concerns that have sort of made me steer away from this career path, but it’s still a glamorous-sounding job to me, just because i love the art of food.
7. prop stylist – i didn’t even really know about this job until i did my food styling internship… basically, they get to shop for the dishes, linens, and other items on the set and coordinate what’s used for each shot. at my job in milwaukee, there was an enormous loft area just filled with props, arranged on aisles by color/type, and it was so fun to just walk around and look at everything. it was like going shopping! i totally have a thing for dishes, especially unique ones [i have way more than i need as it is] and heck, i’m a professional when it comes to shopping in general! ;) i love the idea of getting to create a “feel” for a set, because that’s ultimately what the prop stylist gets to do. sounds pretty fun.
8. study abroad program director – two words: living abroad. one of my favorite bloggers, lauren of aspiring kennedy, does this for a living over in london, and it’s totally a dream job. she gets to take the kids who are studying abroad around the city and to other parts of the UK as well, and she brings her husband and daughter. if i ever have the opportunity to live abroad, i want this job!
9. artist – i love to paint, but it’s hard to find the time. when i was a sophomore in high school, my art teacher had an article written about me in school newspaper for one of the paintings i did for my beginner art class, so i’d like to think pretend that i have a knack for it! i usually paint landscapes, but i love to draw people, and sometime i hope to learn how to paint them. my favorite quote from allie hamilton in the notebook: “most of the time, i have all these thoughts bouncin’ around in my head… but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet.”
10. photographer – i tell my photographer friend rebecca this all the time… that i would love to do what she’s doing, but i just don’t think it’s in the cards for me! [she’s a fantastic photographer BTW – you should check out her work.] if i could be a professional photographer, though, i would do places and food and weddings. and maybe family portraits too. rebecca shoots a lot of weddings, and she always tells me how fun it is to get to be a part of one of the best moments in people’s lives. i think there’s something wonderful about capturing beauty so that you’ll have it forever and always remember the moment, whether it’s a time in someone’s life or a beautiful place or a really fabulous meal.
11. a maker of beautiful things and an etsy shop owner – yesterday i went to the etsy jingle bash and was totally inspired. i’m a big fan of etsy as it is, and being there to actually meet the vendors was really cool. there were soooooo many beautiful handmade items, and it was such a fun atmosphere for people selling their goods – they had gone all out on the decorating of their booths, and there was live music, food, a full bar, photo booths, a gift-wrapping station, and a lot of really cool people. it was apparent that the shop owners love their crafts, and how cool is it that these people get to use their unique talents to make things for people and sell them all over the world.
12. typographer/calligrapher – i’ve always been a doodler of letters and words… my boyfriend in high school used to call them my fonts. writing letters and words and phrases in beautiful fonts seems so fun to me, whether for a print for the wall or greeting cards or wedding invitations. again, someone has to do it, right??
so there’s your window into some of my daydreams. it’s fun to think about, when the sky’s the limit. what would your dream jobs be, if you could do anything? if you want to share in the comment section, i would love to hear what you have to say! xo