< by Amy >

Post-college, I made a bold-for-me move to New York City to attend a graduate program in magazine publishing. I had no idea what was in store for me — I’d say it was similar to being on a flimsy raft in fighting waters, pummeling toward a drop without knowing what existed beyond. I was terrified and alone out east, but one constant that kept me grounded and confident in myself was my love to dress up.

One August afternoon, I read about the open casting call for extras for Sex and the City 2 that afternoon in downtown Manhattan. I thought to myself, This is a dream life experience, but who the hell would I go with? I pushed the thought out of my mind, telling the depths of my hopeful soul that I couldn’t go — until my then-roommate, a free spirit that one was, urged me to embark on the adventure alone, and shockingly, I did. It was a day of firsts, including the first time I rode the subway alone. I set off in a smashing patchwork J. Crew sundress, donning my cherry red Manolo Blahniks and straw clutch. While waiting-and-baking in the hot sun, alone, eying the other Carrie-hopefuls from behind my sunglasses, two photographers approached me. The conversation went something like this: “Hi, we’re with Glamour magazine, and we love your outfit. Could we take a picture of you? It will be featured on the website tomorrow.” Ecstatic! Thrilled! Freaked! I happily posed, but I had to see it to believe it. And let me tell you, it was one of the most glorious days that next afternoon when Amanda called me, excitedly screaming at me to get to a computer. And there I was: Amy, 22, Chicago.

Months later, I was offered a gig at The Knot weddings magazine as an editorial assistant in SoHo — talk about my dream job. The moment I opened the e-mail — sitting, by the way, alone in my car outside a pizza parlor — I sobbed a lifetime of tears. In addition to the agreed-upon responsibilities of writing, fact checking, copyediting, and blogging, they added to my role — unbeknownst to me — wedding dress model. I was a sample size 2. Behind the scenes, I modeled dress after dress for Today Show producers (Have you ever been naked in front of a coworker?), and for the website, I modeled a bridesmaid dress for a wedding thrown by the Today Show. I even dressed up as a Mad Men character for The Nest’s Halloween segment on Fox’s Good Day NY. (Check me out at 2:48!)

The evening of J. Crew’s first bridal boutique on Madison Ave., standing inches from icon Jenna Lyons, my heart fluttered and flittered. Drinking my champagne and holding my goodie bag of nail polish and perfume, I told myself, It really doesn’t get any better than this. And it didn’t, because a few months later, I moved back to Chicago — no amount of fabulous dresses and free goodies could damper my longing for home and family. And though I’ve cut high heels out of my daily wardrobe, I’ve got nowhere to go but up.