BIG GIRL GLASSES

Have I ever told you about my big girl glasses? A $395 pair of Pradas. I bought them 3 years ago to impress a table full of TV directors (co-workers) wearing big frames with designer names. When I discovered they ditched me (the only one left in the office) to have lunch together, I bought the glasses immediately to redeem myself. My thought at the time was that if I could afford them, I deserved to rock them.

I have done a lot of learning since them. Much of it in the past 6 months. But last week I really had to cram.

While on vacation in DC, I thought I had misplaced the Pradas forever. Fail. Then I got a call Saturday for a job I had applied for the day before. Unfail.

I went on the interview that Monday, thought it went really well, and then 2 days full of thank you letter issues later, I got a call for another interview. I went on it the next day, and for the first time since the Fiji/mtvU decision of 06' – I had a tough choice to make.

I felt positive about landing that first job - the gig also seemed fun and relatively easy to cast. The other job would require constantly proving myself on a very challenging project.

A good problem to have, the possibility of being up for two jobs, but it had the potential to go very badly. I could have played my cards wrong and ended up with 0 jobs and burned bridges.

The little girl in me wanted to take the easier job close to all the Herald Square shopping goodness. The adult in me was hungry for a challenge and wanted to work under a casting director who seemed to be the person I wanted to become in the next 5 years.

I went the mature route as soon as it was 100% offered to me and am now faced with the challenge of finding girls in debt whose parents are willing to live with them for a week (see shameless casting plug at the bottom of the post).

After my decision came one last query - how to let the other company who hadn't notified me about their selection know I was taking myself out of the running for their consideration.

The bravest most adult thing to do would be to give the other hiring manager a call with my news. Not quite 100% more mature adult Cara sent her an e-mail, a very tasteful one which thanked the company for their time and let them know I still
hoped to work with them in the future.

Other lessons I learned last week included how to be persistent without stalking, why being honest prevents trouble down the road and why buying $$$ items to impress others is never a good idea. I made some tough decisions and took responsibility for them. Rather than turning my back the situations I was afraid of, I listened to the advice of others and faced them head on. So today, when I finally found my big girl glasses in the eternal pigsty that is my room, I really felt like I had earned them.


And now for the casting call!

HIT SHOW CASTING WOMEN IN DEBT

Need a financial makeover? Credit-card bills piling up? Are debt collectors calling non-stop? Is your debt keeping you from moving forward?

E-mail the following to cweissman@bbcnyproduction.com:
*name, age, location and contact #
*Your credit card crisis (how long, how much)
*How your parents feel about your situation
*How you are feeling about the situation

CASTING CRITERIA:

*You MUST live in NY / NJ / CT/ Philly (or close to Philly)
*People with big stories, big situations, AND with big personalities
*You CAN NOT currently live with parents
*MUST have both parents willing to take part in the show
*Parents must be in driving distance to you for production purposes
*Must be between 24-34 yrs. old