They call me Carlie. Unless “they” are people who read my name somewhere and don’t know me, in which case I’m often called Carrie or Charlie. Having a uniquely spelled name has its pros and cons.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and was an English major at Illinois Wesleyan University. I met Will, my future husband, on Halloween of my freshman year – he was wearing scrubs and hitting on my friend. The following semester he asked me out on a date. I accepted. Then I cancelled. Apparently he was a bit put off by this because it took him almost two years to reschedule. We finally went out again the fall of our junior year and were together for the rest of college. Then he dumped me.

He moved to St. Louis for law school and I moved to Chicago and got a job at a public relations agency. It was just as I was getting settled in and loving my life as a city girl when Will realized what a HUGE mistake he had made. One year later, I found myself leaving a great job and one of the best cities in the world – all for love.

At first I thought that love had really screwed me over. St. Louis is nice but it’s no Chicago, and I could count the number of friends I had here on one hand (or more specifically, two fingers). Lucky for me, Will turned out to be worth the sacrifice.

So things are going great, thanks for asking. The only problem is that they are too great – and I don’t want them to change. The fact that we are planning on starting a family in a couple years is frankly freaking me out a little. I’m not thrilled with the prospect of having to consider and incorporate some little person in every aspect of my life. Being selfish is way more fun. This blog is not just about my life in general (most of which is a snooze-fest), but it’s about me trying to take full advantage of what I think might be my final childless years, and hopefully wrapping my mind around the fact that I could possibly be a mom in the relatively near future. Yikes. Wish me luck!

**UPDATE: As of the end of 2010, I clubbed Will in the head and dragged him BACK to Chicago with me! As a bonus, I even got a pretty great job working at an ad agency downtown. And better yet – still no babies in our little family (except when one of us gets sick).