When will I get to be Carrie Bradshaw?

The thing about Carrie Bradshaw is this: she’s unstoppable. She's a fashion icon, successful writer, heartbreaker and social maven, all the while somehow maintaining a strictly designer wardrobe and trendy Manhattan apartment on a columnist's salary. Every girl wants to be Carrie, and if we can’t be her, then we want to be as much like her as possible.

In fact, we often compare ourselves to Carrie, searching for minute similarities between Carrie’s life and ours, and pronouncing the smallest details as signs that we are just like her. Carrie's clothes, Carrie's taste in men, Carrie's friends. Carrie buys $400 Louboutins, so why can't I?

Of course, this includes me. I'm out of college, with a job I can call a career, living in the city - where's my Louboutins? Shouldn't I, too, be effortlessly sporting the latest fashion, greeting every Sunday morning with a $12 mimosa at my favorite brunch spot, and hit up the trendiest downtown clubs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night?

Well, unfortunately, no. As much I see myself so close yet so far away from Carrie (note: RedEye blogging has moved me one step closer), I'm realizing that's truly an unrealistic lifestyle to attempt to live up to. Life isn't one big romantic comedy full of endless resources and the trendy scenarios. It's real. It's sometimes crappy. But it's here, now.

And as much as I may be living paycheck to paycheck, there are totally Carrie moments in my life worth recognizing - that perfect night out with friends, the once-in-awhile pedicure you treat yourself to, spoiling yourself with a well-earned martini on a Friday night. Those moments are all there. They just need to be paid attention to.

It all comes down to the "glass half full - glass half empty" metaphor. I can sit here and dwell on all I don't have, or I can be grateful for what I do and challenge myself to see the good.

So you know what? I'll never be Carrie Bradshaw. I'll never be a sex columnist for the New York Post that comes and goes as she pleases (seriously, where is her editor any way?!), and I realize I'll probably never be able to afford Louboutins on a regular basis. But hey - I've surrounded myself with a lot of good people in my life, and that means more than any extravagent lifestyle.

After all, that's what Sex and the City comes down to, right? Four friends. Good people, and great memories.

What are your total Carrie moments? How could you afford to be a little more grateful in your life?

Always,
j.cole