Harper Waddle can’t bring herself to tell anyone she’s been rejected from NYU, especially her three best friends. So on their last night together, (before they all split up and head to different universities), she tells them she’s decided to ditch college for a year and write the next great American novel. At first her friends try to talk her out of it, but Harper’s reckless abandon for the traditional establishments of learning is contagious and her friends eventually decide to join her on the road less traveled.

Harper moves into her parent’s basement to start her novel, Sophie moves to L.A. to become a famous actress, Becca heads of to school, but determined to find love, and Kate hops a one-way ticket to Europe.

The book spends a lot of time on relationships. Each girl has a different love interest…several love interests in some cases. And it’s easy to get swept away in the romance. But not all of the romantic story lines get resolved and that’s a little frusturating, until you realize that romance is not what the book is about. It’s about self discovery, opportunities and risk-taking. *So what’s the moral of the story? Well, let’s hope it’s not “ditch out on college.”*

My Life On Mondays

Well I really did it this weekend. *I accidentally told my parents I was “goofing off”.* FYI, when you’ve moved back in with your parents after college and you tell them that you just need time to find a good job…don’t use the words “goofing off”. The whole conversation came about when a friend asked me if I was keeping busy. *Am I keeping busy? Let’s see,* I haven’t sent out a resume or had an interview in weeks, I spend most of my time working at Banana Republic, watching my TiVo shows and shopping online. I never manage to work out anymore. My room is a mess. Am I keeping busy? No. This was the wrong answer.

_”It’s not a legitimate busy!”_ I told my dad as we got into the car. _”Sure, I’m busy, but not doing anything worthwhile…”_ That came out wrong. All I meant was, yes, working in retail keeps me busy, but I’m by no means at my full capacity of productivity. It’s not like a job at the mall and cleaning my room is all I can handle! _”It’s a goof off busy.”_

*And that’s how it happened.* Now I have to have a “talk” with my parents about my job-hunting plan. You know what this means, right? I need to come up with something fast….or actually get busy.

*My Life on Mondays* is written by a recent college grad who’d like to give a shout out to Lauren, another college grad she works with at Banana Republic. Here’s to “keeping busy!”