In Her Shoes

There's nothing more rewarding than being a mother. Having a full-time job and taking care of kids can feel like having two jobs, which is why many women dream about being a stay-at-home mom. I talked to Jen Singer, a mom who turned her stay-at-home mom status into a job.

SavvySugar: How did you turn being a stay-at-home mom into a career?

Jen Singer: Right now I'm an author and a blogger. I created the blog MommaSaid.net, which I've done actually for eight years now. I started it when my kids were little and when they were in school, I would write it at night. Now it's become more of a full-time job because with that I published five books, most recently the Stop Second Guessing Yourself guides to parenting; there's three of them. And I've also been a spokesperson for several companies. I'm a Pull Ups potty training partner so I give potty training advice to moms on Facebook for Pull Ups.

Jen never has a typical day! To hear what it's like, read on.

All of us have a dream job we're secretly harboring. Readers recently shared their dream jobs, which inspired this new Savvy series: In Her Shoes.

What's better than sharing books with people who have the same love of reading? Being a librarian is definitely a hard job to beat, and Stephanie Chase, director of Stowe Free Library in Vermont, can attest to that!

SavvySugar: What makes your job a dream job?

Stephanie Chase: The idea of being a librarian is just really exciting because you get to talk about something you love every day, and most of the time with people who love it too. I think my favorite thing is you get to know the people in the community and you get to know why they come to the library, why they use the library, or what they like to read and to be able to show somebody you remember that . . . I think with our busy lives, people love to have somebody remember and that's one of the best parts about public service.

To find out what a librarian's job is really like (and no, it's not just shelving books!), read on.

All of us have a dream job we're secretly harboring. Readers recently shared their dream jobs, which inspired this new Savvy series: In Her Shoes.

Imagine being paid to travel the world. Sound too good to be true? Well, that's actually what Samantha Brown, a Travel Channel host with a genuine curiosity and zest for life, does for a living!

SavvySugar: What makes your job a dream job?

Samantha Brown: Of course, the obvious is traveling the world. But I think more so than visiting places like China, Argentina and Europe, I really love that I get to spend time in somebody else's life. I get to see life through the perspective of a different person in a different part of the world. It’s enlightening, it’s humbling. That’s something that this job has given me — that sense of humanist and humbleness that we all need and it’s a really a gift. I can’t overstate it enough. I have the best job in the world for reasons I think people don’t even see on camera.

SS: What's your typical day like?

SB: We meet the night before, when we all kind of gather in another part of the world, and we go over the next day. We’re given our schedule, and the schedule can be amazing things — actually I’ve kept all my schedules — like: Sam meeting with geisha girls to learn how to be a geisha; 1 o'clock, Sam takes sake at a famous sake bar; 12 o'clock, Sam meets with master sushi chef and learns how to make sushi. It's a fantasy, it really is. And then at the end of the day, I absolutely crash because there’s just so much and you’re taking in so much. We shoot about 12 hours a day so by the end of that day, it’s a bit [exhausting].

To hear about how Samantha almost got mauled by a panda and more, read after the jump!

All of us have a dream job we're secretly harboring. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who are already living it or maybe you're still dreaming about it. Readers recently shared their dream jobs, which inspired this new Savvy series: In His or Her Shoes.

Life is definitely a party for Colin Cowie. Style guru Cowie is a man of many hats — those of which include interior designer, celebrity event planner, author, and guest writer for YumSugar! Readers neonbee, n00dledancer, and lov3tina said their dream job was to be an interior designer or party planner, so sit back, relax, and read all about Cowie's exciting life!

SavvySugar: What makes your job a dream job?

Colin Cowie: There is nothing more thrilling, rewarding, or fabulous than making people happy. And to think I get paid well to spend other people's money making other people happy — I can't imagine anything better.

SS: What other dream jobs did you want to do?

CC: I never set out doing what I'm doing now. One step led to another and the dream has come to life. But if I couldn't be doing what I'm doing now I'd definitely be a doctor. I have always been fascinated with medicine, and I think I have the right bedside manner. Other than that, if I had the voice, I would have been a rockstar with a stainless steel guitar!

To find out how Cowie started out his dream job and more, read on!

All of us have a dream job we're secretly harboring. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones who are already living it or maybe you're still dreaming about it. Readers recently shared their dream jobs, which inspired this new Savvy series: In Her Shoes.

You probably have fallen in love with one of the hunky men in Teresa Medeiros's books. She is a New York Times best-selling romance novelist who sold her first book at 21 and currently has over seven million books in print.

SavvySugar: What makes your job a dream job?

Teresa Medeiros: Definitely being able to work from home. For me that’s a biggie — obviously you work in your PJs. You can go to the refrigerator to get something you want, which is a big plus. I would say the best thing about my job is getting to fall in love with a gorgeous new guy every year and my husband doesn’t even mind. That’s a definite dream job!

SS: What other dream jobs did you have?

TM: Princess, FBI agent, actress. I did want to be an actress for most of my young life along with a writer. Obviously some are more realistic than others but when I found I started writing . . . that I was doing what god made me for. It is a sense of fulfillment that I haven’t found in anything else

SS: What were you doing before?

TM: I was a registered nurse. I did that fulltime for about eight years while I was writing, so I would write in the mornings and then I’d go to work from 3 to 11 pm. I retired as a nurse in 1992 to write full time. I was very productive then because you know how it is when you first start something, it’s like a hobby and I was sneaking off to do it. Basically I would write every day from 10 am to 12.30 pm. At 12.30 I’ll stop and watch As The World Turns and then I’ll get ready and go to work.

To see what SavvySugar readers asked, read on.

Last week I asked you what your dream job was to see if you matched up to the results of a survey conducted by Marist, in which a third of the people said their dream job was to be an actor or actress. I had a lot of fun reading some of the answers. Turns out 22 percent of you would love to be Hollywood stars, seven percent want to be professional sportsters, and four percent want to fill President Obama's shoes. The rest of you picked careers like being a travel writer, stay-at-home mom, teacher, baker, and more.

Guess what? I have exciting news for Savvy readers. We're starting a new series called In Her Shoes in which we'll feature people who are actually living out your fantasy career. They will share their story and tips on how you can get there too.

If you want to join in the fun, leave a comment below to name a profession you'd love to be in or to just hear more about. Remember, nothing is out of bounds, let your imagination run wild!