a girls guide to marrying a millionaire.

Inspired by old Hollywood, a very cold west coast winter night at home, and the Netflix abyss, I realised I had actually never sat down and watched anything Marilyn Monroe was in from start to finish. Shocking because from memory, when we had to do a project on someone famous in Grade 9 English class, of course I did mine on Ms. Monroe.

Funny how things manifest in your life, I had to giggle when Marilyn’s character had such rampant blindness in ‘How to marry a millionaire’ but wouldn’t wear her glasses. This after a week prior, I was out on a date with G the VP, I nearly walked past him at the concierge, an unintended blow off, then I excused myself after dinner to go to the ladies and I walked into a glass door, all because I didn’t want to wear my glasses on date number one.  This is probably why there has been no date two, he probably thinks I’m loony.

Anyway, glass of champers in hand, I started with how to marry a millionaire. These girls had goals, vision, intention, as women do today, though its become a bit of a faux pas to announce that in 2016, your goal is in fact to marry a millionaire. I am quite certain this would have gotten me kicked out of my MBA circa 2010. When asked by the Dean, ‘So Jo, why an MBA? What do you want to do, rule the world or stand beside the man ruling the world or be the mistress of the man ruling the world? ‘

For the record, I am so glad I said I wanted to rule the world, even if it was accompanied by an eyelash batt or two, and a big smile.  Smiling is my favourite.

Flash forward to present day, my little cousin Max was told by another female relative, girl, just marry for money. Hang on… if we are instilling this onto younger generations as a goal, or at the very least something to consider in our dating adventures, and have as an item our hit list, why are we so scared to talk about it? Shouldn’t things at the end of the day be all encompassing? Passion, drive, intellect, morales and yes, dare I say, the coin factor. Money has always been a sensitive topic, I remember my mother saying to me that asking what someone’s salary was, is the equivalent to asking a woman her bra size.

Money and bra sizes are never sensitive topics for 604P, nor is it to proclaim that one’s goal is to marry a millionaire. When we started talking dating and men one Thursday over happy hour at Chewies, 604P mentioned she would be all over pulling an Anna Nicole Smith, as so long as said millionaire was in fact a billionaire, 90 plus, and sans heirs. Now if this hit list is too specific, she will lower the bar down to age 80, but with a terminal disease. She will go younger still, but only if he is crazy cakes with no short term memory, because then she can tell him that they have been doing the nasty non stop, meanwhile she is out building her orphanage. But, she does declare, the second marriage will be for love. See? We are just as old school as Marilyn and her squad.

Next up, champers still in hand (new glass, maybe a new bottle) gentlemen prefer blondes – well I think the verdict is this still out on this one, ladies you have to ask yourself what do you prefer? Take into considerations you skin tone, colour palette, lifestyle. I enjoy going blonde from time to time, but when I am on the road as much as I am, I can’t get into see Robert, the hair god at In.Salon Yaletown for maintenance,  so personally, I stay brunette through until after RRSP season. Then its game on. And Robert is happy.

And finally, the seven year itch. This resonates, the 7 year, the 17 year, the 27 year itches have plagued a few people I have come across in the quest for added blogspiration. Of course the general lessons here is that you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone,  you think the grass is greener and you’re in a drought. If you keep craving an escape you really need to look inside yourself, your relationship, your needs, your end goal. Fantasies and kindergarten crushes are great, but don’t let it jeopardise something irreplaceable.

In summary, goal setting back in Marilyn’s heyday is really no different that for today’s modern woman. We all set out with our intentions, a well thought out strategy, and when we are handed a diversion, we handle this with grace, we don’t give up. We may think on the surface we are different than these women and that  we’ve changed, or maybe the better word is evolved. I believe our evolution is evident, our clutches contain our compacts, but also our iPhones, we don’t have a dance card, but we have our top 5 prospects coded in our contacts. And, in the same breathe, nothing has changed, as these characters demonstrated during my movie binge, these women for the record were smart, not bimbos.These movies, really were to showcase how women can go after whatever they want, and get it. Obviously confined by the times, this had to translate into millionaire chasing, but today this can go across a wide range of goals cultivation. The lesson? Have a strategy, map out your plan, even get down and dirty with a good old SWOT analysis. Use your hit list, be true to yourself, there is a really science to landing your dream job, your dream home, and yes of course your dream man, millionaire or not.