A friend hipped me to the tale of former Miami TV anchor Julia Yarbough last week, telling me how Yarbough decided to quit her job of more than 22 years in television to "find a husband." Really. Stop laughing. REALLY! There's a Web site and everything! It's called Highway to a Husband! FOR REAL! Go look at it, then come back here to discuss. It's OK. I can wait!
Are you back yet? Did you even leave? Never mind. So, right. This woman, Julia Yarbough, she straight up quit her job and has hit the road with her BFF and is now cruising to national parks and whatnot in search of that elusive unicorn -- available, marriagble penis. Maybe they stopped making penis in Miami. Or Florida. Or the southern United States. I dunno. I see available penis everywhere and I'm in a city that is considered to have the worst marriage prospects in the country. Yet, PENIS! EVERYWHERE! Heyyyy, Penis! What's up? Lookin' good today. Call me.
From Highway To a Husband:
My name is Julia and I'm single. I have had an amazing and exciting career (22 years in the TV news biz), awesome travels, excellent friends and amazing adventures. But even with all that, there’s still something missing: a solid and loving relationship. I've tried everything I can think of - set-ups from friends, blind dates, on-line dating services.... still - NOTHING!I have to admit a bias. I always thought it was easier for on-air, attractive TV people to find dates than for us print journalism folks. I mean, it's like every day you advertise yourself while describing that crash pile up on the 405. And I'd read about, known countless TV reporters, anchors and weather jockeys who all ended up marrying either within the industry or surgeons or lawyers or local celebrities or those wealthy, upwardly mobile society types. The kind whose last names mean something. After all, you're almost always hosting charity balls and ending up on the cover of local magazines for being so smart, newsy and attractive.
After lots of soul searching, I have decided the best way to find “my” Mr. Right is to shake things up. Drastically change my life.
I walked away from a comfortable income and a life of security. Drastic -yes. But, I knew I was starting to lose faith in the possibility of true love. (Check out my blog “Big Bears and a Manly Man” and read the “Dear John –email” I recently received and you’ll understand why!!!)
So, for the sake of my own heart and for all the singles out there searching for love, I am hitting the road on what I know will be a life-altering journey.
[Editor's Note: I also wrongly assumed a woman like this wouldn't have any issue finding a man. Sheeit, an attractive young lady reading the news in a major media market like DC or Miami is damn near celebrity status. That said, The HighwayToAHusband website is a hot mess of product placement and hiking videos. I smell a Grand Hu$tle here.]
Honestly, I had no clue it was hard for TV people to meet people. Your whole job as a reporter is to meet people. It's all you really do. And this woman was in Miami! It's not like she was news anchoring in Podunk, Alabama (No disrespect to Podunk). Are prospects that bad? Local CBS anchor Vickie Newton in St. Louis was able to find a good hubby and she was in ST. LOUIS! I'm not comparing you to Vickie Newton (who my parents are huge fans of, but that's beside the point), but ... you know? I'm just sayin ... You're disproving my theory that being on TV increases your chances at dates.
And I can understand moving to increase your dating prospects. That was among the many reasons I moved to the East Coast (along with career, diversity and "It's not St. Louis"). And I totally get the notion of getting serious about dating when looking for a mate. You have to be in it to win it. Heck. You could hire a matchmaker. I actually know one personally! I could introduce you! But I don't get the quit your job part -- UNLESS there's a TV show part and a book deal part and movie rights part. Then it all makes BRILLIANT sense. You get two snaps up from me then, girlfriend. I'm nodding my head in agreement. I'm quoting "Player's Club" and telling you to make that money but don't let the money make you.
But, you know? To actually leave a lucrative career in THIS job market to find a husband when marriage is not a guarantee of happiness and to treat marriage like it's some thing on your life checklist along with a house, a car, milk and eggs. I don't get that. I want to get married, but ... you know? I'm just going to keep plugging away at the blog and my writing career WHILE going on dates and meeting new, interesting people. It's called MULTI-TASKING. Not to knock homegirl's hustle. (As I said, if this is for a book deal, she's a marketing GENIUS ...) But if it's not ...
Good luck, you crazy woman!
Question: Is Julia Yarbough's search for a husband a stroke of relationship and marketing genius, or pure, pathetic desperation? Single fellas, would you categorize a woman like this as daringly assertive/attractive, or frighteningly thirsty/desperate/pressed?
Highway To A Husband Website
