Editors:
Jennie is a native Californian who has lived in Texas for far longer than she ever feared she would. She has a full-time job as the marketing manager at a Dallas-based publishing house, and her two-hour, round-trip commute ought to tell you she loves it. She is married to Mike, a redheaded Discovery-channel watching, gadget junkie and together they have a two-year-old, Kyle, who could solve all the world's problems with his grin, and a eight-year-old Vizsla who has been nothing but depressed since the baby came along. Jennie loves all pretty things, but especially comfortable heels, Etsy gems, vintage maps, and soft T-shirts. She also loves a strong margarita, a well-cooked steak, and the hours between her son's bedtime and her own.
You can e-mail Jennie directly at shelikespurple AT gmail DOT com and follow her on twitter at twitter.com/shelikespurple.
{Photo: Jennie, Elizabeth at BlogHer 2008}
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Elizabeth hates writing about herself in the third person, but will agree to take one for the team on a limited time basis. She is a new home owner, a stay-at-home mom and a Californian. She paints everything in her house gray. She still talks about that time she lived in Nebraska. She's a big fan of children's books, lemon Pledge and heirloom tomatoes. She hates the word cute and loves the word fabulous. She'd like to write a book someday, although that will never happen if people keep making her write bios in the third person. She likes dirty martinis, ranch dressing and navy t-shirts. She believes in the hand written thank-you note, the power of dark chocolate and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and when she has a bad day she likes to put on Elvis, turn up the radio and dance.
You can e-mail Elizabeth directly at ebj123 AT gmail DOT com and follow her on twitter at twitter.com/ebj123.
Writers:
Leah believes that just because you're cheap frugal does not mean you have to sacrifice style. She will share her projects, links, profiles and inspiration to help you create your own unique look with your own two hands. If you're a creative type who looks at something in a store and thinks "I can make that myself" -- or even if you're just a pack rat wondering how on earth you're going to use all the empty jam jars you've been saving just in case -- she is the girl for you. This is also a great place to share your own fabulous DIY ideas with the whole class.
You can e-mail Leah directly at leah AT agirlandaboy DOT com.
A city girl stammering through the suburbs, Christina is a SAHM, cook, accessory lover and décor junkie who is convinced a well-designed room is slimming. Her free time is spent researching or shopping for her next design project, an obsession that started early (she was mixing colors and painting her room at the age of 10). Christina is learning to sew and loves making over vintage finds. Some call it passion; others say she's out of control. Either way, she hopes to help you find what you need to make your home brag-worthy.
You can e-mail her directly at stylelushchristina AT gmail DOT com and follow her on twitter at twitter.com/ChristinaRTS.
It's odd really, that a perpetually barefoot tomboy from Arizona would grow up to be a somewhat girly, Halloween and shoe-obsessed mother of one, living in Texas of all places. Jessica's love of shoes is so strong that it has somehow been handed down to her teenage son who has a collection of his own in the double digits (and is always on the look-out for more) and even her husband requires his own shoe organizer. In an effort to save her own bank account, she has taken to sharing the beautiful shoes she finds with her friends and now she'll be able to share them with all of you; gorgeous shoes should never be orphaned! When she's not playing professional window shopper on the Internet, she spends her time on DIY projects around her house, cooking, seeing as much live music as possible and reveling in the $5 morning movie matinees that don't start until after noon on Sundays.
You can e-mail her directly at raven DOT darkholme AT gmail DOT com.
Manda lives in Los Angeles with her husband John, daughter Sydney and two crazy and terribly behaved dogs. Once she was labeled as "that trendy girl" and kept John entertained with guessing what color hair she would have when he picked her up for dates. In those good ole days she was also known for the propensity to drop $200 on boots before you could say "Bob's your uncle." Good thing too, because most of those spendy purchases are still in her wardrobe! The last few years have been consumed with finding a trustworthy hairdresser who will not allow her to get bangs or go blond (found!), obtaining the perfect pair of jeans in which to crawl around on the carpet (found!) and now she's moved on to lusting after kitchen tools and appliances. The thrill of the price tags at Forever 21 is almost more than she can bear on a regular basis. She looks forward to wearing necklaces and dangly earrings again one day and enjoys rearranging furniture and stretchy pants.
You can e-mail Manda directly at insidedog AT gmail DOT com or follow her on twitter at twitter.com/insidedog.
Emily is a writer and editor turned...well, writer and editor, albeit an UNPAID writer and editor, who now does all her writing and editing on the Internet. She stays at home with her two children, Asher (3) and Lucy (11 months) as well as her dog, Hambone, who is probably the best behaved of the three. Emily specializes in researching ways to stylishly renovate her kitchen and bathroom, regardless of the fact that she will never ever be able to afford Corian countertops or a shower with eight showerheads. She loves whimsical stationary and the color orange and finding ways to decorate on the cheap, and no, you would never guess how easy it is to turn a dinner napkin into a window valence. Hey! Don't roll your eyes, IT LOOKS GOOD.
You can e-mail Emily directly at emigaicas AT yahoo DOT com or follow her on twitter at twitter.com/notthatyouasked.
Beth has less style in her whole body than you have in your little finger. She is invariably inappropriately attired for any occasion. She recently adopted long, chunky necklaces as her personal fashion statement, but had to give them up as she was constantly dipping them in food or toothpaste or snagging one of her children around the neck. She's a corporate flunky turned corporate drop-out who can still explain DNS routing in excruciating detail but can't tell you which shoes to wear with those pants. (You look fabulous in those pants, by the way. Have you lost weight?) She lives outside Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children, and spends her days devising elaborate sociological theories about the Backyardigans. She likes good-ass jeans, wine, Target and the rare occasions when she gets a bathroom to herself. She dislikes writing her own bio, parsnips, car trips and Oprah. She blogs (and cusses) at www.sothefishsaid.com.
You can email her directly at sothefishsaid AT gmail DOT com and follow her on twitter (although she doesn't recommend it) at twitter.com/bethfish.
Elisabeth moved halfway across the country to be with a boy. Luckily, three years later, it became legally permanent. She scored higher on the math portion of her SAT than the English, but acquired a degree in Journalism followed by a career in advertising and e-commerce. She had a short stint as an assistant for a Hollywood-type and vows never to be someone's professional everything ever again. She's now a 30-something SAHM Okie who's been trying to pass herself off as a California girl for over ten years. She prefers buying upscale but only paying bargain. She has never subscribed to any fashion magazine, never owned a Barbie doll or had a babysitting job. She still wonders why this parenting gig isn't easier than she thought it would be. Her two boys, "Rt" (4 1/2) and "Hola" (21 months) keep her busy (and remind her daily she is the ONLY queen of her abode, but when she says she's taking the girls out for the day, she gets to leave the house ALONE.)
You can email her directly at littlemissmelblog AT yahoo DOT com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/littlemissmel.
Sara is a former stay-at-home mom who was recently thrown back into the workforce against her better judgment. However, she likes having money more than not having money so working seemed like the answer. She's slowly coming around to putting on heels and make-up everyday. Sara is a big fan of DIY and decorating/party-throwing/shopping on a budget. She knows there is no better thrill than finding a good deal in the clearance section at her favorite store (oh you totally know which store she's talking about). Sara lives in the fabulous city of Chicago with her toddler son, Noah, and tech-geek husband, Tim, and resolves every year to take advantage of living in such a great city ... and then never does. She's working on it.
Sara spews her personal life all over the internet at
Belle Plaine and gets reprimanded constantly by her grandmother for over-sharing.
You can reach her at belleplaineliving AT gmail DOT com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sarabelleplaine.
A'Dell is always pressed for time and she'll do just about anything to avoid actually visiting a physical store. The internet is her salvation from the hell of aimlessly riffling through a rack or bin. (My goodness, just WRITING about wasting all that time gave her the heebie-jeebies.) She lives in Texas with her husband, daughter and elderly golden retriever. She prefers Wal-Mart over Target, and even she can't believe that sometimes. A'Dell will always splurge on fresh flowers, nice jeans, good bras, quality ingredients and photographs (the ones she takes and the ones she pays other people to take). She'll never pony up a lot of cash for hair products, summer shoes, manicures, cookware, perfume or winter clothes. She enjoys making confrontational phone calls, banana bread and window treatments (as long as they only require straight lines to be sewn).
You can email her directly at adellmcc AT yahoo DOT com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/adellmcc
Meredith is a Southern ballerina-turned-New York lawyer who lives in Manhattan with her husband, her baby Felicity (born in March 2010), a needy Italian greyhound and an irritating cat. With so many life forms in a pre-war two-bedroom apartment, she has become an expert in cramming a lot of stuff into a small living space (with just four closets, to boot), and in removing pet hair from every surface in the house (including the vertical ones). The limit of her personal style ambition is "fully clothed" and she never knows what to do with her hair, but she makes up for this by scouting out the cutest possible outfits for her baby. She loves distance running, "So You Think You Can Dance", reading, long walks in Central Park, travel, and searching for the world's best cheeseburger and fries.
You can email Meredith at lawyerish AT gmail DOT com.
Janet is a bicycle rider, dress wearer, wine drinker, party planner, and hostess with the mostess. She's also an attorney, but hopes you won't judge her for it. Having recently relocated to San Luis Obispo, California, Janet is enjoying the SLO life with her husband of seven years. She loves art museum gift shops, rings made from antique spoons, violet-flavored things, reading Vanity Fair, and meeting political celebrities. She'd love to have you over for a vodka basil gimlet. Or three.
Rebecca lives with her husband and two children in Southern California and believes that having kids has given her license to be the homebody she's always longed to be. Besides that, her interests include wine tasting, spending time with friends, going to the beach with her family and learning how to accessorize. Rebecca is an avid reader, a lover of jeans and a connoisseur of guacamole. She owns an embarrassing number of lip glosses and firmly believes that pancakes and popcorn are two things that should always be made from scratch.
You can email Rebecca at thomrebecca AT hotmail DOT com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bearca.
Hillary is a 20-something Canadian and mustache aficionado. She lives with her rockstar husband and two crazy monster-pups in a tiny condo that some might call "cluttered" (she prefers to think of the space as having panache.) Stylish is not a word she would use to describe herself but she is tickled to be writing for a style blog. Hot coffee, hand-written notes, poutine, and Etsy feed her soul and keep her (somewhat) sane. One day she will take her camera off the automatic setting.
You can email her directly at ninjahills AT gmail DOT com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/hillarywith2Ls.
Megan is a former middle-school teacher turned full-time small-child wrangler who believes those two jobs to be strikingly similar. She lives in Southern California where she frequents the beach and can find her way around Disneyland as well as her own home. She imagines that heaven is having unlimited time and funds in a bookstore. Along with a firm belief that no day is complete without dessert, she maintains that nightstands should be stocked with candy at all times.
You can email Megan directly at mamabub AT gmail DOT com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/mamabub.
Tara lives in Atlanta with her husband, 18-month-old daughter, two dogs, and two cats, which officially qualifies her house as a zoo, she thinks. She's a Hoosier by birth, but a Georgia Peach by choice, because she thinks winter is a dirty, dirty word. And no, she should not be used to cold weather just because she was born in Indiana, so don't even try to convince her otherwise.
Tara works in finance, is oddly intrigued by the fame of the Jersey Shore cast, loves shopping, and is too invested in various sports teams. She would sell her husband for a playdate with the neighbors down the street, because they own a bouncy house. She is easily impressed.
You can e-mail Tara directly at laundryisnotahobby AT gmail DOT come and follow her on twitter at twitter.com/taralynn404.
Kate is a freelance instructional designer living with her husband in the wilds of North Central Florida who can school you in your fantasy football league and then cook you a great dinner to make you feel better about your loss. A big fan of DIY, she spends a lot of time trying to make her rented house look more like a home -- without losing the deposit. Her personal style philosophy is based on lofty tenets like “it’s on sale” and “will look good with jeans.” Kate loves statement jewelry, free shipping, stripes, anything monogrammed, boots, fancy hotel rooms, and telling anyone who will listen what an insane deal she got on her sweater.
You can email her directly at kate AT that-something DOT com or follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/Kate_Welsh.
Jen began to attempt to be more fashionable when she realized people listened to her more when she wore makeup. Also, she got tired of being sent down to pediatrics for her flu shot. (Whatever, adults can totally wear sneakers all the time.) Currently, Jen lives in Atlanta with her husband, Matt, who is really, really tall and her daughter, Elizabeth, who is really, really energetic. Since she moves all the time, Jen is attempting to decorate her house as if they are always going to live there, but without spending any money, since they are totally not going to always live there. Jen loves books and food and hates sandals and is sometimes too nice for her own good. Jen blogs daily at Here We Go Again.
You can email her directly at HereWeGoAJen at gmail DOT com and find her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/HereWeGoAJen.
Jenny is a 30-something, mother of two (Anna, 5 and Jack, 3) who typically enjoys the company of animals (except for large spiders) more than people. She lives in Houston and every year between the months of May and September, seriously contemplates moving away from the hot, humid, “armpit of Texas” coast. Most days, you can find her at Target or her local YMCA. Jenny is on a near constant quest for the hair product, jeans, lip gloss and living room furniture arrangement that will change her life. She drinks a spinach smoothie every morning for breakfast and punctuality is her superpower.
You can email her directly at veggiejj AT gmail DOT com and connect with her on Twitter:@veggiejj.
Tara is the mother of three children who all seem to lack the gene that enables them to nap. Her healthy obsessions include jogging, barre fitness classes, and reading. Her unhealthy obsessions include chocolate chip cookies and calamari. Obsessions of negligible health consequence include Radiolab podcasts and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. She adores quirky cookbooks and recipes with a story. Foreign travel opportunities have been slim lately, so she satisfies her wanderlust by reading about far away places, sampling their foods, and occasionally watching House Hunters International.
You can find Tara at www.musicalsoupeaters.com.
