I'm Jennie. This is my blog.
I graduated from Texas A&M University many years ago and now live in the DFW area my husband, son, and crazy dog. Each of them have a category on this blog all to themselves. Even the dog.
Mike, my redheaded husband, and I got married May 19, 2007 in Tahoe City, Calif. Marriage is hard, but thankfully I really like the guy I get to be married to. I do the laundry and Mike kills the spiders. He makes a mean peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and I give excellent back rubs.
Right after our wedding, we began trying for a baby. It took us about a year (and many bottles of champagne) but we welcomed our son, Kyle Parker, to the world on February 5, 2009. I must have been very good in a past life, there's just no other explanation for that kid. He's the very best.
We also have a very spoiled dog who misses being an only child like you wouldn't believe. Molly is a vizsla, and she's the only dog I know who likes to sleep under the blankets. She also prefers to do this on my side of the bed. I don't know what that's all about.
My day job is at a publishing house in Dallas. I head the marketing department, and I really like it. Why else would I commute so far for so many years?
This blog chronicles the few months before Mike and I got hitched to the immediate aftermath of our drunken wedding reception to the very fun year we spent as newlyweds to the unfortunate naked incidents of our one-year-anniversary trip to the emotional time we spent trying for a baby to the really emotional time we learned we were actually getting a baby to the kind of humbling time I threw up on myself thanks to the baby to the first few months of our son's beautiful life to the STRESS! (and joy) of purchasing our first home. From there, it chronicles raising that baby into a kick-ass kid (who rarely says kick-ass himself) to training for a half-marathon to all the tv shows I fill my free time with to my (crazy? awesome?) decision to become a vegetarian. It also recaps some pretty spectacular trips I've been lucky to take with my husband and kid: from Portland to Boston to Chicago to Puerto Rico to Vegas to a cross-state road trip. I'm always planning our next trip. I'm part party thrower, part gypsy, part champagne enthusiast, part hardcore napper. I take all my roles seriously. Especially that napping one.
I like to think my writing has improved over time, but more than that, I like to think I have improved over time, as well. I look at this blog as a place where I record my progress as a mother, wife, friend, daughter, woman. The world of blogging is big and vast and full of talented people, so if you've decided to spend any time here, I'm flattered.
My blog name (She Likes Purple) comes from a favorite song of mine by Wideawake, a talented Texas band, but, just so we're clear, I do like purple.
Some other things I like: strong margaritas, Super Target, my nephews and nieces, my Kindle, the zoo, hole-in-the-wall bars, San Francisco, veggie burgers, laughter, unexpected snail mail, karaoke, street fairs, motorcycle trips of a past life, boutique jewelry, montages, catching a string of green lights, and most shows on the CW.
Some things I don't like: credit scores, whiskey, my husband's DVR decisions, hair on sponges, restaurants that won't split checks, basketball, clowns, tornadoes, gratuitous punctuation, junk mail, real winters, Texas summers, potato salad, my own laziness, those who invade my personal space, my bank account balance most days.
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In 2009, I launched Style Lush, a style blog that was a collaboration with a handful of other wickedly talented bloggers. In 2010, we expanded our Lush empire and launched Food Lush. I (unfortunately, sadly, heartbreatkingly) closed the metaphorical doors on both February 2013. I hope it's not a forever goodbye, but the sites remain up and ready for you to search through their archives.
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I am also lucky enough to be a co-organizer for The Blathering, one of the very coolest blogging meet-ups around. I usually arrange the 5K run at the event each year, but, admittedly, only so I can also organize the post-run drinks.