Our Writers

by Amie Adams

	(Editor in Chief) Sandie Angulo Chen has been writing about pop-culture and parenting for more than 10 years. A member of the Washington Area Film Critics’ Association, she’s currently a senior movie reviewer for Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization that provides parents with comprehensive reviews to help them raise media-savvy children in a media-rich world. Formerly a writer at Entertainment Weekly.com and a content editor at Aol’s Moviefone.com, she contributes regularly to the Washington Post, MTV’s NextMovie.com, as well as Variety. When she’s not running after her three kiddos or screening movies and TV shows, she enjoys criss-crossing the DC area in search of memorable museum exhibits and standout restaurants. You can find her schlepping around Silver Spring or at her personal blog, Urban Mama.
	(Managing Editor) Jessica McFadden is a mom-blogging, freelance-writing, bass-cranking-in-the-minivan mother of three. She writes the popular, award-winning parenting website A Parent in Silver Spring, which has been called a mom blog must-read and featured in media such as CNN and Forbes. Her blog is also a top resource for Washington, DC area parents. Jessica is a contributor to TLC’s Parentables, and has contributed to The Washington Post, Nickelodeon ParentsConnect and elsewhere. But her favorite gig is being a mom to seven-year-old son Charlie, five-year-old daughter Eve and baby daughter Alice.
	(Green Editor) It was the quest to become a mother that led Jessica Claire Haney to get religion on holistic living. She regained her fertility, healed her thyroid, and overcame depression thanks to a little bit of mainstream medicine and a whole lot of alternative therapies, supplements, and diet and lifestyle changes. She’s been moving evermore Green ever since. Her blog, Crunchy-Chewy Mama, reflects on living naturally while taking full advantage of the conveniences – and far too much advantage of all the choices – of the Northern Virginia suburbs.A former high school English teacher, Jessica started the Arlington/Alexandria chapter of Holistic Moms Network in 2009. She works as a tutor, and from her home office that doubles as the place anything goes when it doesn’t fit somewhere else, as an editor and freelance writer. Jessica’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Mothering Magazine, and in literary journals, and she writes the column “Reading Ingredients: Tales of a Health-Conscious Mom” at the Washington Times Communities. She has a son entering kindergarten and a daughter who kindly gave her a homebirth after cesarean (HBAC) a year ago.
	Diana Funk was raised by wolves, but now spends her time raising two young (human, test-tube) children in a DC suburb. Unsure of how to sum herself up, she turned to the almighty Facebook, allowing those who know her best to describe her: “Her perfectly applied waterproof mascara allows her to run like the wind while training for the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon, without fear of raccoon- eyes” is a good start. She has also been described as “cupcake-eating, wine-swilling, nose- and-butt-wiping, sarcastic, and hilarious.” But lest we forget her roots, “Her fourth-grade perm left her looking remarkably similar to a Portuguese water dog… and just in time for yearbook pictures.” Also, Diana loves bags, shoes, and gin; is kind to animals; has a crippling clown phobia; and can drink her weight in warm beer. Long ago, she used to blog at Diana Caffeinated.
	(Entertainment Editor) Jodi is one of the few native Washingtonians actually living in Washington. She works part time as an attorney and lives with her husband, Doug, her son, Michael, as well as a dog, Foster, who has many, many issues. She started Jodifur because her husband kept telling her she reads so many blogs so might as well write one, and hasn’t stopped for four plus years. She also Twitters, a lot, and is on Facebook too.
	In 1997, Elaine landed in DC where she put her public policy degree to work for a non-profit. It wouldn’t be long before she’d move to the ‘burbs, have a couple of kids, and decide to work part-time. Elaine uses her blog “Connor and Helen Grow Up” to bridge the distance between far away friends and family and to alleviate the guilt associated with never even purchasing a baby book. She believes in the power of being outside, vacationing, and meeting her children where they are. She works very hard to live in the present moment and rarely carries a cell phone. Prior to becoming a mom, she was an avid potter and chocolate maker and hopes someday to return to both of these hobbies. Prior to its closure, Elaine enjoyed a brief period writing for DCMetroMoms.
	Stephanie Stearns Dulli is a professional actress and comedian who recently left the City of Angels to raise her young son in Maryland. (The schools are good, y’know) Stephanie thoroughly enjoys being obsessed with her son, shoes, shopping and blogging.She happily bucked all the LA traditions of Botox and maintaining a size zero, instead opting to (gasp) gain weight and welcome a Sharpei-esque forehead while gestating. Stephanie and her husband Zach welcomed The Boss in July of 2008 and life has been a bowl of cheerios ever since.Stephanie blogs at www.dialmforminky.com where she posts crazy amounts of pictures of her sweet son and finds any excuse to blame clowns for all the evil in the world.
	Jill Berry is navigating the rocky waters of childhood, the pouty preteen period, and the tempestuous teen years — all at the same time. Jill’s blogis a platform for her to write about what she loves…new gadgets, toys, CDs, DVDs, household items, trips/hotels, entertainment, and anything else which she thinks will be of interest to her readers.Jill describes herself as a writer who stays at home or a SAHM who writes…it depends on the day and her mood. In her preMom years, she was a senior editor for a publishing company who successfully managed the production cycles of too numerous to count publications. She wishes she could manage her kids that easily.Jill is a social media user. When not tweeting on her four twitter accounts, Jill is the Community Manager for the MomSpark Forum. She keeps it real in D.C. by co-leading DC CityMommy and writing for three sites: the DC Ladies, Oyster Travel Locals Blog, and Savvy Source D.C. She lives just close enough to Baltimore to write the Baltimore Parenting Tweens Examiner column.
	Leticia (Marketing Director) is the founder of Tech Savvy Mama, a site that assists parents in finding the best technology products, websites, and resources for children of all ages. She uses her experience as a former teacher and technology specialist for a large DC Metro area school system to evaluate the many different kinds of technology that come through her door and loves sharing honest feedback to make recommendations to her readers. Leticia splits her day between serving as a family internet safety and security expert (aka Chief BitMom) for BitDefender and being a mom and her nights between blogging at her own site, writing for The LeapFrog Community and Mom Blog Magazine, consulting for educational companies like PBS Teachers and Virtual Nerd, working behind the scenes on the MyBlogalicious site, and Tweeting. Frequently asked how she does it all, she replies that she doesn’t sleep much!
	You should have met her then. She was athletic and funny and her boobs…oh her boobs! Gravity had yet to take its diabolical toll. But that was twenty years ago… Now (Founding Publisher) Amie Adams is raising three boys–one teen and two pre-teens (yes feel free to pray for her)–in Northern Virginia, working as a political consultant and pursuing a portrait photography career on the side. That is when she isn’t flipping burgers at the local little league concession stand (never offer to “just help out”). She blogs at her site MammaLoves, knits and gardens in all her spare time and harbors a not-so-secret passion to live at the beach in a house with a big wrap-around porch. However, like perky boobs that remains, for now, a dream.
	Ellen blogs semi-anonymously at Thrift Store Mama and lives with her husband and two daughters (Beezus and Ramona) in Gorgeous Prince George’s County, Maryland. Having worked briefly on the Hill and on K Street, she found her true calling in working with college students in higher education, but having children of her own inspired a desire for a flexible, part-time schedule and a return to the world of trade associations and government relations. Now she has to check the calendar each morning to remember which work she is supposed to be doing that day, whether it’s trade association work, serving as an academic adviser to adult immigrant ESL students, getting ready for the local children’s consignment sale, or fighting against big development to preserve the unique nature of historic neighborhoods in Prince George’s County. Having lived in the DC area for 20 years, she remembers when downtown DC wasn’t so nice and laments the loss of the coffee shop at the old Woodward and Lothrop department store. You can often find her at one of her favorite thrift stores teaching her daughters how to thrift shop or enjoying the quiet time of nightfall in the backyard with her husband, Mr. Quimby.
	Allison a native of the Pacific Northwest who headed East for college and never looked back. Married to her Bethesda-born-and-raised college sweetheart, Allison and her family call the Maryland suburbs home. In her former life she worked in public policy and university administration, but these days she’s a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer and editor. Allison writes about life with her three and a half year old daughter and one year old son at Home and Never Alone and about kids’ nutrition and cooking for Central Farm Markets.
	Robin, a native of CT with a detour in Hampton Roads for college, has lived in the DC area for over a decade now. With her husband and middle school age son they continue to enjoy the museums and activities the area has to offer. A former special education teacher and autism/behavior resource teacher, Robin now works as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Adjunct Faculty for George Mason University in the ABA program. She also teaches an Adapted Tae Kwon Do class. As if that wasn’t enough she writes at her 3 blogs (MyLifeAsItIs, PuttingTogetherPuzzlePieces and Yup, Another Review Blog). In her spare time (LOL!) she enjoys reading, jogging, biking, scrapbooking and of course spending time with her son and husband.
	(Fashion & Beauty Editor) In 2005, Victoria started the blog, The Mummy Chronicles, as an outlet from her job and her first pregnancy. A year later, she quit her full time job to pursue writing and started the popular review blog, Mummy’s Product Reviews. Fast forward to the present and she has three wily little girls. She is a free-range parent who wonders why if people love free-range eggs and chicken it is so hard to understand and embrace free-range parenting. In addition to writing at The DC Moms, Victoria writes for The Find and Honest Baby. She can also be found blogging about Post-Partum Depression and embracing your inner Betty Draper on a variety of websites as well.
	Michelle is a thirty-something year old wife of one husband and mommy to three youngsters. She and her family reside in the DC area, where she grew up. As a former classroom teacher, Michelle keeps her head in education by working part-time as an instructor for homebound students. She is also exploring life on on the other side of the desk as her oldest is an elementary public school student! In her spare time, she enjoys reading, knitting, and playing games with the kids. Michelle blogs at Wife and Mommy and writes for MyBlogalicious, and can be found sporadically on Twitter as @wifeandmommy.
	Robin and her lovely husband live in the Maryland suburbs of DC, where she works for The Government and he works for one of those organizations that tries to influence The Government. They had three children in four years; hence the name noteverstill.Robin believes in wishing on first stars and dandelion puffs; that clean laundry is not over-rated but folded and put-away laundry is; that the glass really is half full; and that imagination can never be too nurtured. She has a station wagon filled with living proof. Let’s just not discuss that the metaphorical half-full glass is really a juice box, and that sometimes it gets squirted all over the rear-view mirror (and the back of her head).Robin blogs at The Not-Ever-Still Life. You can also find her on Facebook, on Twitter and all over the place.
	(Founding Publisher) Joanne Bamberger is a writer, political and media strategist/analyst, and recovering attorney who’s also known around the blogosphere as PunditMom!PunditMom blog is the home of op-ed commentary by Joanne. PunditMom was a finalist for best political blog in the 2011 Weblog “Bloggies” Awards and was named by BlogHer in 2010 as one of the “must read” political blogs by women.Joanne is the author of the book Mothers of Intention: How Women & Social Media are Revolutionizing Politics in America (Bright Sky Press, 2011). She is also the founder of the site The Broad Side, a group site featuring the the best women’s opinion/commentary writing around the web. A former op-ed columnist for The Washington Examiner, Joanne’s work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Arrive Magazine, Legal Times, Washingtonian Magazine, and many other publications.A new media expert and authority on political involvement of women and mothers, Joanne has contributed regularly to AOL’s Politics Daily, The Huffington Post, and MOMocrats. Her political commentary has appeared on CNN, Fox News, Good Morning America, BBC Radio, and NPR, among others.Joanne is an award-winning broadcast journalist who spent a decade as a radio and television reporter before attending law school. Joanne spent 15 years in private and government practice, including a stint as Deputy Director of Public Affairs at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She juggles her crazy busy life with her husband and daughter, “Mr. PunditMom” and “PunditGirl.”
	(Parenting Editor) Sue is a native of the DC area. She went to college in Ohio, but came back after graduating, followed by the boy who would become her husband. She lives inside the Beltway, just down the road from the University of Maryland, and can’t picture ever living outside the bounds of 495.In her former life, she was Metro-riding law librarian. Currently, she is a minivan driving, stay-at-home mom to four kids, two boys and two girls, who keep her on the road, on her toes and, more often than she would like, in the laundry room. In her free time, Sue enjoys drinking margaritas and thinking up ways to stay in shape without actually exercising. She blogs about life and parenthood at Laundry for Six.
	J.J. Newby aka JavaMom (@caffandaprayer) is a native of Miami, FL, but moved to Northern VA in 2002 from Silicon Valley – with pit stops in between. In her first career, as a television reporter and anchor, she especially loved crime stories, even eliciting a murder confession on camera. A move to California led to a career in Marketing Communications for high tech companies, combining her love for writing with her nerdy obsession with gadgets. No longer chasing criminals or Silicon Valley execs, J.J. instead chases two small children, JavaGirl and JavaBoy during the day, and dashes off to meetings for non-profits such as the Junior League of Northern Virginia or Leadership Fairfax at night. She couldn’t accomplish any of it without the help of her saintly spouse, JavaDad. To keep her sanity J.J. blogs about life, family, technology and anything else that amuses her at Caffeine and a Prayer.
	(Living Editor) Frequently found burning the midnight oil, Thien-Kim Lam sneaks in her blogging time after her two young children are in bed. When she’s not blogging or making new friends on Twitter, she’s also a busy running her business as a Passion Parties consultant. Somewhere in between her kids, her husband, and her business she manages to squeeze in some art, some books, and long hot bubble baths. Read more about her Top Chef obsession as well as the fun food and crafts she does with her kids at My Cup of Creativi-Tea. Her multicultural musings, tech addiction, and work at home mom tips can be found at I’m Not the Nanny.
	Michele McGraw(@scrappinmichele) is a 43 year old work-at-home mother of four children (ages 6 through 14). She met her husband, Jason, in a chat room on AOL17 years ago. They have now been married for 16 years and they live in Northern Virginia. For the last 14+ years, Michele has been helping women find support online for their hobbies and interests. Michele is CEO of Mom Geek Media and creator of ScrapsofMyGeekLife.com, a blog offering daily commentary, advice, reviews and shared experiences of how her real life and the digital domain connect. Michele’s motto is “Digital, not diamonds and gadgets, not gold.” Michele can also be found blogging about technology at Mom Blog Magazine, MyBlogalicious, Technorati and The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV.
	Suzie still calls herself a recent transplant to the DC Area, although she arrived in March of 2006. A native Texan, she, her hubby, their three boys, and two cats left the great State of Texas and headed to Virginia for an adventure (actually her hubby’s new job). In October of 2008 they were joined by a little girl (and finally a bit of hormonal balance in the family!).While she has a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Texas – LBJ School of Public Affairs (Hook’Em Horns!), Suzie considers herself retired, and she now stays home and wrangles the aforementioned kids. In her spare time she is active with the PTA, the local MOMS Club, teaches scrapbooking classes, watches as much college football as humanly possible, and attempts to avoid anything and everything related to cooking. Her blog, Confessions of a Not So Well Behaved Woman chronicles her adventures in parenting, life in the DC area, and life with a house full of kids.
	Born and raised in Connecticut, Dawn went off to school in western New York, only to be lured to Prince George’s County, Maryland, after graduating in 1997 by her then-fiance who had transferred to UMD. A slew of years later, Dawn, now-hubby and three whack-job kids still call PG County their home, appreciating the small town environment in their immediate community and the short metro ride to DC. (And yes, we DO call it PG!) After four years of SAHM-dom, Dawn made her triumphant return to the preschool classroom, where she shares her love for picture books and silly jokes with impressionable youth on a daily basis.Dawn lives a vicarious life online, blogging for a small, yet for some reason loyal audience at my thoughts exactly, where she assumes the moniker morninglight mama and blathers on about nothing much, but with a ridiculously high word count. She occasionally releases her inner twit as well in tweet form. When she’s not blogging or tackling screaming children, she’s got her nose buried in a book, even if it means faking a stomachache to read in the bathroom for 15 minutes in peace. (Ahem.) She is thrilled to share her love of books as a staff reviewer on the collaborative book review blog, 5 Minutes for Books. Joining The DC Moms is like going to a party where everyone else is infinitely cooler than you, but you’re glad just to be invited.
	Nicole Crowley is a DC native. She’s been a TV Reporter and Producer, a Radio Producer, a freelance writer and now she’s a Mom, a Blogger, a Writer and a Mompreneur. She likes to concentrate on the good stuff at her mom blog, BananaBlueberry.com, and you can read her hopefully, inspirational book, The BananaBlueberry Bits Book, on her blog too. Just click in the navigation bar!.
	Mary/FishyGirl is a rare third-generation Washington metronian, and she loves to make up her own words. She married a second-generation Washington metronian known as BigDaddyFish, and they settled down on the MD side of DC. When she went to college she thought she was going to be an English teacher, but when she got her shiny new English degree, no school systems were hiring, so she ended up working for one of the many beltway bandits, where she took scientific mumbo-jumbo written by Ph.D.s and turned it into something intelligible for the rest of us. When she lost her childcare provider when her third child was a little less than a year old, she took that as a sign and decided to stay home with her kids, instead of working to pay for daycare. Eventually she gave in to her husband’s entreaties for a fourth kid, giving her a balanced set of two girls and two boys. Now she drives a minivan, has a perpetually filthy house, has gone mildly insane, and probably has permanent hearing loss. Her kids are Trout (11), Little Man (9), Sunny (6), and Nemo (4). She blogs at http://fishygirl.typepad.com.
	After taking a personality test in 2009, Justice Fergie was not at all surprised to find out that her profile read: “to you, strangers are just friends that you haven’t met yet!” A connector at heart, she has made a (virtual) name for herself in the social media space by actively participating in taste-making networks and for creating her own digital empire known as the Blogaliciousbrand. Founded with two partners with the goal of celebrating diversity in social media, Blogalicious has become synonymous with community, niche networking, and social change via informational empowerment.Justice Fergie was recently named as one the People of Color Impacting the Social Web, and is regularly featured in both online and offline media for her role as a digital visionary. Recognized as a social media influencer, she has worked as a 2009 national spokesblogger for the American Heart Association BetterU campaign, a 2010 media correspondent for Buick GMC, and is a 2011 blog ambassador for ConAgra Foods. Known for her upbeat personality and uncanny ability to make ideas happen, she is also the visionary behind the forthcoming Ladystace Lifestyle brand of products. She is a self-styled supermom to three fantastic children and is happily married to her college sweetheart. She began blogging at Mamalaw in 2006 about Work-Life Balance, Parenting, and Pop Culture, and in 2009 launched FOODe to showcase her love of food and social media. Justice Fergie also is a contributing editor for the Yahoo! Shine Motherboad. You can find her celebrating life at: JusticeFergie and on Twitter: @JusticeFergie
	Stacy Kravitz is an almost-native Washingtonian having lived in the DC-area since she was ten-years old. She grew up in the sticks of Northern Virginia, attended college in DC and settled as a singleton in the Maryland suburbs. Before meeting her darling sports-enthused husband she drifted along a career-less job path of nannying, librarian-work and the uber-unfulfilling executive assistantship. Stacy finally landed her dream job in December 2007 when her son, Noah, was born. Life got even more sleepless in January 2010 when Mallory was born. Just as she was adjusting to life with two kids in diapers Noah was diagnosed with Autism and her life became an actual, certifiable, disaster zone. She now spends her days tracking down therapists and doctors and researching ABA and biomedical issues and still manages to squeeze in time to train for the occasional 5K and 10K race. She candidly discusses what it is like to be a special needs mother in a neurotypical world and vows to help others with similar challenges. Her days are hectic, her house is cluttered and her container garden is full of weeds but her friends credit her cheerful smile and seemingly endless energy. She loves her family, reading on the beach, a good workout, loyal girlfriends and cheap wine.One day she hopes to write it all in down in a book, until then, it’s blogged in vignettes on The Fabulous Miss S, circa 2005, where she has captured everything from skin cancer to cesareans.
	Aimee is proud to be called Mama by Lucas (2005) and Nathaniel (2010) and Babe by her amazing husband, Abel. They all live in a creaky old house in a wonderful town in Prince George’s County, MD. Aimee loves lists and believes in kindness. When she isn’t blogging about life with her boys at Smiling Mama or about family-friendly activities for getting out and about in Prince George’s County at Out by Ten, she’s a busy citizen activist who believes that each one of us has the responsibility to help make our world a better place.
	Once upon a time, Christine left her native Dublin, Ireland to live with her boyfriend in America, reassuring her parents it would only be for three years, five tops. One wedding, two kids, four moves, a lot of Awfully Chipper blog posts, and almost ten years later, she’s still feeling a little guilty about that. On the other hand, she now has the liberty to play the crazy foreigner card on both sides of the Atlantic, and if these pesky small people would ever stop pestering her for fripperies like food and water, and let her sleep a night in her own damn bed once in a while, she’d definitely overcome her innate bone-laziness to do something impressive. In the meantime, she bakes a lot of muffins, defies the laws of physics by running more slowly than you could have believed possible around Greenbelt lake, and regularly scours the clearance racks of Old Navy for the perfect item to fill the gaping hole in her closet.