(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.
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 Charlie, Eve and 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
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.
Nicole Dash is a writer, blogger and child care business owner who lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and four children. Nicole was raised in Arlington and loves saying she is a true local. She began writing as a way to survive the chaos that comes with not only being a mother to four, but also from caring for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in her home-based daycare more than 50 hours a week. She is proud to call herself a Washington DC Mom Blogger and is amazed by the community that has grown out of this journey. Nicole writes about family, life, parenting and caring for children on her heartfelt blog Tiny Steps Mommy. She also enjoys connecting with her growing community on the Tiny Steps Mommy Facebook page.
Leticia 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.
Allison is 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 daughter (born in 2009) and son (born in 2012) at Home and Never Alone and about local events for Macaroni Kid Rockville-Gaithersburg.
(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.
(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.
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.
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.