About New Jersey Moms Blog & Our Contributors

The New Jersey Moms Blog

New Jersey Moms Blog is a collaborative group of mothers living or working in New Jersey.  Salty on the outside, but soft in the center, these East Coast moms are not only hip, they say what they mean and mean what they say as they write about their lives in The Garden State, where they spend way too much time driving in traffic, being stuck in carpool lines, and dodging tourists on the Parkway or Turnpike. But they know that nothing beats strolling the boardwalks on the Jersey shore, hiking along the Delaware River, or rooting for the New Jersey Devils. These quintessential Jersey Girls will show you far more than the concrete, iron and rubber that you'll see in the opening credits of Sopranos.

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New Jersey Moms Blog is a member of the Silicon Valley Moms Group. Other blogs in the group include Silicon Valley Moms Blog,  DC Metro Moms Blog , New York City Moms Blog, Los Angeles Moms Blog, 50-Something Moms Blog and Chicago Moms Blog. Soon to launch: Philadelphia Moms Blog and Rocky Mountain Moms Blog.

Our New Jersey Moms Blog Contributors:

Alicia is new to Southern Jersey, where she resides with her husband and 4 children. After a three year stint in North Jersey, their relocation felt much like moving to a different state instead of 8 exits down the Turnpike.  She is a transplant from the 'burbs of Philly and also did time for a decade and a half in Maryland as part of her former life. 

Alicia obtained a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology after four years of course work, one year of internship, and another four years to finish her dissertation.  She began the program with one child and ended with four.  Higher education must do something to her fertility. Her degree sits unframed, collecting dust, atop a shelf, underneath a pile of her daughter's art work.  She traded in the high glamor of the psychology field for the even higher glamor of being a stay at home Mom. 

Though she spends her days covered in poop, spit up, and baby food, she wouldn't trade it for the world and secretly prays to never again have a job that requires her to wear pantyhose, shower daily, and stress about child care.  Though she's co-authored several research articles appearing in journals and books, she has far more enjoyment writing about the psychological dramas in her own life at Welcome To My Planet.   

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Amber Watson-Tardiff , aka @Jerseymomma on Twitter, is proud to call New Jersey home.  Quick to rally behind a good cause, Amber is forever causing trouble in the areas of politics, social justice and consumer rights.

A freelance writer by day, Amber also runs her own Shaklee business on the side, selling the purest non-toxic cleaning products and health products on the planet.  The business was actually started as a result of working for a medical malpractice firm and learning that the products we consume really aren't as safe as we'd like to believe they are. 

Amber recieved her B.S. from Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ, and attended 6 months of law school before she got pregannt with her baby boy in 2007.  She currently resides with her husband, son and Golden Retriever in Moorestown, NJ and provides content writing and PR services from the comfort of her own home.  You can also find her on her own blog at jerseymomma.com.

Christine, or Mrs. Schmitty as she is better known as in the blogosphere, was born and raised in New Jersey (or Joisey for us native borns). She met her husband the summer before her junior year of high school and it was best friend at first sight. After years of her dating his friends, and him dating hers, they finally saw what was right in front of them. They married in 1992 and after a long, hard road, had three children; Joey aged 10, Matthew aged 6 and his Irish Twin Katie aged 5 (they are ONLY 10 months apart).

In between keeping herself busy with very strong-willed, active children, a yappy dog, a husband, and a sometimes chaotic household, Christine runs her own stationery store. Doodle Kids® are cute little characters that can be customized to reflect you, your family, or any loved one. Each order is hand-drawn by Christine and truly personalized. Christine's personal blog It's A Schmitty Life helps her to find humor in her every day life. She also began the community blog Our BlubHer Overhaul as an incentive to lose weight and get healthy with a little help from some really great bloggers.

Deanna Q was raised in Jersey (exit 151) but has never, believe it or not, owned a Bon Jovi album. (Springsteen is the only true Jersey rock god, in her humble opinion.) After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, she spent 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area where life was good and the burritos even better. She has recently returned to the Garden State and now resides in Morris County where she and her Texas-born/Jersey-raised/California-found husband are raising two wild and wonderful kids and trying not implode from the ongoing culture shock.

A freelance writer with a background in the social expression industry (i.e., greeting cards) and book publishing, Deanna Q has a passion for international children’s film, chocolate, reading great fiction (and the occasional bit of fun trash), and 46-year-old movie stars named Johnny. She was utterly thrilled to have been chosen for the Star-Ledger’s Munchmobile on her first try and hopes that writing about life in NJ will help ease the transition back from life on the left coast.

Always a thrill seeker, Elizabeth Figenshu ditched her South Jersey beach town roots after high school for life in the Big Apple. Earning a degree from NYU, traveling to exotic places, and writing the fashion pages of a national women's magazine left her thirsty for the next adventure. It turns out that marriage, parenthood, and life as a stay at home mom in the suburbs of North Jersey is the most exhilarating endeavor of all. For Liz the challenge of maintaining her style while chasing after two small boys has proven to be just as difficult as the challenge of balancing motherhood with the rest of her life.

Elizabeth Norton is never at a loss for words, but most importantly is a wife and mother to over 25 children. While 23 of those children have come and gone threw Elizabeth's house with the foster system, 2 birth children remain who are delightful (sometimes) boys. Elizabeth pokes fun at her own imperfections as she discusses matters of motherhood, and hot topics that affect the families of today. She is in charge of the soon to be released Motherhood Avenue serving local moms in her area.

Cape May County family adventures are her task by day along with housework, bill paying, writing, earning some spare cash and other fun stuff like that. She reigns from the "true" south jersey. If you went any further down you would be standing with the sand beneath your toes and the ocean rolls on the Cape May beaches. Say what you will, but out of all of the fun that she has experienced, being a mama to her 5 year old and 1.5 year old is by far the most challenging yet wonderful, blissful gift she has ever been given.

Emily Cullen is a pen-name. Having moved from Queens at age seven, and losing her New York accent quickly, Emily pretty much considers herself a native New Jerseyan. She has lived in the Central New Jersey area since then and is a graduate of Seton Hall University. Emily spent seven years as a professional New Jersey on-air personality before beginning her eight-year career as a Recruiter/Headhunter. She remains somewhat active in the "entertainment biz," doing voice-over work. She and her husband, "Grant," have been married since 2002 and have already experienced the "worse", "poorer", and "sickness " of marriage. They both suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases which have progressed.  Emily's diseases include Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, and, most recently and seriously, Lupus.

Despite all of the challenges faced, they were able to have a little boy, "Tyler," born in September of 2006, which is the best thing to ever happen to them. They also share their home with four cats.  No longer able to work, Emily is wondering, "What will I do with the rest of my (somewhat) young life?" Emily is an active member and contributor of the website and message boards of But You Don't Look Sick, and is one of the healthiest looking people in New Jersey to own a handicapped parking sticker! Hey, if you've got to be sick, you deserve a good parking space at the mall, right?

Fiona Charles is a pen name. She grew up in New York, 45 minutes north of NYC. From there she attended college in Pennsylvania, right outside of Philly. After years of constantly trying to explain to college friends that she was not from New Jersey (due to her big hair and intense love for Bon Jovi), she finally does reside in New Jersey. Post college she went straight to NYC to start her career and take full advantage of all NYC has to offer. Living a very full and successful single life in NYC, she finally found the right man at the ripe age of 32, married at 35 and had her first child at 36.

With much trepidation the happy couple moved to central New Jersey, where she decided to become a stay at home mom. After 13 years in the financial field for entertainment companies she was ready for something different. Something different was an understatement. There is much to to be said for marrying later in life, she has traveled to Australia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Portugal and various other amazing places. She has sky dived and scuba dived. Now her travels take her to Target and Costco. Fiona is learning all about motherhood and balance. She is an avid reader who enjoys non fiction memoirs. She enjoys running and is trying to train for her first half marathon. She loves living near the beach and realizes that New Jersey gets a bad name. Fiona created her blog Mommyvents thanks to colic. After her second daughter was born she needed a place to vent other than her husband's poor ear. Check her out and vent along with her, it is her therapy.

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Gwendolen Gross. Having lived in New Jersey for almost ten years, Gwendolen Gross is proud to call herself a Jersey Girl. Dubbed "the reigning queen of women's adventure fiction" by Joanna Smith Rakoff in Book Magazine,  Gwendolen grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. She graduated from Oberlin College, where she studied science writing and voice performance. She spent a semester in Australia with a field studies program, studying spectacled fruit bats in the rainforest remnants of Northern Queensland.

After college Gwendolen moved to San Francisco, then San Diego, and worked in publishing, as well as performing with the San Diego Opera Chorus. Through the San Diego Writing Center, she was selected for the PEN West Emerging Writers Program. Gwendolen received an M.F.A. in fiction and poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. Her first novel, Field Guide, was issued by Henry Holt in April 2001 (Harvest paperback 2002), and her second, Getting Out, in spring 2002. These two women's adventure fiction novels received critical acclaim. Ms. Gross then shifted her focus to the dramas of motherhood. Ms. Gross' most recent novel, The Other Mother, was released in August 2007 by Random House.  In addition to her novels, Gwendolen has published poems and stories in dozens of literary magazines, as well as essays in collections including It's A Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons and It's A Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters. Gwendolen is also an award-winning writing instructor and has led workshops at Sarah Lawrence College and the UCLA Extension online. Her guest lectures include appearances at the Fashion Institute of Technology, at Barnes and Noble's Educator's Night, and The World's Largest Writing Workshop. Gwendolen has worked as a snake and kinkajou demonstrator, naturalist, opera singer, editor, and mom. Gwendolen lives in northern New Jersey with her family. It may not be as exciting on the surface as studying fruit bats in the rainforest, but it's every bit as messy!

Heidi (@c2cmom) has mothered her three-year old son literally from coast to coast – gave birth and raised her baby in Silicon Valley, raised a toddler in the Chicago suburbs, and is transitioning him through pre-school in North Jersey. She is fascinated by the similarities and differences in raising children regionally and is still discovering just how to raise her son as a quintessential Jersey boy.

Heidi keeps one foot firmly planted in the working world as a freelance public relations consultant for technology startups, and is a certified personal trainer specializing in pre- and post-natal fitness. She loves exploring NYC-area restaurants and relaxes by catching up on TiVo, knitting baby hats, and feeding her pop culture/celebrity news habit. You may run into her and her family at an NYC-area charity walk/race on summer weekends. Heidi blogs about her travel adventures, family fitness activities and growing her family at C2CMom.

Jenn C. is a bit ashamed to admit she used to be one of those New Yorkers that would make New Jersey the punchline to many jokes.  She grew up in Westchester and eventually moved to Manhattan while building a career in marketing for a few major financial institutions.  She met her husband, married and moved to a little apartment in Brooklyn.  Realizing they could never afford a place big enough for kids in NYC, Jenn knew it was time to make the jump across the River.  After moving to Sussex County in 2005, she learned that the Garden State is so much more than airports and shipping containers, and is now proud to call New Jersey her home.

When her firstborn arrived, Jenn realized she wanted to be home with her kids, so she quit the rat race and clocked in for her 24/7 job as a Stay At Home Mom.  Needing something to do when the girls were napping, Jenn started her own eBay business in 2008.  On a typical day, she can be found chasing her 3 and 1 1/2 year old around the house in a rousing game of "You Can't Catch Me!", watching her auctions end on eBay or reading one of her favorite Mom Blogs (such as this one).  Recently she decided to try her hand at a writing career, and you can follow her search for publication on her blog Kids and a Keyboard.

Jennifer Kamienski, Morristown resident, is often asked where she is from and when the reply is New Jersey most people don't believe her, but it's true.  In fact, Jennifer has never lived anywhere else (albeit a brief stint in Florida when she was a baby) but in her favorite state, New Jersey.  Like New Jersey, there is more to Jennifer than meets the eye.  Most people wouldn't know by looking at her now but she once rocked the big hair and acrylic nails like no other.  While she loves a good chili dog at Hot Grill in Clifton, she also loves an elegant evening at Chatham's Restaurant Serenade.  Back in the day, she was known to cruise the Lodi Burger King (if you lived in Bergen County in the 80s you will get the reference) but now cruises the Mall at Short Hills with her son, Benjamin, in tow.

Jennifer had never really thought of herself as the "motherly type" but the desire to be a Mom struck her five years into her marriage to her husband Wally.  After almost four years of trying to conceive a child, the birth of her son Ben has given her the most challenging and rewarding role of this PR professional's life --being a Mom.  While Jenn will admit she isn't winning any "Mother of the Year" awards, she loves her son fiercely and enjoys the family adventures (both the good and the not so good) which can be found rehashed on The Kamienski Chronicles.

Being a native New Jerseyan, Jill C. has a love hate relationship with the Garden State, but yet is still here after 30+ years. You can usually find her behind a camera or on the computer since her true passion lies in all things photo related and has spent a good portion of her life in the industry somehow. She married her 2nd husband in 2001, after 10 long years of dating! In 2002 she welcomed her beautiful baby girl into the world and that is when her life changed.

Prior to being a photography guru, Jill worked as an event and trade show contractor for several companies including BMW of North America, DSET Corporation and a few smaller companies. Her traveling is what made her decide to stop working and be a full-time mom. Quickly realizing that she would be bored, she began doing digital scrapbooking which led to a small business called Expressions Photo Design and then on to the creation of the successful online retail store I Love Photo Gifts. The store was sold this year to a new owner so that Jill could work in the blogging world and do freelance work in web design, SEO and social networking which are her latest passions. Her latest blogs include Cool Photo Ideas, Organic Gardening Pro and a few others that are in the works!

Jill continues to do lifestyle photography in Central, NJ and resides in Marlboro with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs (yes, they are pit bulls!), 2 fish tanks, 2 bunnies, 2 birds and 3 hermit crabs.

Kate B. is a writer and journalist. She is also a new mom and a new New Jersian. She grew up in Delaware, and used to brag that she’d never even been to Jersey. Now she’s living in Glen Rock with her husband and daughter, born in 2007; and she loves it. Kate and her husband moved to New Jersey in 2006 from Washington, D.C, where they met. For him, it was a trip home. For Kate, another adventure. Both now work in New York City.

Kate is currently a part-time writer for FOX, and has also worked with MSNBC, the Pentagon Channel, and Hearst-Argyle Television’s Washington bureau. When she’s not working, Kate is at home playing with (and chasing after) her beautiful baby. She also loves cooking, gardening (hello, Garden State), reading, music, movies, and a great bottle of wine. Kate maintains a personal blog, Rockin the Suburbs the Suburbs, about her crazy life as a new mom in the shadow of the City that Never Sleeps. They have a lot in common.

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Kate K. was born and raised in New Jersey. She is currently living in the Shore area of Southern New Jersey with her husband of 15 years and two daughters, ages 12 and 9. Kate has been blogging since 2001, writing about her life, children, school, and whatever else strikes her fancy at Katespot.com. She has been a stay at home mom since 1999 and has only recently returned to the (paid) work force on a part time basis. Kate is very active in Girl Scouts and is the leader of each of her daughters' troops. She is a member of the PTA and is also a room mom. Kate's husband and youngest daughter have severe food allergies - dairy, shellfish, eggs, nuts, and peanuts. Due to the dietary restrictions of her family, Kate can make all kinds of homemade specialties. It's a good thing she really loves to cook and bake.

Kate is an avid reader and enjoys many different genres - historical fiction, chick lit, comedy, and biographies. She has a tremendous interest in photography and has thousands of pictures just hiding away on her computer's hard drive. One day, she hopes to eventually have them printed out and even placed into photo albums. She also crochets (in her spare time!) and is a huge computer geek. Some of her favorite shows are Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, Mythbusters, House, Good Eats, Cash Cab, and Spongebob Squarepants.

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Liz Thompson A native Jersey Girl, Liz is a first generation American. Her parents immigrated from Hungary to New Jersey in 1956.  Born in Perth Amboy (just 1 exit away from Bon Jovi's hometown of Sayerville) Liz and her twin brother grew up in the Roosevelt-section of Carteret (Exit 12) and lived with their grandmother until, after 12 years of working both full-time and night-time jobs, her parents finally saved up enough money for a "fixer-up" of their own.  An avid genealogist, Liz is very thankful that her grandmother chose to teach her how to speak, read and write in Hungarian.  She met her husband, Garth (not his real name) on a blind date at one of the last drive-in theaters in New Jersey, where she cried through nearly the entire second half of The Dead Poet's Society.  She tried to give him back the handkerchief he loaned her, but he told her to keep it.  They were engaged 4 months after their first date and started working on their full house, 3 years later. 

A stay-at-home Mom since 1993 (an oxymoron, really, since she's in her car more than she is at home) Liz is a columnist for The Imperfect Parent and also enjoys writing about the trials and tribulations of raising 4 children, a rambunctious mostly chocolate lab and killer dust bunnies on her personal blog, This Full House.

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Lori Landau's world is infused with creative energy. And her three children: JL (age 15) EL, (12) and SL (9) are her greatest (collaborative) creations. Landau can often be found somewhere between the West Side Highway and Rt. 17. Though not exactly a soccer mom, she does her share of suburban schlepping. However, the New York native is also an artist who gets inspiration from her keen observations of what others may see as ordinary, so she's always armed with a journal and a pen to capture those moments. Once back home in the cocoon of her studio, often with one or more of her children nearby, she turns those observations into poetry, sculpture, mobiles, beaded jewelry, handmade cards or paintings.
Landau has been writing and creating art since she was a teen. One of her first poems was published by SEVENTEEN magazine, several later poems appeared in literary journals. She also wrote professionally for a diverse range of special-interest periodicals, including AdWeek, Ad Age, Elegant Bride, Sportswear International and others.

By her third pregnancy, having traded her typewriter for crayons, and desperately in need of some "mommy time," Landau rekindled an old love for meditation and yoga. A rigorous course of study to gain teaching certification sometimes made her feel certifiable - with the three kids, a husband, the house and several hours of homework each night.
But she somehow managed. Eventually, Landau found a way to roll everything she loves into one package: Ever mindful of helping others develop their own expressive voice, Landau has developed "conscious" creative writing workshops for both adults and children that harness the power of meditation, Eastern Philosophies, and visual and language expression. She is currently working on a book of her own artwork and poetry. A self-proclaimed "overthinker," Landau expends a lot of energy trying to follow her own advice and remain fully present in each moment.

Lynette Young is a Garden State native who was born and raised in Central NJ only to get hitched eight years ago to a California boy and move just a few miles into South Jersey territory.  Together they feed and house two kids (a daughter who is 6 3/4 going on 16, and a 6 month old son) and two pugs. Before trading in her pantyhose for Pampers, Lynette worked as an IT Project Manager.  Climbing the corporate ladder became a bore, and she decided to embrace her entrepreneurial spirit by opening up a scrapbook store.  After a good run with paper and scissors and no major injuries, Lynette closed shop and began her vision quest to combine the geek and artistic sides of her life.  That journey lead her to become involved more heavily not only in blogging, podcasting, and social media, but consulting and speaking across the country on these topics.  Baby #2 quickly put a halt to the travel (breastfeeding does have drawbacks), but gave her the opportunity to combine her experience, humor, and love of all things digital into one stream of consciousness on her blog, Lynette {Radio}. She has been blogging in some form or another since 1997 and podcasting since 2004.

From time to time Lynette dyes her hair purple, you know, just to freak out the other moms.  She is also a die-hard Rick Springfield fan.  Other interests include begging her husband into going to Disney World for every family vacation and trying to get a few hours out at night for drinks with girlfriends.

Mary Kate Kirkpatrick moved to the Suburbs of New Jersey in 2004 with her husband and two cats because their postage-stamp apartment was overflowing with people and possessions (there are only so many things you can hang on the wall or slide under the couch).  When they first landed in the 'burbs and found a place for all their meager possessions, Omar and Mary discovered that they still had a few rooms left to fill.  So with the help of modern medicine and a lot of prayers, Becca joined their family in 8/06.  Somewhere along the way, Omar's mom, Martha, joined the clan and now lends a helping hand with cooking, cleaning and taking care of Becca.

Mary Kate is a Work-At-Home, Work-out-of-the-Home or Stay-at-Home Mom depending on which day of the week or month of the year it is.  Thanks to her Teacher Certification and Masters in Social Work, Mary Kate has been working as a consultant on various projects including writing lesson plans, units or workshops, researching violence prevention and character education and presenting professional development workshops on standards, assessment and differentiated instruction. When Mary Kate is not traveling to the far regions of the state (Upper Township, Hamburg, Bloomsbury), she can be found at one of the local parks pushing Becca on the swings or blogging about her life at the New Jersey Moms Blog or Baby, Toddler and Beyond.

MaryTara aka MT is a "Jersey Transplant". She moved to New Jersey (kicking and screaming) in 2004 with her husband (a Jersey native), autistic son, and a baby on the way. MaryTara and her husband met at Kenyon College and since graduation had been living in Rochester, NY near her family. Before kids, MaryTara worked as a marketing analyst for Xerox corporation and as a Database & Direct Marketing specialist at an advertising agency. In 2004, her family settled in Brick NJ, so they could be somewhat in between her husband's employer and his family (close enough for babysitting!).

Though she left her family behind in deep snow of upstate NY, MaryTara enjoys living just miles away from the beach and never having to pump her own gas. This is a good thing, because she is constantly shuttling her children between school, preschool and extra-curricular events like Dance class and Brick Challenger league athletics.  MaryTara is a busy stay-at-home mama  (who is never at home) of two fun kids, one being on the Autism spectrum. MaryTara takes the role of being her son's biggest advocate seriously and is an active member of POAC (Parents of Autistic Children) and the founder of a Special Needs & Siblings Moms Group. She is on the executive board of directors for the Brick Special Ed PTA and makes the time to volunteer with the Primary Learning Center's Home and School Council.  MaryTara is the Kids & Family Category Lead at the consumer review site Epinions.com since 2001. She shares her parenting adventures at her blog The Bon Bon Gazette where she writes about the delicate balance of parenting a child with Autism, his neurotypical diva sister, the gluten & casein free diet, and life at the Jersey shore.

Michelle was born and raised in South Jersey.  With the exception of a two year stint in the Southwest, she has lived here her entire life. Michelle was attending nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania when she met her husband at a church in South Philadelphia.  They were married and relocated to Henderson, NV shortly thereafter.  It was in Nevada that Michelle's passion for people and exercise collided.  She became a certified Spinning Instructor and Personal Trainer.  Upon returning to New Jersey, Michelle completed her Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts and started her own personal training business.

Michelle and her husband enjoyed eleven years of marital bliss before having children. Michelle has taken on many odd jobs over the years and says that all have proven helpful in preparing her for her current role as full-time, stay-at-home mom.  She says motherhood is mostly a game of outwitting and outrunning children while juggling a husband and household chores.  She believes that being a personal trainer, waitress, bank teller, debt collector, and realtor have taught her valuable lessons in winning that game.  Although her life is often hectic, she finds great strength in her relationship with God.  She teaches a bible study and attends church regularly.  Michelle says that having two children in seventeen months has changed her world completely, but the only thing she truly misses about her former life is her abs!   

Meghan is a born and bred New Jersey girl, make that South Jersey girl, who currently resides in a nice suburban town about 15 minutes from Philadelphia.  Atlhough growing up, Meghan, lived in a nice, peaceful house, that all changed when she met her husband, Bobster.  He brought an instant family in the form of two boys, Tim, 14 and Chris, 9.  Then they added to those boys by having Cheeks who was born in August 2006.

During the day Meghan works for a wire and cable company.  By night Meghan is mommy on the go.  Some nights it's running this one there, that one here or running after the little one.  She loves to scrapbook but is usually too exhausted to even think, let alone have scrap.  The boys keep her busy but she wouldn't have it any other way.  See Meghan's personal sites, Meghan's Mindless Muttering and Eventful Moms Of Life.

Melissa Skabich is a full time working mom with two preschool age sons.  A lifelong Garden State resident, Melissa will challenge anyone who asks (and many who don't) to a Jersey-off.  Born in Hoboken?  Check.  Grew up in Jersey City?  Yep.  Spent majority of formative teen years at the mall?  Sure did.  Met husband at the Cadillac Bar?  Righto (but they're telling the kids they met at church).  First dance at wedding a Springsteen ballad?  You betcha!  Named kids after Sopranos characters?  Yes, but not intentionally (so she claims).

Melissa's day job as a public relations executive at a top New Jersey agency fulfills her need for grown up conversation.  Upon returning to the work force full time last year, Melssa's use of big girl words is improving, although she still refers to the ladies' room as "the potty."  In her spare time, or more realistically, when she's avoiding the pile of laundry that needs to be folded, Melissa posts her musings on parenting on her blog, Fits and Giggles.

Monica Brand grew up in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater, graduating high school the year before the opening of the Bridgewater Commons mall. She now lives in Hunterdon County with her husband and four children, ages 9, 8, 5 and 3.

A former newspaper reporter for The Delaware Valley News, she spends her time trying to balance home educating her children, writing and housework. She volunteers with Compassion International. Monica also blogs for a Relief Journal, a Christian literary magazine. Her personal blog is Paper Bridges.

Sandy is a thirty-something homeschooling mom who lives with her husband Bill, four daughters, two large dogs, two turtles, two outdoor cats (feral rescues gone bad) and two bunnies Hunterdon county. No, they are not trying to play Noah; it just turned out that way.

After many painful years trying to fit a mold someone else created, trying to be what everyone else expected from her, Sandy was rescued from her former life as a business analyst in Manhattan and set free to be the woman that she was created to be: a mother, a wife, an artist, a writer. Her lifestyle is one organic gardening, voluntary simplicity, and environmental stewardship. Sandy is one of those people who thinks she can change the world, and she might just be crazy enough to actually do so.

Shelli is a lifelong "Jersey Girl" from the South..."South" Jersey that is. She is married and a mom to son David. Her husband is the "boy next door", literally...  they met at the age of 10 as neighbors, shared their first kiss, but didn't date and marry until their late twenties.  Shelli works full-time for a large technology/consulting company, and is fortunate to work completely at home (a blessing and a curse).  She is a connoisseur of slipper socks and lattes.  And.... wait for it....  has actually met New Jersey native, Jon Bon Jovi, in the flesh. Newsflash! ...he's short... but a really nice guy.

When Shelli isn’t working, blogging, or relaxing with her family, you can find her shopping and feeding her obsession of handbags. Her current goal is expanding her family and her time.  In that “spare time” she is active in organizing charitable events, and figuring out how to grow tomatoes in her backyard (it is The Garden State after all!).

You can find Shelli over at her personal blog, BagMomma.

Suezette is the mother of two girls, age 8 and 3. Just like her girls, she goes off to school regularly because she’s a high school English teacher. Balancing the time and a half job of parenting and the time and a half job of teaching, Suzette often finds herself sitting in a cluttered living room with a precariously balanced calendar and a lap filled with computer. Add to this a work from home husband and you get a household that is anything but organized—but she keeps trying none-the-less. On the road to here, she has had a range of jobs (in a range of places): farm hand (Ohio), bus girl at a truck stop (Ohio), computer operator for the army (Washington, D.C.), night auditor for a hotel (North Carolina), and payroll clerk (New Jersey) just to name a few. All along the way, reading and writing has always been a source of sanity for her. At one point she made enough room to get an MFA in Writing, but struggles to find the time to write a grocery list. She has only been from Jersey since 1991; so, she isn’t a real Jersey girl but has come to love the state. It makes her smile to think that her girls will be official Jersey Girls.

Theta Pavis graduated from UCLA (where she edited the campus feminist news magazine, Together) and later attended Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She’s worked as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania and New York, and taught journalism at three different universities—including UCLA and Kean University in New Jersey. While living in Philadelphia, she launched an online magazine called Technophilly.com and spent several years freelancing as an editor, writer and radio producer. Her work has appeared in Wired News online, Discover magazine,and The Bergen Record, among others. Most recently she helped found Palisade magazine, a glossy North Jersey lifestyle magazine, where she served as Editor in Chief for two years and won an award for her feature writing. Besides technology, she has a specialization in women’s issues and is the editor of a magazine published by an international women’s peace group. She recently created a local network for other freelance/mom/writers called Ink-Stained Mothers.Theta is also a creative writer whose poems have been published in several journals. An avid traveler, she’s driven across the U.S. four times, traveled alone in Russia and backpacked overseas for a year with her husband Patrick before returning to New Jersey, where she had daughter. (She’s still pissed off about her C-section.) Today she lives in Jersey City and can see the Empire State Building from her dining room windows.

Traci has only been a Jersey Girl for a year, but it didn't take her long to find that the Short Hills Mall was located off of Route 24.  And if the Juicy Couture store had anything to say about it, she would have just gotten the divorce and continued her shopping frequency.  She starts all conversations off with 'But I am really from Texas....'  and it won't take you long to realize she left her accent back home with her boots.  You can usually find her stuck at a jug handle in Morris County, yelling at her GPS or playing tennis.  She  wonders how all these plates got spinning and why everyone keeps asking what her exit is.  She also writes at Smart A$$ Mom.

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Valerie Gray was born and raised in New Jersey. She is a mother of two. Her nine year old son CJ has Down Syndrome, Celiac Disease, speech and developmental delays and hearing loss - none of which keep him from running the house and making his love for ice cream and Thomas The Train very clear. Her thirteen year old son TJ likes sports, video games, texting and girls - a typical teenage boy. Valerie met her hubby RB at a party down the shore (of all places!). After their first date, while walking the beach in Seaside Heights on a cold January night RB told Valerie they’d be married, which they have been for more than twenty years.

Valerie has been working since the age of twelve, when she delivered three newspapers daily saving enough to take a trip to England. She's an avid reader, so much so that instead of delivering newspapers on a nice day, she used to sit on her bike and read. Valerie graduated high school at fifteen then attended Ocean County College where she still hopes to find time (and money) to go back and finish her degree. After almost eleven years as an Account Executive for a worldwide computer catalog retailer, she decided it was time to slow it down a bit for the sanity of her family and herself.  She changed careers and now works again full time in the business world as a medical billing and coding coordinator for several companies. She's on the Executive Board of the Brick Special Education PTA and runs their award winning website. She's a cat lover whose two adopted Himalayans can be found laying near the computer most of the time. Valerie loves rock music and is almost guaranteed to be front row at any Hinder concert in the area. Valerie blogs at "Mom Knows It All" and  "Val's Views".

Vanessa never dreamed that she would become a stay at home Jersey mom to three kids.  Born in France, she lived in England, Morocco, and Brazil before moving permanently to the States in high school.  After college, she moved to New York City and began working in marketing where she fell in love with her husband and everything the city had to offer, especially the thousands of restaurants.  She got her MBA at night while working during the day and graduated 6 months pregnant.  She went back to work after maternity leave, but ended up quitting after three months of crying every night over the thought of leaving the baby with the nanny the next morning. The next two years in their mysteriously shrinking one bedroom apartment were amazing.  She held off moving to the NJ suburbs until she was 7 months pregnant with her second child.

Vanessa makes weekly pilgrimages back into the City, every Friday night, kids in tow, regardless of the weather, to eat dinner at her favorite casual restaurants. But the rest of the time, she is a fully assimilated New Jersey Mom. She drives a minivan, grows tomatoes and zucchini, has in-depth knowledge of all the stores and back-road access of the local malls, swims in her pool, populates her backyard with a continually growing collection of Little Tykes toys, and has weekend barbecues. She still loves the food and museums of the city, but each time she goes in, the city prices sticker shock is a little greater. She never thought she'd become a Jersey Girl, but now wears that title proudly.  When not driving the kids around and fighting the chipmunks who eat her tomatoes, Vanessa also posts on food, parenting and fiction at her blog www.chefdruck.blogspot.com.

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FOUNDING TEAM for New Jersey Moms Blog:

PARTNER - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP & CO-FOUNDER: Jill Asher is a former Jersey Gal.  She grew up in Montclair, spent her summers in LBI (if your not from NJ, you probably have no idea where LBI is located) and graduated from Rutgers University (Douglas College) in ummm... 1992.  So yes, that makes her not so young.....  She is also the Co-Founder of Silicon Valley Moms Blog, Chicago Moms Blog, DC Metro Moms Blog, NYC Moms Blog, New Jersey Moms Blog... and more sites to come! (Her friends claim that she is building an empire of Mommy Bloggers.  She just calls herself crazy!)

After a really bad breakup in 1993, Jill left the east coast and moved out to Silicon Valley, where she still resides. Jill is now the mother of two daughters, ages 8 and 5.  Jill was the Vice President of Human Resources for software companies during the dotcom boom, and 'basked' in the success of two high profile acquisitions. Following these acquisitions, Jill worked with a venture capital firm to support the human resource needs of their early stage investments. Jill was also the former President (2004), Community Outreach Coordinator (2005) and Board of Director (2004-2006) of the Palo Alto Menlo Park Parent's Club, aka PAMP. Today, Jill enjoys consulting as a Human Resource Generalist for early stage, high-tech and  biotech firms.  In all her spare time, she can be found chauffeuring her daughters to various after school classes and activities.  On the weekends, she collapses!

MANAGING MEMBER, SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP: Tekla S. Nee, a cofounder of the Silicon Valley Moms Group, serves as editor-in-chief and CFO for the network of blogs. She has been writing about parenting for more than 25 years for magazines like Parenting, BabyTalk, Working Woman, Special Reports: Family, and Better Health and Living. She blogged for five years before there was such a word, writing a weekly column about about her life with three kids for the Palo Alto Daily News. She's published three books, The Mommy Rescue Guide First Year; The Mommy Zone: Tales from the Trenches of Parenthood; and The Everything Baby's First Year Book (also published in Russian and Chinese). And that's just in her spare time, during the day, she masquerades as a mild-mannered technology journalist working for a major metropolitan magazine. Tekla grew up a Jersey Girl, and still hasn't gotten the sand out from between her toes. Her first full-time job was as a Kohr's girl on the Seaside Park boardwalk, where she lived above a merry-go-round. She still rarely misses August at the shore, getting her kids addicted to real pizza and cheesesteak and sausage sandwiches.

PARTNER - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY MOM: Beth Blecherman is a techie turned blogger mom who is in charge of blogging technology and development for the Silicon Valley Moms Group network. She also works on the outreach/development to obtain new bloggers and organizing events for the network.  Beth started her career in application development, then system auditing and her last role was Senior Manager, Computer Process Integrity, for Deloitte.  Beth's personal blog is on tips, tricks, and discussions about parents use of technology for their families (Techmamas).  When not blogging, she can be found on Twitter, Facebook and tooling around other new online social networking sites...