About Us: Orange County Moms Blog Contributors
Welcome to Orange County Moms Blog!
- Contact Us by email: info(at)svmoms(dot)com
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- MEDIA & PRESS PAGE MENTIONING SILICON VALLEY MOMS BLOG
- Our Editorial Team: Vanessa Druckman and Akemi Bourgeois
- Our OH-SO-FABULOUS Graphic Designer (banner and buttons): Kris Loew
- Our URL: http://www.orangecountymomsblog.com
Orange County 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, Chicago Moms Blog, Los Angeles Moms Blog, 50-Something Moms Blog, Ohio Moms Blog, New Jersey Moms Blog, Deep South Moms Blog, Canada Moms Blog, Philadelphia Moms Blog and Rocky Mountain Moms Blog.
Come Meet The Orange County Moms Blog Contributors!
We are in the middle of adding bios... more to come!!
Aracely is a work at home mom who is always busy juggling something. Aracely moved to Orange County 10 years ago and loves her adopted hometown. Aracely has two children, ages 3 and 4 who inspired her to create her first blog, DaytrippingMom. In between working her full-time job and being a wife and mom, she blogs about activities and places to go with younger children with an emphasis on free and bargain attractions. Being a work-at-home mom makes it even more important to get out of the house and explore Southern California and beyond with her family. A favorite place to pass the time is at Disneyland and California Adventure, which she co-blogs on KidsAndMice. She is also the co-founder of the Latin mom's blog MamaAlDia. You can find Aracely on twitter at Daytrippingmom.
Caryn Bailey is a working mom of two who was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her and her husband traveled the world before settling in Orange County two years ago after their son was born. After her first pregnancy landed her on bedrest, she turned to the internet for information and support. What she found was an amazing community of women, blogging their way through parenthood. She started her personal blog, Rockin' Mama, to chronicle her son's first years. The site has evolved to serve as an online resource for parents looking for information on parenting and must-have products. She was the former green columnist for Peekaboo Picks Magazine and is one of six editors for the Family Review Network.
Caryn's passions include health, fitness, and all things green. Her background in nursing and experience as a mom lend to her credibility as she writes about breastfeeding, baby care, and parenting. If she's not caring for premature babies in the NICU or her own "babies" at home, you'll find her frequenting the local tea room, shopping, baking, or reading. Caryn, her husband and two children reside in South Orange County.
You can also keep up with Caryn on Twitter and Facebook.
Cheryl spent most of her professional career as a newspaper beat writer covering a Major League Baseball team. She now watches Sawyer play his first season of Little League - and is having a LOT more fun.
Her work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, the Orange County Register, The Hartford Courant and other major newspapers. She currently contributes to Classic Play, an eMag. Cheryl now gets her major writing fix in blogging about her life as a mother. Her blog, SpecialSauce in the House, is a place to kick back, relax, and read about the sometimes stinky, frequently joyous, occasionally heartbreaking, often hilarious but always REAL moments of parenting.
When she's not at her computer or cheering on her kids on the baseball and soccer field, Cheryl is getting ready - mentally, anyway - to start training for her third marathon. She tweets all about it.
Debbie Lavdas is a Writer and Mom and out to stay both without losin' it. She is a freelance writer based in South OC, and writes for magazines, advertising and various sites, locally and nationally. Once upon a time, she was a TV reporter, but prefers less makeup and no pantyhose.
Debbie's mantra is “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans,” so she tries to keep it day by day, as she keeps up with her kids between word counts and copy deadlines. More on Debbie and her full-time client writings at DebbieLavdas.com, as well as her mom lifestyle e-zine site that you can find at PeaceandMom.com. You can also find her at OC Family with Debbie's Hot Topics;and on Facebookand Twitter. Oh, and she has a fun e-boutique (think: mom breathe easy) line at ShopPLM.com.
A Full-Time Mom, Grant Writer and Training Project Manager by day and a Wife, Tennis Player, and Sleeper by night Jennifer lives by the motto of, “Full-Time Mom with a Full-Time Job just trying to measure up to Super Woman.” Jenny lives in South Orange County with her husband and two sons. She is expecting her third baby in August, which is definitely testing her on all fronts to try and make life work!
Through Humor and Honesty, Jenny gives us a glimpse of what it’s really like to try and have it all and then some, all while being perfectly imperfect in the pristine surroundings of Orange County. If not traveling for work, on a conference call, changing a diaper, or attempting to maintain sanity, Jenny can be found maintaining her personal site, which she has been running since 2000 on and off. We invite you to find out what life is like for the not-so-cookie-cutter Orange County Native trying to take on the world!
Jennifer Scheumann is an OC mom blogger and married stay-at-home mom of two little girls: a spirited preschooler after whom she swears the children’s book character “Olivia” was created and a silly, grinning baby nicknamed “Sweet” by her big sister.
A So Cal native, Jennifer has lived in Orange County for most of her life, leaving only briefly to receive her BA in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara.
After planning her own wedding in 2001, she started a wedding coordinating business and coordinated over 100 weddings in six years. She credits working with demanding brides and her degree in psychology as preparation for the challenges of motherhood!
Her involvement in a wedding blog inspired her to launch Tiny Oranges (her unofficial third child) in 2008 where she enjoys blogging about fun finds for OC parents.
Passionate about “getting out of the house” as a way to try to maintain some semblance of sanity, you can usually find Jennifer out exploring with her own two tiny oranges and sharing those adventures with fellow mommy friends. (Photo by Image 32 Photography.)
You can also catch up with Jennifer on Twitter and Facebook.
Kara-Noel Lawson is a 4th generation Orange County gal, currently raising the 5th generation to adore life behind the Orange Curtain. She is giddily married to Hot Hubby and they are just plain silly with their 3-year-old son, Eli, 2-year-old daughter, Cora Jane and their fetus due early July 2010.
Ex-fitness fanatic/aerobics instructor, Kara-Noel is the creator of an awesome hat line for infants and toddlers called Eli's Lids and you can find her blogging about creating a whimsy home, motherhood and being the owner of an up-and-coming business over at Eli's Lids the Blog. In her "spare time" (HA!!) she shares her craft projects over at She's Crafty in the OC
Katie is a full time working wife and mother of two active boys. When they aren’t riding the roller coasters at Disneyland or exploring the beaches, you can find Katie writing over at OCMomActivities. Find her on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Katie has lived in Orange County basically for the last 10 years, but was born and raised in liberal Marin County, CA. Katie still struggles to find her balance in Orange County, trying to navigate between her tree hugging, eco roots with the uber image conscious and sometimes superficial existence in Orange County.
Having lost her mother (and best friend) to Cancer before her 20th birthday, Katie shares her unique passion hoping to truly inspire other mothers to enjoy and make the most out of every moment with their children.
Kristen is the mom of four children within four years via birth and adoption, and has been blogging as a coping skill since 2004. She writes about her life at Rage Against the Minivan, where she can be known to talk about issues like the impact of the skinny jean on her self-esteem, or her tendency to spill food on her laptop. She also indulges in sleep-deprived rants about parenting, poop, adoption, politics, race, religion, social justice, and various other subjects that her mother warned her not to discuss in public. Kristen is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a freelance writer, and a musical theater geek. She is the editor of Mama Manifesto, a collaborative parenting blog, and writes about adoption at Grown In My Heart. She is also a columnist at ConversantLife, an online community dedicated to faith and culture. Kristen likes to waste time on Twitter at @kristenhowerton.
This year Kristen lost her battle against the minivan, which is now parked in her driveway and covered in crushed cheerios.
Liz Cerezo is a recent resident of
Through sincerity and sometimes humor, Liz captures the true essence of being
You can find Liz at Thoughts of a Mommy and on Twitter.
Marla has been compared to the Energizer Bunny. She is a thrill seeking, high energy mom of two children. She does not like doing the laundry, cleaning & doing dishes but she has to anyway. She is a team leader & a joiner, but also a very independent kind of gal. She loves all forms of fitness, it helps clear her mind and keep her body super fit. She most often has a cup of coffee in one hand.
Marla's new found career is her blog Family Fresh Cooking. Here she creates original, delicious recipes using whole foods. She is a one woman show....all graphics, photography & editorial content on her blog is created by her. Family Fresh Cooking is a lifestyle/recipe blog that makes healthy food fun & accessible for folks to prepare at home. When not in the OC this mom loves to steal away to her mountain paradise Telluride, CO. She would rather have skis on her feet than a pair of Manolo's anyday.
Marcy Massura is a humorist, writer and photographer who is a third-generationon Orange County native. She also has two shorter people that call her mom on a regular basis. She loves to chat about all things falsely defined as glamorous (I am looking at you ‘housewife’ and ‘parenting’). She is available for freelance writing assignments, public speaking, and for talking you out of that 4th kid you are thinking of having. Marcy is diverse.
In addition to her popular humor website; The Glamorous Life Association, Marcy is the founder/publisher of The Daily Disney . She has been a contributing blogger for Orange County Register, OCThen, Land of Gracious Living and others. She is the featured contributing photographer on OC Daily Photo every Friday and her photos have graced the pages of Orange Coast Magazine and more. Want to see her 'live'? Marcy is the video host of OC & ME series found exclusively on OCFamily.com weekly. Her PhotoTalk vintage humor series is also a constant feature found on the Olan Mills website. Marcy is busy.
Shanna Coady
often wonders what happened to her life??
Kids happened, and an office job stopped happening. And now she's a full time mom, trying her very best to keep it all in balance…..be a great mom, fabulous wife, have a career, personal chef to her family, errand girl, housekeeper, overall CEO, COO, and Executive Assistant of the household.
In the midst of a crazy life with a 14 month old and a 3 month old, she found she was pregnant again. In March 2010 Shanna had her third baby and is now a mom to 3 babes (affectionately known as "Littles"), 2 years and under. In her "spare time", Shanna blogs at My Favorite Everything sharing "simple tips, fresh ideas, and great products" that she uses to keep her family functional and running. Never one to say "no" to life, she often shares family experiences to show that having a family doesn't mean life has to stop. It just takes a smile and a cocktail to get it all done sometimes! You can find Shanna sharing Favorites as well as a Monthy Planner on her site. She can also be found way too often on Facebook and Twitter/MyFavEverything.
(Photo by Sandy Heit)
Tina Cruz (aka sendchocolate) is a freelance writer, editor and accidental expert in autism. She has been living in Orange County for as long as she's been married, and that's a heck of a long time. Her husband is her support system, tech and otherwise. They currently live in North O.C. a hop, skip and a jump from Disneyland. She home schools all three of her children who have varying degrees of high-functioning autism. She's constantly teaching with a high schooler, a jr. higher and a primary schooler, but she figures she learns more than they do. Lesson #1: Humor is essential for survival. This is how she keeps from pulling her hair out by the roots daily.
She suspends her funny long enough to write as Orange County Special Needs Kids Examiner and as Special Needs Parenting Editor for Type A Mom. Autism is a passion as evidenced by the community blog she founded, Autism Sucks. She is a contributing writer to the Orange County Register. To maintain sanity, she exercises her funny bone by writing at OC Family and on her well-loved personal website, Send Chocolate Now! where she tells the whole world about the time her son mooned the entire neighborhood burger joint, and passes on tips for dealing with autism and parenting. Add some snark and you get the idea. She is fueled by mochas and pomtinis, but throw in an occasional Guinness and she's a happy girl. Active in social media, she would love to be your friend on twitter, facebook or flickr. She'll be your best friend if you bring chocolate. If it's dark chocolate, she'll probably marry you. In her non-existent spare time and apparently, because she needed a faster way to spend money, she recently took up photography and is raising a puppy. She claims these last two aren't related.
She would also like you to know that just because there are two references to her lack of sanity above does not mean that she is crazy. Her teenager figures you might beg to differ, especially if you saw her do the "microwave dance."
Partners of the Silicon Valley Moms Group:
PARTNER - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP & CO-FOUNDER: Jill Asher is the co-founder of Silicon Valley Moms Group. The idea came to Jill over three years ago (March 2006) to start Silicon Valley Moms Blog, following her one year "Presidency" of PAMP. Inviting friend after friend to join this "crazy idea" that moms would want to write about parenting experiences in their regional area, Jill has watched Silicon Valley Moms Group blossom to over eleven collaborative blogging communities and 350+ contributors.
By far, her biggest challenge and greatest joy is motherhood. Jill and her husband are the proud parents of two elementary school aged daughters. Jill admits that she is NOT A PERFECT PARENT and fears her daughter's teenage years. Her girls can be heard running around the house screaming, "Mommy is blogging again!" and she needs to bribe from time to time them with treats. Is she allowed to admit that? On the bright side, Jill really digs living in Silicon Valley and tries her best to blend in, praying that no one will hear her "New Jersey accent". Unless, of course, she is royally upset.
Jill Asher handles PR, Marketing, Business Development. Community Development and outreach for SV Moms Group. Jill Asher also consults with companies on social media strategy, blogger outreach and content creation.
PARTNER - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP: Linsey Krolik joined the management team of Silicon Valley Moms Group as a Partner in October 2009, after serving as the company's lawyer, book club editor, and a contributing writer for Silicon Valley Moms Blog since July 2007. Linsey has been a technology, media, and business lawyer and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley for the past ten years. Before operating her solo law practice, which she started shortly after the birth of her twins in 2004, Linsey was Corporate Counsel for ARM, Inc., a United Kingdom-based intellectual property company and worked for a variety of tech companies in the Silicon Valley, including Palm, Inc, OmniSky Corporation, and 3Com Corporation. Linsey holds a combination JD/MBA degree from Santa Clara University School of Law with a concentration in High Technology Law and in Marketing and has been a member of the California State Bar Association since 2002. She is the co-author of the book "Virtual Incorporation: A Lawyer's Guide to Forming Virtual Corporations," which was published by the American Bar Association in 2009. She is a speaker and teacher, having spoken at BlogHer'08 and taught at Solo Practice University and Outside the Cube. Linsey is very active in her community, sitting on the board of several local organizations as President and in other Board of Director roles. She is a twin mom (plus one more makes three kids aged 6 and under), a twin herself, and a cancer survivor. In addition to writing at Silicon Valley Moms Blog, she writes at her personal blog, Me Too You, and at her twins club's blog Mad About Multiples. Linsey handles business development, advertising and legal issues for SV Moms Group.
PARTNER & COFOUNDER, 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.
PARTNER & COFOUNDER - 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.
After senior management she decided to take on family management (with husband and three boys, two of which are twins preschoolers). As a mother, she went through technology withdrawal and was intrigued by Web 2.0 technology - so decided to try blogging. She also enjoys online social networking including Twitter and Facebook. Beth's personal blog is on tips, tricks, and discussions about parents use of technology for their families (Techmamas). Beth Blecherman/TechMamas.com was chosen as one of the Nielson Power Mom 50 influencers and a Parents Magazine Power Mom. On Twitter as TechMama she was choosen as one of the 25 Influential Moms to Follow on Twitter and BizTechDay's 25 Influential Business Women in Bay Area. Beth is on the Board of Advisors for MommyTech at CES.
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