About Us: Philly Moms Blog

Philadelphia Moms Blog....... Welcome to Philadelphia!  We are a compilation of moms with passion and moxie, enterprising and entrepreneurial moms, writer moms and corporate moms, stay-at-home moms, moms of one to moms of more, Philadelphia Moms Blog is a virtual melting pot of what makes our city the City of Brotherly Love. Or as we call it "the City of Motherly Love". And no, we're not all cheese steak & soft pretzel lovers, but we do love the complexity that is Philadelphia. Here we share our stories of life in Greater Philadelphia with the sometimes bi-polar-like weather, phanatic phans of our beloved Phillies and Eagles, occasionally battling traffic on the infamous 76 or battling the foot traffic in Center City or at the gargantuan King of Prussia Mall; all for the City of Motherly Love

• Apply to write for the Philly Moms Blog or any of our sister sites.
• Contact Us by email:  info(at)svmoms(dot)com
• Our Legal Guru/Lawyer:  Linsey Krolik
• Our Editorial Team: Vanessa Druckman and Akemi Bourgeois
• Our OH-SO-FABULOUS Graphic Designer (banner and buttons):  Kris Loew
• Our URLs:   http://www.phillymomsblog.com

Philadelphia 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 and Rocky Mountain Moms Blog.

Come Meet The Philadelphia Moms Blog Contributors!

Amy was born in the Chicago area, but moved to the Philadelphia area when she was in first grade, and has been here ever since.  She met her husband on the second day of her freshman year at Penn State.  After eight years of marriage, they now live in the suburbs with their three daughters.  Amy is a stay-at-home mom who isn't often at home.  She keeps busy by helping out at her second grader's school, teaching science to the preschoolers at her middle daughter's school, and being involved at her church.

Amy blogs most days at her personal blog, Occupation: Mommy, where she started writing in February.  Usually she writes about Montessori homeschooling and gifted education, but she will tackle any topic she finds interesting.  When she is not blogging or running around town with her girls, she loves to read, entertain, and do crafts with the kids.

Cecily lives in Lansdowne, PA, an inner ring suburb of Philly in Delaware County where she suffers as a liberal among conservatives. OK, she doesn't suffer that much. Cecily moved to Philadelphia in 1986, via first Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then five years in East Lansing, Michigan she doesn't like to discuss. Philly is definitely her home.

Cecily has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil, but she wasn't really any good at it until her mid-thirties. She's been blogging at her personal blog Uppercase Woman since 2004, and it was there that she shared her experiences with infertility, pregnancy loss, and the eventual birth of her amazing daughter Tori, born in June of 2006. She also writes reviews for Gruntlings, and about activities for kids in the Philadelphia area at Savvy Source, Philadelphia.

For some reason, God gave this 40-year-old mom the most energetic kid in the universe, so Cecily is constantly on the prowl for cool things to do in the Philadelphia area that will wear out her kid her kid can enjoy. She's excited about being part of the Philly Moms Blog so she can find other mothers like her.

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Colleen lives in the Philly suburbs and is a stay at home mom for her 2 children, Mackenzie and Kyle. In her life before kids, Colleen studied Anthropololgy and earned her MBA at Cornell. She has worked in Corporate America for Ford Motor Company, Wells Fargo, and Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals. She has since traded in her real MBA for the coveted Master of Baby Administration! During her downtime as a Mom - aka during naps & between diaper changes & singing nursery rhymes- Colleen founded ClassyMommy.com - a website full of nearly 1000 product reviews. 

This energetic Mom, is a social media consultant, mom expert, and the editor of Classy Mommy.com where she features honest product reviews inspired by real life Mommyhood and strives to highlight important social issues facing women and children in the United States and around the world as well. You're likely to find her hamming it up for the camera in her video product reviews both on her blog and on Walmart's Money Saving Moms community. When she's not blogging or taking care of the kiddies, she loves to go for a run, escape with a fabulous book, or spend time in the outdoors with her her husband. But nothing compares to being a Mom!

Courtney is a new mom and rookie blogger. She is having a blast with her hilarious husband, mischievous puppy-girl, and wildly adorable, redheaded toddler just a few miles outside the city. Born and raised around the area, Courtney appreciates and enjoys the best that Philadelphia has to offer. Of course, that is cheesesteaks, walnut street shops, and those soft pretzels. Honestly, how many times can you see the Liberty Bell?

Courtney is a senior manager with a leading e-commerce solutions company. Surprising everyone, including herself, Courtney cut back her hours after giving birth to her son. With her condense work schedule, she enjoys the flexibility and priceless time with her little man. Admittedly clueless about parenting, she started reading mom blogs and soon became totally addicted. She started her personal blog about six months ago, Mommie Blogs, which focuses on her journey through motherhood, womanhood, and her beautiful “double l”. While she would love to say her hobbies include running, yoga and cooking. She would be lying! Maybe one day…

Debbie has been teaching elementary school for 20 years.  She received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Pittsburgh, and later went on the receive her teaching degree from San Diego State University.  In addition to being a teacher, she is a monthly columnist for her local paper, and has had articles and pieces published in several magazines. 

She is the mother of three children; one daughter is a sophomore in college, the other daughter is a high school senior and her son is entering middle school.

She and her husband live in a small town not far from Philadelphia, Pa.  They spend whatever free time they have traveling to high school field hockey games and other events all the while trying to maintain their sanity. Some days it's a losing battle. Visit her at vodkamom.

Julie Pron is a born and raised suburban Philadelphian, save a few years of belle-dom while in college in Dallas, Texas, where she was promptly informed she has an accent. She and her husband are the parents of 2 boys and a baby girl. Currently a blog-at-home-mom and president of the kids' school PTO, she's a previous professional journalist, PR rep, marketer, and elementary school teacher.

Now she attempts to focus on her children, husband and household, while running an online boutique, Precious Personalities, and writing for various blogs including Just Precious, Mommies with Style, and Popshopology. A self-proclaimed faux-organizer, she tries to keep it all together at her bio page: juliepron.blogspot.com.

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Kay Leander is a pen name for a mom who lives in Narberth with her husband and three bright and surprisingly energetic kids -- two sons and a daughter. She and her family relocated to the Philadelphia area four years ago when her husband began teaching at a local law school. They moved here without knowing anyone, or anything about the city. It has been a challenge to be in a community where the vast majority of young families have roots, or at least extended family close by. But the whole family is learning to embrace Philadelphia, soft pretzels, the Phillies, and everything else the area has to offer.

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Kay didn’t originally plan on being a full-time, at-home parent, but her salary as a museum educator never came close to covering the cost of childcare, so she’s been happily at home for the past six years, enjoying the challenges that come with raising three young children. Kay has always been obsessive about recording – in photos and in writing – her children’s every deed, cute (or not-so-cute) moment, and milestone. She has filled a few notebooks and word documents (as well as numerous scraps of paper and cocktail napkins) with those moments she doesn’t want to forget. These pursuits – as well as experiments in various needle arts – help fulfill her own creative needs, and hopefully will inspire her children to pursue theirs.

Kristie grew up and now lives back in the Philly suburbs of beautiful Bucks County with her family. She graduated from Penn State with her degree in Nutrition then went to graduate school in Boston where she became a Registered Dietitian. She took her career in a new direction and has been working in sales for the pharmaceutical/Biotech world for the past 12 years. Kristie currently works for Genentech. And most importantly, her favorite job is being a mommy to her 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son. Kristie has boundless energy and wears many different shoes. When she is not working, having fun with her husband, kids and silly English Setter, she writes children’s books and blogs. Her first children’s picture book: Mommy’s High Heel Shoes was published in October 2008. She has a personal blog where she writes about her experiences as a busy working mother and author. Kristie is also a columnist for Grumpy Moms and writes product reviews for Real Mommy Reviews.

Kristine lives in a northern Bucks County suburb of Philadelphia with her husband and two boys. She grew up on a farm outside of a small town in Michigan that once hailed itself as the “toilet flusher handle capital of the world.” She learned to read and write in a three-room school house in the country, before moving to the “big school” in town in fourth grade. After graduating from Albion College where she pursued her love of science and history, she returned to school and obtained a degree in pharmacy from Ferris State University. Prior to meeting her husband Rich, she lived and worked as a pharmacist in Kalamazoo. Following a whirl-wind relationship, where it felt as if more time was spent in airports than together, Kristine left her single life in the mid-west and with her four cats and a bladder-challenged Bouvier moved east to be with Rich, a native of Philadelphia.

Ten years later, and after a journey to create a family that included Russian adoption and IVF, she is now the mother of two energetic young boys. Rich, who clearly had no idea what he was getting into when he met her, is still her greatest love and best friend. Kristine works part-time for a non-profit organization where she is able to mix her love of writing with her background in pharmacy. In her spare time (ha!) she writes on her own blog, Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine, where she chronicles the good, the bad, and the crazy of her life as a mother, wife and woman. Kristine dreams of a life where children don’t have special needs and housekeepers come standard with every mortgage. Then she wakes up, wades through the piles of laundry and Lego’s, narrowly misses stepping in cat vomit, and changes another poopy diaper.

There are a lot of ways to describe Lindsay – home owner, dog lover, politics follower, spiritual but not religious, wanna-be gardener, TV lover but not watcher (oh how she misses television!) half-ass crafter, fashion lover and trend follower, thin-skinned, bleeding heart, groupie (to her musician husband who is also a SAHD) neat-nick, journaler [by way of blogging], music lover, pre-dawn worker-outer, homebody, friend, confidant, wife, daughter, sister, mentor, social media marketing "guru", passionate full-time, working [outside the home] mom. MOM - that’s the part of Lindsay that has the loudest voice, the biggest heart and takes up the lions-share of her thoughts and it’s the one you will hear from the most here on this blog (though she will sprinkle in a bit of the other stuff as well).

The day Lindsay was birthed into motherhood as her son was birthed into this world, she discovered a part of her that she didn’t know existed. Each day she learns something new about herself and looks forward to sharing her discoveries with you. If you follow her posts here on the Philly Moms blog you’ll [hopefully] see her grow in all her roles.

Lollie Peep is a former single mom who is living her life backwards. Divorced when her daughter was a year old, she raised her alone for 17 years. In her old life she worked for major newspapers in Detroit, Louisville and Atlanta and traveled across the country representing the Chicago Tribune and on special assignment for Tribune Media Services.

In her new life she married a self-proclaimed “Propeller Head” with two teenagers, bringing the current number of kids they are putting through college at the same time to three.  She and “StumpDiddy” (as her daughter calls him) spent the first two years of their marriage living in Atlanta and Paris (the real one in France, not Texas or Kentucky) where she spent hours immersed in French culture and French pastries. They currently live on The Main Line in Philadelphia.  Besides blogging and dispensing motherly advice to anyone who will listen, Lollie is finally following her bliss. She has a thriving design business and works with several local theatres on the costume crew. Her vision quest is to design a clothing line for her fellow Baby Boomers who aren’t ready to give up on fashion.

Lynn W. has lived in the greater Philadelphia area for more years than she cares to admit. Educated at Bucknell (B.S.B.A) and Rutgers (M.Ed.), she worked at Princeton and then the University of Delaware until her children arrived. Opting to become a stay at home mom, Lynn also began to write for fun. Now that the kids are older, Lynn is busy writing content for some new websites, running her Etsy business, and playing golf with her husband whenever possible. Lynn's other interests include: tennis, pilates, sewing, and trying to get the dog to stop barking.

You're welcome to visit Lynn's other projects: http://forloveorfunny.blogspot.com, http://nextdoorstory.com and http://ColorfulCasual.etsy.com (We make Tshirts for kids)

A Philly area "lifer," Mary Fran Bontempo resides in the Philly 'Burbs with her husband, three children and their digestively challenged mutt, Casey. After over 27 years experiencing the joys of marriage and motherhood, Mary Fran finds that sharing her Everyday Adventures through her weekly newspaper column not only allows her to provide a laugh for her readers, but helps maintain her admittedly tenuous grasp on her sanity. (There's something to be said for public venting.)

Mary Fran is a freelance writer, vocalist, and avid reader, as well as a psychologist, nurse, waitress, chauffeur, chef, seamstress, maid, personal shopper, etc. (Read--MOTHER.) She recently published her first book, Everyday Adventures, or, As My Husband Says, "Lies, Lies and More Lies" and looks forward to connecting with Philly Moms readers!

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Melissa moved to Philadelphia from the Midwest almost ten years ago and is just now getting used to the constant traffic and not striking up conversations with strangers in line at the grocery store. She graduated with degrees in political science and dance, both of which come in very handy. She lives on the Main Line where she is a stay-at-home mom to her three kids, ages 6, 5 and 1.

Melissa runs her own graphic design business, Eliza Grace Design, and chronicles her busy life on her personal blog, Girlymama and also runs a review blog, Girlymama Reviews. She can be found on twitter as girlymamamel.

  

Michelle is a freelance writer and blogger. She is the only Philly Mom blogger who hails from the other side of the bridge. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now resides in New Jersey with her husband and three children. She has a degree in Social Work from Temple University in Philadelphia. After giving up her career to become a stay at home mom, she began writing seriously in 2007 as a way to help her with the transition. Currently she writes for Philly Moms Blog as well as her personal blog, Mommy Confessions. She has written articles for InterfaithFamily.com, and was recently published in the fabulous book; Kirsty Takes a Bow: A Celebration of Women's Online Favorites . A bit of a social media addict, she can regularly be found killing time on both Facebook and Twitter.

Rachée, say it Rah-shay, wears many crocheted hats, among them are mom, crocheter, book lover, non-discriminating channel surfer, wogger and library type chick.  When she is not sharing the random thoughts racing through her head, she is spending time with her tween-aged daughter, trying to tame her yarn addiction whilst completing the lot of UFOs around her house, attempting to renovate a house (ok; someone else is doing the physical work, she is merely overseeing it!) and going back to school in order to be a professional library chick.

A resident of the suburbs via Philadelphia, Rachee is thisclose to relocating back to Philly (see above biz about house).  When she has free time she is likely to be found with her nose in a book, getting beat on MarioKart Wii by her daughter or trying to make it to the track in order to train for the next race and/or to fight middle aged spread.

Her personal blog is Say it Rah-shay, or one in which she maintains for work LPL Childrens and Youth Services.  Read and leave comments on both!  Please and thank you!

Steph Anderson is a Philly Suburb native who is glad she never escaped the clutches of her beloved home town of West Chester.  She loves hiking, baking, Lindenman’s Framboise Lambic and the smell of Home Depot. Her husband is a stunningly handsome homebrewing high school English teacher, in front of whom she constantly worries that she is speaking grammatically correct(ly?).  Steph was thrust into motherhood by surprise, but wouldn’t have it any other way. Her firstborn (and, presently, onlyborn), Little Chica, is a joy and a learning experience. Most days, Steph has no idea what she is doing as a parent. But she’s okay with that.

While living the glamorous life of a stay-at-home momma, Steph finds time to chronicle her adventures (and recipes) on her blog of humble beginnings, Confessions of a Stay-At-Home Mom.  Steph and her Hubby are starting to make changes in their lives to be more green and to eat fresh and local. This has been accentuated by Steph’s involvement with her local Grower’s Market, for whom she blogs as well. She is still finding her footing as a Mom and as a blogger, so please forgive her. She's a work in progress.

Teresa, originally from Maryland, came to Philadelphia over 10 years ago for college at Philadelphia University.  The plan was to become an architect, but that transitioned into a marketing degree.  She married her college sweetheart on the beach in Cape May, NJ.  Exactly two years and an MBA later their daughter was born. 

While pregnant, Teresa launched her virtual marketing & writing support biz, Innovate Services. Since its inception, Innovate Services has supported "solopreneurs", "mommypreneurs", & "fitpreneurs" with their marketing, writing & pr needs.  Teresa also blogs personally with her daughter at Elebelly & solo at 30b430 and Beyond. Her passion is writing & she hopes to one day write a book about her late mother, Ellen.  Teresa lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her "cranky geek" husband, toddler daughter, one quirky chihuahua & one water turtle.

Whitney lives in the Philly suburbs with her husband, two boys and two cats.  Pre-kids, Whitney worked in the tech industry as an Online Producer & Editor.  She's worked for ZDnet, CBS and NBC.  In 2004, she founded Mommies with Style, the online community for trendy Moms, a year after the birth of her first son.  She manages 10 other writers and Moms on her blog who review and write about various products daily. 

Some of other places Whitney has written for include her column on Disney's Family.com, the Celebrity Baby Blog, Nickelodeon's Parents Connect and the Hartford Courant. When Whitney's not working on her site or cleaning crushed Goldfish pieces off of her kitchen floor, she loves to snuggle up with a good book and a glass of wine.

The management team:

PARTNER - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP & CO-FOUNDER: Jill Asher is the co-founder of Silicon Valley Moms Group.  The idea came to Jill over two years ago (March 2006) to start Silicon Valley Moms Blog, after she finished her one year "Presidency" of PAMP. After 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 into over nine collaborative blogging communities.

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 handles PR, Marketing, Business Development and outreach for this collaborative community.  

 

PARTNER (Co-Founder) - SILICON VALLEY MOMS GROUP & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY MOM: Beth Blecherman (Beth B at svmoms.) 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... 

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.