Bio
Hi there!
Thanks for stopping by my site. I’m a writer who frequently covers parenting and family, adoption, race and social justice, youth sports, food, and the surprising ways those seemingly unrelated topics can intersect.
I’ve published essays online at The New York Times, The Washington Post, Brain, Child, The Manifest-Station, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, espnW, and many more sites. You might have seen my humor at McSweeney’s or Scary Mommy, or read some of my parenting advice at Adoptive Families, Esme, or Parenting.com. And if you like to cook, you may recognize my name from my work at The Kitchn (which is also my favorite place to search for recipes!)
My Writing
For Writers & Readers
Becoming a parent is one of life’s biggest transitions. That
Like so many parents, when the recent college admissions scandal
I did another big book order this week, and decided
Ok, maybe you’re smarter than me and you already know
A few writers I know, either “IRL” or through online
A few weeks ago I met up with two of
I published a new essay this week, titled Sexism Against
My three children are athletes. They’re teenagers, and we’ve been
Recently, I heard from an editor who’d published an essay
Yes, I know. Bad news is everywhere right now. Sometimes
I’ve been meaning to share some thoughts about writing retreats,
In my last post, I talked about how often I
It happens often: a woman, usually a mom, confesses to
2017 wasn’t an easy year for many of us. Professionally,
I don’t usually write a blog post when I publish
Professionally, 2016 was a great year for me. I got
I’ve got a fun giveaway for you all, just in
I’m SUPER excited to announce the winner of the YOU
I’m still trying to figure out Instagram, but I do
Well, we’re one week out from the shocking US Presidential
Last year I spent a week writing in Walla Walla,
This weekend the Out of the Binders Conference for women
So your project feels ready. You’ve compiled a list of
In my last post about finding a literary agent, I
The lucky winner of a copy of THE BAREFOOT BOOK
Ok, I promised to share some tips for finding a
A few months ago, I published an essay in
This summer, one of my writing dreams came true —
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand
Last week a grand jury declined to press charges against
I love writers’ conferences. My grandmother bought me a ticket
The signboard outside my neighborhood church got my attention: “Does
Earlier this summer, I wrote an essay about that tragic
Recently I enjoyed one of my favorite weekends of the
A few days ago I hit send on my application
This week I wrote a light-hearted essay about texting with
This week staff writer Kara Brown published a snarky piece
I just completed a writing residency through the generosity of
I guess I could call myself an aspiring, a struggling,
Hey there. Welcome to This is Not My Beautiful Life,
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