bio

I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been married for 20 years to a guy from Oklahoma, of all places. If you would have told me when I was a kid that I would one day marry a guy from Oklahoma, I would have laughed! I wanted to move to New York and work in fashion. I don’t like Southwestern anything and barely watch sports, and I end up marrying a huge sports fan from Oklahoma. Just goes to show how well I follow my plans.

I have 2 beautiful daughters that I cannot imagine life without. Karlee is 19 and Jaynee is 13. Sometimes I think I could have gone for 3, but we moved so many times after Karlee was born that it literally took me 5 years to even think about a second baby. After Jaynee was born, the family just felt complete.

   

In 2002 we moved to Austin. I love it here. Austin is an amazing city, but it’s the people that truly make it special. Where else can you find a venture capitalist, a musician and a techie all in the same coffee shop? While living here, I have made some really great friends and there are so many fun things to do that it’s hard to do it all.  In 2011, I didn’t really know what a blog was, but I saw how many different formats of information there was online. I wanted a place to connect with people who lived in Austin about whatever I was into at the time, usually skin care and shopping, but I also love advice columns and reading inspirational messages. I didn’t have a facebook profile or a twitter account and was curious what you did with it all. So, I decided to lean how to create a blog, with no idea where to start.

One of the things you will learn from reading Hip Austin Mom is that I am obsessed with anything and everything from England. What does this have to do with Austin? Nothing, but I’m sure I won’t be able to help myself, especially with the royal wedding this year.

In 2008, I finally made it to England. I had always dreamed of going, but work, husband, move, baby, move again, another baby, another move…it was always something. So when 40 was staring me in the face, I literally woke up one morning and decided to take my girls and go. It was just me and 3 kids – one was my daughter’s best friend (who I love like my own). It was the greatest trip and we still talk and laugh about it. Was it weird to take 3 kids to London by myself? Probably. But it was the best trip ever! I’m hoping to do more things like this with my daughters, my friends or maybe even just me. Whatever I do, my goal is to make my next 40 years crazy good, because if I don’t – who will?