About the Author

My name is Jennifer.  I live in the New York City area and fancy myself something of a writer, or at least an aspiring writer :)

I grew up in the suburbs of Long Island in a town called Farmingville and attended Sachem, a huge public school where my graduating class included over 1,100 students .  I then attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a city that will always be close to my heart, where I received my B.A. in English Literature.  I now realize I should have studied creative writing, or maybe even journalism, mais c'est la vie. 

After college I began working in NYC and a couple of years later moved to Brooklyn.  At the age of 30 I've had a few different careers, and now find myself looking for my next! So far I've been an insurance broker, an assistant sous chef, a teacher, an insurance broker again, and now looking for something completely new. 

Some things about me:

• I have a dog, a puggle named Ruby Tuesday, who is my shadow and the love of my life.

• Ruby Tuesday is named after The Rolling Stone's song, not the restaurant.  And unless you are very old or very young, I will judge you for assuming she's named for a chain of salad buffet/ rib joints :)

•  I enjoy reading and collecting books.  Some of my favorite titles include Invisible Man, The Catcher in the Rye, The Town and the City, Dharma Bums, People of the Book, Shantaram, anything by Kurt Vonnegut and... too many more to list. 

•  I am a feminist and I really don't understand how any woman or man could not identify as such, but there are a lot of things about humanity I do not understand. Since college, I've had an idea to do research and write about modern feminism, but I am yet to put this into real action.

• I jog and play tennis, and am more physically fit at 30 than I think I have ever been. Any tennis enthusiasts in the Hoboken/ Union City area??

• My mother died of cancer at the age of 53, when I was 24.  And I'm pretty sure this will be a defining part of me for the rest of my life. 

• I care deeply about animals and the environment, but don't do enough to help either.  For which I often feel very guilty. 

•  Volunteerism has been a big and regular part of my life since I became a tutor and candy-striper in elementary school. 

• I once ran a corporate Big Brothers Big Sisters program and was a Big myself, something I would love to do again. 

•  At the age of 24, when my mother was dying, I got married in the nursing home where she was being cared for and then later had a big formal Long Island wedding that she had planned.  I am now divorced. 

• I cut dramatic bangs in February - the first time I've had bangs since kindergarten, and I still feel like I look completely different.  Here are comparison photos. 

•  I love to cook, especially for other people, as you can see from my food posts. 

• I love to travel and try to plan a trip abroad each year.  Countries I've been to: England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Costa Rica, Japan, & India - India being my favorite destination so far.

• Unfortunately, I only speak English.  I've tried to learn French and Italian, but to no avail.  I just don't have a talent for it.  I can learn to read and write in a foreign language, but I'm not sure I'll ever master listening comprehension, which saddens me because I would so love to be able to converse in multiple languages. 

• Crafting! Something I love and will perhaps share photos of here. 

• I fall in love too hard and too fast for my own good.

• Creativity is something I struggle with.  I'm too often too afraid to fail. 

• I'm the type of person who is always cold.

• I almost NEVER go out without lipstick on.  Maybe that seems silly and vain, but, seriously, my lips have almost no natural pigment! 

• Finishing a book on public transportation is the worst.  I try to save the last 5 pages or so for home, but sometimes you can't tell the end is just around the page. 

Perhaps I will add to this list. Perhaps there is a reader out there that is curious!  Questions and comments are always welcomed.