I'm No Martha Stewart

As I was revamping my website to include my name change and basically the pivot I’ve done in life, I came across one of those stories that pop up on the internet when your reading or searching for something else. It’s always a list; “7 Worst Vacation Spots in the World,” “10 Deadliest Roads in America,” “5 Celebrities You Thought Were Dead.” This one was, I think, was “13 Famous Feuding Couples,” The list included Gweynth Paltrow and Martha Stewart. GP has the famous lifestyle blog and brand, and Martha Stewart… well is Martha Stewart. The article quoted MS in a Bloomberg TV interview as taking a pot shot at GP saying, “She's a charming, pretty person who has a feeling for lifestyle. She wants to be a lifestyle arbiter. Fine. Good. I think I started this whole category of lifestyle.” She later was quoted as saying in a Porter interview, "[Paltrow] just needs to be quiet. She's a movie star. If she were confident in her acting, she wouldn't be trying to be Martha Stewart."

Creating fine knitwear has been a dream of mine. Now I’m so excited to share my style with you! The knitting community rocks and it really is like a little club of happy people!

I regularly cook for my family (three still in the nest) and for my parents. My whole family and I have food sensitivities, my parents have a specific diet, and my daughter has severe food allergies. Cooking for my family takes an enormous amount of thought and preparation. To say that my meal decisions are a matter of life and death, really isn’t an exaggeration. I know there are many with food allergies and dietary concerns. I want to connect with others that are in the same circumstance.

This gives you chills if you’ve recently changed your business name to anything and added, “Living” to it as I did. Let me say, I have no intentions of being an authority on anything. I have no friends that are yogis to the stars, or that vacation in Corsica. Well, I actually do have a friend that vacas in Corsica, but you get the point. I have no dreams of fame or being anywhere in MS’s peripheral vision to bring on the wrath. I renamed my business “Living” because that’s what I’m doing. I’m living to the best of my ability and have been through some stuff. There’s been occasions where I found purpose in the challenges and setbacks of life from the fact that others could be helped, could see themselves in me, or that my reminder of gratitude what just what they needed.

I’m I licensed cosmetologist from New Jersey, by trade. I’m a skincare and makeup guide who also happens to be married for 21 years, have 4 children, and as you read on the front page of this website, I’ve been through more than the average mama-bear. The death of my grandson in Dec of 2018, was the final push I needed to semi-retired from the beauty industry and to pursue all the things that move me and give me joy. As a younger women I did everything I could think of. I always ran my own business and was a maker, creator, or artist selling what I created with my own hands. As I became older I somehow believed I wasn’t being serious about life I didn’t focus on just one thing. The focus did pay off in a lot of ways but did leave a hole. The hole, I found out, is that I need to be doing everything that brings me joy, and life.

So here I am, no Martha Stewart but I am living!

I’m the wife of a brain cancer fighter. Living with cancer effects the whole family in ways only other cancer families can relate to. Brain cancer is the least researched cancer and many people do not talk about the experience. I know the real life struggle, I deal with it daily, I want to be able to share that with others going through the same thing. I want them to know they aren’t alone.