Meet The Stir Bloggers

Shari Altman is a freelance writer and novice photographer living in rural Vermont. She's currently working to earn an Extension Master Gardener certificate. She co-curates the online inspiration journal, this joy+ride and collaborates with one of her favorite artists on the photography project, What Remains Inside. She lives in rural Vermont with her husband, two cats, and two beehives. Baking, nature walks, and good books fill up her spare time.

Sipping on: mandarin green tea

Shari Altman
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Joanne Bamberger is an author, journalist & political/new media analyst who lives near Washington, D.C. When she's not at her place, PunditMom, she's trying to finish her book on moms & politics. Joanne speaks at a variety of conferences on the growing influence of mothers in politics, and her political commentary has appeared on CNN, Fox News, NPR.com, & elsewhere. When she's not plotting world domination, Joanne shares her wonderful, crazy life with her patient husband and their daughter who is ten going on 28.

Sipping on: A crisp chardonnay in the summer and a full-bodied zinfandel in the winter.

Joanne Bamberger
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I met my husband at 18, got married at 23, and then worked (and played) hard for seven years before becoming a mom. It took us five months to like each other again after our daughter was born. I wish I'd known to expect that! At my day job I've labored in television news, print, and on the web, where I've helped launch many a blog, but I am most proud of this one right here!

As for my kids, they crack me up. One of them recently picked up a phone, looked me sternly in the eyes, and said, "Shhh mommy, I am on a very important work call?" At least I know they're listening to me!

Sipping on: Iced Vanilla Skim Latte (Yay! for warm weather)

Amy Boshnack
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I'm a twenty-something wife to the geekiest redhead I know and a mom to a one-year-old son, Kyle, who proves every cheesy parenting cliche ever written to be true. I spend my days marketing books at a publishing house and my nights alternating between baking cupcakes I can't eat to watching really awful television. Other than that, I like my margaritas strong and my mornings to start late. They often don't, though, which explains my addiction to Diet Coke.

Sipping on: champagne

Jennie Canzoneri
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Sona Charaipotra is an entertainment and lifestyle writer based in New York City, where she lives with her professor husband and daughter Kavya, who was born in February.

Sipping on: Coke Zero or Adraki chai, depending on my mood

Sona Charaipotra
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In her former life, Kristen Chase was a published textbook author, musician, and college professor, all of which she's traded for a satisfying new position as commercial pilot and National Guardsman's wife and work-at-home-parent living in the Deep South. What she has not given up, however, is excellent taste, a sense of humor, and a hankering for bad reality television.

Kristen tries to stay as cool as possible (in all senses of word) while parenting her daughters Quinlan and Margot and her son, Drew in the 'burbs of Atlanta, a job she often does alone.

Kristen Chase
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Marcia Cole is a leading authority on beauty and style. An accomplished editor and writer, her articles about beauty have appeared in Elle, Essence, Day Spa and The New York Times. She has provided media commentaries about entertainment and fashion for Biography, TVOne and The Daily News. As the go-to person for best new places to eat, shop and get your hair done, she can be routinely found knee-deep testing beauty products for the readers of AMBERmag.com, where she is the Editorial Director.

Sipping on: Pear Grey Goose with Cranberry Juice or a Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

Marcia Cole
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It's a hard life, but somebody's got to get paid to eat—and, that's just what Kim Conte has been doing for the last 10+ years. Career highlights include: reviewing 30 late-night restaurants in the seven days before her wedding; eating 16 different bread puddings in one weekend; and posting more one-pot recipes than ever thought possible. In her spare time, she resists her husband's attempts to convert her to vegetarianism. Her not-so-secret food crushes are Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, and truffle salt. She wants to be Giada De Laurentiis when she grows up.

Sipping on: Tall, non-fat, no-water Chai Tea Latte from a giant coffee corporation that will remain nameless.

Kim Conte
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Amy Corbett Storch, better known on the Interwebs as Amalah, has been blogging since 2003 and mothering since 2005. She now does both jobs full-time right outside of Washington, DC. Her four-year-old son has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), developmental dyspraxia, expressive language delays and synesthesia. Her one-year-old has something in his mouth that he found on the floor.

Amy Corbett Storch
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I write about parenting, home, food, clutter, thermostat wars, princesses -- so, basically, my life with a husband, 7 year old son, and 5 year old daughter. Previously I wrote about health and family at readersdigest.com, and before that, I was a newspaper reporter, and before that ... I can't remember anymore.

Sipping on: Hot chocolate with the works (a shot of Bailey's always helps).

Cynthia Dermody
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I am a Southern transplant loving and living in NYC. I subscribe to more magazines than I can read, inspirational blogs are my porn, and, while I like to pretend I'm well-versed in the literary classics, I really only devour chick lit and fantasy tales. My friends call me Martha Stewart for my insane obsession of hosting themed parties in my tiny apartment, but since she's my idol, I take it as a compliment. I am a compulsive thrift shop buyer, and am currently trying to make my way through the numerous DIY decorating projects that I've created for myself because of that.

Sipping on: A double tall, sugar-free vanilla, skim, extra foam, caramel macchiato. I'm not particular, I'm thorough.

Brittny Drye
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Juliet Farmer is a freelance writer who spends her days catering to the whims of two cats and a rescued greyhound in Sacramento, Calif. When she's not feeding, walking or tending to one of her four-legged herd, Juliet is busy writing the Eco Dog column for NOVA Dog Magazine, blogging about food for Edible Sacramento, writing about her own experiences in the kitchen for Edible Sacramento magazine, and sharing her opinions on films, music, books and television at Blogcritics.org. Oh, and she has a husband that she does stuff with.

Sipping on: GT's Organic Raw Kombucha Gingerade

Juliet Farmer
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Amy Keyishian lives in San Francisco with her husband Randy, daughter Penelope, and unnamed gestating creature due in August, 2010 (kenahora!). On weekends, she also lives with stepsons Max (13) and Eli (9), and boy, is this place getting crowded. She has written for Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Self, Redbook, and many other magazines, online and off -- but these days, her brain's just crowded with mom-facts and mom-figures, so she's glad to be here on Cafe Mom.

Sipping on: Since I'm pregnant, flavored seltzer. Sigh.

Amy Keyishian
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A former Air Force officer and music industry project manager, Julie Marsh now resides outside Denver. At last count, she had one husband, three children, two cats, six strollers, one overheated MacBook, and far too many strong opinions. She's been sharing those opinions online since 2005. When she's not tied to her laptop or her family, Julie spends her time vacuuming, refilling sippie cups, and training for triathlons.

Sipping on: Teavana all day, wine all night.

Julie Marsh
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I am a husband, father, freelance writer, TV promo producer and webaholic. I write for Guyspeak, Asylum, Lemondrop, and on my humor blog, List Of The Day. My first book, 1,001 Facts That Will Scare The S#%t Out Of You, just published. Please buy a copy so I can eat. Thanks.

I live in Atlanta with my wife of 20-something years and my daughter, who's 8 and says funny things all the time, so I made a Twitter page just to share them with everyone.

Sipping on: The sweet dew of life

Cary McNeal
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Suzanne Murray is a writer, editor, and mommy-on-training-wheels. She's trying to save the planet—though her penchant for books has singlehandedly clear cut several large forests, and she has been known to stash the recycling. She lives with her bossy, adorable and adventurous two-year-old and her rock-climbing husband in a small country town where she dreams of big city life.

Sipping on: French press coffee

Suzanne Murray
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Tracy likes working under pressure - that's the only explanation for her brilliant plan to launch a new website (CafeMom) on the same day her first baby was due. The baby came early, the site launched late, and three years later she's got a toddler, another baby, and now The Stir! In her "spare" time, Tracy watches too much just enough reality TV, plans hypothetical vacations to far-flung locales, and thinks about how she should be exercising. Last year she had an 11-pound, 2 ounce baby -- and lived to tell the tale.

Sipping on: Coffee by day, Wine by night

Tracy Odell
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Lisa Oz is a writer, actress, producer, and co-host of The Dr. Oz Show on Oprah Radio, Sirius and XM. She is co-author of five "New York Times" best-selling books including "YOU: The Owner's Manual" series and author of the forthcoming US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships that Matter Most.

Lisa received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and attended Columbia University's Union Theological Seminary. As a Reiki Master, Lisa has spoken widely on her insights into energy and health and maintains a passion for spiritual studies.

Sipping on: Green vegetable/fruit blend (apple, cucumber, parsley, mint, lime, spinach) or a margarita (on the rocks - no salt.)

Lisa Oz
April Peveteaux is a writer, editor, sometimes performer and constant mother to two of the chattiest children you've ever met. Seriously, her son learned how to voice a complaint about the offending parent (her) to the non-offending parent (the hubs) before his first birthday.

April has written for a zillion online and off pubs and is currently living in Brooklyn, NY. But that's all about to change. Let's see if she can move a family of four across the country and live to tell the tale.

Sipping on: I do love the latte.

April Peveteaux
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Sheri Reed is a writer, blogger, and amateur photographer, and she is co-curator of the inspiration blog this joy+ride and former co-editor of mamazine.com (which totally rocked!).

She lives, writes, watches birds, and raises two wild and wonderful boys with her husband in Northern California and dreams about the day she'll hear her voice on the radio, opposite of Ira Glass.

Sipping on: morning coffee or nooner tea

Sheri Reed
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Julie has produced prose professionally for most of her adult life, adores alliteration and prefers to write with an actual pen. Along the way, she earned a black belt (and a few black eyes) in multi-tasking (case in point: she once fished a snake out of a swimming pool while conducting a conference call, with neither her swimming son nor the client on the line any the wiser). In her spare time, she watches copious amounts of reality television and runs recreationally to preserve her sanity and out of necessity to keep up with her 6-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.

Sipping on: Chardonnay and Diet Coke--always in tandem

Julie Ryan Evans
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Jeanne Sager has strung words together for Kiwi Magazine, Babble.com, AOL and more. She lives in upstate New York with her daughter, husband, dog and too many cats.

She's hoping that pumpkin appliqued sweaters are not part and parcel of motherhood, but she'll find out when kindergarten comes calling this fall.

Sipping on: Diet Pepsi (my indulgence)

Jeanne Sager
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Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, author of The Mocha Manual series of books, and founder of MochaManual.com, a parenting and lifestyle destination. A leading voice on the African American mommy experience, Kimberly is a former writer at Fortune and senior editor at Essence, who blogs for MomLogic.com, BabyCenter.com and is the pregnancy editor at LifetimeMoms.com. A divorced mom of two, she lives on Long Island, N.Y. where she can usually be found riding bikes with her kids, making people laugh with her witty takes on life and sleeping with her laptop.

Sipping on: a cup of Earl Grey tea by day and Pinot Grigio at night

Kimberly Seals Allers
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Linda lives in the Seattle area with her family, where she spends her days wrangling two small children, working, exercising, blogging, going back to school part-time, and attempting to keep her house from descending into a terrifying state of Hoaders-level filth. She's been writing online since 2002, and has contributed to ParentDish, ClubMom, Gather.com, Daily Grommet, Work It, Mom!, Lemondrop, and more. You can find her elsewhere at her personal blog, All & Sundry, or her fitness website, Bodies in Motivation.

Linda Sharps
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Michele is a high-heel wearing mom of twins -- Hunter and Penelope -- who lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her sweet Southern husband and two crazy felines.

Once upon a time, she wrote about sex. She got pregnant with twins shortly after writing Hot Sexplay for Your Weekend Away, so now she writes about motherhood, too.

She gets personal on Mommy With Tattoos and blogs with two amazing women she's never met in person at Daily Momtra. She loves everything vintage (especially 70s-era), chocolate chip cookies, reality TV, Mexican food, and her husband's meatballs (this is not a naughty reference).

Sipping on: Water with a splash of cran-grape juice.

Michele Zipp
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