I used to get annoyed when women I met at dinner parties would introduce themselves as "a mom."  But now that I'm a full-time Baby Chaser, I totally get it.  Mothering Hettie, Phin, and Willa is the most amazing, challenging, all-consuming and meaningful thing I've ever done. Of course it defines me. 

Other tidbits: I've got a couple fancy degrees and had "serious" corporate jobs in NYC and D.C. (and a less serious one in San Francisco :-); David was my first and very favorite boyfriend, but I had a few others between falling in love with him (the first time) and marrying him 8 years later;  I served a mission in Hungary for my church and also lived more briefly in Israel and France.  My hobbies include singing in the shower, renovating old row-houses in questionable neighborhoods, reminding myself over and over and over how much David loves our dogs, wishing I spent more time with my book club, arguing about politics, travelling whenever I can, eating chocolate cake and complaining my pants don't fit right.

I always wanted to grow up, traveling around, singing opera and telling stories. I'd run around in a borrowed tutu, putting on plays with music I wrote, making my brothers dress up like girls or animals and my sisters dress up with me. This was my dream. One degree in politics and economics (hoot hoot for Regis U.), more political campaigning than is good for anyone, many years of conservatory (JHU, Peabody, and Lizst Academy), a Fulbright, a few years performing in Italy, Germany, Israel, China, the US and two lung transplants later, that is exactly what I do. I travel around the country singing (sometimes, they let me tell my story too). When I get home, the writing (you can check some of my other stuff out here and here) of stories and music begins. And I get to do some of it (though never enough) right here with my sisters. I live in DC with my husband who has taught me why being married is great. I love to cook, I'm obsessed with politics and with my family. Writing music and stories makes me feel so alive and I am so happy to be alive.  I have the best friends in the world and they live all over the globe. I find being a grown up is a lot more like being a kid than I thought it would be... which makes me pretty happy! 

I have a lot of very strong ideas; some stick, others - not so much. For example, when I was three I became a vegetarian; I've been one for 18 years now. When I was seven I decided I'd be a wedding dress designer. (My company was going to be called "Pretty Modest" - the dresses would have sleeves, but they wouldn't be typical "modest" wedding dresses; they would be reasonably modest.) But by the time I turned ten, I became practical. Designing wasn't stable, so I set my sights on orthodontics or law. After a stint in a European couture house and a few gigs on Capitol Hill, I decided law was probably the better fit.  I'm taking the next year and a half to serve a mission for my church in Montreal, and when I come back I'll dive into my senior year at Yale (where I study all things medical, bioethical, legal, and political). Hobbies include: whistling, arranging flowers, listening to NPR, baking, promoting organ donation, The New Yorker, travelling, picking berries, reading obscene amounts of Tolstoy and Jane Austen, and eating more tangy yogurt than anyone should....