Balanced somewhere between social girl and that independent type. I feel really lucky on a daily basis to be surrounded by the all-out great people in my life, but the best things I've ever done have been solitary endeavors (moving to England and India on a whim, writing a book, being a part of Disaster Corps, learning the entire choreography of Footloose).

I love (and have) a really sarcastic sense of humor, but I think if you ever met me you'd find a girl pretty delighted by life. And probably by you.

I'm a happy traveler, an insatiable reader, an enthusiastic wine drinker, and a pop culture nerdatron. There was also a time when I was under the delusion that I was a champion arm-wrestler, but then I realized that everyone was just letting me win. It was really fun at the time, though, to yell "OVER THE TOP!" and feel like it was really working.

I'm also pretty fun to have around in an airport.

I wear a few different hats: I'm a professional blogger, and I run a couple of my own online-centric companies in conjunction with that. I also moved up to Hayward this fall to launch a really rad local business with my business partner.

I'm also a writer. I published a novel two years ago, and I have another one coming out in a few weeks. Even though I love writing so much that doing it isn't even a choice, I really don't like to talk much about it. It feels like I'm telling stories about the kids I don't yet have, and I don't even like hearing stories about people's kids that they DO have.

Except for yours, of course.

Writing about feelings, giving high-fives, coming up with Halloween costumes, recognizing pure mands, delivering quick comebacks, not reinforcing inappropriate attention-seeking behavior, slow-dancing, staying calm in hectic situations, tipping my server, and memorizing lyrics to songs no one else likes.

...is that I'm not super big on caring about what it is that others notice about me.

Top Five:

Books: Population 485 by Michael Perry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer, Fall On Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald, I Will Go Barefoot All Summer For You by Katie Letcher Lyle, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Movies: The Last of the Mohicans, High Fidelity, Out Cold, Super Troopers, Cabin in the Woods.

Music: Local Natives, Ray LaMontagne, Bon Iver, Brand New, Sigur Ros.

TV Shows: Parks & Rec, The Daily Show, Revenge, The Office, and The Real Housewives of everywhere.

Campfires, music, pine trees, writing materials, black coffee, and tall Hunter Wellingtons.

Writing. The hilarious things my friends say and do. Mountains and the sea. How to make a sustainable living out of sustainable development. The shape I want my life to take.

...at a bonfire with a bottle of beer, at a lodge with live music, in front of a fireplace with a glass of wine. Doing, you know..."grown up" things.

I was born without a hip socket. You can't tell from looking at me now, but in about 20 years I'll probably have to start walking with a cane. Which will actually be really cool, because then I can use it to "accidentally" whack obnoxious kids or Ed Hardy-wearing douchebags as they stumble out of Drink.

Just kidding. I would never even go near Drink.

You like your life and what you're about. You operate easily in unfamiliar territory. You're more fascinated with others than you are with yourself.