Hi. My name is Resa and I’m a designer, a mother, and a semi-bohemian, whatever that means. Notice that I didn’t say housewife? I mean, I guess you have to be a wife to be a housewife, but I also struggle with domesticity. The whole Stepford Wife thing just never appealed to me.

Welllll, life is full of fun ironies. I’m a single mom, so that means I’m breadwinner, homemaker, housekeeper, chef, event coordinator, accountant, and everything else that keeps a household running. I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’m still learning as I go.

This blog is about our lifestyle as a little family in a little (but charming) apartment in a little-big city. I talk a lot about food because I eat 3 times a day and I like to believe that each of those 3 times should be enjoyable if not excellent. Food is a huge part of life. It should be a good part, too.

I also talk a lot about making a house a home, because we should all have a place that is a retreat. Why shouldn’t that place be the one we see every day?

My story is unique in many ways.

• I’m a first-generation Salvadoran-American whose Spanish is good enough to haggle with a street vendor in Brazil, but I’ve never visited El Salvador itself (and I feel guilty for that every time someone asks).
• I’m proudly pro-choice, but I chose to become a parent in a situation that most single women wouldn’t.
• I grew up with a younger sister and a much older half-brother, which put me in a state of sibling placement limbo between oldest- and middle-child. My brother was deported about 10 years ago, after living in the US from ages 11-26.
• I came into my career as a web & graphic designer completely by accident, learning as much as I possibly could (and then some) by self-guided research and by observing & working with leaders in my field.
• I was raised Mormon, but I left the church when I was about 14. I explored various faiths, and found that religion simply wasn’t for me. It was a decision that took years of exploration, examination, and research, but my findings were all consistent: I couldn’t rationalize a world wherein a higher power “blessed” my neighbors with luxury cars and pumpkin spice lattes after yoga class while children the world over die for lack of food and potable water. Now I identify as an agnostic-atheist (agnostic meaning that I don’t claim my belief to be an absolute truth, because I know better – there is no way of knowing definitively either way, but I prefer to allow evidence and reason guide my life rather than feelings).

I was once upon a time actively involved in the Label GMO movement (my bad), appeared as a guest panelist & writer for a number of communities and shows, including NPR’s Tell Me More and Mamiverse, and I’ve worked behind the scenes with organizations and individuals including Nutiva (a leader in the world of organic & sustainable food products), Mamavation, and Alan Sitomer’s Writer’s Success Academy.