As a recent transplant to New York City from Kansas City, she continually strives to maximize the little space she has in her Harlem apartment, while trying to fit in all kinds of DIY projects on the weekends. Next on her crafting agenda: printing her own letterpress stationery, and figuring out if there’s enough room in apartment to start silk-screening again.

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Kate Ashford is a Virginia native and a freelance writer who specializes in personal finance and health. She’s been tackling money problems head-on since she got her first credit card bill in college, and she enjoys simplifying money issues for others.

She has held staff positions at both Money and Good Housekeeping, where she covered insurance, travel, and consumer trends. She’s also held freelance positions at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and Entertainment Weekly. She has appeared on CNN, ABC, CBS and local New York TV stations, as well as several radio shows. Her freelance work has appeared in Money, Parade, More, Health, Popular Science, Women's Health, and National Geographic Adventure, among others. She was nominated for a Business Journalist of the Year Award in 2008.

Kate holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in New York City with her husband.

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A few years ago, Heath and his boyfriend Stephen purchased a small weekend house in The Pocono region of Pennsylvania and it came with some property. That land now hosts his very own Victory Garden: a mix of vegetables, flowers, and fruits.

During the week you can find Heath working as the art director of Real Simple and living in Queens. However on weekends he escapes to Pennsylvania and toils in the garden. Early in the morning to late afternoon you can find him carting dirt around, planting seeds and seedlings, weeding, or napping in his hammock.

All this labor yields some mighty tasty ingredients that are combined with what’s in season at the Farmer’s Market and what’s on sale at the local Shop Rite grocery story. The results are some pretty amazing meals, which remind Heath there are dinner options beyond fast-food pizza.

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Corynne L. Corbett has spent more than twenty years encouraging and empowering women to look good, live well and discover what matters most in their lives. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chic Jones Media LLC, a company that promotes communication and community among women. She is the creator of That Black Girl Site, a blogsite that covers a myriad of topics of interest to black women. Corbett also takes her practical wisdom directly to all women through speeches and seminars.

Prior to starting her own company, Corbett was the executive editor of Real Simple. In addition, she served as editor-in-chief of Heart & Soul and Mode. She has been a sought after speaker on issues of importance to women. Before joining Mode, Corbett spent a number of years as a freelance writer and started her publishing career at Elle.

Corbett believes that one’s personal growth is a daily endeavor. She is addicted to Pilates and lives in Essex County New Jersey.

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Erin was once a pack rat who held on to objects like her third grade math assignments and every note she passed in high school. When she moved into an 850 sq. foot, one bedroom apartment with her husband in downtown D.C., however, she realized that it was time to change her ways. Now, she is committed to a simple lifestyle and reaps its benefits. She believes in buying quality over quantity, and experience has taught her that a clean, uncluttered home is an essential component of a remarkable life.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, William Allen White School of Journalism, and her master's degree from Johns Hopkins University. She has worked in public affairs for political and economics' groups, taught high school English, and paid for college by spinning tunes as a disc jockey at a commercial radio station. Writing and organization are two of her greatest passions, and her job at Unclutterer allows her to combine these while working
with an amazing staff of writers, researchers, and programmers.

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Hi Everyone!  My name is Xochitl (So-Cheel) Gonzalez and I'm delighted to be a new voice here on Nearly Wed. While I'm not a bride-to-be, I am a wedding planner at Always a Bridesmaid and I've happily helped scores of brides get down the aisle for the past five years. I'm also a blogger, and I answer reader questions and offer notes from the wedding field on my blog, Always a Blogsmaid.

Even when planning something elaborate, I like to keep things simple, so I'm excited to share with you some of my tips of the trade, cool ideas, and solutions to simplify some of the more challenging aspects of getting down the aisle. Have a specific wedding problem? Share it here and I'll try to help you solve it. Cheers!

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Her interest in health, science and medicine, in particular, has led many friends to nickname her “Dr. Krieger” and seek health advice—a fact which is surely appalling to the actual doctors she’s friends with, since she merely attained a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature (from Brown University).

When not trying out new fitness gadgets and gear, or attempting to make sense of the latest health study or scientific news, Liz battles a fairly entrenched addiction to diet soda and Doritos, a gargantuan sweet tooth, and an inability to be coherent much later than 10:30 pm. She lives in New York City with her husband and their dog, Franny. Thankfully, her husband does most of the late-night dog walks.

Liz has also been an editor at Health, WebMD.com, More, and Allure, and has written for Travel + Leisure, Glamour, Self, Newsweek and Town & Country.

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She was previously Deputy Food Editor for Everyday Food magazine at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she served as a co-host on the PBS series, Everyday Food since 2005. She was a contributor at sister publication, Blueprint, and made frequent appearances on NBC, Today and Martha. Lewis Clapp joined MSLO in 2002 as part of the Everyday Food launch team.

Prior to that, Allie was an event coordinator at Tentation Special Events Catering, Food & Beverage Director for Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill and Bolo restaurants, as well as chef/owner of Aubergine Catering & Event Consulting. She has also held a number of posts in the restaurant industry, including a stint in Paris, France.

She was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and received a BA in Economics from Yale University. She currently lives in New York City with her husband.

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Most women we know have a love/hate relationship with technology. Instinctively, we all know tech can be good. But it takes a lot of time to get up to speed on how it all works. Our goal is to get you using your tech to your advantage. Work out to great playlists you find on iTunes. IM your husband to say “get milk on the way home.” Videochat with the grandparents. Use your Blackberry to its full potential!

So who are we to be delivering you tech advice? Well, we’re not computer programmers or high tech professionals. Fact is, we’re probably a lot like you: crazy busy moms who have too many commitments and too few hours in the day. Erin is a self-employed publicist who promotes media projects and Kristin is a vice president at a marketing and advertising agency. In our “spare” time, we produce and co-host a weekly podcast called “Manic Mommies” and run a companion website at ManicMommies.com.

When we’re not working, blogging, or podcasting, we’re spending time with our supportive husbands and little kids. Erin has two boys (3 and 5) and a husband who never grocery shops, but who’s great about folding laundry. Kristin also has two young ones (boy 5 and girl 2) and a husband who is a hobby carpenter. We became fast friends in 2003 when we realized we were both working moms trying to do it all—and having a difficult time with it some days. In our suburban Boston neighborhood that was the exception, not the rule.

We hope you’ll come back and read our posts regularly and share with us your own challenges/frustrations/successes with technology. Just don’t expect us to interpret those error messages coming out of your computer. Even the most tech-savvy manic mommies know when it’s time to call in the pros.

Kristin Brandt and Erin Kane a.k.a the Manic Mommies

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I grew up in kitchens that were social places. They were lived in, not just cooked in. My grandparents owned a restaurant in Queens, NY. The menu was made up of traditional recipes, many of which were from my great-grandmother's kitchen. I remember Friday night dinners at the restaurant’s designated family table and sneaking into the kitchen, if only just to catch a glimpse of what was being put into the pot next.

At Yale I was an anthropology major and, not surprisingly, was more interested in the cultural aspect of food than the mating rituals of primates. So when graduation came, I knew my next step had to be something related to food.

I worked for a year or so -- first at a large food service corporation and then as a line cook at Bayard’s, a classic French restaurant in lower Manhattan -- to gain the experience required to enroll at the Culinary Institute of America. I decided on the CIA not necessarily to learn how to be a chef, but to learn how and why food preparation has evolved the way that it has. The cache of having a CIA degree didn’t hurt either. During my time there, I got more restaurant experience working as a line cook at one of New York City’s famous restaurants, The Gotham Bar and Grill. I studied and worked hard during my two-year program and, given all the competition there, was lucky enough to graduate first in my class.

After graduation, I worked freelance for a while before meeting the person who would bring me to the Real Simple team, working in the food department. Now, as the magazine’s Associate Food Editor, I try to translate traditional and modern food dishes, into everyday recipes that will make the experience of food and cooking as enjoyable -- and as inclusive -- for others as it was for me and my family.

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Her career has lead her through all aspects of media, working for numerous websites, magazines, and custom publications, interspersed by a brief foray into book publishing (she co-wrote The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Sex). She lives in New York City with her husband.

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It is at washingtonpost.com where Kim spread her online wings, as creator and host of “What’s Cooking,” a live Web chat about cooking launched in 1999. In addition, she is the hand that feeds and the voice of “A Mighty Appetite,” washingtonpost.com’s food blog.

Kim’s culinary curiosity has taken her to various points around the world, including southern Africa, the West Indies and the Piedmont region of Italy, where she took a Master course in Italian cuisine. In 2007, Kim was a volunteer chef in New Orleans with CulinaryCorps, a New York-based organization.

For three years, Kim penned “Kitchen Witch,” a recipe column for an Atlanta newsweekly. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post Food and Travel sections. In 2007, she self-published her first cookbook, “A Mighty Appetite for the Holidays.”

When not at the stove, Kim is devouring cookbooks and food memoirs, usually curled under the covers in Arlington, Va., where she lives with her husband, who happens to be a very good eater.

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Kate lives in New York City's Soho neighborhood and enjoys entertaining, cooking, traveling to beachy climates, running, and drinking good wine -- not all at the same time.

Before joining Real Simple, Kate worked in the Fashion Industry (in PR and design) and as an Interior Design Consultant. She’s always adored fabrics (those that adorn the body and the home), and loves a good reason to dress up.

New to "the blogosphere," she hopes to bring a relaxed, whimsical approach to Celebrations. Entertaining can be enjoyable, affordable, and stress-free...and Kate intends to show you how.

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Gretchen Rubin

Among other things, since she started her Happiness Project, she has cleaned out her closets, written a novel, tried hypnosis, started a children’s literature reading group, quit nagging her husband (mostly), joined the Council on Foreign Relations, abandoned her gratitude journal, started singing in the morning, and launched a one-minute internet movie, The Years Are Short.

Gretchen is a graduate of Yale Law School and was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. She was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized that she really wanted to be a writer.

Her bestselling Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill and Forty Ways to Look at JFK are succinct, provocative biographies. Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide  is biting social criticism in the form of a user’s manual. She also has three terrible novels safely locked in a desk drawer.

She lives in New York City with her husband and two young daughters.

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Her obsession with decorating and design began a little over a year ago, shortly after getting married and moving into her own place in Brooklyn, NY. She plans to share inspirations, favorite looks, resources, how-to guides, and just the right perspective needed to enjoy every minute of any DIY project, big or small— all without breaking the bank. 

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In her current role, Julee writes and styles fashion stories and oversees the intimates and athletic-wear markets while also extending Real Simple’s ever-growing brand on TV and at events around the country. Before landing in the fashion department, Julee served as an assistant to the managing editor, Kristin van Ogtrop.

Prior to joining Real Simple, Julee completed internships at Bergdorf Goodman, Vibe, Condé Nast Traveler, and Parenting. She has a B.A. in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond, Virginia. Julee lives in Manhattan and one day hopes to own a brownstone in Harlem -- where she’ll reside with two French bulldogs named, naturally, Manolo and Blahnik.

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