about me

Born in eastern PA, never more than 2 hours from an ocean, mountains or major metropolitan city, I always thought the east coast had it all.  But after marrying someone who thought that Chicago was the land of milk and honey and refused to leave, I've found myself living in the midwest for the last six years.  

I fought the idea of being a midwesterner.  I refused to be one of those frumpy women with nasally accents who made casseroles and wore Big 10 sweatshirts when they went to Kohl's to pick up knickknacks.

And then it happened.  Somehow, without realizing it, I became a midwesterner.  I didn't even notice it until I was talking to a friend who is originally from Iowa but now lives in DC about a tuna noodle casserole I made.  "YOU made a tuna noodle casserole?" she asked incredulously.  "You're officially a midwesterner."

I still don't think of myself as a midwesterner. I think I've disguised it well.  I don't say "pop," I minimize my use of elastic-waist pants, and I don't go to craft stores for scrapbooking materials.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with midwesterners, nor do I believe they are what people stereotype them as (bumpkins, corn-fed, naive), I just never thought I fit the mold.

On the flip side, after my stint in the midwest, I don't know that I would fit very well back on the east coast either.  I find east coasters a bit too coarse, too impatient, and maybe a bit too snooty.

So where does that leave me?  A east coaster in midwesterners clothes or vice versa?  With all of my family back east, I've always considered myself the rogue midwesterner.  The one who strayed.  I guess it's not so bad over here... if you do it right.

Here is where I'll talk about how I've managed to cook, dress, work, play and live as a midwesterner... a rogue midwesterner.  Thanks for stopping by, I'd offer you some cookies over the internet if I could.