Brenda Steffen
I spent my twenties and a good chunk of my thirties living and working in various countries. I met and married a South African sailor and I was quite content to keep traveling without kids. We landed in Chattanooga in 2013 and our son arrived over the summer of 2014. We haven’t really slept since. Sometimes jet-lag gets the blame. Or Daylight Savings, or even a good book. Usually though, it’s the Peanut.
You can often find me charged up on caffeine, chasing after my son at Coolidge Park, the zoo or the library. You can also find me online on my blog.
BST Basics: How to Sell Your Stuff for Cash
Remember when I said shopping was America’s national pastime? Remember buying those matching Christmas pajamas that won’t fit your kids next year? And the toys now sitting in a corner?
Well friends, it’s time to...
International Women’s Day, #PressforProgress
I'm not really one for hashtags. I think it’s my grammatical need for words to have spacing, combined with my age. Millennials look cool hashtagging on social media, but me now at 43? I’m...
How to Survive a Trip to IKEA with Your Sanity (and Marriage) Intact
My love affair with IKEA first began overseas when I purchased an iconic POÄNG chair, used, for only $20. Before I moved back to America, I sold the chair, but I later found the...
Nine No Fail New Year’s Resolutions
Why hello there, January. You kind of snuck up on me. I’m still busy over here cleaning up from Christmas, trying to decide whether to keep that half-used wrapping paper for next year. And...
The 10 Commandments of Gift Giving
Hi ho, hi ho, Christmas is a go! Gear up and get your sparkle on: 'tis the season for sugar cookie consumption overload. Stock up on wrapping paper too, because it’s also gift giving...
Be Our Guest: Hostess Hints for the Holidays
My former editor once dubbed me ‘a professional nomad.’ It’s his fault, really. He often sent me to far-flung places for weeks at a time to get a story. There was nary a budget...
Fly It Out: Travel Tips with a Tot in Tow
Over the years, I’ve read a lot of travel tips for parents, often written by people who managed to schlep through an airport with their spouse and a baby, on a 90-minute flight with...
Moving Mayhem: Tried and True Tricks from a Mom Who’s Been There and Back
I’ve actually lost count of the number of places I’ve lived. I once had to fill out a legal form that required all of my addresses from the past decade. I had to dig...
Pet Peeves 101: A Mom’s Fur Baby Etiquette Guide
I know. I know. You may already be foaming at the mouth, just reading the title. Hear me out, before you get your feathers in a ruffle.
I love animals.
Did you hear that?? I’ll say...
The Business of Adulting: Five Things You Really Should Do Once You Have Children
I remember laughing with a work colleague when we found out a married couple we knew were actually years younger than us. How could people younger than us be married? Both of us were...