About Me

The Early Years:

My father was in the military so we moved around quite a bit. By the time I was in high school we had lived in 5 different houses. I learned from an early age that you can't take everything with you and extra stuff is just a burden that you have to pack and unpack. My mother came from humble beginnings and taught us that you don't waste money on things you don't need and you value the things you can afford to purchase.

Being the youngest of 3 children I often had to share a room with one or both of my brothers, and when I did finally get my own room, it was always the smallest one in the house, and I actually preferred that. I think the closeness of a small room reminded me of one of my favorite places in the world - our travel trailer (the Bailey).

My parents purchased this trailer when I was 2 years old and we regularly took it on weekend camping trips and longer family vacations. I remember from a very early age (3 or 4 years old) being fascinated by all of the tiny storage spaces in the trailer and I was obsessed with keeping the place tidy and clean - this became my job and I was well into it.

The College Years:

I was engaged in the pursuit of knowledge - specifically musical knowledge - from 1986 on and off through 1998. By the end of it I somehow managed to earn a total of 3 music degrees and moved around quite a bit in the process - 4 different cities and a total of 19 different apartments/shared houses. Most of the moves were on my own or with he help of friends. Several of the moves were either through the mail or another shipping company and on a student budget so I learned to keep only what was absolutely necessary. I also learned how little one actually needs to live comfortably.

Career Gurl:

After school was out, I found myself living in a couple of very expensive cities on a conservative budget. This of course meant small apartments - not a problem, I didn't own much stuff. When I moved to New York City I faced my biggest tiny living challenge yet: my 150 square-foot apartment in the West Village. I loved that place in spite of it's challenges and would have stayed more than 2 years, but they jacked up the rent and I couldn't afford it.

After that I moved around several more times: a couple of studios in the West Village, 2 different one bedroom apartments in LIC, then finally a super cheap 2 bedroom in Brooklyn. After 5 years in Brooklyn I came to realize that there is such a thing as too much space and decided that location was more important to me. That's when I found my current 300 square-foot place in Hell's Kitchen and have no plans to move anytime soon. If a space is layed out well and organized, a single person can live very comfortably in 300 square-feet or less. This place is so much more comfortable than my Brooklyn 2 bedroom was or ever could be.

I currently work for a software company that provides support to arts and culture non-profit organizations. I ended up in that business after many years of helping arts and culture non-profit organizations keep their ticketing and fundraising data clean an organized.