In November I received a very cool honor. I was named the 2019 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. The award recognizes someone who has achieved business success before the age of 40 and demonstrates a high level of entrepreneurial spirit, leadership, perseverance, creativity, and determination. I’m so proud to be recognized and also acknowledge that this recognition is possible because of the amazing people in my life – endless support from family, an amazing business partnership with Rebecca, and a dedicated, smart, and driven staff.
My parents and Becky came up for the event, which was held at Rivers Casino.
I got to give a short acceptance speech and was also the last award recipient of the night, so was basically sweating bullets for the entire event!
With Mom and BeckyThe Maven staff: Veronica, Alexa, Rebecca, me, Emily C. and Emily K.
It’s Halloween! Last night was like Christmas Eve in this house. The kids were too excited to go to sleep and were up by 6 this morning.
This year I am a classroom parent for Lauren’s first grade class, which means I was responsible, along with another mom, for putting together the classroom Halloween party. We brought in a craft and then the kids broke into groups for a game of wrapping one of the group members up as a mummy. It was pretty funny.
Lauren’s team wrapping their mummy
Ms. Gorodesky’s First Grade Class
After the party the school holds an all school costume parade. Unfortunately it was raining so instead of having it out on the field and open to all parents, it was held in the gym and open to only classroom parents (happy I volunteered this year!). Lauren decided at the last minute that she didn’t want to participate (apparently her dress was too long and she was afraid she was going to trip on it), but Sophie the vampire marched happily.
Sophie the vampire walking in the school Halloween parade.
On Halloween evening we invited some neighbors over to the house for pizza before heading out to trick-or-treat. It was a quick get together because every kid was bouncing off the walls to start trick-or-treating.
Sophie, Lauren and our neighbor Gabriel
Vampire & Zombie Bride
Luckily the weather cleared and the kids were able to trick-or-treat with no rain and unseasonable warm temperatures. It was a good night!
It took 2.5 months, but the kitchen is finally done and we love it! It’s an old house so we didn’t really know what we would find when we tore it down to the studs. There were some definite structural issues, some very uneven surfaces, and even some bowing of the front of the house. We also discovered that the ceiling was sinking, by 4 inches! Our contractor was amazing and propped it up, but not completely because it would have cracked the walls in Lauren’s room (which is right above the kitchen), which Dave redid a few years ago, as well as crack the tiles in the girls bathroom, also a project that we had done recently.
down to the bricksstuds from the wall that was diving the laundry room and kitchen
One the wall between the laundry room and kitchen came down we realized that it was built without proper support, so we had to get a beam put in the ceiling, as well as another vertical beam put in the basement to prop up the floor. Thank God we did this project when we did. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we waited another decade.
Wall down, horrible vinyl floor gone, Sheetrock upCenter island, cabinets and floors in.
We’re so happy with how it all turned out! We have so much more space now and I live on that Center Island. The kids sit there in the mornings for breakfast, and I can talk with them while getting lunches together. We’ve gathered around it for parties, holidays, get togethers with friends, etc.
We doubled the size of the door between the dining room and kitchen, so you can now see and talk with people in the diving and living room. Before the kitchen was really closed off from the rest of the house (which I have to say was not the worst thing… but this is better). Dave made the bar backslash out of old wine corks (which we have an abundance of)
We headed out to Milky Way Farm to pick our pumpkins again this year. It’s always worth the hike to get out there. The farm is beautiful, with farm animals for the kids to pet, hay rides out to the pumpkin patch, and homemade ice cream – the best part.
Although we brought the pumpkins home at the beginning of October, we waited until closer to Halloween to carve them because of the stupid squirrels in our neighborhood, which ravage everything in site and can devour a full pumpkin in about two days.
On September 23rd Zoe and Elliot had their baby, Madeline Rose. She arrived just a few days before schedule and was happy and healthy! The girls got to visit her shortly after she came home, and then Dave and I got saw her at 3 weeks.
Dave, Don and I did the Waterman’s fall triathlon in Rock Hall again this year. Last year’s was my first tri ever, and I won the novice category. This time I raced with my age group – 40-44 and got third!
Here are our overall results:
Jess – place: 65th overall; 3rd in age group/ Total time: 1:26:34/swim: 14:13/bike: 46:17/run: 22:45
Dave – place: 68th overall; 11th in age group/ Total time: 1:27:18/swim: 14:59/bike: 43:00/run: 25:10
Don – place: 74th overall; 12th in age group/Total time: 1:29:15/swim: 15:02/bike: 45:29/run: 25:22
The podium for women 40-44. Our “prize” was a cheese board. One of the more useful prizes I guess.
After the race the day was beautiful so we took the boat out for a sail and swim. The kids had a great time jumping off the side. It was the first time Liam and Oliver were on the boat and they had a blast!
The second to last weekend in October was the Union League Yacht Club Fall Regatta in Annapolis. This was the first time racing the new boat. We had a small crew – just our family and Dave’s dad. We had a great time, despite a lack of strong wind and ended up taking 3rd in our class. The girls both had a chance to steer the boat, and it’s become a bit of tradition that Sophie steers us over the finish line in the ULYC regattas.
Sophie steering us over the finish line
Hamming it up no the bow
Another regatta – but pretty with the spinnakers up
Dave post-race, creatively steering
That evening was the party where we got our 3rd place plaque.
Last weekend we celebrated Dave’s 40th birthday by spending a weekend in Rock Hall with a few friends. John, Crystal, and Bella came up from DC along with Joe, and Rebecca, John, Ava, and Emma came from Philly, along with Walt. We had a mini raft-up with our boat and Walt’s boat. There was no wind, so we motored right to our favorite spot in Swan Creek and spent the afternoon swimming and grilling. The weather was perfect!
It was a good one so I was sad for it to be over, but we’ve got good stuff in store for the fall.
This summer the girls had a Summer Challenge, where they had a to read, do workbooks, and practice the piano every week day. If they did it they could pick a pet at the end of the summer. I am happy to announce that we are now owners of two parakeets and a marginated tortoise!
Happy to introduce Princess, Zebra, and Jewels
Two days later the girls were off to Cynwyd Elementary. Lauren started her first year there for first grade and Sophie is now in fourth grade. We’re three weeks into it and so far it’s going really well. Both kids seem to like their teachers and they’re getting back into a routine.
