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Hey! Welcome to One Top Knot Mama! I am so glad you are here. I hope this is a place you will come for all things parenting, lifestyle, shopping recommendations, printables, and more. I also have a store on Etsy that you can shop for tshirts for the family.
I have been thinking about starting a blog since forever ago. I have a good handle on my Etsy shop now and I want to expand into writing about more things and not just selling tshirts. And what better time than when we are all in quarantine during this God awful year that is 2020?
So, here I am! My name is Jackie. I am married to John, my wonderful husband, and together we have two boys. I grew up in Chicago (suburbs, but ya know, you just say Chicago.) I went to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and got my BA in Speech Communication. After I graduated in 3.5 years, I decided to take my part time job at Hollister to full time store management. I loved working there and I was so excited to climb the ladder there. Some of my greatest friends I met while working there.
True story, I met my now-husband there on Valentine’s Day in 2005. I went in for an interview, (because I was college poor and needed a job), I actually ditched my Psych 101 class to go to this interview. John was the manager that did the interview, and I vividly remember laying my eyes on him for the first time. I was in love at first sight. Like in the movies, I swear this really happens to people. I tried to play it so cool and answer his questions, but all I remember was calling my mom afterwards and telling her I just met the guy I’m gonna marry.
She said, “Oh my.”
Luckily for me, I got the job, and our fairytale began.
Fast forward 15 years later, we are in the middle of a pandemic in Nashville, TN with 2 kids I am homeschooling, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a pond full of fish.
It hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies though.
I was diagnosed with a chronic illness called CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy). In simple terms, think of your nerves like a curly phone cord (you know, the corded landline phones that we had a million years ago). The myelin is the plastic covering of the cord, and it attacks the nerves/wires inside, which causes severe weakness, fatigue, numbness, tingling, and pain. I won’t bore you with the details, but I am no longer able to work full time. I was climbing up the corporate ladder to work at home office for Abercombie & Fitch, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. My neurologist said, “You’re done working.” And that was that.
I have good days and bad days. I am on more medication than you’d probably care to know. But I embrace the good days and love spending time with my family. I am so proud of the life my husband and I have created, and now that I am in a good place, I am ready to conquer the blogging world. Or attempt to, at least. I hope you like it here, I am so excited to get all my ideas out and share some knowledge I do have about life.
So kick back, relax and join me on the ride! New posts to come. Stay tuned.
-Jackie
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