If you represent a brand that is interested in working with West of the Loop, be it for a product review, a giveaway or an event, or are interested in becoming a sponsor of West of the Loop, please contact me at westoftheloop@gmail.com. I will get back to you in a timely manner.

West of the Loop is just over two years old, but its readership is growing rapidly.  West of the Loop is listed on Time Out Chicago Kids” blogroll as a top Mommy Blog.  West of the Loop has a Google PageRank of 3 and a competitive Alexa ranking.  In addition to writing West of the Loop, I contribute to Technorati and The Chicago Moms, a Chicagonista blogging community. (I used to write for the Chicago Moms Blog, which was part of the SV Moms Group until that site shut down.)  I have written guest posts for food and parenting blogs, such as The Naptime Chef, Savour-Fare, Collectively Wise and Wee Windy City and have contributed to the CBS-2 Chicago”s website on family life in the Chicago area. I am a member of From Left to Write, an online book club, and The Motherhood, and The Clever Girls Collective. West of the Loop is listed on Time Out Chicago Kids” blogroll as a top Mommy Blog.

I have been quoted in major publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and on issues relating to parenting, work-life balance and nutrition. I speak regularly at industry and blogging conferences. For example, in April 2011, I appeared on a panel of bloggers at the Center for Food Integrity”s annual animal agriculture conference and in March 2012, I was on a similar panel at a conference of the Wisconsin Dairy Producers. In June 2012, I was featured on a panel about Blogging Ethics at the Type-A Parent conference in Charlotte, NC.

My print work has also been syndicated by the McClatchy Tribune Company and appears regularly in Chicago Parent magazine, where I write about parenting issues, food and entertaining.  I develop recipes for Artizone Chicago, an online grocery delivery service, and I am the co-founder of the rapidly growing Chicago Food Swap.

Offline, I am active in numerous organizations in my suburban Chicago community. I have been president of the board of my son”s preschool for three years and a member of the board of directors of my temple, which counts approximately 400 families among its members. I am a PTO Vice-President in charge of community service and social events at my daughter”s elementary school. I serve on the Executive Committee of the Oak Park Collaboration for Early Childhood, a non-profit organization, and co-chair its Communications Committee.

I am interested in working with brands and companies that I can whole-heartedly recommend to my readers.  Some of the topics that I blog about are Chicago activities, parenting, cooking, canning, food allergies, and fashion and beauty.  Thus, I am open to pitches about products and services that are in line with these interests.  I have hosted giveaways for the grocery store chain Dominick”s, the fast-food restaurant Wendy”s, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Cottonelle Brand toilet paper, OXO Good Grips, Jarden Home Brands and Chicago”s premier children”s theater, the Emerald City Theatre.   I also participated in , the online grocery store, and I was one of seven Chicago mom bloggers invited to participate in Do Good Day which was sponsored by 77kids, an American Eagle Outfitters company, and The Motherhood.  Also, with The Motherhood, I have co-hosted live talks on issues pertaining to food allergies and nutrition. Of my own accord, I have written about products that I like ranging from restaurants to nail polish to chicken sausage to books.

If you ask me to do a review, you can expect: 1) a honest review, 2) a timely post, which I will share with you over email, and 3) promotion, particularly for giveaways, through all of my social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter.

I look forward to working with you.