About Me


I am a former ballet dancer-turned-computer programmer. I recently graduated magna cum laude from UC Berkeley and am the 2009 recipient of the Robert J. Glushko Prize for Distinguished Undergraduate Research in Cognitive Science. 

In the summer of 2009 I became pregnant with mono-mono twins, a rare occurrence that carries with it a 50/50 chance of survival without complications for the babies. The twins were born 3 months early and spent 13 weeks in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (the NICU). Drawing on my knowledge of linguistics, positive psychology, and cognitive science, my husband and I were able to transform a potentially scary experience into an empowering one. This blog began as the diary I kept during that time.

Today, at the invitation of the Alta Bates NICU in Berkeley, I sit on two hospital councils: the Family Advisory Council and the Partnership Council: groups designed to promote patient safety and to help parents cope with the experience of having a child in the NICU.
  

My hobbies are smiling and remembering to eat breakfast. My turn-ons are champagne, folded laundry, and moonlit walks on the beach thinking about champagne and folded laundry. A lifelong writer in the closet, I finally decided to join a writing group and let my inner Erma Bombeck run wild. I live in Oakland with a great husband who keeps me laughing, a beautiful daughter who keeps me on her toes, and identical twin baby boys who keep me awake.