About
Baltimore Mama is a green focused, comprehensive city
guide for parents…a blog version of the conversations hip, urban parents
are having every day. From preschools, to neighborhoods, cool products,
local shopping, and dining out- read about it here.
Do you have helpful tips you would like to share? Email baltimoremama@gmail.com
About our writers:
Baltimore Mama is a collective group of (mostly) mother’s…
Gretchen Pike is mamapreneur in the neighborhood of Lauraville.  You will find her and her two daughters at their shop Bediboo, or in every restaurant in town every other night of the week. A dedicated city mama, Gretchen has one daughter in a city charter school and the other is along for the ride (at the moment). Gretchen hopes to create resources for the city parents that will make life easier for those that choose to live, work, & hang out here.
Vicki Shields is a full-time mother of two, part-time middle school counselor, and all-time champion at Hi Ho Cherry-O. She is also the principal designer, chief accountant, and head of the mail room at Three Wheels Design & Paper. Her family and her live in the Lake Walker neighborhood (the Rhode Island of north Baltimore, trapped between Cedarcroft to the west and Stoneleigh to the north). Vicki and her husband are native New Yorkers and have lived in Baltimore since 1997 (the last year the O’s posted a winning record; coincidence?). Aside from being unintentional “coolers†for the local ball club, they enjoy taking the kids for walks, hiking, biking, cooking, reading, eating, and doing their best to keep our two beautiful children happy and healthy and proud of who they are and where they’re from.
Jenn Lauder spent the last ten years in Connecticut, Ireland, Boston, the Netherlands and Burlington, Vermont, before finding herself both pregnant and back in the city she loves. She lives with my husband Chad, their daughter Pema, and their two cats, Franny and Questo. After working with/for children in jobs such as circus camp director, advocate, and progressive educator, she can promise that being a mama is more challenging and more fun than any of those. In Jenn’s free time (ha!) she meditates, bakes delicious vegan treats, and writes and reads experimental prose. She is currently working on a project exploring the idea that the form is not a cosmos but it might be a womb.
Janelle Diamond grew up in Frederick, Maryland back when it was more cows than Starbucks. She attended the University of Maryland and decided to study journalism because she liked writing more than science, math, foreign language and government and politics combined. Janelle spent almost eight years at The Washington Post working as the assistant for the Reliable Source and fashion reporter before co-writing a party column called “Out & About†and later creating two shopping columns that ran weekly in the Style and Sunday Source sections. She also freelanced for Lucky magazine, contributing to their local coverage. In March 2006 she became Lifestyle Editor at Baltimore magazine. And last year she became a first time mom to the world’s best/smartest/handsomest baby – Milo. She lives in Canton with the rest of her boys: husband Ron and big dog Finn, with one baby on the way.
Lavina Velasco, an Illinois native, has taken the grand tour of Baltimore these last 10+ years, living in 8 different neighborhoods across the city. A small-town girl with a degree in urban planning, she arrived in 1997 for a fling with adventure and somehow never left. At 34, with a patchwork resume that has yet to cosmically come together (described by her last employer as an irrelevant but “good read”), she considers herself a perennial jack-of-all-trades and master of none. Unable to bind herself to a single profession (having too many passionate interests), she has nonetheless entered into that irrevocable commitment to parenthood, as full-time mother to a spirited child inheriting a spicy mix of Hispanic, Irish, German, and Lithuanian genes. Outside of parenting, Lavina cares most about the environment, civil rights, and personal growth. She currently lives with her husband and son Roan on the border of Roland Park and the county.
Belina is a soon-to-be eight year old who (while when not gallivanting around Europe) keeps busy by playing her violin, reading, doing tap & ballet. She always eats her (organic) vegetables and speaks French fluently. She is our newest and youngest reviewer.
Hi,
What a great site you have! I can see this one getting bigger and full of all kinds of good things for moms in Baltimore! I just wanted to add our company, if I could, to your list. Please check out our website for more information. We have certified bra fitters for our Bravado and Medella bras, birth and postpartum doulas, IBCLC certified lactaion consultants (formerly with GBMC’s Lactation Station!), lending library and educational classes for parents. Call anytime. 410-339-5399
Just found you. Would love to hear more from Bettina!
I just sent you an email, but I just wanted to say you have a terrific site. Easy to navigate, well organized, cool products and great pics!