About me: I moved to C-U in the fall of 1996 from the suburbs of Chicago, where I had lived my whole life. I fell in love with the friendliness and accessibility of the C-U community and have never looked back. Having lived here over ten years now, C-U is definately "home" to me. I have worked in retail and service management for over fifteen years now and I am proud to say that, after my first job working for a corporate bookstore chain, I have worked exclusively for independently owned shops.

About me: I moved to Champaign last August with my husband Ryan, who is working towards an MFA in Painting and Sculpture at UIUC. We met in college, in an art history class, and have been married just over two years. Our most recent home was Grand Rapids, MI, where I worked for a large literary conference and, later, an independent publishing company. When I'm not busy at Common Ground, you might find me in my studio, a.k.a. my dining room, painting, screen-printing, cutting up old sweaters, or writing letters.

The only vegetables I liked as a child were carrots, potatoes, and corn. In early adolescence, I tasted my first fresh asparagus, and I've never looked back. The same degree of revelation came ten years later, when I tried my first local, organic asparagus; I felt as though I'd been let in on the best secret ever. My favorite parts of my job are getting to know new fruits and vegetables and the farmers who grow them, and sharing my enthusiasm with whomever will listen.

About me: I feel like I have lived several lives in my life. I've been a lighting designer/stagehand in New York, a bookseller in Berkeley, Ca. Long time ago, in Portland, Maine, I worked with a puppet theater and as a crab meat picker. I am interested in too many things, including photography, books (reading and experimenting with making them), and cooking (and, of course, eating). I moved to C-U in August 2005 with my partner, Margaret, who is a grad student in Art History at UIUC.