Meet the Bloggers: Jessica Ashley
Posted on May 1st 2007 8:00AM by Kristi Anderson
For months now, you've read our thoughts about living fit. Don't you wish you knew more about the people behind the posts? Throughout May, we'll introduce you to our bloggers. We know you're dying to learn if we favor spandex over sweats, the craziest diets we've fallen for, what "forbidden foods" lurk in our pantries, and what motivates us to embrace each lunge after glorious lunge. So, read on. And if you feel like asking us a question we haven't posed for ourselves here, ask away!
Today we're thrilled to introduce you to Jessica Ashley, who authors our FitBeauty feature every Thursday.
1. Who are you?
Jessica Ashley
Jessica Ashley
2. Age you tell people you are:
I'm holding on to 34 as tightly as I can until (*gulp*) my birthday in a couple of weeks. I believe strongly that women should tell their age with pride so we have truthful, powerful models of the amazing things women are doing at every age.
I'm holding on to 34 as tightly as I can until (*gulp*) my birthday in a couple of weeks. I believe strongly that women should tell their age with pride so we have truthful, powerful models of the amazing things women are doing at every age.
3. Where you're from and where you live now.
I'm from Chicago, did the college thang in rural Missouri, lived for four years in Oregon and then returned to my city grrrl roots in Chicago. My heart is also in Portland, but for a good while, my family and I will stay planted in Chicago.
I'm from Chicago, did the college thang in rural Missouri, lived for four years in Oregon and then returned to my city grrrl roots in Chicago. My heart is also in Portland, but for a good while, my family and I will stay planted in Chicago.
4. Do you have a personal blog?
Oh yes, darlings. Find me at Sassafrass, where I like to dish about grrrlfriend-type stuff and playgroup, talk politics and feminism and books and bad TV, and go on and on about my hilarious husband and honey of a toddler, Lil E. I also have a site just for my art business -- YourStory Creations.
Oh yes, darlings. Find me at Sassafrass, where I like to dish about grrrlfriend-type stuff and playgroup, talk politics and feminism and books and bad TV, and go on and on about my hilarious husband and honey of a toddler, Lil E. I also have a site just for my art business -- YourStory Creations.
5. What is your day job, or rather, what do you do when you're not fitness blogging?
Lots and lots of lunges. OK, not really. I am a freelance writer and that means I do a lot of projects during naptimes and between the hours of whenever-Lost-is-over and 1 a.m. I also paint customized canvases for children's rooms. I spend the rest of my day taking walks through the neighborhood with Lil E, acting out toddler-mandated scenes from Bob the Builder and gathering blogging material at playgroup.
6. How long have you been blogging with That's Fit and what is your favorite post?
Since January. I love Kristi's first FitSpirit post because I'm all about the spiritual connection to healthy living.
7. Do you have a specific fitness background or are you a mere mortal who's just passionate about being healthy and fit -- and living to write about it?
I am definitely on a journey to healthier living, which I think is a necessary challenge for women and for mamas. My husband is a personal trainer and fitness specialist and we talk shop. A lot. I like to say I'm a fitness ombudsperson, spreading the good word about hydration and stretching to all who will listen.
8. What's the worst fitness or diet idea you fell for?
Let's just say that three days of grapefruit can make you very crabby and very faint. *Sigh* High school.
9. What motivates you to exercise and stay healthy?
I want to feel fabulous in the body I have.
10. Who's your favorite fitness role model?
It has to be my husband, Bruce. He's a really gifted trainer, full of motivation and compassion. He trained me for the most challenging and empowering moments of my life -- to strengthen my back for pregnancy, to walk the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, to stretch out my baby-holding and laptop-crouching muscles.
11. What's your exercise "M.O." -- Gym workouts or outdoor endeavors; team or solitary sports?
I love yoga. I go to an amazing class now that is non-competitve and meditational. It connects all the body-mind-spirit dots for me and I realized in the first moments of the first class that I need this. In our house, if mama's not yoga-ing, nobody's happy.
I need distraction, so I love to walk and I am very happy to have a chatty partner beside me to talk our way through the time or to jam out to Pink on my own.
12. Choice of fitness gear: Baggy sweats or sultry spandex?
Eeee! Neither. I'm all about yoga wear that feels comfy and looks a lot like my regular clothes. I'm one of those looky-loos who feels ready to go to yoga class when I have on my big earrings and sparkly lip gloss. I just want to feel good and feel myself when I'm in Warrior pose.
13. What's your favorite fitness activity?
Honestly, the relaxation portion of my yoga class. My mind and body are rarely still at the same time. I love to sink into my mat and focus on my center while I can still feel my heart pumping and forehead sweating.
14. Do you have any non-fitness-related, non-blogging hobbies?
I am a reality TV junkie and an avid reader. I love to spend afternoons laughing, singing and running around the park with my family. I paint, doodle, dance and make lunch dates in a desperate attempt to avoid housework.
15. Confession time! What nonhealthy food do you eat -- or what unhealthy habit do you indulge in -- that would get you banned from That's Fit? What's your excuse for doing so?
Lots and lots of lunges. OK, not really. I am a freelance writer and that means I do a lot of projects during naptimes and between the hours of whenever-Lost-is-over and 1 a.m. I also paint customized canvases for children's rooms. I spend the rest of my day taking walks through the neighborhood with Lil E, acting out toddler-mandated scenes from Bob the Builder and gathering blogging material at playgroup.
6. How long have you been blogging with That's Fit and what is your favorite post?
Since January. I love Kristi's first FitSpirit post because I'm all about the spiritual connection to healthy living.
7. Do you have a specific fitness background or are you a mere mortal who's just passionate about being healthy and fit -- and living to write about it?
I am definitely on a journey to healthier living, which I think is a necessary challenge for women and for mamas. My husband is a personal trainer and fitness specialist and we talk shop. A lot. I like to say I'm a fitness ombudsperson, spreading the good word about hydration and stretching to all who will listen.
8. What's the worst fitness or diet idea you fell for?
Let's just say that three days of grapefruit can make you very crabby and very faint. *Sigh* High school.
9. What motivates you to exercise and stay healthy?
I want to feel fabulous in the body I have.
10. Who's your favorite fitness role model?
It has to be my husband, Bruce. He's a really gifted trainer, full of motivation and compassion. He trained me for the most challenging and empowering moments of my life -- to strengthen my back for pregnancy, to walk the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, to stretch out my baby-holding and laptop-crouching muscles.
11. What's your exercise "M.O." -- Gym workouts or outdoor endeavors; team or solitary sports?
I love yoga. I go to an amazing class now that is non-competitve and meditational. It connects all the body-mind-spirit dots for me and I realized in the first moments of the first class that I need this. In our house, if mama's not yoga-ing, nobody's happy.
I need distraction, so I love to walk and I am very happy to have a chatty partner beside me to talk our way through the time or to jam out to Pink on my own.
12. Choice of fitness gear: Baggy sweats or sultry spandex?
Eeee! Neither. I'm all about yoga wear that feels comfy and looks a lot like my regular clothes. I'm one of those looky-loos who feels ready to go to yoga class when I have on my big earrings and sparkly lip gloss. I just want to feel good and feel myself when I'm in Warrior pose.
13. What's your favorite fitness activity?
Honestly, the relaxation portion of my yoga class. My mind and body are rarely still at the same time. I love to sink into my mat and focus on my center while I can still feel my heart pumping and forehead sweating.
14. Do you have any non-fitness-related, non-blogging hobbies?
I am a reality TV junkie and an avid reader. I love to spend afternoons laughing, singing and running around the park with my family. I paint, doodle, dance and make lunch dates in a desperate attempt to avoid housework.
15. Confession time! What nonhealthy food do you eat -- or what unhealthy habit do you indulge in -- that would get you banned from That's Fit? What's your excuse for doing so?
Oh gaw. This is like those terrible job interview questions about your biggest flaw in which you are supposed to answer that you work too much, are too obsessive about details or that you are too loyal to the company. I believe in healthy living but I am seriously no fitness saint. I sneak my kid's fishy crackers while he's zoned out to Elmo, I sometimes forget to eat lunch until 3 in the afternoon when I suddenly feel like I could eat my own shaking hand, I have to make myself eat veggies a lot of the time and I curse the fact that hauling a 2-year-old, a diaper bag, a purse, a stroller and a bucket full of talking trucks up and down three flights of stairs for my apartment doesn't burn noticeable calories.
