For those of you who are truly obsessive about the site, you may have noticed that the "Author" button up in the top right of the site recently became "About." This is because honestly? I'm not running this site by myself, and I wanted to recognize the offbeat elves who are making the magic happen…

Continue reading "Behind the scenes stuff" →

Well, it's official: Offbeat Mama is fresh out the womb! Just like Offbeat Bride, Offbeat Mama will be packed five days a week with features, photos, and shopping for women who are doing things their own way … only this time it's families instead of weddings.

I realize that many of y'all aren't into the family planning phase — but if you have ladyfriends or family who are, won't you share Offbeat Mama with them?

And, just as I know there are folks who read Offbeat Bride who aren't planning weddings, I hope that Offbeat Mama's FUCK YEAH, FAMILY! stance will still be interesting to those who aren't at the kid phase yet. For instance:

• Did you know that goth russian couple I featured a while back had a baby, and she's about the cutest thing EVAR?
• Ever wondered what's it like to birth a baby you're giving up for open adoption?
• Who knew there was such a thing as steampunk baby booties?
• Are you a second generation weirdo? Read one woman's ode to her offbeat mama.

Oh, and that's just the beginning. Go check out Offbeat Mama, and please oh please let me know what you think!

So, remember a few months ago when I announced my pregnancy? And pre-answered everyone's question by saying yes: I'd already registered offbeatmama.com, but wasn't sure I was going to do anything with it?

Well, guess what? I AM DOING SOMETHING WITH IT. With the help of a woman you're going to love named Erika, Offbeat Mama will be launching in about a month, and I need your help…

Continue reading "Coming soon from the Offbeat Empire: offbeatmama.com" →

Despite being back from Canada (that's me in the big hat up there), I'm still in summer vacation mode, so posting will be light this week.

If you're fiending for some Offbeat inspiration, I encourage you to page back through the archives — there's almost three years' worth of posts for you to read!

Some of you may have noticed that the site was, erm, extremely odd last night and this morning, with tons of dead links everywhere and then some exposed code, and nothing working, etc etc.

Well, I'm excited to report that Offbeat Bride has graduated to its own private server. See, traffic's been getting so intense that things were starting to get sluggish, and so the site now has a huge web server all to itself … ensuring that the wedding porn can come atcha lightning fast and without delay.

Unfortunately, the migration to the new server was fraught with bugs and problems — hence the weirdness. But it's all fixed now (hopefully!) and things should be all the way back to normal. Thanks to y'all for your patience with the growing pains!