• About
  • Websites
    • Travel
    • Weddings
    • Small Businesses
    • Portfolio
  • Contact
    • Flickr
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Jai La Vie

  • Appetizers
  • Meals
  • Sides
  • Baking
  • Dessert
  • Cocktails
  • Fooducation

Bio

Childhood & Family

So without boring you too much, I was born and raised in northwestern New Jersey in between three farms.  It’s about as rural as you can get – we didn’t have cable for most of my childhood because they didn’t run cable lines up in the boonies where we lived.  I’m the youngest of three children – my older brother and sister are twins so being outnumbered, I always wanted to be exactly three and a half years older than I was.

View from the Country

View from the Country

I went to regional high school where I learned some life lessons that looking back, I appreciate.  When I got to college I realized how sheltered some people could be and I was glad to have experienced a whole lot of crazy while having a semi-normal upbringing.

My parents are still happily married and I have now become very close with my siblings – I couldn’t ask for more from family.

School

Throughout high school, I wanted to be a journalist.  I had written for local papers and even had my own column and also became an editor at my school paper. When I got to the University of Delaware for my undergrad (or as I call it, the best school ever) I quickly changed my mind.  I was a Communication major (since Journalism was in the English program and I was not going to be an English major) and I learned that murder-fire-rape and rape-fire-murder are your best friends as a journalist.  I somehow stumbled into public relations and pursued it full force – along with minors in French, journalism (of course), and a Certificate of Business (just for background).  After a failed study abroad in Paris (I’m still emotional about it) and realizing after 8 years of French classes I could only write the language and not speak it, I swapped the minor for Interactive Media (aka web design) and have never regretted the decision.

Due to my obsessive planning and organization, I graduated Delaware a semester early in December 2009 so I could hang out and start grad school online.  I started at The New School almost immediately because I didn’t want to give up on learning or expanding on my knowledge of media.  And so, I started my MA online while living in Newark, Delaware. It was confusing to explain to people but I wasn’t giving up on the best four years of my life yet.

I finally graduated in spring 2012 while working full time.  Eventually, I’d like to put that degree towards teaching Communications… we’ll see.

Professional Life

After I graduated, while still going to grad school part time, I moved home and got my dream job at a public relations firm on none other than the Food Team – dream come true for my tastes!  I worked on various brands for General Mills (disclaimer!) doing traditional public relations, blogger relations, and email marketing.   While it was awesome experience, I realized the public relations world is not for me and as of August 2012, I transitioned into a new career in email marketing, working on Estee Lauder brands (second disclaimer!).

I currently live in Hoboken, NJ and there’s nowhere else I’d rather live (um, other than Europe).  The view is just better here.

View from the City

View from Hoboken, NJ

About Jai

JaiI'm a foodie, traveler, and just-for-fun blogger living outside of Manhattan enjoying the food, fun, and chaos that life brings.

For more about me, click here.

Recent Posts

  • Crab Cakes
  • Easy Vanilla Cream Puffs
  • Ina Garten’s Fig & Ricotta Cake

Kitchen Essentials

Blog Post Categories

Jai La Vie Archive

Links

Click for Coupons & Cash Back

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back    Mr. Rebates

Copyright © 2023 · | A publication of Travista Media