From One Mom to Another Name: Mom Generations • Creators: Jane Govednik, Audrey McClelland and Sharon Couto About: Motherhood across generations • Based In: Bristol The mommy blogosphere
Sisters Audrey McClelland and Jane Govednik joined forces with their mom Sharon Couto to create Mom Generations, a blog covering anything and everything moms would want to know
is saturated. There are blogs written by stay-at-home moms, working moms, single moms, twomommy households. What is rare, however, is a mom blog that crosses generations. Mom Generations does just that with two sisters, Jane Govednik and Audrey McClelland, and their mother, Sharon Couto. By the time Audrey was pregnant with her third child in early 2007, she had started following mom blogs. Audrey, Jane and Sharon thought it would be a great time to start a blog together – Pink & Blues – with Sharon being the grandmother voice, Audrey the newish mom voice, and Jane the dog mom/aunt voice. “I've always loved the camaraderie in the mom world,” Jane says. “Many moms just want to share the highs and lows of motherhood with each other. They want to ask questions, vent, laugh and cry together on this journey no one can really prepare you for.” In 2008 they shifted the focus of their blog and renamed it Mom Generations. It’s evolved to include conversations about food, fashion, recipes, husbands, housekeeping and work outside the home. It continues to evolve as well. For example, Audrey, has gone on to become a go-to mom for major companies who want to connect with moms through
fashion and household products. Also, Sharon’s discovered a cache of other blogging grandmothers and has made lifelong friends. In 2008 she started running, something she had never done before, and shared her experiences. She dubbed it “a senior citizen’s leap of faith into this new arena.” Since the start of that journey, she’s run dozens of races. Another piece of the blog that Sharon never anticipated is writing about caregiving for her 91-year-old mom (who now lives nearby at an assisted living facility in Bristol). The blog has allowed them to connect with other moms locally, some of whom blog themselves, and others who just like to follow and share with other local moms. That allowed them to form an extension of the blog, Rhody Mamas, which is a Facebook group where they share local events, deals, discounts and promos. “Readers have experienced weddings, babies, pets coming into families, and the sadness of people and pets passing. Readers have come to know our personalities,” explains Sharon. “Audrey is Audrey, Jane is Jane and I am me: Three women with the extraordinary tie of love, but each with distinct personalities and a great well of respect and love for each other, too.” MomGenerations.com
A Wicked Funny Account of RI Name: RIprobz • Creators: Erin Meehan and Russell Chiulli About: All the beloved quirks of Little Rhody • Based In: Barrington Is there really
another state more proud of its quirks than RI? We get our hot wieners all the way and our iced coffee year round. Our mouths water at the sight of coffee milk and Del’s on a hot day. It was only a matter of time until someone used the right platform to share all that is right in RI with the world. Enter Twitter account RIprobz, started by Erin Meehan and Russell Chiulli. In just over five years they’ve amassed a following of over 88,000 people – a number that continues to grow. When Erin was away at college in Williamsport, PA in 2011, she was the only Rhode Islander on campus. She had to constantly explain words like “wicked,” why she called a shopping cart a carriage (because that’s what it’s called) or why she had a bottle of coffee syrup in her room. Her response? The Twitter account called RIprobz that she started with her boyfriend Russell. It calls out, highlights and pokes fun at all things Little Rhody. Things like, “Is it possible to have a construction project in RI that doesn’t fall behind schedule and go over budget???? #No #RIprobz” or “Rhode Islanders stop at the sign of the lemon instead of at actual stop signs. #RIprobz” and “Damn it’s cold! *orders
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iced coffee anyway* #RIprobz.” RIprobz captures the essence of what it is to be a Rhode Islander. She thinks their Twitter feed has done so well because of that authenticity. “We thought that it would be a great idea to share our thoughts about Rhode Island with not only Rhode Islanders but with whoever wanted to learn more about our little state,” she says. “We hope to show people that even if you come from small towns, you can create something that will influence the masses and hopefully make them laugh. It’s okay to poke fun at your own state.” She never thought it would catch on like it has, and is surprised at the success. The account has helped them connect with their community. Their followers share ideas with them, and let her know about events in the area that make sense for them to get involved in. The account has also connected them far beyond the East Bay because models, professional athletes and local and national celebrities who understand what it’s like to grow up in Rhode Island follow and interact with them. She understands that you can take the person out of Rhode Island, but you can’t ever take the Rhode Island out of the person. Twitter: @RIprobz
Based in Barrington, Erin Meehan and Russell Chiulli spill the beans all over Twitter on what it’s like to live in the quirkiest state in the union