About

Hello and welcome! My name is Mary. I am a 31-year-old wife, mother, writer, blogger, and personal stylist. My husband and I live in Western New York with our four children (ages 5, 3, 2, and a newborn).

Personal style and living beautifully have always fascinated me, but until last year it was more of pleasant pastime. What happened last year? Well, I had just given birth to my third child, and the big 3-0 was right around the corner. Making my surroundings beautiful was getting easier (with the practice of making a home) but the great blessings of pregnancy and motherhood had left me with a sartorial identity crisis. Throw in the impending adieu to my twenties and I had lost my "groove," that sweet spot of being where I was confident in my appearance and felt really "me" in my outward expression.

Around that time, a friend gave me a book that broke personal style down into three elements. It was a revelation and a revolution. Why? Because I had always experienced fashion and style as purely intuitive, and it was amazing to discover that it could be divided and conquered in a rational way. I applied the principles to myself and not only rediscovered my personal style but realized it to a greater degree than I ever had before. I looked and felt great, and free, not stressed out about what to buy, what to wear. And I wanted to give this feeling to others.

Thus my first blog, with my sisters, was born. I tested the waters and realized it was a natural fit. Five months after starting that blog, I trained as a personal stylist in order to better serve my readers, and to reach women on a more personal, individual level. Today I present to you Atelier.

Atelier is both a personal style consultancy and a lifestyle and fashion blog where I write about style and wardrobe, movies, makeup, food  (and drink), books, life and love. At its heart, Atelier is about women living and dressing with style, whatever the budget, body type, or personality. It's not about perfection, but beauty and enjoyment in the real and everyday.

Why "atelier"? The word itself means workshop or studio. In days gone by, students and teacher would gather to work, laboring together to learn a skill and to create a final product. This is how I view what I do. Whether working with an individual client or talking style on the blog, my goal is to teach the elements of style so that every woman has the knowledge to look and feel her best, long after I've gone (I'm talking about from the closet here, not the earthly journey!). A unique beauty is your birthright as a woman; let me help you recognize it and express it!