Jill Amery, Author at Urban Mommies

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Jill Amery

Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the Publisher of UrbanMommies, a stylish digital lifestyle magazine filled with fitness, style, health, recipes and savvy mom advice to help you through pregnancy, birth, and raising your kids.

Planning-for-Retirement-in-the-FlexForce

Planning for Retirement as Part of Canada’s Flexforce

FAM, self By Jill Amery February 28, 2019 No Comments

When UrbanMommies began almost 12 years ago, I looked at other bloggers and freelancers and became giddy at the thought of the flexibility and freedom my company could provide. Other Moms had given up steady jobs to write books, manufacture baby slings or start companies like mine. There seemed to be a huge shift. All around me, new parents were operating as gig workers, some were creative freelancers and others postponed their careers, pursuing higher education and training instead.

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Staying Healthy for School and Playtime

FAM, health By Jill Amery February 5, 2019 1 Comment

I love a morning that runs smoothly, without having to apologize to the school administrator for being late or absent! Some days, organizing breakfast, lunches and ensuring homework gets put properly in the backpack can be stressful. This is even more the case if there are sniffles, coughs, and the constant requests to stay home from school due to illness. Colds and flu put a monkey wrench into the lives of every family. The good news is that there is an easy way to reduce the disruption! In a new clinical study, children age 4 – 12 years old who took Echinaforce Junior reported 33% fewer cold and flus. Sign me up!

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It’s the Year of the Pig!

laugh, LIVE By Jill Amery February 5, 2019 No Comments

Happy Chinese New Year! While we may celebrate with lanterns and coins, there are also a few free, family-friendly ways to share the love and embrace the new year! If you’re an Apple aficionado like we are, there’s lots to share from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Our fav is, of course, the iMessage special effects, just like when you type ‘Congratulations’ or ‘Happy Birthday’. The iOS red envelope and lantern emojis are also high on the list!

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Why the World Needs Disney Magic

Disney, ROAM By Jill Amery November 21, 2018 2 Comments

I’ve been having trouble writing about fun and beautiful things. My job as a writer has felt dichotomous with the constant stream of deep, horrific bits of news and political diatribe. The constant narrative in my head: What I may say or think about joyous lifestyle topics can’t matter because we have to be vigilant. We have to focus on women’s rights and conservative theory and global warming. Who needs a new pie recipe when our idyllic world is crashing down around us? It must be irresponsible of me to report on smile-inducing lifestyle items when I am so well known as a sexual assault survivor in a time when I should make my voice heard.

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2018 Best Friend Gift Guide

GEAR, style By Jill Amery November 21, 2018 No Comments

There’s nothing quite like a best friend. And there are SO many perfect gifts out there! With my besties in my mind, there are a few things that I’ve been saving up for, so wanted to share them with you. Every kindred spirit has many facets to their personality. Whether it’s spirituality, a love of popcorn, or impeccable skin care, we tried to help out the holiday best friend gift search!

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Presenting the 2018 UrbanMommies Holiday Gift Guide

GEAR, toys By Jill Amery November 21, 2018 1 Comment

Well, that was easy. OK not really. It’s hugely time-consuming, but worth every second if our readers get inspired to make someone else’s day over the holidays!! I love finding new gadgets and gear. Balancing each section is so rewarding and I am so grateful for the feedback and excitement from you all every year! This time around we have over 100 items, and will even be adding to the list below over the course of the holiday season. Links to every guide are linked at the bottom of each section to make it easy for you to go from one to another. Also…. we will once again for hosting a Facebook Live Giveaway for a few of these items on December 11th at 5pm pst / 8pm est so stay tuned for that!!

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2018 Lumbersexual Gift Guide

GEAR, style By Jill Amery November 20, 2018 1 Comment

The Lumbersexual is like a grown-up hipster. He may live in an upcoming area, and isn’t shy to local coffee shops and craft beers. He may not be the best at changing a tire, but his beard is as full as his heart. Have any more gift ideas for our lumbersexual guy? We’d love for you to write them in the comments! We have put a few affiliate links within our ideas, and if you choose to purchase anything from them it supports sharing our stories and ideas with you all!

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2018 Traveler Gift Guide

ROAM By Jill Amery November 19, 2018 No Comments

Loving travel as much as our family does, this is one of our favourite guides to put together! From nostalgic luggage, to water purification straws and gear to make the plane more comfy, we worked hard on finding these ideas! Please know that some of these contain affiliate links that help our site keep going. Totally no pressure to buy a thing from our traveler gift guide – just keep up a love of travel!

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2018 Gen Z Gift Guide

FAM, kids By Jill Amery November 19, 2018 2 Comments

Generation Z is defined as people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000’s and makes up 25% of the North American population, making them a larger cohort than the Baby Boomers or Millennials, and we have made a 2018 gen z gift guide in their honour. These kids are growing up in a world not defined by geographical borders, where influencers are bigger celebrities than movie stars, and where dating is more likely to happen in a group than one on one. There is also a ton of brand loyalty, mem fandom, and a deep dedication to saving the planet. Here are our picks. For the record, I ran them by my 2 Gen Z boys and got a double thumbs-up. I learned so much from Trendera at the Beaches Resorts Social Media on the Sand Conference and needed to share! Oh – and a few contain affiliate links, allowing us to keep running this site and bringing you great editorial.

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2018 Millennial Gift Guide

GEAR, toys By Jill Amery November 19, 2018 No Comments

The gang born in the 80’s and 90’s sometimes gets a bad rap, but did you know that they are the ones best poised to save the world, truly enjoy life’s experiences and espouse truly open minds? Here are 10 gifts for millennials they will truly appreciate. We’d also love your take on the perfect millennial gifts out there! Some of these contain affiliate links, so purchases can support what we do at UrbanMommies. Enjoy the ideas!!!

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When Jill Amery started publishing UrbanMommies in 2008, she wanted to create a place where the urban parent could be cared for and nurtured, so that they would be able to deliver their best selves to their family and passions. Since then, UrbanMommies has reached millions of moms with stories about travel, fashion, parenting, pets and family cuisine. Jill has created a community of moms who understand that if they are at their best, then everyone around them is as well.