About:

I’m Mary Jo (MJ for short).  I’m 26 years old and I live in one of the greatest cities in the good ol’ US of A, Chicago!  I’m originally from Cleveland and lived in Ann Arbor for 6 years while I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering.  I’m a self-proclaimed dork and my friends and family are quick to back me up on that one.

I play the role of a technology project manager by day…

But at night the ninja side of me comes out to rant and rave about all of Chicago’s food offerings!

My Story:

I am an only child and my parents (Vinnie and Giuseppe) grew up in a stunning (albeit itsy bitsy) town in Sicily.  Being the first generation has its pros and cons.  Luckily, I’ve learned to embrace and truly appreciate the culture I was fortunate to grow up with as years passed by.  One of the obvious pros is the FOOD.  I grew up eating homemade breads, pizzas, sauces, and baked goods.  Friends would beg to come over for Sunday dinner and Vinnie would lovingly entertain.

Let’s fast forward through the freshmen 15 (more like 20) in my beloved Ann Arbor. I left school and moved to Chicago to pursue my career and to get out of Detroit.  I have fallen in love with this city and even more in love with the food.  I was encouraged to begin the Carb Before the Storm by close friends who realized that I should be sharing my passion with others.

Carb Before the Storm:

The name of the blog originates from a trip to Europe I took this past summer with those same friends who encouraged me to start writing.  We were visiting my family in Sicily who I haven’t seen in over 13 years.  As you can imagine, the food was unbelievable and what was more astonishing was how many different forms of carbs were consumed in a single meal.  We were eating carbs on carbs (homemade pasta with homemade pan-fried bread crumbs on top…heavenly!).  Eventually we couldn’t eat anymore carbs but inevitably we would be faced with another one and right before that inevitable carb you would have…the Carb Before the Storm.

The Carb Before the Storm was created as a resource to help locals like you who enjoy eating, find places worthy of your hard-earned moolah.  It is also a way to transfer my unique experience of growing up in a Sicilian household through posts and recipe ideas.  Additionally, I have some other ideas churning so stay tuned…

Do yourself a favor, and subscribe to receive exclusive content for people cool enough to join the party.  Don’t worry, I hate spam too and I have no intention with flooding your inbox with potential solutions for that problem you may or may not be having in the bedroom.

I hope you enjoy your time on the site and thank you for taking the time to read this.  I hope to see you on the blog sometime soon.

Cheers,

-MJ

P.S. Feel free to contact me directly