Be Jane.: Book Janes

Book Jane in Minnesota...

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:16:25 GMT

While we were in Minneapolis I was actually able to catch up with Cris Willig, one of our book Janes, as she lives just outsite the city. She was such a sweetheart! We had wanted to take her out to dinner but due to the fact that she is in a very intensive class for interior design and she had a project due the next morning and expected to be up until 2am finishing it, coffee was all she had time for.

She was soo sweet to talk to and she even told us about a contraption she had created as a tool tray to hold all of her tools when she used to create/put up curtains before she went back to school.

Here's a picture of Cris and I.

KUSI San Diego

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:07:30 GMT

We were down in San Diego a few weeks ago doing an appearance for a locla television station to promote the book and we were lucky enough to have Lydia Contreras (one of our book Janes) with us. I have to say I thought she did a great job on camera. She stayed cool and remained calm the entire time! If you would like to take a peek at the clip, here's the link to it:

Heidi, Eden and Lydia on KUSI

Just as an fyi, it was friggin' cold!!! Last minute they changed doing the interview from inside the studio to just outside and it was probably around 51 degrees outside. (I know that for those of you that live up in the northern part of this country that it's not that cold but to me, without a jacket, that more than chilly!)

iVillage Live photos and video...

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:38:01 GMT

I finally got the pictures from our iVillage Live appearance and a link for you should you want to see it. You'll be able to see Sandra Johnson, one of the Janes from our book, on it. Here's the link:

The Janes and Sandra on iVillage Live

Here's the other pictures from the day:

Catherine's back on her saw horse!

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:23:45 GMT

This is a recent email I got from Catherine Reynolds, another Jane Profile from the book, who fixes up houses and sells them. She told me earlier in December that she's not had a great deal of energy lately to work on her home but check out how she's feeling now:

"I love, love the book and the belt! Thank you so much. The format of the book is great, I am caring it with me and showing everyone. And it has even helped get me off of high-center and finish this house. I am even gearing up for the next one. I love the stories...

Here's to all the Jane's!!!

Catherine"

It sounds like she'll definitely be getting to use her pink tool belt a lot!

Arlene is empowered!

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:37:22 GMT

In our book we've highlighted women from all over the country of different ages and ethnicities to show that every woman can Be Jane. I have had the pleasure of speaking with all of these women numerous times and am loving the emails I've been getting from them regarding the book. Here's one I just received from Arlene Hofmann (see her picture below!):

"This book may have given me too much empowerment! I started taking out the wall around my bath tub in order to replace it w/ a standard fit shower. The drywall wasn't green board so around the taps it was gone!

Rest of it is in good shape, I'm removing the tiles in places so I can get the saws-all in and take the walls out in chunks. I'm going to share this remodel w/ rest of the Janes and maybe they can support me.

I sure am glad you and Eden turned plain Jane into Empowered Jane!

Thanks. Arlene"

No more talking down to this Jane...

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:09:26 GMT

When we first started writing this book, we began by interviewing women from all over to tell us about their different experiences doing home improvement. Cris was a woman who never would have expected she would have gone back to school but she is now in an intensive program for interior design (you go girl!). I thought you would get a kick out of a recent email she sent me:

Heidi,

Thank you again for letting me take part in the book. It’s nice to be an inspiration to others. I think the book is an excellent way to let women know that it is alright to do and like home improvement projects. Also they are not strange or weird, which is the reaction you get a lot of times from family, friends and the male community. I don’t know how many times I have been talked down to in the hardware store….the funny thing is I know more about tools than half the men I deal with. Hopefully the book will help others be a little more open minded. Good luck and wishing you great success.

Yours in home improvement,

Cris Willig

Our book is out!!

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:34:25 GMT

Our book is finally out! It came out on the 26th and starting today it's supposed to be on the front tables at B&N!! How exciting?!?! I think I am going to have to find a Barnes and Noble today!!

Our book is almost out!!

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:48:59 GMT

We've been getting ready for our book's release (called Be Jane's Guide to Home Empowerment) which happens on the 26th of December for quite some time now. What's really neat about it is the fact that even though it's a book written by Eden and I, we wanted this to be a book about every woman who's taken on home improvement. So we added as we call Jane Profiles that are interspersed throughout the book. These are brief interviews with women who do varying levels of home improvement, that are from different areas of the country as well as are different age ranges.

In the last week I've been emailing them and they are so excited to hear that the book is finally coming out. Many of them had actually given up on their being in it as they were originally interviewed well over a year ago. Over the next few weeks you may even see them in your local paper as we have already received requests to interview them!

I can imagine that it's always exciting putting out your first book but this seems even more special knowing that it's not just Eden's and my book, it's a book that we get to share with over 20 other women!

If you want to check it out, just click here.

Great email from one of the Janes in our book...

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 19:04:31 GMT

I just got a great email from one of the Janes featured in our book. Cris loved to do home improvement so much that she decided to go back to school to become an interior decorator and she's swamped right now.

Heidi, thank you for the up date on the book. I am so sorry I haven’t had a chance to visit the site but I am in the semester from you know where. In the past week I have had a total of about 3 hour of sleep every night. Tonight I have to pull an all nighter. Never thought I’d say that at 50. Though my heart misses home improvement. I took a 30 min break from school and hung out at the local Home Depot. Ahh, the smell of tools and home improvement.

Take care,

Cris