About Me

A school social worker by day and a mom by every other waking moment, I can typically be found laughing with my husband and two children, drinking room-temperature coffee, and enjoying spontaneous pajama dance parties just outside of Chicago. I get up early and stay up late to read, critique, and write, write, write! Even small, secret minutes can add up to amazing things.

(Loos rhymes with “close.” As in, you try to say it and I smile and say “close, it’s Loos!” and we both laugh, and now we’re best friends.)

Interesting Tidbits:

My young childhood was mostly spent playing dress-up and imagining grand adventures. Once I could read and write, a large portion of time was devoted to reading and writing about adventures.

I was struck by lightning while at an overnight Girl Scout Camp when I was 8! (I developed ZERO super powers but did have the special privilege of eating an orange in the cafeteria the next morning).

I have thousands of happy memories on the stage of my local community theater. Pictured below: yours truly starring in the glamorous role of Bilbo Baggins in a stage adaptation of The Hobbit.

I was Special Features Editor of my high school newspaper and once dedicated an entire double spread to mullets, including an original poem and old pictures of teachers. It confused a lot of people but I regret nothing!

I took creative writing classes in college and loved them. I would stay up late writing extra stories and go to office hours weekly so I could edit and revise before it was my turn to get feedback in class. It filled me right up and I’m forever grateful to those patient, thoughtful professors.

I studied abroad in Norwich, England for a semester and found the cheapest possible ways to travel to Paris, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh while there. I’d go back to all of them in a heartbeat!

I’m allergic to exercise! Really! If I don’t take an antihistamine before cardio and/or adventures, I break out in hives. (I’m really grateful for antihistamines!)

I’ve taken improvisation classes at Second City and Improv Olympics (iO) in Chicago and have had the honor of performing on stages at both.

I’ve been working since I was 15 and have worked as a server in an assisted living facility, a hostess, a barista, a waitress, a camp counselor (both day and overnight), a resident advisor, shelver at an engineering library, substitute teacher in a Child Development Lab, lead worker in a Crisis Nursery, administrative support in an emergency shelter for women, and as a school social worker!