About Ilina Ewen

Ilina Ewen is known as “Mommy” to two sons ages 8 and 6, affectionately called Bird and Deal. She’s a creative spirit with business sensibilities and a love for all things culinary. Ilina is a seasoned marketer with over 20 years of experience in branding, communications, advertising, and consumer research. She brings her quirky, candid style and sense of curiosity to everything she does. She believes in the power of community and spends her time advocating for causes that touch her heart or ruffle her feathers. Ilina is a lover of words and has an affinity for Audrey Hepburn, the Oxford comma, and Meyer lemons. She writes about her musings and rants at Dirt & Noise (home of the weekly feature 5:00 Fridays, where you can find a new cocktail recipe and the story that inspired it), TypeAParent, and Technorati. Ilina has also contributed to Foodie Mama, Deep South Moms, Triangle Mamas, and WRAL’s GoAskMom. When she has a moment to breathe, you’ll find Ilina building LEGO masterpieces, spoiling her dog, reading everything from cookbooks to Anna Quindlen, or trying to hit a baseball as far as her sons can. She received a BA in History from the University of Virginia and an MS in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University.