Socially savvy, fashion-forward Chicago-based writer mizChartreuse lives for the laughs.

I’m Charlotte Nyirenda-Mutesha by birth, but you can call me mizChartreuse. Or Char, or Char-Char, or Chartreusey, or Egomaniacal/Dissociative Bitch who Judges People by Their Looks and Astrological Signs (Gemini here). I’m a writer, storyteller, and recovering journalism student, and that’s pretty much all I care about. That, and vodka, or a nice sauvignon blanc.

The purpose of this site is to bring the “BOOM! Hilariousness Bomb” on the regular with self-deprecating tales, obnoxious opinions, and stories that encourage, inspire and entertain. In the pages of this website you’ll find stories about my frequent misadventures, unique viewpoints, and ridiculous observations of society and pop culture.

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My Story

I was born in Michigan. My parents were born, raised, married, and educated in Zambia, Africa until my father came to the States to finish his Master’s Degree, subsequently having me, the firstborn. Can you say Culture Shock? In my younger days, sleepovers were forbidden, I couldn’t be a cheerleader because my dad thought they were all sluts, and my sister, Chloe, and I mastered the art of imitating our parents’ accents.

Up through high school I lived in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago. I spent a year studying Instant Messaging with minors in Acoustic Guitar Playing and Mozzarella Cheese Stick Eating at Northern Illinois University. Apparently those studies weren’t part of the academic curriculum, so I went home and got a job as Front Desk Cute Girl at Sam Ash Music in Buffalo Grove.

At 18, I ran away from the madhouse home to Chicago to live with my best friend with whom my father assumed I was having a lesbian relationship. I left the church I’d attended for years, much to the chagrin of my God-fearing mother who had put Chloe and I in a Christian school for the elementary grades. Meh.

I attended Palatine’s William Rainey Harper College for two years studying Business Administration and Marketing, then went to Dominican University for journalism school, mastering the ins and outs of the industry and studying abroad in Africa.

It wasn’t until I’d racked up a nice average of $80,000 (give or take) worth of college education that I realized that journalism and the media suck. I didn’t want to be a slave to the Chicago Tribune for 13 hours a day only to make $20K annually. I didn’t want to be told to go to Obama’s Election Night celebration on Michigan Avenue and not be able to show any emotion. I respect dissenters, but being creatively restricted is just not my bag.

After all my tumultuous adventures and lessons learned the hard way, one thing has always remained: my love for writing.

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The Freelance Writing Era

Basically anything that requires a pen/paper/parchment/keyboard/the Internet/typewriter to produce.

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Life is short; why not make it one big joke? It makes the day-to-day dramz much easier to deal with–and that much more hysterical. Don’t take yourself too seriously, live one day at a time, keep on truckin’, and do what you love above all else–the rest will fall into place.

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If you are interested in hiring Charlotte for your next writing-related project, contact char@mizChartreuse.com