How old are your kids and how long have you lived in Westport? I have two girls: 1 and 5. I originally moved to Westport when I was 3 years old, grew up here then moved to NYC in my 20’s. My husband and I met 13 years ago and after our first daughter was born it was time to go the suburb way of life (we had then lived in Brooklyn for 10 years) and plant some roots. Westport seemed like the most natural move and it’s been amazing ever since.
What has been the most difficult age with your children to date? What helped you overcome the challenges at that time? I feel very fortunate that we never experienced the “terrible two’s” or major tantrum central with our eldest and our baby is just a doll. I’m sure I’ll get it all when they turn 17 😉.
What is your favorite family activity to do in Westport or the surrounding towns? I grew up on Compo Beach and it’s still one of my favorite places to be. Levitt in the summer for those amazing kid nights, Silverman’s Farm for apple picking, and Jones Farm for our annual tree-cut Thanksgiving weekend.
What was your most memorable family vacation and why? This summer we went up to Candlewood Lake which was the first time for all of us. The fact that you get this amazing piece of heaven only 50 minutes away was ideal for our little family. The house overlooked the lake, we had a Miss Pac Man arcade game in the house, and It all made you just stop to appreciate how lucky they (I mean) ALL of us are 😉
What is the best white lie you have told your kids? That I’m 25 😉
What is your proudest mommy moment? Honestly there are so many. Two that stand out that have happened this year….When my older daughter “graduated” pre-school and her teachers personally pulled me aside to say how thoughtful, kind, and smart she was. I was so moved that they took the time to address it (there was definitely tears.) The second was at her 5th birthday party and she personally asked to perform in front of about 40 people (adults + kids.) It showed me how fearless, confident and passionate she was in that moment.
What’s your favorite app right now- for you- and for your kids? We have always been fans of YouTube kids for the quick distractions when needed. For me, I’m loving The Local Moms Network App!
What’s your can’t live without beauty product? Lipstick. You’ll always see me in red.
What’s your favorite restaurant for a family dinner? A night out with friends? With the family it would be a tie between Bar Taco + Rizzutos. With friends, The Whelk.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I ran a daycare center with my sister in Texas at the age of 18.
What are you most excited about in life right now? Where our handbag brand, Welden, is going. There have been so many amazing moments this year, in particular our launch with Apple. We launched exclusive product in all US stores, Europe, and the UK and on apple.com. That was a super surreal moment and we’re still pinching.
If you weren’t doing what you are today, what do you think your career path might have been? Either a stylist or a math teacher. Random I know.
If you had 24 hours to do whatever you wanted – what would you do? Just 24 hours? That’s a tough one. Selfishly, I think I would take that 24 hours and have a day to just unwind: workout, selfcare and reflect on the person I was before taking on the most important job of being a mom.
What is your most marked characteristic? Outgoing/happy (and of course the top knot and red lips)
What is your greatest regret? Never doing the whole 4-year college thing.
What is one piece of advice you would pass along to other moms? Be engaged with your kids. They will thrive off your energy and it will help them grow. Give them the benefit of the doubt and let them make mistakes. Laugh a lot. And drill in those manners at an early age. You’ll sound like a broken record but it will majorly pay off. Oh wait…that’s a lot more than one.
How did you end up where you are now in terms of your job, or whatever passion project it is you might be doing? Very randomly. I met my business partner through her neighbor’s daughter’s ballet class which my daughter was attending as well 2 ½ years ago. We were chatting business as we waited for the girls and she told me that I should meet her neighbor (Sandy) since we had very similar backgrounds and she had just started this handbag brand called WELDEN. I took one look at the website and said “OH….I want to be a part of that.” Two weeks later Sandy and I met at Terrain, chatted about life, business and how we could potentially partner and here we are, two and a half years later. In my mind it was always meant to be 😊
