1.How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
I have 2 girls ages 7 & 3.5
- How long have you lived in Short Hills/Millburn/Livingston and what made you decide to live here?
We’ve been in Livingston for 5 1/2 years now. We moved here from NYC because my husband (and yours 😉) works here locally and the reverse commute was becoming too time consuming for him. Plus we needed more space! I’m from NYC and my dream is to live there again when the kids get older!
3.Tell us about your business and what other local things you are involved in! And how did you get started?
I’m the Instagram Community Manager for my husband ’s family business, Capitol Lighting. They are a family owned & operated lighting retailer based here in NJ & Florida and they’ve been around for almost 100 years. I started managing their influencer collaborations as well as maintaining their social media presence about 2 1/2 years ago. In the last year my position has expanded to managing their new online platform where I search high & low and attain rights to lifestyle images of products that we sell. By attaining the rights to these images it is automatically syndicated to our website where customers can get a better visualization of what the products will look like in their own space. This has been very successful for us!
I also manage my 7 year old budding entrepreneur’s little business making custom bracelets & mask chains with proceeds going to No Kid Hungry.
4.Favorite thing to do when you need “me time”?
I’m so basic that’s it’s laughable! My favorite thing to do when I need “me time” is to get into my bed wearing my comfy fuzzy robe and pajamas with a face mask watching my favorite shows, preferably alone! 🤪
5.Favorite place for dinner with kids?
There’s so many places to choose from but we love the Ritz Diner & Panevino!
6.Most enjoyable place to hang out?
Is it wrong to say my bed again? Or maybe my car when I’m by myself? 🤣
7.How do you balance your career and being a mom?
I don’t think there is such a thing and if someone is saying there is then they’re lying!
You can do your best but some days are definitely harder than others and you’re only one person. At the end of the day as long as your kids feel loved that’s all that matters.
Also coffee really helps! So does an occasional cocktail!🏻
8.Proudest mommy moment(s)?
When my kids actually play together! It usually lasts less than 5 minutes and only once a day before they start to re-enact Fight Club but those few minutes are pretty blissful 🤪
9.Can’t believe that happened mommy moment!
How much time do you have? When one of my girls stuck a bead up their nose needing an ER visit to get it out. When she did it again and I didn’t want to go to the ER so I got it out myself with a suction tool! That was fun. The countless times I’ve had to pull over on a highway to change diapers in my trunk. When I let my 3 year old cut my hair in order to keep her from bothering my 7 year old during virtual school. I’m not sure what I was thinking but when these moments of desperation hit you’re not very rational and will do anything to stop the chaos
10.Best advice you have gotten from a mom?
Pick your battles! It’s as simple as that! I used to be crazy about my kids needing to eat all their meals and it would make me so upset if they didn’t. Now I realize they won’t starve to death so instead of letting it drive you insane just pick your battles.
11.Best piece of advice you can give other moms!
Take care of yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup so make sure you’re taking care of yourself so that you can also take care of your family.
12.One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
I speak fluent Russian, it was my first language and I came to the US (NYC) when I was 6 years old as a refugee. I was born in Uzbekistan and my family and I went through a 6 month immigration process where we lived in tenements with other refugee families. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are so it’s a very humbling experience to look back on when you need a dose of reality.