How long have you been married? Kerry and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary in April.
How many children do you have? We have one daughter, Julia, who’s 2 ½.
How do you enjoy spending time with your family? The usual—dinners out (after a brief spell of not-great behavior, Julia’s back to being a charmer in restaurants), taking walks, playing outside when the weather’s nice. During the summers, we spend our weekends at the Jersey shore (which is where my husband and I met) or at our town pool. Lately, my favorite moments are weekend mornings (albeit starting earlier than I would like) when we all watch one of my daughter’s shows in bed before starting the day.
What do you and your husband enjoy doing together? (Please, don’t share too much!) These days, our social life is based around TV. We bond over watching DVDs of shows that everyone else caught on to ages ago. We just got through seasons 1-3 of The Office (I resisted because I loved the British version so much) and now we’re almost finished with season 1 of Friday Night Lights.
What is your favorite vacation spot? My all-time favorite vacation ever was our honeymoon to Maui and Kauai. But for a vacation we can regularly replicate, it’s Cape May, a gorgeous seaside town at the southernmost tip of New Jersey. We rent a condo there each summer, and occasionally treat ourselves to a child-free getaway at a B&B.
Who’s your favorite movie or TV star? I had a crush on Matt Dillon when I was in 6th grade and I think I picked pretty well—he’s still hot. I also think Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano is the best actress of all time.
How about your favorite movie?
Nostalgia picks: Sixteen Candles, She’s Having a Baby
Dramas: You Can Count On Me, Before Sunrise
Classic comedies: Ace Ventura, The Money Pit
What are three to five books that you’ll always keep on your shelf? Can you share why?
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (my all-time favorite book)
- My dog-eared, scribbled-all-over copies of 1993 Let’s Go: Britain & Ireland and Let’s Go Europe (I never want to forget the hilarious little details of my post-college backpacking trip, and those books almost serve as journals)
- Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson (on a related note, this is an hysterical account of Bryson’s post-college backpacking trip)
- Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care (it tells you just about everything you need to know)
Which three books would you add to any child’s library?
- Rabbit Pie by Penny Ives (sooo sweet)
- Little Pea by Amy Rosenthal (great illustrations and funny message)
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (I have a thing for monkeys, and my daughter loves imitating the “Tsz, tsz, tsz” sounds they make in the story)
How do you spend your days? I’m the executive editor of two magazines in New York City. I leave the house by 7:15am and try to get home by 6:30pm. I love my job—and it took me years to find one I could say that about—but I have spent many an hour cursing my commute and wishing for a magic carpet to transport me to and from NJ.
Why do you do what you do? I love words, l love writing, I love magazines, I love editing, I love working with writers, I love helping to shape ideas, and I love the personalities of my colleagues and the friends I’ve made in my industry.
What’s a job you think you might have enjoyed doing, if you had pursued a different path? Why? If there were a practical way to pull it off, I would love to write for a sitcom. I have an image of me and a bunch of funny writers sitting around a table, laughing as we bang out scripts. I know comedy writing is a really hard job, but I would love to have given it a try. Pretty sure it’s not in the cards for me, though.
What do you feel truly passionate about in life? I have an uncle and a cousin with disabilities, and I feel passionate that they, and everyone like them, are treated with dignity. I feel passionate that our country should offer better maternity and paternity leave policies (but I need to figure out a way to actually do something about this).
PC or Mac lover? I really don’t care. I’ll work on anything that comes with an IT guy.
