The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/800610
makes you look good, and most of the time when someone looks in the mirror and they don't look good, I guarantee they don't feel good. So you have to go back and adjust and see what you're doing. This book is really exciting for me because it's a way to really talk about what I do personally, but I'm not the expert in the book. Even though I share what works for me at the moment, I'm constantly changing things because things change. But I have so many experts in the book because people bring so many different things to the table, and I love to hear what they do. You always see pictures of these cool, successful women and think they have it all together, but guess what, they're just normal, we're all humans. The new book is focused on laying a foundation for beauty from within, including the best foods to put in your body, yoga, and essential skincare routines. Do all of these tips and tricks come from your own philosophies? Well, I'm very curious. I read a lot, I search the internet a lot, and I work with a lot of really awesome doctors, and healers, and all sorts of people. So I'm lucky in that way that I get to do different things, and different things work. But I'm a searcher, I'll continue to look for new things. You've lived and raised your sons in Montclair and are now designing The George Inn, your husband's hotel, there. What do you love most about living in Montclair? Do you think staying in New Jersey has kept you grounded? I'm originally from the suburbs of Chicago, so I am not a city girl. My husband and I do have an apartment in New York City, it's a pied-à-terre and it's nice to have, but I don't feel that it's home. Montclair is my home; I love that my kids went to public school, I'm a huge public school advocate, and I love the diversity of the town. I love everything from the eclecticness of the restaurants, to the stores, and I've seen a really big change in the town since I've lived here. I moved here the day I got back from my honeymoon, 29 years ago. The food is good, and what I love most are all the really great parks and being outside. A lot of interesting people live there now. What are you trying to create for the hotel? What is your biggest challenge designing the space there? My husband and I both love to travel and we stay in some interesting hotels. We are not fancy people, we don't like fancy hotels, we like comfort and we like a good aesthetic. Working with the hotel is really interesting because it's going to be everything from picking or designing the sheets to how easy or hard it is to get a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. I want to make whoever stays there feel that it's as good as being at home, or probably even a little bit better. So style without having too much furniture in a room, or looking too bare. It's a work in progress, but it's been really fun. With so many new and exciting projects, what do you enjoy doing most when you have a spare moment to sit down and just relax? I actually like exercising, it's what I like to do and the more I do it, the better I feel. I go to this amazing facility in Little Falls, right behind Montclair State, called Parabolic. It's a strength and conditioning place. I go three times a week, and then the other days, I'm basically outside with a girlfriend, walking a lot—it's my social life. V U E N J . C O M 38 VUE ON LIFESTYLE