Behind the Scenes with The Forgetful Wife

I always love meeting fellow bloggers, but what I really love is when conversation can extend past the business aspects of things and on to real life topics — discussions about family, relationships, dreams, and the like. Such was the case when I met up with Kate a while back, when she was in SF visiting family. I think we both met up intending to only have one glass of wine, but after two, we had to pry ourselves away and only because we each  had dinner reservations. We had a lot in common, plus, she’s just so easy to chat with! So honest, real, creative, interesting (and I mean that in the best way possible). Her blog, The Forgetful Wife, is no different — it’s a great mix of unique topics, original recipes, and pretty graphics. If you can’t meet Kate in person, trust, her blog is the next best thing. Get her BTS, right here!

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1. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
2. Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, USA
3. Thailand
4. Croatia
5. Tuscany, Italy

1. Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery – I’ve read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and absolutely loved it. This is the story of another one of the residents of the same Parisian apartment building.
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – I’m embarrassed to admit, I’ve never read this classic even though I’ve watched (and LOVED) numerous movie versions.
3. My Life in France by Julia Child – After seeing Meryl Streep portray Julia in “Julie and Julia” I saw something of a kindred spirit in Julia Child – can’t wait to dive in to this book!
4. The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well by Deborah Needleman – Decorating is something I’ve always admired but never had the chance to do until recently. I keep hearing people refer to this book as the “bible” of interior decorating and I can use all the help I can get.

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1. Hosting amazing dinners and brunches for my friends and family in my beautifully decorated home.
2. Keep running to support the causes I care about
3. Working from home on my fabulous business, whatever it may be, in a chic home office.

A major cause of anxiety for me has been that by 28 I still feel like I don’t 100% know what it is I want to do in my professional life. I’ve been extremely lucky to have the opportunities, experiences and success in what I’ve done up to this point, but I still circle back to – what exactly is my “Calling?” Figuring that out is a major goal for me. Fortunately, blogging has helped open my eyes to see different ways of doing things, as well as to people who’ve taken unique approaches to their careers.

Living in New York, I never had the time, or the space for that matter, to really delve into the world of domesticity. Being married and living in California has given me the opportunity to do the things I’ve always admired from afar, like cooking and decorating. I hope to get to a place where I feel confident enough in my culinary abilities to host dinners and brunches for my friends and family, and make everything from scratch!

Having my own shop has been a dream of mine since I can remember. In high-school it was a coffee shop/book store. In college an exclusive, fashion forward boutique. Now it’s morphed again into an e-commerce site selling a carefully curated collection of home accessories, books, art, stationery and accessories. As I mentioned earlier, working on the blog has made me see that this dream is attainable. Now, if I’m really dreaming big, my online shop would also carry a stationery collection designed by me :)

I was racking my brain trying to figure out a name, driving my friends and husband absolutely bonkers with some truly odd options. Then I started to really think why I’m writing this blog and what it means to me – the whole concept is that I am in fact a married girl exploring the world of domesticity but still have so much going on in my life, and so many other things I am interested in – so that’s where The Forgetful Wife came from, it’s not necessarily literal although I have been known to forget my own birthday (true story).

This is not a short list so bare with me. I am so inspired by people who take the road less traveled when it comes to their careers. Going out on your own is a huge risk. Bloggers who have turned their passion into a full time business (like my host today, Victoria,) and have also managed to develop such an amazing, accepting and nurturing community for fashion and lifestyle bloggers. People like my friend Jessica who runs What’s Up Dog L.A. – an independent dog rescue, who devote so much time, love and effort to helping animals have the happy lives they deserve. My husband who is the most hard working person I’ve ever met and so passionate about his craft (he is a very talented writer) And last but not least, my mom. I am constantly amazed by how resilient this woman is – Immigrating to the U.S. from Eastern Europe (I was 7), starting a whole new life in a new country, going back to school while supporting a family she still managed to be nurturing, supportive and fun-loving not to mention, having a killer sense of style while doing it.

The first is taking a chance on a boy (now my husband) and moving across the country from New York to Los Angeles. The move has forced me to do a lot of soul searching but has also allowed me to do things I’ve never had the opportunity to do before, make some amazing new friends (even though I miss my N.Y. girls terribly) and explore opportunities I never thought I would have. The second is running the Hollywood Half Marathon to raise funds for cancer research in my father’s memory.

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We are huge TV people, so family cuddle time on the couch with our two dogs Clementine and Noodle, catching up on our favorite shows is my relaxation time. A weekend getaway to The Parker Hotel in Palm Springs with unlimited Pimms Cup also does the trick.

I first started blogging in September of last year under a different blog name with my former business partner. When the partnership ended I decided to continue blogging because I really enjoyed/craved the creative outlet and that’s when The Forgetful Wife was born in the beginning of this year. I keep writing the blog because it’s become a greater source of inspiration than I ever expected. With every post I write I feel like I get a better sense of what exactly I want TFW to be. It’d definitely a work in progress, much like myself.

Thanks so much for having me Victoria, it was such an honor to be a part of your Behind the Scenes series!