Occupation: I’m a founder of Connecticut Country House, LLC and a blogger. My blog is ConnecticutCountryHouse.com. I started it to help people create a lifestyle that focuses on the interior and exterior of a home, to make it the best it can be, and to create an environment that creates a lot of joy. It entails decorating, styling, cooking, baking, gardening, and entertaining. I was the executive vice president of style and advertising with Ethan Allen, and associated with them for nearly 20 years. I left a year and a half ago to pursue my dream and give myself a new creative outlet. The 1767 home we own is my muse and a muse for my business.

Family: My husband Rick and I have one son, Conor. He is almost 16. He’ll be a sophomore at Newtown High School in the fall.

Pets: Fiona is our Cairne terrier, and Martha Luther King is our little black and white cat. We got her when Conor was in second grade. He had just studied Martin Luther King and that’s what he wanted to name the cat. When we told him it was a girl cat, he immediately said, “Oh, then she’ll be Martha Luther King.”

How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived here since 1992, and we just celebrated ten years in our antique home.

What do you like to do in your free time? I adore antiquing. That, to me, is totally getting away from it all. The home and garden things are also my loves. I write my blog and shoot my own photography for it with my iPhone. I love to draw in pastels, and I love to read.

Do you have a favorite book? One of my favorites is Leon Uris’s Trinity. Two other I really like are My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’Homme, and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.

Do you have a favorite vacation destination? Cape Cod. We go every summer and I love the fact that it’s an annual family outing. We got to Eastham. It’s great to just relax. Overseas, I think Hungary, where a lot of my parents’ families are. It’s full of love there. It’s a humongous group hug the whole time we are there. Rick’s family is from Ireland, and that is a magical country.

What is the best thing about Newtown? The people. It feels like Fairfield did when I was a kid growing up there. Newtown has a great sense of community. I love the local shops and the Labor Day Parade.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My parents. They taught me a strong work ethic. They came to this country with nothing. My father taught me to follow my heart and to garden. My mother taught me to take chances. She would say, “She who dares, wins.”

Do you have a personal philosophy? The Golden Rule is first and foremost — I try to treat others the way I would like to be treated. And, a little bit of kindness goes a long way. I think it’s very important that people feel good about themselves.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? Definitely antiquing. The other is a Hungarian tradition called Sutni Szalona. It’s slices of crusty bread topped with diced Hungarian peppers and onions. Then we roast a slab of Hungarian bacon over a campfire and drip it on the bread. This is the guilty part: it is so not healthy for you; so we only do it a couple of times a summer. But it’s so good, and it brings everyone together outside to take part in it.