Name: Cyndie Spiegel
Where do you live? Montclair
When did you move there? August 2020
Where did you grow up? southern New Jersey
How do you make a living? OR What is your everyday passion? I’m an author, keynote speaker, and also the founder of an online community and platform for women 35+ called Dear Grown Ass Women.
Coffee, tea or … ? Coffee, no question.
What’s your idea of a perfect weekend day? Sitting on the sofa next to my husband while wearing soft pants, reading the weekend New York Times, and intermittently sipping a hot cup of coffee from my favorite colorful ceramic mug; all while our cats play in the background.
What’s your favorite local restaurant? Raymond’s. It’s essentially refined diner food and it’s delicious, especially on a random week night when less people are there.
What’s on your nightstand? A large piece of rose quartz, a framed picture of my mother & I on my wedding day (she passed in 2020), lavender essential oil, several bottles of aromatherapy aura spray, and whichever book I’m reading in that moment. I am VERY serious about my bedtime routine.
What are you listening to? Two audiobooks: Finding Me by Viola Davis and After by Bruce Greyson M.D.
What are your current indulgences? Candles from Monty and Houss Freya and cashmere anything (erghm, everything).
What talent you would most like to have? Speaking multiple languages if we’re talking about things that are within possibility and teleportation if we’re not. I mean, having the ability to be anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice sounds dreamy.
What’s the worst-kept (or best-kept!) secret about Montclair? The worst kept secret is the Secret Montclair Facebook group with 17,000 members! What kind of secret is that?!
What do you hope they say about you at your funeral? “Way to show us how to live, Cyn. You really did the damn thing. Thank you for leaving us a legacy of living fully while honoring all parts of ourselves; the beautiful, the tragic and even the mundane. I am a better version of myself because of you.”