Kate The Misanthrope … With Hope?

Two members of my team came all the way from Florida to visit me this weekend. Team? Huh? They are the crux of the KBTVonline team but, hey, they are also my best friends. There are times when they refer to me as their “boss,” and I look over my shoulder and wonder about whom they’re speaking. Then, I’m like: “It’s me! Who knew?”

Kirsten Gundersen — the queen of art direction — and Rachael — my managing editor and definitely my better half — arrived on Friday night, and we had a fantastic weekend.!



I have come to believe, at the ripe old age of 41 years old, that loneliness and fear are my primary demons.

Meeting people and connecting is so difficult for me. I’ll be given a business card, and I promise to follow up. But I usually don’t. I’m not sure why though, because I love meeting people and hearing their stories. The checkout gal at Albertson’s, I know her entire life story. She doesn’t even know my name.

Instead of reconnecting with these men and women that I am genuinely interested in, I just return to my office and crawl back into my shell. Again, I don’t know why.

And it’s not because these people I meet aren’t interesting, intelligent, attractive, funny and scintillating. It’s not that.

It’s me. I’m beginning to believe that I’m like my father. (Which is terrifying, by the way!) He spent his life in his attic office. I used to call him Anne Frank.

All that said, moving to LA with no family, no friends, no staff — I had no idea how difficult it was going to be.

But it’s gotten a lot better.

Kirstin and Rachael coming out and bonding with Renato — my new supervising producer — and Dave Freeman — I call him my cutter, but he is really my Final Cut Pro editor — made all the difference.

The pictures tell the story …

Aging Out - What Happens After Foster Care?

Next week's Profiles in Courage webisode examines an interesting question: When foster care kids turn 18, do they graduate or just age out?


I'll be talking to a "wonder woman" of sorts. Her name is Liz Brown, and she's a powerful person making a difference in a lot of foster kids' lives.


Here's a peak at what she'll be talking about on my upcoming show.

Imagine yourself as a kid who has been taken away from your family and placed in as many as 10 different homes with adults that are supposed to parent you. Now imagine it's your 18th birthday and your most recent "parent" hands you a trash bag filled with your belongings, says goodbye, and sends you out into the world alone.


Watch Profiles in Courage next week for the first of a three part series on courage and strength of Liz Brown and the important work she does. Suffice it so say, Liz is one of my heroes! You'll see why in the series running next week.

Adventure in LEGOLAND!

So the next day we went to LEGOLAND! It was fascinating.

You know what? I have NEVER been to a theme park. Ever. Oops – that’s not true. I went to Halloween Horror Nights with the KBTVonline team at Universal in Orlando – but that has been my only experience. I went as Little Bo Peep – which went off pretty well ;-)



Legoland was completely different – it was art, truly art!

Let the pictures speak for themselves!

Exploring the “American Riviera”

Last weekend my friend and I traveled down to Laguna Nigel – I had to work – he needed a much deserved rest after completing a grueling deal.

I’m from the East Coast – and I am a New York City girl. So this part of the country is fascinating for me. First of all – I can’t figure out if anyone really works. The first time we were down in Santa Barbara it was Prom Night. And I saw all these young girls – dressed like they’re about to walk The Red Carpet. And I thought … huh … I think I wore my sister’s hand-me-down to the prom. Bummer.

This time we were at the Four Seasons Avaria, again, I was working, but it didn’t feel like work. Because this part of the world is simply so, so beautiful. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog – I went to LegoLand!

To be continued …

Palm Springs Pleasure!

I visited Palm Springs two weekends ago and had such a wonderful time. My favorite part were the … kind of awning spritzers … does that make sense?



Actually … the really best part was going to the Salton Sea.

The present-day Salton Sea? Historic evidence and geologic studies have shown that the Colorado River spilled over into the Salton Basin a number of times. That’s what has created this huge lake.

The other Dead Sea – the famous one – was created by a unique landscape created (together with the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River) by the great Syrian-African geological depression which occurred nearly 1 ½ million years ago.

My boyfriend and I arrived to find no one there. It was the strangest thing. There was one car in the parking lot – other than ours.

It was a gentleman from Sacramento State University – who is taking a degree in Parks and Recreation Administration. His name was Justin Bell – he was adorable. I think he was so thankful to see a human being to interview that he nearly attacked us!

See the photos below!