March 30, 2015 10:45 am Meet Gabriela Carbonetti, International Mother of 5, Wine Connoisseur!
What do you love to do with your children? How old are they? And what is your greatest wish for them?
I have five children and one dog. Florencia is 24, Sabrina is 17, Lucca is 14, Francesca is 10 and Massimo is 8. Ciccio, our dog is 3 years old. I love traveling with my children especially in the summertime, or in the wintertime to warm places.
My greatest wish for my children is that they are happy, healthy and that they succeed in whatever they choose to do in their lives, never losing their humbleness.
When and where are you the happiest?
I’m the happiest when my children are happy and when they achieve their goals. In my life, I’ve been the happiest many times and in many places. I have certainly been the happiest every time one of my five kids was born. And we have been very fortunate to have traveled to different countries.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
My heart is always in Italy, therefore I would go there. But my passion for traveling the world would actually take me to many places. To me traveling to different cultures is very enriching in many ways and having lived in different countries has made me pretty open minded and appreciative of the differences in cultures and the wide spectrum of possibilities out there in the world. I truly hope I can always travel and that my children can get to visit as many places in the world as possible. To me it’s the best investment one can do.
Who has had the biggest influence upon you? And what quality do you most admire in a mother?
In all honesty, I do not have just one person that I can say has had the biggest influence upon me, but many depending on the circumstances. Nonetheless my family as a whole has had the biggest influence upon me in many instances.
The quality I most admire in a mother is the ability to perform different tasks at the same time and be the main source of harmony and support. And let me add one very important and maybe the most important quality, the ability to LISTEN!
What do you like to do for fun?
I’m a very social person, so I obviously like to be with people, be it at work or going out to dinner or movies with my children or with friends, etc.
What is one of your favorite books? Movies?
I can’t think of a favorite book. I have read a lot of books that I’ve liked a lot but I do not have favorites. In college I loved reading Shakespeare for example, but I also enjoy reading thrillers and tragicomedies, and also psychology related but I cannot name a single favorite one. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is one book that I enjoyed reading lately.
As for movies, again I have a lot of favorites. I love comedy and actually I could say that one of my favorite movies is The Hangover. I had always heard about this movie but had never watched it. Finally I watched it on a plane on a long flight (10 hours) and it made my never-ending flight way more enjoyable and it certainly took my mind off worries or stress. It’s a hilarious movie.
Besides motherhood, what other careers/opportunities have you enjoyed? What are your strongest qualities?
I’m originally a language tutor. When I lived in Argentina I worked full-time as an ESL tutor. Then when we moved to the UK I worked as a Spanish tutor. At the moment I’m not teaching. A few years ago I started getting involved in the wine industry and I have taken some wine related courses and I work at Val’s Putnam Wines and Liquors in Greenwich, CT. I love my job and it’s a fascinating industry. Still, I’m in the learning process and will be for a long time considering the immense variety of products out there. I am very lucky to be able to do what I love and to work with extremely special and utterly knowledgeable people like my boss, for example. I consider myself very privileged to be in the company of such a caliber of people.
What is your favorite type of food and what do you love to cook?
My favorite kind of food is fish, vegetables and pasta, the Italian style. And if I have to be 100% honest, I love it when the experts cook instead of me. I think that pretty much answers the question about what I love to cook (lol).
What is your favorite time of the day and why?
It depends on the day. When I’m with all my kids, my favorite time is dinnertime, because it’s the moment when we are all together and we can talk about so many different things and I can listen to them.
Where is your favorite place to Party with Moms and what’s your favorite drink?
Actually my kids’ favorite place is Sundown Saloon. And regarding my favorite drink, I go through phases, but I have to admit that lately Prosecco and Champagne are my favorites. Then again I have other favorites like Caipirinhas in the summertime especially on the beach. But I really enjoy a lot of different wines, which I am very fortunate to be able to taste at my job.
