We’re jazzed Cathy Pedrayes is playing 20 Questions with us! She was one of our fav new hosts when she joined QVC in 2017! We were crazy bummed when she departed the Q in April. This girl is brain+beauty (Environmental Scientist anyone?) so no doubt she will have an adventure-filled future! In the meantime, enjoy getting to know Cathy more personally! P.S. #14 we can relate and #17 made us go awwww!

20 Questions inspired by Marie Claire Magazine

1. What should every person try at least once in their life?

Leave the country at least once. Traveling invites you to experience life in different ways, try new things and helps put things into perspective. It’s been such an integral part of my upbringing and education that I believe everyone should have the opportunity to travel at least once.

2. What brings you the greatest joy?

I find joy in a lot of what I do but perhaps my favorite experiences are when I cook a meal for friends and family that they love. When I cook it’s a vulnerable experience for me, it’s how I express myself so a good response brings me the most joy.

3. What brings you the greatest satisfaction?

Fostering. Currently I’ve fostered 28 dogs which have all found homes. I’ve worked with dogs of all sizes, ages, have trained them, and rehabilitated injured dogs. It’s tough because the longer they’re with you, the more you get attached but it’s not about me, it’s about finding them a forever home.

Fostering animals has been ideal for me up until this point in my life but as I settle down I’d like to one day foster children as well.

4. What is the best advice you’ve been given?

It was in the form of a phrase- ‘Mas sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo.” This is something my grandma says all the time and it translates to ‘The devil is wiser more because he’s old than because he is the devil.”

It was often accompanied by unsolicited advice to which I’d respond, “I know abuela,” but the saying stuck with me. It’s a reminder that experiences are what make life and we never stop learning.

5. Who do you follow on Twitter?

@Betches and @dodo are two of my favorite accounts but I also follow a ton of news sources there.

For me Twitter is mainly about news and being a part of the national conversation when shows like the Bachelor air. I love reading people’s reactions and Twitter tends to be more sarcastic than Instagram and Facebook so I really enjoy the wit. That being said, Instagram is my favorite social media platform.

6. What is on your bookshelf?

A million cook books! America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated books are my favorite but I have tons.

7. What charity do you support?

There’s a lot but generally they’re focused on animal welfare, environmental sustainability, health, and children’s welfare.

8. What is on your bucket list?

To see the wildlife Great Migration in Kenya/ Tanzania. I love to travel and see animals in their natural habitat so for me seeing herds of animals traveling despite predators and terrain would be magical.

9. What is on your perennial to-do list?

There’s always a room that needs to be organized, a dish I want to try cooking, and a pound I want to lose. (The last two really seem at odds which is why they just stay on the list).

10. What are the last three items on your credit card statement?

Broadway shows – I LOVE Broadway and just got tickets to two more shows. One I’ve already seen but I have friends visiting from out-of-town so I’m off to see it again.

Clothes – Bloomingdale’s just had a huge sale and I’m a shopaholic.

Airlines ticket – Booked a flight to see family in Miami. I visit a lot.

11. What item in your closet do you wear the most?

My high waisted busted knee jeans and my white puma sneakers. I was a legging only girl for many years and while I still wear them a lot, over the past 2 years I’ve been obsessed with the distressed trend so it got me back into wearing denim.

12. Who are your heroes?

Early 1900’s women’s right’s activist Alice Paul and environmental activists Erin Brockovich as well as Rachel Carson. Their stories were profoundly influential in my life, helping to shape some of my interests. For example, based on that list you wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I was an Environmental Scientist before I worked in home shopping. The tenacity of these women taught me that anyone can make a difference.

13. Who is on the guest list for your ideal dinner party?

Howard Stern because I need the king of interviews to manage this thing for me and then I’d invite Rosa Parks, Eva Duarte de Peron, Ruth Ginsburg, Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin, and Jesus Christ.

14. What is your greatest indulgence?

Chocolate and shopping, but I think more often than not when I’m indulging it’s shopping. Tough day? Jeans will help. Great day? You’ve earned these shoes. Wednesday? You haven’t bought anything since the weekend, time to shop! That’s how it works in my mind.

15. What is on your nightstand?

Currently the book “How to Skimm Your Life” by my favorite newsletter TheSkimm, my cellphone charger, pens and a notebook in case anything comes to mind right before bed.

16. What quote do you live by?

You cannot control everything that happens to you, you can only control how you respond.

17. What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

It was a kit given to me by someone who had a crush on me in high school as part of a holiday gift exchange. The gift was a checklist for a “romantic night in” which included a romantic movie (the box was checked), a blanket to snuggle under (also checked), tissues to cry with (checked), and the last line of the list said “someone to cuddle with” and that box was unchecked. Inside the bag was the movie Love Actually, a blue striped fuzzy blanket and a little box of tissues.

It was so thoughtful and romantic, I wish I could say it amounted to something, but the feeling wasn’t mutual. Still that person gets the award for most memorable gift.

18. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I used to be a tomboy. I loved climbing trees, sports, and even shopped in the boy section because the girl’s clothes were too tight in my opinion.

19. What is your beauty secret?

Drinking lots of water, washing my face multiple times a day, and ALWAYS wearing SPF. I use a lot of products too such as 100& pure hyaluronic acid, anti-aging serums followed by moisturizers, devices such as micro needling but the one thing that everyone should do no matter their age or skin type is hydrate, cleanse, and protect.

20. What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

Confidence. I was extremely shy because I was afraid of being judged so I held back a lot and I wish I had been confident enough to just do and say what I wanted.

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