We are so excited to kick off our new weekly “Sunday Spotlight” blog series, featuring real, beautiful, talented, stylish, inspirational people who are killin’ it at life! Many will be active in the animal rescue community, including our incredible first subject, TV/film/theater actress Kate Loprest! If you can’t get enough of Kate, visit kateloprest.com or go see her in “Under My Skin” at The Little Shubert now until June 8.
Because the hand jewelry is one of Kate’s favorite bk&leo pieces, we are donating 5% of the proceeds from each piece sold during the month of June to NY Abandoned Angels, the organization through which Kate adopted her precious pup Georgie!
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…
bk&leo: Tell us about Georgie!
Kate: Georgie is my three year old Cocker/Cavalier mix. I adopted her 2 years ago when she was one – almost exactly to the day. I know everyone says this, but I could not imagine my life without her. I grew up with dogs (in fact, my grandmother bred black labs for 20 years) and always wanted one to call my very own, but being a gypsy 20-something actress in New York City was not the right lifestyle to bring a pup into. However, when I turned 28 and finally got my own place, I knew it was time. I started researching and ended up simply Googling “cocker spaniel rescue new york city” and up came Abandoned Angels Spaniel Rescue in Bayside. I contacted them, filled out an application, and started following their Facebook page to see the dogs that came in. Dolores, the founder, is really great at matching dogs to the adoptee’s needs and something told her Georgie (who was then, Hazel) was right for me. I knew the minute I saw her. She was surrendered by a family to Animal Care and Control in NYC and had only been there for a week but it had been traumatic for her and she had been spayed improperly the day before we met. She was so sick and her sweet soul was dampened but she looked up at me, crawled into my arms and told me she wanted me to take her home. As emotionally ready as I was, it was still scary; a lot of responsibility and I was worried I wouldn’t be a good enough Mommy for her. I cannot tell you what this dog has done for me and my life and my family and friends. She’s 17 pounds of sunshine. She makes me a better person.
bk&leo: Besides from Georgie, how else are you active with rescue/fostering?
Kate: After I adopted Georgie, I kept in touch with Abandoned Angels helping them out in any way I can – some donations here and there, spreading the word, sending them pictures of Georgie. The Broadway community also has an event every year called Broadway Barks founded by Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters. Every year, all the animal rescues from the NY area get together with the Broadway community to promote adoption. Needless to say, I post about my dog quite often on Facebook and was contacted to sing the Broadway Barks theme song 2 years ago! I digress – so I have been very vocal about animals and adoption. The Broadway lifestyle is very time consuming and I came to understand that Georgie loved company. I cannot get another dog because I can only travel with 1, so I decided to start considering fostering and a few weeks ago, it came to fruition when a music friend who is also involved with adoption asked me to foster a dog very much like Georgie. I heartily accepted! However, when I went to pick up the dog, she was being adopted on the spot so the adoption agency, In Our Hands, asked me to take another dog. A sweet female Basset mix named Bonnie. It was meant to be! She was so sweet and easy going and loving and she spent only a night with us before she was adopted, but it was such a giving experience. I am so thankful that I am at a point in my life where I can afford to be giving to someone or something less fortunate. One night with a stranger was literally life or death for sweet Bonnie and though saying goodbye is very hard, it makes me feel great satisfaction that for one night, that little pup slept in a warm bed 3 blocks from Central Park and ate a good meal and tried apple and cheese (maybe she’d never had it before) and, most importantly, got hugs and kisses and was told she was a “good dog.” Just yesterday, I said goodbye to my second foster dog, Lupa, who I had for 6 days! Very hard to say goodbye this time but some things are worth being brave for.
bk&leo: What do you do for work?
Kate: I am a theatre/TV/film actress based out of New York City! I went to the University of Michigan’s esteemed Musical Theatre Department and graduated with a BFA in 2005. Since then, I’ve done 5 Broadway shows, 2 national tours, created original roles in new pieces, and even been a recurring character on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.
bk&leo: What’s your favorite piece of bk&leo jewelry and how would you incorporate it into your style to make it your own?
Kate: Jewelry is one of my small passions and though I love the big, sparkly statement pieces, small, dainty, original pieces are my FAVORITE. That’s what I love about bk&leo. I love the thought of wearing something that embodies who you are and the custom nature of bk&leo’s pieces is exactly that. My favorites are the infinity ring and the hand jewelry! I would wear both in an everyday situation as well to fancy events. They would be especially beautiful in red carpet press events for “step and repeat”, as we call it.
bk&leo: Tell us something cool about yourself that we may not know!
Kate: I also have my own fashion plog. Yes, that’s plog with a “p” – picture – log. It’s called @ensembledaily and can be found exclusively on Instagram (follow me!). I’ve always loved fashion but it took me a long time to find my style. I think it should. People are ever-evolving beings and ones vision of themselves should evolve as well. A few years ago, I started getting lots of compliments about how I was wearing my clothes; how I put outfits together and mixed pieces and styles. A friend suggested I start a blog. I was afraid that people would think it was shallow and narcissistic and, being a perfectionist, it just wouldn’t be…well, perfect. But I decided to listen to my own advice about evolving and just start. If I didn’t start, I would never know. The plog is simply pictures of outfit inspiration and quippy comments about them. Either it’s for you, or it’s not but it has been a nice creative outlet for me.