Glamorous Tanja Dreiding Wallace, the granddaughter of legendary Boris Dreiding – the founder of the luxury skin care and parfumerie located in Zurich, Switzerland called Osswald, has carried the family name to New York City.

How fortunate we are to have this magnificent boutique here! Tanja opened the doors of Osswald in 2012 in Soho and has had major success ever since. Due to the highly selective brands they carry, clients travel all over the world for Osswald events. Some of the skin care brands include: Alpeur, BelleFontaine, Cell Premium, Cle de Peau Beaute, Med Beauty Swiss and Valmont.

I love the fact that the boutique offers men’s grooming accessories as well. Edwin Jagger is a favorite. Beautifully hand made shaving brushes and premium shaving creams are just a few of the treasures one will find at Osswald.

Tanja is an expert on beauty….and on her family! She delights in telling stories of how she loves to gather the family around the table and cook a sumptuous meal consisting of fresh ingredients and her imagination. Her family adores her cooking and her daughter is especially fond of her desserts.

Having the ability to run a family empire and spend quality time with her children is top priority. She is modest with a fierce dry wit and fashionable turned out at all times. Tanja is a true example of a working mom doing it all!

I will be spending all of June in Switzerland with my family and can not wait to see Tanja and her family there, in her native land!

We here at Old Fashioned Mom are proud to introduce Tanja Dreiding Wallace as our eighth Celebrity Mother!

1. How would you describe yourself?

I’m a mother at heart but I also love my business and I feel responsible for furthering the family heritage. This, of course, is also for my children. I enjoy being challenged and working hard – I’m lucky that I work in the wonderful world of beauty and fragrance! I love connecting with people, which is key for my job.

2. Please tell us about your children?

Georgia (Estelle Wallace) is almost 6 years old and in kindergarten. She’s super loving, smart, energetic, funny, emotional, loves sweets endlessly and is very interested in fashion and anything girly – she’s past the classic princess age though and identifies with female and male characters like Hermione from Harry Potter and Hiro from Big Hero 6.

Charlie (Charles Ralph Wallace III) is 17 months and the cutest thing I could have ever dreamed of. He’s very charming, flirting with ladies left and right – this is his favorite activity besides throwing balls, eating and sleeping. He’s also very energetic, funny, and super expressive with sounds despite not talking yet.

3. What plans do you have with your family this summer?

First we’re going to Sarasota, FL to visit Grandma Wallace and to take a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. For Georgia’s Birthday we’re taking her to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Then we will go to Zurich, Switzerland to visit Grossmami Dreiding and Osswald in Zurich – I’m trying to be there at least every 2 months. Lastly we will take a trip to Italy for the Pitti Fragranze perfume expo in Florence which I need to attend – we’re going to spend a few days in Capri and the Amalfi Coast first then the whole family will join me for the expo.

4. What is a typical day for you?

We usually get up at 6:45am, my husband Charles makes me coffee and brings me a cup, I go to Georgia and Charlie’s room and wake her up. Usually Charlie continues sleeping. After breakfast, my husband walks Georgia to school and I get on the computer and on the phone with my store in Switzerland. After the babysitter arrives we get ready and leave for the city. Often I come home at 8PM when the children have eaten with the babysitter already and they immediately demand all my attention. If she’s not done yet, I do homework with Georgia and at the same time play ball with Charlie. Then at 9PM my husband and I together put them to sleep, each reading books with one of them. On weekend days I cook dinner and we all eat together at the table. That’s when the children get to stay up longer and they always love to, then they sleep later the next day….

5. Please tell us your favorite family restaurants, museums, and playgrounds?

It’s a bit challenging going to a restaurant with little Charlie at this time – Georgia is very well behaved because we’ve always taken her but Charlie is not able to sit still yet. So we always go to restaurants in our immediate neighborhood because a lot of them are very family-friendly without being actual family restaurants. Georgia’s favorite place is called The Runner which has a very sophisticated menu of local, artisanal, and organic dishes as well as a wonderful wine and special cocktail list – so as adults we enjoy that restaurant too!
We often go to the American Museum of Natural History which is Georgia’s favorite and can be combined with a walk in Central Park afterwards. Also we love going to the Bronx Zoo, which is a beautiful park in summer. As far as playgrounds go the children will enjoy themselves wherever they are but Georgia’s favorite is the one close to our house which has a water park and several different parts to it, and of course this is where she has her social scene going on.
One thing I’m hoping to be able to organize for the near future is that Georgia and I can go horseback riding together. This was my passion when I was a little girl; when I was living in Switzerland I owned a horse and found that horseback riding was the perfect activity to help balance work and life. It brings nature into an otherwise quite urban life and we get to experience seasons much more intensely. I think Georgia would enjoy this too and it’s something we could share. I’m not so sure about Charlie…. (my husband took horseback riding lessons for our wedding so we could ride off on black Friesian stallions together – we got married on Blairquhan Castle in Scotland, very much a fantasy wedding – but it’s not his passion as much as mine and the little boy seems to take a lot after him!).

6. Traditions are so important, please tell us about your family traditions?

My father was Jewish (he passed away in 1992) and my mother is Russian Orthodox so growing up we celebrated traditions from both religions and mixed them with Swiss traditions. My husband is from an American Catholic family so now we mix even more traditions. The biggest celebrations for us is Christmas – we get a large tree and decorate it extensively with bulbs and ornaments which some of them have been passed through generations. In Switzerland we use real candles on the tree but in America we use the electric garlands. This is a whole family effort. On Christmas Eve I cook a celebratory meal – usually Beef Wellington – and serve the best smoked salmon and caviar with Russian blinis for appetizer. We bring out the family silver, white tablecloth and light candles. After the main course we sing American and Swiss Christmas songs and then the children get to open about half of their presents. This is because in Switzerland this is all there is to Christmas, it all happens on the evening of December 24 and children get all their presents that night. To keep the American tradition we tell the children that the second half of presents are from Santa and they get to open those the next morning.
The second most important celebrations for us is Thanksgiving. I always make a Turkey with all the classic sides (every year I try new recipes trying to outdo last years’) and Pumpkin Pie for dessert. On Thanksgiving we always invite friends.
The third most important is Halloween. We live in a neighborhood with blocks and blocks of old brownstone houses which are super decorated and are bustling with dressed up children and their dressed up parents on Halloween night. There are several street performances happening and trick-or-treating turns into an actual block party. We decorate our house elaborately with creepy skeletons, spider webs and orange lights and we all love to dress up very much (well, I don’t know about little Charlie yet but I assume he will too). Then we go trick-or-treating for a couple of hours then go home to pass out treats ourselves.
From the Russian tradition we celebrate Easter – there is always an egg hunt and if I have the time I make a Pascha – a Russian traditional dessert similar to cheesecake in taste but made from farmer’s cheese which is strained several times then mixed with eggs yolks, butter, cream, sugar and vanilla, then strained again in a special wooden pyramid pan and served with Kulitsch – a yeast cake similar to Italian Panetone. My mother always makes sure the children each get an “Easter Nest” filled with Swiss chocolate eggs and bunnies.
Last but not least are the birthday celebrations for the children – I think it is very important to make “their” day special and give them each a cake with the according amount of candles every year and a few special presents. We will have to keep this tradition especially alive for little Charlie as his birthday is December 20…

Osswald NYC
www.osswaldnyc.com
311 W. Broadway
NY NY 10013
212-625-3111
Zurich, Switzerland location: www.osswald.ch/