@BrunchWithBabs
‘The Internet’s Grandmother’ BARBARA COSTELLO
is one of social media’s biggest influencers! …At 77!
Photography: Andrea Ceraso
She’s a mother and grandmother, with decidedly midwestern sensibilities, who’s developed a huge following around her presentation of recipes, cooking demonstrations, and hacks for home and cleaning, and a seasonally-themed diet of personal, design, and lifestyle tips. Kind of like Martha Stewart, Ina Gartner, Betty Crocker, and Julia Child all rolled into one.
Her @brunchwithbabs has 3.8 million followers on Instagram, 4.2 million followers on TikTok, and over a million Facebook fans. More than Martha Stewart, and more than Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, and Emeril all put together. After the success of her first book, Celebrate With Babs, she’s just released Everyday With Babs, a cookbook of recipes and recommendations for practical meal planning. She’s been honored as one of QVC’s ‘Q50’ celebrating the most influential 50 women over 50. She’s represented by the powerful Creative Artists Agency and has marketing deals with QVC, Wayfair, and Birch Lane, to name just a few - which all adds-up to what anyone would consider a ‘pretty penny’.
…And she and her husband, Bill, who makes appearances on @brunchwithbabs as Mr. Babs, raised their kids while living in Ridgefield for thirty years, still live locally, and have just completed the years-long renovation of the old Basket House, on the banks of the Silvermine River, which they will use as a part-time residence and a ‘content house’ for all things Babs
.
… And Babs will always have the house perfectly decorated for all the Holidays!
[Floral Design: Longfield Farm]
“It all started at the beginning of covid, in April of 2020. Barbara’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth Ariola, who lives in New Canaan with her husband, Ray, and their four kids, Charlie, Ford, Scooter, and Willa, had developed a substantial following of her own around her account ‘Mrs. Nipple’, which mostly chronicled Liz’ life as a mom in Connecticut. Liz occasionally posted Barbara on her stories opining on something domestic, and her audience couldn’t get enough of ‘Babs!’…“I thought it would be fun to start her own account, and with a sheet pan recipe video, @brunchwithbabs was born! I’ve really been focused mostly on that ever since,” Liz shares.
“As my daughter was insisting, TikTok was just catching-on, cooking videos were a sweet spot, and I think people were looking for some kind of stability…and I’m pretty zany and I have a great sense of humor… By the summer of 2021, just a year after we got started, we had over 150,000 followers on Instagram and over 250,000 on Tiktok! …The rest has been, well…viral!” Barbara recounts.
“Liz saw something in me I didn’t see in myself!” Barbara declares. To which Liz responds, “I think the audience connects with mom’s teacher personality, and because she’s really passionate about everything she talks about. She has a real love of life and it comes across in everything she does. She’s educational and entertaining at the same time. And it’s really cool to see my mom doing something so exciting at this age, with such charisma, energy, and drive - really sending the message that women don’t ‘age out’.” The mother-and-daughter team kid about the balance of power in their working relationship, but Barbara says sincerely that, “I’m strong and I have my opinions, and I’m creative and have a lot of energy, and sometimes I just say ‘I’m not doing that’. But I’m the first one to tell you I wouldn’t be and couldn’t be doing any of this were it not for Liz. …And I have to tell you that I couldn’t be more impressed with the way Liz runs the business. She’s so sharp. And I’m even more pleased at what kind of a wife and mom she’s become!”
PHOTO: VICTORIA GLORIA
“People always ask where I picked-up my tips and tricks, and flare for all things homemaking,” Barbara reflects. “Well it’s really a combination of everything I’ve learned along the way being a wife and a mother in Chicago, Virginia, and Connecticut and, I have to admit, so much has been passed down from my mother and grandmother. They were both excellent cooks, could truly stretch a nickel, and had more uses for baking soda than you could count!”
@brunchwithbabs succeeds in gaining attention and a loyal following because Barbara is personal, warm, affable, and genuine. “People like me because I feel real,” Barbara discloses. “I am, online, the same person I am in real life… there’s no persona. I am just who I am. And when you’re watching me you’re part of my online family.” Her starting thoughts with phrases like ‘Oh My Gosh!’ and her still-obvious Chicago accent are not for effect. She keeps tabs on who in her family is a White Sox fan and who’s a Cubs fan - and why, and can talk about ‘dem Bears’, and where to find the best kielbasa or hot dogs on the Westside, with real knowledge and authenticity. “I was the younger of two kids. We lived in a building my grandfather owned with four apartments that my grandparents and my aunts and uncles and their families lived in. My grandmother couldn’t read, but she could bake, sew, garden, and do everything else, didn’t waste a nickel, and was the wisest woman I’ve ever known. My dad, who was born in Peoria and whose family had immigrated from Lebanon in the late 1800s, was one of seven siblings, and my mom was the oldest of nine kids in an Italian family.“
She continues, “I went to Catholic school ‘K through college’, graduating from Marquette University with a degree in Education. I met my husband, Bill, or ‘Mr. Babs’ as he’s now known, in high school, when I was attending Trinity and he was attending Fenwick High School, an all boys Catholic school in Oak Park, Illinois. He went on to graduate from Lewis University. Bill was the baby of eight in a big Irish family. …Liz is my youngest of four - and she’s the 42nd grandchild on the Costello side of the family!
PHOTOS: RIKKI SYNDER
“After teaching middle school for five years, I ‘took a break’ and went into business with the women in my family, opening up a fast food restaurant on the northwest side of Chicago, serving my mom’s homemade beef and sausage sandwiches,” Barbara recalls. “Then, when Bill, who had a long career in management with Bristol Myers, was transferred, we moved to Richmond, Virginia, with our first two kids in tow. …In Virginia, where Erin was born, I was busy being a mom. …And it was in Virginia that I fell in love with hand work, cross-stitching, and smocking dresses for my first-born daughter, not to mention the art of Southern Hospitality. I adopted the way they decorate for Christmas in the South, using all kinds of natural elements, like oranges and apples woven into wreaths and garland, and hanging a wreath in every window with the glow of a candle.”
“Then Bill was transferred to New York and we gravitated towards Connecticut when moving to the New York area because the housing prices and taxes were much more reasonable. Ridgefield was not only more affordable for us but more importantly an ideal place to raise a family. It’s absolutely beautiful and truly captures that New England charm. We lived there for over 30 years …and my kids so loved growing up in Ridgefield! We made so many special holiday memories there! Like our matching pajamas and the breakfast casserole I make every Christmas morning - that my kids now make for their families!” Barbara reminisces. “And when Erin and Liz were still little, I started a small pre-school program called Growing Tree, which I eventually built into a business with six teachers and four classes of twelve kids per term. And I taught pre-school for upwards of thirty years before I ‘retired’ in my fifties, and would help out with the grandkids, do some substitute teaching, bible study with friends, and my water aerobics!”
Three of my four kids stayed close to home right here in Fairfield County! One of my kids even lives in Ridgefield still, and Liz is just down the road in New Canaan… It’s so nice having everyone in driving distance and all nine of my grandchildren close by.
...Family is everything to me,” Barbara rejoices.
“We bought the old Basket House - which was actually first a Blacksmith’s shop constructed in 1830, before becoming a Basket Shop in 1850 - about three years ago, and are just now starting to move-in and actually live here,” Barbara says. “Before we could begin renovations, we had to raise the house two feet since we were technically in a flood zone. That really delayed our renovation timeline. And there have been many fits and starts in completing this special project. …But I’m happy to report that all things have truly come together in an amazing way - even more than I could have imagined. The Basket House is a gem. There are so many unique details in preserving the history of the home, like the hand-painted tiles of the backsplash depicting the history of the Silvermine area where the home is located, and all the lattice touches honoring the Basket Shop of years ago. And I love the plaque outside landmarking the house as historical!”
“We paid a lot of attention to the marble in the kitchen - and went together to hand-select a fabulous slab in New York from Beata and Agnes Stone Gallery, and then found an amazing local fabricator, Stone Resources, to bring our vision of an integrated sink and beveled edges into reality. It all makes such a difference,” Liz shared. “The handpainted tiles on the backsplash and around the fireplace in the entrance foyer were done by Katherine Verdickt and I feel like they add such a special touch to the house. Our designer, Moore House, was amazing - they specialize in historic homes and came up with lots of really incredible ideas, but also helped us stay focused and on track to the period of the house every step of the way.”
Barbara adds, “We’ve really put our hearts and souls into the renovation of the Basket House, and we’re really looking forward to the much anticipated ‘big reveal’...as the house is being featured in Architectural Digest this November! …So, after the long journey of rescuing this historic home, we’re really looking forward to our first leisurely Sunday just enjoying the house and sitting out back and watching the river roll by…and celebrating our first Christmas, with all our Christmas traditions, in this historic and charming home.”
“As far as content for @brunchwithbabs is concerned, we will continue our regular regiment of recipes, household hacks, and other homey and helpful hints for as long as I’m kicking,” Barbara reports. “We posted every day for the first two years. Now we tape once or twice a week and post about every few days. I work most of every day, but I thrive on it. We do a big set of holiday shoots every year, some special segments, and sometimes give more intimate glimpses into our lives, like when our entire family did a house swap with a family in France a few summers ago, or when we took all nine of our grandkids away this summer for some camping and wholesome outdoor activities at ‘Camp Babs’.”
“And we just finished up a big round of press for the release of my second book, Everyday With Babs, traveling to Chicago, Florida, Texas, L.A., and of course into town to the New Canaan Library for a book signing. Everyday With Babs is being described as the go to bible for every-night dinner. I’m so proud of this book and how it is really taking the stress off of answering the daily question of ‘What’s For Dinner?’. The recipes are arranged by the days of the week because there’s a rhythm to the week - with Monday being the most stressful day to get a meal quickly on the table, versus the kick-back feel of a weekend. It’s truly a delicious and unique life saver for the homecook! And it’s available for sale, well, pretty much everywhere,” Barbara offers. To which Liz adds, “Both of mom’s books have done so well… we’re currently working on two more, and I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve!”
Barbara demures when asked about her fame, but tells the story that, “When one of my grandsons was in the first or second grade, he got himself in a bit of a fight with another kid because he’d turned to the other kid and boasted, ‘You know what? I’m famous!’...and the other kid said, ‘No, you’re not’...to which he replied, ‘Yes, I am! Babs is my grandmother! She’s famous, and that makes me famous!’...That gave us all a real good laugh!”
“I’ve been on the Drew Barrymore Show, Good Morning America, the Today Show, and the Kelly and Mark Show, and I just did my first national commercial with Wayfair and Blake Griffin for the Holidays…to name a few of the big ones,” Barbara says, “...but the best part of all this is the way it makes my entire family feel extra super special! I love getting all my grandkids involved, and I’m just tickled when one of my kids or grandkids wants me to sign a book for one of their friends or, better yet, one of their teachers. …And I get a special kick out of how many of my fans are obsessed with Mr. Babs. He’s very cute!”
“And let me tell you that I’m honored when people come up to me, not just to tell me that they are fans, but to tell me that I remind them of their mother or grandmother or favorite aunt, that I somehow help keep them going or provide some emotional support for them, or that I’m simply a bright spot in their day,” Barbara reveals. “I always ask ‘how long have you been following me’, and ‘what is it you like best’, and then ask questions to try to really ‘meet’ each fan, if only for that brief moment. The feeling of connection is very powerful. I always feel like I’m talking with my extended family - all ten million of them! It feels like the responsibility of being a mom, and I always want to be there for them.”
As for who she would invite over to the newly renovated Basket House for an imaginary dinner party, Barbara quickly names Jackie Kennedy……and then she switches gears to where she’s always grounded, and declares, “My family. All the kids and grandkids. To celebrate the completion of this labor of love with the people I love most in the world!”
