Cathleen was born in Princeton, NJ in 1971 and lived there until she was twelve, when she moved with her mom moved to West Hartford, CT.

Her dad and mom had been divorced when she was two, and her dad lived in Williamstown, MA. She spent summers and school vacations with him.

She went to college in New York, at Barnard, and stayed in New York after she graduated. She worked as a newspaper reporter for three months, as a salesperson for a multimedia publisher for three years, and as a market researcher, and finally a copywriter.

She's married and have two kids ages two and five. She lived in Manhattan for sixteen years, but now lives in Brooklyn, living downstairs from her sister and her family. She has two dogs named Oscar and Oprah.