Kutnick's Korner

Written in February 2017. Publishing now: As my 10 year old daughter inches her way closer to age 11, I can't help but think that I was just a few months older than she is today when I got my period. And, I am happy to report it's a different world in 2017 than it was in 1983. Devastating in that glimpse of a moment would be an understatement as I woke up on May 7th of 1983 to my new monthly visitor which was visibly my period as I peered into the pink ceramic toilet. I was only 10! I was about to turn 11 in July. I hid tampons and pads in my Members Only jacket. I was absolutely horrified. Nobody could know this. So embarrassing. Only my mom. Sleepovers became a challenge in that I had to hide my "products" deep in my overnight bag. Bottom line-it totally sucked. And, I am still scared by the memories of 6th grade bathroom horror stories. So, as a mom we are approaching this very differently. I hope with the organic milk and the lack of Vitamin D in the wint...

Written last July. I never published it, but I am about to release a bunch of blog posts I have never published..... July 2016: Yesterday for the second year in a row, BOTH of my kids left for sleep away camp. Last year I cried as my youngest (daughter) got on the bus, alone, new without any friends. I knew she'd be okay, but it just seemed so hard and sad and overwhelming as a mom to watch this unfold right before my eyes. Suffice to say it worked out. She loved camp. And, it was a very positive experience for her from 10 minutes into the bus ride until the minute she got home. My son, well he's a veteran. He has been going to camp since the summer after 3rd grade. He will be in 8th grade in the fall. Yesterday came. And, I promised my daughter that I wouldn't cry. I would remain strong. That I would be her rock. And, that she wouldn't cry because I would not cry. And, I succeeded. I held it back. Extremely hard for me to do this as I am a crier (I cried for th...

This blog entry is about my unhealthy relationship with food and how diets have created it. At 43 years old, I long for the day where I will have a perfectly normal relationship with food again. And, I say "again" because I didn't have true food relationship issues until post college when I moved to Chicago in 1995. I know if you are a woman reading this who is equally as screwed up as me.....you get it when I say that I know exactly what size and weight I have been for the past 20 years. Wedding day, pre children, post babies, first day of my new job. The year. Things like that. I know exactly what size I was. And, what I weighed. That's some totally Fucked. Up. Shit. For 1 1/2 years I have been obsessing about the way I will look at my son's Bar Mitzvah which is now 6 days away. How will I look in the pictures?  He has worked SO INCREDIBLY hard on this, and I in parallel have worked hard to put a nice event together. I also worked hard to have my Bat Mitzvah...

I was just sitting here at the kitchen table doing some work. Thinking about the fact that it's almost 7:00pm, and I haven't started dinner. After years and years and years of beating myself up, I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I loathe figuring out dinner. And, I loathe making it even more. It's not that I don't like to cook. I do. Give me an unlimited budget and unlimited time. Or, a holiday and I will have at it with pure joy and skill. But, on your average Wednesday night....after a long day at work...all I want to do is NOT make dinner. All I want to do is NOTHING. And, 12 1/2+ years ago, that would have been fine. Skip making dinner. Let's eat cereal. Except that now I have this job called  "mom", and part of this job is feeding my children with good nutrition and calcium so that they will grow. I am a planner in life. I am a total type A. I've been planning my son's Bar Mitzvah for a long time, and it's still...

I'm no Oprah....but I do have a list of some of my favorite "products" to share. .....here they are. Not in order: Kiehl's hand and body, aloe vera & oatmeal lotion. This is the best! I forgot how much I loved it-until I replenished last week. Great for hands, feet, elbows and legs. Won't leave you greasy or over scented.  Trish McEvoy black curling mascara. I've used this for 13+ years. It goes on like butter. And, it comes off with soap and water. You don't need to scrub and you don't need make up remover.  Senna golden brown eyebrow gel. Sometimes my brows get dull and drab. This product helps shape them and give them a nice color lift. I know it sounds weird, but it really is good stuff. Lasts a long time too! Skinceuticals Antioxidant Lip Repair. I suffer from chapped lips every winter. I have 10 different chapsticks, and nothing has truly solved the issue. Until I found this! It has saved me all winter. Doesn't smell. Isn...

I was listing to a podcast yesterday (Death Sex & Money). It was their 1 year anniversary episode and part of it was dedicated to capturing peoples' answers to the below question: "What has changed in your life in the past year?" And, I listened to what people had to say. Some fell in love. Some got married. Some got divorced. Some lost someone special. Some had babies. Some moved. Some were happier than a year ago. Some were now more depressed. But, regardless-nothing stayed exactly the same. 365 days is a significant amount of time to reflect back. And, then this morning when I looked at my husband and realized that it is June 12th....I started thinking about myself. Not where I was 1 year ago...but where I was 17 years ago. June 12, 1998. On Friday, June 12th, 1998 my then boyfriend...now husband proposed. Looking out at Lake Michigan. Dinner at Spiaggia later that evening. It was magical. I remember it so very clearly. That was 17 years ago. Today. So mu...

Just about a month ago, I said goodbye to the house I grew up in. I really don't mean to be overly dramatic about it, but it's kind of a big deal to me. Some of my belongings came with me to college in 1991. And, others have trickled to Chicagoland in boxes over the years. Yearbooks, trophies, collectibles....etc. And, very few things remained in "my growing up house". I always had a green and white stuffed turtle in my room. She sat wherever she was placed. Sometimes on a rocking chair. Sometimes on a shelf. But, regardless she was always there. And, truthfully, I never really thought about her all that much. She was an ornament. A part of my room. But, when I was in LA last month I confiscated her because she needed to be with my daughter. It's like I didn't have a choice. It had to happen. So, she got shipped home. I brought her to the dry cleaners to get fixed and cleaned. And, yesterday I picked up the turtle. I was literally beaming (the lady at the ...