Author: Stefanie Gunning

Native New Yorker. Brooklynite before it was cool. Wife. Mom. Voracious reader. Movie obsessive. Grown-up theater kid. Fervent supporter of the Oxford comma. I write about love, friendship, marriage, and motherhood. Surviving an abusive, narcissistic father. Growing older (and more courageous) as a Gen-X woman. Growing wiser, generally. The comforts of pop culture. Weird things I buy on the internet and occasionally regret. My ongoing quest for the perfect haircut, cashmere sweater, slouchy trousers, and cozy home by the sea.
Bookshelf, Let's talk about books, Uncategorized

Book Review: Lust & Wonder By Augusten Burroughs

Humble brag/disclaimer: I was sent an advance reader’s copy of Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs’s publicist. I received no payment for this post, but I am now so cool I won’t even hang out with me anymore.   I’ve been emotionally shadowing Augusten Burroughs since Running with Scissors was published in 2002. A chronicle of Burroughs’s harrowing, chaotic childhood, Running with Scissors made my … Continue reading Book Review: Lust & Wonder By Augusten Burroughs

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I am so smart, What and give up show business?

Crisis Management: Ass Division

About six months ago, I started a new job. This is my 5th new job in a decade (not including freelance gigs), and my 5th career since graduating college (including my stint as a dog trainer). I imagine there are people who organize their work lives in a much more orderly fashion, who choose a ladder and then climb it. But for me, “career planning” … Continue reading Crisis Management: Ass Division

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Seemed like a good idea at the time

What I Did Not Do On My Summer Vacation

It is, somehow, autumn again, that season of sharp pencils, cozy sweaters, and mornings punctuated by the noise of a certain screechy bird that makes me achingly lonely. The quiet endings and erotic leaves of fall once made it my favorite time of year, but as I get older I find myself drawn to spring, abounding with fluffy baby animals, bright green shoots pushing up through the dirt, and honeyed … Continue reading What I Did Not Do On My Summer Vacation

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Lady Business, Questions from readers, Sometimes I give good advice

How do you do what you do, every day?

I received this letter from a young woman who’s at the beginning of what I’m certain will be a big life in advertising. With her permission, I’m replying here. Dear Stefanie, What does a female need to do to have her name remembered in this business by the males she works with every day? I thought it was something like “work really really hard,” “do really really … Continue reading How do you do what you do, every day?

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Sometimes I give good advice, What and give up show business?

Nice Girls Do…Negotiate

I have a new piece up at LinkedIn, which is part personal story and a whole lot of advice about negotiating like bad ass motherfucker. I had been working at MTV Networks for seven years on the day my paycheck was too big. I hadn’t gotten a raise, it wasn’t bonus time, and I wasn’t getting reimbursed for expenses—but for some reason my regular paycheck … Continue reading Nice Girls Do…Negotiate

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daughters, fatherhood, fathers, motherhood

The Solid Ground I Walked On And The Safe Air I Breathed

When I was 6 years old, my mother and father divorced. He vanished like a sorcerer’s trick and she, until then a stay-at-home mother, went to work. She was very glamorous, dressing each morning in silk and wool, donning tall leather boots and statement jewelry. I had only the vaguest idea of what she did, but I imagined her as one of the career gals … Continue reading The Solid Ground I Walked On And The Safe Air I Breathed

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Sometimes I give good advice

Don’t Wear Shoes That Hurt

Today is my 46th birthday. It’s a surprising number, in its nearly smack-in-the-middle relation to the lifetime between 0 and 100, and its largeness (46? Seriously? That many?) although I’m not sure what age I think I ought to be. For years I mostly felt 19, and then later, for an even longer period, I thought of myself as 36ish. But this year I feel … Continue reading Don’t Wear Shoes That Hurt

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Let's talk about mythology, What should I eat while I watch that movie?

What Should I Eat While I Watch That Movie: G.I. Jane

When it comes to Ridley Scott’s G.I. Jane, we are a nation divided. Ask someone about this 1997 film and you are likely to get one of two responses: a dismissive eye-roll accompanied by a jerk-off gesture, or a fist-pumping “Fuck yeah!” Rotten Tomatoes supports this observation, where the movie earns 55% on the Tomatometer and an audience score of 53%. G.I. Jane tells the … Continue reading What Should I Eat While I Watch That Movie: G.I. Jane

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Emerson, Let's talk about mythology, Let's talk about religion

Heart of the Matter

The night before Valentine’s Day was going to be celebrated at my daughter’s school, I received the following text from my husband, Jonathan: Emmy bought God cards. Won’t give them up. Crying. Help. To translate our married shorthand, he was telling me that our 9-year-old, Emerson, had somehow selected religious Valentine’s Day cards, and now that he had discovered the fact he was trying to explain … Continue reading Heart of the Matter

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Seemed like a good idea at the time

Curiosity and the…Cat

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a working mother in possession of even a single hour alone in her own home will inevitably look upon some heretofore unremarkable object and think to herself, “Huh. I wonder if I could masturbate with that?” Such were my circumstances on a recent Thursday morning, when I found myself blissfully showering in an empty house, all on my own but for the company of my Clarisonic. … Continue reading Curiosity and the…Cat

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