DJ Cunningham

Sundance 2014

Posted on January 30, 2014 by DJ CunninghamFebruary 26, 2014

180* view from The Montage Spa in Deer Valley

After six years at the Sundance Film Festival, I know it is safe to say I am a veteran of the experience from top to bottom…almost. I will let you in on the “almost” part later on. As far as the films, restaurants, shopping, accommodations and spas, I have this trip mastered. It didn’t start out that way our first year, when I arrived without tickets to any of the films and a deep fear of getting on skis.

With some help from the superb concierge team with Exclusive Resorts, who we travel with, I figured out the festival ticket scene and scored a great ticket package for the following year. You see, getting tickets to the films is a lot like getting into a private New York City school. There is an application process, a lottery that involved three different dates and then the final tickets selection process. It’s a tedious process that takes some thought, time and money.

Deciding which films to see is an in depth research project, at least for me. I learned after that first year, if you don’t put in the time to research the films you may very well end up seeing some total crap on the silver screen. For example, that first year I saw a film that involved two guys who were neighbors in LA. One was out of a job and enjoyed dressing up as a clown while the guy next door would spend the afternoons giving him hand jobs and various other sexual favors. The second centered around this couple in B.F.E. Alaska. On a drug enhanced ride back home, the woman in the film is decapitated by a mail box as she hangs her head out of the truck window while her boyfriend drives. I hate it when bad films happen to me. There is no way to get those four hours of my life back. A little research is a good thing.

About three years into this trek out West, I gave up on skiing all together. I really wanted to enjoy it and had dreams of sliding down the mountain in Deer Valley with my husband, stopping to take in the majestic scenery and then making our way to the bar at the bottom of the slopes and then hitting the hot tub. Sounds perfectly entertaining and sexy, right? It was for a while and then I realized that I really do not like to ski. I hung up my skis one afternoon and that was the end of my downhill skiing life. Letting go of this ski fantasty freed up more time and resources to enjoy the spa at The Montage in Deer Valley and more films at the festival. So in this one area of Sundance, I am not a veteran!

I highly recommend Park City and Deer Valley during the Sundance Film Festival. There are so many things for the entire family to enjoy from skiing, dining, spa-ing, shopping and just chilling on Main Street with the eclectic crowd of film makers, actors and industry movers and shakers! I’ll let the photos tell the rest of this years story. Oh, what to pack? The last photo is me in what I call my Sundance wardrobe wearing my Monclear puffer, Vince fur vest, Hudson skinny jeans, Manrico black cashmere sweater, Rachel Comey booties, Oliver Peoples aviators and Khirma Eliazov handbag. I wore some version of this the entire trip. As did just about everyone else in Utah last week! Luxury Travel Mom, Kim-Marie, often asks what I’m wearing, so I thought I’d include it in the post.

View to a Sundance Chill

Deer Valley’s majestic views from the Spa at The Montage

Pool side at The Montage

Spa time selfie with my sister at Sundance

Gangster inspired spa fashions at The Montage

Getting a Utah liquor law lesson. 1.5 oz limit on the hard stuff!

Bottle nipple that keeps it all legal

Inside Eccles Theater before “Hellion”

Do you know about the merkin? I did not!

Jeremy Messersmith @ascapcafe in Park City….he’s good!

Park City Main St. traffic jam. #mttownpeopleproblems

The Egyptian on Main Street

Chimayo is a favorite restaurant. Great cocktails!

Order a cocktail and a side car – i.e. rest of the liquor for a proper drink!

My Sundance wardrobe photo. Kim-Marie, you are welcome!

Dr. Oz and Avocados

Posted on December 14, 2013 by DJ CunninghamDecember 14, 2013

This post was first published at www.jonesboro.com under Southerner and the City.

Do you want to learn how to keep your vegetables fresher, longer? Yes, I do!

That is how my date with Dr. Oz started a few weeks ago when I replied to a casting call. The associate producer Patrick called. We chatted. And he gave me my assignment. I was going to demonstrate how to keep guacamole from turning brown.

The show aired today. I have not seen it yet though because I’m flying to Napa to work with the Feast It Forward team at Flavor Napa Valley. I’ll fill you in on this adventure next time.

The experience on the show was really amazing. The show is taped four blocks from my apartment on the Upper West Side. So the commute was a short walk. Once I got there, I was escorted upstairs to the dressing rooms where I met my fellow on-air companions, Johanna and Trena.

It takes a lot of people to get a show on the air. There were staffers milling around every where with clip boards, microphones, headsets, hairspray, scissors, food and human intestines! Yes, intestines.

As we were backstage prepping our veggies, I was standing next to a table where human intestines were being draped over a series of small stands likes lights on a Christmas tree. Turns out digestion was also a topic being discussed. I had to do some weird things as a television reporter, but I never had to handle human organs. The girl who was prepping the human prop didn’t seem to mind. Gross.

On the way back to the dressing rooms, I bumped into Barbara Walters. You see, The View is also taped in the same ABC building as the Dr. Oz show. I stopped dead in my tracks. She is a HUGE icon of mine. Unfortunately, I was rendered speechless and her entourage kept her moving along. My one-on-one interview with the queen of news didn’t come to fruition, at least not in person!

Patrick whisked me down to hair and make-up for some touch ups and a darker layer of eye liner. The wardrobe team made the final selection on my clothes, applied some double stick tape to my blouse and I stepped into my heels.

We waited back stage as the show moved along watching on a huge monitor. Once we were mic-ed up, we headed to the stage where Dr. Oz was waiting on us.

He was great! If we didn’t have a show to tape and guacamole to preserve, Mehmet and I would still be standing there shooting the breeze! He is much taller than I expected, has a great handshake as you’d expect from a surgeon, killer hair and dreamy blue eyes. I told him I was going to do my best not to get the two of us stuck in the plastic wrap I had to use on the guac! He thought it would be fun if we did! Luckily, I managed it just fine – for the first time in my entire life!

Dr. Oz read his intro and made a joke about making “it” last longer”. I laughed, but I think I might have been the only person you can hear laughing in the entire room! Who knows maybe I’ll be back for a segment on making “It” – wink, wink – last longer! We started talking about the guacamole and within what felt like 2 seconds, we were done.

The trick with the guac is to take any leftovers and spray it with cooking spray, like olive oil. Don’t even think about using PAM. Then place plastic wrap directly on top and try not to trap any air underneath it. It should keep the guac green. But if you find yourself with brown guacamole, chill out. As long as there is plenty of tequila in your margarita, who cares what color the guacamole is!

It was a great experience and one I hope to have again. Who knows? Maybe someday Dr. Oz will be a guest on MY show!

Keep up with DJ’s adventures on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth. She posts some amazing and sometime seriously mundane photos on Instagram. Yep, she’s a pinner, too. Follow her boards on Pinterest. DJ is a contributing writer for New York Family Magazine and Feast It Forward. She lives in Manhattan with her two boys and the world’s most amazing wiener dog, Leo – woof, woof!

Thanks, Dr. Oz

Me and my co-stars

Stripper Shoes at Saks and My Dad

Posted on December 9, 2013 by DJ CunninghamDecember 9, 2013

The day after Thanksgiving, I took my parents to see the windows along 5th Avenue. We worked our way down to Saks Fifth Avenue where we made a stop for lunch before seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. On our way up to the 9th floor in the express elevator, Corbin reminded me that while we would be walking through the massive shoe department, there would be NO SHOE SHOPPING! “Mom, keep on walking! We are here for lunch not shoes!” He is a smart 8-year-old.

After lunch, I wanted to get my Dad’s reaction to a ridiculously overpriced pair of Christian Louboutin Swarovski encrusted crystal platform heels. He is very familiar with crystal covered ‘things’ as a man who raised two daughters who were both baton twirlers and pageant girls. So things that sparkle always catch his eye – and so do the price tags!

I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story!

Now those are some serious shoes, D.J.

I should get your Mom a pair of these.

Yes, that’s $5,995.00

Holy S#%T

Lady GaGa houseslippers

Dad’s reaction to these overpriced ~~stipper~~ shoes was priceless. If only I would have thought to get Mom to try them on for him!!!

Compliments, Comments and Crazy Things People Say

Posted on November 18, 2013 by DJ CunninghamNovember 18, 2013

When someone pays you a compliment, how do you respond? Do you say “thank you” and return the compliment? Or accept it and marinate in the nice words? For me, it is a toss up depending on how the words land, my environment and my mood. And then there is also the issue of who is paying the compliment to me! Within one week I received the following compliments from two friends.

“DJ, I would be so proud to be your Mother.”

I was left speechless really, which is not a normal state of being for me!

And then I was told this.

“DJ, you’ve got the brains for business and a body for sin.” I still laugh out loud when I think about it. The words were lifted from a movie but none the less, I’ll take them!

This got me thinking, how many times have we just brushed off a compliment about your appearance or whatever from someone and said something like, “Oh, thanks and you look great too.” Or just dismissed their words because they made you feel like you were in the spotlight and you didn’t want to be. So, I asked you guys recently on my Facebook page what is the nicest compliment you’ve ever received? Or what is the craziest compliment you’ve ever been given? Here they are in no particular order. Oh, and don’t ask me for my friend’s name or number who evidently has some well executed moves in the bedroom. I’m not giving her up!

“Wow, she is blonde and has brains”

“I would take someone with hands on, real life experience over all the letters in the alphabet behind a name. I’ll double your salary if you will come to work for me.” I received this compliment after speaking at a national health care conference from an M.D. in the audience

After many years of marriage, I lost several pounds. My husband, who really meant no harm, told our acquaintances that “his ugly duckling had turned into a beautiful swan”…..hmmm?

Seriously

I was in line at Raiford’s (the original, years ago-a Memphis institution). I have never been a “thin” person. The African American guy at the door said, “ummm, girl, you thick!” I looked at him as if he had 3 heads. He clarified, “thick like buttamilk!” He said that was “a good thang!” Minorities have always been attracted to me, but I have to say that is one that I will never forget!

I’ve been told I look like Beth Hunt (KATV Anchor/reporter) “I watch you every night”….I just smiled and kept walking…and smiling! What a compliment!!!! –

“You don’t sweat much for a fat person.”

While dating my husband, “He stopped dead in his tracks, took me into his arms and told me I was beautiful.” It was the look in his eye that I’ll never forget.

“Your hair looks great! Is it a wig?” Said by someone air-kissng me at a luncheon:

No, it’s real!

“Are you a porn star? Because that was incredible and you did things I’ve only ever seen on film!”

“You could make a lot of money doing the stuff you like to do in bed.”

The power of your words can set a lot of things in motion. So, choose them wisely. And the next time some one pays you a compliment, enjoy it! It really is the small things that make the biggest difference.

Om Shanti, 80s Music and Bearing Right in NYC

Posted on November 12, 2013 by DJ CunninghamNovember 12, 2013

It’s graduation week for me. “Some one cue up ‘Pomp and Circumstance’, please”. I wrapped up my second story telling class at The Peoples Improv Theater last week. The class graduation show was a hit! And I shared my story, “Om Shanti Mother F**ker” that started as a blog post! You can watch it here!

My second graduation of the week took place on stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade! I don’t have any video of the performance. Call me a scaredy cat, but you just never know what is going to unfold on a stage in an improv class! As it turns out, the scenes were full of sex, twisted fetishes and bikini waxes! Think I made the right call on giving my camera guy the night off! I do have some photos as proof that the show actually took place though. And I passed the class which means I’m moving on to Improv 2-0-1 in December. Who knows, Lorne Michaels may decide he needs a southern belle in the SNL cast next season? Hah! I won’t hold my breath.

Improv Homies

East Hampton Off-Season

Posted on November 2, 2013 by DJ CunninghamNovember 2, 2013

After 3 years of living in New York, I finally trekked out to East Hampton for an off season weekend get away with the boys. I wanted to find out what all of the fuss is about. I typically leave the city over the summer but head West or go on a trip to an Exclusive Resorts location. But right in my backyard is one of the hottest vacation-getaway spots in the country.

For the get-away, our friends gave us their beautiful house on Swamp Road in East Hampton on the way to Sag Harbor. Our first stop in East Hampton was for a boozy brunch at Babette’s.

Babette’s was a hit!

She is big on the farm to table approach to eating. But the food is not what I want to talk about. It was the mimosa, the watermelon mimosa. Fresh pureed watermelon with a half bottle of Mumm Napa Valley sparkling wine.

Trio of yummy goodness

It was unique, simple and delicious!

Later in the day, we drove out on route 27 to Montauk.

You are here!

We were taking in all the sights, the deer and the water…and then a police car. We locked eyes, the police officer and me, and I knew I’d been caught so I just pulled myself over. He asked me if I knew I was going 60 in a 40 and I told him I didn’t even know what the speed limit was…kindly he let me go! Corbin, my 8-year-old thought it was hilarious!! My husband on the other hand, not so much.

We ended our first night in the Hampton’s at Sag Harbor at Tutto Il Giorno. It was highly recommended and frankly, I was highly disappointed with my dish. The boys out ordered me. As we were finishing up dessert, out walks exercise guru to the stars like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow – Tracey Anderson. She looked great. She was wearing jeans, a cropped brown leather jacket and her hair in a ponytail. She is a tiny little thing. It was cool to see her. I mean, I feel like I know her. After all, we’ve worked out together on and off for months now, on DVD, in my apartment.

After 24 hours, I finally tapped into the magic of the Hampton’s that everyone talks about. To me, for the most part it looks like every well kept small town in America.

Small town East Hampton

It reminded me in a way of where I grew up in Carlisle, Arkansas with all of the original old buildings. But the buildings on Main Street in East Hampton are home to Ralph Lauren, Tiffany and Co., Elie Tahari and Brunello Cucinelli.

Brunello Cucinelli Hampton’s style

Instead, The Big Teaze, City Hall and the local drug store can be found in the old buildings in Carlisle, Arkansas. But the Hampton’s are located along the beach and two hours from New York City! Big difference! The trip out was easy, especially since it’s the off-season. We are definitely going back. I’ll leave you with some of the photos I’ve posted on Instagram and included here!

Beach Cabanas

Running wild and free

Ka-Ching homes of the waterfront

Two thumbs up for the smile!

Super charming Book Hampton

Buying a Mom approved souvenir

Blue and Cream pit stop

Catch a flick on Main Street

Travel buddies

20 toes in the Atlantic in October

All good things must come to an end.

My post is part of Instagram Travel Thursday.

Green Beauty – Pt. 2

Posted on October 7, 2013 by DJ CunninghamOctober 7, 2013

Note: This was originally posted at Southerner and the City on www.jonesboro.com

One Love Organics

It is always nice to hear a southern accent in the middle of a room packed full of mostly New Yorkers. I heard a sweet southern drawl recently while at a beauty event I told you about in my last blog. The Night of Green Beauty was held downtown at the James Corbett Salon. Toward the end of the night, I had the pleasure of meeting Suzanne LeRoux, the lawyer-turned skin care guru, behind the skin care line One Love Organics.

We bonded quickly over all things southern and I quickly started quizzing her about her St. Simon, Georgia based skin care company. LeRoux stepped away from the world of law and turned her hobby as a skin care alchemist into a full time gig. Here products are made in America in small batches on St. Simon. What pulled me in and kept me engaged was the magnificent smelling Skin Savior Waterless Beauty Balm. It smells like the best orange vanilla creamsicle you’ve ever smelled in your life!

The balm is one of the lines best sellers and is a work horse of a product. It can be used as a moisturizer, cleanser, cuticle cream and even helps calm fly away hairs! You can also use it along with your mineral makeup for a flawless face finish. While we were talking I dabbed a little on my cuticles. They looked instantly better and well, smelled like a dream! This product has gotten a lot of press, too. LeRoux told me that when Rachel Zoe, the LA based amaze-balls stylist, recommended the product in her daily Zoe Report, One Love Organic’s website crashed from the massive amount of traffic! Not the worst thing to have happen to you, right?

I ended up buying the beauty balm. My main purpose was to try it out on my hands at night. I have been using it. It works and smells heavenly. But I’ve already told you that this stuff smells divine and here is why. It’s full of organic orange peel, vanilla, virgin coconut oil, oat and mango just to rattle off a few of the ingredients.

I took home a sample of Brand New Day Microderma Scrub and Masque. It has a grainy texture and is a fantastic exfoliator. I can’t use it every day but I do try to use it at least three times a week. The pineapple extract in this product mixed with corn starch and sweet pea extract keep my skin looking taught and feeling squeaky clean. The scrub also doubles as a masque that can be mixed three different ways depending if you want to tighten, moisturize or clarify your skin. I have had great results using it as a cleanser but have not tried the masque yet.

Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different skin care products with varying degrees of results. Once I hit a ‘certain’ age, I realized that I needed to be using the best pharmaceutical grade skin care products that I could afford. I’ve been very pleased with my skin. However, I have become more educated on all of the chemicals in the products I have been using everyday, some even twice a day. I like to think I’ve become more open minded about looking into the naturally derived and even organic skin care products, too. I would not say at this point in my life, that I could go all natural when it comes to skin care – yes, I’ve had some Botox – but I am at least switching it up a little and seeing amazing results without the chemicals and sky high prices, too.

I was not paid for this post and the opinions are 100% mine. Interested in learning more? Check out www.oneloveorganics.com

Keep up with DJ’s adventures by following her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook. She posts some seriously off the wall and sometimes mundane photos on Instagram @djduckworth. Find out more at www.iamdjduckworth.com DJ is a contributing writer and blogger for New York Family magazine and Feast If Forward. She lives in Manhattan with her two boys and the most amazing wiener dog, Leo – woof, woof!