Find us online: DailyNorthShore.com
saturday august 29 | sunday august 30 2015
Glenview | Northbrook
sunday breakfast Illustration by Barry Blitt
North Shore author takes aim at Second Amendment. P22
SPORTS
social scene
Tyler Canning and the Glenbrook South football team ready for season opener. P20
Ali Wentworth entertains at North Shore benefit. P15
Follow us:
No. 52 | A JWC Media publication
NEWS
By JULIE KEMP PICK
A
She coveted a boutique— and now she owns one By Joanna Schneider
W
hen Karen Scott opened her Northbrook boutique in June, it was a lifetime dream come true. Kovet — spelled with a ‘K’ as a nod to her name — embraces a carefree, Southern California vibe while giving women an outlet to feel good about themselves, she explained. At 1036 Willow Road, the store’s swanky but laid-back atmosphere transports shoppers to a retail oasis complete with wine bar, West Coast tunes and a mix of relaxed and dressy options at a variety of price points. Scott, Continued on PG 10
Mom Susan Brown Burklin joins her oldest Alex (far left) and her three triplets Austin, Aaron, and Allison, who just departed for college. Photography by Joel Lerner.
A really empty nest Triplets go off to college, leaving Highland Park mom with unusual time on her hands
fter nearly 24 years of parenting, life has gotten suddenly quiet for one Highland Park mom. Susan Brown Burklin sent her youngest three children — a set of triplets — off to college within days of each other this month. That would be her special “A Team” of Austin, Aaron, Allison, 19, who also have a big brother Alex, 23. Susan’s world forever changed five weeks into her pregnancy when an ultrasound at Highland Park Hospital indicated she was carrying triplets. “I didn’t want to tell my husband over the phone, so I bought three white balloons and tied one to each bedpost. I wrote in black marker baby #1, baby #2, and baby #3 on each balloon,” Susan recalls. “When Ed got home from work, I brought him into the bedroom, and he saw the three balloons. He fell backwards on the bed screaming in a happy way. I took a picture of him and he looked like Casper the Ghost.” Once they were born, her biggest concern was how her fouryear-old son Alex would deal with the “onslaught of so many children coming in to the family,” she said. He had been an only child prior to the triplets’ arrival, so his dad spent a lot of time with Alex while Susan took care of the other three. Even when the three were
going through the terrible twos, Susan never missed a photo opportunity. She described how her house was turned upside down one evening when the triplets were left alone momentarily right after their bath. She left the room to answer a phone call, and “within three minutes the family room walls and furniture were covered with white baby handprints. They even slathered diaper rash cream all over each other,” recalled Susan. Before she put them all back in the tub and scrubbed their hair three times, she had the presence of mind to take a photo, still a treasured one to this day. Susan and Ed divorced in 2005. Later, when the triplets were 15 and Alex was 19, Susan got remarried after a five-year courtship. “They love their father very much and divorce is difficult for anyone,” she said. “My new husband Jeff has been very good with them, and they’ve adjusted well.” Teaching one child to drive is difficult enough. Susan described the triple crown of driver’s education. “Each kid needed a certain amount of hours, and it was an extraordinary time having to spend in the car with all three. We have had a white board on our refrigerator with a weekly schedule that they all have had to fill out. My rule is if you want a ride, you have to fill out the schedule, Continued on PG 10
LOCAL POSTAL CUSTOMER
ECRWSS Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Permit no. 91 Highland Pk, IL