To be honest, my first magazine was probably Highlights, a kids magazine that taught me about animals and letters and seemed to always have a hot air balloon, or something of the sort, on the cover. From there, I moved on to whatever my mom kept in the bathroom, primarily Reader's Digest, which sucked me in with its "Drama in Real Life" feature and the jokes used as space-fillers after articles. As I grew older and had my choice in magazines, I began reading RELEVANT magazine, GOOD, Paste magazine and Real Simple.
After reading plenty of national magazines and working for local ones, my consistent favorite is Real Simple magazine. It's simple. Really. Every time I get it in the mail, it sits on our kitchen table for a couple of days before I have time to even open it, and I just admire the cover. I can't think of another magazine with the ability to make me giddy month after month just by gazing at that cover. Maybe it's a vintage chair by a hanging red dress in a perfectly organized closet. Perhaps it's a shoe–just one shoe–and a handbag. Whatever it may display on a given month, the cover of Real Simple is always stunning.
And it doesn't end there. Once I'm thoroughly entranced by the front and finished impatiently waiting for an available moment, I actually get to enjoy the magazine cover-to-cover. I love the tidbits and tips that make me smile and then make my life a little easier. Really? I can store my jewelry in an ice cube tray? I can take a scratch out of a wood floor by rubbing a walnut over it, releasing its natural oils? Thank you, Real Simple. Thank you very much.
