My Life in Magazines, 7 New Subscriptions, Career Fun Fact, Out in Atlanta

I think it's funny - I can look at my life in magazine subscriptions. I remember Highlights (hehe goofus and gallant) and then my "dark years" in middle school where i'd rip up Spin and Rolling Stone to make collages of alt rock bands. Then I bounced into high school crushing on YM and Teen Magazine. Then Seventeen, which led to In Style, Cosmopolitan and later Lucky in college when I got even more into clothes. Throw in some scrapbooking subscriptions to Creative Ideas around age 21. Then later, Shape and Fitness when I got into working out. Then Glamour when I found out "it's like Cosmo without so much 'find your perfect man' stuff", and Self - a little less workouts and more 'you' stuff. And now, here I am, at 28 years old, wanting to cook new recipes, organize my home and office, get tips on running a household and saving money, and see pretty pictures of other houses to be inspired and keep my love of decorating and home decor in tact. I just really think there is nothing like sitting around with a stack of magazines and just flipping through them. Obviously, I love to read. But with magazines it's like a different idea, product, tip, etc. on each page. I rip out pages when I see something I can use and file them - it may be something like the party central buffet I stumbled across in Better Homes & Gardens. I wasn't looking for ideas on how to do one, but I found it and knew I wanted one of my own!

I currently get Fitness and Glamour in the mail. I recently let Shape, Self and Cosmopolitan lapse and haven't missed them. But I'm ready for some more inspiration, and decided that magazine subscriptions was where it was at. I decided to subscribe to:

• Real Simple ($24 for 12 issues)
• Better Homes & Gardens ($12 for 24 issues)
• Good Housekeeping ($9 for 12 issues)

Well after I applied for each of these "deals" came up - basically lots of magazines and it would be like click here to add to cart.... so I got these too:

• Family Circle ($5 for 15 issues)
• Country Living ($5 for 10 issues)
• Cooking Light ($15 for 12 issues)
• Woman's Day ($5 for 15 issues)

Yes, friends. I'm a sucker. 7 magazines, 100 issues, $75... 75 cents an issue. $75 for a YEAR of monthly inspiration (some even more than a year!) - count me in! I'm ready to be inspired and find more ideas for gifts for my family, tips for my home, recipes and the list goes on. It's going to be like Christmas around here. And yes, I may not like all of these, but if I do you know renewing is usually cheaper than the first time around and even if I find one good, motivation tip it was worth 75 cents!

Q: Which, if any, of the magazines above do you subscribe to?

Q: Do you rip out ideas when you find them? Or save all of your magazines in tact? If you rip them out - then what - a filing system?

CAREER FUN FACT: It should also be said that I manage and publish a monthly 28-page magazine for my company. I'm the editor, I determine the pagination, work with design each month on articles, layouts, cover stories, photos, etc., and then work with the printer. When I was tasked with this role 4 years ago, I used magazines as my inspiration to revamp our magazine - taking it from 12 pages to ultimately 28 pages over the years, adding 'cover blurbs', revamping the masthead, changing the publication size, going "green," using titles that pop more even though, let's face it, it's internal content! (i.e. 5 Things You Should Know about our New 401(k) Program), ultimately changing the writing style, adding subtitles for more interest, developing a style guide, launching "ads" - full page and towers publicizing company programs and initiatives, etc. I got ALL of my inspiration from magazines - finding trends - what are THEY all doing and WHY aren't we doing this internally? If we want people to read OURS instead or along with THEIRS we have to at least pretend to look the part... then work on getting the actual article copy there - this was my theory and i'm happy to report in this slap-myself-on-the-back moment that the magazine has garnered local and national industry awards for IABC and PRSA . Also, annual survey results from employees were also super favorable- 99% said the articles were relevant, 93% said the articles reinforced companywide initiatives and programs, etc. YES, I can stay "in business." I LOVE magazines, and while the magazine isn't my only role (by far lately!) it's the one I look forward to most each month. :)

Back to normal programming! Saturday I got up early and did some stuff around the house, then hit up the grocery stores and cooked: 6 servings of chili noodle bake, 6 servings of taco soup,6 servings of brunch pizza squares, 4 servings of guacamole chicken wraps, and 6 servings of burrito casserole. Then I realized I had lost track of time. It was time to get ready and I hadn't gone to the gym - DANG! Oh wells, I showered and then we headed down to Buckhead to Ru San's. Horrible website but awesome location - the place is ALWAYS crazy packed. We had a party of 10 but since we got there early we got a table within 30 minutes. Dinner was fun - great to catch up with Mon, Andy, Andrew, LA, Frank and Katie. I also met a couple who was super nice - and our hometowns were close together so we knew lots of the same people! Afterwards, we hit up Smith's Olde Bar and stayed too late, cabbed it home and called it a night. Nice little Saturday!!

The ladies!

Ze boys

Me and Austin! (and my vodka + water + crystal light!)

The Blancos

A&A

Q: What's your (alcohol-based) drink of choice - if you have one?!