Confessions of a Magazine Mistress

I'm totally geeking out over my new external hard drive at the office. It's so cool!

At home facial from some NY big wig doc courtesy of DailyCandy.

Grandma Gogg's Strawberry Lemon Peel
Ingredients:
1 buff puff
6 wild strawberries (or other grainy fruit such as kiwi)
1 liter sparkling water
1 6 oz. serving of plain, natural yogurt
¼ of a lemon

Directions:
Stand in a sunny window for 30 seconds to warm the skin. Gently crush strawberries onto buff puff and, after testing on a small area of your arm, massage into the face for 30 seconds (microdermabrasion). Rinse liberally with sparkling water. Mix the yogurt and lemon juice and slap a thick layer onto face for five minutes (fruit acid peel). Rinse with warm tap water and apply a gentle moisturizer.

A clean house
Will Ferrell ice skating
Silly photoshop work
The return button
Design*Sponge
Justin.TV
Discovering Etsy.com
Letterpress
Not having to go to the grocery store
Pulling a wishbone with John
Molly on the stair landing
A refreshing walk

It's amazing what a difference having living green and floral elements in your interior makes. Flowers always add instant sunshine to my day.

Just one more reason to loath Best Buy.

Urgh.

The husband and I are looking for a vacation spot for early August (maybe June) of this year. We went to NOLA for our honeymoon and the Bahamas after that, but we aren't sure where to venture next. I'd say the new house will definitely keep us in the country and most possibly within driving distance.

Curious if any of you have been some place cool that you'd suggest. If so, please share.

Let's fall asleep to Dave's sultry voice and dream in honor of all we know, and everything we have yet to learn. I couldn't have grown more with anyone else, loved anyone else like this, be taken out of my element with such comfort by anyone else. Today I have a half decade of memories swishing around in my mind. The hardest parts to feel are the ones I thought I'd never forget. Good has conquered my universe and the starry sky seems so much more accessible now. We'll never be that innocent, that loose, that free again.

We've traded up for life and I don't often regret it. I'm spoiled with the good parts, the good ones of the mix - such beautiful people they are. I can count all five of them. Five beautiful souls who have known more hurt, more pain and given more to life and love than I've ever even considered. Here's to them and all the pieces of myself they've granted me.

So, I started a list of things to do before I'm thirty. Some things are big, some trivial. It just gives me a bit more purpose and it fit in nicely with my thoughts on how to improve the upcoming year.

Too much fun. Thanks John!

I lost a pretty significant sized post this morning. It was probably for the better since it was fairly negative and mostly me having a pity party over the whole house hunting thing.

Did some light neighborhood shopping today and some day dreaming in the local galleries. I could fill an entire piece of paper with the pieces I'd buy if I had the budget. Montgomery (and the surrounding area) has some great talent.

Wrapping the day up with the quest of finding a beautiful tree. Hopefully this will snap me into the holiday spirit and a much more inviting mood. Good day to all.

Since my freak-out last week didn't apply to my favorite IT guy, I thought I'd give him props for hooking me up with Quark 6.5 at home. This small installation has given my day a much brighter outlook. Instead of sitting in the stuffy office for 5 hours I can simply collect my files on my ipod (thanks again, john) and pop back home to work in peace and comfort. Molly said thanks too since my being at home means she gets to frolic outdoors in the 70-degree November weather.

So it looks like Thanksgiving plans might be shot. The long-lasting tradition might not happen this year and I'm sort of at a loss for what to do instead. I pondered crashing my aunt's in Tennessee before I remember that her in-laws no live in Georgia instead of New York and I'm sure she'll go there. The idea of heading toward mountains is still appealing. Only that would involve paying for a place to stay on top of the cost of Molly's boarding. I really can't see just hanging around Montgomery all weekend. A one-day feast just won't be the same sort of Thanksgiving.

So, thanks again to my wonderful, adorable, totally awesome, sweet, loving IT guy. Yep, we're married. And sometimes he cleans up for me - and cooks. What more could I ask for, really? I think I'll take him to see Capote as soon as it arrives. And you football fans don't forget that John's birthday and the AU/AL game is just two of the reasons for everyone over on Nov. 19.

THANK GOD AND EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN FOR TECH SUPPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My weenie dog is hurt. Poor little Sebastian the dachshund has hurt his back somehow. He's only seven-years-old and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. I thought for sure he'd make it to 10 without needing surgery or something.

Hope the vet has good news tomorrow. This makes me so incredibly sad.

UPDATE: Dad took Sebastian to the vet and the little fella escaped with just a shot and some antibiotics. He has two discs that are causing problems, but they aren't busted. He also had a fever. :(

For now he'll be fine. Although he's been temporarily banned from his float at the lake. He won't like that - it's only his favorite activity in the whole world!

At least we've avoided the $2,000-3,000 surgery for now.

I haven't even opened OS9 today. So that just means I haven't touched Photoshop or Illustrator or LinoColor.

Totally working the ebay karma this morning. I bought these Coldplay tickets during a special LiveAid sale for around $18 a piece. Then John and I decided we didn't care too much about going. So I listed them on ebay. There were lots of tickets being sold (with very little response) and our seats sort of sucked. So I signed up to donate 50% of the auction cost to the Red Cross.
Tickets sold for $75 or so. I made my donation and ended up recouping just about all my original cost.
Then the show gets canceled. I have a message that my card will be credited. I e-mailed the poor ebay girl and sent her back the full $75. Sure, I ended up making the donation out of my pocket in the long run, but it's what I would have wanted had I been on the other end of the transaction.

I'm lacking entertainment for the evening. Luckily my slump at work has aligned with my need of creative juices for other projects. I'm going to get people to Tavernfest with a picture of a wooden chair or something.

Just got lots of new software at work. Somehow I feel more behind the times than ever. Poo.

I can never sleep during deadline. I shut my eyes and my attempt at sleep is bombarded by type styles, page design, ads and corrections. Some people shouldn't watch scary movies before bed. I shouldn't look at other city magazines' websites. So I sit pecking away at these keys waiting for melatonin to have an influence on my system.

I went on an interesting shoot today at Chris' Hot Dogs. I was directing, arranging, moving this, checking that all during lunch hour. I guess my editor didn't make the 11:45 connection. That or she was going for the busy look. It's part of an upcoming piece, "20 Things Every Montgomery Should Do at Least Once." Obviously eating a dog among the grease and grime of this 88-year-old establishment is one of the picks. It's a piece I've really enjoyed illustrating. I've been playing with a lot of different typesetting ideas this issue. I even tried to pass of a majority-type cover but quickly had that idea shot down by the less creative minded. (Please pause for a tribute to the cover that could have been.) Dominant type is something I've come to admire in some of the publications that I go to for inspiration. And it might have a little to do with my obsession with the beauty of type.

Did notice yesterday at BAM that the plus symbol as well as a hairline rule on a circle have become popular among call out elements. They're everywhere - Atlanta magazine, the Backpacker on our coffee table, some city magazine I glanced at while at the store. There is a publication that has made me smile upon finding it on the rack in the last few months—Bark. Yep, it's about dogs. Those scruffy little guys and gals that make so many of our lives happier places. John swears my liking of it stems somehow from the fact that we now own a pup named Molly. I insist that it's all about the design. For such a specialized publication, they do a real good job of keeping a clean, consistent look. I bought one issue to aide in a redesign mock-up I was doing in attempt to land another regular freelance gig. I took it on the plane or something and ended up really enjoying the content as well. Bug off all you cat lovers! Dogs rock. You'd say the same if you saw the small, medium and large (hmm, extra large) series of canines we have chasing waves at the lake. You can't help but smile, even laugh out loud.

After the ink issues with the last issue (which I discovered after returning from a long, relaxing vacation in the Bahamas), I'm more nervous than ever about getting hard copies back into my hands. Anybody else a self-proclaimed critic that gets ulcers from wondering what parts of a project won't look as good as you thought or envisioned? I'm learning to let go, I promise. However, I am curious whether or not our owner finds it courageous or retarded that I've attempted (and damn near completed) designing and producing the biggest issue of the year almost solely on my own. I do owe the rockin wearymemory props for helping me out on the inside covers for the annual "Best of" section. She's got mad Illustrator skills that I hope to bottle and steal one night after she passes out at the 8.

The Shins are singing me to sleep. Let's hope I get there this time.

Made a day trip to little Brundige, Alabama today with my editor. She was doing a piece on the town and its reputation for being "Alabama's Antique City." So, being the slackass art director I've been since I returned from the Bahamas, I jumped in the car and went along for the ride. Seriously, I was taking photos.

After lunch at one of the teeny tiny town's two restaurants (a BBQ/Pizza joint and a meat and three), we pawed around some shops on Main Street for a while. Nothing too, too impressive, but a nice collection of stores if you're in the market for less expensive, semi-good condition furniture, glassware, etc. One shop had an amazing collection of old tobacco tins and medicine bottles. Those were NFS of course.

One hell of a place was CIty Antiques - Home of the Sign man (and an adorable, old black lab whose name I didn't catch). It reminded me a lot of Old Alabama Town. Almost shotgun-style buildings spread over a grassy field were filled with sideboards, old tables and mantels. Relics as rare as old gas pumps and telephone booths even existed in this collector's paradise. The overall feel of the place restored some hope in me that I'll one day have a place filled with treasures. Sure, I love Pottery Barn. Whose to say those things shouldn't go hand in hand with select pieces from the past. Not to mention there is a certain pride in replying "I got it at a flea market."

Man, I got to rambling. Guess I should squeeze in that we stumbled upon a bargain-priced art gallery where I picked up two small watercolors. To be perfectly honest, it was nice to get out of the office for the day. Tomorrow I'll be stuck in a hellacious meeting with the printer. I'll probably be looking forward to going home all day.

Today is one of those days you just have to wade through. There's nothing particularly bad about it. It's a Monday and I have very few concrete tasks to accomplish. There are things to look forward to beyond Wednesday. I'm dreading Wednesday.

One perk to working late (besides less traffic) is the beautiful sunsets that accompany the drive home.

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