re·cent good reads: valentine's edition

I love magazines! The people who say print is a dead medium have never met me. It is so exciting for me to see a new issue in the mail and retreat to my bed or the tub to dig in - the same is true for a good book; I'll take paper any day!

The flip side is, every so often, I outgrow a publication or two. As I was finishing high school, it was cool to graduate from ym (are they even still published?) and Seventeen to Cosmopolitan and Glamour. Shortly after that, I moved on to Redbook (it felt kind of silly as someone in a long term relationship to read articles on flirting, finding the one, and how to tell if he's into you!).

I'm only 27, but recently I've been having some growing pains with Redbook as well; I feel like I'm again stuck in a loop of redundant articles each month. While pondering whether or not I should renew my subscription when the time comes, a great daily deal came out for dirt cheap magazine subscriptions. I got Sean two of his auto faves, and as I'm not into high fashion, I went the Pinterest-inspired route and chose Good Housekeeping for myself (I feel old admitting this. My mom never subscribed but I remember her reading it and thus think of it as her magazine).


My usual Redbook and first Good Housekeeping March issues both arrived on the same day this week, giving me lots to look at over the weekend. I've noticed that I read less and less of the content in my Redbook, but I was happy to find that wasn't the case this issue. There were multiple pieces I was thrilled to read all the way through. I didn't read through all the Good Housekeeping pieces but still found some that gave me a fresh perspective on the mundane.

As I thought about whether or not anyone would care whether or not I shared a few magazine articles, I realized that all of the articles come down to the same theme of the many forms of love and the things we do for our loved ones, romantic or otherwise. So, in the spirit of this week's Valentine's Day, I hope you all enjoy these as much as I did!

Photo Credit: Good Housekeeping via dailymail

Good Housekeeping: my weekend with Heloise (p.137): This was my first issue aside from the occasional copy I flip through while waiting at a doctor's office. I get the impression that Heloise contributes to GH on a  regular basis. In this piece, a staff writer visits Heloise's home for tips, armed with her own messes to clean - personal and physical. I love cleaning as holistically as possible, so the article caught my eye immediately with photos of lemon, vinegar, baking soda, and the like. The piece kept my attention with more specific uses for the products as well as the personal perspective of the writer who clearly does not enjoy cleaning and admits that there are small conflicts that arise because of this between her and her husband.
Favorite Quote: "Housecleaning is not my life's passion," she says gently. "It's not even really a hobby. I'd rather skydive or ride my motorcycle. I just clean and organize in order to take care of the things and the people I love..."

Photo Credit: redbook.com

Redbook: Glamour is about confidence, not hair (p.70): I'm not huge into country, but American Idol Alum Kellie Pickler has always stood out to me. I recently read that she shaved her head in support of a friend who had cancer. This made me respect her even more. In this beauty essay, Pickler tells the story of her unlikely friendship with pageant winner Summer who helped her through her own personal trials and continues to discuss how she came to do the same when it was Summer who was in need. It's a sweet restore your faith in humanity kind of read, especially considering how self-centered celebrity culture is known to be.
Favorite Quote: "For a woman to lose her breasts and then every inch of hair from the top of her head to her lashes- that cuts to the core of what we consider feminine. I didn't want Summer to go through that alone. So I said, "Summer, quit saying 'I'm going to lose all my hair.' We're going to lose all our hair. And we're going to rock it!""

Redbook: The two sides of Pink (p.128): I rarely skip ahead to feature articles; I generally prefer to meander through an issue from start to finish. I made an exception this issue when I saw P!nk on the cover and the teaser "Find out what she did to get her husband back (crazy story)." Though we see many celebrity  splits coming a mile away, some break my heart. P!nk's separation from Carey Hart was one of those, knowing they had a long history and how long it took for her to trust him enough to accept his proposal of marriage in the first place (really, she told him no first!). As we all know, they reconciled and are now parents. In this piece, she very candidly discusses both their split and reconciliation (she was a brave girl!) along with their new life as parents. I really appreciated her honesty regarding the most vulnerable areas of her life, and the fact that in a society of calling it quits, she took a huge risk to salvage her marriage. We would be in much better shape if people even tried to follow her example.
Favorite Quote: "There was such a backlash about that song! "She's a monster! Poor Carey!" But I think anyone who's been in a long term relationship will understand. I have a sense of humor about us and I use it!"

Added Bonus: P.98 of Redbook has NCAA-style brackets featuring what matters most in relationships to both women and men. It is a cute read and fun for conversation with your significant other. When I asked Sean his preference between the final two options, he chose the winner, but when I started from the beginning, the results were very different and insightful!