nice rack

There’s a reason I chose the career I did. I’m obsessed with magazines. Have been as long as I can remember, starting with a coveted subscription to Barbie Talk in 1970.

From there, I quickly segued to American Girl, which has nothing to do with the country’s current doll-store obsession, but rather, was a magazine published by the Girl Scouts that I read on the carpeted floor of my elementary-school library. (I’m not sure how my Camp Fire leader felt about the infidelity.)

Then, it was on to Seventeen and Teen, which engaged me so thoroughly that to this day, I can still name the components of various beauty and fashion features from their ’77,’78, and ’79 issues. (And now, thanks to eBay, I own them all again, too.)

Growing up, I regularly visited my relatives in NYC, and decided on one trip—circa age 16—to cold-call the offices of Seventeen and ask an editorial assistant for a tour of their digs. I remember seeing that giant logo on the wall of the lobby, knowing, with absolute certainty, that my name would end up on a magazine masthead someday. Not because I was so special or talented…but because, for me, there was no other job in the world that could possibly come close. Just to cement this fact to the rest of the world, I made sure to include those lofty career aspirations in the senior edition of my high-school newspaper. (To be honest, it wasn’t shameless self promotion, as they asked us what we expected to be doing ten years after graduation.)

I did end up going to the University of Washington (majoring in English, not Journalism and Textiles, thank you very much). I did live in NYC with my husband for many years. And while I wasn’t the fashion editor of Women’s Wear Daily, I wrote for them, and edited the pages of many other magazines. Sadly, the penthouse still eludes me, as does Fiji…but Hawaii has been a sweet substitute over the years.

I tell you all this to explain why I currently have in my house no less than 14 magazine racks of various shapes, sizes, and configurations. And I always seem to be looking for new ways to display the monthly motherload that arrives in our mailbox.