October 27, 2009

Southern living, New Jersey-style.

When I read that Cottage Living magazine's former editor-in-chief Eleanor Griffin landed at Southern Living magazine, I had to give it a try. And the airport terminal prior to an eight hour flight seemed like just the right place to make that happen.

“We’ve listened to thousands of our readers and we know that the Southern woman is changing,” Griffin offers. “She is busier than ever and wants to cultivate her own Southern style in a new, modern way.”

Well I am busier than ever but in fairness the furthest south I've ever lived is exit 102 on the Garden State Parkway. And that's not exactly near the Mason-Dixon Line so I wasn't sure I was the right demographic.

The cover is sort of what I would expect:


And I mean no disrespect; it's the requisite happy pumpkins and autumn tones and floral arrangements of an October magazine targeting the ladies. But when I opened it up, I think I was briefly reacquainted with the Cottage Living magazine I loved (and still miss. Moment of magazine silence...). Cottages and bungalows and New Orleans, oh my! Be still my Yankee heart.

I learned how to root my rose bush clippings, and may actually give it a shot this weekend. And caramel pecan pumpkin bread pudding? You had me at caramel, and kept me at pecan, and pumpkin, and bread, and pudding.

But my favorite was George's bungalow on a budget:



Maybe it's because I can relate to him. George's collection:


And Laura's:


What can I say. The man has good taste. (And I should have bought those little Eiffel Towers on the street in Paris. D'oh!)

A lot of the magazines I (and all of us) read are no more so I'm excited to become acquainted with a new-to-me magazine that may fill part of the void on my coffee table.

Maybe I'll even start to say, "y'all."*


* I think I already do. Go figure!

22 comments:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Believe it or not this Brooklyn girl ahd a Southern Living Magazine subscription for years ( I liked its recipes!) and I recently let it lapse because it was getting stale. Now I hope they try to lure me back ...lol. I loved Cottage Living Magazine also, and if SL is changing its style to be like CL I'm all for it!

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

You KNOW that we are on the same page (literally, LOL) with this one. LOVE IT!

Phyllis @Around the House said...

I do hope the style of the mag. can freshen up...I remember looking at pic in Country mag. and thinking everything is so dark dark, who would live there, then one year, someone got on board and it was bright and wonderful...and fresh

j.cro said...

I'm waiting to hear your say y'all. I think I'll laugh when I do.

Janelle said...

Oh, I'm glad you wrote about this...I miss Cottage Living a lot, and it will be wonderful if Southern Living can take on a bit of that style. I only ever flip through it on the checkout line from time to time, but I'll start reading more carefully now.

Purple Flowers said...

I have seen those Eiffel tower statues - I think at TJ Max or Home Goods. Good Luck treasure hunting! :)

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Laura, I like the new SL a lot. I never subscribed to the other, but I would pick it up if there was a recipe or someone's house I wanted to see, etc. This one is much, much better.

And as far as being Southern, you don't get any more Deep South than the present company. I may live in Florida now, but I am from Deepest Dixie. So, see, we aren't all bobble-headed bubbas! ;-)

And if you remember that "y'all" is plural and not singular, you have it made. You can, however, say y'all to someone meaning the person and their whole family. What are y'all doing, meaning Mr. AND Mrs. Magpie. But if you're just talking to me, it's not y'all. If you get that down and the way to say praline as "praw-lean" (as opposed to "pray-lean") in New Orleans and the Deep South, then you are in like flint! Pralines were invented on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the people there and in NOLA say PRAW, y'all. ;-)

XO,

Sheila

black eyed susans kitchen said...

I haven't read Southern Living in ages, but you have given me good reason to go back to it. I really like Cottage Living...it stayed fresh and interesting and I was surprised by its demise.
♥, Susan

s. pearce feldman said...

i will always claim to be a jersey girl, no matter how many years i've lived out of state... i had a shameful moment the other day when i dropped a "y'all". i about washed my mouth out with a bar of soap! exit 98 would hardly know me these days...

heidi said...

Kudos to any magazine that's still in print!

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Well, ms. Laura, you just need to come on down South & let us show you around. You'd love it down here. So glad you liked the new SL mag too, you'll have to look at the Nov. issue with Pioneer Woman. Fun read & that plantation home is beautiful. And yeah, what Sheila said, she & I are both Dixie girls.

Thank you for stopping by, you're always entertaining & fun.

Blondie's Journal said...

Great, interesting, fun and totally courageous post, fellow yankee!! I subscribed to Cottage Living and when it went on mag heaven, my subscription replaced it with Southern Living. At the time I thought, "Don't they know there is such a thing as Midwest Living??" Well, now I know it has to do with the publisher. I could not believe howver, how fast Ms. Griffin remembered her Southern roots! LOL!!

Love the recipes and a lot of the coastal living features. And I love your collection. They look like trophies and in a vague way, bring back the movie Working Girl and that wonderful theme song by Carly Simon...

xoxo
Janie

Joyce said...

I have purchased their magazine at time. They do have some nice things to share. Have a golden day! xoox

Courtney said...

wow...I'm with you Laura, still mourning the passing of Cottage Living (sob). How fun that you got a taste of it in Southern Living! And George's bungalow totally reminds me of you! (Btw thanks for your sweet comment...I wish I could figure out a way to respond directly to comments people leave!)

Maureen said...

I attended an Octoberfest party at my neighbor's house (former New Yorker) this weekend, and when I said, "Good-bye y'all", he called me OUT! I can't even believe I said it. There is something about a Yankee saying "y'all." It doesn't exactly work.

Now, I do live south of that line, and I have for 26 years - YIKES - andI have subscribed to Southern Living for almost 14 years. I love the travel, love the gardening, and I like the food.

I hope you like it too. I TOTALLY thought of you when I saw that collection.

Sue said...

You were in Paris and didn't buy one of those tacky metal Eiffel Towers...I'm ashamed of you...and i havelived in the South for the past 26 years and finally subcribed to Southern Living....it has a nice new format and I guess I finally realized I don't live in Jersey anymore......so sad.

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Southern Living is one magazine I never subscribed to (I think I subscribed to everything else at least once over the years!). That's pretty cool that they featured a collection so similar to yours. What a trend-setter you are! :)

Maya@Completely Coastal said...

I go mostly online for magazine reading..., well who am I kidding, I only go online! Except for Coastal Living, since I get it for free. I'm a bargain hunter too (in that sense). So funny how your collections match up!!
There's another giveaway over @ Completely Coastal, am not sure though if it's your style, but you might still want to check it out.

Anonymous said...

I actually started receiving Southern Living in lieu of one of my many mag subscriptions that went defunct...and I'm loving it. I agree with George's bungalow-it's wonderful!

Liz Harrell said...

I might have to give Southern Living another try then. It used to be fluffy stuffy rooms and complicated recipes no one in their right minds would tackle.

Linda Lou said...

Being a magazine lover myself, I so miss Cottage Living, so even though I live far west of the south, as far as one could go without getting wet, I may have to give this magazine a try myself!! Happy Halloween Laura...

Lorrie said...

As a New Yorker transplanted to the South for 20 years I discovered Southern Living years ago and it's a favorite of mine. I hope you get many great ideas and delicious recipes from yours. After 20 years I actually do say "ya'll' sometimes now and it sounds perfectly natural!