Louisville Magazine

DEC 2015

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/604902

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 10 of 104

8 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 12.15 INTER-OFFICE MEMO Illustration by Kendall Regan What's the best gift you've ever given? Third-row concert seats to see Santana for my parents, younger brother and me. Lynn Hafele Events and marketing When my BFF returned home from the hospital with her frst newborn, I sent her a week's worth of fully cooked gourmet meals. They were frozen and merely required a warm-up. She told me that was the best gift she's ever gotten, and that it probably saved her marriage in those frst few weeks home with the baby. Mandy Wood Advertising account executive I had to ask my husband for help with this one. He reminded me of a few winners. The largest: a full-size trampoline for his birthday. Super-fun on boozy, sunny weekends. The most impressive fnd: a record titled Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits. Mrs. Miller is memorialized on Wikipedia as "an American singer who gained some fame in the 1960s for her series of shrill and off-key renditions of popular songs." (I recommend her version of "Downtown.") We still spin the old gal for laughs. Finally, the gift he was most persistent I give: a mortar and pestle. Though he wants me to be clear he's used it for cooking, not drug-dealing. Anne Marshall Senior writer I made a dreamcatcher in third grade that I gave to my mom. It is a pink cardboard star with fringe and plastic beads, and it has hung by her bed every night since I gave it to her. Mary Chellis Austin Deputy editor My uncle has expensive hobbies, so it's hard to fnd a gift for him. When I was traveling abroad in France, though, I took a day trip to Normandy and was walking along the seaside when I found this little shack that was home to an oil painter, who had recently painted a pair of sailboats on rough waters. It was beautiful, and it didn't completely break the bank. When my uncle fnally got to open it, he said it was one of the most thoughtful gifts he had ever received. I was pretty proud. Taylor Clements Editorial intern My son. Mickie Winters Photographer Bringing my beautiful, sassy daughter into the world. Other than that, I kind of suck at giving gifts. Lindsay Flint Advertising production coordinator The time I spent my entire week's salary from three different menial jobs to buy a one-way bus ticket to San Francisco for the layabout brother of my college boyfriend. He had been slacking around our apartment for weeks, wearing the same funky jeans, playing the same fve Nick Drake songs on his guitar, contributing nothing except a lament about how he'd never be able to afford to go to California where he "belonged." So I sent him packing. I'm not sure whether he made it or if he ever returned, but it was the beginning of my true understanding of the concept that charity begins at home! Mary Welp "Dine In" columnist I draw an ongoing series of comics for my husband about a bunny and a snake frolicking through a cartoon version of our lives. The best present I've ever given was their full origin-story comic book. Elizabeth Myers Editor, Louisville.com I was in a record shop once and came across this seven-inch of a Johnny Cash song that my dad had once told me about. He'd heard it when he was a kid and had never been able to fnd a copy. It cost 50 cents, and I've never seen my dad so surprised. Michelle Eigenheer Executive assistant My friend had moved to New York and was having a hard time getting started. I had been to visit him, and on my drive home I started looking for lucky charms. They are easy to fnd in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I collected about 20 different charms: a plastic right foot, a vending-machine rabbit's foot, hexes, drawings, etc. All were carefully labeled. I emptied a box of Lucky Charms cereal, decorated it with sticky stars, placed the bag of charms inside, and mailed it to my friend in need. I enjoyed making it, and the charms seem to have worked, even if they only temporarily lifted spirits. Suki Anderson Art director My friend Casey was obsessed with Reuben sandwiches. When he wasn't eating one, he was incorporating them subtly into conversations. He told many stories: "One day I stopped at the Back Door for a Reuben" or "Then, I looked up from my Reuben." For his birthday I framed a photo of a Reuben sandwich. It has been sitting on his bedside table ever since. His initial reaction to it reminded me of how the media portrays a woman reacting to an engagement ring. Wesley Bacon "Dive Bar Diary" columnist Last year, my mom told me that we were doing a "dirty Santa" gift exchange with our extended family. I guess I was the only one who interpreted that as "bring an undesirable item." All my cousins brought things like cute wine glasses or gift cards. I brought 36 nicely wrapped rolls of toilet paper. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, but I still kind of feel bad that my cousin's new girlfriend got stuck with the toilet paper. Amy Talbott Special publications editor

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Louisville Magazine - DEC 2015