The May Issue - Upload Day

Today brings May upload, which means we bid farewell to the blood, sweat and tears of another issue of Amarillo Magazine. We'll reunite in two weeks when stacks of the newly-printed issue is lovingly delivered to our office. The May issue is all about women, which means putting it together was complicated, emotional and exhausting. We consumed enormous amounts of dark chocolate throughout the last few weeks as a highly-evolved coping mechanism. It worked and we survived.

Look forward to reading the results of our How Women Really Feel online survey and the corresponding stories of four women in our community who each represent a different stage of life. There are chocolate recipes, make up tips and even a guide to buying the right kind of bra. Look for the May issue of AM in subscriber's Sunday papers on April 25. You can also read everything online.

After today, we'll throw all our energy into the June issue, which, subsequently, is all about men. Hopefully we won't require so much dark chocolate in the process.

--Jennie

Recovery Week

The past two weeks have been slammed with one photo shoot after another for the May issue, so I'm happy to say this week is fairly low key. We'll start proofing, writing headlines, captions and all the minute blurbs and tidbits that we put off until the last possible second. It's funny how I can write a 2,000-word story in an hour but spend days trying to think of a decent headline. Sounds backwards, but it's the truth.

Anyway, here's Michele watching Pam Lary work her magic last Wednesday:



We are fortunate to work with a number of great photographers and artists in town, Pam being one of them. Together, these incredible people help us create a magazine each month with unmatched quality. Amarillo is full of talented people and we're honored to know and work with a lot of them.

Here's hoping you use the information in the April cover story to plan your outdoor excursions this spring. Warm weather is coming, so go outside and play.

--Jennie

Coming Up for Air

In short, we've been busy! Thanks to February being a short month, we had a little less time than usual to pull off a few magazines, but fortunately for you, quality has not suffered. In fact, we just published what we believe could be our best issue yet. If you didn't get the April issue in your Sunday paper last weekend, drop by Hastings on your way home tonight and grab a copy.



Since April was put to bed a couple of weeks ago, we jumped right in to May, which mainly involved compiling all the data from our first-ever survey, "How Women Really Feel." The response was overwhelming (thanks, ladies!) and we're currently putting words with the numbers so it all makes sense (and trying hard to not make it read like a sociology thesis!). Sufficed to say, the women of Amarillo had are quite vocal.

If you haven't participated in our monthly contest yet, what are you waiting for? Simply fill out your contact information and you'll be added to the drawing pot. This month, you could win a Kelty hydration pack and a leather-bound journal (as seen on page 8 of the magazine). Enter today!

As always, your feedback helps us create better content, so leave us a note with your comments, suggestions and story ideas.

--Jennie

How Do Women Really Feel?

In preparation for the May issue, we're conducting a ladies-only survey to find out how Amarillo women really feel about a variety of issues. The survey is up and running on our website, and it only takes a few minutes to fill out. Be honest, girls - how do you really feel about being married (or not married)? About working (or staying home) and having kids (or not having kids)? What do you secretly believe, and if there were no consequences, what would you want to get away with?



While online, submit your entry to win a sushi-making set and a gift card to United for your ingredients.


Have a great weekend, dear readers, and if you haven't picked up your March issue of AM, run by a Hastings today for a free copy!



--Jennie

Coming in March

As we wrap up the March issue of AM, we hope you'll be inspired by six locals who we feel set the bar for personal style. Confident and bold, we also feature some of their favorite pieces from shops around town.

We also interviewed Julian Reese and Jon Lyles, the quarterback and head coach of the newly re-named Amarillo Venom, the city's indoor football team. We talk about their individual journeys to Amarillo, how the team wants your support this year, and what's coming up in the 2010 season.

As a reminder, check out our dining guide, complete with restaurant descriptions, dish recommendations and our restaurant feature of the month. For March, we tell you about El Tejavan, where the dishes are always authentically mexican and tenderly made from mama's recipes.

Grunt work or valuable learning experience?

Meet our intern, Andrea:

She's only been with us for a month but already she's been so helpful. Whether it's running errands, writing blurbs or helping the brainstorming process, we're happy to have her. We hope that, in the process, she's learning something about the magazine world - like, sometimes you have to crawl around on the floor at photo shoots.

--Jennie

Thanks to salt and lots of scraping...

...I've been dug out of the snow. Sufficed to say I didn't leave my house for four days. While snowed in, I caught up on chores, watched movies and became very attached to my pajamas. I also got behind on work, so now that it's back to the grind for me I wanted to remind all of you that the February issue of Amarillo Magazine is out. (If you didn't leave your house all weekend either, take a shovel and go dig the Sunday paper out of your front lawn. AM mingles with the ads.)

We hope you'll appreciate our alternative look at love this month, sharing stories of people whose passion defines their lives. There's also a fabulous bridal spread and yummy fondue recipes for a Valentine's night at home.

If you have comments, suggestions or ideas for Amarillo Magazine, feel free to email me at jennie.miller@amarillo.com or leave us a message on our website.

Enjoy!

-Jennie