A Quick MJ Recap

Time flies when you’re jumping into the deep end, riding the learning curve, drinking from the firehouse, and every other new-job metaphor you can think of…and yes, having fun too.

Hopefully, before 2023 ends, I’ll take time to reflect back on this year spent full-time on the tiny but mighty* Magnolia Journal team. Lessons learned, hard-won victories, highs and lows and buffalos. But for now, I’ll simply share some stories I was fortunate to pen:

Fall ‘23: Perspective

With Clear Eyes: Norman Hoffman // Alec Burriss

It’s an honor to tell someone else’s story. It’s a huge honor to tell your friend’s story (and not just one, but two). Different generations, different tales, both linked by love and family and the courage to see their futures in a new way. I’m proud to know them.

Special Edition ‘23: Holiday Recipes

Let’s Build a Gingerbread House

Ironically, I’m terrible at building gingerbread houses. Terrible. But maybe this year I’ll turn the train around, thanks to all my new-found skills! (To the geniuses behind this story—you know who you are. Thanks for showing all us lost sheep the way when it comes to this kind of finger-licking merry-making.)

Winter ‘23: Connection

A Southern Start

Of course, the hot honey-dipped fried chicken, creamy deviled eggs, and fluffy meringue on the chocolate pie are enough to make this Georgia girl drool (and they should—that photography! That food styling!). But what really wins me over with this one? My 98-year-old grandmother. It just shows up as a wink, a twinkle of an eye—but this story is hers.

*Worth noting: the full-time Magnolia staff on the Journal is indeed small, but the creative operating force required to bring this quarterly to life really is a behemoth. Great minds accomplish great things—hip hip hooray that we have so many!