Anyone can say that a man shouldn't live this way.

I have been an avid reader of Real Simple for 3+ years, and a subscriber for almost 2. years.

I love Real Simple because it doesn't praise or feed on celebrity, it is very reader-written/involved, it abandons vanity with the promotion of authenticity and self exploration, and it praises/fosters practical creativity, constantly featuring new ways to turn old things into new things. Love that. All of it.
I love it. I love Hype. [2 minutes in]

Friday I was at the beautifully talented KaraLee's home and picked up a copy of Good Housekeeping.

[I should interject here that I tend to shun any magazine but Real Simple with the self-righteousness and distaste of a rich hippie]

thumbing through Good Housekeeping I found that they also had good things. In fact, they had a section similar to those found in Real Simple. A section for innovative, practical solutions to the small yet pesky problems we face on this telestial sphere. I scanned the pages of tips and tricks with an air of pleasant, yet sceptical, surprise. And THEN...

I used them! I used two of them! that night! On a scale from 1-10, this is a big deal.

Here are the two tips I found in Good Housekeeping that I used that night:

1. Sliding magazines into boots so they stay upright.




With my growing influx of boots and my growing maturity [i.e. caring about my belongings] I've noticed and disliked how my [non-galosh] boots will flop over each other in my closet. And if I put them against the wall they will end up flopping the other way. This is awesome! And my OCD side likes how it completes the organized look in my closet.

2. Use a straight-pint to get knots out of necklace chains!

This still took a special touch, but it totally worked. I am guilty of trying to use my pathetically thin fingernails to untie necklaces, for hours, to no avail. The article also says if it is an especially stubborn tangle to "place the chain on a hard, nonporous surface, like glass, and apply several drops of baby or mineral oil, then try untangling again." Cool, right?

This is not to say that I've never used an idea from Real Simple. I have. But these two things happened to come up that night. And I used them. And they weren't from Real Simple.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all I get from my elitism and magazine-centrism is floppy boots and necklaces with knots. More proof that LOVE is, in fact, the answer.