Vacation Reading

Let's just face it. It's not really fair to consider vacation reading as reading; it's a time for cheap indulgence of the imagination, for letting your mind be as lazy as your body craves. Despite the fact that I have several unread novels that I bought this summer, when I was going away for a mini-vacation to the beach, I did not grab the heavy hardcover and get some serious thinking done. It wasn't going to happen for me. But what better time for me to finally bite into this (last?) month's Vogue (which I actually bought for my last trip on Labor Day, shuttup I'm so behind everyone, but at the time I ended up reading Vanity Fair on the plane instead)?

But imagine my chagrin when that sole piece of reading I dragged along with me, (weighing down my beach bag, already almost a thousand pounds because I somehow manage to overpack just for a trip from the hotel room to the beach downstairs) wasn't enough. Despite all the heft, even the September Vogue couldn't get me through two days on the beach. Suddenly, I was left with nothing to do but crisp under the harsh Floridian sun with visions of tights and booties dancing in my head.

This was when I stumbled upon an issue of Vive at the hotel. Vive is a local women's magazine covering local events and- wouldn't you just know it- fashion. And this was their seasonal issue as well, so I got to settle in with something to get me through the end of the day. Now, Vive isn't a mass-marketed, widely-known publication. Even down here I had never heard of it before. But what I found that I liked about it was that rather than reading about such-and-such sample sale in Cali., or who's who in Manhattan boutiquing, or, ahem, fashion week, I merely got to enjoy news that was actually relevant to me and my area. I learned about Miami shops I'd never been to, new shoe lines displaying in stores I could reach by car, and, importantly, that a Sephora is opening at City Place- alas, in February 2007. Isn't that hideously far away from now? It also had great advice on things like... how the hell does a Floridian fashionista pull off seasonal trends, such as layering, in this weather that does not bend to any designer's whims?

Now, it's not like I'm rushing out to subscribe. The editorials look like something I can do using only MS Paint and a camera-phone, and the writing/editing is mostly what I could produce in A.P. English (12th grade, not 11th, granted). In fact, most of the style information and fashion news were things I can pull out of my hat on my own. But I'm now definitely willing to open my magazine experience up to new, smaller publications if they have special appeals- like covering my own county, demi-celebs I may actually run into and my favorite local malls. It was perfect 'lite' reading for the sand and sun.