Howdy folks, My first issue of RHome is hitting newsstands so be sure to pick up a copy. And, of course, I couldn’t pass up the chance to have livestock on the cover. cheers, marissa
marissa hermanson
writer, editor, page designer
I share my OCD ticks with Ladies Home Journal
Colleen Oakley wrote “What you can learn from your neat-freak friends” in the March 2013 issue of Ladies Home Journal. I shared one of my obsessive-compuslive ticks with Colleen and she included it in her story under the subhed “financial scanner.” Loose papers really drive me nuts.
What I’m Reading Lately
What I’ve been reading lately in the glossy print world …
Shelter
Anthology
Dwell
Elle Decor
Food
Bon Appetite
Everyday Food (sadly no longer going to be published in print)
Local Palate
various Edible publications
Region
Garden & Gun
Richmond magazine – duh
Southern Living – travel and recipes
Sunset – travel and recipes
Lady stuff
Bust
Cosmo – career section
Elle
Marie Claire – career section
Real Simple
Vogue
Health
Delicious Living
Natural Health
Whole Living (sadly no longer going to be published)
Smart Lifestyle
National Geographic
Vanity Fair – news features
Men stuff
M Magazine
What are you reading?
My ‘Too Young Curse’ Cosmopolitan Essay
In case you didn’t hear via my social media broadcasts, I had an essay published in Cosmo’s February issue (read about that here). I’m finally getting around to posting the story online now that I got my friends and family to support print media and buy a copy. Hope you enjoy the story!
To download and read the PDFs, click here for the contributors page and here for the story.
xo, marissa
New job with Richmond Magazine
I’m excited to say that I’ve accepted an editorial job with Richmond Magazine and will be starting on Monday. I will be an associate editor with the city magazine and will also be the managing editor of its home magazine, R*Home. Absolutely thrilled about the job! With the home magazine I will get to combine my passion for writing with my love of art, architecture and design. At one point I was accepted and enrolled in architecture school, but long story short, chose journalism. Very excited that my future job combines both my loves.
Mommy blogger cover story for C-Ville Weekly
I wrote this week’s cover story for C-Ville Weekly on the phenomenon of mommy blogging. While living in Charlottesville the story was assigned to me as one of my freelance projects. I found it interesting to write as a young woman and writer who is always looking for older female role models, especially those who are mothers.
Mommy bloggers are not new — they have been around for nearly a decade. But, the point of my story was to see if now (almost a decade later) the genre has been tarnished. In the story I take a look at four Charlottesville mommy bloggers and inject my opinion (yes, journalists do that). Be sure to read the story here. Also, be sure to leave a comment. It’s generated a lot of commentary. Not sure if most of it is local to Charlottesville or from elsewhere. But, it’s great to see such a heated debate.
Read my essay in February’s Cosmopolitan
Be sure to pick up a copy of the February issue of Cosmopolitan and read my personal essay. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy yet, but hopefully soon. I received a text last night from a childhood friend who picked up the copy and was surprised to see my face and name on the contributors page. I’m absolutely thrilled to have one of my stories featured in Cosmo.
Claudius Crozet’s Blue Ridge Tunnel
credit: Clann Mhór, Rhonda Roebuck
I wrote a story on the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton, Va., for the Dec. 25 issue of C-Ville Weekly. The story covers the organizations and people involved in preserving the tunnel, as well as their efforts to add it to the National Register of Historic Places. If this “Rails-to-Trails” project is approved, it will put the tunnel on the map as a tourist attraction for Nelson and Augusta counties, while also shining a light on the architectural grandeur and history surrounding its construction. To learn more about the tunnel, read my story here.
1909 postcard
Old & New Moccasins
I wrote a story for Breathe’s Nov-Dec issue about a moccasin maker in Atlanta, Ga. In my quest to write more about regional artisans, I thought featuring Patricia and her craft of hand sewing and beading moccasins would be great. To check out Patricia’s other moccasin designs, visit her etsy store here.
I’m not sending a Christmas card this year. Here’s a blog post instead.
I could come up with a few excuses as to why I’m not sending out cards for the holidays. 1. I’m foot-binding my carbon footprint. I’m saving Earth one Christmas tiding at a time. I believe this is called “greening your holidays.” 2. I want to save you from a self-aggrandizing letter with all my accomplishments listed in chronological order from the past year. In reality, that’s what my other blog posts are for. 3. Harvey and the cat cried on Santa’s lap. … But, in all honesty, things are pretty busy over here and I just didn’t have any gosh-darn time! And, I figured rather than sit down and hand-write a ton of letters in a rushed fashion, why not just send a thoughtful tiding to all via blog.
When I think about holiday letters, David Sedaris’ short story book Holidays On Ice comes to mind. If you haven’t read it, do it now (seriously, go read it). Among the many hysterical essays in his book there are, “SantaLand Diaries” (which has been turned into a fantastic one-man play), “Dinah, the Christmas Whore,” and my all-time favorite “Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!” ”Season’s Greetings” is a wonderful essay because it takes the idea of Christmas letters and pokes fun at them. It’s written from the perspective of Mrs. Dunbar, and she is writing to tell her extended family and friends about the interesting turn of events her family has encountered over the past year. I won’t tell you more, because I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s flipping fantastic. If you like some snark and fancy yourself a Grinch, you’ll definitely enjoy this essay. It’s a real gem — and a delightful alternative to The Night Before Christmas. (Just don’t read it to children. Cursing is a plenty.)
Along with dusting off my copy of Holidays On Ice, I’ll be partaking in other yuletide festivities. Dressing Harvey and Loki* up in lots of red and green fuzzy clothes and taking their pictures; pacing the aisles of TJ Maxx, salivating like a mad dog; and last but not least, drinking and eating until I explode. I will then hop on a plane and head to Colorado to spend Christmas with my parents, Pat and Herm, and my brother, Nick. The Hermanson compound (big house, Alpine Drive) is in Breckenridge, and we’ll spend our days skiing and nights eating and drinking more. I will then return to Virginia and detox for the next 12 months.
Nothing super crazy planned. Pretty low-key little holiday with the fam, but I’m very excited to spend some quality time with them. We haven’t spent Christmas together in four years — and we rarely are all together anymore since we are spread out across the country. So, I’m very thankful that we will be under the same roof for a few days.
As for you all, I hope you have a wonderful holiday, wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing, celebrating whatever religious/nonreligious holiday you will be celebrating. I hope you are blessed with happiness and surrounded by the ones you love this holiday season! cheers, marissa
*Harvey and Loki are my dog and cat. They are not children.
