Countdown to Blogfest 2011: View from Veranda

I have long been romanced by the covers and photography from Veranda. To me, they are one of a few magazines that has stayed consistently true to who they are, always inspiring with their classical elegance and romantic appeal.

I don’t think they’ve ever printed a cover that I didn’t LOVE either, which leads me to think that perhaps I should do what the oh-so clever Ellen did, over at Noveau Stitch, and think about framing my Veranda covers; I would definitely do gilded frames though.... .something like this .....

Can you picture it? 

With my long-held love of the mag, I can't begin to put to words how psyched I am to visit their headquarters and to hear from Dara Caponigro, their current Editor-in-chief! I can only begin to imagine the wisdom she will share with us; she has so much to draw from with her prestigious background that brought her from House Beautiful, to Domino and now Veranda. seriously, hello.. I don't come across too many in my daily routine with such an impressive career track...

source: sohautestyle

In August last year, ShelterPop published a short interview Dara regarding changes she planned to make and what we could look forward to seeing. I was relieved to read then that she was planning on maintaining the same standard of beauty Veranda had always stood for and that it would continue to maintain "a very gracious approach and a sense of refinement" . Those are the exact things I have always loved about them so I was of course quite happy that she would not be taking the magazine in a totally different direction. And she's kept her word.

I believe we will also be hearing from many of their stylists and special-projects editors too, as Veranda takes us on a tour to provide more of the intimate behind-the-scenes details that lead them to the feature homes of past issues. It is sure to be enlightening to hear more of how this process works and hopefully, we'll also learn more about how designers today can put themselves out front and in a position for to be featured in future issues themselves. 

If you were in the audience with Veranda, what questions would you want to ask? Let me know and I'll try to share as many of the answers and details they enlighten us with in my follow-up posts on my return!

And to think, I have only touched upon a bit of our Day #1 schedule. I'll be posting more as my Countdown to Blogfest continues....