The Simple Things ~ The gift that keeps on giving

What do you give a magazine addict for Christmas? Her favourite kind of pressie, a magazine subscription. Not only does it appear in the post, (I love post!), the magazine tends to come quite a bit before issues appear in the shops.

This year I put in a little request for Simple Things Magazine, a brand new favourite for 2012. Now there are magazine which I flip through, those I scour whilst standing in the supermarket and there are those I read cover to cover. I think only two magazines fall into this category and Simple Things is one of them.

Ok, so why all the fuss? Well there is a good mix of interior, foody, city break, literature articles, without the endless cosmetic adverts. The styling is simple and appealing and the overall mood leaves you upbeat and positive.There are plenty of articles which I have pursued. For instance in one issue it suggested some great family cycling routes. One was not far from where we live, so not that long after we took the magazine’s advice and went out to discover it on a family bike ride. This month there is a great article on London High Tea venues. I am keeping those pages and they might inform my annual girly trip to ‘town’ of which high tea is a tradition.

There is always a report on a city venue by someone who lives there (I have a secret yearning to review my home city).

I simply love the Miscellany section at the back of the magazine, and almost always head straight for the knot of the month – it’s like having a magazine version of QI – ‘Oh I didn’t know that…’

I love the pattern which is always a feature of the inside cover. No high rolling adverts here.

Finally the thing which we enjoy doing together is reading the Simple Things of Life suggestions on the back cover and discussing how many we agree with. Often it is more than half. So in a world that can seem a bit down, cynical and slightly at odds with the reality of normal life, my monthly Christmas gift is a real treat which I always look forward to and frankly is a Simple Thing which I am so very grateful for.