Make It Better’s Editor-in-Chief gets pitches on cool fashion pieces, recipes and fun things to do all day everyday, and a big part of her job is separating the wheat from the chaff.
So, let’s start with her 5 faves—shoes, clothes, food, the best part about her community and her favorite thing about summer.
Laura’s 5 Faves
Fave part of living in the northern suburbs: Lake Michigan, without a doubt. I swim in it, sail on it, and walk alongside it. Our community would be so much less interesting without it.
Fave Shoes: My red wedges from Nine West (bought at the recommendation of co-worker Marina Rasmussen). Trendy, comfy and inexpensive. (I have them in brown, too!)
Fave Skirt: It’s from J.Crew, it’s universally flattering, and I always get compliments on it.
Fave Food: I’m a sweet girl, so my mom’s homemade pies. She makes them using my grandmother’s crust recipe, and my grandmother made pies for every occasion without fail, so my mom tried to continue that tradition. I love any flavor—there’s a coconut buttermilk one that’s amazing.
Fave Part of Summer: That my three kids are home, unscheduled. I feel kind of bad for them during the year, they’re so scheduled. I like that they can hang out in the summer. It’s a gift.
Now that we know your latest faves, when did you start writing for Make It Better?
I started writing when Susan B. Noyes published her first mini-mag, a few years ago. I wrote a piece about my search for the perfect carrot ginger soup, and Susan said everywhere she went people were coming up to her saying, “Carrot ginger soup! Carrot ginger soup!” So, we went from there.
What’s the best part about being the editor-in-chief now?
I like that people from our community are always coming to me with interesting ideas. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
What are your favorite stories that you’ve written lately?
Well, I love to cook and write about food, so I’d have to say my recent Hell’s Kitchen article, about cooking in Charlie Trotter’s restaurant—that was so fun—and my article about taking a cooking class in Shanghai to learn how to cook authentic Chinese food.
They’re about two totally different food experiences, but they were both so fun to research and write.
What kinds of stories are you trying to publish, and write yourself?
I keep trying to find stories that tell our readers something new and interesting about their community, so they say, “OMG, I never knew that!”
