I might be a little late to the party in noticing this, but some of the magazines I subscribe to have two separate covers, each month.  Have you noticed this?  TWO covers.  Apparently, one is for the newsstand, and the other is for subscriptions.

Frankly, may I be frank?  Frankly, I feel cheated.  The subscription cover is never quite as sparkly and exciting as the newsstand cover, and I often feel like the magazine I'm looking at is unfinished.  Like it's the dress rehearsal for the issue.  When I pick up my mail, and see my shiny copy of In Style, or Harper's Bazaar, I become slightly giddy.  Glossy pages of clothing and shoes (or Tunics and Trousers and Booties, OH MY)!  But then, I see the newsstand copy, and sputter things like "bbbbut - THAT'S not mine!"  Or "I want THAT one!"

(Ed. note:  sputtering may, or may not, be done out loud)

I also wonder if the double-cover is not just a crafty, yet slightly unethical marketing ploy, to entice readers to buy the newsstand copy, when they already have the subscription copy.  The covers are different, so maybe it's a different issue?

But is it a different issue?

Noooooooooooooo. 

And the subscription cover never has any of the kitchy little blurbs, or, what I like to call Magazine Flair.

Case in point:

"New Bags & Shoes"!  "Best Beauty Buys"!  "Fabulous At Every Age"! Flair!

My copy? 

Miss Jennifer Lopez is not even facing me.  It's as if she's saying "Oh, pobrecitas - you do not deserve to view me full on.  For you?  Merely a profile". 

And "Spring Fashion".  That's it?  That's all I get?  We lowly subscribers do not even warrant the "What to Wear Now"?  How am I supposed to know what to do with all the "Spring Fashion"?   I won't know What to Wear, not to mention that I'm supposed to be wearing it NOW. 

I'm likely to be spotted, sashaying down the street, NOW, wearing SUMMER Fashion.  Or, even worse, I'll be skipping through the park, LATER, wearing SPRING Fashion.

It's all just an unthinkable recipe for disaster.

UGH January.  Winter blahs everywhere.  Who cares what my butt looks like right now?  No one can even see it underneath the layers of denim and long underwear.  Bring me a brownie, and make sure it is sitting in a nice pint of Ben & Jerry's.

In a nutshell, that is a little bit how I'm feeling right now.  The Biggest Loser is only on once a week, which is a decent motivator, but working out once a week - sweating and slogging miles on the treadmill, while sobbing over the beautiful sentiments of the triumphant human spirit - is not going to sustain my health.  I need a big fat shove.

Trista Rehn-now-Sutter, of The Bachelorette fame, has a noted partnership with US Weekly magazine, which is a fairly brilliant business move on her part.  US Weekly follows the milestones in the Rehn-Sutter relationship, which recently included the birth of a bouncing baby boy named Max. 

Trista set a weight-loss goal for the New Year.  And it looks like she may have achieved that goal.

Nevermind the fact that she is clearly breastfeeding.  Sister-friend had a baby five months ago.  Five months ago. FIVE.

I didn't even read the headlines on this cover.  I dropped it right into the shopping basket, next to the Rembrandt Whitening Strips.  This was a big fat shove.

I did not have a baby five months ago.  I did not have a baby any months ago.

Unfortunately, there is just no excuse, and I now consider myself shoved.  January-Schmanuary.