Irene Edwards - Friend of the Week

Irene's What — "Lily Stockman's art and textiles are blowing up. I can't stop thinking about this one piece called Crushed Mussels—oil and marble ground on birch. The next time I can justify a splurge, it will be to own one of her works. Also, anyone who studied Mughal miniature painting in India gets a thumbs-up in my book."

We met Irene more than a decade ago when she wrote this sweet piece on our former company, Splendora. She moved to New York and we stayed in touch while she was at Travel + Leisure then Lonny and lo and behold! our girl is back in the Bay Area and at the helm of Sunset Magazine where she's the new EIC. Well deserved Irene! Kudos and welcome home.

Friend Of The Week: 11 Questions

1. Nickname? I’ll tell you my secret one, the one that only my absolute best friends and closest family members call me, if you promise not to laugh. It’s Rin (as in Rin Tin Tin). Yeah, I wish it were cooler. But what you gonna do?2. Where do you live? I just—literally a few days ago—moved to Alameda, California, from Brooklyn, New York. The Bay Area is idyllic. Do you like beaches, mild weather, great food, and stunning landscapes? Hard to quibble with that. But still. Maybe I’m a sick and twisted individual, but something in me still misses the cacophony, full-on sensory overload, and gritty urban beauty of Brooklyn. If only I could have both.3. What are you working on or how do you spend your days? My family and I moved for my new job as editor-in-chief of Sunset, which is a 117-year-old regional magazine brand that Mark Twain and Jack London used to write for. It’s a dream job with some interesting challenges and a lot of opportunity; I get to work with an amazing, super-talented team that inspires me daily. My other job, which is possibly even more challenging and obviously deeply fulfilling on a whole other level, is to be mom to two children, ages 3 and 4, and wife to a husband who is an absolute rock. When they say marriage is a partnership, you don’t realize what it means until you embark on something like a cross-country move with two young children. My day job has plenty of pressures, yes; but my husband is definitely the one keeping this whole operation going.4. What do you do for fun? If I could, I would decorate interiors all day. Or style out a tabletop. Or harvest blooms in a garden and make floral bouquets. Or curl up in a wingback armchair with a good book. Ha! Right now, however, because of my aforementioned main jobs (see above), I’ll settle for a glass of good wine late at night as I catch up on all the work I didn’t get to all day. Oh, and I listen to podcasts on my commute. I highly recommend “Startup”; I have an intellectual crush on Alex Blumberg.5. What do you wonder about? How long it’s going to take us to get really serious about gun control. (Not to get overtly political on you.) Also, how much longer the Golden State Warriors can sustain this crazy streak.6. If you could wake up with any superpower, what would it be? If you asked me this in third grade, I’m sure I would have had at least 10 answers at the ready. My humdrum adult self, however, really has to think. Night vision? Because I’m almost blind in the dark.7. What qualities do your favorite people have in common? A sense of humor, a sense of humor, a sense of humor. I’ve probably put up with a lot of assholes because they also amused me along the way.8. What's the most awkward accidental text or email you've ever sent or received? I am extremely, ridiculously careful about what I write, on any platform. It’s the editor in me. I can’t help it.9. What is too serious to be joked about? It’s all relative, isn’t it? I try to always be utterly respectful and aware of people’s feelings, as I would want others to be of mine. Yet I confess: I have (often) been guilty of the urge for inappropriate laughter.10. What is the most inspiring thing you've seen, watched, or read recently? Honestly, normal people inspire me. Just regular people, doing ordinary things, being heroes in small ways in their everyday lives. The daily juggle of going to work, making sacrifices for your kids, tiny acts of kindness that often go unnoticed. Big, epic things, too, like sweeping experiences or breathtaking works of art. But it’s the little things that make me cry.11. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Goodness knows. Hopefully I don’t screw up my marriage or my relationship with my kids. If I can just manage that, I’ll be happy! I’ll admit that part of me is insanely ambitious—I want to start up and run my own company someday—and part of me yearns to do nothing more than open a sweet little secondhand bookstore in a one-horse town. Can’t wait to see how it all turns out.