When I was a young journalist,

I dreamed of working in magazines. It all looked so glamorous. It’s possible I watched a little too much of a NZ soap opera called

Gloss, about a fashion magazine. There were 1980s shaggy perms, far, far too much back-combing and astonishingly large shoulder pads. Go to Youtube and search ‘gloss tv show’. It was a wincing experience after 30-odd years.

The two country women of NZ Lifestyle Block catch a glimpse of magazine glamour at our industry’s annual awards. My one pair of ‘glam’ shoes get their only outing for the year.

However, we have perks that our city colleagues can only dream of. Lambs napping in nappies is just one.

The diligent person you see with Jessie the lamb is this magazine’s art director, Rebecca. She’s one of those people you feel really honoured to know: kind, caring, compassionate. The kind of person who thoughtfully bakes her amazing seed crackers so we have a delicious snack on the two-hour drive through peak-hour traffic to get to the awards ceremony.

She’s also extraordinarily good at what she does. This year was her first nomination for Best Designer, and naturally she won.

Taking part in these awards has shown me many times that when people say ‘it’s an honour to be nominated’, it really is. As a finalist-but-never-a-winner, you might expect me to say that. But it’s very special to know that complete strangers have looked at your work and said, “yes, this is good.”

This year, it taught me another lesson. What it means to burst with pride. Because when the MC announced Rebecca as the best in our section, it really did feel like my heart jumped out of my chest.

Thank you for your support, that allows us to do the work we love.