To start the year off right, I got out of town.

I took a five-day cruise to two tropical locales, and it was the first time in years that I’d taken a break from my wired life. For those of you who work with computers and telephones every day, I recommend escaping, if only briefly, to someplace with no wireless signal. Not even one. I learned many things on the trip. One of the most important was that the world wasn’t going to end just because I didn’t answer my emails.

Another thing the break made me appreciate is how much fun it is to work on VERVE. When I returned, I had a great excuse to drop in on Amy Parker, whose grandfather started the Parker Hosiery mill in Old Fort, North Carolina, in 1946. Parker, now the president and co-owner with her brother Jeff, knows socks inside and out. She’s been helping to run the business since just after high school, when she spent summers in the factory. Touring the cavernous plant in Old Fort was fascinating, and I particularly enjoyed hearing about the Parkers’ most senior employee, Lois Barlowe, (see page 46) who has been shaping and pressing socks for more than 50 years.

The rest of this issue is chock full of fascinating tales about recycled dresses (page 40), a new chocolate lounge (page 26) and lookin’ for love online (see Susan Reinhardt’s first VERVE feature, page 42). If you don’t find love this month, try chocolate. You can’t go wrong with all those good endorphins that come from gobbling one of Jesse Roque’s truffles. 

Happy eating, and reading,

Jess McCuan

jess@vervemag.com