Senior Travel Editor Valerie Fraser Luesse has been associated with Southern Living and its affiliates since 1988 or, as she puts it, “I predate voicemail.” After a decade in corporate communications, she moved to Southern Living Editorial as creative development director in 2001 and was later a senior writer in the travel department. Valerie left the magazine to freelance for a while (Valerie hated freelancing) and returned in 2016. Since then, she has had many adventures in storytelling, online and on the road. The Alabama native lives in Birmingham and writes novels on the side, including Under the Bayou Moon, The Key to Everything, Almost Home, and Missing Isaac.
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50 Years of Southern Church Hair
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Don't head to the meetin' house unless every hair's in place.
The Mother's Day corsage colors you wear tell others something very important.
Do You Clean like Mama?
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No matter how hard we try, our cleaning skills will never reach Mama's level.
Memaw just hopes her squash casserole is "fit to eat."
Grab your umbrella because Memaw says it's coming up a cloud.
Find all the now-they're-cool-again things—from hostess aprons to rotary fans—that you remember from Grandma's house. It's easy on Amazon, and you won't have to break the bank to go a little vintage.
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We are an easy-going people—until we're not.
The South's Best Resorts 2022
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Check into one of these gorgeous getaways where you can enjoy an entire dream vacation without ever leaving the property.