FEATURES

53Walter Weekly

Introducing Raleigh’s newest publication!

63 Ice Cream Parlor by Stephen Smith illustration by Marie-Louise Bennett

64Chic Retreat

A fashion-inspired apartment by Ayn-Monique Klahre photography by Catherine Nguyen

70 Color Burst

A visual journey through the WRAL Azalea Gardens in spring by Ayn-Monique Klahre photography by Juli Leonard

80 Art & Improvisation

Ed Baxter turned dual passions into an encore career by Addie Ladner photography by Samantha Everette

On Wednesdays, when we have our weekly all-WALTER meeting, I often look around the table and realize that we all match. In fact, I’ll walk into the office on any given day and several of us will be in shades of black, camel or denim, or even less common shades like green, orange or purple. Sometimes, it’s truly uncanny how closely we’re #twinning, from top to bottom, fabric to footwear. We often take a picture and delight in the coincidence.

I think it’s a sign of how synced up we are, especially now that we’re back in the office. We six women have worked together for several years now; the newest person on our team, Addie, is now three years into her job. Laura just hit her fiveyear mark, which I’ll also reach this fall. Julie sold ads in the very first issue in 2012, Cristina started in 2014 and Kait started in 2016. So these days we’re somewhere between coworkers and family, with our own inside jokes and weird traditions. Among them are almost-daily foosball tournaments (alas, I hardly ever win any more), quick afternoon walks to grab coffee or drop off books at the library, Julie’s gourmet brownies on ship day, and surfacing viral videos on YouTube. We borrow things off each others’ desks, sister-style: gum (so much gum), iPhone chargers, corded headphones, a single USB drive for printing things, scissors, multipurpose cleaner and Laura’s lotion that smells like roses.

When I hear about a global trend of people choosing to work remotely instead of going back to the office, my first thought is always, Why? Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate that we have the capability to work seamlessly from home, and I relish my WFH Fridays in my yoga pants. But then I’d miss out on all those connections and quirks that make a job feel like fun.

We had even more fun pulling together this issue than we usually do — keep on reading to see why. A special thank you to all the people outside of the office who worked with us on this; we’re happy to have you as part of the WALTER team this month.

Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor

MEYMANDI CONCERT HALL, RALEIGH