DIME Entertainment | February 2017 | Dynamic Duos

DIME ENTERTAINMENT

DYNAMIC DUOS

FEBRUARY 2017 | VOL. 3 • NO.2

SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER Presents

RICK BURGESS

&The Southern Fried Chicks LIVE

April 29, 2017

at

Jones County Junior College

1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Early Bird $25 Online $30 een As S

On

CMT

Door $35

PURCHASE TICKETS AT SCRMC.COM OR 601.399.0501

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM PRESENTS

The Beautiful Mysterious:

The Extraordinary Gaze of William Eggleston SEPTEMBER 13, 2016–FEBRUARY 18, 2017 Lecture: February 9, 2017, 7:00 p.m. Anne Tucker, scholar and Curator emerita, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will discuss the work of William Eggleston.

Free Screening “William Eggleston in the Real World”: February 14, 2017, 6:00 p.m. at the Lyric. Filmmaker Michael Almereyda attending and giving an introduction and post-screening Q & A.

The University of Mississippi Museum A D M I S S I O N

I S

F R E E

MUSEUM.OLEMISS.EDU 6 6 2 . 9 1 5 . 7 0 7 3

friends of the

mu s e um

THE BOX COMPANY

38

THIS ISSUE

FEBRUARY 2017 | Vol. 3

No. 2

DIME.ME BITE/POUR Beer of the Month \\ 12 Rose Margarita \\ 14 Drunk in Love: The Spotted Cat \\ 16 You & Me & Dinner \\ 18 BEAT Matt & Kim \\ 44 Hestina \\ 50

74 TUPELO

CANVAS Featured Artist: Julia Reyes \\ 32 FEATURES The Art of Flying \\ 20 Relationship Goals \\ 23 Welcome to the Neighborhood \\ 24 Making Connections \\ 26

NEON Alter Bridge \\ 52 Chevy Metal \\ 53 Dolly Parton \\ 53 Lauryn Hill \\ 54 Hands like Houses \\ 56 STANDARDS Ed’s Note \\ 11 Horoscopes \\ 82

28

COMPASSING THE COAST: THE DUO BEHIND BILOXI’S ALMOST CIRCLE GALLERY

DIME ENTERTAINMENT

PUBLISHER Jim Cegielski EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jacqueline Lee MANAGING EDITOR Courtney Creel ART DIRECTOR Kassie Rowell VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Robin Bice MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES Amy Allegrezza Jenn Devereaux Brian Powers DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA Ashton Pittman

PHOTOGRAPHERS Kate Dearman Jenn Devereaux Tristan Duplichain Lenore Seal CONTRIBUTORS Nicole Chantreau Kate Dearman Jenn Devereaux Zack Grossenbacher Biz Harris Devin Ladner Malcolm Morrow Sean Murphy Adam Myrick Heather Osbourne Brittany Purvis Thomas Roney Justin Sawyer Meaghen Stark Andie Szabo Teddie Taylor Talbert Toole Jane Clair Tyner Robyn White

DIME Entertainment Magazine is published monthly

by Gin Creek Publishing, 318 N. Magnolia St. Laurel, MS 39440. All contents copyright 2016

by Gin Creek Publishing and all rights reserved.

Any views expressed here are not necessarily endorsed

by DIME Entertainment Magazine, its staff or advertisers. Individual copies of DIME Entertainment Magazine are free for the first three copies.

For additional copies, subscriptions, address changes and back issues, write to: Dime Entertainment Magazine, 110 E. Front St., Suite 103 Hattiesburg, MS 39401, call 601.909.6092 or visit dime.me For editorial inquiries, contact asst_editor@dimeentertainment.com.

For advertising inquiries, contact ads@dimeentertainment.com.

For all other inquiries, contact asst_editor@dimeentertainment.com.

ON THE COVER: Matt & Kim give a new meaning to #relationshipgoals on this month’s cover. Read the interview on page 44.

PHOTO BY MATT MILLER

s ' r o t i d E Note

“I am weird, you are weird. Everyone in this world is weird. One day two people come together in mutual weirdness and fall in love.” - Dr. Seuss This month, we’re taking an intimate look at power couples — those enviable duos whose yin and yang are so on point that it’s almost irritating. If you haven’t quite met your match, this month, in particular, can be pretty gruesome, with constant bloody reminders of that vacant seat. (And more cheesy wedding hashtags than you can stand.)

Soulmates come in many forms — not just as significant others — but business partners, besties, and people who let you go in front of them in line at the grocery store when you are holding only one artichoke.

Sometimes those matches are only in your life for a spell... maybe four years of college, or one time at summer camp. In that moment, they bring out the best in us and make us hopeful for the future. My theory is that true soulmates give you permission to be the version of yourself that you dream of finding in someone else. Basically, they help you unlock the achievement that is your best you.

This year I’d like to be a part of my own power couple... with everyone I sit next to. Whoever they are, in business and in friendship, I’d like to give them my best and also demand it back.

I learned last year

(thanks to DIME) that teamwork makes the most ridiculous of dreams work.

Though the individuals featured in this issue are part of duos, you don’t have to have someone at your side to be an unstoppable force, as page 42 shows us. If finding your yang has been a major priority lately, maybe it’s time to be your own better half.

Best,

Jacqueline Lee Editor-In-Chief

R E E B

h t n o m e h t of

ENVIE STYLE: AMERICAN PALE ALE ABV: 5.5% IBU: 42 PARISH BREWING COMPANY 229 JARED DR. BROUSSARD, LA. TOURS SAT. 12-2 P.M.

BY SEAN MURPHY Sometimes a beer is so good you have to go to extreme measures to secure it. Such is the case for Parish Brewing Co.’s Envie pale ale. Located in Broussard, La., about 10 miles south of Lafayette in the middle of Cajun country, this is one of the finest pale ales to grace the earth.

It pours opaque, resembling grapefruit juice, with aromas of mango, lychee, orange and other tropical fruits. Inhale the aroma, and be left punch-drunk. At $9 per six pack, this is one of the best bargains known to the beer world, but to get a taste of this beer, you’ll have to venture into New Orleans. Visit Stein’s Market on Magazine Street and enter the wonder that is the back room. Seriously — go. The fresher, the better. If you want to make this beer tasting a full on experience, we recommend a trip to Avenue Pub on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans where you can get it on tap, or make a day of it and visit Parish Brewing’s taproom. But, we’re warning you: be ready to drop some bank… we guarantee you won’t be able to resist. For more information, check out parishbeer.com.

12 // dime entertainment

R g r a m A fresh take on a...

Rosearita RECIPE SUBMITTED BY MEGAN DYE 2 oz. silver tequila 1 oz. lime juice 1 oz. rose syrup* 1/2 oz. St. Germain Elderflower

r

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds.

Rim stemless martini glass with sugar. Strain shaker into glass.

Serve neat and garnish with rose petals.

Megan Dye is the self-taught cocktail artist at Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen in Tupelo.

R

*ROSE SYRUP: 1 part water 1 part sugar Edible Rose Petals (KOK gets petals from Memory Orchard in Tupelo) Add water & sugar to saucepan. Add enough rose petals to cover surface of mixture entirely.

Bring to boil. After mixture gets a syrupy texture, remove from heat. Let cool. Strain into a jar or other container. Rose syrup will keep for up to two weeks in a refrigerated, sealed container.

e M e v o L Not

dime entertainment // 15

CHERYL AND BRAD CLEMENT // PHOTO BY LENORE SEAL

Drunk In Love

BY THOMAS RONEY

Just a few blocks over from the hustle of tourists in the French Quarter lies Frenchmen Street. The street is lined with local bars, stores, a record shop, art galleries and an art market. Out of all the bars on this busy eclectic street, there is one that locals, visitors and celebrities alike all know and love, The Spotted Cat. Journalist and media personality Anderson Cooper has spoken of his love for The Spotted Cat, and CNN e ven broadcast its annual New Year’s Eve celebration from inside the bar.

From the exterior, The Spotted Cat looks like your typical New Orleans dive bar, but the moment you step inside you can feel the energy. Live music plays on a small stage at the front in the large window of the facade. Walking in, The Spotted Cat is dim.

The only thing lit up is the stage and an ATM in the back for the cash only bar. Hanging on the walls above the bar are t-shirts for sale and paintings from local artists. In the ladies room, if you’d like to play your own music, there’s a piano you can use while you wait for a stall. These things only add to the quaintness of the Frenchmen Street staple.

From the live bands to the bartenders to the artistic local flair, there is no shortage of character in The Spotted Cat. Two people keeping that character in tact are managers Brad and Cheryl Clement, referred to by friends and colleagues as the Beyoncé and Jay-Z of Frenchmen.

When you hear the names Beyoncé and Jay-Z, you immediately think power couple, and that is exactly what Cheryl and Brad are. Cheryl began working at The Spotted Cat in 2010 while working as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and case manager at Touro Infirmary. Brad joined the crew a few years later in 2012 while also bartending at TGI Fridays. After working together for a while, the two became friends and, as the story goes, their friendship slowly developed into more. The two went on a trip to Brad’s hometown of Tampa and visited the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, the very spot where Brad knew Cheryl was the woman he was going to marry.

“Where Brad’s was a moment of realization, mine was a culmination of moments,” Cheryl admits.

A simple photobooth picture of Brad and her daughter Fallon, a souvenir from their shopping trip to Old Navy, was the sign Cheryl needed to ensure her Brad would be a great father.

“When I fell in love with Cheryl, I didn’t

just fall in love with her. I fell in love with Fallon too,” Brad said.

Being a blended family is no obstacle for the pair. Brad comes from a Jewish upbringing while Cheryl was raised in a Catholic-Filipino home. As a family, they have adopted certain aspects of each other’s culture.

“Fallon loves Hanukkah now, especially when she learned you had eight days of getting presents,” Brad said laughing.

These two are clearly #winning at their home life, but what makes them such a force in the workplace?

The pair not only run The Spotted Cat, but they also help manage Cafe Negril, a neighboring reggae bar. Not to mention, they’re opening a second location of The Spotted Cat. Brad describes Cheryl as Type A, while he is not. Brad’s weakness is Cheryl’s strength. In this way, they are both opposing sides of a scale, forever balancing each other out.

“We keep each other’s ego in check,” Cheryl said.

The two are unanimous in what their favorite thing about the music at The Spotted Cat is — each band does a version of Fats Waller’s song “I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby.”

“They all put their own spin on it,” Cheryl said. “We love hearing the different versions.”

Spending extra time together is this couple’s favorite part of tending to The Spotted Cat. One of their most memorable times working the bar together was when they opened The Spotted Cat during Hurricane Isaac.

“We were the only bar open on Frenchmen, and we had a generator running,” Cheryl said. “We wanted to have a place for the regular locals to come and relax during and after the storm.”

They admit sometimes it is tough separating work from home, but sharing in their triumphs both at home and work make it all worth it.

“Being able to not only run two successful businesses, but also being able to run a household and raising our children the right way is very important,” Cheryl said.

From an outsider looking in, the pair work together like finely tuned gears.

Whether it’s taking care of their children or slinging drinks at the bar, you can see this couple is perfectly in sync. Their love for each other and their family is as loud and bright as the music heard inside The Spotted Cat.

e M & u o Y r e nn i D &

18 // dime entertainment

BY BIZ HARRIS On my second date with my now-husband, I cooked him dinner. I made the very best recipe in my arsenal… Shrimp and Grits with Sauteed Spinach. I’m pretty sure it would have knocked him to his knees if he hadn’t already been so nervous that he could only eat two bites. On our third anniversary, I had two live lobsters shipped from Maine to remind us of our honeymoon in Nova Scotia.

They arrived on my doorstep all salty and wriggling, and I almost died.

How could I touch these guys to put them in the fridge, much less boil them until they screamed?

That night, we had pasta with butter instead (and also had two pets until a friend came over who wasn’t too squeamish to cook them).

From now on, when we do a special meal, I stick to food I know he loves. My family’s chicken and rice recipe hits the spot every time I make it, so it’s one of my go-to dishes. Learn from my mistakes… the next time you’re cooking for a lover, don’t feel like you have to pull out the big guns to impress them with your kitchen chops. Consider what they like, what you cook well — even if it’s simple or no-frills — and go all-in. Breakfast for dinner?

Burgers on the grill? If you make it yourself and make it good, how can it not be a special meal?

CHICKEN AND RICE Serves 6-8 WHAT YOU NEED: 4-6 pieces of chicken (dark meat is best here) ½ stick of unsalted butter Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup uncooked rice 2 cans beef consomme plus one cup water (or 3 tablespoons beef stock dissolved in 3 cups water) 1 chopped onion 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes 1 can mushroom stems and pieces 1 package of slivered almonds WHAT YOU DO: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Season and brown the chicken in butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven.

Set the chicken aside. Pour ¼ cup of the beef stock into the pan to deglaze what the chicken left.

Using 2 tablespoons of the butter, saute the onions until translucent in the same pan, and then melt the rest of the butter in the pot.

Pour in the rice and stir for a few minutes to brown and release the flavors.

Combine all the other ingredients except the almonds into the pot. First, pour in the stock, the seasonings, and the mushrooms, then check to make sure that you have enough liquid in the pan with the beef stock to cover the rice just a bit.

Put the Chicken on top of the rice mixture, and then sprinkle the almonds on the top.

Cover and bake for about an hour, at 350 degrees, or until the rice is cooked all the way through and the liquid has been absorbed, and serve.

The Art of Flying

BY HEATHER OSBOURNE PHOTOS BY ERIC WARD PHOTOGRAPHY

“Have you ever flown before?” Aaron Lind asked.

“Once,” I replied bewildered.

“Then come fly with us!” he invited.

Cautiously I stepped into the AcroYoga couple’s home, which doubles as an “Acro B&B,” a bed and breakfast service complete with AcroYoga training and bonding with the hosts at their bungalow. Wearing high heel shoes with a pen and notepad in tow, I never expected my interview on the AcroYoga community to become my own private Acro crash course. Every plank variation and back bird pose I completed with Lind not only connected my mind and body in a way I never experienced, but simultaneously connected me with those who are making this physical, and sometimes intimate, partner activity a lifestyle.

Lind and Christine Moonbeam, partners in both Acro and life, are two individuals paving the way for a new generation of AcroYoga enthusiasts.

Through their business Lift School of Acrobatics based out of New Orleans, the duo travels constantly teaching

20 // dime entertainment

AcroYoga throughout the U.S. and abroad, including recently teaching a sold-out weekend in Orlando and also a cross-content Acro session in Bangkok, Thailand.

“AcroYoga is a practice that is best approached as play and as fun,” said Lind, who studied in California with AcroYoga International co-founders Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein.

“Doing something for its own sake. You don’t do Acro for any other reason but to have fun or grow a social connection.

“Stepping into an Acro practice, there is a mindful element for sure,” he continued. “There is a communication element that needs to be yogic, meaning I want to feel what my partner is feeling and speak to them in a way where they are met. Yoga, in one of its most famous definitions, means connection. Understanding that we’re all connected through what I do with myself, or what I do externally to myself, has repercussions whether that’s good or bad. In that sense, partner acrobatics can very much be yoga.”

AcroYoga usually involves three

individuals – the base, the flyer and the spotter. The base is normally lying on their back lifting the flyer in the air to perform the pose, and the spotter is making sure the move is executed safely. Lind said in his classes, he and Moonbeam move at a slow pace to promote technique and avoid injury. Individuals interested in participating in Lind and Moonbeam’s Fundamentals Emersion or Fundamentals Weekend Intensive can expect to pay around $200 for an entire weekend of events.

“Fundamentals Emersion or a Fundamentals Weekend Intensive, it’s really for everyone, and we want to meet them at a level where we are their first handshake,” Lind said. “For people who invite us for more intermediate or advanced material, we have a set of prerequisites that say, if you can do this set of 22 skills on our video, you can come to our intermediate emersion and have a really good experience. If you can’t do those things yet, you should work with us or a qualified teacher who can get you through those things and move you forward where it’s safe.”

Lind and Christine Moonbeam, partners in both Acro and life, are two individuals paving the way for a new generation of AcroYoga enthusiasts.

In addition to their business and hosting individuals through the “AcroB&B” service, the couple also trains once a year in Holland with acrobats Niko Douwes and Fons Bennick. Since being introduced to AcroYoga in 2009, Lind currently possesses 16,000 hours of teaching and 1,200 hours of Acro education.

“I connected with this culture in Holland, which is really where all of this recreational acrobatics came from,” Lind explained. “A couple of circus guys in the ’30s or ’40s left the circus to start teaching classes for recreational people. The AcroYoga culture picked up on that and took it from the traditions in Holland.

These guys we train with are in their 60s and 70s and are just incredible. You look at them, and you wouldn’t think they are these amazing acrobats who can do the most high-level movements in the world.”

In 2006, AcroYoga International was the first to “codify the AcroYoga practice” and form instructor education and AcroYoga literature. Now, taught in hundreds of countries around the globe with celebrities often promoting the practice through social media, the Acro community has grown exponentially.

“We teach quite a lot at festivals and in other Acro communities,” Lind said. “I’ve personally trained all 11 Acro teachers in New Orleans and now, through Lift School of Acrobatics, we offer teacher training that’s a 200-hour course. I’ve taught at Butterfly Yoga in Jackson and am friends with Rebecca Sathre from URU Yoga and Lee Guilbeau from Purusa Yoga in Baton Rouge. We’re all a community.”

Since walking out of the AcroB&B that day, I meditate on my time there often and dream of the next time I’ll fly again. The experience taught me not only to take risks, trust others and challenge my body, but also to have fun and not take myself too seriously. If you’re an adventure seeker looking for a new experience, I encourage you to stretch out your arms and “fly.”

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TRY IT FOR YOURSELF Get your flex on at one of these AcroYoga studios

LIFT SCHOOL OF ACROBATICS, NEW ORLEANS. Instructors: Aaron Lind & Christine Moonbeam Price: Approximately $200 per weekend “Yoga in one of its most famous definitions means connection.

Understanding that we’re all connected through what I do with myself, or what I do externally to myself, has repercussions whether that’s good or bad,” Lind said. “In that sense, partner acrobatics can very much be yoga.”

PURUSA YOGA, BATON ROUGE Instructor: Lee Guilbeau Price: Drop-in is $15 per class and student rates are $12.

“There are many different purposes of AcroYoga to many different people,” Guilbeau said. “My first exposure to it was 50/50 therapeutics and acrobatics. When learning it, I appreciated that there was a well-rounded holistic aspect to it.

This spring I’m opening up a climbing gym featuring Acro classes and aerial arts. You can see the progress at uptownclimbing.com.”

URU YOGA AND BEYOND, PENSACOLA Instructor: Rebecca Sathre Price: $7 per class for students and $10 for walk-ins “We started offering AcroYoga when we opened three years ago,” Sathre said. “We only offer private sessions right now, but we also offer workshops and a jam every week, so we just have one class and one jam a week. We teach beginner and intermediate. URU is a very open, fun and un-intimidating place to come. We do AcroYoga because it’s a great thing for the community and an opportunity to meet people and learn to work well with others.”

STEADFAST AND TRUE YOGA, NASHVILLE Instructor: Gillian St. Clair Price: $45 for a single session and $220 for a full weekend “People need to play and have fun more often,” St. Clair said.

“They need to be lifted up and to be hugged. Acro is a group activity; it can’t be done alone, which is why it’s so great.

Watching people do something they never thought they could do before is truly magical. Be it flying on someone, or lifting another person up, it always blows their minds how strong and graceful they can be. Steadfast was created to be a place where you are safe and supported in your yoga or AcroYoga journey.”

#relationshipgoals

The age of social media has brought us into a weird world where everything we do is broadcast to the world for no good reason. For people in and out of relationships, we can often become jealous of how we perceive other’s lives. Engagement photos, never-ending sappy posts and wedding Snapchat filters can make other people’s relationships look perfect. But an image doesn’t always capture what lies beneath the surface — what actually matters when you’re with a person, the real relationship goals. Here are some relationship goals that actually matter.

Letting them pick the show you’re going to binge on Netflix next.

Grabbing their ass disc

reetly in public.

Letting them win a figh t know that means you’re cl because you oser to make up sex.

st a long po to d ee n u yo ke li g in Never feel e they are status about how awesomll them all the because you actually te time in real life. r Letting them put thei cold feet on you.

Asking them how their day was and genuinely caring.

Saving a meme for later because you know they’re sleeping or busy.

vorite Remembering their fa rs for soup and ice cream flavo day. when they had a shitty

Never having to wear pa when you’re home toget nts her.

BY BRITTANY PURVIS

Buying them a treat an d waiting for them to fin d it when they get home.

Bringing tacos home after a long day without being asked.

Not texting them non-stop when they go out with thei r friends because you trust them .

Welcome to the Neighborhood

BY DEVIN LADNER

When I arrived at the Neighborhood Development Foundation, the office was full of energy and movement.

It was only a Tuesday, but there was plenty happening. CEO Fred Johnson greeted us with enthusiasm and only asked that, although we were there to speak with just him and Rosalind Washington, the Director of Operations, we understood that the NDF is a true power team, not simply a power couple.

What is the NDF, though, and what do they provide for the city of New Orleans? When I sat down to speak with Johnson and Washington, I soon realized that what they and the others at NDF do is much bigger than just homes — they are improving hundreds of lives while strengthening their community.

NDF is a 32-year-old asset building, not-for-profit organization, according to Washington. The particular asset they 24 // dime entertainment

work with is homeownership for low to moderate income families. They teach classes that deal with the linguistics of homeownership, essentially teaching people how the process of buying a home works and helping them develop an action plan to improve their chances of buying a home.

Johnson explained that originally the foundation arose out of a failed campaign. The man involved in the campaign, though, had a knack for pulling data about homeownership in communities. With that data, they decided to develop a 12-hour class about homeownership. Johnson became their outreach specialist at the time and knew that homeownership was important because as he said, Malcolm X states, “Land is the basis of all independence, and every war that has been fought in history has been the landless against the landlord.” The operation

was a success, and today thousands of people have successfully bought a home thanks to their educating techniques.

The first step is simply setting up an appointment. From there, participants are able to meet one-on-one with a housing advisor, a credit report is pulled, and an action plan is set up on a personal basis to help families purchase a home. Before the NDF, homebuyer training was a novel idea. Today, Johnson said that through homeownership they are accomplishing something much bigger. The NDF is “breaking the back off poverty.” Johnson reminded me that they are not a welfare program — they will not do anything for you that you do not first do for yourself.

“You have to put some skin in the game,” Johnson explained. “This is the biggest ticket you will buy, and when it’s all said and done, it’s going to be

PEBBLES MARTIN, ROSALIND WASHINGTON, FRED JOHNSON, PATRICIA FORTENBERRY, KARA KURLAND PHOTO BY LENORE SEAL

you signing the line. It’s going to be your money going into homeownership.”

How important is homeownership, though? Homeownership affects more than many realize. Rosalind enlightened me on just a few factors that are decided by homeownership. Communities often decide which schools your children can attend and where you live decides the quality of schooling your children receive.

“Lenders,” she reminded me, “will always ask whether you rent or own.”

Even businesses are determined based on homeownership. Rosalind explained that businesses decide where to reside by looking at communities and seeing if more owners or renters live there.

“Owners,” she said, “are dependable.”

Unlike renters, a homeowner’s mobility is limited. Therefore, owners

will invest more into their community, which is also significant for politicians, too.

The real kicker, though, is when Washington reminded me that, “You’re going to be paying a mortgage whether you want to or not. You just have to decide whether it’s going to be your mortgage or someone else’s.”

The heart of this organization is evident per conversations with its staff – overcoming poverty and giving future generations a chance is the real goal at NDF. Johnson admits that the real reason he stays with the organization, even when other opportunities arise, is helping people gain ownership of a home who might have never been able to due to lack of knowledge into the process of buying one. Since they have been in operation for over 30 years now (the average life of a mortgage, Washington tells me), three generations have

now been able to purchase a home due to their efforts.

When I ask Washington and Johnson if they have anything specific they would like to leave with the readers of DIME, they both talk to me about giving back to the community.

“If you want to help end homelessness, give children stability, support developing communities and help end poverty,” Washington says, “then give to organizations that help develop those communities.”

The Neighborhood Development Foundation is not only a long standing not-for-profit foundation, but it is also one of these very organizations that is putting an expiration date on homelessness and a pedestal under the feet of low income families. When you give to NDF, you give to everyone.

MELANIE DEAS AND ASIA RAINEY

Making Connections

THE LINK CENTRE IS FINDING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS IN TUPELO. WORDS AND PHOTO BY ZACK GROSSENBACHER

The Link Centre lives in the sprawling remains of what was once Harrisburg Baptist Church on West Main Street in Tupelo. It’s a winding affair, a series of ad hoc additions that, if you pay too much attention, stop making complete sense. Small staircases make up for mismatched hallways, and light switches aren’t always where they should be. At the middle of the Centre are the two women who run it: Melanie Deas and Asia Rainey.

Melanie is a Tupelo native. When she was eight, she decided to ditch Mississippi once and for all.

“I was 17 before I got out, and I was 26 // dime entertainment

never coming back,” Melanie said, “I mean, never ever.”

Her resistance to returning was so well known that when she got the phone call asking if she wanted to be the Director of the Link Centre the only explanation she could fathom was that something must be wrong with one of her parents. Melanie’s mother started the center, so it must have been a sign of her failing health that the center was asking her to come back home.

Although that was not the case, she returned home anyway — except this time, she stayed. “There’s something about North Mississippi that puts a

chip in you that brings you back,” Melanie said.

Asia, on the other hand, is from New Orleans. Brought up in the 9th Ward, she found the city a nurturing place to be an artist.

“It’s a Mecca of everything creative and artistic,” she said. “You’re in the thick of so much stuff all the time.”

But as the years went by, she realized that she wasn’t being challenged by the culture there. “It was too easy,” Asia admitted.

After completing two consecutive artist fellowships at the Link Centre, where she worked in the community to

proliferate the Arts, Asia found herself looking to leave New Orleans. In her search for a new home, Tupelo was an unexpected front runner. When Asia called Melanie to see if there was work for her at the Link Centre, Melanie took the words out of her mouth.

“She said she had to ask for some help,” Melanie said, “And I said, “What?

You wanna move here?”

“Next thing you know, I had packed up and moved to Tupelo,” Asia recalled.

It didn’t take long for Asia to start getting a foothold in the community and furthering the Centre’s mission of working in the community through the Arts.

“On my first trip, I asked somebody where the soul food was, and they pointed me to Aunt B’s,” she said.

After several visits to the restaurant, she found out that the owner was a musician, who was drawn to the spoken word. Soon, they started a spoken word night, and to Asia’s knowledge, there hadn’t been one in Tupelo before.

“To say that I was a part of that starting was really cool,” Asia said.

For Melanie, it was less a matter of exploring a new place and more of rediscovering home.

“My mother was the organist in this church,” she said of the building that became the Link Centre. “There is a picture of three-year-old me in my office, cutting the ribbon of the gym that is now the Police Athletic League.”

According to Asia, Melanie can make her way through the building without ever turning on a light.

“The light switches are all over the place,” Melanie said. “It’s just more efficient to walk in the dark.”

Like the physical building that houses the Link Centre, so much of what these two women do is pieced together. They help run over a dozen programs, from the monthly music mix, which features a different genre every month, to housing the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra for a string of shows every year.

“What we do is about community,” said Melanie.

They are engaging as much of the community as they can through their efforts.

“We always say there is something for everyone, and if you want something and it’s not there, we’ll make it up,” she said.

Working together proves to have its own challenges. By the nature of their work, and by Melanie’s own admission, things can get hectic.

“There wouldn’t be room for three people to sit down in my office,” she admitted.

“I have to sometimes Jedi mind read to make sure I know [what’s going on],” Asia said.

“She’s really good at that,” Melanie said.

“Balance is the key,” Asia bounced back.

The Link Centre encapsulates the flexibility necessary for community work. This year, they hope to undertake an ambitious project that is part race dialogue-part art project. Their goal is to start working to undo some of the divides in Tupelo. As with all things they do, they will approach it with honesty, good spirits and a paint brush.

Film Screenings Workshops Meet the Filmmakers MS High School Film Fest

14TH ANNUAL

A P R I L 2 0-2 2, 2 0 1 7 Malco Tupelo Commons Theatre 3088 Tupelo Commons Tupelo, MS 38804 www.TupeloFilmFestival.net

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COMPASSING THE COAST: The duo behind Biloxi's Almost Circle Gallery

10. Never having to wea r pants when you’re hom e together.

11. Never feeling like you need to post a long status about how awesome they are because you actually tell them all the time in real life.

r 5. Saving a meme for late because you know they’re sleeping or busy. favorite 6. Remembering their ors for soup and ice cream flav day. when they had a shitty

7. Bringing tacos home after a long day without being asked.

12. Not texting them non-stop when they go out with their friends because you trust them.

Meet Brandy Waltman and Julia Reyes

BY JANE CLAIR TYNER Almost Circle Gallery opened in the Vieux Marche district of downtown Biloxi in July last year. The gallery’s inaugural show, “M4: Mark Makers Making Marks,” encouraged area artists to spend a day in the space creating. Over the course of a week, all work was completed and business partners, Brandy Waltman and Julia Reyes, hung the show and invited enthusiasts and collectors to the gallery’s opening. Since that time, the business partners have hosted a variety of regional artists and curated shows drawn from the inherent inspiration of the surrounding geography and community.

According to Almost Circle Gallery’s website, “The name Almost Circle started as a drawing group intended to bring creative people together through the act of drawing while in public spaces. New friends were made through the activation of some of these often forgotten spaces. By calling it an ‘almost circle,’ we hoped to celebrate the thought of something that is open and leaving room for growth.”

Brandy and Julia have provided an inviting space which is as comfortable as it is enticing to spectators and artists alike.

While most gallery owners go through arduous lengths to heighten a sense of self-aggrandisement at the expense of alienating the audience, this Biloxi duo has created an atmosphere of accessibility. Almost Circle Gallery is host not only to an effulgent collection of multimedia work, but also a congregation of players connecting generations through the engagements and civilities of a creating community. Meet Julia and Brandy...

Name: Julia Reyes

Name: Brandy Ann Waltman

Birthday: August 6, 1988

Birthday: July 13, 1981

Job title/description: Co-Owner | Creative Director

Job title/description: Co-Owner | Business Manager

How, where, when did you meet Brandy? We met while working at Negrotto’s Gallery in Summer of 2015

How, where, when did you meet Julia? Negrotto’s Gallery where we both worked

How does Brandy unwind? She often calls out to the neighborhood cats around the gallery.

How does Julia unwind? With an IPA

What is Brandy’s greatest strength? Persistence!

What is Julia greatest strength? Being positive and always looking at the bright side. WWJD (What Would Julia Do)

What do you bring to the partnership? I think I help bring creative vision to the partnership.

What do you bring to the partnership? Organization and keeping a schedule

If Brandy were an ice cream flavor, which would she be?

Neopolitan

If Julia were an ice cream flavor, which would she be?

Neapolitan — All the Flavors

What is Brandy’s biggest pet peeve? Bad driving

What is Julia biggest pet peeve? When artists don’t put wiring on the back of their artwork for a show

If you and Brandy were to become roommates, what’s your one habit (or mannerism) that would most drive her mad? Probably the fact that I’m constantly moving stuff around.

If Brandy really wants to rock out, she’ll play which band/ musician? I’m going to say Lindsey Stirling or Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Is Brandy a good dancer? Probably — if good dancing means you are having a great time!

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If you and Julia were to become roommates, what’s your one habit (or mannerism) that would most drive her mad? I hate holes in the wall!!

If Julia really wants to rock out, she’ll play which band, musician? Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill Is Julia a good dancer? She can bust a move!

BRANDY, LEFT, AND JULIA // PHOTO BY WILLIAM COLGIN

10. Never having to wea r pants when you’re hom e together.

11. Never feeling like you need to post a long status about how awesome they are because you actually tell them all the time in real life.

r 5. Saving a meme for late because you know they’re sleeping or busy. favorite 6. Remembering their ors for soup and ice cream flav day. when they had a shitty

7. Bringing tacos home after a long day without being asked.

12. Not texting them non-stop when they go out with their friends because you trust them.

32 // dime entertainment

JULIA REYES: BUILDING AND DECONSTRUCTING

BY JANE CLAIR TYNER // PHOTO BY WILLIAM COLGIN

I was introduced to Julia Reyes’ work during the late summer of 2015 at her show, “Confetti and Small Talk” hosted by Smith and Lens in Bay St. Louis. Crowded on the walls was a collection that displayed an artist’s incredible courage to explore and the talent and stubbornness necessary to execute it with a humility only the confident know. The show was a series of oil paintings varying dramatically in size, scope and incorporated textures. Viewed in its entirety, it translated like a map, the work of a skilled cartographer drawing you through an intimate adventure. It was strong, and it was playful, bold with a delightful meekness. There were displays of dissidence and accordance. It was spectacular.

Escaping the Box Julia Reyes’ artistry cannot be contained, categorized or confined. In addition to her collection of oil paintings, she has collaborated with local dancers to create installations examining isolation. Within the gallery Julia manages hangs an installation she designed utilizing shadows cast by carefully crafted clay objects and painted sails of canvas.

Julia is demure with an otherworldly, almost sprite-like demeanor. She has sparkling eyes and a beaming smile and a pair of exquisite, impossibly tiny hands whose movements are an artistry all their own. Julia is thoughtful, deliberate in speech and action; she is sanguine and boundless. There is a look she maintains as though there is always something being processed and drafted for production behind her winsome welcome, and there is. Her natural resting state is one of creation.

Julia’s exploring spirit is present throughout her work, drawing heavily from the surrounding geography. A Biloxi native, she is often found kayaking through Mississippi’s Sound or on an expedition at one of the state’s barrier islands. Should you pay a visit to Deer Island, you may happen upon a structure she engineered from found objects. The clay scavenged from such trips finds its way into her work as does her inquiry into social constructs.

“In a lot of my work, you’ll see open houses or one thing inside of another leading to another, like systems. I think a lot about interconnected-

r 5. Saving a meme for late because you know they’re sleeping or busy.

favorite 6. Remembering their ors for soup and ice cream flav day. when they had a shitty

ness,” Julia said as she explained the theme of deconstructing objects seen throughout her work.

“I like digging through layers and the idea of containers. We are containers.”

She credits her investigative nature to growing up with a father who was constantly taking things apart, breaking them down into their individual parts to discover how they integrated and a mother who is a “spitfire and free-thinker.”

“They let me be what I wanted even if it wasn’t something they understood. They never tried to put me in a box,” Julia said, describing the freedom given to her by her parents.

Having received her BFA from Mississippi State University, she graduated thinking, “I was going to immediately leave the state, but I realized I care about where I’m from.”

At the time, the George Ohr Museum in Biloxi was in the process of building its Frank Gehry designed collection halls and offered Julia the position of outreach coordinator. She took the position and has since been an integral part of growing the Mississippi Coast’s vibrant art scene. Julia credits this thriving scene to the Coast’s necessity for a rebounding spirit.

“I find the resiliency of the Coast very inspiring as an artist,” Julia said. “When you go through something very traumatic, often you’ll get great art out of it because you’ve gone through this experience that you somehow have to deal with and have to translate.”

It is this resilience, she believes, which creates the enterprising dynamic of the area and its cohesion and cooperation amongst neighboring communities.

Julia is committed to Biloxi and its artistic resurgence. She recently opened Almost Circle Gallery with business partner Brandy Waltman in the city’s rue district.

“I am particularly drawn to this area of Biloxi, the buildings that are like empty shells,” she explained. “There’s a certain energy here, a rawness.”

Currently, her works are focused less on imagery and more on reconnoitering her materials. While Reyes’ artistry cast a wide range of elements and mediums, with each piece reflecting its own depths and truths, what is consistent is the bravura of her work and ardor for her community.

7. Bringing tacos home after a long day without being asked.

10. Never having to wea r pants when you’re hom e together.

11. Never feeling like you need to post a long status about how awesome they are because you actually tell them all the time in real life.

12. Not texting them non-stop when they go out with their friends because you trust them.

LET HER SPEAK (OIL, MIXED MEDIA ON PANEL) // JULIA REYES

MRS. COMMUNICATION (OIL, COLD WAX ON CANVAS) // JULIA REYES

BREATHING IN, BREATHING OUT (PORCELAIN, PAPER CLAY, LATEX ON CANVAS) // JULIA REYES PHOTO BY WILLIAM COLGIN

38 // dime entertainment

Transforming

The Box

The contemporary art scene in Dallas is booming.

Believe it or not, for many connoisseurs, Dallas is among the obligatory domestic art stops along with Miami, New York and Marfa, Texas. The city’s affluent residents, many of whom are big time collectors, have a significant expendable income for art purchases. The Dallas Biennial, amfAR’s Two X Two and the Dallas Art Fair garner attention from locals, celebrities and tourists. Add in world class museums like the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Contemporary, and it’s easy to see why Dallas is a thriving arts destination.

Enter our Power Couple, Jason and Nancy Koen, strong supporters of the Dallas arts community, who are betting big on The Box Company, a warehouse turned multi-functional arts space in South Dallas.

The Koens are not your typical southern couple. They don’t watch football. They are not Republicans, nor are they religious. They are ‘early adopters’ by any marketer’s definition. Nancy wears little to no makeup — her snowy visage doesn’t need it. Jason has never owned an article of ‘seersucker’ clothing. Their boys, Jason, 13, and Zion, 15, both clever and stylish, look more like teen actors from a Judd Apatow family satire than schoolboys in central Dallas.

Their passion project The Box Company opened in October 2016, and is unique for myriad reasons. Firstly being its intersection of Jason’s family’s biography and the neighborhood’s history.

The Box Company was originally Murray Company’s bustling cotton depot during the 1930s, conveniently located behind the Santa Fe Railroad.

After World War II, Jason’s grandfather, Gabriel Camacho, a famous or infamous

BY MEAGHEN STARK (depending on who you ask) Mexican businessman PHOTOS BY FREDRIK BRODEN opened the Camacho Box Company. From age 12 onwards, Jason spent afternoons working alongside his grandfather in the warehouse. When he wasn’t driving forklifts or delivery trucks, he was skateboarding in the building after hours.

Skateboarding turned out to be the catalyst for his future career in the arts. It was also via skateboarding that Jason would take his first entrepreneurial leap, partnering with fellow skater Danny Sandoval to open a retail skate shop called Chrome in Expo Park.

Though the skate shop eventually folded, it was here that he met Angstrom Gallery owner David Quadrini, who helped him land his first arts job with the prestigious Goss-Michael Foundation. His first foray into the contemporary art world would be followed by five years as one of the most in-demand Arts Services and Exhibition contractors in Dallas. (In layman’s terms this means he would handle the complete installation of art at museums and galleries.) Jason was specifically involved in the Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst exhibitions

The Box Company is breaking the mold on how we view the Dallas art sceNE

at Goss-Michael before working with area institutions such as the Dallas Contemporary and Dallas Museum of Art. Meanwhile, The Camacho Box Company was forced to shut down in the late 90s. The family business could no longer compete with the likes of Georgia Pacific and International Paper Company. Jason’s parents tried unsuccessfully to find a use for the building, but our couple du jour saw beyond the ancient machinery camouflaged by 20 years of dust.

What they saw was the future of Dallas’ art landscape: 14,000+-squarefeet of alternative space perfectly suited for exhibits and performances by artists and musicians. The location is also of note.

South Dallas, a historically Jewish neighborhood, set between Cedars and Fair Park, had been neglected for decades until the Billy Earl Dade Middle School opened in 2013. The Koens believe The Box Company will bring even more value and interest to the area, part of the larger ongoing ‘restore and rebuild’ trend mobilizing Dallas’ forgotten neighborhoods.

I was curious as to how the couple, married for six years, ‘make it work,’ both running a business and raising a family together. My first thought is this pair is in fact two equally confident and discerning individuals.

“We support each other in every decision,” Jason says. “Nancy and I are both practical in our decision making process, and this makes it easier.”

When asked what traits he values most in his other half, Jason replies, “Nancy is loyal to a fault, extremely intelligent and pragmatic. She’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. She is the most giving and kind person I’ve ever encountered. She’s also perfect.” He laughs here, but is completely sincere. I believe every word, and why not? His adoration for her is palpable.

“Nancy and I met fifteen years

ago via mutual friends while both attending USM. We became fast friends thanks to our shared affinity for designer handbags and vintage fashion,” Jason recalls. “Little did I know, Nancy’s mother, Mrs. Nancy Martin Guice, was a bona-fide style icon. Over the years, Mrs. Nancy had accumulated a closet full of exceptional vintage fashion, which she

JASON AND NANCY KOEN

slowly gifted to her daughter over the years. It was pure fashion bliss to peruse the closets of her downtown Laurel home.”

With a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising from USM, Nancy’s next stop was the ‘Big D.’ From there, she set off on a successful trajectory in fashion, leading sales and brand-building strategies for Valentino, James Perse and PUMA. In 2013, she co-founded B.Stellar, an insanely hip jewelry line, with designer Misty Incontrera — all this while receiving accolades for her sartorial ‘slaying,’ including being named Dallas Morning News’ Stylemaker and most recently Culture-

Map’s Dallas 2015 StyleMaker.

I asked Nancy what makes Jason both an ideal husband and business partner.

“Not only is he the sweetest, funniest and most handsome person on the planet, he’s a jack of all trades.

There’s literally not one thing this guy can’t do,” She replies. “He amazes me every single day with his attention to detail and his persistence in carrying everything through to the end. Working together is a dream come true because I get to be with my very favorite person all the time.”

So far, The Box Company has hosted two well received shows. The inaugural show featured artist Francisco Moreno’s new scribble paintings, a favorite among Dallas art patrons, in the ‘larger box’ gallery.

“Francisco‘s paintings were exactly the vibe we wanted for our first show,” Nancy says.

Recent University of North Texas graduate and artist Paul Winker premiered his works in the ‘small box’ at the same time.

There is no shortage of creativity from Dallas’ robust local scene. The second show at The Box Company was part of the larger Dallas Biennial held last December. Local artists Teresa Margolles and Hermann Nitsch, both equally established and equally controversial showed new works.

Up next is a collaborative effort with Barry Whistler Gallery and artist Luke Harnden opening this month.

I’m blessed to call the Koens close friends and eternal members of my tribe. This project is the realization of a power couple: two people with a shared love for contemporary art, the gall to fight Dallas City Hall and thousands of sweaty “family hours” (kids included) dedicated to the initial cleanup and renovation of The Box Company. Nancy, who wears couture just as easily as a pair of cut-off shorts, is quick to add, “I was sportin’ daisy dukes and a sports bra for the entirety of Summer ‘16.” You can take the girl out of Laurel...

To learn more about The Box Company, visit theboxco.co.

To see Nancy’s jewelry line B.Stellar, head to bstellar.co.

10. Never having to wea r pants when you’re hom e together.

11. Never feeling like you need to post a long status about how awesome they are because you actually tell them all the time in real life.

r 5. Saving a meme for late because you know they’re sleeping or busy. favorite 6. Remembering their ors for soup and ice cream flav day. when they had a shitty

7. Bringing tacos home after a long day without being asked.

12. Not texting them non-stop when they go out with their friends because you trust them.

44 // dime entertainment

Accidentally Committed...

m i K d n a Matt t

THIS DUO IS MAPQUESTING THE PATH TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIP

BY JENN DEVEREAUX

Brooklyn-based electronic-indie dance duo and college sweethearts Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino have been making music together for more than 10 years now. This duo is well-known for catchy songs like “Daylight” and “Let’s Go,” as well as their insane and energetic live performances (where Kim has been known to perilously stand atop the hands of the crowd as she twerks) and their viral music videos including the controversial “Lessons Learned” where they stripped down naked in Times Square. However, the most notable achievement for this pair is their commitment to their music and one another. They practically spend every waking moment together, although they are quick to point out that would probably be a bad idea for any other relationship. Because of their success on and off the stage, Matt and Kim are the perfect power couple to give you relationship advice.

They took a quick break from touring for their new album We Were the Weirdos to fill DIME in on embarrassing facts about each other, their ideal Tinder profiles and how Google Maps is saving one relationship at a time.

JENN DEVEREAUX: How did you guys meet?

KIM SCHIFINO: So we both went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, which is an art institute there. I was sitting outside the silk screen studio with a friend, and as Matt walked past, I said, “I’m gonna f*$# the shit out of that dude,” and then, like, a couple of weeks later, I did. <laughs> MATT JOHNSON: You know, Kim, she’s a real go-getter. When she sets her mind to something, it happens.

KIM: I love a good challenge!

JD: When did you guys decide to make music together?

MATT: We were a couple who had been living together for about two years before we tried to do any music. Kim didn’t play drums, and I didn’t really play a keyboard at the time. She wanted to learn drums, and that’s how it happened accidentally.

That’s how we sort of backwardly came into being a band.

JD: What’s the best thing about touring with your significant other?

KIM: It’s awesome! I get laid every night.

MATT: Every night might be pushing it.

I’m only one man here. I’m only human. <laughs> For us, it works out really well because if we had spent all the time on the road that we have in the past 10 years and one of us was not on the road, it probably would have been really hard to keep a functional relationship going. On the other hand, most couples who spend half as much time together as me and Kim would totally murder each other. For some reason, it works for us. I don’t know if it would work for everyone.

nice that is for us to do because on the road it’s really hard to do that. Even eating at home becomes a luxury because we eat out three meals a day while we are on the road for like six weeks at a time.

MATT: Yeah, I’m so sick of eating out. I’m just bored of eating at restaurants. It’s funny because growing up only on special occasions did we ever as a family go to a restaurant. I think most people who live in a city, especially New York City, eat out a lot anyway, but when you are on the road and you have no other options, it’s just like a chore. I prefer to just order in food.

JD: Describe your ideal date night.

MATT: We’re fans of the type of movie theater where you can order alcoholic drinks and food inside. That’s always fun.

KIM: Or you bring your own and secretly open it. <laughs> MATT: To me even staying in, especially if we have been on the road for a long time…

KIM: It’s so weird that what other couples would consider an ordinary night — like making dinner and watching TV — how

JD: What’s a serious side of you that people are unlikely to know about?

MATT: A serious side? Let me think on that. I think that our songs, generally people think of them as upbeat and happy, but there is a darker underside to the lyrical content — even if I look at this past year when we put out a song called Please No More, which was basically after another shooting happened. The song is about how I can’t wake up to any more bad news. It weighs too much. I don’t

know if that is any sort of secret heavier side, but I do think it doesn’t come up in our music a lot for people. They always turn to us for that happier music. I don’t think it really all is [happy] when you listen to it.

JD: If you could make a tinder profile for each other, what would the bios say?

KIM: We wanted to do a Tinder one together! We kind of blew it and we didn’t do it but that would have been great. I guess that would have been Grindr… no, wait not Grindr. What’s the threesome one?

MATT: Thrinder?

KIM: Yeah, Thrinder.

MATT: We just want to be where the people are, just, you know, connecting to them.

KIM: Mine would say, “nothing but net.”

MATT: Nothing but net? I dig it. Would it have little emojis of like basketballs?

KIM: Yeah!

MATT: Mine would say, “go easy on me.”

KIM: <laughs> Aww! JD: I feel like for Tinder profile pictures, you have to have some sort of exotic animal in the picture with you.

MATT: That’s so true. When you scroll past it, you’re like “What the fuck?”

KIM: Wait, so can I do just a vag shot on Tinder? Like, can you straight up, like, no face, just a vajayjay picture? I mean, getting right to the point...

MATT: Is that the exotic animal? <laughs> I do have a picture of me standing in B-Boy stance with a kangaroo from Australia.

KIM: See, now we’ve just got to set up a Tinder profile for you.

MATT: Yeah, I mean c’mon, we’re halfway there.

JD: What are some requirements that you guys think a Power Couple should have?

MATT: Obviously when we think of a power couple…

KIM: I mean, the King and Queen, right?

MATT: Yeah, Beyonce and Jay-Z. I guess

because they are both very successful in their own right. I mean, Kim, do you feel the Lemonade album was just a ruse because there wasn’t that sort of drama actually in their relationship?

KIM: Oh, yeah, totally.

MATT: Because you want to know that they love each other. Like you wouldn’t consider… who is Whitney Houston’s husband?

KIM: Bobby Brown?

MATT: Yeah. Well, they were both successful, but you wouldn’t consider them a power couple because of the inherent problems in the relationship.

KIM: I think a power couple is two people who work well together creatively and in a business sense, just fucking killing it at life.

JD: What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to other couples out there?

MATT: It’s funny. I feel very lucky because there is a lot of issues that other couples have that we don’t necessarily have... meaning that we are on the same page about a lot of things and we agree on a lot of things. That’s how we ended up doing this band together. We were already seeing eye to eye on stuff. And maybe the challenge works well for other couples, but I do think that not dwelling on stuff is always the best. Just let things go. I’m very lucky because I won’t do something or I will do something. Like, if Kim asks me to take care of something, and I don’t do it, she doesn’t hold it against me. She might just ask me again. The whole communication thing is very important.

KIM: I think that’s the most important thing. You can’t hold things in. If something is bothering you, you bring it up because most likely the person who is bothering you doesn’t realize what they are doing is affecting you, and it could be squashed so much quicker than letting it build up inside.

MATT: I think we all need to take one step back and give a thank you to Google Maps because not getting lost while in a car is really the best thing you could ever do for a couple. There were so many more fights when people were just lost in a car all the time.

JD: What did we do before Google Maps? I don’t even remember!

KIM: Let me tell you — when Matt and I first starting touring, pre-smartphones, we printed out a binder filled with Mapquest directions, and if you went off course for a second, you were fucked!

MATT: I remember when we first got a GPS, I swore it just worked on magic.

And all of a sudden our tour woes went way down. But now everyone has it right there in their pockets. So, I think all of the things about couples have been fixed, and we’re all going to be ok.

To read the full interview with Matt & Kim, head to dime.me.

p i h s n o i t a l e R

Advice from Kim

Dating is tricky, but Kim has you covered. From compromise to making the first move to deciding whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for dinner, let Kim ease your relationship woes.

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My girlfriend is planning on going to graduate school out of state. What can I do to make this long distance relationship work? -Nathan S. First off, get yo’ ass in shape. A tight ass will make it last! Remember that you guys are living different lives and things become overwhelming. You don’t want to be part of that overwhelm. So if someone is busy and can’t talk, don’t take it the wrong way. You need to understand that unless you have a set phone date, you can’t expect them to drop everything when you call. Also talk about everything you are feeling… don’t text. People can read texts wrong, and that shit just causes problems.

I’m a social butterfly, but my boyfriend is a homebody and never wants to go out. Is there anyway to compromise or is this relationship doomed? -Devin G. You should each get one night a week where you either go out and party together or Netflix and chill together. That way you are doing the things each other likes. Then, for the other days, if you want to go out and he wants to stay in, then go out and let him stay in.

There is nothing worse than forcing someone to do something they aren’t into. Maybe the once-a-week-doing-what-the-other-is-into will introduce each of you to something you don’t realize you need.

It might get you to slow down and enjoy quiet time with him, and, for him, it might get him out there to meet people and experience things he didn’t know he was into.

My boyfriend has a password on his phone and won’t tell me what it is. Should I be worried or should I trust him? -Jessica D. Tell him to stop being a little bitch and give you the password. If he doesn’t give it to you, then he is hiding something. You shouldn’t hide anything from your significant other. The only thing I hide from Matt is his Christmas presents, and deep down inside I think he already knows what I’m getting him.

What’s the best way to let your crush know you’re into them?

-Benjamin S. Well depends… one, if you don’t know them, just walk up to them and say, “Hi my name is ______ and I thought you should know that.” Then you walk away. If they are into you, they will either follow you to continue the conversation or talk to you later. This works great at a bar. Before Matt, it was my go-to pick up method.

I’m a notoriously terrible gift giver. What would be a good Valentine’s Day gift to get my girlfriend this year? -Andrew W. Hmm, see, I am actually a really great gift giver. If I am hanging out with someone and they mention being into a certain thing, I’ll remember that and then six months later, when it’s their bday or Christmas, I will track down said thing. But as for Valentine’s Day, that is hard. Matt and I don’t really celebrate those types of days.

I mean, if I was your girlfriend, all I would want is some chocolate or Jelly Bellys (but I want that every day). I do get Matt cards or notes on non-holidays to let him know how awesome he is because he is really fucking awesome, and I don’t need a day to remind me of that!

When you guys don’t know what to have for dinner, how do you decide where you will eat? -Avery R. Oh, man, this is the hardest fucking decision any couple has to make. The dreaded dinner question. Matt and I both have separate first picks. Mine is always sushi, and his is Mexican. Also a lot of the time I say, “I can’t decide, you just pick.” But if this is an issue and you both hate deciding, you should have one person pick and the next time the other has to pick. This also works with anything in life. A lot of decisions Matt and I make about the band (when we disagree) is decided by who picked last. That way each of you have a chance to do something you want and at least one of you is happy… and in turn, if you are in a good relationship that should make you both happy.

On the Move

Hestina takes their siren call to new heights

WORDS & PHOTO BY HEATHER OSBOURNE The soulful-folk duo Hestina, named after the Asian “Siren Butterfly,” is testing its wings and re-packing their bags after a socko northeastern tour, bidding farewell to their own chrysalis – New Orleans, the city that gave them life.

On the front porch of their shotgun home in New Orleans, Michelle Ausman and Kimberly Vice sipped from beer glasses belonging to the corner bar, as they shared a têtê-a-têtê of sorts, reminiscing on the band’s evolution and discussing their recent tour, upcoming music and relocation to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Our first goal as a band was to move away from New Orleans so that we could really focus on our development, upcoming albums and touring,” Ausman confided. “By being closer to the areas in the northeast, we think we could really do well. It’s just what we think is best. We chose Philly because I’ve been there a few times, and I love it. It’s closer to New York where our music lawyer lives, and she is super helpful — the Jewish mother we never had.

Also, my twin brother lives in Boston.”

“Yeah, it’s for the tour, our music and also because we’ve lived in New Orleans our entire lives,” Vice chimed 50 // dime entertainment

in. “It’s just far enough away where we can come back home, and it’s in a perfect little packet of tourism and a large range of our fan base that we can engage.”

Hestina was officially formed six years after the pair became friends in high school history class. Ausman said she instantly felt strong musical chemistry that Vice, although already in the band Coffee Talk, couldn’t deny.

“We actually became friends while passing notes about a boy in class,” Ausman said with a chuckle. “Kim was already playing in a band, and I wanted to steal her from them. I just knew we were supposed to play together. I loved music, and she already had that ability.

I didn’t even play an instrument, I just loved to sing. I thought, this person is the only individual I’ve ever met in my life that I could do this with.

“For years, we would always get together and sing each other’s songs,” Ausman continued. “One year we met this girl Becca, and she told us we needed to make a band. It was so weird how it never really dawned on us until then. I mean, we wanted to do it, and we kind of were, but we never put our mind into making ourselves an

official band. When she said it, we were like ‘you’re right,’ and then we did.”

The duo’s sister-like harmonies, both voices powerful and dominating, unexpectedly coalesce into a unique sound filled with minor and dissonance key changes. Ausman’s ukulele and Vice’s acoustic guitar complement their vocals, adding the folk flare.

“Our voices conjoin in such a way that feels so damn good,” Vice said.

“We just keep doing it because it feels good to us. When we receive positive feedback, it lets us know that this is right. Every band can harmonize with each other, but there is this special packet that both of our voices together can fill in such a way that it’s very complimentary to both of us. I’ve harmonized with other people, but it just doesn’t feel as good.”

“Every time we sing together we just know it’s right,” Ausman agreed. “Tour was great because we got positive feedback that solidifies what we feel when we sing together.”

Under a new label with Auto Tone Records, Hestina hit the road on a 40-day tour in promotion of their latest album, “Blossom Talk.” After getting placed on a multi-million-listener play-

MICHELLE AUSMAN, LEFT, AND KIMBERLY VICE

list in Sweden, the album has become a huge hit nationally, and the duo said they dream of crossing continents to play live for their Swedish supporters.

“My goal is always trying to achieve the unachievable and looking beyond,” Vice said. “Like, right now we only do a huge tour once a year, and I’d love to end up touring all year round. Then, it would be getting huge record sales and traveling around the world and visiting our fan base abroad. I would want to just keep escalating from there.

“I feel like we had lots of great shows on tour,” Vice continued. “But our favorite was this one house show in Pittsburg.

It was just so peaceful and reminded us why we’re doing this. It was just a small room filled with people who were captivated and not worried about their cell phones or yelling at a bartender over the music. We could actually hear and feel ourselves.”

Although the duo said they both love the album as a whole, they each have a favorite song they prefer to perform above the rest. As for future albums, they are set to release two more under their current record deal.

“My favorite song on our album is Deadso,” Vice said. “It’s a super chal-

lenging song for me to sing, and it’s a super challenge for Michelle to play. It’s the last song on our album and probably even the last song that Michelle wrote.

It’s the song that probably speaks for how our upcoming music will sound.”

“Deadso is a song I wrote about a journey being in love with the devil,” Ausman explained. “A journey I was on with the devil by being in love with someone I knew I shouldn’t be. It’s funny how in movies the devil is usually depicted by someone who is evil and scary, but sometimes he is even sweet and gentle – kind of like in Daredevil. In the end, his darkness is his fault and major flaw. So the song is about the journey in figuring out that although you may see the goodness, it’s not who that individual really is.”

For Ausman, her favorite song on the album is “Dedicated,” one she wrote the day after she was arrested for petty theft and resisting arrest in 2013.

Ausman said she was trying to deliver Mother’s Day flowers to her own mother during her little brother’s high school scrimmage game when she walked into the game anyway after gatekeepers refused to let her in because she had no cash. She said she was later tackled and

harassed by police officers far beyond the necessary protocol, leading to her charges.

“It was a weird point in my life where I was trying to perceive who we were as a society, and me being a white woman going through something that so many people go through. It was an intense experience, and I wrote the song the next day. I really don’t ever do that, especially with it being such a great song.

I was just moved. When I sing it, it’s the most comfortable song for me to sing and play. I just feel at home almost. It’s my safe haven.”

Although musically the duo are similar, their personalities are as antipode as they come. Vice, a behind-the-scenes gal who is a sensitive perfectionist, and Ausman, an outgoing, charismatic and motherly-type person.

“It’s crazy how we are so different, yet reliant on one another,” Ausman said. “Like, if it weren’t for Kim we wouldn’t go on tours, but if it weren’t for me, we also wouldn’t go on tours. We balance each other out.”

Southerners wanting to experience Hestina live before their relocation can visit Hestinamusic.com for dates on upcoming shows and tours.

HOUSTON OPEN AIR The inaugural Houston Open Air festival kicked off its festivities on September 24, 2016, at NRG Park in Houston, but only a couple of hours after opening the gates, reports of lightning strikes in the area had promoter Danny Wimmer Presents concerned for the safety of the fans, ultimately forcing an evacuation. This evacuation ended up being one of several over the weekend, and due to weather, the rest of the two day festival was canceled. Despite the inclement weather, fans were able to see a few of their favorite bands play in between evacuations.

Chevy Metal, the classic rock cover band fronted by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, brought in a huge crowd to the small stage they were slated to play on while Alter Bridge put on an amazing performance despite a 30 min delay on their set.

ALTER BRIDGE // JENN DEVEREAUX

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CHEVY METAL // JENN DEVEREAUX

DOLLY PARTON Dolly Parton kept it pure and simple at the Pensacola Bay Center on November 29, singing over twenty-five songs and celebrating her Smoky Mountain home all the while performing for three hours in rhinestone Louboutin heels.

PHOTOS BY TEDDIE TAYLOR

MS. LAURYN HILL The Grammy award winning Fugees star Ms. Lauryn Hill performed to a packed out audience on December 1 at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans. Despite being under the weather and notoriously late, Hill showed the crowd that she still has “that thing” by slaying hit song after hit song on her set list.

PHOTOS BY JENN DEVEREAUX

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HANDS LIKE HOUSES Australian post-hardcore band Hands Like Houses put on an intimate show for a full audience in the Parish room at the House of Blues in New Orleans in November.

PHOTOS BY JENN DEVEREAUX

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Upcoming Shows February 1 DYLAN LEBLANC Duling Hall

February 4 JARED & THE MILL Duling Hall

February 7

FRED EAGLESMITH Traveling Steam Show

Duling Hall

February 9 RUNAWAY JUNE Duling Hall

February 10 SOUTHERN AVENUE Duling Hall

February 14 BIG SANDY

& HIS FLY-RITE BOYS

Duling Hall

February 19

BankPlus Concert Series Presents

“An Acoustic Evening With”

LYLE LOVETT & JOHN HIATT Thalia Mara Hall

February 19 ISAIAH RASHAD Duling Hall

March 10

BankPlus Concert Series Presents

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX

Billy Cox, Buddy Guy, Zakk Wylde, Jonny Lang,

David Hidalgo Hida & Cesar Rosas, Brad Whitford, Mato Nanji, Dweezil Zappa, Henri Brown, Doyle Bramhall II, Ana Popovic,

The Slide Brothers & More

Thalia Mara Hall

#JX//RX we don’t book sh!t bands

tickets & info ardenland.net

e h t e v o b A PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATE DEARMAN STYLING BY ADAM MYRICK

These bold duos are leading the creative sectors of their city's economies.

LAUREL Austin and Bethany Byrd are shaking things up in Laurel. As president of Own Your Hill, a specialized internet marketing consultancy, Bethany has changed the way outsiders see her small town while Austin is crossing borders with music born and bred here as part of two local ensembles, Harbor and The Devil Music Company.

Bethany and Austin are taking their vision of creative growth one step further by opening their co-working space, The Shop Co.Work, in Laurelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budding downtown, opening this spring.

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Influence

"Our community is beautifully and historically odd. Laurel's story is speckled with great moments of individualism, defiance and outnumbered forward thinkers. I believe that now is our moment to grow our creative ranks, and send off an entire city toward some crazy, unknown, huge future."

- Bethany Byrd

DIME: DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS IN 5 WORDS. BETHANY: Desire, Strategy, Hustle, Reveal, Elation AUSTIN: Translate what I’m feeling inside.

DIME: WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? BETHANY: “Too much, and never enough. I’m ready to surround myself with the unstoppable energy of creators, innovators and problem solvers every day. It’s so nearly here.”

DIME: WHO INSPIRES YOU? AUSTIN: My Bethany! People that are genuinely passionate about their craft — dreamers that work and find solutions rather that listen to people who try to bring them down.

THE SHOP CO.WORK | 410 W OAK ST., LAUREL | THESHOPCO.WORK OWN YOUR HILL | 409 W OAK ST., LAUREL | OWNYOURHILL.COM

" The resilience of the LGBT community in Jackson and across Mississippi is inspiring. Every time we are faced with discrimination or hatred, we spring back with hope and love."

- Jesse Pandolfo

JACKSON Jesse Pandolfo, left, is the owner and creative mind behind Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top LGBT nightclub Wonderlust. She and girlfriend Haley Hesdorffer are giving all of us permission to be true to ourselves. Known for their love and support of the LGBT community, Jesse and Haley have hearts as pure as their all white ensembles.

DIME: DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS IN 5 WORDS. JESSE: Think, Decide, Plan, Work, Rest DIME: WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEXT FOR YOU? JESSE: This year, we are very focused on building on the foundation of WonderLust as well as strengthening the relationships and ties we have with the community that supports us. Someday I would love to have another WonderLust location in the southeast. Also, a family vacation would be nice!

DIME: WHO INSPIRES YOU? JESSE: My WonderLust customers inspire me. The most magical moments are when you can feel an entire building full of people enjoying their freedom of expression.

WAITING ON CUTLINE

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WONDERLUST | 3911 NORTHVIEW DR., JACKSON | WONDERLUSTJACKSON.COM

Near downtown Jackson, where Lakeland Drive meets State Street, lies a little neighborhood called Fondren. Nestled away from the hustle of life in the city, Fondren is an arts district that provides tons of unique places to eat, shop and hang out. It is also popular with young professionals and happens to be the place Sara Gatlin and Zander Williamson call home.

Sara is a graphic designer for Premier Wedding Magazine and has her own photography business. Last year she and her boyfriend Zander, a server at Apothecary in Fondren and a self-proclaimed handy man, fell in love. They’ve known each other since they were freshman in high school, but it wasn’t until St. Patrick’s Day of last year that they made the decision to be together.

“I should have chased her a long time ago,” Zander admitted. “Finally being together and living together has been amazing.”

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created a space of their own, also known as #SxZhome.

Dreams Meet Reality

BY ANDIE SZABO PHOTOS BY TRISTAN DUPLICHAIN

Zach and Saraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s style is Southwestern modern. The desert landscape is emphasized throughout every room with live cacti and bold prints. White walls and wooden floors maintain a natural vibe.

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Zander prefers the Ron Swanson approach, with function and affordability being most important. Sara, on the other hand, is most influenced by style.

Ron Swanson would definitely approve of the gold bar cart as long as it houses a bottle of his drink of choice, Lagavulin 16.

These two are not afraid of a little DIY. Sara and Zander were able to convert his childhood dresser, nightstand and chest of drawers into something more modern and in tune with their aesthetic. They chose to keep the front of the drawers in a natural wood tone and paint the drawer pulls, tops and sides.

Sara is the dreamer, while Zander makes her DIY dreams a reality.

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When asked where the couple get their records, Sara replied, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We both got most of our albums (and our exquisite taste in music) from our parents.

Anything James Taylor is probably played the most.â&#x20AC;?

The gallery wall in their living room contains the same muted color palette that can be found throughout the rest of the home. A variety of different frames and banners are arranged together with a longhorn skull. The key to keep so many items from getting overwhelming is to keep everything neutral. Photos contain mostly white backgrounds and the frames are either black or gold.

Zander’s dad built their coffee table, (page 72) and it is Zander’s most prized furniture piece. Sara thrifted a gold velvet chair from the Salvation Army years ago, and it has made several moves with her. It’s her favorite because no matter how her style has changed, the chair always adapts.

The majority of their furniture items come from Target and thrift stores.

Like many young adults, they’ve also inherited a ton of things from their families.

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Sarah and Zanderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landlord has been gracious enough to let them transform the apartment into something that feels more like home than a typical rental. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done simple things, like replaced blinds, added shelves and hung artwork, which has had a big impact overall â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and they promised their landlord not to leave too many nail holes when they leave.

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Sara and Zander have a lot of love, a ton of light and the right number of records to make their house a home.

Together with their cacti, they will continue to grow and thrive.

Zander declared, “Growing together in a part of town that’s also growing is very exciting.”

TUP taking on

ELO

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A GLANCE INTO MISSISSIPPI’S

CRADLE OF ROCK ‘N ROLL

BY TALBERT TOOLE // PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY TUPELO CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU Just off the Natchez Trace, nestled in the northeast part of Mississippi, lies the town of Tupelo. To anyone unacquainted with the town itself, its name still produces a familiar ring in your ears. Courtesy of required fourth grade Mississippi history curriculum, we all know it’s the place where Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, was born and raised. Presley purchased his first guitar from the still thriving Tupelo Hardware store in downtown as an eleven-year-old and left a lasting mark on the hearts and history of Tupelo forever. This town is a special place, a hallmark of American history, but Tupelo’s story is still being written.

If you dig a bit deeper, underneath what history books will teach you, you’ll

KERMIT’S OUTLAW KITCHEN

find that this town is a champion for far more than expected in the years after Elvis. Tupelo is a home to countless artistic prodigies, exquisite farm-to-table restaurants and venues with some of the best live music this side of the Mississippi river.

LOCAL LOVE Strolling downtown with a cool breeze in the air, you’ll notice a lack of generic chain stores, fast food restaurants and familiar corporations.

Instead, historic buildings buzzing with local businesses line the streets, drawing patrons inside with carefully constructed window displays and mouthwatering smells wafting from each cafe door.

Let Cafe 212, a Tupelo staple

with a variety of espresso beverages, coffee and sandwich lunches, draw you through its doors. With its rustic atmosphere, the cafe provides an inviting environment for anyone who’s looking to get some work done, enjoy a tasty lunch or simply treat a friend to a cup of coffee. Before setting out to uncover the hidden treasures of Tupelo, cure your hunger with ‘The Lebowski’, a sandwich with roast beef, red peppers, carmelized onions and swiss cheese — just as perfect as it sounds, but that’s just our opinion, man.

Right around the block from Cafe 212 is a longstanding Tupelo classic.

The Stables is tucked in an alleyway, prepared to plate you a home cooked meal good enough to make you feel like

you’re sitting in your Granny’s kitchen, only this time with a glass of bourbon to sip. It’s the perfect environment to make the stranger off the street feel just like a local, but if you’re looking for flair that can’t be found anywhere else, head to Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen. KOK sources all of their ingredients locally, plus they change their menu weekly. With an ever changing menu, it’s hard to have favorites at KOK, but there’s a reason the parmesan fries are always a constant in a kitchen full of variables.

It’s no secret that music and food vibrate throughout Tupelo, but local funky joint Blue Canoe not only offers a wide range of food options, it also provides entertainment for those looking to liven up their night life — a one stop shop, if you will. Acts like Gary Clark Jr., Leon Bridges, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and even The Alabama Shakes have taken the stage at Blue Canoe, a rite of passage for up-and-coming musicians crossing state lines.

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“We just hustle and strive to be the most creative joint in town, whether it’s our music, menu, nightly specials or the ways we try to reach folks,” owner Adam Morgan said.

From wings to tacos, your tastebuds will thank you no matter what you choose, but if you’re looking to sample a true taste of Tupelo, don’t skip out on the blueberry donut bread pudding.

“We get our doughnuts from Connie’s Fried Chicken. They’re famous around here for their chicken biscuits and gravy and their blueberry doughnuts,” Morgan said. “I love incorporating other businesses into what we do here. It’s a fun way to advertise for them while being creative.”

But creativity is something that seems to travel through the air in this thriving town. Rae Sremmurd, brother duo and Tupelo natives, have blown up the charts with the hit Black Beatles. From creating the viral sensation Mannequin Challenge to having Nicki Minaj make a remix of their hit song, Rae Sremmurd

have taken their talent from Tupelo to international air waves, but they still returned home to headline the second annual Sremm Fest this past December with Diplo, Young Ralph and Big. K.R.I.T. The biggest frustration shared by locals and entrepreneurs in Tupelo is the constant narrative that Tupelo has nothing to do. If you’re looking for entertainment, Tupelo will give you plenty of things to see and do if you just know where to look. Whether its ballroom dance classes at The Dance Studio, feeding free-roaming camels and yaks at The Buffalo Park or visiting the current exhibit at Gumtree Museum of Art, Tupelo consistently provides for its locals and visitors.

Whether you’re attending a free show at Down on Main in the summer, biking the trails on the Natchez Trace or visiting one of the largest automobile museums in the country, Tupelo has something for everyone.

It might be known as the birthplace for Elvis, but Tupelo’s legacy is far from over.

BLUEBERRY DONUT BREAD PUDDING FROM BLUE CANOE

EXPLORING TUPELO If you think Tupelo has nothing to offer, think again. DIME is here to fill you in on experiences you can’t get anywhere else.

Grab a skillet cookie and coffee at Crave. The wait is worth it, plus you can even rent bicycles from Crave and explore downtown, Fair Park and The Birthplace.

Eat an authentic Neapolitan pizza at Anthony’s on Troy Street.

Take a VOW barre class with Roxie downtown.

Buy a cigar at Spring Street Cigars and feel fancy af.

Eat America’s Best Hamburger (no joke, ask Thrillist.com) at Neon Pig. Visit Tupelo on a weekend and meet your new friends at Steele’s Dive to listen to live local musicians.

Catch a live theatre performance at The Lyric Theatre.

Visit Simply Sweet by Margarete and try their Old World Bread.

It will transport you to a time with no worries… or calorie counting.

Attend the Monthly Music Mix at The Link Centre.

Shop locally downtown at Farmhouse, Bailey Diane, The Main Attraction, SWIRLZ and Reed’s for all your needs.

Grab a drink and chat with the bartenders at The Thirsty Devil.

Visit Megan at the bar at Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen and get a not-so-basic margarita and learn what farm-to-table really means.

CHEAP TRAVEL FOR TWO

BY ROBYN WHITE After years of sleuthing on websites, apps and reading the fine print, I’ve succeeded in traveling around the world on a shoestring budget. Contrary to popular belief, seeing the world can be done… if you just know how to search. Here are some of my biggest money saving tips to get you and your +1 on your next adventure.

Pay to join Spirit Airlines’ $9 Fare Club.

How it works: You pay $60 a year and this allows you to book cheaper tickets on select Spirit flights.

Why it’s worth it: The discounted rates are good for everyone on your itinerary. Traveling with a partner? Only one of you needs the membership to get the discount for both of you. Traveling with a group of friends?

Same deal.The rates can save you BIG LEAGUE! (or little league, depending on the flight.) A sample flight from Las Vegas to New Orleans in February was $15 cheaper per person, per leg with the membership. For a couple, that could result in $60 of savings (covering the cost of the membership) with just one flight alone. Plus, some discounts can be up to half the cost of the flight. Lastly, you’ll save on bags with the membership, which is a big bonus since Spirit is an a-lacarte budget airline, meaning you’ll pay for every “amenity” like inflight beverages and standard-size carry on luggage.

2. Book at the airport to save on flights In fine, fine print (think size 4 font) on the Spirit airlines website is a message that reads “Lower fares generally available at the airport.” Testing this method, I was able to save $36 per flight when booking Spirit tickets at the service counter of the airport. To see how much you’ll save by booking at the airport, add the flight to your cart online and expand on the flight price where it will show you a “Passenger Usage Fee,” the cost you’ll save by booking at the airport. It seems to go against conventional wisdom that it’s actually cheaper to book in-person rather than online, but it works! Just be sure to bring a credit or debit card as they do not accept cash at the service counters.

DISCLAIMER: Spirit does not have the best customer service reputation. I typically fly twice a month, often choosing Spirit. I almost always have a delay between 30 minutes to an hour, but this

July my flight was canceled as I was en route to the airport, two hours before it was scheduled to depart. Although I was reimbursed for the amount I paid, considering I had gotten a great deal on my flight didn’t help me in this case as I now had a cool $40 to put towards my last-minute flight that cost me upwards of $600 on another airline.

3. When booking with Spirit, don’t pay extra to sit next to each other.

If you book together and check in early enough, there’s a good chance you will be seated together. This will save you around $15 per flight. It pays to be flexible. Be open to flying out of nearby airports and to flying out/in a day earlier or later. I always do multiple searches from local airports and on a day or two before/after my first preference, and occasionally it’s made a huge difference in the price. In November, I saved over $400 on an Aer Lingus flight to Italy by booking a flight the day after I had wanted to leave. Of course, this will only work if your schedule is flexible, but it’s worth it in some cases.

4. Pack lightly to get to Europe for less.

Flights into some capital cities can be cheaper than others (London versus Paris, for instance). If you can book a flight into one city and then create the rest of your itinerary with budget European airlines, you’ll be able to get around much cheaper. But, like Spirit airlines, these airlines tend to charge for everything, so you’ll want to be sure you’re packing lightly as even small average sized carry-ons can sometimes be expensive to take on board.

5. Check out budget airlines that are specific to the continent you’re traveling to.

Within the U.S., check out Allegiant and Spirit airlines; in Australia and Asia, look at JetStar and Virgin; for Europe look into EasyJet and Ryanair; and for Africa, check out Kulula and Fastjet. While these airlines can offer massive savings, be sure to check the airports that each discount airline flies into. For example, JetStar airlines can get you to Melbourne, but it flies to the Avalon airport, which is about an hour outside of the city center. This means that you’ll shell out a bit more to get into the city via public transport than if you were to fly into the more central Tullamarine airport, so it pays to do a cost comparison of all the factors before booking flights to/from smaller airports.

6. Subscribe to Travelzoo and Airfare Watchdog for trips you want to take.

These websites often have great last-minute deals, so again if your schedule allows, you can get great deals on flights and 5-star hotels.

7. Download apps like Hopper and Skyscanner Hopper will alert you as soon as the trip parameters you’re searching for are met and flights are cheap. By using this app, I was able to book a flight back from Rome that allowed me to have a 24-hour layover in Dublin. It just so happened to also be the cheapest flight that day, and had I not had the alerts enabled, I may not have gotten it.

8. Stay in Airbnbs or couchsurf Gone are the days of exclusively booking with hotels! If you’re unfamiliar with it, Airbnb allows you to live like a local and stay in someone’s house or apartment, often for much less than a hotel. You can choose to rent an entire place yourself, one room, or even just a bed in a room.

Couchsurfing is a little different in that users can stay with other members of the site for free. While this site may be more appealing to those on a shoestring budget, accommodations can be bare bones (hence the name) and may not be the best choice if you’re looking for privacy.

9. Use rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft.

When you refer a friend, Uber will give you a $20 credit that’s applied to your next ride, and Lyft will give you a $50 credit that’s broken down into $5 credits spread over 10 trips. Either way, it’s a winwin for you and a friend.

10. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is… or isn’t.

There’s a reason that Europe is cheaper in November, when the weather is often rainier and colder. However, depending on factors like vacation time and what your primary goal is, this may be perfect for you. While it may mean a few rainy days, it will also definitely mean less crowds, which could make the trip a lot more enjoyable. Also, if you book at the start/end of the low season, you can still enjoy discounted rates and relatively good weather. Hotels often mirror peak/ mid/low seasons with discounted rates when less tourists travel, so the savings can add up if you’re willing to risk the weather.

ROGUE FUTUR ES

AQUARIUS

by Nicole Chantr eau

JAN. 20 - FEB. 18

SCORPIO Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

You’ve been feeling lonely lately, which isn’t how someone should be feeling around their birthday. Have a night out with friends over drinks and try to mix up your usual habit of the same drink you always order. Maybe even do some shots, make out with a stranger. Just get out of your pity party routine, and you’ll thank me later.

Sometimes you get caught up with your regular routine and forget how to have fun.

PISCES

Feb. 19 - March 20 You’ve been a bit of a loner lately, leaving your friends out in the cold, so do your best to make some time for them this month. Since you love chilling out at the house, have a sleepover with a few of your closest pals. After a few bottles of wine, a cheesy movie and one of those complicated board games all the adult nerds are into these days, you’ll remember how good it is to have social interaction.

ARIES

March 21 - April 19 With fire as your ruling element, you can be a bit of a hot head. Tread lightly this month to avoid accidentally blowing up on a friend and risking a strong relationship just because you get a little too honest.

Whether or not you’re right, what you say or think doesn’t matter when you say it at the wrong time.

TAURUS April 20 - May 20

Venus is the planet that rules your sign and it shows — you’re a very sensual and romantic person. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, make some plans with the person closest to you for a romantic evening or a best friend date. Get some drinks at a quiet bar or check out a new movie at home.

GEMINI May 21 - June 20

You hate falling into a routine, and lately work has you feeling beat. It’s time to get some quality Gemini time with yourself and do something that brings you joy. Even if it’s something simple like buying a new album on iTunes or getting a bunch of pointless magazines to read, treat yourself to a little something this month.

CANCER June 21 - July 22

You’ve been nesting pretty hard lately, but you’re still feeling uninspired. Get on Pinterest and find any stupid DIY project to keep your mind and hands busy this month. Just make sure it’s not too big of a project, or at least price it beforehand, so you don’t end up wasting too much money on something that’s supposed to be fun.

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You get swept up in new flings and romances rather easily, whether it be people or hobbies. It’s a great idea to have fun, but make sure you don’t put your friends and other obligations on the back burner this month. They might not be there for you when the honeymoon is over and you realize you miss them.

SAGITTARIUS LEO July 23 - Aug. 22

For Leos, Sunday is your day to shine and live like a king. This month will be a busy one for you. Even if you have plans on every Sunday, make some time elsewhere in the week to relax and have some oneon-one time with your bestie or partner. Sometimes you can accidentally be so self-centered that you forget about them.

VIRGO Aug. 23 - Sept. 2

You work too hard, and you’re already on the quick path to burning yourself out this year… and it just started! You’re already looking at your vacation time and thinking how you can use it ASAP. Slow down a little — but stay focused — and plan a three-day weekend for yourself. Even if you just stay home on the couch, you’ll enjoy turning your brain off for just a bit.

LIBRA Sept. 23 - Oct. 22 Life’s been a little crazy lately, and it’s got you down in the dumps. However, when a Libra has a pity party, it ends up being a month long thing.

Do your best to stay distracted from whatever is under your skin this month.

Dwelling on it will only make it worse.

Talk out any problems with the people involved, or just go ahead and get over it to save yourself some time.

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21 This month will be a very trying one for you since you have no problem being too blunt and honest to the people you love. Someone close to you will reach out to you for advice on a tough issue, but remember to think before you speak. Answer too quickly or judge too harshly and you could end up with one less friend.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

This year is chugging along, and you’ve finally found your rhythm. Reward yourself for all your hard work with a practical splurge, like a nice watch or a new purse. Just make sure whatever you treat yourself to is something useful so you can have a daily reminder of all the hard work that went into it.

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