september
Greenville, SC
free!
skirt!is
www.skirt.com
Dear
September,
I love your lumbering yellow school buses and
freshly sharpened No.2 yellow pencils. Your sweet
sunlight with a tart edge of sadness that tastes like
muscadine grapes. Your ripe full moons and corn-
maze labyrinths. Your just-right weather, not too
hot and not too cold. Your Libra balancing act
between summer and winter, hello and goodbye.
Your Fresh Starts, first downs and seventh-inning stretches. Your
mellow, apple-cider mood. Your laid-back
Labor Day weekend and celestial Equinox
celebration. Your breathtaking, earthshaking
hymn to Demeter. Your sun-colored goldenrod
and traveling butterflies. Your blue-eyed sky like
autumn’s cathedral above us. Cover copy by Nikki Hardin, Art by Jackie Besteman
“Autumn, the year’s last loveliest smile.” William Cullen Bryant
THE INTERNET IS
NOT FOR SALE. BUT WITH ULTRA60,
YOU OWN IT.
Imagine what you could do with blazing speeds up to 60 Mbps. With Ultra60 by Charter Internet, you have the fastest Internet speeds to stream, download, and do just about anything you want online without the wait. Let it all in with Charter Internet.
Call 1-888-GET-CHARTER or visit charter.com/ultra60 to learn more.
Š2011 Charter Communications. Residential customers only. Internet speeds may vary. Fastest speeds compared to AT&T, Qwest, and Verizon Internet offerings in Charter markets. comScore Throughput Report Q3-10. Services not available in all areas. Restrictions apply. Call for details.
AIM79414
2 
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
feeling GOOD FEELING GOOD inside and out, from the tippy top of your trend-setting tresses to the bottom of your well-heeled, and well-healed, self...
“Row-ga!” at Greenville Indoor Rowing
Dr. Jacklyn K. Han, M.D. Remedy MedSpa
In Shape MD and Any Lab Test Now!
576-A Woodruff Road, Greenville, SC 29607
777 Senate Pkwy - Near AnMed Campus
(864) 281-1505 (864) 901-3776
Anderson 864-222-3288
1140 Woodruff Road, Suite 107
1140 Woodruff Road, Suite 302
Greenville, SC (864) 329-0935
Greenville, SC (864) 254-6373
Laura Caylor Certified Yoga Instructor Registered Yoga Instructor
Dr. Jacklyn K. Han, M.D. Remedy MedSpa
In Shape MD and Any Lab Test Now!
The Body Wax Specialists
All ages and fitness levels are welcome to join me for a session of “Row-Ga” - a unique fitness fusion of indoor rowing and yoga. Yoga is my passion and rowing is the best way to burn calories and stay in shape. Rowing engages every major m u s c l e group and revs up the heart-rate while yoga infuses your breath to complement body work creating long, lean muscles. “Rowga!” workouts increase flexibility and builds strength overall. The intent of my class is to work with students and newcomers in a flowing manner that keeps their awareness and focus on themselves so that they can feel and discover their own, individual presence throughout the class. So…ya wanna “feel good”? Come try “Row-ga!”
I specialize in non-surgical Aesthetic treatments to help you look as young as you feel. As an aging woman myself, I appreciate all that Aesthetic medicine can offer: Laser treatments, Chemical peels, Microdermabrasion, Medical Skincare, and Botox/Dysport. I specialize in wrinkle filler injections and confess they are my favorite. The correct filler can instantly lift and rejuvenate the face for a natural, balanced look. By using advanced techniques, I can minimize scars, accentuate cheekbones, smooth jaw lines, shape noses, plump hollow undereyes, lift brows, smooth lip lines, and much more. I provide the highest in personalized care and look forward to bringing out your natural beauty.
www.greenvilleindoorrowing.com
www.remedymedspa.com
Stuck in your weight loss program and can’t seem to lose another pound? Our Weight Loss Booster’s remove fat from your body to jump start your metabolism. Our B12 & Lipotropic injections not only boost weight loss, they also help with energy. We also offer Rapid Weight Loss with HCG Hormone Therapy. Lose up to 30 pounds in 30 days. We are all about your wellness. We use state of the art Laboratory testing including Advanced Cholesterol Testing (VAP), Breast Cancer Testing, Biomarkers, STD, DNA & complete Allergy testing. Are the vitamins you take daily really helping your health? Find out with our Micronutrient Test.
www.inshapemd.com
ULTRASKIN WAX CENTER
®
THE BODY WAX SPECIALISTS
Ultraskin Wax Center uses our unique, 3 step body wax process to deliver flawless, painless results. We offer clean, pleasant, private treatment rooms with fully licensed, specially trained estheticians. Our exclusively formulated wax leaves your skin ultrasmooth and ultrasoft to the touch. Ultraskin’s signature services are painless and affordable. Our ULTRAWAX gently removes hair from the root, so it takes a longer time for hair to grow back again. It usually takes about 4-6 weeks depending on the area of the body and your own hair growth cycle. This means you’re hair free and touchably soft for weeks! Let us take care of your here, there, and everywhere hair!
www.ultraskinwaxcenter.com
AIMSP439
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
3
Publisher
Nikki Hardin editor@skirt.com National Art Director
Caitilin McPhillips caitilin.mcphillips@skirt.com National Editor
Margaret Pilarski margaret.pilarski@skirt.com Greenville Editor
Sheril Bennett Turner sheril.turner@skirt.com Sales Executives
Denise Nelson 864.551.7295 denise.nelson@independentmail.com Sarah Page 864.356.2903 sarah.page@independentmail.com Graphic Designers
Shelli H. Rutland Shearer Wludyka Photographers
John Fowler 864.380.9332 promoimaging.com Sheril Bennett Turner
Sales: 864.551.7295 FAX: 864.260.1350
skirt! is all about women... their work, play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls. skirt! is an attitude...spirited, independent, outspoken, serious, playful and irreverent, sometimes controversial, always passionate. Calendar Submissions Send information or mail to sheril.turner@skirt.com, or mail to skirt! Greenville, 1708-C Augusta St. #335 Greenville, SC 29605.
Laying Down the Law
Stacy Appel ................................................................................. 10
Letters to the Editor All letters must include the writer’s name and city/state.
Writers & Artists Our guidelines are available online at skirt.com. Submit artwork or essays via e-mail to submissions@skirt.com.
skirt! is published monthly and distributed free throughout the greater Greenville area. skirt! reserves the right to refuse to sell space for any advertisement the staff deems inappropriate for the publication. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Letters to the editor are welcome, but may be edited due to space limitations. Press releases must be received by the 1st of the month for the following month’s issue. All content of this magazine, including without limitation the design, advertisements, art, photos and editorial content, as well as the selection, coordination and arrangement thereof, is Copyright © 2011, Morris Publishing Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this magazine may be copied or reprinted without the express written permission of the publisher. SKIRT!® is a registered trademark of Morris Publishing Group, LLC.
Essays
Adventures in Manthropology
Kat Richter....................................................................................... 13 Profile: Robin Lennon Bylenga
Power to the Pedal.................................................................... 16 Profile: Gisele Anthony
Women make more than 85% of all purchasing decisions.
In Tune................................................................................................ 18 Profile: Tammy Johnson
Raising the Bar.............................................................................. 20 Thou Shalt Not
Women spend almost 2 of every 3 healthcare dollars.
Norah Piehl .................................................................................. 27 When Silence Rules
Stephanie Hunt .......................................................................... 28 Women control 2/3 of the nation’s disposable income.
Features
From the Publisher and Editor............................................... 6 Calendar.............................................................................................. 8 Skirt of the Month........................................................................ 9
Women influence 80% of all car sales.
Skirting Around Town............................................................... 14 He’s So Original with Brian Mckinley, MD and Patrick Springhart, MD.............................22
skirt! Saw You.............................................................................. 24 skirt! loves..................................................................................... 26 September Survival Guide.................................................... 30 Personal Best................................................................................. 31 Meet... Laura Kennedy Aiken................................................ 32 Browse............................................................................................... 33 Planet Nikki..................................................................................... 34 skirt! Finder.................................................................................. 35 4
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
September 2011
T
he
les u R
Issu e
Trade
Robert’s Rules of Order for a bit of chaos, disorderly conduct and second helpings.
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
 
5
The United Skirts of America
The United Skirts of America was founded on the blood, sweat and estrogen of our foremothers, who won us the freedom
Jackie graduated from The Ontario College of Art & Design and has been a free-
When I was a kid, going to church was an unbreakable rule. It never
The Rules, to wear
occurred to me to question it, and God forbid I should forget the white
heels, to run for office
cotton gloves that buttoned at the wrist or make a sound during the sermon. Until my mother, who grew up as a hell’s-right-around-the-corner-for-theunwary Methodist, got a divorce. With the shocking rupture of that social
or run a marathon,
contract, she gave up church once and for all. It was as if God had been
to form our own
as unfaithful as my father and she was heartily pissed off at both of them.
rock groups instead
In one way, it was confusing to become what my beloved grandmother called “heathens,” and to be cut off from something we had taken for
lancer ever since. Her colorful
of being groupies, to
work has been seen in many
shatter Glass Ceilings
publications in Canada and the
and Glass Slippers, to
seat in heaven. On the other hand, I was personally delighted to have
shoot hoops instead
my freedom from Sunday school lessons, youth groups and getting saved
more fun and so the journey
of settling for hoop
every time a charismatic visiting preacher gave an altar call. Over the
continues. She has recently
skirts. The ones who
started making patterns and
came before us made
US. Going digital a few years ago has made illustrating even
this has affected all aspects of
granted: a world where all of our friends went to church and none of their parents were divorced and suffering was rewarded by a front-row
years, I’ve drifted in and out of churches, but finally drifted out once and for all. I have friends who take deep comfort in the unchanging liturgy and caring community of a church, and sometimes I envy that a little and
it possible for our
never turn down their prayers. But even though hell is probably right
life are big influences as well
daughters to dream
around the corner for me, I remain a heathen on my own version of a
as packaging with vibrant color
bigger, to have the
spiritual journey. And I trust that if heaven does exist, my grandmother
her work. Fashion and urban
and beautiful design. Her work has been recognized by Print magazine and the Art Direc-
chance to grow up to
the Oval Office into
work was chosen for Ameri-
the Ovary Office. In
gallery in 2010.
will put in a good word for me.
be President and turn
tors Club of Toronto, and
can Illustration Tribute Web
Nikki
publisher@skirt.com
the United Skirts of
From the Editor
America, every day is
Welcome to The Rules issue! Believe me, as a former student of a plaid-pushing parochial school,
Independence Day!
I know about rules. Recently I was rereading Lord of the Flies, (I know, the mandatory read in high school should have been enough), and I couldn’t help noticing how the fine line between order and chaos as manifested in the book compared to my own life. I travel that narrow road quite often,
IT
S VI
theRules issue
to choose...to break
combat boots or high Cover Artist Jackie Besteman
From the Publisher
S!
because as someone once told me, “It’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.” And, if I’m not hurting anyone or stuck on an island in anarchy, that’s a pretty good rule to remember. This
U
month we followed the rules and asked our three local profiles—a sultry singer/songwriter, a savvy cycle shop owner, and the brains behind a bartending service—to share a few interesting lessons they never learned. We also learned that doctors rule, as evidenced by our two skirted MDs on a Thou Shalt
cancer-curing mission, and that some people are ruled by creativity, like our local artist featured in Meet. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this issue made for the rule makers, rule breakers, and flat out game changers in all of us.
Sheril 6
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
sheril.turner@skirt.com
AIM79244
Advocating craft brewers, familyowned wineries, and all things independently owned or grown! � GROWLERS � TEN ROTATING BEER TAPS, THREE ROTATING WINE TAPS � BREWS � HARD�TO� FIND BOTTLES AND EVERYDAY FAVORITES
� WINES � TASTY, UNIQUE AND PRICED RIGHT � EVENTS � WEEKLY TASTINGS, PRIVATE EVENT SPACE
You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you explore Clayton, Georgia! Our unique shops feature the best in art, antiques, books, flowers, hardware, sporting goods, furniture, gifts, wine and much more. To delight the palate, make sure to enjoy outstanding restaurants while you are here. Welcome to beautiful Clayton! Just 11/2 hours from Atlanta
thecommunitytap.com p.com � 864.631.2525 864.6 864 63 205 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville, SC
www.downtownclaytonga.org AIM79356
AIM78726
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
7
16-18
The Guild of the Greenville Symphony presents its 33rd Annual Tour of Homes in the Eastside golf community of Thornblade. A special Patron Party to honor the homeowners and the Tour sponsors will also be held on September 15. Please call 370.0965 for more information.
22-25
When world-class chefs, premier vintners and marquee entertainers converge on downtown Greenville for four days of harmonious bliss, it’s Euphoria—a higher state of food, wine and music! euphoriagreenville.com
24
Raising funds, as well as breast cancer awareness, the Susan G. Komen SC Mountains to Midlands Affiliate Race for the Cure® at Fluor Field is the place to be! komenscmm.org
Good Times!
Operetta Laughs 8-10. The Mikado has decreed that flirting is against the law in the town of Titipu. But what can you do when love is in the air? greenvilleopera.org
3-4. Don’t miss Dacusville Farm Days, featuring antique engines, tractors and cars, country, bluegrass and gospel music, country cooking, and more. dacusvillefarmdays. com
Swap Meet!
The King
13. Refresh your closet and your business relationships at the YWCA of Greenville’s Purse Swap Networking Event for women! 864.373.6300 or ywcagreenville.org
15-Oct 2. Catch Shake, Rattle, & Roll, a ’50s and ’60s era Elvis tribute show recreating the electrifying musical excitement of Elvis in his prime. greenvillelittletheatre. org
Get Wild 9. Enjoy beer, wine, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction at the Sippin’ Safari, an annual fundraiser to benefit the zoo education programs. greenvillezoo.com
Fiddle Dee! 17. The Hagwood Mill’s Annual Ole Time Fiddlin’ Convention is one of the last such events in SC and a good time for all! For more information, call 864.898.2936.
Handcrafted 9-11. The Indie Craft Parade is an annual festival of handmade art that brings the best artists from across the Southeast together under one roof. indiecraftparade.com
Girls Night Out 29. It’s time for the 2011 Fall Greer Station Girls Night Out at The Davenport featuring food, wine and a fashion show by local merchants. greerstation.com
Animal Talk! 9-18. This Broadway-sized family musical trots, crawls, and flies onto the stage! Don’t miss The SC Children’s theatre and Doctor Doolittle. scchildrenstheatre.org
Kroc on! 29-Oct 2. A weekend celebration of fun, family, fitness and faith—it’s Kroctoberfest at the new Salvation Army Kroc Center! krocgreenville.org
Get Well 10. Everyone is invited for the 2nd Annual Wellness Day hosted by Sargent Chiropractic Clinic and The Knights of Columbus at their hall in Greenville. 864.299.1868
FREE! 30. Brown Street Club presents A Night of Blues, Soul & Jazz Music with Jac Chebatoris and band. brownstreetclub.com
Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month • Self Improvement Month • National Blueberry Popsicle Month • Classical Music Month • National Courtesy Month
National Honey Month • Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month • National Mind Mapping Month • National Papaya Month • Healthy Aging Month 8
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Traci Daberko is an illustrator and graphic designer in Seattle, WA. See her work at daberkodesign.com.
Jack by BB Dakota Port Skirt Fab'rik Boutique The Shops at Greenridge 1125 Woofruff Rd., Greenville fabrikstyle.com
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
 
9
While I don’t fully understand certain matters of the law, I do understand that it is my duty to live within its established parameters.
M
Stacy Appel
y late father was an attorney, a man of principles and ethics. I, his offspring, am a law-abiding citizen, or so I like to think. While I don’t fully understand certain matters of the law, I do understand that it is my duty to live within its established parameters. I was also recently reminded that not knowing about a particular law in no way excuses one from the consequences of steering afoul of it—just for example, the hot summer day this past August when I parked sanely, cheerfully and entirely without premeditation in the last shady spot without a meter, only to discover that I needed to cough up $142 to the City of Oakland without delay. The fact that this particular sum could have been invested in a far worthier cause and caused an excessive amount of emotional suffering and questioning of justice itself since I was engaged in volunteering with a community radio show at the time, and that I narrowly avoided fainting when startled by the sight of two nearly identical tickets ($71 each) tucked cozily under the windshield blade in a four-hour slice of time, is of no importance. I decided to brush up on the local statutes and change my ways. I discovered that in neighboring Berkeley, it’s against the law to whistle for your lost canary before 7am. I don’t currently have a canary, but when and if I do, I swear he’ll have a little canary G.P.S. in tow. Throughout my state, it’s illegal to eat an orange in a bathtub—I hope I have never done this, though there’s not a word about hot tubs, so other people’s fruit orgies still stand a chance. I’ve never visited Alabama, but when I journey there at last, I can’t claim I didn’t know that anyone who wears a fake moustache in church and causes unseemly laughter is subject to arrest. Likewise, I won’t be taking any chances or even many toiletries to Hackberry, Arizona, where gargling is prohibited while flying. I can live with these rules. Even Pacific Grove’s ordinance, which makes it a misdemeanor to kill or threaten a butterfly, and the harsh law in Victorville prohibiting one from shooting canned foods open with a revolver (not that I haven’t been seriously tempted once or twice). If I’ve managed this long, I can still refrain from tying my giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp, thus steering clear of legal trouble in Atlanta. It’s my own rules I find impossible to follow. A week’s spate of cookie-munching results in a firm edict like “I will only eat fruit for dessert,” to which I might just as well go ahead and add the words “tonight.” Yesterday morning’s chaos of sticky communications led me to instate “No checking email until the end of the day!” which had about the same effect on my habits as if I’d written, “Make sure to check email several times before lunch.” “Clean out garage,” frankly, is just code for “feel bad, read book, take nap.” The moment my desire for change becomes a rule, it’s like an urgent text message to my inner rebel, who probably
belongs to a gang in Victorville. She will roll up her sleeves, pat the gun holster on her hip and find a way to shoot a hole in it. The trouble started long ago, I imagine, when I was a child growing up amidst a chaotic household. I thought I could offset the punishment or moods of others by establishing all the game rules and perfecting my behavior. I still have a list I wrote out neatly when I was five, “Ways to Act Better,” created as much for daily survival as to impress my parents. Pages and pages of tidy block letters and lots of fierce exclamation points spelled out instructions for myself such as, “Don’t talk back to Mom!” “Help zip Mom up when she asks,” and “Do NOT play with the table mats!” The list contained over 100 harsh, self-imposed strictures. A different parent might have suggested that I could afford to lighten up a little bit, but my mother, an enthusiastic fan of discipline in people other than herself, nodded approvingly and added items of her own. As an adult, I have struggled mightily with my own divide, obeying all the tenets of city, state and country and yet inhabiting a lawless household. Some days it appears I am doing just a little better in the effort to juggle my creative bent, my finances, my need for recreation and community, but the reality is that no matter how many rules I make, I end up staying up too late, worrying, eating on the fly, drinking too much coffee and dreading waking up once again to the messy desk, overdue library books and overwhelming To Do lists. The desire to play hooky is fierce. My new promise to myself, which I’ve come to only recently, is very simple, and involves exactly 20 minutes of my time. The new rule has had the unexpected effect of sweeping away all my old rules, as well as the fear that insisted I institute them. My one and only rule now is to meditate. The practice isn’t new for me, but I come to meditation with a fresh perspective and longing; willingly now, as if I’m parachuting down through cloudy skies and turbulent air currents onto terra firma at last. Slowly, slowly, I am learning that my 20 minutes of feeling supported, slipping off the noose of the frightened mind, is the most important inner experience I will have all day. I’m not especially good at meditating, which is, fortunately, besides the point. I’m learning to breathe, to be gentle with my breath and endless array of thoughts without trying to be different or more focused. I practice resting within the self who starts to jump up and wring her hands and note the difficulty of just being with mind or feelings or sensations for 20 minutes. Then something changes. That’s all. But for me it’s a tiny, radical act. Even my outlaw self is happy, since I refuse to sit cross-legged, and I listen to a meditation audiotape from the Real Happiness book on my iPod while sprawled on the couch, a spiritual no-no if ever there was one. In Apple Valley, it’s illegal for ducks to be heard quacking after 10pm. In the state of Kentucky, you may not transport an ice-cream cone in your pocket. In Chicago, it’s against the law to eat in an establishment that is on fire. And in Lafayette, California, where I reside, you may not threaten an almost-grown woman with her imperfections, things she has put off, the economy, decisions she has made or her schedule. If you encounter her wild mind, an endangered species, you must take care not to frighten it. You must treat it with respect and immense tenderness, just as you would your own.
Stacy Appel is an award-winning writer in Lafayette whose work has been featured in the Chicago Tribune and other publications. She has also written for National Public Radio. She is a contributor to the book You Know You’re a Writer When…by Adair Lara. Contact Stacy at WordWork101@aol.com. 10
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
The Rules Issue
Dress your age— the one you feel inside, not the number of birthday candles.
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
 
11
The Rules Issue
Please walk on the grass.
12 
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
1. No kissing on a first date 2. No double headers (i.e., dating two guys in the same day) 3. No wearing the same outfit twice 4. No sex, obviously
1. No kissing on a first date
5. No sexy lingerie (lest one give in to the temptation No kissing on a first date to display said lingerie) 3. No wearing the same1.outfit twice 2. No double headers (i.e., dating two guys in the same day)
4. No sex, obviously
2. No double headers No falling (i.e., dating two guys in6. the same day)
in love
3. No wearing the same outfit twice 5. No sexy lingerie (lest one give in to the temptation 4. No sex, obviously to display said lingerie) 5. No sexy lingerie
6. No falling in love (lest one give in to the temptation to display said lingerie) 6. No falling in love
....objectivity was the furthest thing from my mind.
I
Kat Richter
couldn’t kiss him. No matter how terribly I wanted to—no matter how willingly I would have relinquished my Chardonnay for his touch—rules were rules. He was my fourth first date in as many days and I still had 26 men to go. A year earlier, I was bent over my desk in a small lecture hall in southwest London, a pink highlighter in one hand and a black pen in the other. Before me sat an impressive-looking stack of papers: the Royal Anthropological Institute’s official Code of Ethics, courtesy of my fieldwork professor. “Never sleep with an informant,” she warned us. “Indeed,” the guest lecturer chimed in, “I married mine.” We all laughed—graduate students will laugh at just about anything when they’re nervous about venturing “into the field” for the first time—but I never thought those words would come back to haunt me a year later as I sat face to face with a handsome Center City lawyer at a chic French bistro in downtown Philadelphia. I couldn’t kiss him. A kiss was tantamount to the first step down a very slippery slope, and in stilettos, I wouldn’t step, nor would I slip: I would tumble, head first, and that would be the end of my latest ethnographic “experiment.” I had just turned 25. Having recently returned to the U.S. to find that everyone was getting married, even my high school sweetheart, I panicked. I needed to get going so I signed up for a three-month subscription to Match.com. I’d always considered cyber chemistry to be the realm of the socially awkward, but it made sense: I was single and had exactly two friends in the entire city of Philadelphia. I doubted that I’d find “the one” on the internet, but I figured online dating would be a good way to get reacquainted with the City of Brotherly Love—especially if I was rational about it. As such, I wasn’t really dating, I told myself. I was simply doing fieldwork. My initial goal was to date 30 men in three months. Having spent the majority of my adult life in a series of long-distance, long-term relationships, I felt I needed to make up for lost time. Nonetheless, I knew navigating the murky waters of Match.com would be no easy feat. I needed help. I needed discipline. I needed rules. With the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Code of Ethics at my side and a cursory knowledge of what worked and what didn’t work on Sex and the City, I devised the following to see me through my little research project: 1. No kissing on a first date 2. No double headers (i.e., dating two guys in the same day) 3. No wearing the same outfit twice 4. No sex, obviously 5. No sexy lingerie (lest one give in to the temptation to display said lingerie) 6. No falling in love Rules of this sort, however, don’t take chemistry into account, nor, as I would soon learn, do they stand up well against Chardonnay. As an anthropologist, I
was supposed to be professional, rational, even objective—but as a manthropologist, objectivity was the furthest thing from my mind. I managed to scrape by with the lawyer, planting an innocent kiss on his cheek as he tucked me into a cab, but by the time I met the urban planner from the suburbs, Rule #1 had gone out the window. Then again, I was dating. This was supposed to happen. Although it didn’t work out with the urban planner, I proceeded to go on over three dozen dates with 17 different men over the course of the next three months. Some I dated simultaneously, some I dated exclusively, but all I dated hopefully. I knew that finding “the one” would mean an end for my experiment but with the holidays just around the corner, I broke Rule #2 (no double headers), Rule #3 (no wearing the same outfit twice) and Rule #5 (no sexy lingerie). I began pinning my hopes on a financial adviser from Northern Liberties, Philadelphia’s epicenter of all things young and hip, but there was something keeping me from breaking Rule #4 (no sex). Maybe it was the warning of my fieldwork professor, maybe it was the workaholic tendencies of the man in question, or maybe it was the fact that I still had 16 other phone numbers in my speed dial. Either way, it seemed that there was a very fine line between serial dating and collecting too much data. And in this case, I wasn’t ready to cross that line. We broke up, and after the holidays I decided to try my luck on eHarmony, followed by Plenty of Fish, a free site that seems to dredge up the bottom feeders of the online dating world. A few months ago I rewrote my Match.com profile to notify all would-be suitors that I was looking for something “special” for my 50th date. When you’ve been wined and dined and subsequently disappointed by the best Philadelphia has to offer, however, you start to get a bit worried. What if I never found someone? What if my experiment failed? What if my anthropological approach to dating had cost me my one shot at true love? I was about to give up and resign myself to a lifetime of spinsterhood (or at the very least another year of dateless weddings) when I received one final message from a fellow Match.com subscriber. We’d been corresponding for the better part of a year; he teased me about the “irreparable damage” I was doing to my reputation and I blew him off on account of the fact he lived five hours away and seemed entirely too serious to take part in my little “experiment.” What did I want with another long-term, long-distance relationship? Everything, it turns out. We decided to meet atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the end of the school year. It was a warm Friday evening and just past five o’clock, my phone rang. “I’m here.” Although it was hardly love at first sight, we began scandalizing the other patrons within approximately 45 minutes of laying eyes on each other. It was lust, of course, but it was something else too, something that renewed my faith in humanity, something I’d been almost afraid to find. I’ve since broken all but one of my self-imposed rules, and although I’m not going to tell you which one, I’m sure the Royal Anthropological Institute would be very proud of me.
Kat Richter is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer and teaching artist. She holds an MA in Dance Anthropology and blogs about her adventures in online dating at katrichterwrites.wordpress.com. skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
13
Skir�ing
Around Town ird Houses
tt B Find Mike Merrirri ttart.com www.mikeme
at ...and Great Homecooking
are illiams Hardw The Café @W SC Street • Travelers Rest, 13 South Main hardware.com mssha www.cafeatwilliam
Play Dress Up!
Chelsea’s Ladies Apparel
224 Trade St. in Downtown Greer Station 864.879.7104 and Shops at Greenridge In Greenville 864.234.7128
Accessories
facebook.com/ChelseasLadiesClothingAnd
Skirt Alert
Nloewcation
Make A Statemen t
Extasia Hand-Pres sed Intaglio Domed Necklace Mayme Baker Stud io 93 Cleveland Stre et • Greenville, SC 29601 www.maymebaker studio.com
AIMSP406
14
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Looking for a comprehen siv medical and surgical derm e cosmetic, atolog y practice?
Greenville Dermatology 317 St. Francis Dr., Green ville www.greenvilledermato logy.com
The Rules Issue
Dessert first and always.
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
 
15
5 Lessons I Never Learned
Robin Lennon Bylenga | Power to the Pedal While working for a bike shop, Robin noticed the huge gap for women in cycling. Taking the bike by the handles, she opened her own cycle and athletic boutique just for us girls. “Pedal Chic empowers and encourages women to be the best they can be, no matter what her athletic pursuit or where she is in her journey.” Five Lessons I Never Learned: I haven’t learned to balance my checkbook to the penny—but I always thought that was ridiculous! I have never learned to accept defeat—thank God. I never learned to take “no” for an answer. I never learned to skydive and it is so on my list. The astronaut program turned me down ’cause I never learned physics. Photo by John Fowler
16
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Wondering what
your next step should be?
Are you struggling to achieve your dream of growing your family? Let the staff at PREG help you - Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group... Growing families, one baby at a time.
PREG www.pregonline.com
booths
Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group John E. Nichols, MD John F. Payne, MD 17 Caledon Ct. Ste. C Greenville, SC 29615 1330 Boiling Springs Rd. Ste. 2200 Spartanburg, SC 29303 864-232-7734
AIM79360
OUR UNIQUE BODY WAX PROCESS 3 STEP | CLEANSE • WAX • RESTORE
Get in front of the largest economy in America by joining us for the Independent Mail Women Today, a new two day event celebrating women!
• • • • •
WAX EXCLUSIVELY FORMULATED FOR ULTRASKIN WAX CENTER FULLY LICENSED, SPECIALLY TRAINED ESTHETICIANS CLEAN PLEASANT PRIVATE TREATMENT ROOMS LEAVES YOUR SKIN ULTRASMOOTH, ULTRASOFT TO THE TOUCH SIGNATURE SERVICES, PAINLESS AND AFFORDABLE
FREE WAX OFFER
The Independent Mail is excited to introduce a new two day event focused on celebrating all aspects of a woman’s life. With exhibits, trendy fashion shows and informative seminars there’s something for everyone!
For more information about vendor and sponsorhip opportunities, visit www.independentmail.com/womentoday or call 864-622-1715
BIKINI LINE, EYE BROW, UNDERARM OR NOSE
ULTRASKIN WAX CENTER 1140 Woodruff Road Suite 302 Greenville, SC 29607
Women Today Women Today Friday, November 18th Saturday, November 19th noon - 6 pm 10 am - 6 pm Civic Center of Anderson
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday 10:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Presented by
First time guest only book online today!
AIM79281
ultraskinwaxcenter.com
864-254-6373 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
AIM79412
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
17
5 Lessons I Never Learned
Gisele Anthony | In Tune Gisele hails from Jamaica Queens, NY and Rock Hill, SC, a cultural mixture that may have flavored the sound of this songwriter/vocalist with a Neo-Soul-Jazz-Inspirational vibe. “Music is part of my being,” says the sultry singer. “It’s another language for me, one that is always understood no matter where in the world you’re from.” Five Lessons I Never Learned: I never learned to think within the box. I never learned to see life in black and white…it’s always in living color. I never learned to give up, but I do know how to let go. I never learned that growing older meant letting go of dreams. I never learned to settle… Photo by John Fowler taken at the Cazbah in Greer
18
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Open 6pm-9pm
AIM79417
End of Summer Sale 40% Off Select Items
Tues-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-4pm
627 Augusta Street, West End Greenville
8 6 4 - 2 3 2 - 7 2 2 2 | w w w. p e t a l s o n a u g u s t a . c o m
Full Line of Embroidery and Sewing Machines Available from Beginners to Advanced We Repair all Makes & Models » Sewing Machine Sales And Service » Quilting Fabrics, Notions, and Supplies » Classes (Quilting, Sewing & Kids) » Custom Embroidery » 30 Years Experience
The only Baby Lock Dealer in the Upstate 1004-C W. Georgia Road, Simpsonville, (Food Lion Shopping Center),
962-5353 AIM79362
Monograming Available
$
10
5
00 $ 00 OFF
Complete Service of Sewing Machine or Serger With coupon. Limited Time Offer.
OFF
Any Purchase of $40 or More With coupon. Not Valid on Sale Merchandise. Limited Time Offer.
THAT
Look! Jennifer Windsor in Sunwear by Cinzia GARRISON OPTICIANS McDaniel Village M-F 9:30-5:30 & by appt. AIM79915
www.garrisonopticians.com skirt.com
271-1812
Septemberw2011greenville
AIM79359
19
5 Lessons I Never Learned
Tammy Johnson | Raising the Bar Knowing how hard it is to find a good bartender on the go, Tammy created Liquid Catering, the Upstate’s only special event bartending and staffing company. “I love the fact that I work for myself,” says the Texas-born mixologist. “I don’t have to sit behind a desk every day, and every event and client are different.” Five Lessons I Never Learned: I never learned to ski, even though my parents live in Alaska. I never learned how to tell a good story. I never learned how to drive like a normal person. I never learned how to not be a klutz. I never learned what not to pack for emergencies. My car is filled with everything, just in case. Photo by John Fowler at All Occasion Celebrations in Mauldin
20
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Collection We Offer: Holiday Décor Full Interior Design Services Custom Window and Bedding Treatments Home Accessories Printing services for all Stationery and Note cards Gifts For All Occasions Bridal Registries Gift Certificates
Store Hours
M-F 10:00 am to 6:00 pm • Sat -10:00 am to 5:00 pm • 864-239-3999
27 S. Pleasantburg Drive Suite 150 • Greenville, SC 29607 AIM79361
www.jpcollection.net
We’re on
Facebook!
Thank You Thursday Buy one Entrée and get the 2nd of equal or lesser value FREE with the Purchase of 2 large drinks.
Located at
6005 Wade Hampton Blvd., Taylors, SC 29687 • (864) 848-2885 AIM79413
$15 Off Catering
Did you know Moe’s caters? Let us take care of the food at your next party so you can have fun with your guests!
AIM79908
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
21
He’s So Original
Doctors McKinley & Springhart Join Forces Against Cancer. As a Surgical Oncologist and Urologist respectively, Brian McKinley, MD, and Patrick Springhart, MD combat cancer on a daily basis. “Almost all of my clinical practice is dedicated to cancer care, with approximately half my time spent on issues surrounding breast health,” says Dr. McKinley. An advocate for US Too, a men’s prostate cancer support group, Dr. Springhart, supports men facing similar cancer issues. “My main goal is to look out for my patient’s best interests and tell them the truth,” he says. Partnering together to encourage women and men to partner together, the two doctors have initiated a series of free clinical breast exams and prostate screenings with the goal of catching cancer early for the best cure rate. For more information, or to schedule your screening, call 1.877.447.4636 or go to ghs.org/360healthed. What do you love about skirt!? “The articles!” (Dr. Springhart) How do you feel wearing a skirt? “I’ll do (just about) anything to raise cancer awareness. So thank you. And I’m sorry about my socks falling down during the shoot.” (Dr. McKinley) Photo by John Fowler taken in the Healing Garden at Greenville Memorial Hospital
22
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Take Care of Your
MIND,BODY, & SOUL
From aromatherapy to facials, pilates to yoga, do something special just for you!
PSYCHIC READINGS Healthy Hair is Always in Style Call for information about wedding & prom packages We carry L’anza, Pureology & Kenra Products
$5 OFF
any reading
Advice on all matters of:
Booth space available
Life. Love. Health.
1440 Pelham Rd, Suite P Pelham Oaks Shopping Center Greenville, SC 29615 • 864-458-9909
Success. Business... AIM79736
AIM79735
If you would like to advertise on this page or are interested in more information contact
with this coupon
(864) 386-2680
1607 Woodruff Rd. (across from Happy Pie)
Fi rs t S e s s i o n i s Fre e !
Denise Nelson 551-7295 Denise.Nelson@independentmail.com
by Janie
Ask about our $10 Special
O v e r c o m e s t r e s s , a n x i e t y, depression, panic attacks 220 22 0 Ar A r li Arli ling ngtto ng t o n Av ton Av en Aven enue ue • G re reen envi vill i ll lle e , S C • 86 864 4 - 37 4-37 4370 0 - 03 0-03 00388 88 AIM79734
www.Ashevillehypnosis.com
AIM79358
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
23
Fauvette Portable Speakers
chicbuds.com
WeLove!
Beaded Necklace
MadPax Spiketus Rex Backpack Dobson Gifts and General Hardware 1407A Wade Hampton Blvd. Greer dobsongiftsgreer.com
Sheril Editor
HandPicked 1125 Woodruff Rd. Greenville handpicked.net
BookBook Case for iPhone Twelve South twelvesouth.com
Nikki skirt! Publisher
24 
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Denise Sales Executive
Consignment Chic Smart fashionistas know how to save money and still look fabulous!
Augusta Road's Newest Home Consignment Store Offering...
Consign & Design
AIM79732
Unusual Antiques and Fine Furnishings
2118 Augusta St., Greenville (next to McDonald's) | 864-236-5570 | Mon.-Fri. 10-6: Saturday 10-4 www.ConsignmentStoreGreenvilleSC.com
Everything For Your Home Furniture,Lamps,Rugs & Art,Mirrors,Home Décor Interested in Consigning? We accept consignments daily. No Appointment Necessary!
Open daily Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm Sunday 1pm-5pm
upscale consignment furniture AIM79729
Remnants
Antique Mall, Upscale Thrift & Consignment Shop
Consignments Welcome Proceeds go to help Shalom House Ministries Dealer Space & Showcases Available. 10-6 everyday except Wednesday & Sunday
Vintage Lunchboxes
300 South Main St, Anderson, SC • 864-226-1002
110 Mauldin Road, Greenville, 29605 • 864-299-0045 • www.southernhousepitality.net
GO GREEN! Reuse, Recycle, Refurnish.
Vendor Space Available
AIM79731
AIM79733
Celebrating 8+ Years in Business!
Upscale Consignment Furniture Mon., Fri. & Sat. 10-4 • Tues. 11-6 Wed. & Thurs. 10-5:30
www.homeatlastinc.com Furniture Online & Updated Daily
1001 S. Batesville Rd. • Near 85 & Pelham • 848-3737
AIM79682
...shinola art • antiques • funk
199 M Mohawk o Drive, Greenville, SC 29609
864-616-6649
AIM79677 M79677 77
Always Buying AAppraisal p Services Available www.shinolaantiques.com
AIM79728
KIDS &MORE CONSIGNMENT STORE
Not Your Average Consignment Store Fall Clothing Arriving Daily Fall Decor Section
Summer Items
BRING IN THIS AD & RECEIVE - $5.00 OFF your purchase of $25.00 or more
25-75% OFF
One coupon per person per visit. Not valid with any other coupons. Offer expires 9/30/2011
864-675-9609
206E New Neely Ferry Rd., Mauldin, SC
www.kidsandmorestore .com
(please see our website for other current specials)
AIM79678
Interested in advertising your Consignment/Resale Business on this page? AIM79357
Call Sarah Page at 864.356.2903 or email Sarah.Page@independentmail.com skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
25
SKIRT!
August 4 SC Chamber of Commerce Upstate Membership & Legislative Reception Held at BMW Zentrum and catered by Duvall, this annual event gives South Carolina chamber members the opportunity to meet and network with fellow business leaders and elected officials.
AIMSP441
SAW YOU
August 8 The Range Rover Evoque Reception A reception at Nosedive in Greenville was held to debut the all-new 2012 Range Rover Evoque, which addresses the growing consumer need for environmentally friendly vehicles.
Be a skirt! Insider! greenville.skirt.com • facebok.com/SkirtMagazineGreenville • twitter.com/skirtgreenville 26
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
I’m in love with one of my best friends. He’s undoubtedly one of the smartest, most intellectually rigorous and emotionally honest people I’ve ever met...He’s also married. Happily so, even.
H
Norah Piehl
ave you ever wanted something you can’t possess? Of course you have. Silly question. Owen’s dump truck in the sandbox, Fiona’s Girbaud jeans in middle school, Kyle’s test scores, Carrie’s VW, a sky-high piece of carrot cake, a perfect body, a way with words, someone else’s wife, husband, house, life. Coveting. Old Moses & Co. spent a lot of time (not to mention stone tablet word count) on the idea. To covet is to sin by that Old Testament definition. But setting aside (for a moment, or forever) whether “to sin” is relevant here, is there a difference between desiring and coveting? Desire is fleeting by nature—the gaze, broken-hearted behind dressing room doors at Nordstrom, at the price tag on the perfect dress you’d almost certainly forget once it had been hanging in the back of your closet for a week or two, hangers all dressed up with no place to go. Or the heady rush, four drinks in, of dancing with a stranger at a bar conveniently just around the corner from your place, and asking if he’d like to come up, just for a minute, you know, and you’re halfway through (and look, it only took a minute after all!) before you realize that you don’t really want him, or any of this, at all, and you wish it wasn’t your place because then you could just leave but no, now you’ll have to kick him out unless (you hope) he’s as eager to get away as you are. Even the kind of desire that gallops, unbridled, over the first heady weeks and months of a relationship that looks an awful lot like love—that’s fleeting, too, replaced by something that’s infinitely steadier and more valuable, sure, but also less heady—more of a contented amble. Desire can be irrational, stupid, even damaging in certain specific ways. But it can also fuel ambition and inspire excellence. Or it can surprise and sustain us, uprooting us from our humdrum lives long enough to remember what’s worth pursuing and what’s worth staying home for. But coveting? That’s something else entirely. To covet is to allow desire to shape thoughts, words, actions. Desiring can feel like momentary madness. Coveting feels deeper, darker, both more intentional and more insane. In the Bible, the problem with coveting—the “sinfulness” of it all—is that the manservant or the maidservant, or the neighbor’s wife or house or Mercedes or what have you—replaces God as the heart’s highest aspiration. But even if we leave God out of it, as I’m apt to do, coveting still twists judgment, warps vision. I’m in love with one of my best friends. He’s undoubtedly one of the smartest, most intellectually rigorous and emotionally honest people I’ve ever met. He challenges me continually to confront contradictions—both in writing and in life. His writing is elegant and dynamic, and I confess I’ve spent nearly as much time envying his writing talent as I’ve spent desiring him. But there are also his
lively, mischievous eyes, and his face, which can blossom from serious to playful in a moment, and his arms, which enfold me in lingering hugs I never want to unwrap. He’s been generous, and kind, and nearly endlessly patient with me. He’s also married. Happily so, even. Throughout the countless, endlessly energetic and joyous and revelatory conversations we’ve shared these months, desire has come up again and again. We’ve talked and written and joked and cried about our desire for happiness, for success in writing, for fulfillment in work, about our desires for strangers, for significant others, for spouses (past) and spouses (present). And we’ve acknowledged our desire for each other. For him, I suspect, that desire feels different than it does for me. He and I might write all day at a café, our laptop screens casually touching, looking up from our own writing to joke, or sing, or question, or smile, or just acknowledge with a joyful glance that we’re there together. And then, at the end of a day that feels like a revelation to me and a momentary escape to him, after one of those prolonged hugs, he goes home to his wife and baby. And I go home alone. We fight passionately and flirt audaciously. I’ve told him things I’ve told no one else. He’s shown me writing he’s shown no one else. Except his wife. Naturally. Coveting implies ownership by another. My friend’s wife doesn’t own him, of course, but he still belongs to her. One of the first essays he ever asked me to critique was about listening to Miles Davis’s “In a Silent Way” in pure darkness. In bed. Naked. With a lover. His writing about music is skillful, astonishing even, a near-perfect blend of lyricism and precision. But the first half-dozen times I read the essay, I was blind to all of that and useless to him—all I could think about was those bodies and how much I longed to be one of them. It seems that’s the problem with coveting. From where I sit, I can see a neighbor’s Triumph motorcycle parked outside. It’s playful and sexy and exactly the right shade of blue. I watch my neighbor come out of his house, put on his helmet, and zoom away. For a moment, I wish the Triumph were mine, I wish the rider were me—but then desire turns the corner and is gone. Zoom. If I coveted that motorcycle, I wouldn’t be satisfied with admiring it from my window, entertaining fleeting thoughts of dizzying speeds. Covetous dreams of blue bikes might keep me up at night, might send me downstairs at 3am to drape myself across its handlebars and rest my tired head on its leather seat, not caring about the craziness, longing only to clutch it that close to myself. Myself. That’s what’s really at the heart of coveting. When desire loses sight of its object and becomes instead about the desirer. Resenting the Triumph driver because he’s not me rather than appreciating man and bike’s nearecstatic passage down the street, around the corner, and away. Losing sight of my friend as a loving husband, committed father, talented writer, and extraordinary man because I’m too busy thinking notmyhusbandnotmylovernotmyman… Perhaps coveting blinds us, not to God, but to each other. Perhaps Moses was on the right track after all, for only when we let go of covetousness can we truly see the ones we love—even those we desire—for who they are rather than what they are not: ours.
Norah Piehl is the Director of Communications and Development for the Boston Book Festival. She is also a freelance writer, editor, and book reviewer whose essays and reviews have been published in skirt! and Brain, Child magazines, on National Public Radio, and in print anthologies. skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
27
I am astonished at how amplified silence can be.
Stephanie Hunt
28 
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
When Silence Rules
LOSE
Lose weight FAST! In mid-summer’s boiling stupor, I anchor here, along a bend on South Carolina’s Cooper River, beneath moody oaks and droopy moss, in the company of hushed monks and whirling dragonflies. I wake at 5:15 to make it to 5:30 prayer, or “Lauds,” telling myself that if I can get up at that ungodly hour to swim during the week, I should be able to do it for the Lord. But it’s not for the Lord that I am here. I did not come to Mepkin Abbey with big questions—I am burned out on them. I am not here seeking spiritual direction or reconciliation or even oyster mushrooms—the Brothers’ new mainstay product after PETA shut down their egg farm. I am here simply to be here. To soak in the luxuriousness of silence and sabbath. To read and nap and write and watch ospreys soar and dive. I am here because I am raw with loss and I have been moving too fast to sink into its depths. I am here because it is a beautiful place, because the weekend was open, because the Guestmaster replied “Yes” to my email inquiry about retreat availability, because my kind husband said go. As I sip coffee outside the refectory, a stooped white-haired monk shuffles by. He’s wearing brown Keens under his long white robe. We make brief eye contact, but that is all. No one speaks. No one here knows my name. There is no idle chitchat among the seven other retreatants— our stories, our reasons for coming here, stay tucked away in a personal cloister. During church services, the plaintive song of the cantor and the Brothers’ solemn chorus of the Psalms are the only human voices. During simple meals, forks and knives clinking on plates make the only conversation. The monastic community abides by the ancient Rule of St. Benedict, which means “Grand Silence” is observed. While I have issues with the Church’s many edicts and rules, I’m convinced ol’ St. Benedict was on to something. Thanks be to God. I am astonished at how amplified silence can be. How rare and precious it is—no CNN, no NPR, no reality TV, no talk radio, no blogging, no tweets, none of the ego-driven artifice of hear me, see me, link to me, friend me, like me, digg me, that social media feeds on. We live a tuned-in, turnedup world, barraged by blather that not only fills the airwaves and Internet but infiltrates the deep consciousness. Here, where Spanish moss hangs like acoustical tiles on this cathedral of oaks and tall pine, the vocal and virtual void is strangely filling. On slow, hot walks through Mepkin’s famous gardens and by the river bluff, I listen intently, hearing things I would never notice before. Souped up speed boats zip around this river bend, leaving a churned wake that slowly ruffles toward the bank. By the time they reach the shore, the waves are gentle and rocking, their glug-glug sounds like a thirsty Labrador retriever face-planted in a water bowl. Crickets and cicadas chant a continual hypnotic om, the mantra of insect yogis. The sudden, loud splash of a jumping fish makes me jump out of my flip flops. Bells ring out over the languid landscape, calling the monks to Vespers. I sigh loudly, the sound of my mind settling, my heart rate slowing. In my small guest room, the constant drone of the window-unit air conditioner (there is a God!) becomes the blank auditory canvas against which my interior dialogue gets loud, colorful, occasionally abstract. Ideas bounce around. Memories turn somersaults. Song lyrics bubble up then disappear, morph into some other unrelated song. Conversations I wish I’d had with my mother before she died begin to whisper. Sharp words I wish I had not said to my girls scratch in my throat. Wise benedictions and practical advice I want to offer my daughter before she launches to college in a few weeks rise and rumble. Under this blanket of silence, I doze off, and in my dreams, words become images, noiseless yet loud all the same. I don’t think I’m cut out for verbal celibacy for the long haul; I doubt I could maintain both silence and sanity for more than a few days. I wonder how the monks do it, meal after silent meal, day after silent day. Theirs is a world of mystery and paradox—of richness through renunciation, of fulfillment through sacrifice, of clear speaking through silence. The Rule of St. Benedict is geared for a different order, a radical way of ushering in the Kingdom of God among a devout community. I, on the other hand, live in the kingdom (queendom?) of chaos, committee meetings and teenager curfews, where life gets boisterous and unruly. But for this short interlude, keeping quiet is one rule I feel blessed to obey. I let the monks’ gentle tenors and sung psalms wash over me. That’s the closest I’ve come to hearing any booming revelation from on high, but nonetheless, I feel like I’ve hit the spiritual jackpot. Listening for the still, small “shhhh” of God is plenty voice enough.
15 to 30 lbs*. in the First Month with HCG Hormone Therapy! *Treatments may vary
Physician guided weight loss program utilizing prescription based HCG.
We now offer a Weight Loss Booster! Speed up your metabolism and boost energy with B12 and Lipotropics Ask about our new
LOWER COST HCG Program! CALL TODAY Inside
Any Lab Test Now 1140 Woodruff Road, Suite 107 Greenville, SC 29607 Next to Whole Foods
(864) 329-0935
AIM79415
Stephanie Hunt is a writer based in Mt. Pleasant, SC. She writes essays, features and profiles for a number of regional publications, and blogs periodically at alifestill.com. skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
29
September survival guide Harvest Moon Ken Kesey’s Magic Trip Monarch Butterfly Sightings U-Pick Apples Missoni @ Target Sept. 13 National Book Festival Three-day Weekend
30 
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
Own Active Block SPF 30 • ownproducts.com
PersonalBest
Sector 9 Looking Glass Sidewinder
Linus Mixte in Sky Blue Pedal Chic 651B S. Main St. Greenville 864.242.2442
Vibram FiveFingers KomodoSport
Invert Action Sports 24 River St. Greenville 864.271.3986
Half Moon Outfitters 1420 Laurens Rd. Greenville 864.233.4001
skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
31
Meet Favorite Restaurant: Liberty Tap
Laura Kennedy Aiken, self-taught painter, mosaicist, teacher, webmaster and graphic designer. “My husband says I chase butterflies, and dang it, I do.”
One Item Always In My Purse: Swiss Army pocketknife
My Guilty Pleasure: M&M’S for breakfast
I’d Like To Learn To: Skydive
Favorite Shoes: Flip flops
Where I Get My Coffee: Mary Beth’s Three People I Want At My Dream Dinner: Martha Stewart, Al Pacino, and Jesus (I have some questions) What We’d Eat: Pizza Dream Vacation: Gilligan’s Island Where I Shop Locally: Mast General My Lucky Charm: My wedding band
Photo by John Fowler at 10 Central Avenue Studios
Goals for the Future: Easy! My artwork on the cover of skirt! Shoes I Covet: Leather boots My Gadget: iPod Touch 4th Generation My Watch: Relic
32
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
September Reasons to get online Gift-giving is almost as good as being given gifts. Get everything you want with the Whimventory wishlist. Install the browser bookmark to add items from any online store, then send your list to others or keep it for yourself. whimventory.com Crazy popular European music site Spotify is now available in the States. Skim 15 million tracks and rock out instantly. Compile playlists and share jam sessions with your friends. Request an invite or pay a few bucks for a premium account. spotify.com Glimpse someone else’s memory or add your own to Dear Photograph, photos held in front of the updated
Books we are enjoying
landscape, each signed with a thought from the subjects. dearphotograph.com Raw Art Journaling Quinn McDonald Nikki Hardin Publisher, skirt!
Get nerdy, not wordy. Information is Beautiful presents statistics and information visually. Get an eyeful of data about culture, food, health, advertising and more. informationisbeautiful.net
Carolina Fire Carl T. Smith Sheril Bennett Turner Editor
Excusesto catch up on a few blogs “Don’t get me wrong, I love beer. I do. All kinds of beer. But I’m not interested in participating in a debate about whether the hint of grapefruit is stronger than coriander.”
Blondelogic.com
“The first thing I do in the morning is to take out my journal and go to the section where I have a list of my accomplishments. I spend 5 minutes focused on my list from the past, 5 minutes focused on my list in the present and 5 minutes focused on my list in the future. I find myself to be more motivated and self-confident because I am acting from a place of certainty rather than a place of doubt.”
Positivelypresent.com
“When you know you’re going to be laying out and getting some sun, shampoo your hair before you lay out and then apply a deep conditioner, but don’t rinse it out. Brush your hair out and put it in a bun. The heat from the sun will warm up the conditioner and allow it to really get in there.”
Thebeautydepartment.com skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
33
planetnikki [ a visual journal ]
Always daydreaming of escape. To Hawaii for the shock and awe of big waves that shake the ground. To Spain for siestas to solve To Paris to become an exotic expat.
my insomnia. To Croatia for the hell of it.
To In-Love Land where adrenaline trumps loneliness. But my night dreams are usually about getting on the wrong plane, forgetting my luggage, losing my ticket,
losing my way.
My subconscious telling me to keep my feet on the ground,
my heart in the here and now.
My favorite way to escape at work, in an airport or a waiting room is through my Bose headphones. When I have to write or need breathing/thinking/dreaming space, I plug into iTunes and shut out the world.
I covet an ImagineNations™ globe made by San Francisco artist Wendy Gold. If “To the Rescue” didn’t cost the earth, I might splurge.
Drawing and painting—making anything with my hands— shuts down the endless background chatter in my brain that’s filled with worry, shoulds, shames. artonglobes.com
Nikki Hardin is the founder and publisher of skirt! magazine. She blogs at fridaville.com. 34
Septemberw2011greenville
skirt.com
®
style&
substance
skirt! Greenville is distributed to more than 250 locations in the Upstate! Augusta Road Area Augusta Place Salon Bella Bridesmaid Consign and Design CurvesMedical Plaza Foxfire Gallery & Kitchen Gage’s Garrison Opticians Grape and Grains Labels L’s on Augusta Moppets Mug & Muffin Muse Shoe Studio Panera Bread Palmetto Olive Oil Roots Sassy Schlotzsky’s Deli Scratch Southern Housepitality Strictly Nails Ten Thousand Villages The Pink Monogram Ultra Tan Congaree Road Area 5 Guys Burgers and Fries Baby Impressions Ultrasound Bogari Furniture Duke Sandwich Company Fried Green Tomatoes Magnolia’s Bridal McAlister’s Deli Sports Club Trade Route
Downtown Greenville Artist Guild Gallery Biltmore Plastic Surgery Blueberry Frog Café and Then Some Christopher Ashley Salon Cocobella Coffee Underground Derek’s Salon Design on Tap Hampden Clothing Headquarters Day Spa Hot Dog King Hyatt Gift Shop Imagine Boutique Invitations on Main Joel’s Java Kara Spa Luna Rosa Gelato Café Metropolitan Arts Council Monkee’s of the West End More Than Hair O-CHATea Bar Orangecoat Pink Azalea Plaza Suite Salon of Colour Spill the Beans Sunrise Day Spa The Cook’s Station The Handlebar To Dye For Wilson’s On Washington YWCA Box - City Hall Box Washington Street Box Greenville News Box - West End Box - Main & Coffee Box - Hyatt Plaza
Furman Area As the Page Turns Big Lots Great Clips Karrie’s Specialty Deli & Pub Maya Tan Monterrey Mexican Restaurant Pizza City Solar Nails Thaicoon Ricefire & Sushi Bar Tito’s Pizza Ultra Nails Ultra Tan Haywood Area Artistic Cutters Salon & Day Spa Breakout Bras HRC Lucy’s Love Shop Macy’s – Haywood Mall Moe’s Regency Salon & Spa Solar Tan Studio One The Pink Monogram Uncle Jake’s Furniture Upstate Hairspa Laurens Road Area Exotic Nails & Tan Fowler’s Pharmacy Greenfield’s Bagel Bakery Massage Envy OOPS! Palmetto Home & Garden The Nearly New Shop Tile Outlet
Pelham Road Area Atlanta Bread Company Attic de Provence Center for Women Community Resource Center Corporate Deli Eagle Zone Earth Fare Elite Hair Home At Last Magnolia Plastic Surgery Mariani’s Boutique Massage Envy Planet Beach PREG Proaxis Therapy Saige Consignment & Boutique Salon Beverly skinkare Ultra Tan Pleasantburg Area Coffee & Crema Garner’s Natural Life Grape and Grains Josef & Stephens Salon Lake Forest Quick Shop Luxury Nails & Spa North Hills Shopping Center Box North Hills Shopping Center Box Rosalinda’s Runway Café Southern Hospitality
Woodruff Road Area Boston Pizzaria Carolina Aesthetics Changes Salon Duke Sandwich Company Dunkin’ Donuts Fitness 19 Great Harvest Bread Greenville Car Wash Greenville Indoor Rowing Handpicked Home Couture In Shape Java Bistro Joseph Moon Family Dentistry Kidz Korner Lady J’s Petites Lucky Nails Lucy’s Love Shop McAlister’s Deli Michael’s Wholesale Flooring Moe’s Restaurant Nails Forte & Spa Perkins Real Deals Home Decor Renaissance Cabinetry Spa 360 Ultra Skin Wax Ultra Tan Wendy’s Wild Radish Health Food Wisteria Aveda Salon & Spa Woodruff Animal Hospital Woodruff Gallery Plaza Xanadu Spa
Greer/ Taylors Avanti Salon Bedazzled Chelsea’s Cottage Day Spa & Salon Curves DJ’s Jewelry Elegant Nails Feather Your Nest Fireflys Gallery on Trade Grapevine Greer OB/GYN Hobo’s Home At Last Iced Netta’s Beauty Salon Proaxis Therapy Salon 417 Salon 864 Salon 906 Salon Beverly Sha Marie Hair & Body Salon Shapers Sheer Allure Salon Staples Style You Consignment Sue’s Alterations The Children’s Clinic The Mason Jar The Depot Ultra Tan Yessica’s Hair Design Anderson Aesthetic Dentistry Anderson Dermatology Skin & Surgery Ingles Jarred Lloyd Hair Studio
Kitchen Emporium Merle Norman Refractive and Aesthetic Solutions Remnants Studio 81 Salon Tangles Hair Co The Perfect Dress Clemson Curves Gold’s Gym Great Clips Hudson Bagel Company Merle Norman Tiger Cuts Easley ABC123 Children’s Shop Casual Cuts Curves David’s On Mane Dunkin’ Donuts Foothills Playhouse Great Clips Greenville Dermatology Hair Expression Lucy’s Love Shop Nails @ Village End Paradize Tanning Salon Plaza Sho Cafe Super Tan Tanning Body Shop Tropical Tan T’s Hair Gallery Tuesday Morning Ultra Tan
Fountain Inn Dance Theater On Main Every Nook and Crannie Liberty Area DNT Tan Freds Store Subway Marietta Doris Family Kitchen Slater Drug Company Mauldin 4 Balance Fitness All Occasion Celebrations Crickets Boutique Deja-Vu El Corretero Deli Fancy Nails Great Clips Java Jolt K Styles Hair Designs Marietta’s Quilt & Sew Sally’s Beauty Supply Ultra Tan World of Nails Pendelton Goodwill Mi Pueblo Pickens Alexander’s Classic Design Chang-An Curves DNT Tan Domino’s Pickens Family Practice Super 10
Seneca Emily’s of Seneca Furnish 123 Mountain View Medical Imaging Patina on the Alley Porta Portese Purple Sunflower Salon Soluna Simpsonville Carolina Water Birth Downtown Sweets & Eats Essential Kneads Massage Therapy Marietta’s Quilt & Sew Me Salon & Day Spa Omega Laser & Skin Care Planet Beach Ultra Tan Veronica & Company Hair Salon Spartanburg A Cut Above Converse Deli & Coffee bar Petite Armoire The Lemon Peel The Runway Travelers Rest Great Clips Petee’s Good Foods Premier Nails The Café @ Williams Hardware Ultra Tan
Want to get a free skirt! rack for your business? Email sheril.turner@skirt.com skirt.com
Septemberw2011greenville
35
Don't buy cheap clothes, buy good clothes CHEAP!
McDaniel Village | 1922 Augusta St., Ste. 112 864.631.1919 | labelsonaugusta.com