JUNE Savannah, GA
free!
skirt!is
www.skirt.com
Summer is: A school’s-out state of mind. Skirts instead of pants. Ants at your picnic. Salt on your watermelon. Sunstreaked hair, naturally. Playing hooky from winter. Hot pink and hot salsa. Cut-offs and fresh-cut limes.
Neon-bright sunlight. Fifty shades of blue skies. Tubing a meandering mountain creek. The fewest clothes possible. Calling a nap a siesta. Finding the sunglasses you thought you lost. A personal playlist that’s Popsicles for your ears. Trashy books that baste your brain. Showering off a day at the beach.
Tents and ten-speeds. People-watching from sidewalk cafés. Your first boyfriend, your first broken heart, your first rebound. Lawn-mower mornings, swimming-pool afternoons, solar-powered memories. Cover copy by Nikki Hardin, art by Aimee Sicuro
“Some of the best memories are made in flip flops.” Kellie Elmore
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JUNE
Publisher
Nikki Hardin publisher@skirt.com Art Director
Caitilin McPhillips caitilin.mcphillips@skirt.com National Editor
Margaret Pilarski margaret.pilarski@skirt.com Savannah Editor
Elena Fodera elena.fodera@skirt.com Advertising Director
Jane Townsend jane.townsend@savannahnow.com Sales Executives
Cinda Baker cinda.baker@skirt.com Belinda Draucker belinda.draucker@skirt.com Graphic Designer
Britt Scott britt.scott@skirt.com Intern
Emmy Lubitz Photography
Belinda Hall Emmy Lubitz Office: 912.525.0740 Sales: 912.525.0740 FAX:
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 elena.fodera@skirt.com, or mail to skirt! Savannah, 1375 Chatham Parkway Savannah, GA 31405
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.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! Facebook.com/skirtsavannahhhi Twitter.com/skirtSavannah
The
Summer Issue
Features
Profile: Cathy Liberatori
Stands Up to Self-Doubt........................................................... 9 Profile: Jill White
912.525.0746
Beyond Lifeguarding.................................................................. 10 skirt! is published monthly and distributed free throughout the greater Savannah 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 © 2012, 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.
Women make more than 80% of all purchasing decisions.
Profile: Diane Kaufman
Mermaids Make a Difference.............................................. 12 Skirt! Style .................................................................................. 15 Spoiler Alert
Women spend almost 2 of every 3 healthcare dollars.
Stephanie Hunt............................................................................ 18 Finding My Native Self
Cyndi Briggs.................................................................................... 21 Women control 2/3 of the nation’s disposable income.
In Every Issue
Women influence 80% of all car sales.
Letter from the Publisher/Editor.......................................... 6 Calendar........................................................................................... 17 He’s So Original........................................................................... 25 Skirt of the Month..................................................................... 27 Meet.................................................................................................... 29 Planet Nikki..................................................................................... 30
THE UNITED SKIRTS OF AMERICA
The United Skirts of America was founded on the blood, sweat and estrogen of our
The
won us the freedom
I used to buy fresh flowers at the grocery store every week until I started
to choose...to break
feeling guilty about what seemed a luxurious self-indulgence. I would be
combat boots or high Aimee Sicuro received a BFA from Columbus College of Art
Summer Issue
foremothers, who
The Rules, to wear
Aimee Sicuro
FROM THE PUBLISHER
heels, to run for office or run a marathon,
good, I told myself, and save rather than splurge on things I didn’t need. So for almost a year, I mostly turned a blind eye to the purple irises, the white hydrangeas, the big open-hearted sunflowers. But then the peonies
and Design. After experience
to form our own
arrived. Buckets of deep rose-colored ones first. Yes, they were expensive,
working as a line designer for
rock groups instead
but I had peony fever and I thought, “just this once.” And the next week,
of being groupies, to
bunches were waiting of the palest pink ones with a dash of alizarin red
American Greetings and a Flash animator for a once-budding dot-com in San Francisco,
shatter Glass Ceilings
she packed her portfolio and
and Glass Slippers, to
headed to New York. Inspired by circumstance and in search
shoot hoops instead
in their centers. And I caved again. They don’t last long, these goddesses of the garden, opening in one lush, languid burst of sensuality. But their scent reminds me of my grandmother’s house in summer—the quiet rooms,
of a new perspective, she took
of settling for hoop
a job as a project manager and
skirts. The ones who
the polished furniture, the lingering smell of woodsmoke from the past
came before us made
winter, starched white curtains breathing in and out on the sultry breeze
she spent three years learning
it possible for our
of a long gold-green afternoon. And peonies blooming in the yard. I would
the business of art and the art
daughters to dream
illustrator at a design firm in Soho. At Slover and Company
of business. Currently, Aimee lives and works as a freelance
bigger, to have the
illustrator in California where
chance to grow up to
she rediscovers life every day
be President and turn
on the vibrant streets of San Francisco. Whether she is
have paid twice what I did for the inrushing of that precious sense memory as I cupped their flower faces in my hands and inhaled.
Nikki
the Oval Office into
publisher@skirt.com
running in Golden Gate Park or
the Ovary Office. In
FROM THE EDITOR
sketching at her favorite corner
the United Skirts of
This month, we’re celebrating summer in Savannah! It’s the time of year we all look forward to. Even
America, every day is
if we haven’t been in school for years, most of us never quite shed that feeling that for a few months,
café, she never fails to return home with oodles of good material for her art and a renewed determination to live a creative life.
Independence Day! VISIT US ON SKIRT.COM
life is one big vacation. For this issue, I got to meet people who know that feeling year-round. We’re blessed to live in a place that’s brimming with history, hospitality, nature, charm, sand, sun and sea— a place that people actually spend their hard-earned dollars to come visit. (A big “Hi, y’all!” to our guests!) This issue’s profiles show us how to embrace life on the coast. Cathy encourages getting on
aimeeesicurro,com
the water and challenging yourself; Diane shows you how to pitch in a helping hand and a welcoming smile; Mary teaches about our local natural habitats and wildlife, while Jill is committed to sharing the most important of summer skills: water safety. Even our man-in-a-skirt goes where few ever do in search of sunken treasure. So take a cue from these folks, pull up the anchor of your daily grind and set sail into summer. SPF
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Elena
elena.fodera@skirt.com
Illustration by BerinMade Illustrated Paper Goods. berinmade.com
jUNE
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Girls of Summer
Cathy Liberatori | Stands Up to Self-Doubt When Cathy Liberatori and long-time friend Carol Hesson discovered stand-up paddleboarding in Hawaii, they were hooked at first try. “My philosophy is to scare yourself every day,” says Cathy. “If you’re not trying something new and growing, what’s the point?” So she and Carol brought the exciting water sport back east and launched East Coast Paddleboarding. Now, more and more women are realizing a whole new confidence on the boards. “We sometimes underestimate our potential, but it’s a sport that women excel at,” Cathy explains. “We have a better concept of where our weight is and how to balance. So then you’ll get up there, and you’re doing something you’ve never done, and doing it well.” That moment of surprise, Cathy says, that boost of confidence, spreads to other areas. “People want to grow and discover what they’re capable of. That’s what we help people do—redefine personal success.” Photo by Emmy Lubitz
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Girls of Summer
Jill White | Beyond Lifeguarding Jill White is no stranger to the water. She, her husband, Robbin, and their three children share a lifelong love for swimming. For a decade, Jill worked as director of Chatham County Aquatic Center. “We built it into a destination for competitive swimming,” she explains. “We developed instructional programs, lifeguard training, safety and management programs,” and from there, Starfish Aquatics Institute was born. A vastly under-recognized safety issue, drowning is the second-leading cause of death in children. Jill's family business offers training, certification and risk reduction to aquatic facilities like pools and water parks around the world, teaching parents and management the concepts of drowning prevention and quick, educated incident response. “We want to have a relationship with the people who use our programs,” says Jill, “We help them understand that if, because of what you do, even one child comes in and leaves alive, you’ve made a difference.”
Photo by Emmy Lubitz
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Girls of Summer
Diane Kaufman | Mermaids Make a Difference For Diane Kaufman, hospitality is about more than just a place to stay. Owner of Mermaid Cottages on Tybee Island, she decided to call the island home for good after working with Marriott Hotels for 26 years. “Everything I learned in my hotel career, I was able to apply to Mermaid Cottages,” Diane says. “A big part of that is philanthropy.” In addition to offering unique vacation rentals, Mermaid Cottages encourages visiting guests to truly get involved and “live like a local.” Taking part in what’s called “voluntourism,” visitors can contribute to beach sweeps or turtle patrols, local nonprofits and community events. Proceeds from rentals help sponsor a service dog each year for someone in need and also contribute to the Sea Turtle Project in Georgia. “Apart from its natural beauty, what I love most about Tybee is the community,” Diane says. “We’re always actively looking for ways to give back.” Photo by Belinda Hall
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skirt! scene May 2012 skirt! Magazine Release Party • May 3, 2012 • Barfood Photos courtesy of Emmy Lubitz & Cinda Baker
Savannah Fashion Week Fashion Show • May 17, 2012 • Lucas Theatre www.savannah.skirt.com • facebook.com/skirtsavannahHHI 14
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•
@skirtsavannah
SKIRT! STYLE JUNE
Smooth Sailing Clockwise from top left: Earrings from See Jane, chunky coral necklace from Fab’rik, Faisca tank from Villa Savannah, turquoise bikini from James Gunn, COOLA LipLux SPF30 organic lip balm and Lush striped shorts from See Jane, rope bangle stack, jeweled lobster ring and sunglasses from Villa Savannah, Gizeh Birkenstock sandals in Silver from Birkenstock on Broughton Street, Tynan Design leather and driftwood bag by Ashley McCoy, available at Tabby, nautical-print teal scarf from Fab’rik.
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Illustration by Monkey Mind Design, Unique Paper Expressions. monkeymindesign.etsy.com
JunE
you’re invited
Join us, other skirt! readers and special guests for drinks and more at our June release party. 6-8pm at Wright Square Café in Sandfly. 7360 Skidaway Road, Suite E1.
beachside bliss
The 15th Annual Tybee Island Tour of Homes spotlights the character and charm of the island’s unique homes— large and small, old and new. 10am-4pm. tybeetourofhomes.com
laughs for lemonade
Mom’s Lemonade Fund presents Laughs for Lemonade, featuring comedian Greg Warren, to support women and families struggling with ovarian cancer. facebook.com/momslemonadefundinc
1 sew chic
2 live strong
13-19 it’s your time
22 wine tasting
2 backyard beauty
9 under the sea
17 jazz for dads
23 asian fest
2 paddle it
10 tybee triathlon
20 hot stuff
23 summer lovin’
SEAM (Savannah Emerging Artists Movement) hosts a finale fashion/art show, merging talented local designers, photographers, music and more. Tickets at ARC, 320 W. Broughton St. Visit Oatland Island Wildlife Center for the first-ever Coastal Wetlands Day. Learn about our local wildlife and ecosystem with fun family activities. 10am-2pm. oatlandisland.org Tybee’s 14th Annual Sea Kayak Races support the Tybee Island Marine Science Center with three events for seasoned paddlers and beginners, too. tybeekayakrace.blogspot.com
Survive the 5…K on Isle of Hope benefits Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion’s Survivorship Program and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. fleetfeetsavannah.com Celebrate World Oceans Day with free hands-on activities and the new exhibit, “Sea Jellies of the Georgia Coast.” 8am-4pm. uGA Marine Extension Service Aquarium. marex.uga.edu The T(r)YBEE Island Sprint is a 750meter swim, 20K bike ride and 5K run benefiting the island’s Marine Science Center. Give it a go and kick start your summer! tybeeisland.com
national Women’s Health Week encourages us to make our health a priority, reminding women to be active, eat healthy and get regular screenings and checkups. womenshealth.gov Treat Dad to something he loves— Coastal Jazz Association presents Fathers’ Day Jazz Just Across the River, featuring Von Barlow’s Jazz Journey. 5pm. Westin Harbor Resort. As if you needed an excuse for some fun in the sun—it’s the (official) first day of summer! Our “Summer Issue” is the perfect companion wherever your adventures take you.
7th Annual Savannah uncorked is a fabulous fundraiser for Trauma Services, Critical Care Division and The Rehabilitation Institute at Memorial uMC. $75. 7pm. Savannah Golf Club. The 17th Annual Savannah Asian Festival celebrates the rich diversity of Asian cultures with music, martial arts, dancing, cuisine and more.11am-5pm. Savannah Civic Center. SCAD Cinema Circle presents the classic 1942 romance, Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, at the Trustees Theater. 7pm. tickets.savannahboxoffice.com
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Summer is hardly a good idea. Stephanie Hunt
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Spoiler Alert
I don’t recall what a movie cost that summer of 1975, probably no more than $3.50 or $3.75—a bargain for a life-changing event—but I do clearly remember standing in line in the welcome shade of the Morehead City cinema ticket booth and thinking, “This is not a good idea.” I was only 12, and who knows what the parental advisory rating system was back then, but I did know this was dicey, and irresistible. Every kid everywhere had heard about the skinny dipping girl, the gory floating head. We all hummed the menacing “da dum, da dum…” chorus, even if we were “too young” to see the movie, which I probably was. But our family was nearing the end of a beach vacation with the Kearns and everyone was waterlogged and sun-crisped and weary from too much family togetherness. No doubt the adults saw a great opportunity to ditch the kids for a couple of hours and stir up some early afternoon G&Ts, and so off we went to the movies, to see Jaws. Jaws was more than the first-ever summer blockbuster. It was a 124-minute initiation rite. I walked into the coolness of that cave-like movie theater entrance as one girl—a tennis-tanned, naive and undaunted adolescent, who loved nothing more than body-surfing in feisty waves, the more tumble the better. I came out as another person altogether—as prey. Prey with a crush on scruffy-bearded, smart-alecky Richard Dreyfuss, but prey nonetheless. I’m sure I did not venture back into the ocean for the remainder of that vacation, and I’m equally sure that every saltwater dip in the three and a half decades since then has been tempered with a slight hint of terror. These memories come back to me as I sit on the beach and watch my own 12-year-old daughter catch waves on her surfboard. Claire rides one breaker in all the way to the shallows, hops off and pumps her fist to me in a “Hey, How About That!” salute. I wave a big thumbs-up in reply, and she turns to paddle back out to try again. Bethany Hamilton, the shark attack survivor and one-armed teenaged surfing wonder, is her idol, and the movie Soul Surfer her modern-day version of Jaws, although ten times scarier since it’s a true story. When I finally watched the DVD with Claire last summer (she’d already seen it a dozen times), she was startled to see me cry during the scenes when Helen Hunt (playing Bethany’s mom) sat by her mangled daughter’s hospital bedside. I couldn’t help it. Fear lurks close to the surface in maternal waters, and definitely in shark-infested ones. I, for one, don’t buy the malarkey about the “carefree, lazy days of summer.” That was the ill-fated fantasy of the poor little boy on the yellow raft, kicking and splashing to Kingdom Come (literally, I’m afraid) in the opening scenes of Jaws. I hate to trip up anyone with a spoiler alert, but summer is hardly a kick-back, let-your-hair-down time; it’s high alert season, a three-month danger zone, which is why Steven Spielberg was brilliant to release his first sizzling blockbuster summer thriller in…summer. When the last school bell rings and kids and grown-ups flee the careful confines and sanity of blessed routine, all hell and hazard can break loose. We are not safe in the water (cue the John Williams “da dum, da dum” soundtrack), nor on the highway, in the campground, the swimming pool, certainly not safe at the mall for god’s sake, and definitely not at summer camp, where it’s a gruesome slow death by cheesy songs. Not only do ravenous, vengeful Great Whites prowl, the heat index boils, fish hooks fly willy-nilly seeking out tetanus-prone targets, bees tunnel in tall grass awaiting barefoot kids and bored offspring turn wickedly feral. Lightning strikes, jellyfish sting, hot marshmallow skewers impale unwitting campfire sit-arounders, and that delicious chicken salad sitting in a nice sunny spot on the picnic table becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Summer is hardly a good idea. The iconic ingredients of June, July and August create recipes for disaster: baseball games? Beware foul balls that careen into the stands. Fireworks? Nothing fun about third-degree burns. Family vacation? A ridiculously dangerous oxymoron if ever there was one. More than 35 years after watching Jaws for the first time and almost wetting my pants in sheer terror, my heart rate still races when I see a dorsal fin peek-a-boo behind a wave. It’s a dolphin, of course, but there’s that hold-your-breath moment of “what is it?” and “what if?” A flashback to chum-stoked waters off the fictitious Amity Island. Summer, for those of us not in heat-stroked la-la land, is one wave after another of that sort of trepidation. I believe cute, scientific Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss’s character) was giving us all fair warning of summer’s numerous looming threats when he deadpanned, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” I’m making sure mine has plenty of life jackets. Stephanie Hunt is a Charleston, SC-based freelance writer and long-time contributor to skirt!, among other publications. She blogs (sporadically) at alifestill.com and literarycharleston. wordpress.com, and bikes (frequently) through the Lowcountry flatlands, a region she hopes to make more bike-friendly through work with the nonprofit Charleston Moves.
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Here, I could reinvent myself...into someone else, someone better.
S
Cyndi Briggs
weat poured down the back of my legs and into my faux Doc Marten boots. It was at least 95 degrees and stiflingly humid. My stiff blue jeans, fresh off the rack, stuck to my sweaty legs. I wiped the dripping moisture from my forehead, makeup smearing the back of my hand. The Sex Pistols blared, a cassette tape I’d picked out from the bargain bin at Wal-Mart. “Aren’t you hot?” my cousin Lori asked, cool as a cucumber in shorts and a tank top. I shook my head, determined not to cave. “What the heck is this music?” her boyfriend Bill asked, and I snorted at his lack of sophistication. We sat on my grandma’s porch in central Illinois. I was 16 years old and had no idea what Johnny Rotten was screaming in those songs. I was dying to change clothes and wanted to wash the slimy foundation off my sweaty face. But this week, this summer vacation far away from my hometown in Virginia, was my one chance all year to feel superior instead of inadequate. Here, away from the social structure of my big, crowded public high school, I could reinvent myself into someone else, someone better. Every summer of my childhood and adolescence, my family piled into our minivan and drove the 14 hours from Virginia to central Illinois. When I was a kid, our annual trek from the mountains to the prairie where my mom grew up proved exotic: The long, straight roads past fields of corn and soybeans hypnotized me. As we drove by, the gap in the rows of corn would tick by like a metronome, marking the miles. Danvers, population 800, had no stoplight but did boast a grocery store and pool hall where I learned to play Pac Man and ordered my first real cherry Coke. No one locked their doors at night, and we kids were allowed to play outside unsupervised after dark. My hometown felt so much more restrictive, fearful. We locked and chained our doors, locked our cars. Danvers felt like freedom to me. We spent most of the week running around the yard playing Ghost in the Graveyard and camping out. It was kid bliss. The summer before I started middle school was one in a series of sameness. Fifth grade behind me, sixth grade and a new school looming ahead. I spent the usual week in Illinois playing with my cousins, and we drove home in time for the start of school. On the first day of middle school, it was clear everything had changed. It was as though a memo went out over the summer and I’d missed it. My long, tangled dark hair suddenly looked messy and immature. My mosquito-bitten legs heathen-like. Many of the girls had gotten perms over the summer, their
hair in soft waves, their bangs curled. These girls had abandoned jeans and t-shirts for cute skirts and flowery tops. They wore lip gloss and training bras. Self-conscious of my native self, I went home that day and asked my mom to take me shopping. Throughout sixth grade I felt a step behind. I could not grasp the shifting sands of coolness. My perm came out awful and I developed acne. I swapped glasses for contacts but still hated the way I looked. I wondered why boys didn’t like me and then looked in the mirror and gave myself the answer. Self-loathing and angst became a daily battle. I never felt good enough. In the striving to feel okay, I lost my little-girl self. The following summer in Illinois I was different. I was determined to prove myself cooler than my cousins, to redeem myself after nine months of relentless geekiness. In Danvers, they didn’t know about who I was at school, so insecure and out of step. I could re-invent myself, bolstering my own flagging self-esteem by looking down on the only people who knew less about East Coast social graces than I. After a few days, though, Danvers began to work on me. By the end of the week I was back in my shorts and t-shirts, make-up gone. We watched Nightmare on Elm Street and I lay awake all night, terrified of my dreams. My cousins laughed kindly at my fear and my attempts to prove myself to them. We camped out and roasted marshmallows and told ghost stories. I cried when we drove away at the end of the week, knowing the prison that awaited my return. I scratched the mosquito bites on my legs and fought the anxiety rising in my chest as I thought about the first day of school. After my week’s liberation from insecurity, I knew the reprieve was temporary. Throughout my adolescence, Illinois became my escape from normal life. Back home, middle and high school dragged out, years of anxious insecurity and waning self-esteem. In Illinois, after a couple of days of pretending and posturing, I could just be myself. No one expected anything of me. My family was simple in all the best ways. They loved and accepted me but didn’t make a big deal about it. My cousins snickered at my Southern accent just before making fun of their own Midwestern twang. Everyone was equal. My grandparents died years ago, and my baby cousin Carrie, the youngest of us, lives in my grandparents’ house with her husband and two children. When I visit, less often now that I’m grown, I chuck the pretenses of my typical adult life. Now free of those adolescent insecurities, I still revel in the liberation that only comes when I’m surrounded by my down-to-earth family and the corn fields. I sit out at night watching the kids play around us, a new generation of cousins. I notice the fireflies, feel those mosquitoes bite my legs, and let my native soul re-emerge, one quiet summer moment at a time.
Cyndi Briggs is a writer, teacher, and consultant who lives in Winston-Salem, NC. You can read more of her writing at her blog, The Sophia Project (thesophiaproject.net). 88
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Sandfly Isle of Hope
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He’s So Original
Bill Eberlein digs up the past. Some people just aren’t satisfied by a 9-to-5. Some, like Bill Eberlein, prefer adventure, discovery and the most uncommon hobbies— like diving to the depths of pitch-black, sometimes freezing waters in search of millions-of-years-old fossilized shark’s teeth. A part-time professor and president of Richmond Hill’s Rotary Club, Bill got his start diving search-and-rescue missions almost 30 years ago. Now, he hunts for prehistoric Megalodon teeth in the waters near his Richmond Hill home. “It’s something you learn to get used to,” Bill says of the dark world below the surface. “But it’s almost zen-like. You’re focused on the task.” And the rewards of a good find are mind-blowing. “You’re the first human being to ever lay eyes on that,” he says, showing off a handful of shiny teeth. What’s your favorite thing about wearing a skirt? “It’s another layer between me and the sharks!” What’s your favorite thing about reading skirt!? “The chance to see things from a different perspective.” Photo by Emmy Lubitz
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Illustration by Monkey Mind Design, Unique Paper Expressions. monkeymindesign.etsy.com
Skirt of the Month Etc. Pleated Paisley Skirt EJ Scandals 8511 Ferguson Ave. 912.356.1477
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Meet Favorite Shoes: Keen Sandals
Mary Sweeny-Reeves, an educator at the UGA Marine Extension Service on Skidaway Island. To learn about her Women in Marine Science camp, visit marex.uga.edu/aquarium.
My Zodiac Sign: Cancer
My Workspace: A Carolina Skiff
Where I Shop Locally: Davis Produce
Dream Date: Shark tooth hunting!
Dream Vacation: Snorkeling in the Keys Favorite Artist: Photographer Jack Leigh My Inspiration: My father Favorite Flower: Jasmine in the spring Signature Scent: Sunscreen My Workout: Hiking with students on Wassaw Island I Can’t Live Without: Being outside I’d Like To Learn: To scuba dive My Guilty Pleasure: Potato
Photo by Emmy Lubitz
chips Favorite Feminist: Hillary Clinton Words I Live By: Live for today, not tomorrow or yesterday.
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planetnikki [ a visual journal ]
I bought a print of a dancing Ganesha last month that I intend to frame and to hang opposite my bed.
I want to wake up every morning facing the clever elephant god and believing that the obstacles
I encounter that day can be faced and removed. Especially the ones I put in front of myself...
the self-doubt, defeatism and dare-nots. Instead, I want to open my eyes and think,
“let’s dance.” I’m very attached to my silver skull bracelet by Douglas Magnus. I’m not into dainty jewelry, so its chunkiness and heavy weight make me want to wear it with everything.
I own all the music put out by Girls, but I return to the gorgeous “Love Like a River” off their latest CD, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, over and over.
My bag by Dana Waldon and Kat Schilke of Santa Fe Scout Collection has a hippie vibe and is handmade from an old Navajo rug trimmed with silver, deer hide, turquoise, horn, leather horse tack and fringe. I love how it gently jingles when I walk. (Check out their Facebook page.)
My photographer friend in London swears I could learn to use this Olympus E-P2 Pen camera, even though I’m notoriously averse to reading manuals and just hit buttons until something happens.The black and white function produces photos that look like slightly grainy film...so cool.
Nikki Hardin is the founder and publisher of skirt! magazine. She blogs at fridaville.com. 30 junew2012savannah www.skirt.com