As the cool breezes move in, perfectly painted pumpkins begin to adorn our homes, and our social calendars tend to begin bursting at the seams. With football parties, holiday gatherings, and family get-togethers there are plenty of opportunities to get creative when you throw your next party. Whether you are greeting guests with a beautifully designed front porch, a brilliant buffet, or a terrific tablescape, the Lowcountry has a multitude of fabulous décor to score. We visited four of our favorite local gurus to gather inspiration for fall!

Welcome to The Lowcountry Lookbook, a new journal to fuel your passion for fashion and learn tips, tricks, and trends to keep you in style and looking good. This article will be your go-to for insight on what's happening in the fashion scene here in the Lowcountry, as well as sharing the buzz of the latest chic sensations. Diane von Furstenberg said, “Style is something each of us already has, all we need to do is find it.” And that is exactly what we're excited to do!

Debbie Wood and Gail Posey know a thrift shop find when they see one.

The doors of the Church Mouse Thrift Shop first opened in 2004. Debbie began volunteering there in 2011 and became the shop’s general manager in 2014. She met Gail, a valued regular shopper, and offered her the assistant manager position four years ago. “I was looking for something to do and thought, ‘They won’t want this old gal,’” said Gail. Debbie was thrilled Gail accepted the offer, and Gail was delighted to step into the role. Debbie and Gail became a formidable team that led them down a parallel path of interior design.

Do you remember the movie, The Wizard of OZ? As children we watched in amazement as Dorothy’s black-and-white world in Kansas suddenly changed into the colorful world of Oz. In a flash, the movie transported us from a world without color to one with a vibrant yellow brick road, fields of bright red poppies, and ruby red slippers. Colors transformed the scenery on the screen and opened our eyes to possibilities.

Art does that. It unlocks our creativity and imagination, introduces us to possibilities, and is always open to interpretation.

The Art League of Hilton Head Academy and Lifelong Learning of Hilton Head are collaborating on a special exhibit this month.

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street and across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

In celebration of our 20 year anniversary, we'll be bringing you 20 covers each month to enjoy and reminisce!

Ezekiel Dobson is a 19-year-old young man from Kentucky,
who with the blessings of his family,
set out to be the youngest birder in history to identify
over 700 different species of birds by December 31 of this year.
Well, he did it on July 23!

He set out on January 1, 2024, driving alone from Kentucky in his 2018 Nissan Altima. Using the app EBird, and following the Audubon Society guidelines, he carefully recorded the sighting of each bird, date, time, and location. Sometimes he took a picture, or video, to capture the unique song every bird has.

His first bird sighting was on that very first day—New Years Day—at the Montauk Lighthouse on Long Island, New York. The bird was a Red-Throated Loon, a common bird for that area.

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street to across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

Whether a new puppy makes your dreams of the perfect family dog come true or turns into a total nightmare depends on how well you've prepared, starting with a well-planned first 24 hours.

Choosing your new best friend can be quite a challenge! Visit www.selectadogbreed.com to find the right dog breed to suit your lifestyle, or talk to the experts at your favorite shelter if you plan to adopt. Once you have established the kind of dog and size that is best for your lifestyle, you need to decide where to get the puppy. From a shelter or reputable breeder? Take the time to research this thoroughly. The shelter of course presents the most affordable choice.

Alicia Powell is in love with The Sandbox Children’s Museum. Before joining The Sandbox as its executive director last October, Alicia was the director of development for the Port Royal Sound Foundation and associate director of development for the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation. But of all her prior positions, Alicia has found her calling at The Sandbox. “Kids don’t realize they’re learning while they’re playing, and the parents have a great time with their children, too. I’m always dreaming of what we can do next,” Alicia shared.

I’m going to skip over the obesity statistics for the moment. Let’s just sum it up by saying that every third person in the country is trying to lose weight. It’s not on everyone’s mind—some folks are joyfully roasting chocolate-covered marshmallows over campfires—but with so many millions of American’s dieting, you get tons of people who lose... lose... and then they plateau. The needle gets stuck.

In spite of your best behavior—eating real food and smaller portions, exercising more—suddenly, your body simply stops losing weight. It’s a very common problem. Also very frustrating. Oh Lordy, what’s happening?

Wan.der.lust (noun) 1. A strong desire to travel.

My first recollection of being bitten by the wanderlust bug was in high school.
Gazing out the window, daydreaming about what life must have been like in the early days
of Rome. How did people communicate, live, meet others, and date? I had no idea at the time what a wealth of worldwide opportunities awaited me; I just dreamed about them.

After I graduated college, my sister, Diane, and I went to Europe on a tour of England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France. I was fascinated by the countries, cultures, cuisines, and people. However, It would be 35 years before I crossed the pond again. Life, family, marriage, and career filled those many years, but my wanderlust remained. When I was once again free to explore the world, I got busy!

While Hilton Head Island is filled to the brim with tourists each July, there’s an extra special group of visitors here for a weeklong adventure of their own. Camp Leo was started in 1975 by the Lions Club on Hilton Head Island, and it has welcomed legally blind to fully blind children for 49 years. The camp, which is housed at St. Andrew By-The-Sea United Methodist Church on Pope Avenue, opens the third week of July each year to campers ages 7-19.

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street to across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

The Back to School banners are waving, and parents all over America are being tested with difficult questions that weren’t even an issue 10 years ago: Is my child too fat? Too stressed? Too medicated? Over-programmed or under-programmed? Too shy or too aggressive? Is his backpack too heavy? Is she spending too much time texting and shopping when she should be on the soccer field, building muscles and a future as a team-playing corporate executive?

A question I receive nearly every day goes something like this: I'm ready to get started taking back control of my finances. But how do I get started? It's like I'm stuck.

Don't think you are alone if you find yourself wanting to do all the steps at once. But that could be a big mistake. In the same way when building a house you wouldn't pour the foundation, raise the walls and put on the roof all at the same time, with your money makeover, you need to take things one step at a time.

Want to know what Lowcountry Ladies are reading?
We asked five local book clubs for
a peek inside their reading lists and to share their No. 1
book recommendation that stirred the soul and created compelling conversations amongst these friendships born from the love of reading.

Imagine driving by a beautiful, open field, looking out, and seeing 7,500 tacky, yet cheerful, plastic pink flamingos stuck everywhere. Can you envision it? Could it be the largest prank you’ve ever seen? Nope. It’s a “Flock of Love” and just one of the impactful parts of the huge, wacky, out-of-the-box fun the tremendous Pledge the Pink Breast Cancer Walk is known for.

Fourteen years ago, local Laura Morgan had an idea. It was to create one of the most fun, empowering, memorable breast cancer awareness and fundraising events ever. Her vision included 30 miles of walking over three days, everyone wearing Pink, working and walking together to raise an enormous amount of money to help people with breast cancer and make a significant donation to aid in research, treatments, mammogram scholarships and resources.

The Beaufort Garden Club has been around for a long time—since 1934, to be exact. A group of civic-minded ladies amid the Great Depression decided they wanted to do something beautiful for their little town of Beaufort, South Carolina.

The original group all lived on The Point in the venerable homes that were built before the Civil War. But these ladies didn’t just sip tea and eat cheese straws, they went out and got their fingernails dirty! They started planting flowers and shrubs around town, and even planted the line of Sabal palmetto palms, South Carolina’s state tree, on Highway 21 to welcome folks from Gardens Corner to Beaufort. Many of those palms are still there today, having survived numerous hurricanes.

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street to across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

Both Lydia Cook and her husband, Lloyd, were physicians in the Cleveland area, a pediatrician and internist, respectively. The couple had two children, Shayna and Brandon. Shayna is Assistant Superintendent of Early Childhood for the state of Maryland, and lives in Washington, D.C. Brandon is a software developer, living in New York City. The two Doctors Cook had the dream of returning to his family roots and property in Seabrook, SC and enjoying all the Lowcountry has to offer. Lydia’s husband particularly loved fishing and boating, and naturally bought a boat to enjoy time in the creeks and rivers.

This is the time of year we all have no excuses but to get out there on the water. Think roseate spoonbills, eagles, dolphins, herons, and the peaceful marsh.

I love paddling Walter, my well-worn 17-foot Solstice, and not just because it’s an inspiring upper body workout. In less than a minute, kayaking transports me into the silence, the rhythm of the waves, one stroke on my right, another on my left, over and over, inhaling, exhaling, sometimes repeating the mantra, sometimes sending my breath to a tight spot on my torso that’s begging for attention.

When Corporal Michael Howard and I parted ways after meeting at the Hilton Head Plantation Property Owners office for this story, he said, “I hope you have a blessed day.” I responded, “I already have because of you.”

Michael is a security officer at Hilton Head Plantation (HHP). He has worked there for just over four years, and the residents who get to know him, love him. As a resident myself, I had never really interacted with Michael except for waving and smiling when he waves me through the gate, therefore I had no idea my neighborhood had an angel at the front entrance.

The Pink Academy for the Furry, Feathered,
and Frisky congratulates its Class of 2024
and honors these graduates as top-of-the-class
buddies, unlike any other.
- The Class of 2024 -

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street to across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

Many women in the Lowcountry are transplants from other parts of the United States. Some are here to retire, while others relocate for a job, move closer to family, or perhaps the snowflakes chase them south. Whatever the reason, we live in a corner of paradise with wonderful weather, beautiful beaches, great golf, delicious restaurants, a myriad of outdoor activities, and so much more. However, there is one drawback; we leave behind our friends, family, neighbors, and longtime community connections. Some of us may be a little lonely, especially if we enjoyed strong relationships borne from decades of living in the same neighborhood.

The colorful masterpieces featured on Pink's cover each month are one of the signature features of our magazine. Created by artists from down the street to across the world, the chosen artwork is carefully procured to set the tone for the monthly theme and bring the issue alive.

The one requirement: It always features a woman or the essence of a woman.

Beautiful weather is finally here, and so are shorts, sleeveless tops, and swimsuits—all in bright colors and zippy designs that often reveal doughy arms and generous thighs. A few rounds of golf can't help you. You can run a 10K every weekend, or hike, bike and play tennis till the cows come home, and still the most efficient way to build muscle and overall body strength is targeted strength training.

There are other good reasons for strength training beyond looking good in a bikini. Strong bodies are linked to strong minds. Strength training builds confidence, muscle, and healthy tissue. It's also good for stable joints, injury prevention, and weight loss. And yet—slugs that we are—fewer than 25 percent of Americans over the age of 45 work with weights on a regular basis. A whole lot fewer, I'm guessing.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Since its inception in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month has been a cornerstone of addressing the challenges faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions. This national movement is dedicated to eradicating stigma, extending support, fostering public education, and advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and families affected by mental illness. As we all know, mental health conditions are at an all-time high, especially in young adults. Mental stress and anxiety are reducing quality of life, coping skills, social skills and general happiness in millions of people across the United States, and the world. We caught up with psychiatrist Dr. Gabriella Farkas to learn more about the latest concerns in mental health and what we can do about them.

Chante Fennell has a love for young mothers and their children.  She serves as the Hilton Head/Bluffton Coordinator for YoungLives, a part of the nationally known Young Life organization.  It is an unapologetically Christian organization that reaches out to adolescents through volunteer leaders to introduce them to Jesus Christ.  YoungLives takes it a step further with a ministry to young women who have become mothers and are now faced with the responsibility of a child, while many of them are so young themselves.