Avoiding Mortgage Mayhem

Bill Fletcher

Your Mortgage Officer Could Be the Key to Your Dream Home

Avoiding Mortgage Mayhem

Securing a mortgage is what stands between you and buying the house
you want to call home. It’s not uncommon for people to be frightened of the mortgage process, but don’t let that deter you from homeownership.

Often first-time potential homeowners think qualifying for a mortgage is unattainable because it seems like some sort of big mystery, impossible to understand, or just too much to deal with. While the process can be complicated, an experienced mortgage lender can break it all down for you and get you to move-in day.

Buying & Selling in the Midst of a Pandemic

Charles Sampson

Buying & Selling in the Midst of a Pandemic

There is no question that the real estate market bounced back in an unsurpassed way after COVID-19 first took hold last spring. The result led to demand far outpacing supply. Bidding wars were commonplace, and we closed multiple transactions without the buyers ever having set foot in the property until after it closed. None of us could have anticipated that this would be a part of the real estate narrative for 2020. 

College Ahead

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

How Can I Improve My Child's Chances for Financial Aid?

College Ahead

Dear Carrie: My daughter is starting high school this year, and I'm worried about paying for college. I've saved some money, but as a single mom, I'm afraid I just won't be able to cover it all. Is there anything I can do to increase her chances of receiving financial aid? —A Reader

Dear Reader: I'm glad you're asking this question now while you still have several years to plan for college. As I'm sure you know, college can be expensive, but it's also one of the best investments you can make in your daughter's future—not only in terms of education but also for her career opportunities and lifetime earnings.

Take a Hike: The Transformative Nature of Nature

Marilynn Preston

Energy Express

Take a Hike: The Transformative Nature of Nature

Spring is a great time to get away from it all and take a giant deep breath. You can slip into escape mode the fast way with multiple margaritas, or you can slow down and figure out a plan to get back to nature, into the woods, on a lake, up a mountain, down a river—paddling, hiking, camping, fishing, walking, breathing, whatever suits your soul.

Your fitness goal? Renewal of the spirit. Your health will benefit greatly from a sharper focus and a serene attitude. That’s what a few days or weeks in the backcountry can do for you.
Here are some tips to help you plan and enjoy a hiking trip, especially if it’s your first:

Brain Health Summit

Elizabeth Skenes Millen

Learn How to Make Friends with Your Anxiety, Sleep Better and Unmask Your Brain’s Resiliency

Brain Health Summit

The human brain is such a miraculous organ, even it cannot imagine or utilize its full potential. Like a computer, if the brain is programmed the right way, it can make us function properly. If programmed wrong, life can become overwhelming, stressful or dark. The good news is most of the time we get a choice in how to program our brains—negative or positive.

With all the uncertainty happening in the world right now, it has become increasingly easy to negatively program our brains, which guides our thoughts and emotions. “When people flood their brains with fear-based images, interactions and information, their anxiety levels increase,” said Debbie Anderson, Community Education Director at Memory Matters on Hilton Head Island.

Want a Maximum Life? Dump the Minimum Men!

Jacie Elizabeth Millen

Want a Maximum Life?  Dump the Minimum Men!

Welcome to 2021, the era of searching for love in a pandemic that seems endless. In this younger generation—20-somethings—we are dependent on our smartphones to connect us to the dating world. Why can’t we have the luxury like generations before us when social media was absent from the love equation and dating apps were nonexistent? An equation should be immutable, so my question is, “Why are things so different?” The answer points directly to dating apps and social media and how they have affected this generation's perspective on the way to find love...and how to behave in the process.

Champagnes that Pop!

Stephanie Skager

Bubbling with Romance and Good Times

Champagnes that Pop!

“I could not live without Champagne.
In victory I deserve it, in defeat I need it.” —Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a fan of champagne, and this quote of his is on point for 2021, thus far. Really, it applies to just life in general. A glass of bubbles always lends itself to lightening things up. In raising a glass to more good times than bad ahead, here are six scrumptious, sparkling selections in every price point to celebrate victories, soothe defeats and calm your nerves in between. These selections are also perfect for adding a pop of magic to your Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) Day celebrations.

Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island

Jane Kendall

60 Years of Compassionate Caring

Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island

2021 is a very special year. It marks the 60th anniversary of WAHHI, the Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island. It was first organized in January 1961 as the Hilton Head Garden Club by 23 forward-thinking women with a mission to beautify the island. Their first projects were planting azaleas around Coligny Circle, followed by a cleanup of the historic Zion Cemetery on Route 278. As the projects grew, more women joined, and in 1965, the name was changed to WAHHI.

Since then, the membership and boundaries have expanded to include greater Bluffton and Daufuskie Island. The organization has grown into a community of almost 600 multi-generational women with diverse backgrounds and talents. WAHHI’s goals are to promote the natural and cultural beauty of the Lowcountry, to encourage projects which benefit the community and to facili-tate communication among the women of the island.

They're Bringing Healthy Back - Part One

Erin Cline

7 locals who achieved their health goals share how they lost weight, got stronger, became more flexible, overcame bad relationships with food, regained self-confidence and stayed motivated through it all.

They're Bringing Healthy Back - Part One

According to a popular meme, the first rule of 2021 is to never talk about 2020.

Enticing proposal. However, we probably shouldn’t listen to a riff off of Brad Pitt’s line in Fight Club, especially since 2020 gave us a lot of material for making drastic changes. Maybe, instead, we could structure our 2021 game plan according to another classic 1999 film: The Matrix. Rather than trying to forget the past (as the meme jokingly suggests), we choose a mindset—like the red pill in The Matrix—to see necessary truths for knowing how to exponentially improve our lives.

Look at it this way: We can either bury the pile of memories from a year we’d love to forget, or use that plethora of experiences as opportunities for rising in life-altering, empowering ways.

Want a Happier Life?

Marilynn Preston

Make Friends With Your Inner Critic

Want a Happier Life?

Wherever you happen to be on the rewarding and rocky road to a healthier lifestyle, you’ll travel more gently and feel more joy if you learn to make friends with your Inner Critic.

We all have one, and it is alive and kvetching, causing us to constantly question our behavior, our thoughts, our accomplishments: “How am I doing? Am I doing well enough­—in my relationships, at work? Do others see what I’m doing? Do they approve?”

Psychologists call this critical voice the Standard Setter. (And you thought it was called Mom.) It’s the part of the human psyche that sets the bar for us. It’s a good thing in many ways, as a source of inspiration, as a spur to achievement.

Love Your Power:

Tina Tyus-Shaw

My Journey Back to Health

Love Your Power:

When I was a child growing up in Griffin, Georgia, I was tall with a thin frame. I loved playing outside and never turned down the opportunity to show my athleticism during pick up games of kickball, basketball, football, dodgeball, or jump rope with my friends from the neighborhood. How much I weighed was the last thing on my mind, but as I became a teenager, my boyish frame sometimes landed me at the brunt of jokes by the “pretty girls,” who had hour-glass figures that caught the attention of all the guys at school. However, I found a way to use my scrawny build to my advantage. I became a runner on my high school track team. The 400-meter race became my hideaway from my body-shaming critics, who were silenced when I was victorious.

The Child Abuse Prevention Association

Mary Hope Roseneau

Loving, Nurturing and Protecting Children of the Lowcountry

The Child Abuse Prevention Association


The Vision Statement for the Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA) of Beaufort County states: “All children deserve to be loved, nurtured and kept safe
from intentional and unintentional harm.”
This vision is so simple
and pure that it seems like it would be a given.

But it’s not.

Since opening in 1985, the Open Arms Children’s Home, just one part of
the CAPA organization has provided that safe harbor for more than
2,300 children. Let that number sink in for a minute.

Miracle on North Loudon Street

Edwina Hoyle

Southern Living Style in the Lowcountry

Miracle on North Loudon Street

The pandemic may feel like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but the magic of the holiday season is alive and well, filled with hope and real miracles right here in the Lowcountry.

The 33rd annual Festival of Trees, a longtime fundraiser filled with holiday tradition for Friends of Caroline Hospice, was cancelled this year due to the covid pandemic. For more than three decades, businesses and organizations sponsored trees by purchasing and decorating them. The public then bought the well-appointed, beautiful trees for either for their homes, to give to a hospice patient, or for a military family. This holiday fundraiser typically raised $30-40,000 to provide palliative and hospice care, bereavement groups, and Camp Caroline, a bereavement camp for students.

19 Local Kids Teach Us Holiday Spirit 101

Erin Cline

19 Local Kids Teach Us Holiday Spirit 101

The sweet homey smell of freshly baked cookies and savory meals. The heartwarming feeling of snuggling into soft blankets with hot cocoa while watching favorite holiday movies. The sound of conversations and laughter rising and falling around family and friends as they make new memories. The whimsical sights of twinkling lights and festive decorations transforming the ordinary world into a wonderland.

Just in Time!

Marilynn Preston

Your Ho-Ho-Holiday Spirit Action Plan

Just in Time!

Here comes the December dilemma: Am I going to enjoy this holiday season or not?
We all have obstacles to overcome: too little time; too little money; too much
commercial merrymaking. And that's not to mention the nightly news!

And still, dear reader, we have a personal choice this December: Do I get into the holiday spirit and juice up my well-being... or not? We've got Hanukkah and Christmas and the winter solstice coming up, all leading to the end of the year, when we make resolutions to find true love, or lose 20 pounds, or make good on that promise to work smarter, not harder.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Elizabeth Skenes Millen

Meet the Lowcountry’s Mr. and Mrs. Claus

Ho! Ho! Ho!

There are a few things Santa looks for in choosing his very best helpers, especially when both Mr. and Mrs. Claus are called for duty together. You better know he has a list and checks it twice!

Happily Married? Check!

Joe and Susan Patton have been married 53 years and are still madly in love and best friends. When asked what the secret is to their long, successful marriage, Joe said there are no secrets. “We tell each other when we’re unhappy.”
Susan added, “Sharing our principles of faith together is an important part of it.” They both agreed quarantining together most of the year has not been a bad thing.

Never Stop Believing

Michele Roldán-Shaw

Miracles are Real

Never Stop Believing

One year ago, the Hilton Head community bore witness to a nightmare. Michael Perry, beloved fishing guide of Papa Bear Charters, was back home in Tennessee, visiting friends and family, when he suffered a horrible hunting accident. By medical reckoning, no one should have survived it. But the fact that he’s here telling us his story is, to him and many others, proof of the existence of miracles.

It was a darkening eve of rain turning to sleet—the perfect scenario for a late-fall bow hunt in Tennessee. Michael was on one of his annual pilgrimages, while his wife Sarah and their two young daughters held down the fort on Hilton Head. Michael was Sarah’s prom date in their little hometown of Paris, Tennessee, and he followed her to the Lowcountry when she came to SCAD 25 years ago. Despite never having fished saltwater before, this third-generation fishing guide was thrilled to make a life for himself here as a charter boat captain, while she got to be the artist and queen of the castle. But nobody could have foreseen the harrowing twist their lives would take as Michael hurried to reach his deer stand that night.

A Selfieship: Where Love Begins

Erin Cline

A Selfieship: Where Love Begins


One of the most important friendships you’ll ever have in this world
is with the person staring back at you every morning
from the bathroom mirror…

You.

And no, you’re not about to read an ode to selfishness, nor are you about to view an instruction manual for escaping life’s chaos by saying adieu to everyone and climbing every mountain until reaching an ideal destination for a happy, stress-free existence.

Instead, you’re receiving a Selfieship Guide for establishing or strengthening a relationship with yourself.

But before jumping into that, if you’re entertaining any negative thoughts or hesitations regarding valuing and nurturing this kind of relationship, quickly write them on toilet paper and flush them down your toilet of choice. (If you’ve never flushed negativity down a toilet, you’re really missing out on a great deal of fun.)

VOTE For Your Well-Being

Marilynn Preston

Elect to Be Happy, No Matter What. Here's How!

VOTE For Your Well-Being

In the run-up to the election—I’m writing this before the results are in—my yoga teacher had us doing a lot of grounding poses. And I mean a lot. No wonder my hamstrings were climbing the walls last night. (Thank God for CBD cream.)

First, Sienna asks us to stand and connect to our breath. Then we focus our mind’s eye on our legs: standing tall, rooting deep, energetically drawing strength from the earth beneath our feet, wiggling our toes, arching our soles and opening channels in our legs, our hips, our hearts and our minds to help us through whatever happens next.

Does the practice melt my anxiety? Promote equanimity? Encourage optimism? Of course it does, because feeling grounded and calm in trying times is one of the ways we nurture our well-being. It’s not a fix; it’s a strategy. What’s yours?

Make Everyday Thanksgiving

Mary Hunt

Everyday Cheapskate

Make Everyday Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving so much I would say it vies for first place in my favorite holiday lineup. I love and adore a classic turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I love the fall weather, which always accompanies the day. I love the fact that Thanksgiving ushers in the winter holidays, offering me a front-row seat on the very best time of the year.

I love all of those things. What I don't love is the idea that Thanksgiving is the only day of the year that we give thanks. Gratitude is too important in our lives to be considered briefly en masse on the fourth Thursday of November.

Pink Magazine 200 Issue Strong

It's All Pink

What Pink Means to Us

Pink Magazine 200 Issue Strong

“I look forward to each month’s issue because I need to be in-spired. I remember Pat Conroy’s way to learn about people would be to say “Tell Me a Story.”  Everyone has a story, and I love reading about women (and men!) in the area who have persevered, set goals, failed, lost and gained more than they ever dreamed. They make me think maybe I can, too.

I also love the graphics of the magazine.  From the interesting cover art work, to the quote of the month with a photograph, or illustration to enhance it, the magazine is so beautiful. I always tear out and tape up the quotes of the month.  

Mostly, I also enjoy the new friendships and older ones renewed that I make doing interviews for the magazine. People are incredibly kind to let me have an hour or longer to “pick their brain” and many times “bare their soul.”  It is such an honor and joy to write for Pink.”   – Mary Hope Roseneau, Writer

Be a Change-Maker:

Marilynn Preston

Elect YOURSELF to Be in Charge

Be a Change-Maker:

With the presidential election just a hop,
skip and several more aspirins away,

now’s a good time to talk about change. Not change for the country—
though that is surely coming, no matter who wins.
I mean personal change.

Healthy lifestyles don’t just happen, the way dust balls do. It’s up to you to carpe diem, to let go of old habits so you can dance with new ones—two steps forward, one step back—until the new ones become a juicy and joyful part of your life.

It all begins and ends with you, your readiness, your determination, your support system, your willingness to do something as silly sounding as keeping a journal.

Is the New Abbreviated Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Breast Cancer Screening Right for You?

Rochelle Ringer, MD

Is the New Abbreviated Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Breast Cancer Screening Right for You?

Do you have dense breast tissue? 
Do you have distant but not close family history of breast cancer?  New Abbreviated Breast MRI (AB-MR) may be for you.

What is Breast MRI? Breast MRI is a study done in addition to a mammogram to find breast cancer that a mammogram doesn’t show. We know that mammograms are good, but not perfect, and can miss up to 15 percent of breast cancers. A MRI can find the cancers that mammograms sometimes miss. Women receive IV dye and go in and out of the MRI machine.  The study takes about 45 minutes. Standard breast MRI has been around for many years, but has not been available to most women. Insurance typically only covers the cost of standard breast MRI for women who have breast cancer, or are at very high risk to develop breast cancer.  Without insurance coverage, the cost of a standard breast MRI is costly, and in most cases unaffordable, providing limited availability to most women. Breast MRI is done in addition to your annual mammogram.

Tame the Paper Monster

Mary Hunt

Simple Record-Keeping Tips

Tame the Paper Monster

If the paper monster has you buried under an avalanche of receipts, bank statements, ATM slips, investment records, paycheck stubs and bills, then read on. The good news is you can probably throw most of it away without worry. But before you fire up the shredder, you need to know what to toss and what to keep—and for how long.

STEP NO. 1: TOSS ALL YOU CAN
Monthly. Once you have recorded the amounts and reconciled your bank and credit card statements, you can shred ATM receipts, bank deposit slips, credit card receipts and sales receipts at the end of each month. Exception: Keep receipts for purchases that may be tax deductible, those that involve a warranty and any item whose replacement cost exceeds the deductible on your homeowners or renters insurance.

Masking Expressions–

Amanda Kicklighter & Iris Hopgood

The Eyes Have It

 Masking Expressions–

You’re excited to see an old friend in the grocery store, but how do you show it when your big, beautiful smile is covered and hugs are a no-no? The face is the window to our expressions, and mouths can have dialogue without any words. A frown, a smirk, a smile, pursed lips all tell a powerful story before any words are spoken. However, our faces have another center for expression—the eyes. So, while we are all masked up, we might as well lean on our eyes and allow them to speak up and speak out.

For tips on talking with your eyes, we turned to experts in beauty, Iris Hopgood and Amanda Kicklighter. Read on to learn how to select the right mask, escape the blank stare and implement “the smeyes”—(smiling with your eyes)…or if need be, a good eye roll:

My Creative Secrets

Sharon Baker

Every creative female has her secrets. Don’t you?

My Creative Secrets

Some of mine are darker and scarier than you’d ever guess.

But achieving the still juicy tomato age of 67 this September made me realize: Why keep all my creative secrets locked inside my Pandora’s Box? So ladies. Open your favorite box of chocolates and read on.

THE CREATIVE TEEN
“Sharon is exceptionally creative,” my high school guidance counselor ethused. “Aren’t you so proud of her many accomplishments?”

“She’s lead Soprano in choir,” my mother beamed. “And VP of Yearbook Staff and Photo Club. You have mostly straight A’s, don’t yah hon?”

The Art of Making Change

Marilynn Preston

Resetting Your Wellness Lifestyle

The Art of Making Change

"You're too young to be this out of shape," my friend Diana’s doctor told her.
Diana had a gym in her building, and a husband who would cover
for the kids, and she certainly had the clothes.

Diana set her alarm for 6 a.m. every morning for the first week. She crept out of bed and was on the treadmill by 6:10. Thirty minutes of walking (and checking her mail), followed by a few stretches and some weights, and by 7 a.m., she was back in her apartment, showering for work, fighting off the urge to drink a Diet Pepsi for breakfast.

By the middle of Week Two, Diana was shutting off the alarm and snuggling up with the children's father. No more early morning workouts, and her promises to hit the gym after work withered and died as well. Yesterday, she told me she's given up and feels like a failure.

Lowcountry Originals

It's All Pink

Cool art vibes saturate the air in every form and medium in the Lowcountry, one of the most beautiful natural canvases on earth. With all the surrounding beauty, it’s no wonder the Lowcountry is teeming with creative, talented artists. Some do it for fun. Some do it for a living. All do it to nourish their organic need to create.

Welcome to our first edition of Lowcountry Originals, where you will meet eight dynamic artisans, all filled will creative energy and verve for their work. They have allowed us a peek into their creative worlds, revealed their fears and doubts, told us what inspires them and given us insight into their processes.

The Emotional Benefits of Strong Money Management

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

Strategies to Help You Cope and Stay Calm

The Emotional Benefits of Strong Money Management

Dear Readers: Even in the best of times, money concerns can cause a lot of stress.
But according to a recent survey by the National Foundation for Financial Education, nearly 9 in 10 Americans say that COVID-19 is making money a primary cause of anxiety. Add to that the need to juggle working from home, child care, home schooling and health concerns and people are being stretched to the limit.

Understandably, people are worried about their financial future. Equally understandably, they often don’t feel like they have the energy to deal with it. But as overwhelming as it can seem, there are strategies to help you cope and stay calm. As I wrote recently, you may have to think differently to get through these times, but there are ways to do it. And it starts with awareness.