Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for behind-the-scenes videos on a lot of this content, and up to the moment coverage on festivals happening all month.
Editor’s Note: When 205 Is a Lot
I dedicate this, our 206th issue, to Bonnie Lowrey – thanks for believing a bunch of kids could do it!
Editor’s Note: “Everything Always Works Out”
After almost 20 years putting this magazine out every month, I know what the secret to success is: hard work, day after day.
Editor’s Note: I Love Summer, Part 2
“…we thought we’d feature local shops that were born in the Lowcountry – and highlight the people that started them.”
Editor’s Note: June 2024
Send me your list of things you love about summer in the Lowcountry and we’ll print them in the July issue.
Editor’s Note: May 2024
Have a wonderful May. Call your mom.
Editor’s Note: March 2024
If you read one thing in this magazine, it should be the calendar because, boy, is there a lot to do on this island in March! From WingFest to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and WineFest to Easter services, you can easily plan your month with the info on page 130.
Editor’s Note: No Shortcuts to Success
Savvy business owners know there are no shortcuts to success. Just hard work, day after day after day. Or, as the most published and widely read book in the world says, you reap what you sow.
Editor’s Note: December 2023
Linda (Hopkins) made sure our t’s were crossed and our i’s were dotted and all the terribly written submissions for our This & That page were cleaned up properly. She is one of my favorite writers; every time she contributed a piece to this magazine, it was heartfelt, deeply researched and insightful.
Editor’s Note: Big Beautiful Homes + Holiday Stuff
We kick off the issue with info on some of the most popular Lowcountry happenings this month like the Island Rec Center’s Oyster Festival and what’s quickly becoming my favorite island event—the Lantern Parade.
Editor’s Note: the Arts & Music Issue
As a creative person, this is one of my favorite issues to put out every year. I love highlighting local talent, and we are beyond blessed in this area.
Editor’s Note: September 2023
We hope you enjoy all things culinary this month.
Editor’s Note: August 2023
According to the latest statistics I could find on the interwebs, 42 percent of all businesses in the U.S. are owned by women.
Editor’s Note: Go Have Some Fun!
I’m listening to a new podcast called Hilton Head is Still Fun. Heather Rath and Caitlin Lee, two longtime locals in the marketing biz, have taken to the mic and are reminding residents how...
Editor’s Note: Go Have Some Fun
As July is our biggest month for tourism, we tailored this issue around interesting things for our visitors to do.
Editor’s Note June 2023
10 YEARS A decade is a long time. If you’re lucky and have longevity in your genes, 10 years is 10 percent of your life. Think about when you took your baby home from the hospital and then suddenly...
Editor’s Note: May 2023
The CH2 crew spent a few days in late March producing a music video about inclusion with some of the students in the Jasper County School District. Read all about it on page 50 in Becca Edwards’...
Editor’s Note: April 2023
50 Years Two businesses featured in this issue are celebrating 50 years: The Greenery and CQ’s Restaurant in Harbour Town. Do you know what it takes to have a successful business for 50 years? I...
Editor’s Note: March 2023
It’s never been an easy thing for me to ask for help As the hard-charging oldest of five children, I was raised to have everything under control from the time my second sibling arrived on the scene...
Editor’s Note: February 2023
How to Not Die Alone … but also DOGS! Ever since I made the conscious decision to choose knowledge (reading books) over murder (podcasts like Dateline), I’ve been cruising through a plethora of...
Editor’s Note: January 2023
A Little Spark Last New Year’s Eve, I headed down to Palm Harbor to spend the holiday with my friend Lindsey and her family. She has three kiddos under age seven, Henley, Presley, and Gigi. Her...
Editor’s Note: December 2022
The Women As I look at this photo and reflect upon the end of another year at CH2, I am so humbled by the women I’ve managed to attract into my life—and the blessings they’ve brought into it. The...
Editor’s Note: November 2022
Thankful for the Experiences This magazine has always been a gateway to new experiences for me. Every month as we embark on filling 132 blank pages, I learn things about what is happening in our...
Editor’s Note: October 2022
Are You a White Rabbit? There is an ongoing conversation in this office about tardiness. Are there certain people in your life who are always keeping you waiting? Or are you the person who is...
Editor’s Note: September 2022
Dive Bars + Shrimp I am not a dive bar kind of gal. After over 40 years on this planet, this is one thing I know about myself. If I’m going to go out for a drink, I want to look at a gorgeous view...
Editor’s Note: August 2022
The Outward Mindset: an Alternative to Murder Every morning after I’ve gotten my run in and taken care of whatever four-legged friends I’m nannying that week, I go about the process of getting ready...
Editor’s Note: July 2022
The Grass is Green Where You Water It I found myself in a lot of gardens this past month. Everything is so lush and beautiful in June as flowers bloom and vegetables come into season. My friend...
Editor’s Note: June 2022
A Very Barry Issue Last month, I received a letter (it was an email, but I’m old-fashioned so I’m going to call it a letter) from a fan in Bluffton. She’s a fan of CH2/CB2 magazine and more...
Editor’s Note: April 2022
You’re never too old to stop learning… It has been a real treat to visit some of our local schools for this, our first Education Issue. We interviewed several local educators to get their thoughts...
Editor’s Note: March 2022
Let’s Talk About Snakes Once the weather consistently hits about 60 degrees, I am on the lookout for snakes. Perhaps it is because I live in a neighborhood surrounded by pine trees and ponds where I...
Editor’s Note: February 2022
No Phone Zone I was chatting with a client last weekend about productivity, and he said, “If I owned a company, my employees would not be allowed to be on their phones while at work. Do you know how...
Editor’s Note: January 2022
I was walking a few of my clients around Harbour Town earlier this week and had a random thought that spiraled. Just to clarify, my clients in this case were two adorable pooches. One of them is...
Editor’s Note: December 2021
Heather Rath recently commented to me that life goes by faster for people who work on monthly publications. I would say that is probably accurate. In preparation for this issue, our team has seen...
Editor’s Note: November 2021
Do you have a heart for serving others? After spending a few weeks photographing and talking to some local volunteers for this issue, I can say that, by and large, our community does. Please read...
Editor’s Note: October 2021
Arts + Music Last October, we put out our first Arts + Music issue, and it was such a big hit that we decided to keep it running—perhaps in perpetuity, like the Pet issue every February. Since last...
Editor’s Note: September 2021
My first occupation was at a restaurant called the Hook, Line & Sinker in Utica, N.Y. I was 15 years old, and my job included keeping the salad bar items stocked and preparing desserts. The...
Editor’s Note: August 2021
I Have a Question I have a question. Where did all the people who want to work go? We have a real estate shortage in the Lowcountry because humans are moving here in droves after rethinking their...
Editor’s Note: July 2021
Hunter and I ran into Lori Smith, a former CH2 Bachelorette nominee, at Target last week. After some quick chit-chat, our conversation turned to how liberated we all felt walking into Target without masks. I commented that perhaps tough things needed to happen every now and again to make everyone appreciate how fortunate we really are.
Editor’s Note: June 2021
My dad called me last week to remind me that when I was little, I had a pet rock. His name was Carlos, and I adopted him on one of the many camping trips my family would take with an abundance of...
Editor’s Note: May 2021
Last month, as the C2 crew was leaving Salon Karma to embark on a fun-filled day of shooting fashion for local boutiques, we paused to have someone take our group photo. At that moment, a pretty...
Editor’s Note: April 2021
It’s all about the PEOPLE. As I flipped through this issue, remembering all of the places we traveled in the last three weeks to put this issue together, I was struck by the number of faces in this...
Editor’s Note: March 2021
In our bi-yearly Home + Garden issues, we get to take a peek inside some of the most beautiful homes in the Lowcountry. To kick things off, we profile the consultants right at the start of the...
Editor’s Note: February 2021
I present to you an issue featuring all of the things I don’t currently have. A pet, romantic love and … well, never mind. I still have my teeth.
Editor’s Note: January 2021
Well folks, we’ve made it to 2021. Let’s not screw it up.
We’re kicking this issue off with the gym—which is exactly where you should be on January 2. (I’ll give you January 1 to just sit at home hungover eating black-eyed peas.)
Editor’s Note: November 2020
Why are YOU here? This is a question I ask myself a lot about people in my life. I think the universe/God/the spaghetti monster (shout-out Kelly Stroud)/whomever or whatever you believe in, puts...
Editor’s Note: October 2020
I remember listening to my Grandpa Ross sing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” at the Ross Madison House (a restaurant he owned with my grandma) in upstate New York when I was just a child. It’s strange that this particular memory is burned into my brain.
Editor’s Note: You’re Missing All the Good Stuff
If a picture is worth 1000 words, how many words is a video worth? And how much does that cost? These are the things that swirl through my mind when I’m wide awake at 4 a.m., contemplating how media has changed so drastically in the last 14 years
Editor’s Note: May 2020
I saw fireflies blinking for the first time from my back deck a few days ago. It made me wonder if they had always been there. Was I too busy to notice? Or was the lack of cars on the road at night contributing to less light pollution? This is noteworthy to me because that’s one thing I have really missed seeing since we moved to South Carolina 30 years ago. I used to see them all the time in Upstate New York.
Editor’s Note: April 2020
Fragile, Yet Resilient The first time I realized everything in my world could change in an instant, I was 17 years old. My parents told me we were moving from New York to Hilton Head Island. I had...
Editor’s Note: March 2020
In late September of last year, local stylist Danielle Galella sent me a text message asking if Lucy could be a dog model for HGTV. We were headed out of town for a fashion shoot in Greenville on the date they were shooting, so unfortunately, I had to tell them she couldn’t swing it. Danielle got back to me again and said they would adjust their schedule; they really wanted a Bernese Mountain Dog for the shoot. At this point, I knew no details, and I guess I just assumed it was some sort of real estate-based show, since I knew local realtor Brad Wilson had been involved in a few of such episodes for “Island Life.”