A charming Bavarian town in North Georgia lights up for the holidays If a trip to Germany isn’t possible this season, head to Helen, a tiny town in northwest Georgia that goes big for the holidays. It’s a 3.5-hour drive from Charlotte and attracts millions […]
A first look at uptown’s new French-inspired restaurant. by Krisha Chachra | photographs by Justin Driscoll True to its name, Charlotte’s new uptown restaurant Coquette — which in French means playful, coy woman — flirts with combining modern French cuisine, exotic spices and southern flavors. Mornings at Coquette begin with […]
South Charlotte resident Joy Callaway always knew she wanted to write when she grew up, but she never imagined being a full-time novelist.
“My brother and I weren’t really allowed to watch TV as kids,” says Callaway. “I filled my free time with writing plays, stories and magazines.”
The imagination that inspired the South Mecklenburg High School grad to create magazines led her to a career of writing six novels in seven years. Callaway’s fourth book, “All the Pretty Places,” hit bookstores last spring.
Callaway graduated from Marshall University and then pursued a graduate degree in mass communications at the University of South Carolina. A self-proclaimed “nerd and lover of history,” she often dug into newspaper archives, old letters, photos and ancestry records just for fun. When she tried writing a book, she received two rejections. But three years later, she signed a literary agent and got a book deal.
Jamaican American Cultural Association approaches 25 years of granting scholarships South Charlotte resident Gaynor Russell moved from New York City to the Queen City over 35 years ago with her husband and infant daughter. When she did, Russell, originally from Jamaica, craved the culture and […]
Hers is a story of continuous transformation: the only true way to survive. After more than 200 years of change, The Greenbrier Resort and Spa continues welcoming guests drawn by the luxury, relaxation, charm and beauty that defines her — while absorbing a rich history that made […]
After a successful career in fashion, Charlotte native Hadley Quisenberry left New York City in 2012 and returned home to raise a family and work alongside her mother, Lisa Britt, a longtime interior designer. Lisa Britt Designs rebranded to become West Trade Interiors, and by 2018, Britt retired and gave the reins to her daughter. The West Trade team continues to handle a range of design-build projects across the city, including a recent multi-room refresh in Myers Park. The client hired Quisenberry, whom she knew from their years at Myers Park High School, to update the living room, two bedrooms, and the dining room in her two-story, 3,500-square-foot brick home. As parents of two preschool-aged children, the homeowners wanted a grown-up space to host dinner parties and family gatherings. Quisenberry designed the room around the Schumacher wallpaper panels her client selected and incorporated some transitional pieces to give the space a contemporary twist.
COLOR YOUR VIEW
Quisenberry says her goal was to “find the balance between a space that can be restful but is also vibrant and inviting.” She installed custom white linen drapes and added a blue leaf trim from Schumacher to pull in some color from the wallpaper panels. The pale blue tones in the Oushak rug add another subtle pop of blue, and the coral in the chair’s upholstery repeats in the printed lampshade—a find from local vendor International Shades—on the sideboard. The flowers and soft tones in the wallpaper lean more toward spring and summer, but Quisenberry says they “present a mood rather than a season.” The homeowner also rotates the tablescape with seasonal botanicals and foliage throughout the year.
After a decade working in information technology, Prajwal “Praj” Hagargi felt the call to step outside her comfort zone. Decorating and styling rooms has always been a passion of hers, so in 2016 she decided to pursue an online degree at San Francisco-based The Interior […]
It is cool to travel again — and even more cool to do it alone. Data from booking.com shows that prepandemic, only 17% of travelers were going solo. By mid-2021, that number jumped to 30%. Last year, searches for single-person flights in 2023 were up 36% over […]
By Krisha Chachra
When Cissy Carroll received the news in October 2015 that she had Stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain, her doctors told her there was less than a 1% chance she’d live past five years. She had given birth to her son only four months earlier, and suddenly the determination to survive eclipsed the joy of being a new mom.
“When you learn you have limited time on Earth, you go through a lot of overwhelming feelings,” says Jason Carroll, Cissy’s husband. Cissy began treatment, starting with amino therapy and then chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the tumors continued growing.
“[Cissy] had over 50 tumors in her brain,” Jason says. “We share a strong faith, and we decided to live life to the fullest and travel.” Nearly eight years after her original diagnosis, Cissy has defied long odds, but her doctors noticed the main tumor in her brain has grown.
She and her family have started the Take The Trip Foundation, an organization that aims to send young families impacted by terminal illnesses on one special adventure together, all expenses paid. “That means we eventually want to offer qualified families — as many as 50 a year — not only the transportation and the accommodations on a trip but also help them plan and pack if needed,” Jason says.
The name “Take The Trip” comes from a motto Cissy lives by: “Take the trip, buy the shoes, eat the cake.” Cissy believes people shouldn’t wait until they are given an expiration date to really start living.
“Travel has been the best medicine for me. It gave me something to look forward to and recharged me for the energy needed to face the next round of testing,” Cissy says. “Travel has been important to my family, and I wanted to give that experience to others.”
Common Bonds and Gaining Peace
Maggie Fogel, a South Charlotte resident diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 before it metastasized to her lungs in 2021, believes traveling has made her feel better than she ordinarily would have after all her treatments.
“I’ve been to more places in one year than I have in the last five since I was diagnosed,” Fogel says. “And I’ve discovered my limits were not what I thought they were. My treatments cause my body to hurt, and I’m so tired, but I traveled to Costa Rica and hiked up a waterfall. I never thought I could do that.”
Before her diagnosis, Fogel didn’t make traveling a priority. She and her husband visited Thailand on their honeymoon and said they would continue exploring the world, but life and kids got in the way. When she received the unexpected news that her cancer had spread to her lungs, she tabled her career and focused on giving herself the best chance.
“I researched and found groups to build a community with. Then I found MBC Travelers, started by Jennifer Pace in Florida. [Jennifer] wanted to travel with other women who were going through metastatic breast cancer,” Fogel says. “I leaned in and signed up for a trip to Key West in July 2022.”
Keeping an organization alive for three-quarters of a century is no easy feat. Shefalee Patel, president of the Guild of Charlotte Artists, credits the group’s longevity to its ability to adapt. “We’ve managed to stay relevant by changing the face of the Guild to include […]
Krisha Chachra served eight years on the Blacksburg Town Council was elected Vice Mayor of Blacksburg. She is a community advocate & connector and runs an event production organization that hosts the largest ongoing young and creative professionals mixer in Southwest Virginia called “Up on the Roof”. Krisha has worked with NRV Magazine (nrvmagazine.com) for a decade as the travel columnist and human-interest writer. She has visited over 45 countries in 6 continents and focuses her writing on people, culture and beautiful places. Krisha has reported and hosted shows for public radio and television and has freelanced for USA Weekend Magazine, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Roanoke Times among others. Her book about returning to Blacksburg, Homecoming Journals, may be found online or in local bookstores. Email her at kchachra@aol.com
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