Hummus Chick

December is upon us and the end of the year is near. If the ancient Mayans are wrong and the world does not end on December 21, 2012 A.D., then you should expect to celebrate a new year. When listing your Top New Year’s Resolutions, we encourage you to formulate a plan to make the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows. If your New Year’s resolution is to eat healthier, you’re in luck. We know a friend that produces a healthy snack that is high in fiber, high in protein, and low in cholesterol. In the heart of Nashville, Hummus Chick blends hummus with love.

“Living is the art of loving.

Loving is the art of caring

Caring is the art of sharing

Sharing is the art of living.

If you want to lift yourself up,

lift up someone else.”

-Booker T. Washington

Hummus Chick is the creative venture founded by Javaneh Hemmat. Java is a true believer that food made with love tastes better when it’s shared with others. Java has found that her passion is truly in cooking for her friends and exploring how beautifully spices can compliment one another. The inspiration for these unique flavors began in her childhood. Born to Persian parents in the oasis of United Arbab Emirates, she had the opportunity to interact with cultures outside of her own community by taking trips to exciting locations, making new friends from other countries, and creating family meals using colorful spices from the cultures she encountered. All the while, she never realized just how deeply this exposure to different culinary traditions would impact her life.

It was during her surfing trip to California that she experienced one of those life-changing moments that you often hear about but never expect to happen. While sitting on her surf board in the Pacific Ocean waiting for a wave, she was struck with a sudden realization: if cooking for her friends was her passion, then she should start a company that allows her to share her love of food and flavors with others. And so, Hummus Chick was created. And for that, we salute you!

"Be Kind to your body, eat hummus."

The Neighborhood

Before we know it, the fall and winter season will be behind us and the festival season will be upon us. We are all eager to discover the featured-filled line-ups, and we’re certain that you all have began planning your travel and buying your early-bird tickets. If you haven’t done so, we suggest you get a head start on everyone else to avoid running into any additional cost.

As we progress our efforts to bring you the latest in music, art, fashion, and action, we find it necessary and extremely beneficial to make an appearance in Austin, TX at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals, March 8-17, 2013. This unique festival is a melting pot for musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, distributors, and designers. We all have a favorite music festival, but nothing is as sweet as the entertainment industry’s version of spring break.

South by Southwest dates back to 1987 when it was started as just a music festival, and since, it has grown to include film, technology, and interactive categories. As the interactive categories of the festival began to form, it was largely made up of technology start-ups, investment firms and agencies. Last year (SXSW 2011) sparked the first installment of Style X (pronounced “style by”), the first fashion element added to the festival. This year at SXSW 2012, Style X was held at the Austin Convention Center as an SXSW-official event that was free and open to the public.

Unfortunately, Style X has decided to go its separate ways and will not be included in the fashion segment of SXSW 2013. Fortunately, Style X has ventured out to form an independent, unofficial event during the SXSW festival. The founders of Style X, Joah Spearman and Jon Patillo, decided to take the concept for a style program into their own hands and formed The Neighborhood. At the moment, we don’t have many details to share on The Neighborhood; however, as March 2013 approaches, we’ll have more information to share.

We feel that is our opportunity to showcase our talents, gain inspiration, and progress towards setting the standards for our generation and industry. We couldn’t thank the founders of Style X and The Neighborhood enough for having the courage to leave their shores to discover new land (not literally, but metaphorically). And for that, we salute you!

“Opportunities of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”

How To Live Before You Die

Some of us fear it and some of us face it; either way, death is the only destination that we all share in common. Not every one embraces the thought of death, but it’s something that we can’t avoid. Since we can’t avoid it, we might as well embrace death as one of the greatest inventions known to man. As members of The Yacht Club, we encourage you to live your dreams and treat everyday as if it were your last because there’s a possibility it just might be. We recently watched Stanford University’s commencement ceremony where Steve Jobs, former CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, gave a powerful speech titled, “How to live before you die.”

During this speech, Jobs urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks, including death itself. He shared inspirational stories of dropping out of college, getting fired from Apple, and surviving cancer. He gave a narrative of how he turned his failures into success by constantly following his dreams. He teaches us how to strategically “connect the dots” and make the best of any and all situations. He encourages us to find what we love and do what we love, and by doing so, you’ll have all the motivation you need to succeed. Jobs notes that the key to satisfaction is never settling.

Jobs asked himself every morning, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” If your answer is ‘No’, it’s time for a change. Not only is our time on Earth limited, but we only get one chance at living. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. Jobs taught us that if we don’t have the courage to leave our shores, we’ll never have the opportunity to discover new land. And for that, we salute you!

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish"

HeatSpine

    Heatspine may not cure your grandparent’s aching back, but it’s sure to send chills down your spine. Although there are many ways to describe Heatspine, we, The Yacht Club, understand Heatspine to be the photographic crumb trail from the life of Stephanie Thomas. Based out of Nashville, TN, Stephanie has truly found her passion to be in fine art, event, and portrait photography.

    Upon purchasing her first camera, at the age of 15 for an art class, she had never even considered any significant thought about photography in her entire life up until that point. Yet, since that moment and up until now, you can see her carrying a camera on her at all times. Unfailingly cemented to her side for 7 years, her camera has truly become a fixture of her person that one day showed up, and never left. 

    Stephanie’s transformation into a photographer has been an unceasing journey of learning and creating her own personal language. However, there are no words involved, only light. Stephanie spends her days in constant observance of what she sees, waiting for that fleeting moment of raw, unrefined beauty that shows itself to her. When she sees it, she captures those moments through her camera lens. With the press of a button, she immortalizes tiny moments of time that would otherwise be gone and forgotten. 

    Her romantic view of photography makes her relationship to her passion one of ambivalence. Her personal desire to express what she sees doesn't leave much room for conventionalism. She has no time for rules and regulations that most consider concrete truth. To Stephanie, the art of photography is strictly about setting forth her very own testimony of beauty with a single image, with one goal in mind… the possibility of inspiration. And for that, we salute you!

XCocaineXJaneX

Back in August, we had the insane opportunity to see New Orleans’ Big Freedia, The Queen Diva of Bounce, in Nashville at Exit/In. If you haven’t had the chance to see her/him live, you’re missing out on a carnival style show of ass, ass, and more ass. We’re not sure what kept us there and weirdly entertained; it was either the catchy party tunes or the insane spectacle of booty-poppin’. In the midst of the sea of sweaty, jiggling ass, we had the pleasure of meeting Cocaine Jane.

Cocaine Jane is also known as Kayla Bishop from Birmingham, AL. Kayla is not only an admirer of The Yacht Club Company, but also a phenomenal artist, model, stylist, and entrepreneur. Basically, Kayla is an extraordinary individual that pisses excellence and reeks of ambition. During our luncheon, we learned that she was launching her own clothing brand, appropriately called Cocaine Jane.

Kayla plans to release her clothing brand by November 2012. She has been showing off previews of her merchandise on her Instagram(Sneek-a-Peek @XCocaineJane). The Cocaine Jane collection will include everything from t-shirts and stickers to 40 oz. koozies and coffee mugs. She told us that she had been experimenting with gold spikes and embroidery, so you can only imagine what’s next.We had the privilege of viewing the exclusive Cocaine Jane t-shirt collection. We even got a few “limited edition” t-shirts of our own. Afterwards, she hopped on a plane to New York City for a photo shoot for Mishka Clothing.

During her stay in New York, Kayla met up with the incomparable Danny Brown while on the LongLiveA$AP Tour. Not only did she get a photo of Danny Brown in a Yacht Club Original, but also, in a recent interview by Complex Magazine, A$AP Rocky claimed she was “the highlight of the tour so far.” And for that, we salute you.