elizabethramos.com

“Sometimes you have to keep ideas for decades before they have any use.”

— Marc English, via Quotes on Design

life in greenville.

I spent part of my Saturday working on the Life In Greenville project, an idea that was first introduced to me over 2 years ago. I remember this because 1) it was also the day I met most of the (now) CoWork crew, and 2) at the time, I was the only person in the room without a Twitter account (which was remedied shortly thereafter).

I’m very excited about this project, partially because of the way it’s taken place. The idea itself: Use our talents to create a good looking website for Greenville. One whose design more accurately represents the city we live in than the existing ‘official’ Greenville sites. In short, help outsiders realize how great Greenville is.

Fantastic site design by Jeremy of Headlamp Creative in progress

Because everyone stays busy with their own projects and jobs, nothing usually comes of ideas like this — no matter how great they are. But CoWork planned a hack-a-thon/design-a-thon for this weekend to make sure the idea didn’t get neglected. Organizational meetings, content writing, design, illustration, development, and everything else it takes to build a website was done by a team of about 2 dozen people working off and on over a few days. The entire project was built by people who love Greenville.

CoWork Greenville headquarters

There will, of course, be bugs and improvements to be made after the fact, but if you know anything about website building, you know how amazing it is to create a full site from scratch in such a short amount of time — not to mention a responsive site that looks amazing on any device. It shows what amazing talent exists in the Greenville web community.

The developers writing their various languages and doing what they do.

I did a tiny bit of content writing and a some design support — helping select and resize images to fit the amazing site design. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I feel privileged to be part of this project even in a small way.

The site launches later today, so check out LifeinGreenville.com to see the final product!

All photos courtesy of Life in Greenville.

the story of our city.

One of my favorite things about Greenville is that we have people who know how to make things happen. Whether it’s Greenville Forward and their community-sourced idea generator What If Greenville, the folks at CoWork (more on them later), or one of the many small businesses and restaurants, Greenvillians are definitely not sitting still.

CityStory is one of the latest and greatest things happening in our town. Instead of talking about the fact that Greenville should have a coffee table book that shows off our city — these folks went out and made it. Not only that, it looks like they’ve done it well — a crucial factor in the success of any venture.

This team of writers, artists, and photographers set out to share the story of Greenville, South Carolina through words and photography. The final product is a beautiful monochromatic hard-bound book. You can see a sneak peek on their site, or check out a few of the spreads below.

Preview spreads from the book, Greenville — Imprints of a City

This project not only capitalizes on our city pride, it tells the story behind the buildings we see every day. CityStory has also produced some really beautiful videos using imagery from the book and interviews from locals. Even though I’ve spent hours digging through old pictures of Greenville online and reading about its past, I can’t wait to pick up this book and learn more about the city I already love.

If you want to check it out in person, the official book launch party is this Friday at art & light. Details are below!

CityStory Greenville Launch Party
Friday, December 2, 2012
art & light gallery, from 6-9pm
Pendleton St. in West Greenville

keep it local.

A few weeks ago some friends and I headed up the road to Asheville, NC. The main reason for our trip was to meet Grace of D*S at her book signing there. We had so much fun exploring the city and checking out the shops, galleries and restaurants before we headed over to the bookstore. (If you want to see where all we went, look for more photos at Erin’s blog.)

Asheville has always had a strong ‘buy local’ movement (see examples of their campaigns below), but I was excited to see a new ‘Local is the new Black’ promotion around town. Beautiful silver screenprinted posters stand out against shop windows all over town.

Various Asheville Grown Business Alliance (AGBA) Campaigns as seen around town. Photo credits clockwise from top right: alicia.pimental / briface / ello lovey / Ron Gunzburger

It’s a great reminder as we head into the holidays. Every city has independent retailers struggling to make ends meet, and we can choose to support them and our local economy with our purchases.

If you’re not sure where to start, there’s a growing movement that can help. The 3/50 Project has been very instrumental for me in demonstrating exactly what kind of impact buying local can have. From their website:

“For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that money in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.”

The basic idea behind their project is to encourage consumers to pick 3 local businesses whose doors they would be sad to see close, and commit to spend $50 (total) each month at these stores. This is a great campaign with a very worthy mission.

I’ve seen a sign online that says “If you really want to occupy Wall Street, do your holiday shopping at a small independent merchant.” While I don’t know if that’s the entire answer, it’s definitely a good start! Support your local businesses this holiday season — whether that’s an artist or a restaurant or shop owner in your city. Think of creative ways to give gifts that support others in your community.

good things for pup.

Just a few of the great finds we’ve made now that we’re dog owners. I’d highly recommend each one.

Clockwise from top left: custom tags / homemade treats / pretty, but not-too-girly collar / food bin

the front door.

I’ve been looking at wreath options for our front door. I love all these different ideas!

Clockwise from top left: bay leaf wreath — which I assume smells lovely / colorful felt ball wreath / fabulous succulent wreath (& then I could plant it!) / sweetgum wreath / white felt ruffle wreath

holiday kickoff.

Thanksgiving is quickly becoming my favorite holiday. Heading to the mountains the last few years with (the local part of) my family instead of staying in Greenville has given the entire holiday new life.

This years Thanksgiving was:
pie made from pumpkins
a heritage turkey (brined!)
games on the iPad
an amazing view
never needing to know the time
a steady supply of food
magazines and books
Rook
Dutch Blitz
a giant puzzle
hiking to see a waterfall
naps and general laziness
taking photos
quality conversation

It was not:
football
a fireplace
Black Friday shopping
cell phone service
internet
emails
Riley

I’m so grateful for a relaxing start to the holidays this year. The next few weeks will fly by I’m sure, but it was wonderful to have a couple days to relax and take a deep breath.

editing.

I discovered the mo+mo living site last week. The philosophy of “paring to what is essential + valued + beautiful” resonates with me so much! I feel like I’ve been on a quest for the last year to simplify and purge my life of ‘stuff’. It’s way too easy for things (that are supposed to make life better) to take over. And it also seems difficult to reclaim simplicity, whether in the realm of food, work or simply living.

image from mo+mo living.

This idea of editing and getting back to the basics is extremely appealing, especially when it’s broken down into bite-sized tips for actually making it happen.

A few super-inspiring (and relevant to me) pointers from the blog:

· focus on investing in well-made goods and on having fewer things

· avoid rushing into purchases and instead carefully curate over time

· clutter can come in the form of unfinished tasks

    · make a list of unfinished tasks

    · each day schedule time to do one thing on your list

    · complete unfinished projects

    · let go of projects that no longer interest you