Happy 614 Day Columbus!

View from the Rich Street bridge.

Happy 614 Day Columbus!

Move over flag day, Columbusites are always looking for a reason to celebrate the area code we call home. So when the calendar turns to June 14 you can bet this city will have some sort of celebration that suits your fancy. Here are just some of the reasons I love living in the 6-1-4.

Food & Drink Fabulousness

You can’t have a celebration without a libation, right? Luckily enough, Columbus is home to some great ones. They say we eat with our hearts, and the food and drink in this town are pretty fab. Some of my favourite local gems include Watershed Kitchen & Bar, Third & Hollywood, and Wolfs Ridge Brewing, beers at breweries Land Grant, Seventh Son or Rockmill, and of course you can’t mention Columbus without mentioning Jeni’s Ice Cream. BRB, I’m off to find a scoop of salty caramel…

Columbus = Charity

You can’t talk about Columbus without talking about its heart. And at the center of its heart is its charitable spirit. As a relatively young city, the core of philanthropy in Columbus is its community, and it’s that collective spirit that gives the city it’s heart. From Pelotonia to the Arts, Pride to the Foodbank, the support for the institutions and people that educate, advocate and provide a helping hand is second to none.

The Sports Scene

Even though all of my major league loyalties remain up North, the sports scene here is incredible. The fans are full of passion, and the in-game experiences are second to none. This summer I’m looking forward to some brews and baseball at Huntington Park, checking out the brand-new downtown Crew Stadium (home of the MLS Champs!), and later on this fall, making it back to Nationwide Arena for what I hope is the start of an almost-normal NHL season. And of course, I can’t forget my beloved Buckeyes, there’s nothing like the roar of the Shoe on a football Saturday.

Midwestern Nature

Even though we’re currently under a supersonic cicada invasion (Brood X in the house!), I couldn’t complete a love letter to the 614 without mentioning the Metro Parks. What Columbus lacks in beaches or mountains, it more than makes up for in forests. No matter where you are in the city, there’s a park within 20 minutes to escape to. And what an escape they are. One step onto the paths and a tree canopy is awaiting to envelop you, to wipe all the stresses of the day away.

My Alma Mater

A mention of Columbus by me wouldn’t be complete without a mention of my alma mater, The Ohio State University. The experience and community I created at Ohio State is a big reason why I still remain here, the university gave me my education, but it also helped give me my sense of self. I entered my freshman year at OSU a meek and introverted seedling, and through my classes and extracurriculars, bloomed into a part of the person I’ve since become today.

Summer's heat or winter's cold

The seasons pass the years will roll

Time and change will surely show

How firm thy friendship ... OHIO!

Need another reason to love this place? It’s in proximity to all of my favourite locations. We’re an hour-and-a-half flight (or less) to Toronto, Chicago, New York, Nashville, and DC, and since we’re about the farthest west place of the Eastern Time Zone, an early flight out of CMH can put you on the ground by noon when trekking out west. Wherever you’re going, you’re never far from getting home.

Happy 614 Day, Columbus!

Local Love: Miller Park Library

Nerd Alert: I am ridiculously in love with Columbus’ library system.

From floating down the cookbook aisle dreaming of my next culinary masterpiece (ha!) to reserving the latest fiction online or by ebook, the library has been one of my regular haunts for as long as I’ve lived in Columbus.

Which is why I’m seriously bummed that our Main Library has been closed for so long. As a resident in the Grandview area, the main library was actually my closest branch to home and I became rather spoiled with the browsing selections while picking up my reserves.

I can’t wait for it’s re-opening later in June - not only is it the closest branch to both my home and my new office, but from all of the previews I’ve read (check out Columbus Monthly’s for the most recent) the renovation sounds absolutely incredible.

But, alas, without the main library’s closing, I wouldn’t have been able to find my latest local love, the Miller Park branch of the Upper Arlington library.

When the Columbus Metropolitan Library closed both the Main Library and the Northside Library (double ouch!) earlier this year, they realized they were under-serving a good portion of Columbus’ urban areas (Grandview, Short North, etc). Already having a standing partnership with the UA, Grandview and 11 other library systems, the partnership now became completely reciprocal, allowing CML users (like me!) to reserve, return and check-out books from their number-1-ranked system.

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A short walk from our home, the Miller Park branch is quaint, charming and feels like you’ve walked into your neighbor’s well-read living room. They do actually have a fireplace with couches and chairs along with shelves filled with DVD’s to browse for a weekend flick, cookbooks to dream up your next recipe, and the friendliest staff to help you check out your books. It’s seriously old school (the main library is self-serve) and a great reminder that books and movies are meant to be loved and shared.

So while I wait until the Main Library opens again on June 25th, I’m completely comfortable that Miller Park has become my home away from home these last couple months. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be a regular at both as the leaves start to turn next fall (serious nerd alert).

P.S. Did you know your gift to the library can go twice as far right now? Donate between now and June 25th and your gift will be matched up to $100,000! Join me (it's super easy!) and donate here. 

Local Love: and Here We Are

One of the things I love most about Columbus is how the city supports its creative entrepreneurs. Every weekend there seems to be a new festival, craft fair, marketplace or market that is popping up and showcasing some of the best creatives this city has to offer.

The other great thing about all of these creatives – they’re all discoverable via instagram.  That’s where I found my latest local love: and Here We Are letterpress studio.

and Here We Are had me at the stroke of their pen. Seriously, I have such a huge crush on their handwriting, I want to emulate it and display it all at the same time. But even cooler than their pen is the Columbus story the two of them tell.

Founded in Brooklyn in 2012, Meghan and John Sokorai moved their stationary and print business to Columbus in 2015. Seriously, check out their about page and their video, it’s perfectly charming in that “I wish we could be brunch friends” kind of way.  

Their prints are simple, modern and bit cheeky (hello boobs!) and most are just a white piece of cardstock with their black stroke of the pen. I ordered this print for my office gallery wall, it’s a perfect addition to the local pieces I have hanging just beyond my workstation. The print’s arrival came with a small personal touch, a thank you from Meghan and John themselves. These little touches are what keep me coming back to shops like these, simple notes of gratitude that make me a customer for life.

Here’s a couple of my faves from this local shop – order them online or find them at an event around Columbus soon.

Links Loved <3

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Will Shilling, Columbus Alive

The vortex of social media is strong, luring one to links all over the internet. Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite links I’ve ventured to this week.

Columbus Alive Columbus Cocktail Challenge For their bar guide issue, the folks at Columbus Alive challenged local mixologists to create a "Columbus-themed cocktail." I love that each of these libations highlights a different part of what we've come to define as Columbus. There's the VI-I-IV, named after a local mathematician and featuring Columbus' own Watershed Gin (Columbus is a smart city after all), The Franklin, paying homage to the crazy weather in our city, and The Buckeye, a drink playing off flavors of Columbus' favorite local chocolate candy.

Cocktails You Should Be Drinking Based on Your Zodiac Sign I love a good zodiac pair up and this one includes more drinking fun courtesy of Marie Claire. Ever wonder what cocktail you should be drinking based on your zodiac sign? #TeamGemini

How Refinery 29 built a $100 million media company for Millennial WomenRefinery 29 is a daily web and snapchat story destination for me, and this profile on how they've been able to connect millennial women and advertisers directly is fascinating. (We actually like brands!) Worth the listen.

Generate Your Own Minor League Baseball FranchiseThe El Monte Lake Oysters The Dayton Space Beagles

The name generator for this minor league baseball franchise name is hilarious. Needless to say, it's a great way to waste a few extra minutes here and there.

See all the Stylists Behind Beyonce's Lemonade She has a tour stylist, a street style stylist, an Ivy Park Stylist (and personal fashion director?) - and remarkably they kept all of this quiet before Lemonade’s first air. See the folks behind the fashion for Beyonce's buzzworthy Lemonade, fashion that plays just as much of a role in the album as the music.