5 Things We'd Share This Week Over Coffee With You If We Could

This new series takes you behind-the-scenes into the "creative diets" of our staff. Each week, one of us will share a list of five things that grabbed our attention or inspired us creatively that week.

This week's list is a mix from our whole team. These are the things we'd share with you over coffee this week if we could.

One: The Art of Mixology

Our editor loves nothing more than a little cocktail party on the porch. In quarantine, she and her husband have been diving into this book. It's a great resource for classics and some new spins on old favorites. We're all a bit partial to their Moscow Mule these days.

Two: Muddies!

We're calling it now. Muddies, a new subscription service from Columbus, GA ceramic artist Mollie Jenkins, is going to be a hit! Each month, a new pottery kit is mailed out for kids to explore the world of ceramics. Sound like something you or your people would love? Watch the video above for this month's tutorial of Muddies Project Number One: The Pinch Pot.

Three: The Frances Flair by Ragan Cain

Source

There's just nothing like timeless style and elegance, and Ragan Cain has it in spades. Earlier this year, she started The Frances Flair as "her post-40 alter ego.” The entire website is full of curated stylish, classic, and colorful musings. She created the brand "to encourage herself and others to live presently and with a little bit of flair" - and let's just say it's working.

Not into interior design or travel? We're smitten with the selection of vintage books in her shop, as well!

Four: How to Fix A Broken Record

While on the beach this week, Natalia has been reading this book by Amena Brown. Here's some background from Brown's website. Check it out!

Spoken word poet Amena Brown’s broken records played messages about how she wasn’t worthy to be loved. How to Fix a Broken Record chronicles her journey of healing as she’s allowed the music of God’s love to replace the scratchy taunts of her past. From bad dates to marriage lessons at Waffle House, from learning to love her hair to learning to love an unexpected season of life, from discovering the power of saying no and the freedom to say yes, Amena offers keep-it-real stories your soul can relate to.

Five: Expanding our Idea of What Makes Southern Arts & Culture So Special

Image of a spotted seatrout. Photo: Public Domain.

We're working at The Columbusite to continue diversifying our content, and that means pumping up our coverage of the incredible Southern outdoor sporting culture in our area. This will include expanding to highlight artisans in outdoor trades (woodworkers, blacksmiths, etc), the artists who depict these scenes, and working to incorporate stories about regional initiatives in local agriculture, natural, and aquatic preservation.

Our goal? To reach more men and women whose interests and knowledge of culture are different than ours. We're pushing ourselves and our scope of local culture, and we'd encourage you to do the same.

Understandably right now, the pandemic is making it difficult to get this content developed fully. In the meantime, we'd like to wholeheartedly recommend the sporting section over at Garden & Gun. For example, this article on a fun fact about trout fishing they featured earlier this month. Not an avid fan of outdoor culture? Garden & Gun is a great place to start learning about new things you might end up loving. Join us. We're learning as fast as we can.

Love the idea of a creative diet?

Check out our other lists designed to help you discover new artists and content each week. Simply click on each image below to view another list in the series.