This post has been a long time coming! Truth be told, since this party at the end of April, life has felt like a giant whirlwind. A giant wonderful whirlwind! I’ve def been neglectful in my blog writing but hopefully this makes up for it a bit, plus I have some big things in store, including 2 amazing interviews with other designers that I greatly admire. But for now, let’s throw the spotlight on my dear friend, Silas Hite.
Silas grew up in a tiny, tiny town in Arizona called Crown King. He would spend summers coming to visit his grandparents that lived here in Bath. And during those summers he met the love of his life, Lisa. Of course that love didn’t bloom until MUCH later in life, say 15 years ago. Gratefully it was after the time that I met Lisa, so I got to witness their own whirlwind romance, and the many trips back and forth to LA where he was then based. Not only did they get married, and Lisa moved to LA, but they created a super dynamic life partnership, both thriving in their own careers. And they hosted Lisa’s multitude of friends that always seemed to be visiting. And yes, we definitely learned how many dirty martinis are too many, for me. I know, I know, Blair, I can never tell a direct story. Sooooo, after all the years, and visits, we all fell for Silas. His kindness, his creativity, his love for our friend. Hell, even I was planning to move to LA! (I’ll touch on that at the end of this post). So, longer story shorter, I was ecstatic when Lisa said about 4 years ago that she wanted to buy a 2nd home here so she could visit more. And after me touring most houses on the market in our area for 3 years, she finally convinced Silas to actually move here.
This was a big deal! He’s a musician and music producer. What would his life be like NOT in LA?! Well, we are all finding out…(and it’s going well from what I hear) But, one thing I did know at the time was how much Akron would embrace Silas. It wasn’t brand new to him because of his summer visits, but it’s a whole different thing making the leap in your personal life AND your business. I was able to connect him and Jenn Kidd when they first got back and they coordinated a screening at The Nightlight of a film Silas scored, and somehow I leached on and said I wanted to throw him a party!
The Setup
Immediate party planning mode went into effect, by which I mean my brain basically never stops. Deep in the recesses of my cerebral cortex (or some other smart sounding zone) I was able to recall a centerpiece made from loaves of bread. So I thought about incorporating that with a cheese display, as Waxed Crescent Liz, is always game for my crazy ideas. Then as I thought about the movie, which I hadn’t yet seen, The Most Remote Restaurant in the World, it became clear to me, focus on the “landscape”. So the bread and cheese could be arranged like hills, and then from another dark pocket, emerged an image that I saw years ago from a Kelly Wearstler dinner party where she made towers of pears for centerpieces. Perfect! I will figure out how to make fruit and veggie mountains (and honestly I had wanted to do that part for Friendsgiving last year but I ran out of time). TIP: If you find yourself schlepping often, get a Hulken bag – incredible (and not sponsored).
TIP: The creation of the towers was actually super easy. Spray styrofoam cones with florist green spray paint, and let dry over night. Then slice the produce in half and simply pin to the tower. The big thing though is to wait until as close to the party as possible. I did them the morning of, and it was too early. You can see from the pics below how vibrant they were, but by party time they were struggling, big time, even with spraying them with water.
The People
Just a few of the wonderful friends, family, and Silas fans, that jumped on the tickets, selling it out within minutes, long before it was even announced. You guys are our hearts.
The Party
My favorite thing about Akron is the people. As I mentioned earlier, 15ish years ago, I was prepping to move to LA, but fate and the housing crash had other plans for me. I’m so glad that I DECIDED to stay here and I’ve been able to build such wonderful friendships and connections. The people here will do anything for anyone. Throwing this party was an ultimate example of it for me. My wonderful friend, and client, Jenn Kidd, and her team at The Nightlight were incredible hosts and let us do whatever I dreamed up. So I started plotting and was able to utilize so many of my client’s talents, and other local friends. I called Beth Sheeler from Broadlawn Creative and we brainstormed ways to engage guests; I made many runs to Graf’s for centerpiece greenery; then Liz from Waxed Crescent created Cheese Mountain, including Low Rent Fancy bread; we toasted with River Roots bourbon for Silas; we watched the wonderful film; followed by a thoughtful Q&A moderated by our friend Philip Swift; Silas autographed albums; and guests took parting gifts of “road sodas” from the wonderful Mike Considine of NORKA Sparkling Beverages, and the most insanely good treats by Katie of Jamtooth, and Nat of Akron Mom and Kids was there to document it all with her camera, wooo! Plus none of it would have happened without Amanda Boyd of Amanda L. Boyd Consulting, who handled the day of logistics, thank you friend!
There is nothing I love more than being able to connect people. So in tapping people for this party, I thought you all (this is me pretending people are reading this), might like to tap them, too! I made a list, the LSD Network, and plan to keep adding to it. If you have awesome resources, for XYZ, let me know and I’ll add them with your name.
The City
I made it through the quick planning, setup, and party. My body was tired but more than that I was emotionally drained, but in the best way. Silas made me cry from the video that you’ll see at the end of this post. Between his words, and the post that Nat did a couple of days later (also below), my heart burst, ALMOST literally. Ok not almost, but fuck, it was all so good. Talents came together, shined, and had fun! It was the little moments that I hold so dear, seeing Silas walking up to the door where I plastered his face; watching Nat and Cheese Liz chat and “make content”; talking with the Lobalzos about sailing at the Olympics; the various restaurant folk (shout out to Unhitched Brewing and Heritage Steak and Whiskey) talk to Amy about figs; watching Jenn sit on the floor in the theater watching the trailers; us all laughing and getting tense, asking “Will the restaurant in the movie actually open?!” And then it was time to load it all up and head home.
So, for most people my age, I wanted to leave after graduating. Which graduation could vary. Akron then isn’t Akron now. I had to get out of town, and I went to OU, then transferred to Kent for their design program, among other reasons. But I never wanted to move back to Akron, it didn’t seem like there was anything here for me and the world was so big. I won’t get into it all, but needless to say, I stayed, and with friends, we created things that we needed, especially jobs (businesses). From that aspect I have always felt VERY fortunate, sure, I made the leaps but our community has always welcomed and supported the ventures. BUT for forever I’ve never PERSONALLY felt connected in a creative way here. That might sound crazy given my shop, and the t-shirt company, and various gallery affiliations, but I’ve never taken the time to not just develop my own art work, but to put that work or acknowledgement of those perhaps hidden talents out into the atmosphere. Sure I have friends that are incredible painters, photographers, etc. and I attend the openings, and buy their work, but I wouldn’t consider myself one of them nor comfortable to break into those discussions. That has changed. I still don’t have things to hang on walls, though I have been doing oils for the first time; but going with Silas to a Risography workshop at Micah’s studio and talking with others as we were all there creating, the lightbulb went off. THIS! This is what I felt when I first visited friends in NYC and LA, the free-flowing of creative ideas AND making them happen, AND being a part of it. Then the party was a week later, and my heart lost it’s mind. And then it took me 2.5 months to articulate this.
“What is it that you love most since moving to Akron?”
COMMUNITY.
So yeah, I don’t know where exactly I go from here creatively, but please hold me to it, creating AND connecting. Always feel free to reach out if you have a fun idea: liz@lizscottdesigns.com
PS If you don’t follow Nat @akronmomandkids you should as she’s an incredible advocate for small businesses. Here are links to everyone she named in her post above, follow them, too!