American City Girls

UPDATE: The salons are on hold til further notice. Stay tuned.

If you are interested in Connecting, Conversing and Collaborating on local topics, idea and projects, the American City Girls host a salon every Wednesday at Lakeside Café in downtown Columbia. You’ll find us there from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every week. Please feel free to stop by, introduce yourself, meet others, grab lunch or sit with us for awhile. No special invitation is needed. No RSVP is required.

Once a month we hightlight timebanking in Howard County. Audrey Garvin, of the local timebanking system, joins us for lively conversation and exchanging experiences on how to turn volunteering into a transaction that benefits everybody. Join us on the second Wednesday of the month to learn more about this up-and-coming system for connecting in our community.

The Ladies, whom we’re inviting you to meet, are a collection of captivating paintings by Rosellen Howell, Jessie’s aunt. Zell, as she was often known, was then a 17-year-old design student in New York City.

Now, some 60 years later, these Ladies are ready to be officially presented to Society in the form of “distinctive 1940s fashion-design cards and prints.”Please stop by to receive your complimentary note card and to browse our handsomely packaged Series 1 Collection: Grace, Innocence, Sass, Confidence and Charm. The Ladies make perfect hostess gifts for the holidays, unique stocking stuffers and elegant gifts.

We hope to see you on Sunday. If you are unable to come by and support us in person, please visit our website and consider making The Ladies part of your holiday shopping list.

Sunday, December 3, 2006
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
at Jessie’s home

RSVPs not required, though your attendance is certainly desired.
Casual weekend attire suggested.
Please call Jessie at 443-794-7521 with any related questions.

It — the American City Girls phenomenon, that is — all started as a party: A Come Out of Hibernation party on April 1, 2006. When we discussed logistics, we determined that sending out invitations by hand (with hand-written addresses) was something we placed value on. So that’s what we did.

In early June, we held our second party — Cocktails & Conversation — and felt it was time to give ourselves more of an identity. Our name is relevant to our hometown, Columbia, Md., as one of the then-new city’s first buildings was called The American City Building. At that party, and as Jessie’s aunt, Zell (the artist and fashion designer) was in her last couple of weeks of life, we chose one of her paintings as the art for our next invitation.

The response to the cards was astounding. And, since then, we’ve temporarily set aside our parties to focus on developing the art products … and to tend to our other business endeavors, clients, loved ones, lives and Selves. Of course.

If you’re in the area, and we know you, either as a friend, client or customer, stay tuned, as we’re sure to have more parties soon.

It was with this party, and the invitation we created, featuring The Martini Lady, that sparked the idea to turn Zell’s 1940s fashion-design paintings into note card products. This party also launched us both as bloggers, a social technology tool which we’ve come to use efficiently, strategically and with great results.

Cocktails & Conversation party pictures.