The best part of ICFF... had nothing to do with 'furniture' and everything to do with 'buying and selling' it... locally.

When you take a couple of days away from the beck and call of "the store", the ideas start flowing... especially when you are in the presence of creative people. Our visit to ICFF was good for furniture, yes, ... but it was even better for our psyche.

A highlight of our trip was attending a seminar led by Cinda Baxter. On March 9th, in response to an episode of Oprah where Suze Orman told viewers to stop spending money in an effort to increase savings and plan for 'the worst' - a cold turkey spending approach to reacting to the new economic challenges - Cinda, on her 'Always Upward' blog responded with "Oprah, You've Got it Wrong."... and, thus, the 3/50 Project was born.

The 3/50 Project is the principle that spending money in moderation is good for the economy, especially when you spend it with your local, bricks & mortar businesses. I could go into lots and lots of detail and defense of this fine ... okay, utterly BRILLIANT... idea right here, but I would prefer that you - that's YOU, the person reading this blog post right now - go to her website and see for yourself.

So... if you go to the 3/50 Project's website, and then go to the supporters page, and then scroll down to Virginia (way, way down to Virginia... ), you'll see LaDifference. We signed up about 10 days ago and I was just plain tickled pink to see our name show up today. So tickled.

This is a plan that is all about balance. I've already told A that there are certain things that I like that I cannot find at my local retailers (let's not talk about my underwear drawer now, okay?). BUT, there are quite a few purchases we make each month, from groceries to dining out to buying wine to gardening supplies where we can, should and will make a conscious effort to support our locally owned and operated businesses.

The concept behind the 3/50 Project is that 68cents of every dollar I spend with these folks will STAY in my community. It is overwhelmingly empowering. Payrolls, advertising dollars, sales taxes, property taxes, and payroll taxes... shoot, changing our wine purchases alone could bring a boost to the City of Richmond's bottom line! (Not to mention that shopping locally is a far more 'green' and ecofriendly alternative to shopping ONLINE and having items shipped across the country... hmmm)

Please.
Visit www.the350project.net and learn more about this project.
The concept started as a blog 2 months ago and has grown virally ever since.
It makes sense for the country, for communities like Richmond, for locally owned, privately held bricks & mortar businesses.

Watch for LaDiff's participation on our website and beyond.
Hey... while you're at it, get involved yourself!
Your community will thank you... and so will we.