I never get tired of . . . aqua

I never get tired of aqua, it's the color of the Caribbean ocean, a Tiffany box and a perfect Robin's egg. I just love the turquoise blue Pyrex bowls from the 1950s- I bought one from a tag sale that just made me happy every time I used it, but sadly it broke. Aqua is vintage; it's modern. It's cool and soothing.

Real Robin's Eggs and painted eggs courtesy of Martha Stewart Living

Aqua and black just look gorgeous together. Picture from Martha Stewart Living.



Look at this mug from Red Hot Pottery on Etsy- just yummy:



See red hot pottery at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5202910

I love the way Jonathan Adler uses it and makes it modern again.



And look how gorgeous it looks with tan linen from Lotta Jansdotter:



It's also lovely with brown (as in amazing photographer Rachel Sadana's bureau, post from Design Sponge). See her site at http://rsphotography.buttonsmagee.com/



I've also pulled some of my favorite aqua items from www.orangeandpear.com.




Free shipping on orders over $75.00 right now. Also, use code: aqua and get $10.00 off your next order, through April 15th!

Wrap it up!

I'm in an organizing mood! Call it "spring cleaning." Call it- "I'm so frustrated that I can't see my desk so I must go through all this crap!" I read so many magazines to find great stuff for the store (I plow through them quickly which sadly makes it more work than fun) so I'm always trying to pull out the pages I like for future (which often never comes) and then I recycle the whole magazine. I try not to keep them otherwise they'd pile up so quickly, I'd be buried. I do, however, have a few back issues of Domino, after I heard that they were sadly folding.

Anyway, I was flipping through my most recent In Style and pulled out a great shot of Katie Holmes wearing a scarf. I just love this transitional look. A thin, yummy scarf is just such a great way to keep you warm on those still chilly spring days and yet not look too much like winter. You can wear them over a tee with a cardigan or just over a tank top in the summer. My yoga teacher wore a great one to class today. The best scarf that I found was from Matta- their famous Dupatta scarf. It's a cotton / silk blend and it's so soft and has tassels on all four sides. Jennifer Aniston has been photographed wearing it many times. We only have a few left in grey and turquoise. We sold out of the gorgeous raspberry color, before I was even able to pull one for myself!



If you live in the New York City, Roberta Freymann always has gorgeous scarves also. And hey, before I forget, we are offering free shipping for all orders over $75.00, (for a limited time)! No coupon code needed. We just got in some great new bags from MZ Wallace, new decoupage from John Derian and a beautiful new soap line from Jaboneria Marianella. Check it out! Enjoy!

It's not easy being green.

I'm a few days past St. Patrick's day but green still feels right for this week. Today is the first day of spring and darn, I just remembered, I forgot to try the egg trick. Apparently on the vernal equinox, an egg will stand upright on its bottom and stay that way the entire day. Did anyone try that today? Does it really work? Did you take a picture? I'm so curious. OK, back to green. It doesn't have to be Irish green because although I'm Irish- that ain't a pretty green. Let's talk about spring green. It is a cool, fresh color like summer grass, new spring Maple leaves or a juicy tart lime. It can be soft and soothing like the color of a pear, the stem of a tulip or a green grape. It can certainly be olive or Hunter green like the head of a duck, a Barbour jacket or a pair of Hunter wading boots. Or green can remind me of the designs of the 70s- that pea soup green- very acidic and quite ubiquitous- the green ash trays, green sinks, green commodes, green tiles, green shag- uh what were they thinking? And hey, isn't everybody "going green" these days?

I've pulled some of my favorite green items. From now until March 31st, use coupon code: green at checkout and get $20.00 off your order of $50.00 or more. Happy spring!

Green facts:

• The color green can have dramatically different meanings in some cultures- in Islam- it is a celebrated color as it is thought that paradise is lush and green and in many other cultures, green denotes sickness, envy or greed.
  
• The Chinese term for "cuckold" is to "wear a green hat". Consequently, you will rarely see Chinese man wearing a green hat.
• Do you remember in the Wizard of Oz- in the Emerald City- everyone wore green tinted glasses so that everything looked green?
• And of course- who doesn't just love Kermit the frog? Did you know that the first prototype of Kermit was made in 1955 out of a green coat that Jim Henson's mom threw in the trash?

For a stroll down memory lane. Play this YouTube video of Kermit singing his famous, sweet, song, "It's not easy being green."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpiIWMWWVco

Juicy Orange

We love orange at Orange and Pear. Surprised? It's fun, fresh and still not overused. It pops any room and can brighten your day. it reminds me of the fun decor of the 70s and 60s. It looks great with metallic and pinks and greens. It makes me think of warm weather, juicy drinks and drippy peaches and the pending summer (that has to arrive sometime). I've compiled some of my favorite orange products. Hopefully they'll make you happy too.

The Sukie City notebook is free with any $40.00 purchase, add the notebook to your cart and enter code: Sukie at checkout and we'll send it off to you (while supplies last)!

Sukie, here from the UK, is a really cool and hip line of stationary, home decor and gifts started in 2000 by husband and wife team Darrell and Julia Gibbs. 7 years and 3 babies later, their line is still going strong. The name, Sukie, came from Julia's childhood cat (aawww). We are cat lovers at Orange and Pear so that's quite cool with us. Their designs are incredibly fresh, fun, whimsical and yet at the same time vintage looking.

Their hardbacked books with lined pages take their inspiration from notebooks found in markets across India. Check out our other great Sukie notebooks and travel journals.

The city image is just chic and fun. This is a great book to throw in your tote to write down your to do list, stories, notes, poems or the beginnings of your first novel and why not if it's FREE!

Other fun facts about Orange:

• Orange is the national color of the Netherlands. The royal family lives in the House of Orange.
  
• The color orange was used to highlight the violations of human rights in China during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
• Orange is listed as a word that cannot rhyme with any other word in the English language (although its half-rhyme is lozenge according to the Oxford Rhyming Dictionery)
• Hindu swamis wear orange robes because it denotes fire and burning of: the ego, their past lives and materialistic desires.
• Orange is known as a social color and in feng shui design, orange energy is used to promote lively conversations and good times with friends and family in your home!

The Silver Lining

Despite all the bad news coming out of the radio and into my email inbox on a daily basis, I'm determined to find the "silver lining." I know the economy stinks and it's still really cold (at least where I live) and that darn Groundhog saw his shadow and I've been sick for almost 2 weeks (hence the reduction of blog entries) but there are still fun things to talk about.

We need beautiful things in our lives.

We need to give gifts to our friends to celebrate their birthday, their wedding and to thank them for cleaning their house and slaving over the stove so that we can have a relaxing dinner- there is still a need! And I'm going to try to make it fun and little less expensive.

In March, since I'm half Irish and St. Patricks Day is around the corner, I'm going to post "color" articles. Now, who doesn't love a rainbow or a pot of gold for that matter (especially now that it hit $1000 an ounce, right)? So, each week or a few times a week, I'll post an article about a color and in each posting there will be a deal on one item, a category of items or a gift with purchase- who knows? Let's call it the "squeeze of the week" - you know the orange thing in Orange and Pear, you squeeze oranges- get it? Anyway, you'll have to check it out. I might even throw in some other offers (such as free shipping over $40.00, enter freeship at checkout). You might have to do a little reading but that never hurt anybody, right? Kind of fun? We'll see.

Let's talk about a "silver lining" around those clouds. I love silver. I love gold- hey anything metallic makes me happy (of course in moderation). But today, I'm jazzed about silver. I've selected a few of my favorite silver items that are just too beautiful not to share. They make chic, easy gifts for your friends or to update your surroundings. Check it out and don't forget to look for the "squeeze" of the week.

Other fun silver facts to impress your friends-

• Andy Warhol dyed his hair silver numerous times
• In English heraldy, silver denotes purity, innocence and virtue
• Everyone knows the phrase "he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth" meaning that he was born into money. In 1988, at the Democratic National Convention, Ann Richards, then the Texas state Treasurer (and later the 2nd female governor or Texas) changed the phrase a bit saying "Poor George, he can't help it- he was born with a silver foot in his mouth!"
• Silver was added to the Crayola box between 1949-1957