Coral and Turquoise

I love color, especially summer colors. I don't always have the bravery to wear them but I certainly plan on doing it. There are two colors that I will always gravitate towards and they are turquoise and coral (or is it coral and turquoise?). They are tropical, fun, sophisticated and always easy to wear back to white. They make me think of Palm Beach and Capri and great vintage enameled jewelry. I read almost every magazine and I'm not a fashion diva by any means but I do get excited when I see a spread that speaks to me. OK, let me clarify- there is no spiritual "speaking" going on- I mean it's only clothes and it's not life changing- just inspirational. So, I scanned this great InStyle spread from the June issue because they choose my favorite summer colors so I just had to get all fashioney and talk about them. And, what's really uncanny, is I just received a new delivery of our extremely popular Matta dupatta scarves in (and I kid you not) white, turquouse and coral. Weird, huh? OK, maybe there is something spiritual happening? OK, maybe not. So, I had fun putting together a collage of what I have in store at www.orangeandpear.com in turquoise and coral (and in coral and turquoise). I guess I've been so inspired! Yes, I know, some of my items are orange and not really coral but I really love them all together- they are just shades of coral, right? Just . . . work with me here.



1st row (l to r): Hable Construction photo album, Matta coral scarf, John Derian winged insect
2nd row: Helene Batoff leather orange frame, Sukie notebook, MZ Wallace "Olivia" bag
3rd row: Marianella soap, Mad Imports tophandle clutch, Matta turquoise scarf

Free shipping over $75.00 and 20% off to my loverly blog readers, using code: coralturq, now through May 22nd. Thanks!

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!

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