Over The Rainbow

“The purest

and most thoughtful

minds are those

which love color the most.”

 ~John Ruskin

. . .

When I was in elementary school, 

my favorite color was

purple.

For my one-the-go needs, I was outfitted in purple. I had not one, buttwo purple lunch boxes (one soft, one hard), a purple back pack, and an adorable purple suitcase. The suitcase (I still have it) was a gift from my Grandmama and has always been extra special. Not only is it purple (my little girl most favorite of all), but it has my name monogrammed on the bottom right corner. In cursive. It felt very fancy to me as a young girl and I smile every time I get it out now (I have used it for packing Miss N's clothes on trips). 

I remember wishing there was a purple option for the radio/tape player that I bought with my homemade candy sales earnings. Alas, it was powder pink. And I did not like pink. My basketball t-shirt was pink...hot pink. Our team name? "Can't touch this." Oh yes. I'm a child of the 90's.  I remember now that was afraid to wash it; I didn't want the hotness of the pink to fade. So I didn't. All of those sweaty games...no washing. I just sprayed it with perfume. I wonder if anyone noticed?

My brothers were on a soccer team called "purple people eaters" which  I thought was a fabulous name. Kind of sounded like monsters. They got to wear purple shirts for their games. Lucky.(Were you both on the team or just one of you?)

By the time I was in high school, 

I had moved on from purple  to green. 

I loved green. I remember thinking it was such an appropriate favorite for me since my eyes are also green. In my closet you could find green shirts, green shoes, green jeans (guess what? those colorful jeans are back in style, folks!), a dark green silky shirt (those are too!), some plaid green converse-looking shoes, and a favorite necklace with green leaves on it.

I was still very anti-pink and had almost nothing in my closet with much more than a fleck of the feminine hue. I prided myself on staying away from overly girly/'prissy' attitudes/styles. (Go ahead and laugh) The earthy tones were the perfect backdrop. Green symbolized growth and learning...and I was doing a lot of that in those years.

In college, I combined green and purple...

to jump on the black is best bandwagon.

As a sophomore, I started to collect more sophisticated shades to my wardrobe. I really loved blacks and whites. I expanded my collection of black tops, chunky black shoes (early 2000's, anyone?) and watched my roommates put on eyeliner to hone my black-outlining skills. I still loved green but the darker shades held more of my interest.

By my early twenties, 

I was starting to notice the color 

I had been avoiding all of these years...pink.

As a missionary, I had to dress conservatively (you Sister missionaries now get to wear the cutest things!) but packed a few colorful tops just to mix things up a bit (since I would be wearing the same things over and over and over and over and over and over and over again for 18 months). This included one single pastel pink button up short sleeved top.

A switch was turned on. Pink was the new black. Or green. Or purple. When I came home, I started to notice pink everywhere. I remember wearing a pair of pink capris when Mr. H and I spent an afternoon in Nashville (post-mission, pre-engagement). I loved it. I still love it now and my favorite winter wear is a pink pea coat.

In my mid-twenties, I found myself balancing out--unable to choose "one tip top favorite"; I now had many colorful favorites. 

In those working/school years (post-marriage, pre-baby), I painted a room in lavender (shout out to my early purple years), discovered the flexibility in greys-whites-blacks, fell in love with green all over again, accentuated with pink, and had flip flops in almost every other color in the rainbow.


Last year, I discovered a color that I had mostly ignored and never considered a qualifier for a "favorite list"...and now you can see me wearing a pop of this color almost every day.

Yellow.

When sisters-in-law and I were looking for a fun color combination for family photos, we saw a picture of a family using  yellow as the coordinating color. Soon I found that as I was searching for the little yellow elements to add to our family's outfits, I started seeing yellow everywhere...and liked it! I now have several yellow elements to add to my day (yellow watch, flats, earrings...) and people often ask me if it's my favorite.

. . .

I've been through a rainbow of favorites over the years. I don't have "one favorite" these days--more like a kaleidoscope of favorites. Do you have a favorite color?

Every day in November!  NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month. Write a post on your blog every day in November. For the 3rd year, I've decided to tackle this challenge & enjoy the opportunity to switch to writing mode. Want to join me? Leave your blog link in the comments so I can follow you too! 

Ring! Ring!!

Remember when you were a kid and your parents talked about some useful tool that was no longer used and you thought--wow--what would that have been like?

I am realizing that is what my kids

 will think about many things...

including telephones whose ring tone

was actually a ring ring!

I remember a light blue turquoise-ish 

rotary dial phone

in my parents bedroom.

I thought dialing the 8 and 9 was especially annoying

and remember seeing on TV some secretaries using a pencil or something other to dial instead of getting sore finger tips.

 I thought that was genius.

Later I remember pulling the touch dial cream colored phone as far as the cord would stretch, so I could have even a little bit of privacy as I talked with my bffs on the phone.

The sound of the ring would make me jump!

I loved to answer the phone

(and would often confuse people with my just-like-Mom voice)

I would get butterflies in my stomach 

when I knew someone special was calling...

and we actually hung the phone up on the wall. 

As in--hang up the phone.

I remember my parents taking the phone "off the hook" during family nights or dinner time 

so we wouldn't be disturbed 

by the potential ring-a-ling of a phone call.

These days, I have no rotaries to dial or cords to stretch...

and my phone never rings.

I get phone calls often enough,

 but I usually have the sound set on vibrate. 

That way no naps are disturbed, and no extra noises are sounding through my house. If I do have the sound turned up, it isn't a ringing sound, it's a tune with a beat.

Truthfully...more often than not, 

I just don't answer my phone.

My little droid might be in another room, 

or I might be busy with a project.

Most of my friends know this--we do a lot of phone tag (I will always call you back!) but emails, FB messaging, & texting tend to be easier/more reliable for instant communication (depending on the day).

The rush to answer the phone is not what it once was

and the ring?

Well...that's just old school.

Serious About Cereal

Growing up, we had a few basic options for our morning breakfast cereal (which was a typical weekday breakfast at our house...we saved 'fancy' breakfasts for dinner...most especially Dad's awesome Sunday night waffle dinners)--as follows:

-cheerios

-corn/bran flakes

-corn/rice chex

-oats

I like an occasional oatmeal breakfast, but typically started my day with a quick-and-easy cold cereal--maybe with something on top to add some pizzazz (fruit, raisins, coconut, sprinkles of sugar, mini marshmallows). 


I remember we did have several months (a year?) during which we excitedly devoured boxes of Cap'n Crunch (from a big sale? storehouse?) cereal which felt like a very special splurge. Sugary cereals were not on our weekly grocery list...unless...IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY WEEK.


On your birthday week YOU got to pick the cereal--dubbed in our family as "birthday cereal" and it was AWESOME. Honestly, I think it was a birthday highlight...at least for me, because I LOVE cereal. It always went too fast, though. Probably because I ate 2-3 servings at a time!!

Both of my grandmothers provided delicious options for my cereal cravings. 

Grandmama always had special cereal boxes in her cupboards. I specifically remember Rice Krispies (snap! crackle! pop!), Golden Grahams, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I looked forward to these cereal options, and would enjoy a different cereal each morning we were at her house...it felt like *such* a treat! 


When my Grandma J came to visit (or if we visited her), she would make buttered toast with freshly hot oatmeal which was delicious...but my favorite breakfast option was her fantastically scrumptious homemade granola. Seriously, people. It is the best granola ever. I learned how to make it and would occasionally make a batch or two...but it went pretty quickly, especially in our house. *YUM*


When I moved out for college, I spread my cereal-loving wings and bought whatever cereal I wanted. I don't like the over-the-top sugary cereals, nor am I interested in the chocolatey options. I really like cereal with clusters, nuts, and granola elements. My cereal standard eventually became Honey Bunches of Oats.


I like cereal so much that I remember as a newlywed, waking up just to eat some cereal in the morning and then going back to bed to catch some more sleep. I suppose cereal was/is kind of a comfort food for me. I love the crispy crunch and the blend with cold milk. So good, you can eat it anytime, really. 

Why limit the good stuff just for breakfast?

Things have changed, now that I have two little (but very serious-about-eating) breakfast-eaters in my house. We have a routine that we started with J and from which we rarely deviate. 

And, guess what. 

It does NOT include cold cereal!

The boys get hot oatmeal every single morning & they love it. Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and a spoonful of no-sugar added applesauce to cool the bowl down. Cheerios, we do have, but are more of an easy snack option. We keep one or two other boxes of cold cereal...but those are for Mom & Dad. However, these have dwindled quite a bit in the last few months since the Mr. is on the road most of the time and when he is around, breakfast is not a priority for him. 


I still love cereal, and I eat it a few times a week...but I'm not as serious about cereal as I used to be. It is just not as convenient when I'm fixing oatmeal for the kids, and honestly--it does add up on the grocery bill. Plus, being pregnant, I never know what will sound good to me in the morning anyway, so I play it by ear.

The thing is...

...if I do eat oats.

I still like the cold cereal taste,

so I eat them raw.

You can take the cold cereal out of my pantry,

but you can't take my love for a bowl of grain with cold milk.

What's your breakfast routine? 

How much is it influenced by your childhood breakfasts?

Thankful Thursday: March 19th

Today's Thankful Thursday is brought to you by:

You have probably noticed Barbie has received some extra attention this month. 50 years ago this month the first Barbie was introduced to the masses and the world has never been the same.



I have to admit, earlier this month when I first saw pictures of celebrities attending Barbie birthday bashes, news columns devoted to her fabulous (and controversial) figure, and flashes of hot pink I poo-pooed it all in my head.



"It's just a DOLL", I dismissed in my most *I'm-not-a-girlie-girl* voice-in-my-head.



And then, today, as I was rumaging through boxes (in a pre-pre-pre-packing/organizing mood), I found this:


And this:

Double proof that Barbie has held her place in my heart.

The first photo is from an apparant Barbie photo shoot in my childhood bedroom, dated 1988.

Notice the *real* carpet, *real* wall paper, and Ken with his feet up in the living room. Hilarious.

I have special memories with my Barbie dolls, and insisted my brothers play with me with their respective (assigned-by-me) Ken dolls. My mother helped me design her two story "mansion" (no, I never had the big plastic pink one), and let me use some of HER Barbie's fancy clothes--which were handmade by my amazingly-talented Granny. I didn't have a mega-collection, but she had her place in *my favorites* at the time.

AND, I even had Barbie's little sis, Skipper (which I had to have before I could graduate to a Barbie doll)

The second photo is from my Sweet 16 Birthday Party*.

A little too old for Barbie, you say?

Indeed--it was a fun (and, dare I admit...girlie!) way to celebrate with my friends. It was complete with a Barbie banner, Barbie plates, Barbie napkins, Barbie cups, and Barbie party favors**.

We had a blast! It was one of the few *birthday parties* where I invited a bunch of friends over--we had homemade pizzas, Barbie pink galore, and we giggled the night away.

So, on this Thankful Thursday I am celebrating 50 years of Barbie, feeling a bit nostalgic, and THANKFUL for the memories Barbie & I share together.

Do you have any memories with Barbie?

If not, what was one of your favorites?

*Notice the hot styles I was sporting: baggy "Esprit" T-shirt & curled under bangs. Also the 'Frube' word is reference to a word my friend & I made up. I should post about that sometime...

**Lest you think that all our parties were adorned with such birthday accessory splendor, I will tell you that all of the Barbie paraphernalia was free. My Mom worked for Hallmark for awhile, and the extras got to come home with her! This was the real reason for the Barbie theme--we already had all of the pink-themed-details!