Sunday-Night Tired

The color of the year, Peach Fuzz, makes me think of Mrs. C's pretty kitchen in Dumont. When I saw peach taper candles at Van Hook, I scooped up a pair.

Full day....instead of turning off my alarm at 7:45 a.m. and going back to sleep, I got up and went to 9 a.m. support group. Good people there, and it meets at a conference room in a nicely renovated local hospital.

I'm not too often in that part of town. I walked partway home so I could stop at nearbly Van Hook Cheese + Grocery (especially for pretty taper candles in peach* and yellow, reasonably priced) and smooth 100 percent dark chocolate that somehow carries it off without any sugar. Dan found it too bitter but I like the midnight dark Cacao Sampaka bar from Barcelona. Luxury priced at $10 for 2.64 oz. They make coffee and cappuccino chocolate "tablets," too. Also grabbed a half-gallon of whole milk from a farm, wedge of Brie for Dan/Punch/me, nice round wheat crackers.

The Jones Road (Bobbi Brown makeup) shop is right around the corner, so I also stopped there because my brow pencil is down to a stump and I wanted to try a new tinted lip balm.

Later, Dan and I gardened. He planted bulbs and I raked the lawn and around the shrubs and potted pretty pink-and-white-striped dahlias. In that regard, we are a good team. I made spaghetti squash with turkey bolognese sauce. I think there are leftovers for Punch's lunch tomorrow. 

Good night.

*Pantone's Color of the Year for 2024 is Peach Fuzz. I thought of that when I plucked a pair of peach tapers off the rack at Van Hook.

Writing Muscles & 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

Above: I’ve written about a lot of beautiful homes, but this Brooklyn space really impressed me. I would love an organized mudroom like this, with pistachio, custom-built cabinetry and a rolling library ladder to reach the skis and suitcases--and the life to go with it. Wow! Design by Jenny Dina Kirshner. Photography by Ryan Dausch. Article link below.

I’m using my writing muscles a lot--is plural right?

I can’t say I’m flexing them, because that would connote a muscle man (or woman) holding up a bulging arm to show off their strength, am I right?

No, I’m not pumping iron and boasting to impress you or anyone else. I’m more building up my writing muscles to get in faster, more honed sentence-structuring and storytelling shape to better use my tools.

I have an assignment from ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME Magazine for the summer issue. Another place in Southwest France! I do hope to wing to a faraway place in the not too distant future.....

Magazines are a dying breed, and it’s sad. I’m grateful for this work.

Here is a link to my latest feature in the Spring 2021 issue:

https://aspiremetro.com/jenny-dina-kirschner-brooklyn-duplexes/

I’m also trying to place some essays and story pitches, to earn more dough. 

And I’ve joined a weekly Journaling Night, a spinoff of the Montclair Healing Huddle I attended for mothers/caregivers. I like the Wednesday night group (8 to 9:30 p.m. on Zoom). It goes on for five weeks, and involves getting in touch with our feelings, and the way we perceive them, through writing prompts. Tara, a therapist, skillfully leads us.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, lassies, lads and others. I’m remembering my parents on this day. They listened to Irish music (lyrical but often mournful, about the potato famine etc.) and cooked corned beef, cabbage and potatoes in an old, tall silver-tone pot. I miss them both, and their legacies (she, Irish; he, Italian). Good night.

Good Night, Veggies

Had homemade roasted golden and purple beets, with feta on the plate—and roasted yellow cauliflower from the Montclair Farmers Market. Oh!--and the new Pumpkin Pie Bowl from Juice Culture, rich in antioxidants, made with pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, apple slices, banana....yum. I got the half size. Score three points for healthy eating. :) 

Color Pop!

I love Bergdorf's signature lavender color. Tonight I wrote about how the two stylish sisters who run Whitepop Design put a little purple in a gorgeous home design.

It's kind of lonely to work in my office late on a Sunday night, when the neighborhood is coal-black and the rest of my family is sleeping. But alas, a promise is a promise, and my editor at Aspire needed my stories.

So write I did, about an orange Moroccan pouf [ottoman] in a lucky young boy's country-house bedroom and of the power of purple as a hip accent color in a home owned by two successful young doctors with three little children.

Must get off to sleep.

Good night.

TCOY

1. Support group.
2. Mass.
3. Messed up big time by opening sack of Halloween candy that H. bought at Party Fair and left in car. I had resisted it for weeks. But what's done is done. I moved on, brushed my teeth, washed my face, had some raw peppers with dinner, drank lots of ice water.
4. Read Lena Dunham book [laughing out loud, she's so funny] and took nap.
5. Liked the sunset in the sky when I drove Punchy home on Garden State Parkway.

Blue Tights

I want a pair...check wolford.com [go to hosiery and search colour Marlin] to see what I mean. The Velvet Deluxe cost a lot, but I swear they last practically forever, keep their shape and look and feel silky-smooth. Dreaming of a blue pair. Good night.

TCOY

1. Yoga class. So glad I got there.
2. Saw my friends Lorraine and Moey for hours of chatting today--we've been close since fourth grade. Nourishing.

Luck Be a Lady

Link here to my Lilly post from 2010 called CLINK, CLINK--CHEERS, DARLING!.

Sluggish in the heat...but we're leaving for Maine Saturday morning and pedi was a wreck. Decided to bring my work notes with me and head to Imperial Nails in Montclair.

And who's in the chair next to me? Kathy, manager at the Lilly Pulitzer store in Riverside Square Mall, Hackensack. I, who have tracked down Lilly stores in my travels from Martha's Vineyard to Key West, didn't even know a Lilly store opened in Hackensack in late April. What? How did I not sense the pinks and greens in my midst?!! How did my fashion radar fail me?

The Facebook page is Lilly Pulitzer Riverside. I'm about to dance over to FB  right now, while my soles are getting buffed.

Riverside Square also has Tory Burch and Kate Spade, just like Greenwich Avenue--where I like to drag my good-natured Sis.

This pedi perk was a gift from the style goddesses....it all started when Kathy noticed my aqua and mauve pineapple coin purse and the Lilly iPhone case that matches hers...

Hope u are surviving the sweltering heat.

TCOY

1. Weeded and watered. Enjoying my summer annuals in pinks, oranges and magenta.
2. Lots of ice water.
3. Pedi.

Shop Less, Save More

Dionne Dress in Resort White She's a Firecracker Glow, $168. Want*.

Busy day, should be working more, but took some time to dive into 
THESE GORGEOUS LILLY PULITZER DRESSES, MANY IN MY SIZE [XL]

Yet...yet.....SHOP LESS, SAVE MORE I wrote on a note I taped to the microwave.

But these dresses are so pretty! My life would be so pretty and colorful when wearing one of them...they're like a pink cloud, a fresh lime, a blue sea, a breeze, a walk on a quiet boardwalk, a cocktail of confidence, a breath of femininity....

Sigh...enjoy your day.

TCOY

1. Support group. Good.
2. Iced coffee at Sandwich Theory, where it is only $2.10 for a large very good brew. 
3. Walked Puff around block.
4. About to read Allure and take nap.
5. Realizing again and again that I can only control my life, not my daughter's. I am no expert anyway. And no crystal ball in hand.  

*As I am old and plump, I would wear it over slim black Hue capri leggings, with sandals with a heel. But hesitant about it being too revealing on top--especially in the back. And it's $168, and we have loans to pay and Fig is heading to expensive Parsons for college.

Knitting Together Some Positive Thoughts

OMG, this yarn is lovely. Photo from Trumpet Hill, an Albany, NY business.

Fig asked me to teach her to knit today. I tried to show her once before, a while back. I've made pretty scarves for her and for my mother-in-law; Fig's is sparkly aqua and sparkly pink; Mary's, I think, was pink and white.

I never finished the one I started for H. but hope to one day. [To tell you the truth, I had him pick out the yarn--he chose two colors--and I really don't like how it looks, or its heft.]

So I got out my knitting tote tonight, after a long hiatus--and rediscovered a skein of hand-painted pure wool yarn in a gorgeous, fresh-squeezed orange color. The label says Malabrigo Aquarella Super Bulky Thick & Thin. It cost $14.  think I bought it at the yarn store in Belfast, Maine a couple of Christmases ago, or maybe I got it at Knit New York [in the Gramercy Park section of the city?] with my friend Celia, who takes me to all kinds of cool little spots. I that shop is closed now...?

It knits up really nicely. Who knew that a soft skein bought on a whim years ago would bring me and Fig together on the couch during tough times, her rolling the yarn into a ball while I tried to show her how not to drop a stitch? Happy to have something soft and bright to report, and my work today felt good, too.

Good night.

TCOY

1. Boot camp in the soccer dome! Patsy had us do stations, ranging from boxing to kettlebell. I didn't want to go, but am so glad I did. I felt I had so much sadness and worry weighing me down. I pushed through it--and being with Patsy and friends helped.
2. Walked Fluff around the block once.
3. Saw pretty moon.

Blue on Blue

Austin-tatious Turquoise for toes.

Grateful for some rich blue things today, from turquoise nail polish to a midnight ink-blue sky to a technicolor blue rose on the wonderful bakery layer cake our friend Michael brought to our house for dinner with our families. Good night.

TCOY

1. Boot camp in park. Hard, hard. Sometimes my faith in myself flags a lot when I see a photo of me, but I want to believe. I know boot camp makes me feel strong.
2. Made turkey burger for lunch, with good garlic pickle.
3. Read Eating Well Magazine, hope to make one of the uberhealthy green soups.
4. Worked hard.

Midday Bulletin: Tripped over Amazing Lilly Sale!

Lilly Pulitzer Lara Dress--originally $248. Marked down to $75 + addl 40% off.

Leaving this weekend for a few days on the Cape with my friend Anne and her daughter. Wanted to check out Lilly Pulitzer swimsuits. Haven't bought a swimsuit in years. Called the nearest Lilly store, Leapin' Lizards in Ridgewood, NJ and asked the nice young woman to put aside a few XLs for me. It's a half-hour drive up the Parkway.

Could not believe my luck. Everything in the store is 40% off, I think until the end of July! Everything! The file folders I use for work. The yearly planner [which goes 17 months, from August 2011 through December 2012]. Clearance items, like the Lara dress with golden chain neckline, which are already marked down in red ink. Market Bags, which are usually $9.95. [I love using mine at the grocery store.] Everything!

So I'm telling you--go! And I am so going back there for my folders and pads, etc.in the future--the young woman told me that every time you bring the bag you bought there back, you get 10% off.

P.S. The dress looks shorter on the model than it does on me. There was one left, and it fit me. As for the swimsuit, I didn't love the way the one-pieces looked on me. So I got a cute swim halter top in pattern Green Bean Daisy Darling that I hope to wear with a skirted bottom I already have.

In Praise of Pink--Again

Never tried them, but want to--
though this pink passion does not mesh with savings attempts,
renewed commitment to track spending in special notebook.
Saw this treat at Williams-Sonoma the other day.

I feel like writing about my favorite color. I have a hot pink highlighter in front of me, and it really cheers me up and cheers me on as I track my daily spending [I like to highlight the total in pink] or review notes for an article.

Just checked--turns out I listed some of my favorite pink things about a year ago here. Well, I'm doing it again, because it lifts my spirit. I hope it lifts yours, too.

1. Cherry trees [like the one in Kim's yard].
2. Magnolias.
3. Azaleas.
4. Hyacinths, with their heady scent.
5. Lilly Pulitzer iPad cover. [I don't have an iPad, but I'd love one, and then I'd love to cover it with the iPad case I saw in the store today when I stopped in for Lilly file folders.]
6. Moleskine notebooks.
7. Scrubby sponges.
8. Zinfandel.
9. Charbonnel et Walker Pink Marc de Champagne Truffles.
10. Easter eggs.
11. Figgy's mini quilted Chanel-like purse that Moey gave her when she was a little girl; Punch plays with it now.
12. Pink grapefruits [the idea of them, not really to buy and eat them].

Good night, sweet dreams.

TCOY

1. Threw out rest of PB chocolate Easter egg. It was only mediocre, so that wasn't so hard.
2. Smoothed Jo Malone Bath Oil on damp skin after shower.
3. Laced up sneakers and walked to dentist, CVS and Private Benjamin--more than 1 hour walking total. Built in time to do this, rather than drive.
4. Dentist appointment spurred me on to stop at CVS for mouthwash and new Tom's of Maine Wicked Fresh! Spearmint Ice toothpaste.
5. Walked Sug around block once.
6. Falafel on pita for dinner; yum. We didn't have anything good in the house, so thought ahead.
7. Ice water.
8. Nap.
9. Organized my workload. It helps to face the music.

The Color Purple--and Pink

I fell in love with the Lillie Belle Farms name first,
then the lavender packaging,
then the caramels.

Must go to sleep. Fun today, and family, but almost four hours car travel all told.

But there is a new ruffly Tory Burch cardigan sweater in Blossom Pink with silver buttons under my roof--marked down from $250 to $59.99, snagged on expedition to Woodbury Common outlets with boot camp friends. Have read recently that wearing pink cheers you and everyone else around you. I like that.

Grateful for friends, family, work, my homemade red valentine taped to the front door, a teddy bear left on the stoop for Figgy--and a little box of four Lavender Fleur de Sel Caramels from Lillie Belle Farms in Oregon, via The Chocolate Path in Montclair. Oh, and Mountain Man, three women in harmony, a great band I heard on the radio. Their beautiful music kept me awake tonight as I drove the Garden State Parkway.

The road ahead is still unknown but I am making a conscious decision to stop, breathe deep and take it one day at a time. At least I will have a nice sweater to wear when facing the wind and cold.

Good night.

Not a Happy Color

Crayon color names are so much more sophisticated now--
Vivid Tangerine, Burnt Sienna.
But today, I am bland at best. 

So, our brand-new dishwasher isn't working--the electric is on, but the water part isn't in gear. No front desk to call, no maintenance crew to scoot right up! Grrrrrrrr. Told you, we were completely spoiled at AVE Clifton.

I always love to make pies for Thanksgiving, whether I'm in Maine or NJ. Dutch apple, pecan. Sis makes the best pumpkin. I asked Dad what kind he wants me to bring him and he said Key Lime.  I also wanted to make a couple of pies to drop off Friday at the Montclair church where my friend Anne now works, which runs Toni's Kitchen to feed the hungry: www.toniskitchen.org/.

But in order to make a pie, I would have to be able to run about three loads of dishes first. Some of them are covered with dust from the work, others are just dirty.

I hope I don't suffer writer's block here. I will be so distracted with all of this grungy housework. Boxes, boxes everywhere since our entire house was packed out and then packed in again.

Not to be too dark, but if I were a color in the Crayola crayon box right now, I would not be a happy color, like Carnation Pink or Granny Smith Apple. I might be plain boring Tan, just waiting for someone to draw me Jazzberry Jam lips, a top bun with a Pacific Blue bow and a strand of chunky Lavender-dipped pearls. [Link to an awesome guide to Crayola colors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors.]

Maybe that's my answer--accessorize ASAP.

Color My World

Who's afraid of color? I found this post on apartmenttherapy.com in
a post by Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter. 
The blue on the walls looks like our new bathroom color.  

One of the best things about the tree falling on our house March 13 has been choosing new paint colors for our rooms. The old 1920s plaster walls were knocked down due to damage and new, smooth sheetrock walls went up.

Tuesday morning, H. and I met with Catherine Belisle, the chic and lovely owner of Rabbit Rabbit Home Decor in Montclair and her colleague, Kelly. I've wandered into the little shop on Valley Road often, to look wistfully at the beautiful, custom-made drapes that pool stylishly at the bottom, to feel the soft throws, and to occasionally buy something from the sale room, like gorgeous kitchen towels. The shop also carries those pricey, luscious candles that Oprah loves, and I sometimes buy one of those, too.

But now! Now! Catherine [dressed beautifully in a flared bottom skirt and blue ruffled cardigan, with amazing flat shoes with buckles at the toe] and Kelly [also stylish in a brown corduroy skirt, and wielding several color wheels] walked through our house between 8:30 and 9:30 A.M. and I think it is the best $100 I have ever spent. That is the hourly charge.

Figgy was at school, so Catherine and Kelly suggested she stop by after school one day with a favorite outfit or something, so they could help choose a color for her attic room.

This was all great fun. I would love to write much more about it now, but I have a date with H. to go to Target to get a pink bike!!!!!!!

We've given the painters all Benjamin Moore color names except for the kitchen [because we still have to choose floor and counters] and the exterior [because we might be married to the yellow we have, not sure].

Bathroom: Spring Sky, soft, kind of tropical blue-green to go with white beadboard vanity. I wanted a beachy feel.
Bedroom:  Glass Slipper, soft gray-blue to go with mahogany furniture--Catherine suggests white or cream bedding and window treatments. And one shade darker on the color strip, Brittany Blue, for our dressing room across the hall. [It was Figgy's bedroom. But our rooms are so small, we can't comfortably fit our dressers and a big bed in one room.]
Sunroom office: Jamaican Aqua, a couple shades less crayony than the Tropicana Cabana I had chosen the summer before tree fell. [Catherine says crayon is good for accents, a pop of color.] But Tropicana Cabana on the one wall behind the built-in bookshelves, which will be painted white.
Figgy's attic room: Outer Sphere, a soft kind of minty sky blue for what Catherine and Kelly said feels like a treehouse, with all the windows looking out over the trees.

I have to go get dressed and fit in a visit to my good Dad. More to come about this colorful journey. But I can't say enough about Rabbit Rabbit: rabbitdesign@aol.com.

Designing Women

Second row from right, third swatch from bottom: Tropicana Cabana is the fresh Benjamin Moore color I had in my tiny sunroom office. There's not much wall space, and lots of white trim [with seven windows and built-in bookshelves], so the clean coat of Tiffany-box blue really popped.

Tonight my editor at Asp1re Magazine [http://www.aspirenj.com/] kindly brought me as her guest to an American Society of Interior Designers awards dinner at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.

I have to confess, I loved the ASID members' personal style as much as their award-winning rooms [shown in slides]. I saw a soft, dusky-blue wool shawl with pompom trim, the perfect blonde bob snipped into a careful reverse wedge in back, sleeveless dresses with jazzy beaded yokes, exactly the right pinkish lipstick to complement someone's fair hair. Short, ropey pearl necklaces and a dark, tailored, chic pantsuit on a woman who was recognized for corporate design. How fitting.

I liked learning about design elements, too: an executive bathroom with organic toiletries; a little girl's room with chairs scaled to child-size, and a lovely vanity skirt, too; kitchens and movie rooms and offices and reception desks and even a bagel shop, all sleek and smartly styled. Stunning.

Back home at the ranch, we have a little decorating to do ourselves. We should be back in our home by October 18, a bit longer than seven months since the tree fell on March 13. The workers are really going at it.

I plan to hire a designer in town who will charge $75 to $100 per hour and should be able to help us nail down colors in one or two hours total. We have to choose paint for my office [but I think I'm sticking with my rich Tropicana Cabana, which Anne, Moey and Elly just helped apply in summer 2009]; H.'s office; the living room; the dining room; the kitchen; the bathroom; two small bedrooms; and Figgy's new attic space.

That's nine colors, not counting hallways--or the exterior house and shutters. I can't wait to hear what the color pro says.

Bedtime. Now that school has started [finally, on Sept. 13], I want to get into a more regular lights-out and morning exercise pattern.

Aqua dreams.

The Honor System

Steve and Lisa, H.'s college friend and his wife, are in from California to visit Steve's mom, Anne, who lives here in Clifton. We stopped by this evening, and Anne's sun porch and garden were ablaze with color---hot pink, yellow, orange, sky blue. Turns out that she goes to the same garden center I love: Bartlett's Greenhouses & Florist on Grove Street.

The Honor System for Begonias
Part of the charm of this family business is that when you're feeling really low, but your pockets are empty, and nothing will quite perk you up like a confident, candy-pink dahlia plant [that's a dahlia, pictured above] or some black-eyed Susans, you can go to Bartlett's and they'll put your purchase "in the book."

The book is a plain old marble composition notebook in which one of the young women writes your name, address, and phone number, and the amount of money you owe. It can be a lot or a little [not the flower bill for your wedding or a funeral, obviously, but I have been booked for a wrought-iron flower box with holder and pretty plants to fill it, maybe $70 total]. The June two years ago when we lost Punch after hoping to adopt her, I headed to Bartlett's and got armloads of pink flowers to plant....deadhead, dig, plant, water, feed, admire, arrange......pink, pink, pink to try and color my dark feelings of loss and emptiness, to fill the hole.

Beyond that, as everybody knows, flowers are the perfect way to accessorize your plain green lawn. They add regal beauty, old-fashioned elegance, sweet scents and a sense of timelessness....people have been cultivating roses for ages. Hydrangeas are a classic. Sunflowers shout fun. Pansies can be shy and retreating or bold and bright.

Bartlett's doesn't take credit cards--just checks or cash. And once, when Moey needed flowers to bring somewhere but only had her credit card, she used the book, too. After her beloved grandfather, Pop, died at age 100, I brought her a wooden box of paperwhites from Bartlett's.

Can't Hold a Candle to This
Bartlett's also carries very tall colored tapers that burn for hours and hours. I started the new year by stopping in for some on January 1. Wanted a bright start to 2010. I put my name in the book.

I only remembered to stop in and pay my bill [of under $30] about a month or two ago, but they didn't mind.

Thank you, beautiful suburban business with giant small-town heart.

Seeing Red

Went into the city today for "Hot Housewares for the Holidays" preview at the New York Hilton--a peek at the merchandise, from slightly wacky to hip and PC--that marketers hope will be big this fall and holiday shopping season. [Will blog about it soon.] Along the way, saw another color trend popping: Red.

Maybe it was subliminal, since for two hours, I was absorbing lots of holiday housewares in cheery, cherry reds, from vegetable choppers to vacuum cleaners.

Ivy League Hair
Noticed two pretty, preppy young blondes--one walking on 57th Street, one waiting on the Columbus Avenue subway platform for the A train--both with red hairbands. Return to The Official Preppy Handbook from 1980? [Never read it, not sure what it said about hair accessories. Must catch up.]

These young women looked so fresh-scrubbed and lovely. Of course, you need smooth hair for that look, so I could try it after a blowout. I've plopped a chic hairband on my curly hair and ended up looking like Bozo on a bad day, with tufts of hair sticking out. And it helps if your hair is blonde, too. The red wouldn't look quite as Martha's Vineyard on dark hair.

Ruby-Red Slippers
Also saw trim crimson cardigans, and little red skimmers on the feet--cute, feminine slip-ons that looked like something my friend Ronnie's Skipper doll might have had. [I longed for a Skipper of my own but only got a Malibu Barbie. That's okay, I loved her--and my tiny little Dawn doll.]

And don't forget the cherry patterns on some fashions at Bergdorf Goodman, and the Red Velvet cupcakes [from Cupcakes by Carousel] that the esteemed store sells for $4 each at its fifth-floor Bar 5F, the one with the gorgeous signature lavender chairs.

Anyway, stop on red--it really stood out today as a chic choice in a city that could easily be dulled by khakis and blacks. I think I want some red for summer.

A Burst of Tory Burch Color

Wrangled Sis into going with me to the Lilly and Tory stores on Greenwich Avenue before I headed back to real life.

I've blogged about Lilly Pulitzer stores before. So....best things about the Tory Burch shop [that's Tory pictured, above] in well-heeled Greenwich:

1. Bathroom! Our mom taught us long ago to check out the bathrooms in nice stores, like B. Altman or Lord & Taylor. But this one....I had no idea there even was a Tory-style bathroom! I've been to Tory stores in the Meatpacking District and the Short Hills Mall, but didn't scope out the bathrooms. Didn't even have to go today--just peeked in so I could see it: bright tangerine tile floor, hot pink accent pieces, clear modern soap pump. Oh, Tory--I love your eye. [FYI, another really chic bathroom is the one on the Beauty Level at Bergdorf Goodman. My mother trained me well.]

2. Baby Revas. Well, not exactly for baby girls, but for little girls....mini versions of Tory's seen-everywhere Reva ballerina flat [named for her pretty blonde mother, Reva]. They were $95 in tiny sizes. Sis and I both thought they'd be so cute on Punch. Also saw mini Tory cardigan sweaters in signature fresh colors with the gold logo buttons.

3. Fitting rooms. With heavy, sumptuous orange velvet curtains. So luxurious. I went in one just to model a scarf.

4. Sale section. Yes, 30 percent off retail. But the prices start pretty high, so were out of my budget right now anyway. I did consider a lavishly sized scarf that was $95 before the discount, but Sis and I decided the floral pattern looked better on the clothing items than on the scarf.

5. Espadrilles. Feminine and stylish, with highish heels.

I left empty handed. "Go, go, keep going," Sis said, gently coaxing me out the orange door into the light rain. She's a good lady; she's a scientist, I'm a writer. She's more practical, less impulsive.

And I guess I do have enough Tory at the moment to keep my life colorful for a while.

Color My World

One big reason I love New York City: It's on the cutting edge of style. Case in point: A man's lavender shirt.

True, many other cities are ahead of the fashion curve too, tilting forward when the rest of us are still settling back. But I don't live a bus ride away from them. I was in London and Paris, briefly, when I was 22 [on a whirlwind tour with Moey and friends--21 countries in 14 days], and not into fashion enough then to care about observing street style, drinking it in. Milan is also important, but my closest taste of that, sadly, has been Chicken Milanese.

The Blue Shirt
I remember the exact moment when I realized how much New York City teaches me about fashion, just by walking down her streets, riding her subways, hailing her cabs. It was the mid to late 1990s. I had been home for a while with Figgy, but had come in to meet my magazine friends--I think Madonna, Sandra, Eileen--for dinner at Zen Palate. I was walking to Union Square when it dawned on me. That man has on a different blue shirt. Not light blue, like my Dad has, but bright blue. It looks so new under his suit. That's what I love about New York. That's why I can't ever stay away from this city for too long. I learn so much just by walking down the street. I will go home to New Jersey with a new perspective on what is fashionable. Reference point: Brooksbrothers.com has a rich shade called French Blue. Jcrew.com has one called Peri.

Light Blue and Purple, Bubble-Gum Pink
It happened again today, when I went into the city to meet my friend/colleague. I saw a man waiting for a bus. He was wearing a lavender dress shirt and a light blue tie. It looked hip, forward, intelligent, alluring, u can't miss me. Like that guy definitely knows what he's doing. And then, on Ninth Avenue in the 50s, I passed two girlfriends at an outdoor restaurant. One had on a cute cardigan in an impossibly fresh and adorable bubble-gum pink. It called out for attention. Look at me! Aren't I sweet? [And that was purely the cardigan talking, not the wearer.]

It hits you quickly, yet seeps in slowly, if that makes any sense. I'm still thinking about those colors hours later. And how well they suited the shape of the crisp cotton shirt, the cut of the slim little cardigan. Come to think of it, the other night, I also fell in love with the lavender cardigan Kyra Sedgwick was wearing on The Closer--just the top button was buttoned over her shirt and feminine, flirty skirt.

Life imitates fashion. Is it coincidence or good fortune that I am right now soaking the Morning Glory seeds Figgy and I bought weeks ago--and that she chose Deep Purple and I chose Heavenly Blue? [To aid germination, you're supposed to soak the tiny seeds overnight.] We've decided to tuck them in together in the planters on our terrace--so like that man waiting for a bus, our flowers will be at the height of color and style.

I love New York.

Photo credit: The absolutely stunning photo above, of Pacific Blue Lavender, is from Mauways Nursery: mauways.co.nz. I want to live in that sunny field, wrapped in that color and inhaling that perfume. Could that be arranged?

Think Pink

To cheer things up, a list of some pretty pink things:

1. The Lilly Pulitzer dress above. Could not throw out that catalog. So lovely. It's not a dress, it's a lifestyle.

2. My baby doll Karen's lace-trimmed pajamas. Still remember the magic of receiving them from Santa, along with Karen. Still have them around so Punch can play with them when she visits--although Karen's hair is a total mess now. I think I overzealously shampooed it once. Also curled it on adorable tiny pink curlers, which my mother gave me. She used them on her own hair.

3. My hot pink scarf/shawl purchased at Bobbi Brown The Studio in Montclair. Wearing it now. Goes with everything, adds color.

4. The fat, baby-pink peonies my mother grew.

5. The beautiful peonies my friend Madonna and her sweet children sent me home with last year. Those bushes were old--think of how many summers they reliably produced such beauty at the farmhouse.

6. Lipstick.

7. Love's Baby Soft--a subtle bridge from my generation to Figgy's, which has somehow survived. Hope I never forget how beautiful that small bottle of spray cologne made me feel as a teenager.

8. Nail polish.

9. Folders, notebooks and sticky notes.

10. Lemonade.

11. Petits fours. From Divine Delights.

12. Birthday cake roses.

13. Wedding cake flowers!

14. Cosmopolitans.

15. Mary Kay cars. Never saw one in person, but love the idea. Great marketing.

16. Bridesmaid dresses.

17. Cupcakes.

18. Lilly sunglasses.

19. Frilly sandals.

20. Vogue editor Diana Vreeland's famous 1962 comment: "I ADORE that pink ... it's the navy blue of India."