A Passion for Pink

It's February... and if we gave the month of February a signature color, it would have to be Pink.  Since my birthday falls in the month of February, it would be appropriate that I should have such a passion for pink.  Pink is the color of universal love.  Some may say red is the color for February because men generally give red roses on Saint Valentine's Day, but give me pink roses for Valentine's and I will be tickled pink!!


Pink has been my favorite color since I was a little girl like many little girls. My bedroom was covered with pink; pink gingham checked draperies, pink bedspread, pink dresser and pink shag carpet.  My bedroom made me feel incredibly happy!!  Some call it a "pink phase", as if you will grow out of it.  Who would ever want to grow out of such a magnificent color?!!!  I suppose I'm still in a pink phase and never grew out of it.  I can't imagine that I ever will.  I would like to be laid to rest on pink satin, or even better, pink silk chiffon!
I like to wear pink, dress my girls in pink and whenever I'm shopping for anything, if I see it in pink, it catches my eye right away tempting me to choose that color above any other color like those pink Cuisinart mixers.  Unfortunately, I've had a white one for years.  Then my kitchen isn't really pink, anyway.

Oh well, one can dream.  I have bits of pink accents throughout my home.  Paintings with pink roses, decorative plates with pink flowers adorn the walls of my dining room, pink tassels, pink tablecloths, and an abundance of antique pink milk glass that actually, my husband and I collected together.  Some day, when the kids are all grown, I plan on having a room dedicated to pink just for me.  It is such a soothing and cozy color for a room and I know it will become my favorite room.  Pink is also my oldest daughter's favorite color, and at nineteen it is still her favorite.

                                                         Victoria - Senior Prom 2010
It's great to have someone else who appreciates and enjoys a passion for pink as much as I do.  Come to think of it when you think of a color that people are passionate about in so many aspects of their life, pink would have to be the number one color.  Sure, others have other colors that they would say is their favorite color, if asked.  But the color that so many show such true passion for would have to be Pink.  
Elvis owned a pink Cadillac and he drove a pink jeep in the movie "Blue Hawaii".  He also wore pink shirts.

 
First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower wore a pink dress studded with 2,000 pink rhinestones to her husband's Presidential inauguration ceremony.  She also decorated their private quarters at the White House in so much pink that reporters called it the Pink Palace.  Now there's a woman after my own heart.  The 1950's became a decade that showed its passion for pink.   Pink poodle skirts were in fashion.  Retro pink kitchens became a fad during that decade, as well as, dyed pink poodles.  Zsa Zsa Gabor owned a dyed pink poodle and enjoyed wearing pink.

  
  












Hot-pink became a fashion icon after Marilyn Monroe wore a hot-pink evening gown while singing, "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" in the movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".  Madonna later imitated Marilyn in a similar hot-pink gown in her "Material Girl" video.

And let's not forget, Elle Woods who had a wardrobe that consisted of pink in "Legally Blonde".  

Victoria's Secret has their entire marketing of fashion centered around pink, using it as part of a logo on much of their lingerie whether it is pink or not.  It states, "Love Pink".

As you can see, pink is certainly a color with the potential to connect with people.  Pink is sexy and sweet; it's flattering, pretty, fresh, fun, warm, energetic in brighter tones and calm and soft in lighter tones.  It's daring and sassy; it says, "Enjoy life because the days are fleeting and you should make the most of It!"  Pink, simply put, makes you feel amazing!!!  So, I say, "Think Pink"!

As for the notion, that one will grow out of pink...  I say, you only live once; why not live it passionately?  And live it "in the pink"!

Life According to Me.... Last of the Baby Boomers

                    my grandparents country store today  

I was born in 1964 the last year of the baby boom.  (My mom was actually born the first year of the baby boom in 1944.)  I grew up during an era of immense change.  One of my first memories was in 1969 at five years of age while standing around the television with several people at my grandparent’s small country store and watching the Apollo 11 land on the moon, and Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moons surface and making the famous quote,  “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.  Between this and Vietnam our way of life began to change.  Music changed, technology began advancing at a faster pace than ever, styles of clothing changed constantly and fashion became an industry all it’s own.  People became more self-expressing for whatever they were passionate about; anything from politics, to the Vietnam war, to music, to religion.  There was a movement of radicalism like never before.  However, among all of this change, I recall a simpleness of life because of my grandparents.  Both sets of my grandparents owned a small farm where they both had chicken houses, a few cows and pigs, and a large garden.  I actually remember my granddad getting up early each morning and going out to the barn to milk the cow.  My granny would churn some of the milk into butter and I was sometimes allowed to help with this chore.  It was the late sixties and early seventies and not many people did this anymore.  Most people depended on going to the grocery store to get milk and butter.  I was not aware, at the time, how unusual that was and I’m so grateful to have not missed out on what has now become a lost way of living and surviving.  I worked in a vegetable garden through out high school, each summer, putting up vegetables into two large deep freezers that helped feed our family of eight through the winter months.  I was not allowed to go out on a date until all of the peas and beans were shelled and put up in the freezer.  It was a different life for most of my friends, but I do not regret all of the hard work and fresh food.  It is an even more different life for my children.  Change is supposed to be for the better, but to keep it at it’s best no one should ever forget what or where they came from or they may take the blessings this life has to offer for granted.  Above all of it, keep Jesus at the center the greatest gift ever given by God.  He gave His life, so that we can live a life eternal with our Father in Heaven.

                                   barn on my grandparents place