Orange you glad . . .

I remember a knock-knock joke from when I was a kid that goes like:

Knock-knock. Who's there?
Orange. Orange who?
Knock-knock. Who's there?
Orange. Orange who?
Knock-knock. Who's there?
Banana. Orange you glad I didn't say orange again?

Totally inane. But, I love orange - the color, not the fruit - so I guess that's why it has stuck with me. As much as I love the color, I do think I'm rather subtle about my use, for a lack of a better word, of it. I have a few things in the house that have orange accents, like a small painting of a pumpkin and a framed photograph of the poppies posted above (proud to say I took that picture myself). I also have a really cool long, rectangular, block candle on my kitchen island that is orange (darned if I could find a picture of it on Google Images - I thought everything was on the internet?!) that nicely accents the black and green marble countertops. Anyway, after Pinning (have you checked out Pinterest.com yet? Be warned, it's a time killer!) a couple of orange eye-catchers, I decided to add them here. They make me happy. Here's a few orange bits of joy:

I just bought these for myself and already have received compliments on them at the gym. They are more vibrant in person. I think they sorta glow!

I got these in the Spring from Kate Spade. I didn't wear them nearly enough (the orange ones, obviously!).

I found this ring on the Sundance Catalog site. I so wanted to add it to my Christmas list because it is on sale, but sadly, they don't have my size. Still makes me happy to look at though.



And, I found this fun purse on Etsy.com. The seller is Teddy out of Thailand, if you are interested (gotta give Teddy credit, right?!).



I think these Tory Burch flats are pretty cool. Might have to save my pennies for a Spring purchase  . . . .

And, my dream purse is anything by Hermes in their signature orange. I mean, even their packaging is a gorgeous shade of orange!

Clearly, I'm a fan of orange. I know I posted about it in October in regards to Halloween decorating. Guess I must be missing it a little now that the house is decked out for Christmas in reds and greens! I might just make this a regular feature - maybe a little monthly pick-me-up. Glad that just a bit of color really does brighten up my day.

Another Fill-in-the-Blank Friday

I've just got home after spending nine days in Arizona. I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head to jot down, but right now, after paying bills and catching up on mail and email and Internet trolling, I'm too foggy to to put down any individual thoughts. So, it's time to borrow from http://thelittlethingswedo.blogspot.com/ for another Fill-in-the-Blank Friday. Here goes:

1.   A nervous habit I have is  picking my left thumbnail. I don't bite it, but I will tussle with its ridges which always leads to it breaking. I do put it between my teeth, which is weird, I know. I don't bite it, just sort of push on it. That also leads to it breaking. Poor nail, there is not much hope for it. Unless I splurge for a manicure, then I'll leave it alone. Until the nail polish starts to chip. Then, it's history.

2.   Something that makes me sad is the puppies I saw in the mall in a store in AZ. So freakin' cute, but it's really sad to see them cooped up in their glass-fronted cages. It looks like it smells inside those little boxes. Most of the puppies were asleep, and while I know pups sleep a lot in general, I just couldn't help thinking that maybe they were drugged. I hope the store owners truly care about and care for the dogs, but it's just so sad. 

3.  Today I am thankful for my husband's patience and ability to put up with my moods; money in our bank accounts; just the thought about sleeping in on Sunday!

4. My favorite room in my house is, based on color alone, the powder room! It's only a toilet and a sink, but the color is the color of Sedona (I was just there on Tuesday, so I can really attest to the likeness!). We had a guest bathroom in our FL house that was the same color. It's this great terra cotta orange. Now that I think of it, I think our guest bath in MA was this color too! We call it the Arizona bathroom, for the color and because we have pictures of a cactus and the red rocks of Sedona on white shelves in there. Corny, I know. But for comfort, my favorite room is our den/great room. We have a huge sectional couch in there; the fireplace is in there; and we have to softest, coziest throw on that big ole couch that we bought last year at Pottery Barn. I snuggle under it every night. Even in the summer, when the a/c is cranking away. Check it out at: http://www.potterybarn.com/products/faux-sheepskin-throw/?pkey=cdecorative-throws

5.  I can't stand a lot of things! But, I can't focus on one particular thing right now. In an effort to be positive, I'm just going to let this go! Big step for me!

6.  If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would treat myself to some new sweaters. It's getting cold now (well, it's in the 50s and 60s, and to me, that's cold!), so I'm wanting to stock up on warm and comfy clothes. And, since I had a birthday last week, and since my parents and my in-laws were generous with cash gifts (the all live in MA, so I really don't mind getting a birthday check - no sense in them buying and shipping a gift), I technically do have $100 to spend on myself. But, then again, I did splurge on a pair of Tory Burch flats while I was in AZ. So, that $100 really should go into the checking account. It should. But, we'll see . . . 

Here are my cute new flats:

7.  The last person I hung out with was my husband Jim. This is par for the course. We laugh at ourselves about how much time we spend together. We are a bit inseparable! Comes with having moved to CA and not knowing anyone when we got here. Sadly, we've been here a while and still don't have regular friends to hang out with. Thankfully, we enjoy each others' company and we like doing things together. We did spend time with friends in AZ though, so other than Jim, the last person I hung out with was Megan. And Mark, her husband. And Taiya and Alexa, her amazing 6-year-old twins. Back up to number 3, I'm thankful for them too. They are kind and they make me laugh and they make me feel loved. 

Rhymes with Orange . . .

Well, nothing rhymes with orange. But everything looks better in orange, I say! I love the color orange. So, this is one of my favorite times of the year -- hooray for pumpkin season!

I've never been a HUGE fan of Halloween (well, except for the candy - the rest is just details!), but I really do love decorating at this time of year. When we moved to FL three years ago from MA, where Autumn is not just a season, it's an event -- leaf peeping, apple picking, football games, putting on a sweater for chilly nights . . . . Oh, yeah, I was saying, when I moved to FL my new neighborhood was big on Halloween decorating and I had a lot of catching up to do. Thus began my (slight) obsession with buying Halloween decorations. Gotta keep up with the Joneses, right?

Funnily enough, decorating for Halloween in FL couldn't involve using real pumpkins (keep 'em outside too long, and they rot before Halloween arrives). But, craft pumpkins proved to be a nice substitute. And, all this seasonal decorating gave me an excuse to go orange! I could spread the love from the front door right into and throughout the house.

Three years later and I'm still into my orange decorations, now I'm just using them in CA. And, in CA, there are pumpkin farms! Woo hoo! How excited was I to go pumpkin picking for the first time three years ago?! All those pumpkins! AND, some of them were green. And white. And some are even called Fairytale Pumpkins! Fun stuff.

I have found, though, that in the last few years, since coming to CA, I've been weeding out my Halloween decorations and am opting for a more mature decor. Fewer ghosts and jack o'lanterns, more pumpkins, gourds and cornucopia. I hung onto a few cute ghostly candles and will probably always put my funky witch out (see below; she's so ugly, she's cute), but I've found that using my pumpkins -- real and a few ceramic -- lets me keep the orange around straight through Thanksgiving.

I really love the colors of this season and I'm always trying to capture the perfect picture of said seasonal delights. Thought I'd share a few. They make me feel cozy. Like putting on that first sweater of Autumn for that first chilly night.

My favorite little witch:

Fall favorites: