They Call Me Mellow Yellow

For as long as we have owned our house the front door had been painted a medium dark blue. Because it just blended in with the grey/blue house color, over the years I had tried to liven things up with colorful wreathes and lots of friendly flowers. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to help the bland curb appeal. A few weeks ago I happened upon an article on the internet about front door colors and their hidden meanings. “Blue front doors have a calming effect associated with stability and trust.” In other words - boring.

A reformed hippie, my email address is peacenpassion@yahoo.com so this passionate gal decided to repaint our front door. In my search for the perfect front door color I found a quiz on HGTV where you answer a few simple questions and it will determine what color reflects your personality. Not too surprising this is the results of my quiz.

Your color is lemon!

You like your home to be bright, cheery and full of energy and this

perfect shade of yellow accomplishes all that and more.

I say not too surprising because my first car was yellow, my bedroom is painted yellow and I love yellow taxis. Further proof that yellow was the right color was that a yellow door says you are creative, have a positive attitude and are a morning person. YES. YES. YES.

What color is your front door?

Hot as H...

California’s 2017 rainy season (October 2016 – March 2017) was the 2^nd wettest since scientists started recording weather over 122 years ago. It was a lot of water but it came with benefits, not only for umbrella manufacturers but more importantly for filling up the reservoirs up north. It's not surprising that The Old Farmers Almanac, which has been around for a whopping 325 years and holds the record for the oldest continuously published periodical in North America, also predicted a very wet season. 

Fast forward to June 2017 and Los Angeles’s newest breaking record blistering HEAT, and I’m not talking about the jalapeño peppers. Try 101 degrees in my backyard. Of course, I just planted my veggie garden and all my plants are barely clinging to life, despite being watered three times a day. Plus, I am in the midst of the husband’s bathroom remodel and yesterday was the tar on the shower floor day, which means the house smells like a roof. A very hot, stinky roof.

Things couldn’t get worse, right? Wrong. Our air conditioning stopped working. According to the Old Farmers Almanac today's weather is just a preview of what is to come. "Summer will be hotter than normal with the hottest periods early and mid to late July and mid August."

Figure my only way out is the mall, the movie theater or the gym. Unfortunately at this hour the only thing open is the gym so as soon as the contractors arrive I am out of here. Hope you have a cool, calm day.

Trislasodelaphobia



There is a long standing debate among experts as to whether the fear of the number 13 is a phobia or a superstition. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter what you call it since the fear, which has been around since medieval times, holds a legitimate role in our everyday life. According to Otis Elevators 85% of their elevators do not have a 13th floor button. Many airlines omit the 13th row and even some cities skip over 13th Street. Blame it all on Triskaidekaphobia.

The one place where the number 13 is considered lucky is in Italy. And lucky for me, the husband is 32% Italian. Last week we celebrated our 13th anniversary so I made a list of the 13 reasons why I love the husband - in no particular order.

1. He tells me I am beautiful
2. He is generous
3. He loves my daughter
4. He never kills bugs, even spiders
5. He makes me laugh
6. He irons his own shirts
7. He vacuums the house
8. He doesn’t complain when I don’t make dinner
9. He is proud of my accomplishments
10. He takes care of me when I am sick
11. He trusts me to make decisions for the two of us
12. He lets me park my car in the garage
13. He still buys me flowers

Marriages are hard work. Happy marriages are even harder. Here's to the next lucky 13 years!

Day 1

 

According to a recent survey, having His and Her bathrooms is one of the keys to a happy marriage. I agree 100%. I love my pretty butter yellow bathroom with its Victorian hexagon flooring and crystal vanity light. His bathroom is sage green and although not dogeared ugly, it is outdated.

Since the husband plans to retire by the end of the year we decided to do one last major house project and have His bathroom remodeled. I must say we debated long and hard whether to tackle this project but in the end, it’s the husband’s bathroom and his word of the day was YES!

It’s 5:30 AM and the demolition is set to begin at 8:00 AM.  WHY? That’s my word of the day. The house is already in chaos and my daily schedule for the next two weeks is in tatters. Have you ever remodeled a bathroom? If so, any words of advice?

A Belated Birthday Present

1946 was a memorable year, with such noticeable events as the debut in Paris of the Bikini and the introduction to the US consumer of Tupperware. It was also the year the microwave oven was invented by Percy L. Spencer, plus the year I entered the world on a cold early morning, courtesy of Mac and Dorothy.

In my lifetime I have owned an itsy bitsy teeny weeny green bikini and endless Tupperware containers but unlike 90% of Americans, I have never owned a microwave oven. Our kitchen actually had a space perfect to house one, but because wine is a more important commodity in our house, I had a wine rack built and until recently had never had regrets with my decision.

Ah, sweet retirement and the luxury of staying in bed binging on Netflix and drinking endless cups of once hot, now lukewarm coffee. I admit I had occasional thoughts of buying a microwave, but it wasn't until that fateful day a few weeks ago, when I removed a bowl of leftover cold vegetarian meatballs swimming in a congealed pool of tomato sauce that I was convinced that what I needed to make my lunch and life perfect was a microwave.

 

 

Lo and behold, let me introduce the newest member of our family - my new red microwave.  I admit I now find myself wondering why it took me so long to buy one. I love using it and I love the way it fits in perfectly with our black and white retro kitchen. Best of all I like to think of the microwave as a birthday present from Mr. Spencer, invented just for me to make my leftovers eatable.