Ha Noi Opera House (one), detail of a portal at the Ha Noi Opera House in downtown Ha Noi, Vietnam, photo © 2008-2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I know it’s only the third week in January, but today is feeling like a yellow kind of day. Maybe it’s the unusually warm temperatures we’ve been hitting here in the Rio Grande Valley (which actually cause us to grumble for the way the heat tricks the fruit trees into blooming and then wham, a hard freeze). It could be that gold-yellow dress the First Lady wore for the Presidential Inauguration. (Did you like it, by the way?) Maybe it’s the feeling of fresh starts.
Whatever it is, it’s here. The day is bright. I’m mellow yellow.
I have a yellow cashmere sweater that I recently rediscovered at the bottom of my sweater drawer. The other day I wore it over a yellow T-shirt I found at Target for $2.98. Can you believe it? $2.98! It was perfect for the sweater. I wore a (not real) gold chain, kind of heavy, and a more delicate (not real) gold choker with pearls, layered. I got lots of compliments that night. Yellow. Who would have known?
One time a co-worker walked by my cube. He peeked in on me and said, kind of surprised, “Wow, black is your color!” After that, any time I had a party to go to or something where I wanted to look good, I pulled out a black blouse and black slacks. After a while, I started to look like Johnny Cash. Stuck in Folsom prison. I love Johnny Cash and never tire of his music, but my look? It got stale.
Yellow’s a funny color. In architecture, it seems to be used more for home interiors—sunny kitchens, uneven walls sponged a Mexican sunflower—than for exteriors. The exception might be the antebellum Southern plantation home. Think Tara from Gone with the Wind.
The Opera House in downtown Ha Noi is a pale yellow, although under the bright Vietnamese sun, and given the size of the place, the yellow rises up from the pavement like a luminous ball (wall) of fire. Gracing the grounds of the Opera House is an outdoor café where you can sip iced Vietnamese milk coffee while sitting in bamboo and cloth chairs set under ramadas. It is, perhaps, the most civilized experience I’ve ever had.
Yellow has that effect. In spite of the fact that it’s a warm color, it calms and brightens at once. There is no agitation to yellow as there is with red. No melancholy that comes with the tranquility of blue. No, yellow is its own thing.
Fleeting, perhaps, in winter; enjoy it while it lasts.
February is The Yellow month to me. Here in So Cal, there are many trees/bushes that start blooming – all yellow. So it’s all over the landscaping. Daffodils bloom in my yard. I have a tendency to decorate my computer and blog each month with different color themes. January is blue, February (which I suppose *should* be pink because of V-day) is yellow to me. I think it helps to bridge the gap between the cool of winter to the bright flowers of spring.
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ybonesy, great history link to this beautiful Opera House, over a 100 years old. Cool photos, too. And I didn’t remember that Tara was yellow.
I’ve been drawn to Yellow lately, a move away from a recent long, long draw to Orange. I feel that way about yellow, too, both bright and mellow. With the chakras, Yellow is a color of action, right at the Solar Plexus. [More on Chakras at Squaring The Circle — July Mandalas (LINK)]
Independence, action, self-esteem — I find I’m drawn most to colors with the energy I need to move into next with my body and intentions. I need to move more into Action!
Are you drawn to yellow right now? Or more to the blues in your Blue post that you link to. Yellow reminds me of spring and summer, and we are heading that direction (though another cold snap is due tomorrow).
The inaugural dresses…hmmmm. I did like the yellow one she wore at the Inauguration (weren’t her gloves green?). But I didn’t care for the ragged edges of the white one she wore to dance at the balls. That’s just me though. And I’m not much of a dress person, period. So who am I to judge. I can’t remember the last time I wore a dress. 8)
What did you think about them, yb?
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I liked the yellow dress—it looked to me like it had gold thread woven in, too. I have a skirt that’s a sort of yellow woven wool material, with gold threads woven in to give what otherwise is a very business-like look a bit more sparkle. So probably Michelle Obama’s dress and dress-coat didn’t have gold woven in, but they reminded me of that skirt of mine.
Anyhoo, I liked that, liked the contrast with the dark colors that Obama wore. I also loved the colors that the girls wore—purple and pink/orange, I think.
Most of the folks at the Inauguration Party I went to Tuesday night did NOT like Michelle’s white dress. Too frilly, not to mention impractical for dancing. I didn’t mind it, although if I would have been the stylist, I probably would have gone for something more sleek and classic.
Yeah, I’m definitely out of my blue period (emotionally; I still love blue for decorating, plus one can’t just throw out all the existing color schemes and replace them overnight) and into something else. I think the blue was mostly around the holidays; I always get a little funky then.
Today I’m wearing my yellow Target shirt and my yellow cashmere sweater, so definitely in a yellow phase for now. Thanks for adding the chakra link; I hadn’t even stopped to look up where Yellow came from and what it meant. It makes sense. I’m definitely in a “finish what you start” mode, and I’m slowing down, less multi-tasking. Getting a lot done these days.
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Oh, QM, regarding the gloves—they did have a greenish tint. One the TV we were watching at the party, the dress had a slight greenish tint, too. But other than on that TV, the gloves seemed slightly off color from the suit.
tpgoddess, it sure does feel like we’re moving into Spring quickly. Last February we got a real warm spell and then the cold snap that froze all the blossoms. No apples last year, and I hope it doesn’t repeat again this year.
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yb, yes, a sleek and classic look in a dress or gown, something more elegant. I would have chosen the same for the inaugural balls. Something that more closely matched the tone of his tux.
The finish-what-you-start mode you are in, I have noticed it in your posting on the blog. You’ve done some wonderful posts over the last few weeks since Christmas. Not that you didn’t before. But I’ve definitely noticed a shift in your energy. I’ve been pretty low energy, so I’m glad we balance each other that way. Over the years, it goes back and forth, doesn’t it.
I’m not a big fan of multi-tasking. But I can sure understand how those with kids would need to learn to do it almost every day. Especially single parents. I’m much more of a person who likes to do one thing at a time and take it as far as I can. I don’t always get the opportunity to have that kind of time though. So all the multitasking I have learned at different jobs has come in handy. I sure do prefer to live a slower life though. Maybe I’m getting old. 8) Bring on more Yellow!
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I am a big fan of yellow. Several years ago we painted our family room a light yellow , not the off-white that everyone in Wisconsin seems to go for, and I try to spend as much time as possible in my yellow room in the winter. It seems to help a little.
And Michelle Obama’s dress – those in the fashion-know call the color lemon-grass. Now isn’t that just a fabulous name for that color. I can almost feel spring – no, wait – not quite. Guess I’ll have to visualize spring instead, 🙂
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yb, I loved the yellow dress that Michelle wore. I also liked the green in the gloves (the color of my bathroom, which is called crocodile tears) & I also believe her shoes were of the same color. Hard to tell, as I didn’t see them until she & Barack got out of the limo to walk. But, I also liked the white gown. I think the entire family was dressed in fabulous colors that day!
I tend to wear more earth tone colors. I once went to a color party & they tell you, depending on skin tone, what colors are more appropriate for you. So, I am an Autumn. Made sense. I look best in orange (my favorite), yellow, certain shades of green, browns & beige, & red. I can also get away with black, but that does become boring.
When I decorate my home or pick my flowers for Spring gardening, I always lean toward those colors. Those are my feel good colors. I wish iI could pull off light blue, but Denim is the only blue that works for me. D
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Oh, lemon-grass. It’s a pretty color. I noticed (looking at her dress on the web) that it looked really good on my computer monitor. That would be a nice color for a wall in my house. In fact, I have a sort of celery-colored wall, more green than yellow, but still with lots of yellow.
QM, I think it’s just plain harder to multi-task as one gets older, don’t you?
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I haven’t met many people who can wear orange, diddy. I have a good friend who looks fabulous in orange, but she’s the only one I know.
I think I’m too dark for Oranges and Browns, which is too bad because I like both. But you know how Chocolate Brown seems to come into fashion every few seasons? Well, they are terrible against my skin. That’s why, btw, I kind of thought Yellow would be, too.
Do you keep your home in a certain basic set of colors and then add accents each season, like with flower arrangements? I’m very boring when it comes to decorating. Once it’s decorated, I don’t do a whole lot more to jazz it up or change it.
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yb, actually, I kinda never stray from earth tones as far as decorating my home. I think the closest I ever came was years ago when my kitchen was red, white, & blue. I like to think that my home is warm & friendly.
The oranges I wear are more of a burnt orange color, than bright orange (though I can get by with it & even lime green). I look horribly washed out in pastels. The color party I attended was about 25 years ago & they sit you in front of a big mirror & under some heavy duty lighting. Then, they drape different colored cloth around you & it was quite impressive.
My garden is usually a mixture of colors. I am especially fond of yellows, oranges, reds, white, & purple, along with some pinks. Nothing in the garden needs to be matchy, matchy. I see those types of gardens & think, no imagnation was put into the design. D
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I love bright orange, or at least a deep orange, and wish I could wear it. I find a lot of great orange scarves during my travels. Also orange tablecloths and runners, pillowcases, things like that.
I love yellows in the garden, and pinks. I’m fond of zinnias and the sort of dusty pinks they produce. Sounds like you like a sort of natural garden, or at least something that looks like nature (and not humans) produced it. Sometimes those are the most difficult to create.
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I love yellow and these photos are full of its spirit. Gorgeous.
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