What’s your favorite color?
(And when was the last time you even thought about color preferences — maybe in seventh grade? Ha!)
Mine is, and always has been, blue. When I was little and my mother used colors to distinguish between the daily drinking cups (we’d line them up in a row at the edge of the kitchen counter after meals, and she’d fill them up there with watered-down juice or milk at mealtime) and the backpacks and the pencil cases and the shoes of her five children, my color was always blue.
When I started writing this blog, I immediately opted for a green-gray-blue color for my logo. There was never really a question; it was pre-ordained to be blue.
When it came time to send out our wedding save-the-dates — even before I firmly had a vision for the wedding itself — I gravitated toward letterpress cards in a periwinkle-hydrangea blue without giving it much thought. (All of our wedding stationery was from Bella Figura.) And my mother told me that one of my aunts clutched at her pearls with delight when she opened the invitation and said: “Oh, it’s just so Jennifer.”
I’ve always loved that little anecdote because — yes. Blue is my color, and there is much to like about it. Blue is the color of Mary, to whom I’ve always held a special devotion. It is the color of peace, the color of serenity, the color of coolness: traits others have generously attributed to me even if I feel inwardly harried and anxious half the time. It is the color of the sea, of the sky, and I especially love hues that incorporate a moody gray that reminds me of these elements: natural, but brooding.
I have been drawn to blue with particular magnetism over the past few weeks. It feels as though everything I buy is blue nowadays. Below, a few of my favorite finds, setting aside my Frances Valentine caftan, which I’ve already blathered on about…
THIS $60 STEAL OF A CHINOISERIE-PRINT DRESS (DIE!)
A STUNNING SILK FLORAL WRAP DRESS
MY GO-TO LINEN-BLEND CARDIGAN (WEARING THIS HEAVILY THESE DAYS)
A FLORAL PADDED HEADBAND (LOVE)
THE CHICEST OFF-THE-SHOULDER BOHO DRESS I EVER DID SEE
A CHIC TUNIC THAT WALKS THE LINE BETWEEN ELEGANT AND QUIRKY
A PRETTY PRINTED MIDI THAT LOOKS LIKE A CHINOISERIE PRINT VASE
A DARLING SHOULDER-TIE DRESS (WHO DOESN’T LOVE A BOW ON HER SHOULDER?!)
AN EASY-TO-WEAR STRIPED SHIRTDRESS
STATEMENT-MAKING TWEED SANDALS (SWOON)
WIDE-LEG BEACH PANTS ($13…!)
SCALLOP-EDGED MIDI DRESS (UNDER $100)
THE CUTEST NIGHTIE THE WORLD OVER
For little ones: these overalls, this gingham dress, this sweatshirt, these Cientas in the washed denim, this romper, and this dress.
Also: I need this blue striped ribbon for wrapping summer gifts and treats.
P.S. Things I’ve learned from my mother, affirmations, and my favorite acquisitions of 2019.