Color Theory

The purple reign of fall and winter is over and hope springs eternal in yellow. It's far from mellow. The color gurus at Pantone chose Mimosa, a bright and warm yellow, as the "it” color of 2009. QVC buyers have responded with jewelry, fashion and home decor in similar sunny shades.

Yellow is an optimistic color said to stimulate communication. Maybe that’s why my living room holds so many lively conversations.

It stands to reason we’d need a happy hue during this time of economic doom and gloom. There may be deeper political reasons at play in yellow's sudden popularity. It's the color of liberalism in many countries, according to color expert Kate Smith. Are we now painting the U.S. “yellow dog democrat?” Hmmm. I’ll stick with decorating theories.

Warm yellows work well with other bright colors and also when grounded with neutrals. Try it out with inexpensive accessories such as throws, pillows and pottery. Other popular colors blooming in spring’s palette include: fuchsias, grays, greens and roses.

Go get some color.

Powell's Endorsement

I’m thrilled Colin Powell articulated so specifically what I think about the upcoming election and candidates. I’ve been arguing the same points, but felt as if I was missing something. I sometimes feel like I’m at the kids’ table when it comes to politics. Not so surprising given my family (Uncle Chris is host of MSNBC's Hardball and Uncle Jim is our county commish). The only thing I was missing was confidence in my beliefs.

I’m not a political junkie like my best friend. She’s a die-hard Democrat addicted to MSNBC. She’ll tell you what she thinks loud and clear. Our differences go back to college. While she was reading the latest edition of Mother Jones, I was rallying with the young Republicans at Temple University. There were about five of us. It was a liberal school to say the least. I ran for student council on a ticket that included an African American male and a homosexual white male. You’d think we would have had it wrapped up on diversity alone – a regular rainbow coalition. We lost because we were young Republicans. Even the Democratic white supremacist students got more votes. So, even when it was super unpopular, I was a proud Republican.

But this administration’s execution of the Republican ideology has fallen woefully short and has been reshaped into something unrecognizable. McCain is guilty by more than just association. So, I’ll be a Republican voting for a Democrat.

God, I miss Ronald Reagan.