Single Awareness Day
“Oh! What a gorgeous dinner,” I said to our friends, “so romantic, a perfect Valentine’s Day feast.” It truly was – even though it was Valentine’s Eve, every detail was perfect, an outdoor fire, a beautiful red-velvet cake with white chocolate decorations, all in a delicate white and pink icing, a meal to die for . . .
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” we chirped.
“Happy Single Awareness Day,” their son grumped. He is astute and articulate, and AdventureMan and I have been married for so long that we’d forgotten what it is like to have Valentine’s Day without a sweetheart. 😦
Valentine’s Day really is mostly – in my opinion – about marketing. Selling greeting cards, selling flowers, selling candy, selling photos . . . . and it does make one acutely aware of being alone. It also puts pressure on couples to remember each other, oh aaarrgh. (Yes, AdventureMan remembered and bought me a great card. 🙂 ) The marketing mania for Valentine’s Day is not so great if you are in the middle of a fight or the relationship is going through one of those rocky periods. Or single.
Car Rental Fees Update
So here is how my car rental looked:
The ACTUAL charge was like $142 for the week. “Fees” and taxes came to an additional $76.85. It is SO misleading when you are quoted a car rental price and it doesn’t include those charges until the final tally. It’s OK for me, it’s just what I have to do, but I remember being young, and when an extra almost $77 might have been a really bad surprise.
The check-in person asked me how I liked the car – a Ford Focus. I told her I hated it. I know it’s being advertised as ‘better than Toyota’ but it isn’t. It drives like a boat. It is clunky feeling, and it doesn’t get great pick-up. When I first got in, I had to drive those extra narrow, extra fast lanes on Seattle’s crowded I-5 going North, and it was raining and water is swooshing off the tops of trucks (who were passing me) and I just hated the car.
Toyotas are more nimble. Toyotas have better pick-up. You know, I would rather like to buy American, but first the automakers have to show me that they have a car that makes you happy to be driving.
People kid me about my Rav4, that it’s a young people’s car, but you know, I love the way it drives, I love the way it grips the road and goes anywhere, and still remains small enough and nimble enough to park in a tiny little spot. It has a much bigger feel, and is so comfortable. The Ford Focus is just clunky.
BTW, I asked the check in person if it was legal for me to rent a car for a week to get the better rate and then to turn it in early. She just laughed and said “It’s not illegal; it’s SMART!”
Color of the Year: Honeysuckle
I don’t know why, I think of honeysuckle as a kind of yellowish white, so when Pantone announced the colors for 2011 and Honeysuckle turned out to be a very coral-colored pink, I was kind of surprised.
A short time later, honeysuckle is everywhere. Today I got this ad – all for honeysuckle colored flowers:
Update: Here are some images of real honeysuckle
Pantone Names Spring Colors for 2011
I’m a total sucker for colors, especially wonderful names like Regatta and Blue Curacao, Honeysuckle and Peapod. 🙂
It may only be early winter, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about spring. If you’re among the trendsetters who like to keep things “au courant” in your interior, take a look at the spring fashion color report, courtesy of the expert forecasters at Pantone.
Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week to identify the most directional colors to guide the season. Take a look at these hue choices — and what inspired them — then pick a hue or two and start thinking of ways that you, too, can get inspired and revamp your style for the coming seasons.
You can read the entire post at AOL News Shelterpop
‘Where’s the #!*% Gecko?’
Today when I got home, I saw that Barcelona Red (AdventureMan’s car) had a rear light that looked like it was out. Oh oh. It looks like Barcelona Red took a crunch! I rushed inside to make sure AM was OK, which he was, and actually, he was very calm, it was a small accident, a young girl hit him while he was waiting for the car in front of him to make a left turn across traffic. They exchanged insurance information, AM filed a police report, and we think all is well.
AdventureMan and I follow good advertising campaigns. ‘What makes a good campaign?’ you are asking, and I will tell you. It gets your attention AND you remember the name of the advertiser when recalling the ad. If it is really good, it enters the national vocabulary, like ‘where’s the beef?’ or MAC vs PC.
‘I hope that Gecko pulls through for me,’ AdventureMan says, a little traumatized now that all the must-do’s are done. It’s her insurance. She has the Gecko. Great campaign; we’ll see how they perform in real life.
Killing Us Softly: Women in Advertising
Thanks once again to my vigilant Kuwait friend who sends me these wonderful references, this time some really good YouTube videos about how women are victimized by the images we are given of ourselves in advertising, and how impossible it is for us to live up to them.
No Resistance
I am drawn like a moth to the flame . . . all these wonderful Christmas decorations! I still have to go through the boxes from storage and the boxes from Doha . . . .
It isn’t even Halloween, and Christmas is breaking through everywhere.
The last time we lived in Florida, Christmas was amazing. Since it is the dry season, there were fabulous, extravagant light displays everywhere. The child within me can hardly wait. 🙂
Joe Patti’s Fresh Seafood
We have died and gone to heaven. At a time in our life when fish is a very good thing, we have come to another place where seafood is plentiful and delicious. (Kuwait and Qatar were also fish heavens 🙂 )
We have often eaten at Joey Patti’s, but had only glimpsed the Joe Patti outlet next door. Oh WOW. While I will still be buying at Maria’s because it is so close to where I live, Joe Patti’s is what Michelin calls “worth a trip.” They have wild salmon, cut into steaks, my all-time favorite. Good salmon, seared, cooked just through, has a moist, buttery taste I crave, with none of the high-cholesterol drawbacks of butter. 🙂
Joe Patti’s is HUGE, and full of seafood. Not just seafood, but anything associated with seafood, like spices, like prepared seafood salads, like condiments, and cooking equipment. Even some great palate-cleansing gelato. 🙂
Here is how you get there:
The Naughty Volvo
This is hilarious. It is so daring, so counter-intuitive, that I would love to see it work.
I drove a Volvo for 13 years – the same Volvo. It just wouldn’t wear out. It was a SAFE car. Half the people in the Pacific Northwest were driving Volvos; we all had kids, it was the responsible car to buy.
But a naughty Volvo? The very idea is just hilarious!
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