Summer Is for Color

 
Streets of Rosarito, Mexico
 

Coming to you live with a special Wednesday edition of LDJ because… I just kind of forgot yesterday was Tuesday? Anyone else? The combination of being on the road + Memorial Day Weekend has thrown me way off. 

We’re currently spending two weeks in sunny Jacksonville, FL and while Florida has never been my favorite state (the HEAT), I must say, it’s greener than I remembered down here. There’s Spanish moss everywhere and a lot of the flowers are in full bloom thanks to a rainy spring, seemingly throughout the United States.

 
Hawaiian flowers bring happiness
 

Now that we’re approaching month six on the road, I have a better idea of what makes me appreciate an area, and a lot of it comes down to color. The more flowers or pastel cottages or blue water or purple mountains a place has, the more I’m drawn to it. On the flip side, the more beige an area is (I’m looking at you, West Texas), the more my mood deteriorates. Color makes the landscape interesting, even if it’s just dozens of shades of green. 

During our stay in San Diego, we popped down to Mexico for a day trip (sorry Mom!), and I fell in love with their use of color. The clothes were amazing - bright and bold, intricate and patterned, lightweight and textured. A lot of the streets had colorful banners hanging overhead, there were woven blankets in the shop windows, and most of the dishes were hand-painted. Even the food we ordered was art!

 

No seriously, that’s cheesecake.

 

While it might not be feasible to head down to Mexico every time you need some inspiration, there are a lot of easy ways to incorporate more color into your daily life. The clothes we wear are the most obvious place to start. Is there a dress in the back of your closet that you never wear because it’s too loud? If the beginning of summer isn’t the time to embrace your most ridiculous outfits, I don’t know what is. To the men out there who think this doesn’t apply to them, let me tell you, being a man in Mexico was not an excuse to dress in all neutrals. Give yourself permission to live a little, if you feel so inclined.

A couple other simple ways to add a pop of color to your life - buy yourself flowers, go to an art gallery, replace your old throw pillows with something more playful, catch a sunset, or make a really colorful meal. Summer lends itself to bright hues to begin with, all you have to do is lean in. 

 
 

Wishing you all a happy unofficial start to summer & an exceptionally colorful week! 

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