Tangerine Tango: Deal with It.

We need to talk about Tangerine Tango, because it's not going to go away.

First of all, you're probably asking, "What is Tangerine Tango, and why is it a threat to my wardrobe and interior décor?" These are reasonable questions. Tangerine Tango is The Color for 2012, so sayeth the Great Prophet, Pantone. Pantone came down from on high in New Jersey and proclaimed that we shall wear an offensively orangey-red color and we shall God damn well like it. *sigh*

Pantone essentially dictates what colors are going to be trendy. Everyone pays attention to them; everyone, from fashion designers to advertisers, from interior decorators to the good people at the Today Show. (Note: Al only participated because he thought Tangerine Tango was a dessert.)

The Color is chosen in the latter quarter of the preceding year. A lot goes into choosing The Color. It could be as simple as the tides of consumer preference changing. Then again an emerging, influential culture may have a color palette closely associated with it, and this can prompt a trend. Sometimes what shades have been slowly trickling into the market as a "long shot sale" item (as in, "It's a long shot Bob, but maybe someone will buy this hideously orange thing,") can have a bearing on Pantone's choice. More often than not though, Pantone will generally call The Color based on what the general mood is of the population, ("You know what Ed? I'm feeling really tangerine-y today and I think I'm going to break into a Latin dance any minute.") Or similarly, they'll choose The Color based on what the consuming population needs emotionally.

 

Even Barney is getting in on the trend with his new orange-red friend.

Tangerine Tango—okay you know what? I'm not typing that again, TT, we're calling it TT from here on out—is a challenging color. It's not a red, it's not an orange, it's not even a tomato. It's just this bright, BRIGHT color that is supposed to illustrate the warmth and optimism we're all supposed to be feeling. It's the color of fire—fire being symbolic of passion and change. No, I'm not blowing smoke up your asses, look what Pantone said: "Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward. “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.” (Pantone press release, Pantone.com)."

Like I said, you're supposed to feel energetically open to change.

 

 
MObama encourages you to CHANGE…into TT.

Like I said, it's a challenging color and we're going to get through this together. How can you incorporate this into your life?

Interior décor:
You can go with one of two directions: Subtle or statement pieces.

Or you can go for the SNICK couch.

 

If you go for subtle, small touches can be incorporated to add a punch of color to the room—it will come off as playful and youthful.


Here are some examples of a few great subtle pieces:

I love how the figurines add a touch of kitsch while playing off the sham pillow. And of course I love the baby blue headboard, but we're not talking about baby blue, because Pantone didn't choose baby blue as their color, did they? No. If you're looking to do knickknacks, you can easily take any figurine you find and spray paint it. This is really easy and cheap. Flea markets, yard sales, even the Dollar Tree have items that you could transform.

I generally don't decorate with books. I prefer books to be functional, rather than aesthetic, but if you're someone who doesn't really care what the books called, as long as it looks cool on the shelf, you could hit up a yard sale, antique store, or even the library (during book sales,) and pick up a few books with coordinating colors. Side note: Loving the insulator as a bookend!

These pillows are adorable and available on Etsy. While we're on the subject of Etsy, you can search for items based on color palette—it's a great tool if you're looking to add a color to your life and aren't sure how.

Speaking of Etsy, check out this adorable vintage cream and sugar set! It's really inexpensive too. I found it using the palette search option.

Then of course if you're willing to spend a little money, Brooks Bros has this great lamp:

It's whimsical and practical—you can always change the lampshade when you get tired of the color.

Dare to dream of the day when you can be like Sandra Lee and color coordinate expensive kitchen appliances on a weekly basis.


Statement pieces are a bigger commitment, but they can bring a dramatic and beautiful change to a room—even I was shocked by what I found (and liked!)

This is not the SNICK couch. The use of wood and tufting, it's just gorgeous. Teal pillows would have looked really nice with this, but the neutral shams look nice as well.

My best friend has an orange room. It's really a Dreamcicle orange, not a TT, and it makes a huge statement, just like this room. I think if the designer had not included the breakup of the color with the tree decal, the color would be overpowering. Still, there's the potential for it to feel like Halloween ALL THE TIME.

As I said before, teal and TT: They are bffs. Note the subtle touches throughout the room as well.

This chair is an example of how you could create a statement piece for cheap. Take any piece of wooden furniture, strip it, and paint it. You get the pop of color for a fraction of the investment, not to mention you can change the color easily over a reasonably warm weekend.




Fashion:


I think it's a lot easier to incorporate TT into your physical appearance.


Be it through make up…

Through nail color…

Or hair!

 

Kidding. Please don't dye your hair TT.

When it comes to incorporating TT into your wardrobe, the truth is we can't all look as stunning in TT as JHud.

 

Most skin tones just don't look good with this color all over—although you would be safe while hunting or as a pedestrian at night. That's why I like smaller touches for this color.

The only larger piece that I found and liked is from Old Navy. They're very much about unusually colored trenches, though admittedly their fit is often a challenge for anyone with a chest or broader in the shoulders.

If you've got the skin tone for it, you could opt for a TT ensemble. Redheads and warmly toned people can pull it off, at least that's what the internet tells me. I pulled this image from Glamour--they seem to know what they're talking about.

 

Now Dear Kate, my dearest, dearest Kate Spade has gone and used TT on me, and I feel very conflicted—can't she just overlook this color just this once?? *sigh*

I'll just have to trust her on this. Admittedly after researching this color I became a little more open to it. I think with my own copper highlights and hazel eyes I maybe be able to incorporate the color into my appearance or even add a couple of knickknacks (like I need more,) to the house.


Are you going to add a little Tangerine Tango to your life?

My Valentine's Evening Was Better Than Yours

Any grandmothers or easily offended persons ought to go ahead and head over to YouTube and start searching for "pug puppies." It's just better this way because I'm going to upset you otherwise. Also, colorful language alert! If you don't know what that means you're also probably going to be offended by this post.




So yesterday was Valentine's Day.

Being a person who gives no shits about being in a relationship, I continued my tradition of cooking a really delicious meal and drinking copious amounts of wine, sans Valentine. I watched Criminal Minds (because what isn't romantic about a guy cutting off a girl's lips and putting them on his dead mother's corpse?) and I ate lots of chocolate. Feel free to tell me at any time how this picture could have been improved by a romantic companion. It couldn't have. Well…fine, no, no, I know what you're going to say, and yes, I suppose that could have improved things, but that involves all kinds of leg work—cleaning my room, putting on fresh sheets, shaving my legs, buying and cooking two steaks instead of just the one, I'd probably would have had to get a gift of some sort, plus a card that explained my feelings just so, it's just a lot of effort to put into that. Again, filing all of that under reasons why my Valentine's evening was better than those who had a Valentine.


I digress. Sort of, that's generally something I'm not known for.


So I made dinner for myself and it was delicious and terribly unhealthy. Paula Deen would have been so proud of me.

I made my "Dirty Girl Steak," along with a baked sweet potato, accompanied by lots of Flip Flop's Cabernet Sauvignon.

The steak was so delicious I had to brag to the world of social media, and in doing so, I caught the attention of a few people who wanted the recipe. Being a couple glasses in, (and by glasses I mean blue Solo cups,) I tweeted my recipe in a fashion that pretty much cements my future in the culinary world.



"Filthy Fucking Recipe for my Dirty Girl Steak:


Enough brown sugar until you think you have enough, enough McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning until it's enough. Rub on steak. Massage steak--it's had a hard day. Rub the tension out of it. Let it rest for an hour. Melt a stick of butter. Dice 3 cloves of garlic. Heat pan to med-low (about 3 out of 9.) Introduce butter and garlic. Let the butter and garlic make friends--let the garlic get golden. Salt and pepper the garlic while it's in f$%king butter. Let the steak make sweet, sweet love to the melted butter and golden garlic for 10 minutes—don't interrupt their time together. DON'T. Flip steak when it's browned about a 1/3 of the way up. Let it f%#king cook for another 5 minutes, spoon butter and garlic over steak. Don't let the garlic burn. Keep it cooking for another 3 or 4min, depending on how you like your steak. Put on plate, pour butter and garlic onto steak, put in mouth."



Clearly my career path is set, and yes, that all went out to the world of social media. And they are all waiting for my cookbook.

 In all seriousness, the steak was probably lightly poached by cooking in that much butter and at that low a temperature. The result was a really nice texture—the meat and the fat practically melted into each other, and if you know my tastes, you know I can't stand fatty meat, but this time I really didn't care, it was that good. The garlic got crisp and the caramel-y crust that the brown sugar and Montreal seasoning created this really amazing, chewy, crunchy feel. The sweet potato was a lovely side with its salt, pepper, butter and brown sugar (seeing a theme here? It's called "tying together the meal." I think Sandra Lee taught me or something…). I must say though, the sweet potato, while tasty, was hardly needed. Not with that steak. The steak was the star. The foodgasm was everything I needed.

I'm sorry Grandma(s) if you've continued to read this. I did warn you though. And maybe I should apologize to my parents. Maybe. They shouldn't be surprised. In any case, here's a picture of a pug puppy in pajamas to make it better.

Sorry.