Monday notes at My House

37 Comments

1. I love a good pantry chili! Because I’m vegetarian, I add a lot of chopped mushrooms to mine, and more beans. I love preseasoned beans and tomatoes. Like you, I do add my own flavorings, but the spices really seep into those beans and give a depth of flavor that only a really long simmer and toasting spices would do otherwise. Yours sounded delicious. My favorite colors to wear are peacock blue and kingfisher, with turquoise jewelry, although really dark brown is fast becoming a second. I also love rust and terracotta. Since my color analysis, I’m intrigued with geranium (a really, really bright warm red) and pulled out a sweater in it that I’m wearing a lot. I get the most compliments when I wear gold or mustard, but I find it hard to mix with other things.

2. Thanks for starting us off today, Linda. I also love these colors, but my spring palette has changed the shades a bit. I am going to take note of everyone’s favorite colors who respond to this post. I tried to make Mr. B more of a vegetarian, but gave up years ago after many rejections. He also rejected my attempts to add ground turkey in lieu of ground beef. Alas, it has been many failed attempts. But your addition of the mushrooms sound excellent…wish I there had been some around when I did the pantry dive. Happy Monday!

3. Hi, Pamela. Your joy is coming through in this post. So fun!! I have a cool winter-type skin tone with salt and pepper hair. I love color, and my favorites are red, navy, cream and burgundy. And I LOVE pink. Especially a bright almost hot pink. There are days when I love wearing all white, even though my comedian husband calls me “the ice cream man.” I need a new swimsuit, and buying/wearing one is close to my least favorite thing to do. I’m thinking of trying the Lands End swim dress you showed a few days ago. I am a small petite person. Any swimsuit advice from this community would be welcome.

4. hi Pamela – Good luck this week! I always like to see these types of recipes since I am not very good at winging it!

   I am a winter. I still wear tons of black and am not ready to give that up even though I keep reading that black near the face does us no favors as we age.
   I wear a lot of blue also. Cobalt and other bright blues (ocean?) are my favorites. Lastly, I also wear some olive green and denim shirts and jackets.

5. Lands End does offer petite sizing in swimwear, Marcia…and you are in luck, pink is everywhere! I will do a little shopping for you!

6. Thanks Theresa! Winters can wear black and I am always jealous of winters ! There are so many great pieces in black. Thanks for sharing.

7. Pam, a suggestion on the soup you made…Skinnytaste website has a turkey taco soup which is similar to what you “concocted “ and has zero (0) weight watcher points. I personally need to follow a recipe, probably as a science major following steps of an experiment, but this recipe is very good, I think, and the ground turkey has no points.
   As to my colors, as a winter I do wear black, navy, and gray as my neutrals. Then the majority of my clothing are in jewel colors…purple, pink, blue, burgundy, all saturated colors. I do also wear pure white, not any cream or ivory. My hair is basically gray.

8. Going to make this stew for a family visit. Im guessing you did not drain the canned ingredients since you did not use the stock. I personally eat very low carb but looking forward to this whole foods meal!

9. Hi Pam,
   I love purple, fuchsia, red, bright citrus green. I wear too much black in the past, trying to do better with the black and white look. It’s classic.
   Your chili sounds good. I add lots of chopped up mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, onions and have based soy. We do not eat red meat. We eat mostly plant based, once in awhile fish and chicken, a test turkey. Vegan eating we do often. My forever friend will be visiting in April and she is a strict Vegan. That week we will be entirely Vegan.
   Good luck with your eye exam this week.
   Stay safe out there.

10. Mr. B will not eat the ground turkey…so I have to go with what works for both of us. Thanks for joining in with the colors, Celia.

11. I did not drain them…and it worked great. We ate it in a bowl. Enjoy!

12. thanks for being here, Katherine.

13. Both the idea of pantry diving and wardrobe colors are very timely for me right now since I have just completed my weeding out and reorganization of both spaces! I love the sound of your Mexican stew. Cumin + lime + Mexican oregano is my love language. ☺️💗 🇲🇽

    Yes, Marcia should take a look at the swimwear from L.E. Their new prints are launching, and I think the red with white mini-dots or the poppy print on cream background might look cute on Marcia. These are available in their Grecian one-piece, which is a super flattering style, in my opinion.

    Mid-tone colors in the spring palette work best for me. So, saturated pastels, old Girl Scout Junior’s uniform green from the 1960’s, most blues, and some khaki, cream, and white. Medium yellows, pinks and lavender. Foundation pieces in navy have always worked well. I also have a tremendous fondness for heathered fabrics that offer something a little more interesting. Talbot’s and J.Jill continue to be my go-to brands, but I also find the occasional Nordie’s or Macy’s (On Fifth) that calls to me.

    Happy Monday, and YEAH!!! 🏈Seahawks!

14. I love bright colors and navy, black, gray as neutrals. The chocolate brown color has grown on me as well. I like camel, too. My hair is white. I had it colored for years, but when my late husband was ill about 15 years ago, I kept missing appointments and thought why not see what it looks like. I was pleasantly surprised at the bright white color, and it was a form of freedom to not have to have it colored again!

15. You made me laugh with your description of green from the Girl Scout’s! Thanks for sharing, Connie…and with me it’s cumin…just can’t get enough! Love it. And yes, congrats to the Seahawks…such an impressive team and coach.

16. Thanks for sharing, Cheryll…but I am sad to hear about your husband. Friday may be the last time I do this with my hair…I have no idea…one day at a time…but for right now I still want to have a little fun with it. Like you, I will know when it is time to stop the coloring.

17. For shopping feedback, I am always on the lookout for petite garments in the casual but somewhat chic range. I know that Americans in general are getting taller, but there are many of us who were born around the mid 20th century who did not benefit from that physical trend! I don’t much care for Chico’s because they seem to never have petite tops and I am swallowed by their styles. We petites are not just short in the legs! I like J.Jill’s range of fits in general, but they seldom have cool bright or deep colors for us winter pallet girls. Talbot is a good fallback, but most of their styles just scream Talbot, so I’m watching for some new retailers to spark some excitement. Congratulations on getting your peepers corrected so you can enjoy living color again!

18. This sounds fun, Sharon…while I know it may be frustrating for you, there also may be some fun new brands out there waiting. Let me see if I can help.

19. My favorite colors to wear are true red, lavender/lilac, pink & almost any shade of blue. My neutrals are black, navy, white & gray. I am definitely a cool toned pallet.
    I hope your appointment goes well on Wednesday.

20. Thanks Becky…I will let you know!

21. I think I’m a light summer as all cool shades of blue, light grey, pale pink and chalky white look good on me. My hair was ash blonde and is now white and pale silver. I have blue eyes and pale skin. I’m petite at 5’1” tall, a bit busty, lost my waist over the last decade and slim hips and thighs. Gloria Vanderbilt straight leg and slim cut jeans in 12P from JCP fit really well right now and my Chicos slim straight leg in 1.5P or size 10P. Brands differ a lot. My waist is my problem as it is only five inches smaller than my hips. No brand caters to my body type. Living in southern front range mountains of Colorado, the styles are very casual. I’m 81 but look ten years younger thanks to my Finnish mother. We usually walk a mile a day together with our little dog Trixy.

22. What a nice surprise. You are always thinking. My favorite neutrals are browns ( deep, bronze, cinnamon, chocolate, camels, khakis- all warms or neutral shades), olives, marine navy, buttermilk or oyster colors. I reach for lots of mid-values and lights in moss, dirty limes, teals, salmons, shell pinks or slight peach. I would like to find more jadestone to bring out my eyes. As accents I like a nice tomato red, a non-vivid orange, or all the colors of a kingfisher bird.
    I am saddened by the closure of many small boutiques and stores near me in Maine. Although I depend on Talbot’s/Jjill for basics, I rarely have an exciting find at those stores. I am always looking for an unusual or interesting third piece in a sweater, jacket, or coat. I do love a plaid piece of outerwear, but I never wear prints anymore except in a scarf. I am very attracted to Banana Republic, Poetry, The Fold, me and em, MMLAfleur, and some other higher priced lines, but I am usually trying to figure out how to imitate bits and pieces of their look for less $$$ and how to adapt them to my lifestyle. I have purchased many pieces from Kettlewell, which is British ( free shipping and returns with fab seasonal colors, a wonderful presence in their color club, spot on help from their stylists). I am really trying to tweak my look and rich color combinations. I would love to wear some of the less extreme Poetry looks but haven’t spent time working it out other than just pulling some pages from catalogs. My Venn diagram of adjectives is a mess. I would like to be a bold (in unexpected deep autumn colors) minimalist, intentional, and tidy. Remember, we are all informally fabulous and you encourage us to be so!

23. Thanks for sharing your favorite colors, Sydney.

24. Exactly …all unique in every way. You have given me some brands to research, Deborah. You might go my shopping links page and look at LINTICO…let me know what you think there. I can see where your adjectives allow you to branch out with the bold, but it is kept in check with the other ones. A creative, chic lady.

25. Connie, thanks for the swimsuit advice! 😁

26. I find myself wearing several shades of blue along with a red/blue. I like to wear a soft off-white as well.
    Mexican stew seems to be pretty good.
    ps. I read yesterday’s post, late in the day, thanks good info, I am now wearing a medical device not because of my health, but safety as well. More need to consider that one more level of care.

27. I’ll just second all the colors DeborahLM mentioned and add that deep teal is one of my best colors. I prefer solids, texture but don’t wear prints though I like stripes and some plaids as long as they are muted. Since I’m petite some brands just won’t work for me. My adjective are current, casual, dramatic, polished, confident.

    You may have already tried this with Mr. B but I toss it out there just in case. I find ground turkey along tastes flat to me so mix ground turkey & ground beef 1/2 & 1/2 for chili, meatballs, ragu, etc.

28. Thanks for sharing what you are doing, Audrey. Here to help one another.

29. I will try the meat mixing, Kathie. That might work! Thank you.

30. Hello Pam: I am a pastel summer for colors. My very best colors are dark blue grey, pastel pinks and powder blue, sky blue, Hyacinth, and soft white, French navy. I also love gray. Those were the wow’s. However, I also like the other colors in the summer palette, especially primrose which is a very soft/gray yellow. Primrose is very challenging to find.
    I have not found Kettlewell products to be very high quality. One top looked worn out after only several washings. I don’t think the quality is there for the price. You can’t beat them for color selection, however.

31. Thank you, Mary.

32. I was typed as a winter back in the 80s and I do get compliments when I wear cobalt blue, fushia, and turquoise. My biggest problem is that, except for the autumn palette, so many colors look the same to my eye. I do know I look ill in yellow and orange! When those reels pop up on Facebook where we are supposed to identify the best colors for the person getting colors done, I can rarely tell which palette looks best (and the analyst never gives an answer).

33. I can see how that would be frustrating, Kate. Tell me what you love to wear. What colors make you smile? Is it the winter colors?

34. Pamela, your soups and stews always look so delicious Unfortunately we don’t have the variety of seasoned beans and sauces that you have but just have to double up on the dried spices. I am another one of the 5 foot, white haired winters. My white is so bright that the roots would show within a week. It is nice when you show black and white pieces but it is the bright primary colours which are hard to find these days. A lot of the reds seem orange based and lime green is not flattering on me. Blues seem to be universal and thank you for showing denim.

35. I will create a collection of new blues soon for you Linda!

36. As LindaLM stated, autumns are harder to dress in the summer. I often choose off white shades on my bottom half and reach for shell pink, salmons, corals, limes, jadestone tone for tops. It isn’t easy because I often feel too bright in some of these, even though they are in my palette. Clear colors are not my best, especially since I no longer tan. I look for deeper shades of turquoise or corals. ( My color analyst always says to think of rotten fruit and vegetables!) As a bold (deep) autumn, I always try to add even more depth with brown sandals, bangles, earrings, etc. that help balance my dark hair. Leather, dark straw, and wood are helpful. I am looking at your Jjill’s linen shirt. Perfect pink for me on my screen. I have to determine the wrinkle factor. I have a few linen shirts but can only get one wear at a time. As a natural classic, the classic in me sometimes resists due to wrinkling factor. Gauze is not my favorite fabric, but may be easier to reach for. I will have to experiment! I like that Lintico simple button up linen shirt. Have you put your hands on their products or tried any on?
    I really recommend to the color nerds out there the new book Personal Color by Anuschka Rees. It has to be read from cover to cover, in order. It builds and gives great examples. If you just skip around, or look at the photos and don’t see yourself reflected, you won’t catch her thoughtful study of color theory and how all the components help you understand YOU in relation to harmony, hue, chroma, value, sister seasons, etc. My daughter and I have already had a few good discussions and I have just started!
    Ps I am looking for warm red tops, too. I want to get a pair of comfortable red shoes back in my wardrobe.

37. I have put my hands on Lintico and I am very impressed with the quality and the feel of the linen…it is beautiful. I have three tops on their way to me now to style for you…but I was able to experience the products before I decided to promote them. I am excited about this brand.Thanks for recommending the book…I will try to get to it soon. After this eye process, my stack of books to read is growing but this sounds like one I need to move up. As always Deborah, you are so helpful.