This time of year is one of my favorites, mainly because it’s the season of ORANGE. Orange has been my favorite color for 15 years, but that was not always the case. I was definitely a pink girl growing up and then transitioned as a tween-teen to liking blue (and black like most teens I’m sure). I actually actively disliked orange, I think because my mom didn’t like the color and in my life’s quest to please her (like most children in alcoholic and dysfunctional homes) I also adapted her dislike for the color orange.
So some quick backstory that you may not know about me is that I love me some color coordination. It was particularly intense in my college and grad school years – which I assume is rooted in the fact that I had worn a school uniform for 12 years and was excited to finally express myself through how I dressed. While in college I spent my summers being a new student Orientation Leader (OL) and each summer our OL shirts were a different color to correspond with each summer’s theme. I remember the summer I went through new student orientation the OLs had orange shirts and remember thinking at first yuck! However, orientation ended up being a life-changing experience for me and those shirts really held a special place in my heart.
My first year as an OL the shirts were red and I accessorized like whoa – red sunglasses, red shoes, red jewelry. The next summer, summer 2003 the shirts were going to be light blue with orange writing on it. I decided to accessorize with orange because I already owned a ton of blue things and I think I was secretly looking for an excuse to go shopping! So I bought orange sneakers, orange headbands, orange socks, even an orange (flip)phone case. However, when I actually got my OL shirt the accent color was more golden than orange and I was annoyed because I had all this orange stuff. However, I decided to wear it any way that summer and it ended up being a really amazing summer. It was the summer I found my confidence and really began to step into my authentic self. The color orange was a physical representation of this for me. Plus I quickly began to like how liking orange was quirky and different (like me). I also liked how loud and unapologetic orange is (also like me). Orange isn’t for everybody and neither am I! I must say I really didn’t know how long this color obsession would last, but as I’m typing this in my kitchen that is brimming with orange accents all even just without eyeshot I can tell you it’s here for life.
I think another key experience that really locked in my love for orange was my time working at Auburn University. I first went down there in the summer of 2006 for a 10-week internship. I had interviewed with a number of schools that winter as part of a national summer internship process. There were a lot of items in Auburn’s pro column and I’d be lying if I said that one of their school colors being orange wasn’t on that list. However, most people think orange was the main reason I decided to spend a summer in Alabama, which wasn’t the case. It was an all-around superb summer, so much so that I ended up working down there full time for almost 4 years. I do think living in a college town that loved the color orange as much as I did made my love for orange grow even more. Some of my favorite memories are being in a sea of 80,000+ fans in orange at Auburn football games.
In term of my love of orange, I definitely wear it, but not as much as people may assume. I actually really like SEEING the color orange, so I often have a lot of orange items around me. My reusable water bottles are all orange, my purse is currently orange, I have tons of orange coffee mugs and kitchenware, my bath towels and bath mat are orange, orange sheets on the bed, I was also able to convince my fiance for one orange accent wall in the master bedroom. If I have a choice of color for something like a notebook, marker, or cup I’m always going to pick orange. Plus my little Pom Freddie is also orange and yes, that fact also drew me to him all those years ago.
Orange you glad I wrote my little ode to my favorite color?!
