I am very determined when I use colors. If it is for an outfit I am wearing, I like to have my purse the same color as my shoes. This is an old fashioned idea from my youth, where we always matched purses, shoes, jewelry to the outfit we wore. Even though we did not have lots of money, most women regardless of age always tried to be trendy and the clothes we wore were not designer clothes. I do not think I ever heard that word referring to clothing until I was about twenty. Then I had money for designer clothes and I did not invest in them. I had a boyfriend who ran a ladies’ clothing store downtown and I use to shop there a lot because of their fine values and good styling. I think that is how I met him. He was the manager of the store.

I still match my shoes to my purse and because I walk slowly, sometimes my husband carries my purse when we go on a crowded elevator. Sometimes, people being funny, will say to him that his shoes and purse do not match. This all in jest and it is OK. The purse is heavy because of all the stuff we ladies carry and cellphones etc.

However for the next months, I may not be matching so well. The dilemma is this. We have the first place Orioles as our baseball team and the colors are orange and our beloved Ravens, the colors are purple. Actually, purple and orange can never be said to belong together in an outfit. I know that our ladies’ fans will put them together at different times. Tomorrow will be purple Monday because of the opening game and if this is published on Monday, it will be today will be purple for the game. I think we all, mainly, ladies and young women should combine wearing something orange and something purple or lavender to show our love and appreciation for these two teams, the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens.

My house is mostly blue in color with added side colors. My bedroom somehow got to be purple and lavender and this shows how ‘smart’ I am and that I am color savvy, because I did these colors forty-eight years ago, when we moved into this home. This was long before the Ravens and their purple color. Through the years, the paint, the wallpaper, the spreads and draperies have changed and yet they are still in the purple and lavender range along with some white and some light green as added components.

In the September issue of House Beautiful, they feature color for the look. One of the ads for color in painting says “love your color and we guarantee it.” Actually the paint color on the printed page is lavender/purple. They say that “color is powerful”.

I read an article by an interior designer talking about her home and its furnishings. She said “everything you do in your home should be designated by what you love. It does not have to follow any rules other than what makes you happy and comfortable. You can mix colors, periods of furniture, shades and draperies and if it makes you loving your home more than ever, do it. Do not follow trends, you be the trend.”

So I will be wearing some days, purple or lavender blouse, purple bows on my shoes and an orange bracelet and lavender nail polish. On other days, I will wear an orange blouse or skirt and still have my purple bows on my shoes and my lavender nail polish.l think if I can find orange colored nail polish; I may add it to some of the lavender nails.

Who is to say if I am mixing up two colors orange and purple that does not really belong together? Let us support our two marvelous teams and the surrounding areas where we live, work and play and show them how proud we are. I had to call up my Visa card bank for something and when the customer service representative asked me to verify my city and state; she said “wow, you have two big teams there. What color will you be wearing tomorrow to celebrate the opening game of your football team?”

I was surprised she was aware of all this and I replied “Both colors, even though they do not go together.”

Yes, they do, they really are side by side and we deserve all the fun we are having this week to celebrate these two teams and Arthur Modell who brought football back to this deserving area sixteen years ago. It is appropriate that his life is being celebrated this week as his funeral takes place on Tuesday of this week. The moment of silence in his honor at Monday’s game is one of pride and love for what he accomplished for us with our team and for all of his and his wife’s philanthropic caring for everyone.

Go Orange and Purple, you do belong together and we are with you all the way!!!!