Bistro orange is sweeping the nation!

Hello everybody! As Henna introduced me way back in one of our first Parchment blog posts, I’m Little Alana. When all of this Parchment blog business got started Heidi nicely invited me to put in my two cents with my own corner on the blog and give the friends of Parchment a little taste of my thoughts and opinions. She and Henna literally told me that I could blog about whatever came to my mind, whether it had to do with my latest stationery obsession (which would have to be the Ilee mini gift enclosures that just arrived at the store yesterday) or with my eternal love for all things J. Crew (something that Heidi and Henna can attest to after witnessing my wardrobe over the past couple years). Needless to say, deciding on a topic for my very first post was somewhat daunting. So after some thought and a few encouraging nods from Henna, I decided to keep it simple and write about my current favorite color: bistro orange.

Let me preface this all by saying that I have a history of being incredibly loyal to my favorite color. As a toddler, I was purple’s number one fan. Everything I owned, from my dresses to my doll’s dresses, was some sort of shade of purple and, after a visit to a renaissance fair, I was thrilled to hear that I because of my purple outfit, I must be royalty. As I made my way through elementary school I said a tearful goodbye to purple and progressed to blue. I had a brief affair with green in high school but about two years ago bistro orange came around. Of course, it began with a pair of beautiful suede “pepper flats” that I purchased from the J. Crew on sale (I could spend hours preaching the virtues of J. Crew’s sale section). Against all of my previous aesthetics, I fell instantly in love with their “bistro orange” color. Ever since I’ve had a growing infatuation with oranges and, more specifically, bistro orange. It's that beautiful dark shade of orange that has just enough reddish coral in it to ensure that it could never be mistaken for the color of traffic cones. Since my first encounter with it, I can’t resist getting a new pair of earrings or a new set of letterpress cards if they're in my all time favorite shade of orange.

So there you have the story of bistro orange. I hope I didn't ramble on too much! Below I've put together a little sampling of the many different shapes, sizes, and shades of bistro orange. Enjoy!

Clockwise from left: Coqo floral rug in "tomato," Anthropologie. Solid twist bandeau top in "cinnabar," J. Crew. Dupatta scarf in "poppy." Matta. Lace up sneakers in "vermilion," Bensimon. Nail polish in "hot and spicy," O.P.I.