The Colors Are All The Same

Every now and then something happens in a family that turns into a good story. And then it gets told over and over so that they can all re-live it. Unfortunately for Stephen, he is the main (and only) character in one of these stories. Back before we were married, Stephen joined my family for Thanksgiving in Austin. He called ahead of time and asked what to wear. I answered, “Just something comfortable. You don’t need to dress up. ” I had no idea how those words could be manipulated. Now listen, my family is casual. We are all very comfortable around each other and don’t feel the need to dress up for special occasions. But just because we are casual, doesn’t mean we are sloppy. So we’re at my aunt and uncle’s house and in walks my wonderful boyfriend… wearing pants that look like these (blue pants, yellow stripes):

with a shirt that looked like this (but more blue and yellow):

It was terrible. Even my dad and brother who refuse to pick out their own clothes knew it was bad. Stephen had two defenses. 1. “YOU said to dress comfortably!” 2. “It’s blue and yellow… and blue and yellow. That matches.”

As disgusting as it looked, he was a good sport. I knew that since he lived through that day, he could handle my family… till death do us part. This story comes up regularly and we all have a good chuckle. Stephen usually ends up rolling his eyes and telling us to shut up. It was even told at our wedding. In Stephen’s defense, that was really a one time offense. He has yet to make a fashion faux pas of that magnitude again. And he knows that there is such thing as “too matchy”- you don’t have to match blue with blue and yellow with yellow.

Stephen and I often don’t see colors the same. He has a shirt that I think is a mix of brick red and maroon. He calls it his red shirt. He has a black shirt that is old and he continues to call it his black shirt. I didn’t know that shirt when it was black. To me, it is gray. It’s really quite shocking that we were able to agree on a paint color for our bathroom in just one evening. Maybe it’s because we weren’t trying to explain the color, we were just deciding if we liked it.

I got a pedicure in Kansas City last week and tried a new color. A little insight to the men (all two of you that read…). Women often find a color at the nail salon that they like and stick with it 80% of the time. Many of them can even tell you what that color is. I believe my friend Kelly will prove that point as soon as she reads this. So anyways, as I was saying, I tried a new color. And here was my conversation with Stephen about it:

C- I really like this color on my toes.
S- Yeah me too.
C- I think I’ll use it again.
S- What is it? Red?

(Let’s take a pause… Red? RED? If you EVER see a bottle of nail polish called “Red,” please show me.)

C- Red? This isn’t red!
S- Yeah, kind of. Light red?
C- No.
S- Oh. Well what color is it? It’s some kind of red.
C- It really has an orange tint to it.
S- So orange? Red, orange?
C- It’s called Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It.
S- Oh…

At least he had the conversation and he told me he liked it. I guess we’re okay if we don’t discuss colors. We should just stick to “I like this, don’t you?” “Yes, I like it.” And then we’re on the same page!

Ladies, don’t you love it?

 

(I may be posting a picture of Stephen and his infamous outfit if we can locate one… Stephen may have burned them all! So come check later. Trust me, it’s worth it!) Here is a picture. I love this unmatching man!