Bittersweet Goodbye to my Pink Palace Apartment

December 31, 2019 at noon was a bittersweet moment for me, as I handed over the keys to my beloved little “Pink palace” apartment. I remember fondly the day I picked it to be my home. It was ideally tiny, had every amenity I needed, and it was in the heart of historic downtown Bowling Green in an 1888-built building, that once occupied my own great grandparent’s bakery! At one point, I even worked a side hustle as a Seamstress Assistant in the shop downstairs!

I could easily walk down to my favorite local coffee shop, Grounds for Thought, or be steps away from the bank, post office, or library. I could get up before 9am and walk to the local diner Kermit’s, and get the $4.50 early bird special breakfast. All of these joyful features, and that apartment was an unusually low rate of rent! Below is a photo of my apartment I found in a Bowling Green, Ohio history book, and I turned it into a magnet.

I remember the day my mom and dad helped me paint it light pink, and from then on I made it uniquely my own. I loved filling it with joyful vintage items, and my apartment even had a feature in Vintage Life magazine, which was certainly a highlight for me!

You can say I certainly love the color pink. Some of you may recall, that during some of these same years while living in the Pink Palace Apartment,  I also drove a pink Volkswagon Beetle!

Not to mention, my engagement ring … made custom from my love with pink sapphires!

I am certainly not the only one to love this color…

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Queen Mary 2, I had the pleasure of meeting the fashion historian and author Lindy Woodhead. I have been reading her book War Paint; Madame Helena Rubenstein & Miss Elizabeth Arden: Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry”, and in doing so, I  grew especially fond of Elizabeth Arden, as a kindered spirit when I read this portion in chapter 1:

“Elizabeth Arden had lived suffused in pink, firm in her belief it was the single most flattering color, for her and her clients. Her flowers were pink, her tapestry cushions were pink, her cashmere car rugs were pink, her silk lampshades were lined with pink, her lightbulbs were pink, her racing colors were pink, her linen sheets–changed every day and ironed after her early evening rest- were pink. Most of her clothes were pink, along with several dozen of her hundreds of pairs of shoes. Her product packaging was pink, the ribbons on her jars were pink. Over fifty shades of Elizabeth Arden lipstick were pink and even her favorite diamond earrings, purchased with profits from the lipsticks, were pink. When the couturier Elsa Schiaperelli called her signature fragrance ‘Shocking’ and packaged it in a pink flacon, Miss Arden said, “Hmm. It won’t work. When people think pink, dear, they think Arden.’”

Of course I cannot fail to mention , Jayne Mansfield, who in fact owned the legitimate “pink palace” home.

While it is hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful apartment that brought me joy for many years, I am glad I did it up my way, and I will treasure it as one of the pearls on the necklace of life!