Val’s View: Why I smile when it rains

Remember the movie poster for “Singing in the Rain” – where Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor skip through the showers with their umbrellas and yellow rain slickers?

I always adored Debbie Reynolds and how cute she looked, especially on that poster.

Did you see how attractive she was when she won the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award recently? “Debbie Reynolds is trending!” her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, Tweeted that night.

My Yellow Rain Jacket

I think about Debbie every time I put on my favorite rain jacket – a bright yellow slicker by Neyelle that I got at Anthony’s, the store that’s specialized in Florida fashions since 1895.

I took one look at that jacket in the store, and I had to have it.

The jacket makes me smile each time I put it on. It’s bright yellow with blue polka-dot lining that shows on the hood. I keep telling Marv I’m going to find two handsome men to sing in the rain with me next time we get an afternoon shower.

Back when I was growing up, Debbie was a huge star. Life magazine called her “as bouncy as a kitten on a living room rug.” And this is how I feel when I put on that yellow rain slicker.

It just makes me happy. It reminds me of why I moved to Florida when I retired: It’s a tropical paradise, and even when it rains, I can look as colorful as a flower and as bouncy as Debbie Reynolds.

I get compliments on that yellow jacket each time I wear it.

I’ll be taking it with me to the Keys in March, when Marv and I head to the Original Marathon Seafood Festival on March 14-15.

Living in Florida makes me sing in the rain!

LOVE FLORIDA TRAVEL?

Val’s vaca tip of the week: What could be slicker than sea splash and seafood?

Get your rain slicker and head down to Marathon for the Original Marathon Seafood Festival, a signature Middle Keys foodie fair set for Saturday and Sunday, March 14-15, at Marathon Community Park, mile marker 49 oceanside. Seafood lovers will line up for generous plates during the "fisherman to fork" feast as local chefs showcase their talents, preparing the foods according to Keys-based recipes. Attendees can enjoy indigenous offerings like mahi-mahi (dorado), Key West pink shrimp, spiny lobster, stone crab claws and crackers piled high with creamy smoked fish dip, a Florida Keys favorite.

Don’t have a rain slicker? You can choose from a wide assortment of great jackets at Anthony’s. They come in fun, bright colors – such as yellow, pink, lime and blue – as well as in black. Stop by one of Anthony’s many Florida locations. There’s one in Marathon – you can shop when you get there!