SHAKEN NOT STIRRED

“It has been a long-time dream of mine to offer paint in a bag and I am excited to finally make that dream a reality with DIP Color Paint,” said Gretchen. “I first thought of the idea to put paint in a bag after buying a bagged margarita cocktail from Costco in 1998. Around the same time, I was beginning my paint brand, ‘Devine Color,’ and I found success using small pouches to offer sample paint to my customers. The Devine Mini Paint Pouch was an easy way for my customers, especially women, to sample my colors, build trust in my brand, and feel empowered in the ability to paint their homes. Despite this success, I was never able to expand on my sample pouches to replace the full standard paint gallon tin can. Now with my exquisite DIP Color Paint and our revolutionary gallon bags, I have made my own wish come true.” — G

This whole idea of stirring paint and putting it in a bag goes all the way back to 1999 when I sold "paint that went on like yogurt" out of the trunk of my car, along with little paint sample pouches to prove it. 

Or so I thought.

In 1973 I fell in love with the word "yogurt" the first time it was offered to me as a snack. The letter "Y" has a "J" curt sound in the Spanish language, very much the opposite of the English language's mellow-yellow sound. Naturally, I imagined it would taste as good as it sounded.

Loved the word, hated the yogurt. 

Once stirred, it was a cold rubbery pink shade that tasted like sour milk mixed in with strawberry syrup. Even though I didn't like to eat it, I pretended to because it was an emotionally stirring experience. It reminded me of helping my grandfather paint when I was a child.

During the Christmas season in Puerto Rico, there are surprise "asaltos," and you and your house had to be ready to get hit at least once. 

You never knew when friends and neighbors were going to gather quietly outside your home late at night. Preferably after not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. With musical instruments on hand, they would count to three and break out into traditional Puerto Rican aguinaldos until you opened the door. 

A stream of people would pour in, still singing, and raid your house for food and drink. After eating, drinking, dancing, and more singing, everyone decided which place to hit next! Most likely, it would be the next-door neighbors who already knew you were coming. The "parranda" or "party parade" continued to grow larger until dawn.  

The last house gotta serve breakfast.

My grandfather made sure our walls were sparkling white for the holidays.

On the one hand, he had his rum and coke; on the other, his brush. My job was to help him stir the paint. With every stir, I anticipated a wave of friends and neighbors filling up the house in the middle of the night, drinking and dancing till dawn.

I’ve told that story hundreds of times.

Back in Oregon, I found myself eating yogurt all the time to relive that memory, and I guess you could say, to keep on stirring!

It wasn't until I began working on DIP Paint that someone asked me if I knew Dannon yogurt's history. 

After all these years, I had no idea! 

Daniel Carasso, a Spaniard from Catalonia, was the father of modern yogurt. He began selling the stuff in Barcelona, naming the venture after his boy, whose name in Catalan was "Danone," or "Danny." 

Mr. Carasso changed the company name to Dannon, which had a better ring to American ears. To make the exotic product more appealing to American taste buds, he and his partners decided to add strawberry jam. 

"Fruit on the Bottom" was enough to turn an immigrant's ethnic food into a favorite American snack. 

Wouldn't you know it, my grandfather's family is from Cataluña. My mother's maiden name, Artau, is Catalan. I was born Gretchen Lizzette Rosario Artau, an immigrant destined to recreate a yogurt experience in America with her paint without even knowing it. Not only once but twice. I guess I wasn’t done stirring.

DIP Color paint is ready to pour in through your doors!

G