is there a way to change the arrow/base color of the drop-down menu?

No, you can't change the arrow or scrollbar.

you sure? i saw on a site the arrows were colored but it wouldn't let me see the source... *goes to try various tags*

Then it most likely wasn't like the one Lissa has on here, since this question has come up before :P It's probably a different sort of drop down menu that allows it to be changed.