I took this snap as I walked to skytrain this morning:
It’s been so cold around these parts that most of the trees that line my route still stand bare, their flowers tucked away inside their warm and cozy buds.
I am missing the vibrant colours we on the West Coast are normally treated too at this time of year.
Cherry blossoms always remind me a bit of popcorn. One minute they are nothing more than little shells, rattling about in the spring time wind. Close your eyes, or turn your head but for a moment, and -POOF!
They have exploded into multi-textured, blush-toned brilliance.
They remind me of love.
They also remind me to keep the faith that one day we’ll have two days of consecutive sunshine.
(A girl can dream right?)
Today at lunch my great friend J asked me to accompany her to H&M because she needed to purchase some tank tops for a bachelorette party.
Never one to give up the opportunity to visit my “try don’t buy” Mecca, I readily agreed.
For those of you who are new to the blog, I love to do this thing where I go into stores and try on outfits that are modeled on the mannequins to see how well they translate to a real life body.
Some ridiculing is sometimes involved.
(H&M is also one of the most fun stores to do this in. Furthermore, it’s an extra bonus because I really like their men’s clothing and have been trying on more of their stuff in hopes of finding sweet new deals.)
Pretty much as soon as we entered the store, we honed in on what would be today’s outfit to highlight:
I mean, can you think of anything else that says SUMMER-BBQ-FUNTIME than these shorts?
I dare you to come up with something better!
But then, of course, I had to try on two other fashion concoctions to prove that I am 1.) not a total crap master (to both you, dear readers, and the sad faced girl working in the change room) and 2.) genuinely interested in some of the merchandise available for purchase at the store.
So in that aim, I put on this dress:
Which I would actually love if I wouldn’t be branded a hoyden extraordinaire (and maybe just general pervert) if I ever wore it outside of the confines of the dressing room – because take my word of it, the “dress” was darn short.
Cute as heck yes, but not enough to convince me that I’m ready for a rap sheet.
The second were these pants:
I love the colour and they were super comfortable, but the crotch was hanging perilously low. And like I said, I’m just not digging the debauched vibe.
All in all, I struck out.
After J bought her goods, we walked back to the office and the perma-drizzle clung to our coats and hung from our hair.
But the memory of this morning’s flowers remains. And if things get really bad, I’ll just try on some new shorts.
Or a pair of men’s pants.
And I’ll think of summer.
And laugh.
Rant and Roll 
The cherry blossoms are a-blooming here in Jersey too (my town is very aptly named Cherry Hill as there is a big hill with cherry trees along the road like a white and pink palisade wall). I thought about doing a post about them on Unnecessary Words but gave up halfway through in deference to blogging about manly pursuits like beer and meat and beer. Sorta wish I’d taken a picture of the cherry sapling growing in front of my house and wrote about that instead…
You can still do that! Should write about beer and meat and cherry blossoms. In fact, I’m pretty sure there is an unwritten haiku in there somewhere…
That hill sounds absolutely beautiful (and I appreciate its straight forward name.)
Secretly (but not so secretly) my town is named after the Cherry Hill Mall, which legend says was the first indoor shopping mall in the country and perhaps THE WORLD. But that’s a terrible etymology and there really is a hill lined with Sakura (truly), a gift from Sir Thomas Cruise after he finished filming The Last Samurai (not true at all). It was the street my high school was on and so traveling to school and back was a treat that neatly sandwiched my eight hours of belligerent napping.
“Belligerent napping”
YES.
Now that I’m eleven years removed from high school; I am somewhat ashamed that I spent four years hiding comics and the occasional four hundred page novel (not really hidden well) in my text books or just outright slept through class. And somewhat angry that my teachers thought I was either smart enough or stupid enough that it didn’t matter. But at the time telling my Honors English teacher that I didn’t care about grammar and to wake me up when the bell rang seemed like the best use of my time.
Holy crap! Did we get married four years ago, but then you somehow split in two and moved to NJ and started a new life and married someone else but you still operate here in my life too?
Because you have literally described my husband in high school. Down to the advanced courses and everything.
Spooky Versi! SPOOKY!
Great minds… some times communicate telepathically from one coast to another.
You looked good in the yellow dress. That was the best one.
Duly noted. I’ll be on the hunt for something similar, only longer. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh man, that yellow dress makes me sad – it looks really good on you but yeah, too-short dresses are just awkward moments waiting to happen.
A recipe for disaster indeed! As my grandfather would so often say, “I can see what she ate for breakfast!”
(That one always killed me.)
Yellow dress is the best one.
Roger doger.
Did you guys get in on the sunshine last weekend? I’m with you on cherry blossoms, they just make spring so wonderful!
The yellow dress is super cute on you, bummer that it was too short. And you could totally pull off those red pants – if not for the crotch issues. Any cool sweater discoveries this time around? Yay for spring coming!!
Yes, and it was glorious! But since then we’ve had rain every day this week. It’s a bummer man.
No sweaters this time around, but I am on the hunt! I am so, so excited for the weather to warm up because I have all these lovely dresses I want to wear to work!
p.s. I just got my new passport so adventures are a-brewing. A-BREWING!!
Dude, I thought you were being serious about those shorts and I was in a place between intrigued and disgusted. :D
And I finally just got the pun inherent within “dressing on the side”. Herp derp.
Is herp derp my wah waaaah? I’m really digging it.
It’s the equivalent to the “duh” or “d’oh” of the 90s, spawned by the internet (4chan) and used in real life. It is utterly bizarre when the internet leaks into your real life, you know?
Like audibly saying LOL.
You’re right. It is bizarre. I have to laugh when I say things like “I’m just going to IMDB him.” The infiltration of my vocab is complete!
Yeah, just like whenever you see stuff about memes on the news…it just…no. The internet should stay on the internet. PERIOD.
LOL. I’m not that far gone yet, I promise! Ahhh, I can only imagine what you we’re thinking!
I remember having clothes like that my mom put me in when I was a kid (matching hand made holiday vests with turtle necks…I’m thinking about this and shuddering now). Its very strange that this is all coming in vogue.
I know right? Thank goodness I am not the only one thinking this.
I am literally gobsmacked each time I walk into a store. These insane styles are like cockroaches. Or Cher. They keep coming back!!
It is a huge aspect of hipstery culture to just wear freaking ugly stuff that you can buy at Goodwill, but instead buy for $70 at H and M.
Well done
Thanks Jax! I try to keep my life fun by doing things that I’m sure make people give me some serious side eye. And then of course I just eye them right back.
The circle of life, as they say! (and by they, I mean Elton John.)
Did you find the right top? The yellow dress (yep, I’m going to gush a little too) is sweet but you’re right it’s way too short, but I’m digging the red pants (minus the crotch,)
Dudette, your avatar always, ALWAYS makes me smile! Especially since I’m been thinking so much about cherry blossoms these days. I really can’t stop thinking about those red pants so I am on the hunt like mad!
We did get the tops she needed :)
Glad to hear Mulan’s cherry blossoms made you smile ^_^ and good luck on your hunt for the elusive red pants ;)
Thank you! I will need it :)
I loved this post (I’m just getting some time to catch up on commenting now!). And I must say, I like the yellow dress. I agree is it a little short… you wouldn’t want to be wearing that in even a SLIGHT breeze… but how about some capri leggings? Just sayin.
A slight breeze alone could be my death knell! But you are totally right. I was thinking of going back and buying it, along with a pair of good thick tights, or some leggings. Great minds, as they say :)
Thanks Eth! Leggings are one of my thigh’s best friends.