SAN FRANCISCO: WHERE LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

As my parents and I plan our annual trip to San Francisco, my father always reminds us, “Mark Twain once said, ‘The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.’” He tells us with pride, as if these characteristically brisk summers were simply a virtue of the Bay Area, something to keep those who travel to California for the sun and surf away from “our” city.

I must confess, though I hear the wise words of Mark Twain sung zealously from my father’s lips nearly every year, I will likely always expect the weather there to be the same as the weather of the Seattle area, where I am from. Though the temperatures are comparable, the winds and mist of San Francisco would defeat those in Seattle on any occasion.

So there I was, angrily stomping down the streets of the city with an unwelcoming posture, narrowed gaze, angry brow and enduring frown across my lips, hoping to shield myself from the cold. The blue skies had tricked me into expecting temperatures warmer than the arctic ones that greeted us, so I left wearing nothing more than a T-shirt and light cardigan. At that moment I couldn’t help but recall my mother’s words as we left the hotel, “You’re gonna be cold out there!” Of course my condition became her fault. I rebuked her, reminding her my lack of layers would be remedied if only she would buy me more, warmer, jackets.

After clenching my dad’s arm in a desperate attempt to warm myself up, I gave a pathetic show of weak shivers and he suggested my mom buy me a jacket in town. There is something you need to understand about me to fully realize how those words sounded: fashion, next to writing and family and friends, is where I invest my passion. I see it as an art form, a way to express professionalism and a representation of character. Any opportunity to broaden my collection of a clothing item comes as a joy. However, when my father suggested I pick out a jacket in town, he meant a temporary solution – a quick fix, and a cheap investment; not meticulously tailored and beautifully constructed piece like I had hoped.

I am not one to judge the clothing choices of others, but rather to keep myself accountable for my own appearance, but when my mother picked up a large, novelty zip-up hoodie with the name, “Monterey,” embroidered in gaudy cursive across the front I couldn’t help but cringe. Nothing says, “I’m a tourist!” like a sweatshirt advertising the city in which you are visiting. To save money and avoid taking a lengthy detour, which would allow me to find a more fitting jacket, my mother purchased the heinous hoodie.

I cannot decide which vision is worse: the angry, hunched over, young woman who did not plan her outfit around the weather or the angry, embarrassed, young woman awkwardly crossing her arms in an attempt to conceal the large, “Monterey,” plastered across her chest. As if the sweatshirt wasn't a poor enough choice, I had decided to wear a pair of nice slacks that day. Nothing looks more ridiculous than an outfit suffering from split-personality disorder.

With my additional layer, I was able to endure the rest of the afternoon in slightly better spirits. We perused Fisherman’s Warf, rode the San Francisco trolley and window shopped in comfort; though my parents chuckled at my expense, as I believe they understood I wouldn’t be caught dead in a sweatshirt of this kind had circumstances been different.

I made a promise to myself that day that no matter how warm Seattle happens to be as my next San Francisco trip approaches, my suitcase will be full of jackets capable of providing the proper amount of warmth, while allowing me to present myself to the world in a less grungy manner.

As I write this, the same Monterey sweatshirt that caused me so much embarrassment down the cultured streets of San Francisco, warms and comforts me, bringing to memory the things my parents and I experienced together on our trip. The lining is still soft with unworn fleece from lack of use, making it one of my favorite “laying-around” jackets (a genre of clothing I had been planning to expand)