Hello Spring. Hello, all you gorgeous pink blossoms. And hello, crowds.
I’ll admit, I can’t remember if we ever went to the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden before (that’s what happens when you get old, you know. You start forgetting stuff). I also think this to be true because I would think that I’d remember all the Cosplay dress up action, you know? Can someone tell me when this all started? I don’t really get the connection between the two, other than the festival being a celebration of Japanese culture, so hey, let’s dress up as anime and manga characters and walk around the gardens yielding larger than life cardboard samurai swords. Whatevs. It was cool. I guess if I was 17 again, I’d be right there dressed up in some anime goth get up, but I’m telling you…next year? I’m dressing the girls up appropriately, because if ANYONE looks like an anime character, it’s Claudine. Especially with her big round head and especially when she runs. She’s a dead ringer for any Miyazaki character.
So aside from the thousands of people who showed up to claim precious lawn space on the Cherry Esplanade, it was surprisingly relaxing to chill in the sun despite the crowds. The Cherry Esplanade, btw, is the ONLY place in the Gardens that you can sit on the grass. Don’t believe me? Try it. Sit your butt down anywhere grassy but the Cherry Esplanade and I guarantee you a security guard will appear OUT OF NOWHERE and tell you that you can’t sit there. I don’t really get the rule except maybe they want to ensure that the lush grassy lawns stay that way all season, but yeah, we totally got busted. The girls got busted a second time for shaking one of the cherry blossom branches so that the petals fluttered down, but they weren’t the only ones. I saw people all up in that action pulling branches down so they can pose for photos with burst of blossoms right next to their faces, or shaking branches to make it snow petals on their toddler’s heads for that magical Kodak moment.
So we all crowded together on that lawn and the adults drank beer and the girls hopped around to neighboring groups of people, offering them imaginary Easter eggs, whether they wanted them or not. My friend Megan even got stopped by a fan who used to watch her on her GlobeTrekker TV show because it was on 1 of the only 2 channels that he got on TV. They posed for a photo together and then Megan made a joke that he should have been watching Samantha Brown (who, coincidentally, lives in my condo) instead. Girl, and you wonder why people always bring her up?
It was a good weekend.
I recognised Megan immediately! I loved her on the show, please say hi! 😉
Your photos are gorgeous, there is just something so enticing and unique about cherry blossoms.
Oh Jenna! Your girls are growing up in front of my eyes…see I recognized the Smile tee cause Mia wore it a couple of times and I thought to myself…wow she still fits into that??
I took a better look and it’s Claudine wearing it!
Tell your friend she’s still pretty popular in Asia. They just started showing the ones she’s at sea with her kid. I forgot the name of the show.
Love Claudine’s expression in the 4th pic.
So pretty! And I loved that GlobeTrekker show. But Ian (I forget his last name) was always my favorite. No offense to Megan – I probably would have liked her too if I’d ever seen one of her episodes. 🙂
What are those plastic things they’re building stuff out of? Kind of reminds me of the beads we used to iron together into designs.
Ok, wow…beautiful. And what?!! Samantha Brown lives in your condo?! I’ve always wanted to know more about her…have watched her shows for years. Very cool.
That’s so funny that you mention the Miyazaki thing, because for aaaaaages I’ve thought that Claudine looked like Ponyo, but never mentioned it in case you were offended. But I mean it in an adorable way!
So pretty and springy. My daughter can’t walk by a cherry blossom tree without asking me to shake the branches for her. We’ve never been reprimanded for it though. I’m guessing there are no rules about it here. I love the 8th photo of the girls under the tree. Very sweet.
i was there yesterday. wasn’t it absolutely gorgeous?
Next time you talk to Megan, tell her we watch Globe Trekker instead of Samantha Brown because, simply put, it’s awesome.
Ahh! Megan is my favorite host next to Ian! I love her!
Claudine reminds me of Mei from Totoro and Mia reminds me of Chihiro from Spirited Away.
The cosplayers are hilarious, but I suppose it “kinda” fits. I secretly want to go to an anime convention just so I can put together a crazy get up.
What are those toys? I’m always on the lookout for more in the Lego / Erector / K’nex school.
I knew Megan looked familiar!
What FUN! I love the beautiful cherry blossoms! I totally want Claudine to be my cosplay accessory. I will go as the giant Tortoro and she can be Mei and Baby Teddy can be the catbus….no, maybe Teddy goes as a dustsprite….and Mia can dig into Miss M’s cosplay bag and wear animal ears. 🙂
so beautiful! and looks really fun.
That black umbrella in the 5th photo is so beautiful. I NEED ONE RIGHT NOW!!
The little kid with the mohawk is adorable! And the mom looks like she is getting a huge kick out of it too, as she should. Lovely pink blossom photos!
I love cherry blossom. Beautiful!
We were there yesterday too! I don’t remember the dress-up thing the last time I was there, but it was 7 years ago, so whatever! It is very much like the park in Tokyo (can’t think of the name) where the kids come on the weekend dressed up. It used to be greaser style, then goth, now I guess it is Manga. I guess what ever is in fashion. I’ll be in Tokyo for 3 weeks very soon, so I will be checking out the scene then (if I ever remember the name of the park!)
That festival looks like a lot of fun! I’d love to see cherry blossoms in real life!
P.S. So cool that you know Samantha Brown and Meagan from Globe Trekker!
I really love your blog!!
Anouk
http://fashiondottt.blogspot.com/
I immediately went “THAT’S MEGAN!” when I saw your picture. Globe Trekker has been one of my favorite shows since I was little, and Megan was always been my favorite traveler. She was so much fun and always had such a great sense of humor! How neat!
hey guys – those colorful toys – are some sort of lego-like japanese building toys that they had for the kids to play. Of course I can’t remember the name of them for the life of me. I think it started with an ‘L’. Ok, that’s all I got!
hey, i’m following your blog for quite some time, from far away Brazil and couldn’t resist posting here when i saw Megan. Her show here was quite big here, it was called “mochileiros” (backpackers), and I’m sure me and my college friends were her biggest fans.
i
I LOVE the travel and living channel (I’m in Singapore) and think Megan is such a fun host! (her and Ian Wright, not such a fan of Samantha Brown) I still watch that channel a lot, and they sometimes show her old episodes. Does she still host Globetrekker?
okay, so i know it’s all about the blossoms, but could you dish on those awesome assembly-toy whatevers??
I’ve never seen them, but I am so smitten. (Well, actually, I have 2 or 3 people who I think would be smitten.)
Name? Source? Any pointers? Thanks!
hi,
i absolutely love your blog.
what are those lego -ish toys your girls are playing with at the cherry blossom festival. i would love to get some of those for my daughter, emilia.
thanks,
gina
hey there, so i know it’s a bit late, but i just did some hunting because i NEEDED to know what those little building blocks were (my nephew would love them!), and i found ’em! they’re called LaQ and you can find ’em on amazon. hope this helps some of the others who were looking 🙂