Road Trip to H&M

When shopping calls, I'm dutybound to answer.

Even if it means a 2-hour-plus drive to Scottsdale. Because the siren song of H&M's Garden Collection is not one to be ignored.

Bombarded with ads for H&M's eco-friendly and super-cute line, I convinced S and J to go with on that long, ugly ride up Interstate 10. Sadly, our H&M did not get the coveted red, rosette-studded dress, which is what I really, really wanted. Boo.

But, as you can see, I got lots of other stuff. I nabbed that great trench/anorak hybrid that's popped up in all the advertising, too, and the pink rosette tank along with linen-blend shorts from the Garden Collection.

If only I had some actual computer skills, I'd do something really cool like sketch in arrows pointing to each item. Instead, you get to look at my decidedly low-tech photo, which involved me standing, precariously, on my dresser.

Other stuff in the photo (clockwise from left):
• Garden Collection blush tank with rosettes (the fit is much looser than I expected)
• Blue super-soft nitie
• Tie-dye scarf
• Anorak/trench from the Garden Collection (amazingly soft and worth the money, a good timeless piece)
• Floral dress from the Garden Collection (it has pockets, which makes me love it even more)
• Linen blend cargo shorts from the Garden Collection
• A viscose Members Only style jacket. You can't tell from the photo, but this is completely sheer, a great layering piece to dress up or down
• Gray ruffled vest (the best deal of the trip $10)
• Black/white racerback, asymmetrical-hem tank
• Pink striped and black T-shirts

So, I dearly love H&M and allegedly Tucson will have its own at the Tucson Mall in August (yay!), but two things vex me about the inexpensive, fashionable retailer: Why do they put those crazy strings across the backs of clothes, so you're strangled as you try them on and why do they not provide bags for schlepping items? I seriously tweaked my left arm from lugging around 20 pounds of clothes piled on top.

Oh wait, I thought of another perplexing question: Why do they insist on having so few dressing rooms? The line was so freakin' long that we actually trooped upstairs to the nearly deserted kids' section and tried stuff on up there. Seriously. Good thing I wore nice undies.