Well, we’ve definitely come full circle, at least culinarily. Frozen yogurt (or fro-yo as it was affectionately called in California, where I spent my childhood) is back, with a vengeance. Oh sure, this time around it is vaguely different, flavored with green tea, or just plain– a simple, tangy version of the refrigerator variety. But it still is a cup of fro-yo.

A Pinkberry’s moved in near my apartment, and hearing all of the hype, I knew this was something I had to try. The bubbly decor, infectious-beated pop music, and unfazed, high school-aged staff, were all some how strangely familiar. I ask you, dear reader: do things every really change at the fro-yo parlor?

Picture it: summer 1989. I was nine years old, and I was obsessed with my cool, older sister. She was 16, had her outfits of Units clothing (It’s a dress, no a shirt, no a belt, no a head wrap! No, it’s whatever you want it to be!), listened to edgy New Wave music, and wore her hair just so, half up, scrunchy firmly tying her rambunctious curls away from her face. And she, for some reason, felt an obligation to me. That summer, I gleefully rode around town with her small group of friends.

Tiffany (I know, I couldn’t make up a better name for this 80′s memory if I tried) was my sister’s friend who lived up the road from us. She would come barreling down the driveway in her Ford Mustang, which always just looked like the much-lesser ride, the Ford Escort to my unskilled eyes. I would squish myself into the backseat, and off we’d go, down the hill to Yummi Yogurt.

Yummi’s was the best. With eight flavors of yogurt, seemingly chunky styles, like rocky road, made unctuous and smooth, awaited to be adorned with countless toppings. And can you believe it, it was fat-free? “One small cookies-and-cream (?) yogurt, with crushed Butterfinger topping please!” And then I would sit in silence as my sister and Tiffany prattled on about the new Units top/skirt/belt they coveted. Ah, the summer of ’89.

And it all came flooding back to me at Pinkberry’s. Because even with all of the hype, the new, “healthy” fruit toppings, or the gauche Fruity Pebbles that I opted for, it’s still just frozen yogurt. Excuse me, fro-yo. Pinkberry’s is becoming huge, and in no time one will be causing a “fro”-motion near you too.