all mine for the next 3 years

It
is
so
fun
to
DRIVE.

Ugh.  I'm obsessed.  The worst part about leasing it is the mileage limit, but then it's kind of nice because it makes me cherish each mile driven.  And nobody has a problem with the color.  I mean, not to toot my own horn, but it's pretty much flawless.

So many shiny knobs and buttons.  It almost achieves my goal of having every button accounted for.  I hate when there is a plastic button where something is supposed to be.  The only things I'm missing are heated seats because apparently they don't order the "cold weather" package for cars in Florida, you have to special order it.  I don't care what people say, sometimes I get chilly and it's nice to have a warm seat.

Regardless, it's got almost everything else it could possibly have, and so many things I didn't even realize it does.  Like pair up with my phone through an app that shows me all kinds of interesting things like how much gas is in my gas tank!

I still haven't figured out how it all works but it gives me a fun activity to do when I get to work early like this morning.  I'm definitely going to have to reform my driving habits though because I keep seeing my average gas mileage so far and it a'int pretty.  When I was talking to my dad about my new car he commented that it must get great gas mileage.  I explained that there are three driving modes; normal, "green", and sport.  I'm sure if I spent more time in green and less time in sport I would be doing better in the mileage dept.  Tonight I drove the whole way home from work in green.

Speaking of driving home from work, one of my favorite thing about my mini is the headlights.

You can kind of see in that picture, they have horseshoe shaped halo lights that are on all the time, and then the headlights are led so they are really crisp blue.  I've never had a car with lights like these, it really is nice although I wonder if it's annoying to other cars.  I feel like at least I'm really low to the ground so it's not like I'm blinding people directly in their faces.

I'm still learning so much about all of the cool things this car can do.  It seems like each question I come up with leads me down a rabbit hole of new information.  Earlier I was looking through the computer and I found a section of little tutorials on different things.  You can imagine my reaction when I found this:

Gala brought up an interesting point in that "Entering the rear" is a little off topic for the other tutorials on this screen.  Either way the tutorial was not as exciting as I thought it would be.

Regardless, I love this car.  I can't wait to go to work tomorrow!

just have to wait one more day

Tomorrow I will be waking up bright and early to go get my new car!!

Special thanks to Daniel for spending the day with me at the DMV and elsewhere.  My favorite part was when the power went out and the guy behind the window got a look of panic on his face before looking at the computer and saying, "oh, ok, no, it's still there".

But I think I've done everything by the book and I will be able to drive off the lot tomorrow with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.  Also on my sick new sound system.  : ) : ) : )

almost have a new car

Of course this is the dealership I ended up getting my car from.  The mini/bmw/bentley/rolls royce dealership of Miami.

I was originally looking at mini's in Ft. Lauderdale where it was respectably the mini/bmw dealership.  Mini was still on the low end but given that the dealership one town north is the mini/volkswagen dealership I didn't have any reason to expect that Miami would be this big of a price jump.  They wouldn't even valet park my truck!

My awesome sales guy Rodney came in special just for me even though it was his day off so while I waited for him I decided to check out their inventory.  Somehow I had been so dazzled by the super cars I completely overlooked this:

Allegedly it belonged to a stripper.  The pink is covering white.  It is definitely a hot car, I just think I would stick with the white.  Almost everyone I showed it to has loved it, and I've been surprised by the people who think I would actually have bought that for myself.  I bet it smells like Britney Spears perfume inside.

I did sign all the paperwork for my new ride while I was there, unfortunately there were too many pieces of the puzzle that had to fall in to place before I can drive it away.  In the meantime, my truck continues to give me trouble, making me feel totally justified in spending WAY TOO MUCH MONEY on a really awesome new car.  But really, just knowing that I can get myself to work and back is worth it.

My fantasy is that I will be able to take ownership of my new car tomorrow but I have a feeling it will more likely be Friday morning.  Tomorrow morning will be consumed with transferring the title of my truck to Daniel before I have to be at work at 9.

These days are an extreme test in patience.  As if I haven't been thinking about this and planning it for long enough, to be so close to the end is driving me nuts.  Special thanks to Joe and Daniel for giving me rides to work in the meantime.

Speaking of, I need to go to bed.  It won't be long before Daniel is rapping at my chamber door.

I miss them already : (

Back from Boston and I am missing Zeus and Penny terribly.

The wedding was beautiful and I was honored to be a part of the party.  It was also really fun to meet so many different people from Jon's life that I had only ever heard about or seen in pictures.  Like his niece Olivia!!  Ugghhh, she is so adorable, literally smiling and happy about EVERYTHING.

And then I made a lot of new and unexpected friends as well.  Like Joe's mom, who by the end of the night was dragging me by my tie to the dance floor.  Or Louis' parents who were hilariously english and fantastic.  I rode with them from the house to the venue and we were supposed to be following the others.  As we were getting situated we saw them pull away from the curb and down the street to which Lesley exclaimed, "Well they're off like a prom dress!"

Besides the wedding it was great to just get out of town for a few days.  It's been almost two years since I've flown anywhere or been away from work for more than three days.  I was reminded of the person I used to be and the life I used to have.

When I got home from the airport I took a shower and intended to go to the grocery store but my truck wouldn't start.  I have an appointment for this afternoon with Rodney at the Miami Mini dealership.  Will keep you posted.

Of all the reasons I'm super excited to get a new car I think the best thing will be having a sound system that works.  As you may recall my radio in the truck has a tendency to fall out of the dashboard when I go over a particularly large speed bump.  And to have speakers that work 100% of the time?  Oh it will be amazing.

Special thanks to Zeus for deep cleaning my ears every chance he got for 4 days:

I can enjoy my new sound system to the fullest!  And you know what I'll be listening to for the inaugural drive.

TMI

I mean, I like Mariah as much as the next guy but Jon really takes it to the next level.

Totally unnecessary.

a nice visitor at work

: (((((

Her name is SHUSH.  When I first saw her she was just waddling along smiling and looking around.  The only thing that changed when she saw me looking at her was that her tail started wagging frantically.

She reminded me of yeti, who I got to see yesterday on my day off.

The next time I go over I need to video tape the way she acts when I first get there.  She dances back and forth and is just so excited.  After the initial petting she loses interest in me pretty quickly.  Usually by the end of my visit the only thing that gets her interested is having her picture taken.

She's so happy, I just want to hug her all day long.

a great day to be off

And just think, tomorrow I get to do it all over again!

I'm loving my new schedule.  I feel so refreshed.

rabbit rabbit rabbit late and without rabbit

I'm really doing terribly this month, I apologize.  I blame Joe and the full days of heavy drinking.  My liver is looking forward to sober september.

Weirdly I have like a million days off this month so at least I have lots of time for fun in sun.

Otherwise known as getting caught in torrential downpours while on a bike ride.

It looks beautiful today though, I am determined to get to the beach.

Still a few more days to go actually.

sorry, we're real busy over here

I can't believe how badly I've failed at my rabbit rabbit rabbit post this month.  Not only has it been a whirlwind of activity the past couple of days but my stupid phone is also so full of candy crush that I can't even take a picture of my calendar page!

How did I take that photo of the detective you ask?  Every time it gives me the message that my storage is full I delete something off my phone to make room.  I've had to make some really big cuts, but each time it bought me a few more pictures so it was worth it.  Unfortunately, in the interim I would fill up that free space with more candy crush, until now I'm backed in to a corner.  I literally went through my old text messages and manually deleted conversations but it still wasn't enough.

My upgrade isn't until January!!  What do I do?!?!