The One Where It's Friday, Friday Gotta Get Down on Friday

Okay, people, first things first...

Please say hello to my new car!!!!! 

I am literally the worst at taking pictures so I cut off his nose, but you get the picture.

Awww yisssss front view

I don't know what his name is yet (he is definitely a boy). I want to name him after a character from a book or movie where something bad happened to this character (e.g., he got his car stolen) but in the end it ended up working out for the best (e.g., he now has a Civic that gets almost double the gas mileage and can FINALLY play his iPod in his car while driving... er... I mean that's just an example). Any suggestions will be appreciated and carefully considered. And, if you suggest a name and I end up picking it, you will win a very nice prize. (No, for real, I actually have an idea for a prize.)

So, long story very short, I hemmed and hawed over my options, wrote down a LOT of numbers on a LOT of different pieces of paper, hemmed more, hawed more, chewed my right pinkie fingernail to bits, woke up in the middle of the night agonizing over the decision 3 nights in a row, and finally decided to just go for it and buy the new car. 

I've never had a brand-new car. That new car smell is no joke. 

Fancy touchscreen controls. Weird to not have a volume button for the radio.

AMAZING right-side camera that comes on whenever I put my right blinker on so I can ACTUALLY see what's in that lane, not just assume I am correct in thinking I will not smash into a car when I merge.  Note: picture was taken in driveway, not while driving.

I could even fit into the back seat with the front seat all the way back!!! This bodes well for regular-length limbed folks.

I love him and I just want to hug him every time I look at him. 

Also, THEY FOUND MY OLD CAR. Not stripped, not broken, not anything. 

My actual face when I got the phone call from the police.

The Huntington Beach Police Department called me the day after I bought my new car and told me they found Jackie in some random parking lot out in HB. Given that I had signed the title over to the dealership the day prior, I was no longer legally responsible for the car, but the tags were still in my name at that point so I had to let the Honda dealership know and they took care of it. SO WEIRD. It's literally like the people who stole it took it because they needed a ride out to Huntington Beach and have never heard of "asking your friends for a ride" or "it's called the bus." So, anyhoo, I think the saga is officially over and while I still would have preferred to not have to deal with that enormous headache that is a stolen car, I love my new car so much I almost don't even care. 

So that's that. I just can't wait to see the next adventure life brings my way. Hopefully this one will have less thievery and more of a rich prince who wants to take me sailing on his yacht and buy me diamonds, but whatever. 

In other news, I took this Buzzfeed Quiz about how many summer milestones I've accomplished and I am SERIOUSLY slacking in this department. Well, I did just get a fun Barbie/neon pink mani yesterday, but other than that... 

I guess since I live in SoCal, I have more summer weather to take advantage of than just until Labor Day but considering I will be starting school right around then, I won't have summer leisure time. So, Monique and I are planning a Roommate Adventure, Summer Theme for Sunday. Actual plan TBA. I will tell you what we will not be doing, however, which is reading rumors about Beyonce and Jay-Z breaking up because I swear to god if that actually happens I will need to go into mourning for a solid 7 days. You were warned.

Happy weekend!

The One Where we Put the Fun in Funeral

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here today to celebrate the memory of one of the greatest Honda Accords that ever did live. Jackie (named after the one and only Jackie O), though you were only on this earth a short 10 years, you provided transportation to and from many fun memories and experiences and will forever be remembered as the car in which I had some of the best times of my life.

This is NOT my actual vehicle, but this is exactly what she looked like!

Aside from being a good car to get me to work, Trader Joe's, the gym, etc., Jackie was where I:

-Drove through the most insane rainstorm I've ever experienced in Oklahoma with my mom one summer

-Laughed myself silly with Kim and Erin on our way to a corn maze at Hillsdale one fall

-Broke up with my most serious boyfriend to-date

-Learned what it sounds/feels like when your transmission dies while you're driving on the freeway

-Cried and cried while my friend drove me home after I found out my grandma died while I was at the movie theater

-Sang along with Miranda Lambert's "Revolution" album for six months straight in 2009

-Prepared for (read: poured booze into Smart Water bottles) several cruises to Mexico (don't worry - we were parked in the parking garage at the cruise terminal - NOT driving!) (Does that make it better?)

You can barely see Jackie, but her butt is on the right side.

-Had the cold sweats while driving home from my UCLA interview

-Learned the importance of paying full attention when pulling into the garage at my parents' house so you don't scrape the hell out of your bumper and have to spend your entire summer's earnings on a new one... oops

-Realized the importance of not listening to your drunk friends when they say they're "fine" and "not gonna puke" when you're driving them home from the bar

-Seriously prayed I was going to make it to Ann Arbor one night when I stupidly drove there from Hillsdale to meet a friend for Thai food during a blizzard

-Questioned my sanity when I got up at 3:00 in the morning for Black Friday to drive to Kohl's to purchase a stupid waffle iron (which I haven't even used in years) when Calla was here for Thanksgiving

Another picture from the CALLA-fornia Thanksgiving trip... obvi not at 3:00 in the morning

And about a trillion other things. 

I still haven't heard any official word on where Jackie is now, but the 13 day waiting period to finalize all the insurance stuff is over so we are moving forward with the assumption that she is gone forever. I am sad to officially say goodbye to this good little car, but hopefully within a week or so I will have a new car or at least have a game plan for getting one. 

Anyway, stay tuned since the saga isn't over yet and in the meantime, I will leave you with this video which has nothing to do with cars, but one of the characters is named Jackie, so it fits.