Productive and Fun Weekend

I had a super great weekend November 22-24th.  There was nothing in particular that made it special except for the fact that I didn't have anywhere to go and the whole weekend was on my terms.  Sometimes you just have one of those weekends and this was one of them.

FRIDAY:

Friday started out awesome as Carrie and I both had pink hoodies on.  Oh, we sit right next to each other too.

I made an awesome organic, grass-fed steak salad for dinner.  So.delicious. 

I got my monthly essential oils order on Friday as well.  Fuzzer was just as excited. I can't believe I haven't talked to you guys yet about essential oils.  That day will come soon. 

SATURDAY: 

This would be the last day I would see this car.  I sold it.  I should have sold it months and months ago but I just didn't get to it.  Craigslist is the best.  Goodbye, Killer Bee.  

I got to see the new $100 bills.  I thought they were fake and had to verify with Michael before I accepted them from the buyer.  That shows you how often I have a $100 bill in my possession.  

I successfully ate a pomegranate.  I had never eaten a pomegranate until earlier in the week.  I bought it a cup of them seeded already and I thought they were strange.  Juicy but crunchy.  Turns out I love them. How I went this long in life without eating a pomegranate, I don't know.  Have you eaten one before?  I've had another one since this weekend and I have two more on my counter waiting for me.  Good thing they're in season from September to January because I plan on buying a bunch.

It's a little bit of work to get the seeds out but it's worth it.  Watch out for your clothes though.  Those puppies stain everything.  

I wrapped 85% of my Christmas presents.  Yep, I started shopping in late September here and there and man, does it feel good to be pretty much done.  Just a couple of last minute things and I can sit back and enjoy the holiday season with no stress.  I can't say I've ever had my presents wrapped a week before Thanksgiving and before the tree is up.  

Shiny and Brand New

I had the day off on Friday, June 21st.  I wanted to accomplish one thing.  It happened.  I finally gave in and purchased a new car.

There were a few signs during the week leading up to that Friday that made me think that it was now time to buy a car.  I wanted to get by for as long as I could without a car payment but with reliable transportation.  That day had expired.  I didn't have a car payment for over 5 years and that's pretty good.  It was time to start paying for surefire transportation again.

I've known what brand of car I've wanted for well over a year now.  I wanted a Hyundai.  I thought I wanted a Sonata but wasn't sure how I could afford one based on what I wanted to pay.  I thought the Elantra might be more for me but wasn't sure I could afford that either.  I saw an Accent hatchback in Duluth weeks before and that intrigued me and I knew that I could afford that but I wasn't completely sold.

I did some research online and drove through the local Hyundai dealership that Thursday night.  I was getting ready to see what was there before heading in there all by my lonesome-girl-self on Friday morning.

I woke up on Friday morning and while in bed, something dawned on me.  I COMPLETELY FORGOT that I get a deal on new and used cars with certain dealerships through my employer since I am under the same umbrella of companies as the Twin Cities Automotive Group.  I signed into my work desktop from home and saw one of the dealerships was Inver Grove Hyundai.  Score.

I started looking at their website and comparing prices to the local Hyundai dealership I was going to go to.  The difference was thousands of dollars cheaper on the cars I was looking at before.  Even better.

I went to the dealership and parked my car.  I put on some Valor on my wrists which is an essential oil blend that calms you, gives you courage and eliminates anxiety. I didn't have much anxiety to tell you the truth but as a woman walking into a dealership by herself, I needed all the ammo I could get. I stopped a guy in the car lot (he ended up being my salesman) and asked if I could speak to the general manager as I was instructed by my employer to do.  The GM came out and introduced himself while I told him the deal about the pricing.  He was familiar with the program and told me they would take care of me.

He hooked me up with Mike, my salesman and we perused the lot for the car I wanted.  I told him my dilemma between models and after asking me some questions, decided the Elantra was a good place to start.   I had a specific car in mind based on their website but I didn't see it there.  Instead, we test drove a different Elantra.  It wasn't until we were coming back from the ride that I saw the car I saw on the website.  That's the one I wanted.  And it had never been test driven, only shuttled to and around the dealership.  It had a mere 6 miles on it.

After some paperwork and credit check, I was good to go to the financing guy to sign the papers.  This is the boring part so I'll keep this part brief.  I signed the papers, they cleaned up the car and got it ready for me while I went to my sister's and dropped off my car and she drove me back to the dealership to pick it up.

I got way more car than I ever expected to that day.  By me remembering the employee pricing just that morning, I was able to shave off almost $2,000 off the price of the car on top of a $500 rebate and financing of 0.9%.  I walked away with the high-end trim level and a payment less than what I had budgeted for.

I invested in some Weather Tech floor liners as well as one for my trunk. With a driveway made of dirt and with snowy winters, let's start things off right.

Goodbye 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R in the color Sunburst.  I had this car for almost 10.5 years to the day.  I never expected to have it that long (otherwise I probably wouldn't have chosen yellow).  I can't say you were a good car throughout this time but you lasted way longer than I thought you would.  We had an alright time together for the last 143,xxx miles.

Hello 2013 Hyundai Elantra Limited in the color Sparkling Ruby. Bluetooth technology, leather seats, heated seats front and back, XM radio...I think we're going to be friends for a long time.  And if you don't cooperate, at least I have a 10 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

My old car is hiding in the bushes in the background, jealous.