6 Figures

We are now officially the proud owners of not one but two 6-figure cars.

In the mileage sense, that is.

Spring Fever

Ah, can I just tell you how excited I am for daylight saving time to start tomorrow? We've been enjoying beautiful weather around here lately (and always, I suppose) but Matt usually comes home right as the sun sets, so it feels almost wasted. I love this time of year when the sun starts to stick around long enough for us to play in the evening! We're excited to begin our weekly tennis matches in just a few days.

It seems like winter has flown by so fast, doesn't it? The gopher must've had it wrong, because spring seems to be in full force around these parts. In fact, we just spent our 75-degree, sunny Saturday at a BBQ and working in the yard. Before we know it, summer will be here and we'll spend days on end just relaxing at the beach or laying out by the pool.

(Gotta love Dippin' Dots by the pool! This was in Atlanta last summer... I never blogged about that trip, did I?)

And while Matt and I are having fun in the meantime, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit to dreaming about those days often. Anyone else suffering from spring fever?

Underground Ketchup Brigade

If you only know one thing about my family's eating habits, it should be that they are serious about their ketchup.

Del Monte ketchup mysteriously disappeared from Utah shelves a few months ago and it's been really rough on my siblings. Since Del Monte ketchup is plentiful out here in the desert, Matt & I happily supplied a box of it as a funny little Christmas gift. It got actual cheers from the entire family.

Little did we know that our one-time gift would lead to constant requests for more. Thus, our backseat on the way to Utah last weekend looked like this:

Like I said: serious about ketchup.

Rhymes

I almost forgot to post my absolute favorite picture from Louisiana.

Actual instructions on our beloved Garmin:

Maybe I'm easily entertained, but it made me smile the whole way to Alabama.

Driving on the Autobahn

I like to drive fast. Really fast. But I don't like to break the law or pay tickets so, naturally, I drive slow just like everyone else. (Unless I'm on the Jersey Turnpike. Then I drive fast just like everyone else. And that is much more fun.) It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that one of my life goals--or shall we say, items on my bucket list--is to drive on the Autobahn.

Well, check! Kind of. See, Matt and I took turns driving on the speed-limitless Autobahn from Rebstein to Munich and had a jolly ol' time driving as fast as our little Mercedes A-Class could go.

Only one problem there. What the Mercedes commercials never tell you in America is that along with their high-performance luxury vehicles, they also make tiny little gutless cars. They keep these in Germany. And these low-class cars, unlike their high-class counterparts, top out at about 174 km/hr when the pedal is pushed all the way to the metal. (The higher numbers on the speedometer were apparently just for show.) For those of you who aren't walking calculators, that translates to a whopping 108 mph. Pretty sure my family's old ghetto van had more power than that!

Typically when you cross an ocean to accomplish a life goal of driving as fast as humanly possible with no repercussions, you plan on driving a wee bit faster than 108 mph. Right? Other cars were whooshing past us all afternoon!

Moral of this story? Lesson learned. Next time, I'm getting a faster rental car.

(Also, never buy an A-Class.)

LUSH

Matt is a smart man. Last summer, in preparation for my September birthday, I dragged him into the LUSH shop in every big city we visited. He took note and surprised me with a LUSH gift card as one of my presents. (And though I love giving gifts, when it comes to receiving, few things scream "thoughtful" like a gift card to a place I adore. Anyone with me on that?) Since we were still bouncing around the country at the time, I finally cashed in at the Santa Monica shop last month.

LUSH describes itself as an "adult candystore," which seems a bit inadequate to me. Sure, the excitement is akin to a child surrounded by sugar, but the feeling is something more along the lines of "I think I died and went to bath heaven." It is known for its luxurious and incredibly unique bath products such as bath bombs, shower jellies, and an ocean salt scrub that makes your skin so smooth, a baby's bottom seems scaly in comparison. Just ask Matt! (He's a great sport.)

Since our visit to LUSH coincided with their post-holiday sale, I was able to get about a zillion things for the price of two-and-a-half. Score! I've been quite enjoying my spoils, and highly recommend following in Matt's shoes the next time you need to surprise a lady (*cough*Valentine's Day*cough*).
It's a gift that keeps on giving :-)

Varying Perspectives

Yesterday afternoon, I was out running errands and made a quick stop at Sam's Club. A new mom was standing ahead of me in line holding a little bundle all wrapped up in thick pink blankets. The Sam's employee noticed the baby as well.

"Is that a baby girl you got there?" she asked. "How old is she?"

"Six weeks," the mom replied, beaming.

The employee appeared shocked.

"Then girl, what are you doing here in this cold air?!"

A valid question for February.
If it weren't still 70 degrees and sunny here in Southern California.

After leaving Sam's, I made sure to take a quick snapshot of the clear blue sky to illustrate my point. Yes, the day was that beautiful! (Ignore the phone line... you get the picture.)

It took every ounce of self-control I could muster for the Utahn in me to not burst out in laughter. Different perspectives, indeed.

I don't know about you...

...but the Sesame Street characters brought a smile to my face every time I hit up the internet for random information this past week.

And to provide you a sampling of my recent Google adventures, did you know that both Ohio and North Carolina feature the Wright Flyer on their state quarters? Apparently it's quite the rivalry. When Ohio adopted the slogan "Birthplace of Aviation," North Carolina also staked their claim--"First in Flight." Although the first flight actually took place in Kittyhawk, NC, the brothers called Ohio home and did much of their planning here in OH (hence Wright-Patterson AFB, where Matt & I are right now). In fact, they continued to do a great deal of testing right where the base is built now. Meanwhile, the second half of Wright-Patt comes from Frank Stuart Patterson, who died in an aviation accident at the Wilbur Wright field. There's more, but I think you get the idea.

How did people ever survive without Google?

PS-I am happy to announce that this post led to the discovery that my husband can do an excellent, spot-on impersonation of the Count. Yet another one of his hidden talents.