Unplanned fun

So much has happened in the last couple weeks and I can't say we planned any of it! It all started two weeks ago with a little shopping trip to Target.

We were in desperate need of groceries and some household items so I spent a couple hours and did some serious damage. I loaded up my little Honda CRV and headed home. On the way home from Target I pass several car dealerships. I could see the Toyota dealer coming up in the distance and thought of the commercial I had seen for zero financing for 60 months.

My faithful Honda has been an excellent car but was in need of some major service repairs that were much more expensive than the value of the vehicle. I'd been thinking about buying a new car for months and had done lots of research but was waiting for winter to be over. Winter in Chicago is really hard on your car, lots of salt and moisture!

So anyway, back to my story. I decided to pull into Toyota and ask them about the finance deal and which vehicles it applied to. A five minute conversation turned into a test drive of the Toyota Highlander. My groceries are fine, it's colder outside than it is in my refrigerator!

I drove the Highlander around and it was very nice. But I wasn't excited about it. So we returned to the dealership and I thought that would be the end of it. The sales lady could tell I wasn't sold so she asked me if there were any other vehicles I was interested in?

Well...I reluctantly told her that I had been looking at a preowned Lexus RX 350 that was up for auction in Arizona. But the cost to have the vehicle shipped and transfer tax was very expensive.

She told me they rarely get any RX 350's on the lot but if I would wait a few minutes she could search their system and see if they had any. Well, there was ONE.

It was a 2007, white, great millage, IDENTICAL to the one I was interested in buying from the Arizona auction. I could not believe my eyes! So of course, there had to be a test drive.

I climbed into the SUV and the seat fit me like a glove. I was sold, completely in love, and an hour later they were running my credit!!!! Oh my god, what and I doing?!?!?!? I was scared to death to call Greg and tell him, ummm...honey, I think I'm going to buy a car!

I told the people at Toyota I was not about to buy a car without my husband seeing it first. Greg was at work so they suggested I drive the car over to his office and show him! Hahaha! I can just picture the look on his face!

It was a very tempting idea. I called Greg and he told me he was just about to leave the office. So I suggested we meet for dinner, how about Panera? I drove the new car and waited in the parking lot for Greg to show up. He pulled into the parking lot and did not even notice me waiting in the new car. So I rolled down the window and whistled at him.

He looked over, saw me in the car, and smiled. Fheeew, a smiling face, I was relieved.

Greg: Nice car.

Me: Thanks, I think I'm gonna keep it.

Greg: Oh really...

I fill him in on all the details over some panini and soup. I think I had 2 bites. I was so nervous I couldn't really eat.

We went back to the Toyota dealer and 2 hours of negotiations later, I was transferring my groceries from faithful old "Bessy" to my new baby. I still can't believe it, I guess it's fair to say I'm an impulse shopper. But when it's right, sometimes you just know it! Two weeks later and I have no regrets, happy as a clam, sometimes I don't want to get out of my car!!!

Spring inside but not outside

I am so ready for spring that I decided to pick up a little something for the house to make me feel better about all the miserable snow outside.

I was at Trader Joe's over the weekend and they had all these great potted plants. Lots of tulips and daffodils in pretty pots. They also had hyacinth, I never knew what these flowers were called but they smelled WONDERFUL so I went with it.

My favorite smell in the whole world is still the orange blossoms back in AZ but hyacinth is now a very close second! The plant makes it feel a little more like spring is coming but I know in reality there is probably still at least another month of this freezing cold...bummer.

LOVE

Ice Skating in Millennium Park

Happy Valentine's Day

Can you say BARGAIN

I bought this...Originally priced at this .....$1,449.00but I only paid this....$399.00

Oh how I love you C&B outlet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's a Natural!

He did it! Greg went snowboarding with me! Here he is, all smiles, before the "fun" begins. For any of you who have learned to snowboard, the first day is not typically a lot of fun. You spend a lot of time on your butt and sometimes it can be a little painful.

Greg took a quick lesson, and was going down the hill in no time!!

My hubby was such a good sport! I'm so glad we finally got to do this together!

I need a vacation

It is that time of the year here in Illinois. When winter has lost it's charm and I am very much ready for another season. Unfortunately, this is probably just the half way point. Last year it didn't warm up until April (maybe even May depending on your definition of "warm").

So...we are going to make the best of the snow. I am going to teach Greg how to snowboard. I brought my board with me to Illinois and just bought some new boots last weekend (Sports Authority was having a sale...I couldn't resist...pink Burton's, that's all I'm going to say). There are a few "learn to ski" hills here in Illinois. One is about 45 minutes north of us. Or we can go to a real mountain in Wisconsin which is about a 2 hour drive. I haven't made up my mind where we're going to go. All I know is Saturday is the day. I will take pictures, don't you worry. I've been waiting 5 years to see my honey on a snowboard.

This is not really much of a vacation, just a day trip. But, we do have a real vacation in our future and I am SO excited. Our good friends Carson and Meghan have made the brilliant decision to get married at a vineyard near Sacramento. The tickets are booked, we will be there in May. Every time I open my gmail account and see the travel itinerary staring back at me I know it won't be long until I'm back on the west coast soaking up the sun!!!

Until then....

They were 50% off, how are you going to pass that up?!?!

Slacking

I don't know why but I've been slacking on the blogging lately. It's not like I've been particularly busy or swamped with work, just lazy I guess. The cold weather does make you want to curl up by the fire and do nothing for hours. This morning I watched the snow fall outside our bedroom window for way way too long. It's my day off, I guess that's allowed.

Today I also took down all the Christmas decorations. It was very sad, I feel like the house is so bare without them. But the time had definitely come, our tree is very crispy... aka dead.

I never really posted any pictures from the holidays so here are a few. We did a split Christmas between Mesa and Tucson. New Years Eve was filled with sushi, board games, and friends here in Naperville. What can I say, we are so lucky and we've been having a great time. Happy New Year! I have high hopes for 2010 :)

Annual lunch turned dinner with my favorite ladies!

25...yikes.

Christmas, Polheber style.

All our nieces and nephews!

A little rock climbing

Winter, Arizona style :)