Don't you love that new vomit smell?

Here she is, in all her glory. Two stressful weeks later and I now have a vehicle to call my own. I absolutely hated the process. How I managed to make it to age 31 without ever having to look for/buy a car is way lucky. I have been blessed with the use of hand-me-downs and inheriting the use of my husbands' nice cars.





When it came to buying this car Eric had given me strict guidelines to follow.

1. No American made cars
2. No mini-vans
3. No black cars
4. Car must have a hitch, navigation, and a DVD player
5. Must be certified (if used)
6. Can't have over 40,000 miles
7. Must seat 7

Can you imagine the difficulty? We narrowed it down pretty quickly to the new Toyota Highlander, the Honda Pilot, and the Acura MDX. Once we figured out how much these cars are new - $40,000+, that ended the new car search and removed the Highlander alltogether (like the new look, but not the old). So, since Diane & my Mom have Pilot's we set our sights on the Acura. I think I called/visited about 12 dealerships around California. At one point we were ready to buy flights to San Jose to buy it and drive home with it - that's how scarce these cars are. One dealership told us that some guy from China called the other day and bought 7 of them over the phone, without even seeing them. Supposedly, because the dollar is so weak, he is able to buy them for cheap here, pay to have them shipped to China, and still make money when he sells them there.

So...I love my new ride. The kids love the DVD player and all was well until this afternoon when Cohen vomited all over the back seat. Twice. Only TWO days after signing on the dotted line. (which never really seems to be dotted...where did that saying come from?) The seat belt strap will never smell the same. Thank goodness for leather. Can you imagine if this had been a $40,000 brand new car? That almost two-year-old would have been walking home.