My young, idealistic self never wanted to own a car. No joke. It was part of my whole “no debt, no credit, only cash” philosophy and didn’t fit my vision for “urban living”. And really, I didn’t want the responsibility or expense of maintaining a vehicle.
I wanted to live in the city, near everything I needed. I wanted to rely on my own two feet, a bike or public transportation and more or less did. Until I moved to Texas, I never owned a car. I always borrowed one from family, until my grandfather signed over the title of the vehicle that brought me 2300 miles to Texas.
Dress – Eshakti, 28
Cardigan – Old Navy, XXL
Jelly flats – Mel via ideeli, size 10
Bracelet – Style & Co., Macy’s
Necklace – Etsy
The 20 year old minivan (yes, you read right) was fun while it lasted. Nostalgic even, since a minivan was the first car I drove. The days of carting my siblings and their friends around. The stuck side door that you had to slam shut if you did get it open – it was fun to watch the macho kids try that one. That one time at work when two SUVs parked too close on both sides with no room to spare, and I was able to climb through the back and over the seats, instead of waiting for one of those jerks to come move their car. The night my friend and I took the car during a sleepover (when we shouldn’t have, sorry Mom!) and drove over to her house to grab something. We caught her so-called “friends” toilet papering her parent’s house and scared the crap out of them. Good times.
Driving a minivan might not be an ideal mode of transportation when you’re in your late 20s and childless, but it worked. I liked sitting higher up. It didn’t move fast but got the job done. It had a lot of room for “stuff”. It was also fairly inconspicuous. I do drive fast on occasion and (knock on wood) never got a ticket while driving a minivan. That is one thing (that I feel like) I’m going to miss.
Our new car is a 2014 Subaru Forester. It’s a lot peppier than a minivan.
Ideally, I would have taken these in a field somewhere before sunset, looking like I popped right out of a car commercial… but alas, we had some celebratory sushi (or doomsday “you just signed up for a lot of debt” meal) and snapped these after.
The finance lady took our picture we signed… my expression says it all.
Oddly enough, I really miss public transit. Living in Houston is tough without a car. I thought living in the East Bay was bad enough, but here (especially the suburbs) it is almost non-existent. It was nice to go to San Francisco on BART for school or fun, and not have to worry about parking or getting around. Except a few times I almost missed the last train and got stuck in the city… oops.
This dress is from Eshakti and is one of the few decent things I’ve purchased from them since my bad experience(s) last year. I’ve tried custom sizing several times with catastrophic results, so I was really glad when they expanded the standard sizing. Things are still a little wonky, but much better than before and things I can fix.
We’ve only had the car a few weeks and I’ve definitely put it to work. I don’t commute but we’ve gone on a few field trips – like the beach and a weekend in Dallas with friends (and yarn)! There will definitely be a whole lot of shopping from my closet as I get used to paying a car note and insurance… ha!
Have you made any big changes or decisions lately?
