Three Things I'm Loving Today

I'm happy today for many reasons.  Here are just three of those reasons:


I love that Whole Foods always has flower bouquets for $3.99.  The arrangements are always different and although simple you get a lot of blooms for your buck.

My new favorite snack is this Daiya soft "cheese".  I am generally not a fan of fake cheeses but I really honestly love this one.  It has a great flavor, is spreadable and tastes great with these wheat crackers.  A perfect light snack!:

And last but not least I am thrilled to be going to see Pat Benatar tonight!  When I heard about the show in December it was something I did have to think about or take time to decide if it was worth the price of a ticket.  I bought tickets the day they went on sale and I'm sure it will be a fun evening:

The Many Beds Of Lou

Some people buy their animals fancy beds and monogram the name on the bed.  The pet sleeps contently on a warm, soft and comfortable resting spot.  Not my cat. He prefers carboard and tissue paper. Here are some of his recent spots to slumber:


This box is just big enough to sleep in and just tall enough to hide in when laying down:

He loves to sleep on a paper bag.  He doesn't have any interest in getting inside the bag and playing.  Just sleeping on top of it:

A while back we went really high tech with this box on its side and a tissue paper overhang roof.  See the white nose hiding:

Even when he goes outside he doesn't seem to want the cozy spots on the grass.  He always loves concetet to roll and rub on!

New Car!

A little over a year ago I bought a new Nissan Versa.  I loved that it was tiny, got great gas mileage and had a very small monthly payment.  But almost immediately I thought I had made the wrong decision.  It wasn't much fun to drive and I didn't feel like it was "me"  I don't think I'm the only one who feels a car should reflect aspects of one's own personality.  Anyway, I immediately looked into trading it in but decided to stick it out.  


A few weeks ago the weather was about to turn unseasonably warm and I longed for a fun car that I could zip down the highway in with the sunroof open.  I decided I didn't want to go through another summer in an "un fun" car.    I started researching what I could afford with only a few mandatory requirements: a small sedan with a manual transmission that has a sunroof.  Trouble is that many small cars don't have a lot of great features.  By the time you add everything in you have a $25K price tag.  Not for me.  I finally landed on the Ford Focus which was a perfect fit.  By the way, If you need to research cars I highly recommend www.edmunds.com.  I find it invaluable when researching cars. And of course www.kbb.com when researching what a trade in is worth.  


I determined that the only Ford dealer in Maine that appeared to have the car I wanted was Wiscasset Ford.  I went up on a Sunday when they were closed to check it out.  Yup, there was my car.  All that was left was to arrange a time to drive it and hope I could make all of the numbers work.


I arrived at Wiscasset Ford after only a quick email to let the salesperson  Scott know I was coming.  He warmly greeted me, asked me if I had any questions and told me the keys were in the car.  No pressure, no probing to figure out what kind of customer I was, no vying to get the keys to my car so he could look it over.  He didn't even ask me for my address, phone number or driver's license.  Loved that right away!  Ford was offering a great rebate and combined with a very reasonable discount offered by the dealer I was ready to begin negotiations.  Let me just say that it couldn't have been more pain free.  I was treated fairly, with respect and they didn't mess around.  They offered me the best price possible for the car and for my trade without having to play any games.  The financing was easy, breezy and I was driving away in my new car in just 3 hours!