I bought a car yesterday. For the first time, too. I'm feeling a little like a real grown up today.

When I was in high school, I got my first car. I still remember what song was playing on the radio the first time I took it for an independent spin (it was Pussy Cat Dolls, Don'tcha, if you're interested) and feeling like a total boss, with the windows down and a clutch that could read my mind. Also, if you're interested, the first place I took my independent, obviously grown self in that car was the library.

That was The Green Machine. You'll note the all caps. The Green Machine is a proper noun and a reflection of the name that, if cars had birth certificates, would have appeared on line one. Next would come the title "mother" and my name would have been right there, too.

I hope my friends remember The Green Machine. I bumped and bustled around in that thing for a long time before it had a heart attack (or transmission failure, whichever) and went to the place that old cars go to die. Actually, The Green Machine went to Betten Imports and somehow, magically, turned into a Honda Accord. Apparently, the car buying world is a totally different place than the real world. You can trade something that doesn't work, and totally get something that does! And it's legal.

The Honda never had a name. I simply called her, The Honda. I drove her through college like a work horse and she prevailed. In fact, she still runs and has recently found a new home. Bless you, Honda.

After college, I adopted a company car. And a company gas card. And joy. Those two things, they brought me a lot of joy.

So, clearly I've had cars. I've been driving for nearly a decade (remind me to wax painfully on how I can't believe so much time has passed), so why is this my first car-buying experience? Well, in high school, I lived with my financier and I had to make payments on the car directly to the Bank of Opa. I didn't have to explain where I earned my money, how I earned my money, and prove that I did, indeed, earn money. I just lived with a man who made it his job to remember that Thursday was payday and I owed him some cash.

So, this whole "buying a car" thing really is new to me. And it feels firmly rooted in a adulthood. At last!

I've been patting myself on the back thinking that I've worked for this. I'll buy it with my own money because I am an independent woman with a career (!!) but I can't deny that Ryan was integral. He's the real car boss. It was pouring rain as he prowled the dealership on foot, looking for a perfect car and basically, he isn't letting me forget that. He found it -- he gets the finder's fee.

































If you know Ryan well, this next piece won't be a surprise to you, but once we got it home, naturally the first thing we had to do was clean it.




Because a new car doesn't just come home clean. Obviously.

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So, I'm a grown up now. I buy cars and whatnot. Who knows what kind of Pandora's Box of responsibilities this could open up.

Or not. Whichever.

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Cheers to the holiday weekend!