Anja taught me that old German slogan for Mazdas, meaning "Make way for Mazda!" So with that to herald in the post, please welcome to the world Vynz Jeremy!
If you'd like to refresh your brain on my last car purchase (the only one I planned to make for the next decade until I ran it into the ground - yes, I loved it that much) take a look at the post from that time in November 2013.
And if those pictures ring a bell, wait til you see these.
Signing on the dotted line!
Writing out the check
Sitting in it for the first time since owning it
Jeremy helping me set up Bluetooth
Feature overview
Keys to the car thanks to Jeremy
And that's not all... my last Mazda 3 was purchased at a VW dealership that my mom drove me to late at night... and this Mazda 3 was also purchased at a VW dealership that my mom drove me to late at night. When I went to buy my first one (Richard Richard), Shannon had just come into town from England and came with us... and Shannon is coming into town in like 4 days, so we just missed recreating that... that would have been wild. But it's better that something is different, I don't need this one ending up totaled from a 16-year-old while parked outside too.
So, Vynz Jeremy is two years newer than Richard Richard, with 44k LESS miles, with power locks (yesssss...!) and Bluetooth. I have arrived in the 21st century!
As for the name... well, AJ and I had been going to a few different dealerships in Orange County when we came across one in Santa Ana where our salesman was a very young kid named Vince that must have been in community college, and his age definitely showed. Riding a hoverboard around, trying to act like our best friend, telling me to gun the car on the test drive (past a CHP office...?) and then telling me he can't get caught again or he'll get a ticket, and making jokes like "Are you sure she knows how to drive stick?" Ummm yes, thank you. I didn't really mind because I knew we wouldn't be buying that night. I had a mind to tell him that look, I'm fine with this for an hour, but you need to shape up if you really want to be a successful salesman, but I didn't care enough. When we asked to see the Carfax of one of the cars, he ran off to print it and AJ nudged me and pointed at the guys' business cards. His name was actually spelled "Vynz" and had no last name. I was cackling with laughter at the whole picture of this character and as we left I told AJ, I don't care who sells me whatever car I end up getting, my car will be named Vynz.
And of course, since Jeremy at the VW dealership was great, helped us the seal the deal, and also wore suspenders a la Richard in Capistrano, this Mazda gets a middle name!
I would like to thank AJ for helping me check the car out, including test driving, negotiating and follow-up, my mother for driving me to the dealership late at night, and Jayna for putting up with all my bitching about my car hunt in the meantime!
Thank God for Long Weekends. Don't tell AJ I said that, because he didn't get Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr Day. But we celebrated like it was a long weekend for both of us.
We went to Santa Barbara for the weekend to celebrate an entire year together! It was way too short. First of all, it was nostalgic as all get out being in Santa Barbara, and I couldn't believe how much I had forgotten - like the exit name off the 101 to Isla Vista (it's Los Carneros) or Tonic nightclub or Sandbar where Becca and I celebrated our 22nd birthdays on Friday before our joint parties on Saturday night. We spent Saturday afternoon in Isla Vista... I gave AJ the Kiki tour and then we went to Woodstock's to watch the Patriots/Chiefs game before going and checking into our Airbnb in downtown Santa Barbara.
We parked in front of the place, then decided we should pick up some drinks and went to CVS, where we got some snacks, some Jim Beam Maple, root beer and Santa Barbara shot glasses. Here's us on the CVS security camera at check-out.
I mention all of this because it ended up being a huge mistake! The Airbnb was a private-entrance studio attached to the main Victorian house, and not only was it cute, but the host had the kitchenette STOCKED with anything we could want! Fruit, water, ginger ale, coconut water, Vitamin water, beer (beer!), snacks, coffee, creamer, microwave meals, granola bars, chocolates... everything! Plus, a handwritten welcome note on the chalkboard and a gift of vintage postcards! (How did she know I collect those??) so basically we didn't ever need to go to CVS, except for maybe those shot glasses, and we LOVED that place.
Plus it was a tempurpedic bed that had massage features and could sit upright so we could comfortably watch the Packers/Cardinals game from bed. Screw Lasik, I need one of those beds!! We took a nap and then looked up a place to go to dinner. AJ found a cajun restaurant with good reviews and good location and I said "That reminds me, I think Santa Barbara used to have a nice cajun place..." well we show up to Palace Grill and I realized that that had been one of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara!!! I love cajun food, and I was/am obsessed with New Orleans, which it is made up to look like, and they have this amazing cajun martini that I loved, and I had even tried to reserve that place for my graduation lunch but they were booked up. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about it!!! I'm getting too old.
The next day we had to check out (huge sadface) and first order of business was to visit the mission. I had really been here a million and three times (legally and otherwise... cough sorority hazing cough) so there was nothing new, but it was nice to show it to AJ. The best part is that the real life main character from Island of the Blue Dolphins is actually buried here.
We were also very excited to press our own pennies at the mission gift shop.
After that we went down to State Street and had a few minutes to spare so we walked to the harbor and down the pier before making it to the Santa Barbara Brew House for Steelers/Broncos game.
If you watched that, you know how devastating that was. Steelers were winning the whole time, albeit barely, so it was very tense and stressful, then there was a fumble, and the Broncos win within the last 6 minutes or so. We left after that and it was very sad. We went to AJ's mom's house in Hermosa to spend the night. AJ had to get up early for work the next morning, but I got to sleep in and have breakfast and coffee with his mom and the dogs and then I went to meet Anja! Remember I went and saw my German friend Anja doing her PhD in London who was at a conference in Phoenix in February last year? Well now she's in LA for awhile and we went to Santa Monica for lunch and the afternoon.
I didn't get home until about 8p. I had to stop off and buy Khaleesi food and coffee creamer and I was so exhausted it didn't really feel like it had even been a 3-day weekend. I'm having a hard time landing on my feet this year. I wish I were a cat.
One of my Christmas presents this year was a puzzle, because I love a good puzzle, (and am also a super cool person). Kathleen and I started this puzzle after Christmas and she got the entire border. Since then, AJ and I would work on it over breakfast or if we were hanging around my place, and then I got pretty much the last 4th all on my own, which by the way was incredibly hard because it was simply sky or water and you didn't know if it was the "real" part or the reflection.
December 26, 2015 - January 12, 2016
Can you guess the movie on the TV screen?
And Alan Rickman! That was a huge shocker, and so sad! When I went online this morning, I was sad to see that the main stories were about the Powerball winners, and Alan Rickman's death was a small link on the side. Him and David Bowie both died from cancer and they were both 69. In the words of Labyrinth's Goblin King in David Bowie's voice... "Such a pity..."
This past weekend was surprisingly fun, and I say surprisingly because there were plenty of surprises!
On Saturday, January 9 (aka Kate Middleton day), AJ and I went to his work's holiday party at the Bowlmor lanes, and it did not disappoint! Free drink tickets, $20 game card each, unlimited bowling for 3 hours, and free pizza, salad and an entire ICE CREAM BAR!
The party coincided with the Steelers/Bengals game. AJ's team is the Steeler's by the way. We sat at the bar watching the game for a long time before one of his coworkers dragged us to a lane and told him the game was on the screens over the lanes. In case you don't remember - the game was very low scoring, with the Steelers holding the edge. The Bengals overtook them with not much time left in the game at all. AJ was absolutely crushed. I kept trying to console him - ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! but he was like "nope, Bengals caught an interception, it's done" and stopped watching the screen. When a coworker from the next lane over announced the Bengals had fumbled the interception, you should have seen AJ's face light up. I've never seen such change and hope and excitement in one look before! LOLOLOL. So the Steelers ended up winning and that was a great first surprise.
Next, at the raffle, AJ ended up winning the BEST prize, the last raffle drawn, lucky ticket number #106 won him an Apple Watch! I think he's going to sell it, haha but it was still pretty exciting! It's also worth noting that I have never been a good bowler and get really frustrated, so I kept telling everyone "I suck at this, I'm horrible blah blah blah" and I am not kidding - first game, first frame, first try - I bowled a frickin' strike! You should have heard them give it to me. "Not good huh? What was that about??" but the rest of the night I think they started to understand - I probably bowled about 5 strikes in the course of the night - the rest were all gutter balls! I am quite literally the BABE Ruth (get it?) of bowling. It was strikes or gutter balls.
Anyways, we ended up staying pretty late, and AJ was friends with the girl with the drink tickets so needless to say, we stayed quite late at the bar! We even found a photo booth in the arcade we took pictures with with the game tickets! Yes, he was wearing his Steelers jersey under his sport coat.
Not our finest pictures ever lolololol
We decided to drive home to Riverside (I sobered up and drove) and I told AJ he needed to put on songs I could sing to so I could stay awake. He's so sweet - he put on Florence + the Machine and Taylor Swift for me and we both sang at the top of our lungs until we pulled up to my place.
On Sunday we went out to watch the Packers/Redskins game at a bar over lunch. After that we headed back to Irvine. AJ had recently got Anana groomed and sent me a picture of her looking beautiful, but that damn leash he uses is always an eyesore.
So on the way back to his place, we stopped at a Petsmart so I could gift her with a brand new (pink!) leash, and AJ got her a new nametag. Talk about a makeover! When we got to his place, we did Christmas with his family. And guess what his aunt got us each? A gift card to Petsmart. Ohhhh the irony! She also got us scratchers. AJ got nothing, I got another ticket. Hopefully that next one has the $20,000 win on it. More of my Christmas presents from AJ had come in, and one was a shirt that said NAP QUEEN on it (soooooo me!) and the other was this one!
A Khaleesi holding a Khaleesi! So Christmas really keeps going if you ask me! Oh, and this is his aunt's little puppy Ellie, she is actually cute beyond words.
The last surprise of the weekend was learning of David Bowie's death. What a shame. My mom loves David Bowie. And I love Labyrinth. But man am I impressed with him. Way to go out! Keeps his terminal cancer a secret, sits on this Blackstar album until 2 days before his death, putting out a confusing Lazarus video (which suddenly makes sense in hindsight), and then dies. Showman til the end! Listening to the Bowie playlist on Spotify today. Happy Monday.
There was ice on my windshield this morning. And even though I was leaving early enough to finally be on time to work in the morning, I had to sit and wait for the car to defrost because it was fogged and iced over beyond driving... so I was still my typical 5 minutes late.
Last night in yoga, my teacher finally deviated a little from her normal playlist and during the cool-down she played what I recognized as a piano rendition of "Where Is My Mind?" by The Pixies. It was so beautiful. I looked it up and found this little video set to the music, and somehow I just find that this little black and white piece makes it even more beautiful!
Anyways, that's all I have for today. Today I'm wearing a navy blue blazer with a fancy crested brass button and tonight I am going to a happy hour for the young professional group at my work... I feel classy enough to drink wine tonight!
Happy 2016! I have been off of work and therefore off of real adult life, and you heard about my Christmas, but have you heard about my New Year's...?
First of all, it's worth noting that the day after Christmas, AJ, me, Kathleen and her special friend all went out to dinner and then to the arcade/bowling alley/karaoke lounge/pool hall funfest that is Round 1. Because AJ has to be good at anything that requires scorekeeping, he was also winning all the arcade games, but I did play Kathleen in this Speed of Light game and totally smoked her. Twice!
They also had the funnest air hockey game you will ever play with about 50 pucks on the table at a time. Yes, you read that right!
On other days, I cuddled with my cat, who in turn stole water from my bedside table, and Kathleen, AJ and I all contributed to working on this puzzle which is much further along than you see here.
Khaleesi still has problems with Anana, but I dressed her up like Business Cat (her Christmas present) held her paws down and we had her and Anana get to know each other better.
To answer your questions: No, she did not attack. And yes, she's still terrified of Anana.
Once, I got Anana to Twilight Bark with me, and Casey even joined in. Anana started howling back to Casey after he chimed in, but Kathleen didn't catch it on her Snapchat.
And now for NEW YEAR'S. Thursday evening, New Year's Eve, AJ and I went to a small house party with some of his friends, just for some dinner, drinks and games. I still wore gold sparkly heels, but I ended up in pyjamas before the ball dropped if I remember right. I mean what's the point of staying at home if you can't get into PJs?
The host and hostess had recently gotten a cat, and man did they pick out a good one. They kept the shelter's name of Derek Zoolander, and we all had fun playing with him, and he was such a cute cuddly kitten with his mama, which was a big reason she got him.
And look at Derek playing the kitty game on the iPad!
AJ and I spent the night there on Thursday so neither of us would have to drive. On Friday morning we went downstairs and someone got it into their heads to put Star Wars: Episode IV back on. We had had it on the night before, but ended up turning it off to watch New Year's coverage on TV. To give you an idea of how the day went: we put that on around 10:30am. AJ and I didn't leave until after midnight, after we had successfully watched ALL SIX STAR WARS. Yes, we lazed on the couch LITERALLY ALL DAY, making food and bringing it to the couch, doing stretches while watching the movies, and stepping outside onto the back patio between movie end and the next movie beginning to breathe real air. I have to say, that all in all I felt really accomplished. I mean you always do nothing on New Year's Day, and not only did we really do nothing, but we still accomplished something! AJ and I decided to drive back to Riverside that night together and leave my car there (remember this - it ended up being a mistake lolololol) and even though it was 1am by the time we got to my place, we still showered and brushed our teeth and pulled a whole morning routine before going to bed because we had been such sloths all day long.
On Saturday we were much more active, and even took Anana out for a walk for the last night of the Festival of Lights.
We went grocery shopping and made dinner and were working on our puzzle when we got a call from AJ's aunt that a 16-year-old driver who had had her license for 2 months crashed into my parked car in front of their house on a quiet cul-de-sac. The girl actually told the police that she was "having an emotional moment and got lost in her thoughts" and I can't stop LOLOLOLOL'ing over that. Not a great way to start the New Year, but since I didn't want to start the New Year like this, I figured if I couldn't change that it happened, I could at least control my attitude about it.
So, all of my feelings got channeled into creative energy. AJ made us more drinks, and I finally got cracking on an app I had downloaded awhile ago making music videos. We were up until about 3a doing dumb stuff like this, mostly AJ refusing and me having to bribe him into the videos. But talk about a SUCCESS.
I couldn't stop making them. I kept it up even the next day when AJ and I went back to his house to look at my car and deal with insurance. He would still film me, and I guess in the end that's all I really need!
And then we ended up back in the same house, on the same couch, watching the same TV we were stationed at all of January 1, 2016. This time it was football. But still, full circle in 3 days!
I started this year so sick I couldn't get off the couch and ended up sleeping through midnight. And I didn't even mind. I think that's the first sign of getting old. Here's what I can recall from 2015:
Relationships: Started dating my boyfriend AJ and met my coworker and friend Macy.
Concerts: There was the 3-day Coachella concert, Viva Pomona concert, Hairbanger's Ball, 2 Chainz and Florence + the Machine.
Celebrity Sightings: Ninja from Die Antwoord in the crowd with us at Coachella.
Trips: Phoenix to visit Anja, Las Vegas for my birthday, a million San Diego and LA trips, San Francisco for Palak's wedding, Yosemite for another wedding, the epic #SCBR to Raleigh, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Savannah, and Denver for the first time.
Sporting events: Anaheim Ducks, Anaheim Angels, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Denver Broncos.
Visitors: I hosted Raf, Rob and Pearo for the MLK weekend, Raf and Priya for my Vagina Monologues performance, and Chrishon from Boston in the summer.
Weddings: My college roommate Becca's in May, Palak's in August, Jon & Nykole's in September, my cousin Brianna's in October, and Pam's in November.
I think those are all the major highlights that I can recall. If I had to pick my three favorites, I would say #SCBR, Denver, and F+tM! Here were my Top 9 Photos from Instagram in 2015:
And to quote a stupid picture I saw on Instagram: No I DON'T know where I'll be in 5 years, I don't have 2020 vision! (LOLOLOLOL). Goodbye 2015!
