I bought a car!

World, meet June Cooper. She is allllllll mine :)

A couple months ago when my beloved ol' CR-V started giving me guff, I decided it was time to cut my losses and move on to a new car before it all went to hell in a handbasket. I've never been a car person, but suddenly I was NEUROTIC about spying on cars on the road, looking at Autotrader until 2am, etc. I pretty quickly decided that I like hatchbacks (hot hatches, as they are lovingly called). I like the general size of the smaller ones, the shape of 'em, etc.

Truthfully, I knew in  my heart that the MINI Cooper was the one I wanted most.

I even said to my friend Scott, "I wish I could have the off-white one with the black hood stripe." After poking around at used prices, I quickly realized having such a specific dream was kind of tricky. So I moved on to other cars....Mazdas, VW's, Nissans....and most of them were OK, but none were ringing my bell or weren't in my price range.

BUT THEN...

After test driving a Mazda the other night and not loving it, I walked by a MINI and was all torn up inside again. I told my friends Ted and Scott (my car-shopping gurus) that the feeling was like when you are going out with a pretty good guy but you secretly love someone else and it just really messes with you.

So in a fit of hope and exasperation, I got on Autotrader that night and decided to glance at the MINIs. And LO AND BEHOLD..........there was my car. My elusive unicorn car. Somehow, she magically only has 39K miles even though she is a 2008. She also has a brand new clutch, tires, brake pads, etc. And not only is she the EXACT COLOR I wanted, she includes extra features......like a sunroof (two!), heated synthetic leather seats, and that hot-as-hells-bells roof rack that I'm all kinds of nuts about.

I spent the next two nights on mini roadtrips 2 hrs away to go see her. Oh, and she's a manual.....and...I only kind of know how to drive a manual. But I am so committed to learn! And I drove myself to work this morning, and only stalled a couple times. Baby bird (me) is out of the nest! Go big or go home, I say.

So anyway, there's the story of how June Cooper and I came to be.

Also.....something about not giving up on what you really want. The universe will bring your best magic to you. I'm now even more ready for my summer of dreams.