Zoom Zoom

I got a new car!! I've been planning on getting one, with a goal of signing the papers by my birthday (end of June) but Dad decided yesterday it was high time to trade in my old truck and get something that's a bit more economical. We went in this morning and picked it up.

The color is called "Mango Tango," but it reminds me of a tropical sunset. Therefore, her name is Lucie, after Port St. Lucie (which is a town in Florida near where my aunt and uncle live, and an area that I love. Favorite family vacation spot). It has everything that was on my wishlist and then some. And in case you're wondering, that wishlist consisted of a car that is a 4 door hatchback with cruise control and AC.

I'm not hard to please, people. Yet somehow I have a reputation for being picky...(okay, so orange wasn't my first choice in color, but there weren't any blue ones available and a red one would tack on an extra 2k for some strange reason...and I'm not a black/white/silver kind of girl. And the streaks in my hair currently match the car.)

I need to go put my stuff in the new car (tool kit, tissue box, emergency kit, etc.) and then I have a date with the user's manual. See you on the road!

Coming and Going

Hello, beautiful.

What you see before you is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala and my new love.

This little beauty was one of four Impalas at the Belfountaine Hot Summer Nights Car show yesterday. Okay, well, two days ago now since it is officially after midnight.

Dad's '53 won a Top 50 award and he won $57 in the drivers pool, which he promptly donated to the Holland Theater. The Holland is a local historical site that my grandparents have been helping to restore. Hot Summer Nights is sponsored by the Holland and a local car club, and all of the proceeds go to the Holland and other local charities.

It's been a busy weekend, even without bouncing around in a poodle skirt (because at heart, I am still a geeky con-goer).

Speaking of being geeky, I'm going to have to blame Crazy Aunt Purl for this next bit of geekery. My knitting mojo has been somewhat depleted for the last several weeks. Maybe it's just the weather combined with stress but when I read her post about the Entrelac Scarf, I had to try it. This segment here seemed almost like a challenge, and considering how non-competitive I am and how terrible I am with patterns, I just had to try.

I'm very thick-headed when it comes to reading patterns and I think that Allison Lo Cicero, the woman who wrote this, is brilliant at writing patterns! It's very clear for such a complicated concept. You do have to take a leap of faith when you start the first time because it may not make sense for a while (What? I'm knitting one stitch and then turning the work around and knitting that one stitch from the other direction? Are you nuts?) but it works

No pictures just yet; I'm using recycled sari silk and it makes the texture a little hard to pick up in the best of times, let alone with a camera interfering. I've had some skanes of this that were semi-striping, or at least had color variations. This particular one, however, is very evenly distributed but I still like the way that it looks and it makes me happy. I love the construction and after I finish this initial scarf, I'm going to play around with it a little bit and see what else I can do to it in a self striping yarn. That will have to wait until I get to Italy, though.

Today I went to the State Fair. It was hot. Very hot. It was 90 degrees with little shade, but even with the windows open on my car, the AC on it's max setting, and going 75 (sh, don't tell) down 670, it was still cooler outside in the sun than it was inside my truck. I think my brain melted. I may have lost IQ points, I didn't have many to spare.

And lastly, if you've been paying attention to the news the last few days (as in, a lot of attention; it didn't get much press) the wonderful, beloved, and magnificent John Hughs passed away this week. Alice and I are marking his passing in appropriate style. We started with her favorite, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, moved on to Sixteen Candles (which, shockingly, neither of us had ever seen all the way through), to Pretty In Pink. For the grande finale there's my favorite, The Breakfast Club.

Ooh, shiney!

Mom, Dad and I went to the Good Guys car show in Columbus today. 4,000+ classic cars. Squee! A lot of people think I'm pretty girly, because I like to knit and crochet and make frothy, foamy girly dresses, but I'm also a bit of a tomboy. I love cars, especially Chevys from 1958-73. The Impala is my favorite (1960 model, to be exact), but I don't discriminate (except against Ford).

The Good Guys show is one of the largest in the country, and attracts people from all around. I saw license plates from Texas, Ontario, and...Hawaii? Somehow, I don't think they drove all the way to the show.

The weather was good, but we did get about an hour of storms and afterwards it was pretty muggy, especially in the main area of the show, which was all paved with no trees or anything to provide shade.


While we where there, I was introduced to a few new car models that I'd never seen before, like this 1965 Belair. It was for sale for such an awesome price too. I did my best to talk my dad into buying it for me for Christmas/Graduation/Birthday (for the next three years!) but he didn't bite even though he was drooling over it too. I didn't even know that they made Belairs that late--I was only familiar with the boat-like version form the 50's that my dad drools over.

There was also a 1963 version that I think was even nicer (I'm a sucker for the fins; I like the line) and was for sale/"interesting trade." He didn't bite on that one, either. Shucks.

Sadly, this is the only car I got to take home. It's a '68 Corvette. Mom and I sat behind it while we took our rest break around noon, and I started sketching it. Not bad, considering I've hardly drawn so much as a stick figure in the past year (Who me, an art student? What are you talking about?).

Maybe I am a girly-girl after all. Do you know what I bought? Earings. Pewter earings shaped like tape measures with a thimble, a pair of scissors, and a button hanging from them.