Are We There Yet? - What to do in very different places

I have teamed up with Kendra Thorton to bring you some travel ideas that are good for all seasons!

First it's my turn.  Where do I like to travel?

It is within driving distance for my family and we go there at least once a year - usually twice.

Breezy Point Resort has a rich history from its days of being built by Captain Billy Fawcett as a playground for his friends in the film industry - Yes, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard went fishing here!

It has grown now to have a convention center, three 18 hole golf courses, a marina, an ice arena, pools, beaches and so much to enjoy year round.

Last summer we took everyone - Fiance and Girlfriend AND Dear Friends - for a few rounds of golf, karaoke at the Commander for Sunday Family Karaoke Night and boating.
J-Dogg even sang "Barbie Girl"

This winter we went for ICE FEST and enjoyed snowmobiling across the frozen lakes, snow golf and watching Pond Hockey!

My top three things to do while vacationing at Breezy Point are:

Whitefish Golf Course! The very first time we rolled up and heard the classic Sinatra tunes pouring out of the clubhouse we were in LOVE.  It is a great course for couples - those who golf a lot and those who just golf a few rounds a year.

Pirates Cove Adventure! A great place for all ages to try to get a hole in one! And there are go karts too for the family speed demons!

Nisswa! Take the family for a stroll around Nisswa, MN for shopping, ice cream, candy and EATING at Rafferty's Pizza. You can get just about anything in Nisswa.

The real attraction of course is the great outdoors.  I would highly recommend this as a vacation destination if you really want to relax in the beautiful woods and fall asleep to the call of the loons.

And don't forget - all summer long - ELVIS! 

Now for my travel partner in crime.

My name is Kendra Thornton and I'm 40 and a mother of 3. Before being promoted to the full time position of mom, I was the former Orbitz Director of Communications where I was able to travel a great deal. I now live in Chicago with my family, where they are my number one priority in everyday life.

I love to travel. There are so many places in the world that are great to visit. One of my favorite places to see is Las Vegas. Here are some great places that I like to visit in Las Vegas.

Great Places to See in Las Vegas

1. A Pink Tour

When I come to Las Vegas with my family or friends, I always make it a point to take a tour of the area through Pink Jeep Tours. This experience begins with a pink Jeep arriving at the hotel to pick us up. Next, it takes us to a variety of difference places in the area. Each guide on the tour is friendly and answers every question that we have. There is a day tour that takes people all the way to the Grand Canyon and back.

2. A Tour with a High View

I really like flying into the airport in Las Vegas, since I can get a great look at the view of the city. Maverick Helicopters Las Vegas enables me to take a tour of the city from the air. My pilot was friendly and quite knowledgeable. It felt so neat to put on a headset and rise above the city. It was an experience I will never forget, and my children bring up this adventure every time they see a helicopter.

3. Dinners to Remember

In Las Vegas, there is not a shortage of fantastic places to eat. Although prices may be a bit steep, it is worth the cost for families and couples. When I am in the city with my husband, we love to go to the Fiamma Trattoria & Bar at the MGM for unforgettable Italian food. The pasta is memorable, and the prices are reasonable. Steak enthusiasts will enjoy the SW Steakhouse, which is at the Wynn. There is a great water show that entertains diners.

4. Relaxing Fun at Mandalay Bay

I love going to the beach, and Mandalay Bay has brought it to Las Vegas. I can grab a beverage, get on an inner tube and float on the water. It is great to soak up the warm sun. There is a wave pool and a lazy river. These options give me the opportunity I need to relax.

Las Vegas is a great place for me to be and the city offers a number of hotel options. Sites like Gogobot make it easy to read user reviews so you can be sure about your purchase. 

There are so many things to see and do. That is why I keep going back each year. 

A Mommy Page

So - I kinda forgot about this.

I mean I knew it was coming, but was so busy I forgot it was today!

They just emailed me.

Nyah.  Why did I write, "nyah"

I am a doofus.  

I am the worst blog friend EVER!

So remember Spring of 2010 when I had a cool guest post from Michelle at So Wonderful, So Marvelous?

Yeah, she asked me to guest post while she was on maternity leave and DUH

*smacks forehead*

I TOTALLY MISSED SHE POSTED IT JULY 21!!!

I suck.

But you, you can save me and go read it now.

p.s. its Boo Boo's Birth Story so you best go read it!

Thanks!

Have another cocktail! The Pete is here today!

His Birthday is Monday!  So here is his gift...he gets to guest post for me!  Ha!

The Sis (Mommy Lisa to you all) has asked me- The Pete to slide a little Holiday cocktail story your way. Well I have spent many a holiday enjoying many different libations (as my High School English teacher called them)

 

Some of my favs are-

• "Ho-Ho-Tini" 2 shots of your favorite Vodka, 1 shot of Peppermint schnapps. Slide a candy cane in it for a fun garnish.
• "Christmas in your Mouth" 1 part GoldSchlager-1 part vodka- add cranberry Juice 
• "Black Santa" 1 part vodka, 1 part Kahlua, 1 part peppermint schnapps

 

Now all of those are great but do not have a story- I have a cocktail I invented on a holiday- New year’s Eve-Eve (12/30) it’s called "The Bluto"

True Story- this was 1991- My friends and I wanted to party in a hotel for new years- we found out they jacked the room rates on new year’s eve so one of us said- "let's just do it on new year’s eve-eve!" Since we were all young and just wanted an excuse to get together and drink, we all said- "let's do it!"

So we booked two rooms and a hotel and got A LOT of liquor and started in about 6pm on 12/30. We had several folks drinking and staying but a few that came and went during the festivities.

At the midpoint I could not decide what to drink next. I stared at the table o' booze and just started pouring- I added a couple slashes of soda and drank- IT WAS DELICIOUS!

I had to quickly piece together what I made- as to not forget because of drunkenness. It was 2 shots each of vodka-rum-gin-whiskey with coke and sprite to fill the glass.

As I was enjoying my THIRD one- someone asked me what I was drinking- I looked at the TV and "Animal House" was on- it was the scene where Belushi- as Bluto- is downing the bottle of jack

 

I looked at them and said- "it's a Bluto and it's delicious!"

And so The Bluto was born!
Now later that night- due to the jibber jabber of some folks who had left- our festivities were busted and we were booted from the hotel. That gave birth to our now group famous exclamation- "DRINKIN'!"

 

But that is another story!

 

The Pete

Today I am loving two blog friends with one post - because you need to give some love to Iris today at

I FREAKING ROCK YOUR WORLD!

And I have a guest post from one of my favorite MN Bloggers - Cathy!

Whoo-hoo!  It IS a fabulous day...let's read it together shall we?

Hello friends of Mommy Lisa!! It's holiday party time and what's the one thing that can take a party from drab to fab? A great cocktail, of course! Lisa asked me to review a holiday cocktail, so I did a little research and found a recipe that is quite fitting for this time of year. I bring you the Poinsettia Cocktail! The recipe I used can be found by clicking here(or just keep reading).

Poinsettia Cocktail
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup champagne
1/2 cup cranberry juice
crushed ice
2 strips orange zest, each about 1/4" wide and 2" long

Mix vodka, champagne and cranberry juice in long stemmed wine glass. Add ice, stir until mixture is well chilled. Twist orange strips over glass, drop them in and serve.


This cocktail is easy to make, and I would assume if you're having a large gathering it would be easy to make a big batch slightly ahead of time.

It's definitely festive; the red color and champagne give it a good holiday vibe. This is one of those drinks that tastes innocent enough-light, fruity, bubbly-but will knock you on your ass if you're not careful. The vodka tempers the sweetness of the champagne and cranberry juice, making it easy to drink.

If you're planning a holiday get together this year I'd say the Poinsettia Cocktail is an excellent option for a fun and festive drink. Easy to prepare, easy to drink and, really, can you go wrong with champagne at the holidays?! Cheers!

Guest Posting Today!

Today I am a Guest Poster at The Life of Jamie - Wife of 1. Mom of 2. Going crazy by 3!

If you have not read her blog, you really should.  I love her honesty in her writing.  - Try one of her "What I learned this week" posts, or a Sarah Palin recap- you will get it.

:) Happy Hump Day Peeps!

Out Visiting!

Come visiting with me today and then follow Michelle - she is super cool.  :)

and a very good driver.

Go Directly to Jail...Do Not Pass Go!

I guest posted today.  Enjoy!

See you on the flipside!

Cool Car Tales - 8th Trip & All Good Things Must Come To An End...

For the very last Guest Post of Cool Car Tales you are all invited to take a trip with a

VERY SPECIAL BLOGGER

from Sizzling Publications

She is so cool & she is ACTUALLY an author!

I was thrilled to my toes when Ebony Haywood agreed to write me a guest post -

then she upped the anti by making it a POEM.

Please enjoy Peeps!

My family once took a road trip from New York to LA.



My fondest recollection is eating popcorn everyday.


Mound and mounds of popcorn were stashed in our small minivan-


Bags of flavored popcorn as we cruised across the land.






In Nashville, Tennessee we ate Country Caramel Crunch,


In Mobile Alabama, popcorn fluffy as cotton for lunch.






Memphis barbecue popcorn with its tang and zip


Had me dreaming about it for hours and licking my lips.






The Cheesy flavors of Wisconsin I could not protest


And the milk chocolate covered popcorn in Montana was simply the best.






Our waistbands had expanded by the time we reached Cali.


Good thing the popcorn there is fat free and low in calories.






Twas the end of our popcorn journey and let me tell you, my friend,


One of these days, I’m gonna do it again.

Cool Car Tales - 7th Trip, hold onto your hats!

Hey Peeps!  Since I am blogging at Mom's Time Out Twin Cities through the end of this week the lovely Michelle is taking the wheel today...you may want to buckle up!  And please visit her (and ALL my guest bloggers) blogs.  I picked these PEEPS for a reason Yo!  They can make totally idiots of themselves for my enjoyment tell great stories!  ;)

Hi All, my name is Michelle and you can find me screwing up being a lunatic writing daily over at So Wonderful, So Marvelous.  I hope you'll pop over to say hello.  I am so excited that Lisa, who I think has the best tag line of any blog ever,  invited me over here to make an ass out of myself in front of her readers. An ass, you say? Allow me to illustrate as I share the story of my first driving "incident" with you.

When I was fifteen, my step-mom Colleen drove a sweet Toyota Celica.  It was cherry red and had a black car bra... use your imagination that this was 1991 and the height of cool... now, notsomuch.  She also, I am sure in an attempt to aid the hormonal teen / new step-mom relationship that admittedly was a bit rocky, would let me drive it.  Carefully.  Supervised.  In a parking lot with zero cars near our house... without a license.  You can imagine how freaking awesome this made me {at least in my mind} to be driving this car at fifteen. 

My dad at the time, was working out of town a lot, often for a few weeks at a time.  Colleen decided that we were going to take a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky to see him.  She packed up me, my sister Lyndsey, my baby sister Elise, and my two little cousins in her little red Celica and off we went.  My Aunt Kathy and my two toddler cousins were going to drive up from Atlanta and meet us there for vacation.

Now, I should tell you that we arrived safely at the Holiday Inn some time mid-afternoon and we were all ready to be out of the car.  Colleen ran in to the lobby to get us checked in and came back with the keys... yes, actual keys!  While she was in the lobby, Elise had filled her diaper and the car with an awful smell so it was rather urgent that we get to our room quickly.  I begged and pleaded for her to let me drive from the lobby around back to our room, which was, I'm guessing about 200 feet?  The rooms in the back building had doors to the outside, with a few short steps up from the sidewalk.

She said yes and off we went.  We get near to our room and I needed to turn into a parking space. 

Wait!  For what happened next to make sense I have to tell you something else.  My mom had also been teaching me to drive a stick shift.  So I often forgot that I didn't need both feet to drive Colleen's car which was an automatic.  I almost always forgot and had one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake.

I go to turn into the parking spot and I have my arms crossed on the steering wheel, my left hand is at about two o'clock and my right is crossed over it at about nine o'clock... like this was going to be some major turn or I was going to start doing donuts in the parking lot.  It had to have looked hilarious from the passenger seat and {mid turn} Colleen asks me what the heck I am doing.  My concentration broke and mostly already into the parking space, I slam on the breaks.

Except it wasn't the breaks I slammed on. 

Um, I may have hit the accelerator.  Over the concrete parking block I went.  The sidewalk too.  And up two steps almost reaching the door to our hotel room.  At which point I did indeed stop.

And every single person in the car was deadly silent as we took in what had just happened.

I mean not one peep.


Crickets.

I looked in the rear view mirror at my sister Lyndsey who was twelve or thirteen at the time and her face was a mixture of shock and awe.  Her eyes were bulging out of her head and her mouth was agape. 

Looking back, Colleen had to have wanted to kill me, but she didn't.  Instead we slowly backed up and despite the gawd awful noise it made going back over the concrete parking block I thankfully hadn't done any real damage. 

Later that day, my baby cousin swallowed a penny sparking a six hour trip to the children's hospital... once everyone got a look at the perfect circle on his x-ray and laughed about my aunt Kathy having to go through his diapers until it came out, they had all but forgotten about Michelle driving up the steps of the Holiday Inn. 

Um.  Or at least I'd like to believe that.     

Cool Car Tales - Bonus Sunday Drive!!!

Hey Peeps!  It is a bonus Sunday Drive today from:



For the Love of Wendy’s Eyegirl @ Life As Eye See It, Guest Posting for Mommy Lisa

I am a very independent individual, who spends most of my time looking at where I’m headed instead of where I’ve been. When I graduated from high school, I couldn’t wait to start college. So, unlike all of my classmates, I opted to start classes summer semester immediately after graduation. I am also a very driven individual, and when I set my sights on a goal nothing gets in my way until that goal is reached. I was determined to finish undergrad in 4 years. So instead of taking 12, or maybe 15 credits, a semester, I usually took 18+.
Starting a semester early and taking the extra credits meant that I was allowed to have a car on campus much earlier than all of my friends. That sounds like a good thing, right? In general, it was great having transportation. However, having a set of wheels, also meant that I could just hop in my car and drive across town in a matter of minutes. I happen to have the hugest sweet tooth of anyone I know. So, one Sunday afternoon I got the bright idea to drive across town to Wendy’s and get myself a frosty. I’d been fighting off the craving for days, and it just wouldn’t go away so I finally decided to give in to it. So, I grab my keys and head down to the parking lot. I hop in my cars and drive the few miles to Wendy’s. I drive through the drive-thru, order my frosty, and head on back to campus. I pull into the parking lot, park my car, and grab my frosty. As I get out of the car, I begin eating my frosty. I’m savoring the chocolately goodness that is a Wendy’s frosty, fully absorbed in the moment. I don’t want to break from spooning the frosty into my mouth, so I hip check the door closed. Just as my hip makes contact with the door, and I push it closed, I realize that my keys are not in my hand. I reach out for the door to no avail. It latches shut. Locked tight. With my keys dangling out of the ignition. Well, *#&$! Unfortunately, all of my keys were on the same key ring. So even though I did have an extra set of car keys in my dorm room. The key to my room was now locked securely in my car. I had to track down a member of the dorm staff to unlock my dorm room, so I could get my spare car keys to unlock my car door. But you can bet that I sat down on the curb and finished my Wendy’s frosty first!

Priorities, people, priorities!

Cool Car Tales - 6th Trip at the movies!!

So today Peeps we get a treat while I blog at Mom's Time Out Twin Cities -

one of Kori's "Did you know?" movie posts. 

If you don't know Kori at Blonde Episodes & you like vintage things and interesting information

...you need to check her out!

plus, yesterday...she had a TON of pics up of Johnny Depp!  hubba hubba!  Without further ado, here is KORI

When I think of going on a road trip, I think of Thelma and Louise. Although they started out just going on a simple fishing trip, we all know they ended up on a drastically different trip.

Thelma and Louise are running from the law. This makes the road trip exciting. They also have to shower where they can, drive a hot convertible car, smoke, drink, and meet Brad Pitt along the way. Isn’t this the way all road trips should be?

The whole idea of a road trip is romantic to me. Maybe it’s the idea that you never know what you will encounter. Maybe it’s seeing places you’ve never seen before, or just maybe it’s the freedom of the open road.

I hate to say it, but as an adult, I have really never taken a road trip. I think this summer I will venture out and report my own experiences. In the meantime, however, here are some fun facts about Thelma and Louise. If you haven’t seen it, you must check it out!

--Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep wanted to make a movie together and Thelma & Louise was one of the scripts they considered. Ultimately, they decided to star in Death Becomes Her (1992) instead.

--In the scene where the tanker truck is shot and blown up, the reactions of Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were supposed to be genuine. Rather than filming separate reaction shots, director Ridley Scott rigged the tanker to blow up during the take, in order to get authentic expressions of surprise from the two leads. Despite this, they were so astonished while watching it that they forgot to actually react, so Scott had to film their reactions again

--Then struggling actor George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott for the part of J.D. that went to Brad Pitt.

--It took producers so long to find someone for the role of Louise that Geena Davis had to sign a contract stating that the producers could cast her in either role if need be.

--Cher was also offered the role of Thelma, but turned it down.

--Both Michael Madsen and Christopher McDonald were initially in talks to play the part of Harlan, the rapist.

--Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis were both nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Ridley Scott was nominated for Best Director, but lost to Jonathan Demme, also for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Callie Khouri won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while Ted Tally won Best Adapted Screenplay, once again for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Ridley Scott went on to direct the sequel Hannibal (2001), while Harvey Keitel would appear in the prequel, Red Dragon (2002).

Doesn't Kori dig up great stuff?!! Keep it on the road Peeps!

Cool Car Tales - 5th Trip!

Today's Cool Car Tale comes from my little (well, younger) brother Pete!

Who is all kinds of awesome!  Please visit his blog and enjoy this story. 

p.s. I loved this car too!

My first “love”!

The first Car (of the now ten I have owned) was the 1964 AMC Rambler Classic 770.




It was bought new by a nice lady in St.Cloud who only drove it to “Church and the grocery store”. She left it to her nephew with only a small dent and 24xxx miles. The Dad and I bought it for $1000 bucks in 1988.






I LOVED this car!!!

It came to an untimely end – cause I smashed it up- a few years later but it had a nice ride! (note from Mommy Lisa - I am the one who got the call from the cops and picked up the poor brother from the crash...)




My best memories (outside of romantic ones) in this car involve playin’ CB Tag with My Boys- the Bastards.






We developed this game by accident-we all had CBs in our cars and would play a radical version of hide and seek in our cars.






You were “tagged” when a “seeker” was behind you by less than a car length at a stop sign or red stop light. This and the boundary lines were pretty much THE ONLY RULES.

As 18 year old boys- we were CRAZY! Honestly- looking back- I am amazed no one got hurt. We only had two crashes in the 5 months or so we played the game.

It got sooo crazy- the County Sherriff had a “Task Force” to catch us.




They did- it took them two months and a team of 10 officers- but they did.

The Bastards have joked about playing ‘Tag’ again someday but with all of us being “grown-up” now I doubt it.

Maybe when we are all retired and need something to do we’ll play again. Or then again- maybe that’s when we’ll take up “skitchin’” again.

But that’s another story!

Cool Car Tales - 3rd Trip!

Today the PEEP visiting the nest to blog for Mommy Lisa is a dear person! 
READ HIS BLOG FOLKS - Steven has a huge heart!!! 

and don't forget if you are in MN or WI to vote for me, test drive a Chevy Traverse, etc.

I think most people have fond memories of the first car they owned. Me


not so much. My first car broke my heart, it was a brown Toyota that

on my first night , it stopped working and never ran good again.



The car I fell in love with, and still have heart flutters to this day

while thinking of it was about the third car I owned. My bright shiny

red ford festiva.

I loved this car for so many reasons, first it was the first car I

ever bought on my own. It was red, and I could drive forever on 5

bucks of gas. And last but not least, it was the car my best friend

Betty and I lived in for a summer.

It was the end of the eighties, that strange time right before the

grunge movement took over. I had just traded my flock of seagulls hair

for a chin length bod that was died jet black to match my clothes and

eye liner (yes eyeliner, I looked fabulous) Betty and I had worked for

the past two years, her in a vets office, me cutting hair...we had

saved all our money. Our plan was to hit the road, no real plan just

see where the road took us.

We both gave our notice at work. Packed up what little we took in my

new Festiva and hit the road. We had tickets to a depeche mode concert

in Chicago...

We planned on attending the concert, then just following the road to

wherever. We arrived at the concert...me with the black hair, tight

rocker jeans(black) and my white pirate shirt(yes, like the Seinfeld

"puffy shirt") she , black hair...long black dress, red lips....both

of us sporting our eye liner.....the concert was amazing....I can

still hear the crowd singing in unison "It's your own personal Jesus"



We met this amazing girl, Kate that night. From the minute I met her I

knew I had to know her. Bleached hair, red lips, amazing eyes.....we

talked. She told us how she was headed to Cincinnati for the next DM

concert. Having no real plan, we decided to tag along. So we left Chi

town, the three of us headed to Cincinnati in search of the music.



The road trip was amazing, we laughed, talked...sang. We also found

out that a festiva is just not big enough for three adults. It was

like trying to live in a phone booth....to say crowded would be an

understatement. We arrived at the concert, it was amazing as

well....we lost Kate that night, she hooked up with two guys who had

decided to head out west.

We may have lost our new friend, but we had gained a plan, after the

concert both Betty and I looked at each other and said, lets just

follow around depeche mode for the summer! Without much more thought

than that, we got the concert schedule, jumped in the car and began

our adventure.



It was truly a time like no other. Betty and I had so many adventures

along the way....met so many amazing people, some I am still friends

with to this day. We became true independent thinkers that summer,

realizing that sometimes all you can do is follow your dream....

Things I learned that summer

1. Bucket seats, no matter how far they recline, are not a comfy place to sleep

2. The smell of two adults with no access to showers in a small car

can and will become overwhelming, causing you to pull off the road and

run into a field, just to shower under those giant sprinkler things

farmers use.

3. Farmers do not like it when two stinky strangers are running around

there fields "showering"

4. black hair un washed is not attractive

5. Friends, truly are the family we choose

6. People, strangers on the road can become the best of friends

7. never a good idea to wash your clothes in a gas station bathroom sink

8. said clothes don't dry well, while being worn

9. those same cloths smell like nothing you have ever smelled when

mixed with the smell of the un showered

10. depeche mode followers are the coolest people on the planet

11. a Ford festiva can out run a pack of crazy dogs on a old dirt road

while you are lost

12. I would so relive every moment of that summer if I could



MY friend Betty has passed on since that awesome summer...but her

memory lives on. When ever I hear a depeche mode song, whenever I see

eye liner in a store, whenever I see a old red ford festiva driving

down the road...

It was an amazing summer, a summer of adventure, of love, of true

friendship....self discovery and life lessons that can never be

forgotten....and none of that time could have happened if it had not

been for my first motor love....the wonderful, red, magic ride...my

festiva.

Cool Car Tales - 2nd Trip

Hey All!  I am loving driving The Chevy Traverse - and will talk about it on TELEVISION today at 10am central on Showcase Minnesota. 

I will put up the video Saturday for you!

So while I am doing that...My Peeps are writing my blog. 

Today's Guest Post is from:

  Yeah for Michelle!  She is taking us back in time to tell us how CLUMSY she is...
and how one time that "hampered" her ability to drive her car.

I've always been clumsy - ever since I was little. That carried over into my driving as a teenager. I can't tell you how many times I slammed my finger in a car door, hurt myself with the seatbelt (yes, really. LOL), hit a car in a parking lot (that was parked!), or backed into a light pole. It was sort of a running joke in my family that any car I'd ever own would probably end up with dents/scratches/a missing bumper/etc. They weren't kidding! There is one story that stands out more than others. Probably because my parents like to bring it up at every family function.


I went out with friends one night and it was a late night (to my mom's standards). I drove home and I was getting off the interstate I literally plowed my tire into a curb. I decided to back off the curb and keep driving cause I was only about 10 minutes from home. It was like 2 am and I didn't really want to deal with a cop asking me what I was doing parked on a curb at 2 am. It couldn't have been that bad right? I just hit a curb! I kept hearing this weird sound and I noticed that it was an awfully bumpy ride. I couldn't really figure out why it was so bumpy but figured it was no big deal. I'd make it home and whatever was wrong would be fixed by my stepdad the next day. I mean, HELLO I needed a car to keep up with my ever growing social life and he would never let me be without a car! I parked it in front of my parent's house and went to bed.

This was back in the days when I could sleep until noon on a Saturday. My mom tried to wake me up several times and I heard her but ignored her. It was the weekend and I was sleeping till noon no matter what. To be honest, I forgot about my car troubles anyway. Being responsible was totally over rated at that point in my life. Finally she had enough and she shook me until I woke up. She said, "Ummm Michelle what the HELL happened to your car?" I can't remember what my response was but I think it was "nothing!" My mom then gave me the "look" and told me to go look outside under the carport.



Outside I found something similar to this:

(Photo credit AA1Car.com)

Except my darling stepdad had already removed the tire (or what was left of it) from my car and put a donut on it. He was already at the tire store replacing my tire. That picture doesn't even do justice for what it really looked like. There was a few shreds of tire left and the rest was all rim. So basically I drove home on a RIM with no rubber attached to it.

Yeah, I'm responsible, intelligent and quite possibly the epitome of a woman driver.
Now, can I borrow your car??

Cool Car Tales - 1st Trip

So today begins the roster of GUEST BLOGGERS
Peeps that are loved by Mommy Lisa
while she is busy riding around in her Chevy Traverse these folks will give you

Cool Car Tales

every Tuesday and Thursday until June 18th contact me if you want to play too!
First Up - Iris at My Life In Purple

...and it's all over you, electric blue

...tell me, what can I do? electric blue

Memorable events of 1991: Operation Desert Storm, the death of Freddie Mercury, and the birth of my sweet summer ride, the Pontiac Firefly.
Barely bigger than a Harley, but I'm convinced it's twice as fun. Some days, when my blonde hair is whipping in the wind as I drive down the highway, I feel like Barbie.
With only 55 horse power, it's really just a glorified riding lawn mower with two seats, but come on, it's an electric blue convertible! As far as I know, there are only two of them currently on the road in New Brunswick.

This is Ukulele Haley, our constant tour guide.
We go old school in our car - real maps. No MapQuest here, people.

We love our little car.

There's absolutely no need for an air freshener in our car. Driving past pine trees, a field of flowers, or even the salt from the ocean, you get to enjoy every scent that our rural province has to offer.

We've traveled all over our little province, and we're hoping to get further this summer. The destination point for this year are the rolling hills and stunning vistas of the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.
If you see us on the road, don't forget to wave, you can't miss us, we look just like Ken & Barbie!

The BLUE award - thanks Jana!

This Award is a 'getting to know you' type of award and I love telling about ME - but I like hearing about you too.  Jana at The Little Black Book tagged me and five other bloggers with these questions.

{1} Favourite childhood memory?

My birthdays when I was little - My mom always made me feel special and made fun treats!  For some reason I remember wanting a lot of yellow for birthdays and she always delivered! 


{2} Favourite movie?  Lots!  But I identify with brat pack movies - loved St. Elmo's Fire most.

{3} Paris or London?  Never been to London - have been to Paris, so I am gonna say London.

{4} Sarcasm or Humour? Humor - too many people are sarcastic these days...it isn't funny anymore.

{5} The Beach or the Hills?  ?I hope you don't mean the SHOW the Hills, but I pick the Beach anyway.

{6} Dawn or dusk?  Dawn! 

{7} Reading or something else?  Reading (& writing....)

{8} Favourite yesteryear moviestar? Clark Gable was the first name that popped into my head when I read that question.

{9} Favourite snacks?  Anything salty.  Pretzels, Nachos, pita chips and hummus....now I am hungry!

{10} What does getting an award mean to you?  That someone READS MY BLOG actually!~! ;)

Okay I am SUPPOSED to tag six bloggers, but I have already tagged a bunch to write guest posts for me about road trips or cars...If you would like to do that email me!  Tell me a good story and I will be posting them each Tuesday & Thursday until June 18th, unless I get a TON then it will be more often.

First up will be Iris from My Life In Purple tomorrow!  Come back and hear all about her cool car!

Today is the day!

Today is the day that The Mom Squad picks up their new Chevy Traverse's at Kare 11!!

My Dad and Boo Boo La La are going with me...expect pictures AND expect that I will be blogging over here at Mom's Time Out Twin Cities for the better part of the next month.

So???  ARE YOU UP FOR A GUEST POST??

How about a good road trip or car related story.  Nothing too *ahem* adult please, just good clean fun!

Like the time my friend and I road tripped to Vail spur of the moment in my Chevy Chevette - can you imagine going through the mountains in this?

picture from CarGurus!

I did love my VETTE though...I still miss her & her mish-mosh of stickers!

Save the Whales!

Elect Jim Ramstad (a Republican?)

A big Peace symbol

Sorority Letters

etc.

what can I say I was 19?

So..what is your car story?  Email me the story or the HTML!

P.S. Anyone in MN or WI can go out to the Mom's Time Out Twin Cities website starting 5/24 and register for cool prizes and find Heartland Chevy Dealer's where they can test drive a Chevy and get $30 Coupon for any location that is on Spa Finders!  Cool, huh?

p.p.s. and you could vote for me to win a trip too...but that is not important.  ;)