nissan

Year In Review: Turning 40, Losing Teeth (The 7-Year-Old, Not Me), And More

Happy 2010 everyone!

I thought I’d write a 2009 wrap-up post that is, uh, rather lengthy. Initially I wasn’t going to do this, but as I went through last year’s posts I was reminded of some really awesome things that occurred. I also had some fun blog opportunities for which I am very thankful.

I kicked the year off by poking fun at Dick Cheney and was wowed by Celine Dion along with several other Nashville mommy bloggers, thanks to the fabulous Alli Worthington of Blissdom Conference fame.

In February the hubby gave me an iPhone and it’s been love at first app. I asked my readers to tell me about their favorite iPhone apps in a post entitled My iPhone Brings All The Geeks To The Yard. I slept with White Trash Mom at Blissdom and drove my friend Amy Allen Clark to BFE for biscuits at The Loveless. I was interviewed by The Tennessean for an article about blogging and then everyone in the world (OK just my boss and a few co-workers) found out about my blog. The article is no longer on The Tennessean’s website, but Murfreesboro blogger Bona Fide Mama posted it. Why didn’t I think of that?

March brought a much anticipated spring break trip. I lamented about buying a bathing suit when you’re 39 and suffer from stomach flabalance. We went to beautiful Sandestin resort in Destin, Florida, for the first time and loved it! I uploaded a ton of pictures to my Flickr account if you’d like to check out our Sandestin pictures. This was the first travel review opportunity through my blog and I’m hoping we get to review more family travel destinations (oh Disney…hint hint, we are Magic Kingdom virgins!) I wrote about Miss A’s thumb sucking habit and lo and behold later she quit cold turkey so I’m glad I documented it.

FrenchBully

Miss A discovered her inner fashionista and practically slept in her new black boots. The girls got a French Bulldog puppy named Gigi vicariously through my dad. I took some of my all time favorite pictures of the girls by the Harpeth River for On A Bike, Down By The River. I also wrote one of my favorite posts of 2009 called I Wanna Be 6, Or At Least Have The Stress Level Of A 6-Year-Old. April also was the month Miss C finally lost a tooth! I became a Blogger Fit Ambassador for Lee Jeans and I wear their Slender Secret jeans darn near DAILY (see also aforementioned flabalanche phenomenon with a side of blogger’s butt).

Thomas Drugs

In May Miss C and I went to an old fashioned soda shop, Thomas Drugs, with my mom near my hometown. My sister completed her first sprint distance triathlon at the JCC here in Nashville. I toured the Fed Ex Super Hub in Memphis along with fellow Nashville mommy blogger Amy from Milkbreath and Margaritas. Miss C, our soccer girl, performed in her first ever formal dance recital and her gorgeous costume took my breath away. The hubby and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary and yes I did shave my legs.

Miss C tutu

The next month I joined the Sprout TV Band of Bloggers. I got sentimental in This Dress. We flew to St. Augustine, Florida, for summer vacation in what was a little reunion for my husband, who lived in that area for three years. We stayed at the Renaissance Resort in the World Golf Village and loved it! My blog was nominated for best local Nashville blog by Nick Jr.’s Parents Connect. I did not win but it was honor, as they say, just to be nominated.

Castillo

Miss A discovered my childhood cheerleading costume in July and looked flat out adorable in it. I kvetch about our local ice cream man. Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was murdered and I recalled the first time we saw the then Tennessee Oilers play at Vanderbilt.

Miss A Cheerleader

Be still my heart, Miss C started second grade in August and Miss A celebrated by dressing like the Hello Kitty Unabomber. The hubby and I celebrated my 40th birthday with a trip to a lovely bed and breakfast in Asheville, North Carolina.

In September the girls and I ventured downtown to the library one rainy, miserable Saturday and we had a fantastic time watching the Nashville Ballet. Miss A invented The Poop Ghost. I invented The Tooth Fairy Authority Mom. We saw The Wiggles at Municipal Auditorium.

The Wiggles Concert Nashville

In October I was invited to the Nissan Sedan 2010 Media Preview and fell in lust with an Altima with leather interior. Rowwrrrr. I celebrated my 4th blogging anniversary and I admitted to being in a funk over turning 40. I reflected on my extinct boyfriends and give advice on how not to dress like a Cougar in the carpool lane. We had our first ER visit ever with a child with Miss A and it scared the pee out of me! Thankfully she was fine.

The fall brought more travel and we headed to Cumberland Falls, Kentucky, to celebrate a college friend’s 40th. But first, we had to get there. And that’s a whole notha story (there’s a reason I call myself “blonde” and it has nothing to do with my hair color). I became obsessed with AMC’s Mad Men Jon Hamm, my new favorite TV show. We searched for the Great Pumpkin.

Jon Hamm

Just a little eye candy to make sure you’ve made it this far. I know…just keep swimming, just keep swimming, I mean reading. You can do it. COME ON!

December brought another first for us as we were invited to ride in the downtown Franklin Christmas parade with friends (and we froze our booties off!) Our Akita mix Jack celebrated his birthday and I reflect on what a truly awesome beast he is.

I’m pretty excited about what 2010 holds. I say BRING IT!

If You Give A Mom A Sedan With A Sunroof and Leather Interior, She Won’t Speed, Nope, NO Speeding

Nissan Sedan Media Day 2010

I don’t go to many corporate-sponsored events for bloggers (the only two I’ve ever attended were Johnson & Johnson’s Camp Baby last spring and a trip to FedEx in May), but I was invited recently to Nissan 2010 Sedan Media Preview here in Nashville and was, frankly, pretty pumped. See also stay in nice hotel room ALL BY MYSELF and fight over the bathroom in the morning WITH NO ONE and snap pics of my bathroom and the hotel bed with my iPhone and send them to my husband…neener neener. I may or may not have also snapped and e-mailed a picture of the dinner menu. OK so I don’t get out much.

This was a media preview of Nissan’s sedan line for 2010: the Maxima, Altima, Sentra, and Versa. We spent the morning in a business update session and then had the opportunity to test drive several cars in the lineup. I currently chauffeur the girls and all their crap around town in a Ford Explorer, but my last vehicle was a Nissan Pathfinder and I loved it, but it started having problems after about 100,000 miles and the price was right on the Explorer whe we found it last year.

Now I am not a sedan mama. I am definitely an SUV mama. Say what you will about gas guzzlers, but with two kids and two dogs and soccer equipment, and book bags, and my work bag, and all the various and sundry items a mama lugs around, an SUV is awesome. I rarely drive on the interstate and I’m lucky in that I only have a 9-mile commute to work four days a week, so I might be more concerned about gas mileage if I had a considerable daily commute. There is definitely a market for sedans, though, and this was my first experience with driving sedans from Nissan.

Here are some things I learned at Nissan’s 2010 Sedan Media Preview:

Most of the prices have not gone up for 2010 and the base price on the Sentra 2.0 SL has actually gone down about $1,000

The Maxima features standard Bluetooth and USB/iPod connectivity (sweet!)

The Altima features a next-generation navigation system with a 6 1/2 inch monitor, Zagat, XM NavWeather, and Blueooth Streaming Audio

The Altima has a Hybrid model

The Versa has the most horsepower and torque and the most rear legroom in its class, plus great fuel economy 28/35 mpg in the Hatchback 1.8 SL CVT model

The Sentra, Altima Sedan and Hybrid, and the Maxima all have NHTSA 5-star ratings for front and side impact, while the Altima Coupe has an NHTSA 5-star rating for side impact

I test drove all four cars and I really loved the Maxima and Altima. The new crimson black exterior color and the leather interior in the Altima totally wooed me. The Versa was a fun little car to drive, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone with more than one child, just because of its compact size.

The Nissan Headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, in the Cool Springs area is a beautiful work environment. We went on a tour of the building and all the materials selected in house were chosen with being eco-friendly and green in mind.

Am I totally won over by sedans? Probably not for my daily driving, but I wouldn’t turn down the chance to drive a Maxima or Altima on a daily basis. They’re beautiful cars and I was impressed with the value, the roominess, and the safety.

Thanks to the wonderfully professional team at Nissan for inviting this mommy blogger to a car industry event. I also enjoyed talking with a couple of the marketing reps about how Nissan is delving into using social media and was pleased to learn that they invited parenting bloggers to their other sedan media preview event in San Diego.

And thanks to the cop who didn’t pull me over when I got a little crazy behind the wheel of the Altima with the sunroof open. What can I say? The smell of leather interior and the wind whipping through my hair makes me a little Thelma and Louise.

Disclosure: Nissan did not ask me to write a blog post in any of the event correspondence…I just wanted to share what I learned with ya’ll. They did put me up at the Hutton Hotel downtown along with the other auto industry journalists and provide us with a couple of meals. They did not let me keep a car, though. Sigh.

Sondra at Happy Healthy Hip Parenting in San Diego wrote about the Nissan Sedan Media Preview event in her area.