Happy New Year! & I want a new car!

First off let me say Happy New Year to all of you!  I'm going to be pushing to network more in 2013 and get me & my business out there. Selling online is great, but making connections is great too!

I'm not one to go out on NYE.  The last time we did, we encountered too many drunks in our short drive home.  I don't understand the mentality of drinking and then thinking you can handle a car, but that's a topic for another day.

So instead TheJerseyShoreDad & I went car shopping.

While technically there is nothing wrong with my 2009 Dodge Journey, I never really liked it.  Plus it had a major flaw in the design. It's what they call a cross over, I call it a small station wagon.  Anyway, they built it on a truck chasis but gave is car brakes, so I had to replace the brake pads & rotors at 20,000 miles.  That sucked big time.  And it's never been right since.  Now it's approaching 60,000 miles and it's out of warranty and it's at the point where we're going to have to put money into it.

I don't want to.

I'm not one to pay off a car & drive it into the ground.  If I felt more secure about the economy I might consider leasing a car.

So on NYE afternoon we packed up the kids (ok they're 14 & 11, they pack themselves) and wandered down to Route 37 in Toms River to see what we could see.

First off, the Kia dealership.  Cute place, no stock.  All the stock in at another lot.  Ok that's fine, but they didn't even have an "example" of each new car on the lot.  Nevermind...

Then to the Hyundai Dealership which is also the Chevy dealership. The lots are huge & no one ever really came out to talk to us (it was very busy) so we wandered from one dealership to another & ended up really liking the Chevy Equinox.  After waiting a bit and almost leaving, we got to test drive it.

I have just 2 demands. well, it's 1 but broken up into two areas. It had to have space.  Our 14 year old son is already 5ft 8 and with TJSD being 6ft 2, I suspect that both kids will be at or near 6ft by the time I'm done with this car, so it needs room for their legs in the back.  And I need enough cargo space for a craft table a few totes.

Oh and the price should be around $25,000 for us to keep our payments under $350.

While I like the crossovers, it doesn't have to be one, but it can not be a van of any sort.

The Equinox fit both requirements for space, but we could not come to an agreement on price. And in a little retrospect, they were not very forward with the price of the car, just the payments.  Never even really discussed the rate of the loan either.

I hate car shopping, and was done at this point, plus it was 5pm and we needed food.

We stopped for dinner on the way home.  We were going to go to Outback because we have some gift cards,but they had a 3 HOUR WAIT.  Oh Hell No.

We happen to be passing Rivolis in Toms River so we stopped in there and they had a table for us!  Rivolis is REALLY good.  A bit on the expensive side, BUT you get a ton of food.  Think platter size dishes.  Did I mention the food is REALLY good?

We are there for a few minutes when my 14 yo son says to me "mom, the cast of the Jersey Shore is here."  I don't even look up from the menu and reply "no they're not"

He goes on "No mom, I mean it, look"

I look up and see this:

I nearly choked on my diet coke. There are no words, just no words.

Jersey Shore Stick Figures

 

Tonight the first show of the last season premieres.  Will my picture be hanging in the house, who knows - but we'll find out in a few hours!

Get your own beach writings here
BeachwritingsNJ

Cabs are HERE!

I did this beach writing back in the summer before they started filming season 5 in Seaside. I don't think it made it in the house for filming, but we'll see!

It's #jerzday!

It's baaaaaaaaaackkkk

Ok so I sold out a bit.

When I found out Jersey Shore was going to film season 5 back in Seaside, I did this beach writing.

Printed it 20x30, framed it and gave it to one of the producers of the show.

Now I know it's not going to be in season 4, since they were in Italy and my chances of it being seen during season 5 are slim to none.... but I wanted to share it with you all anyway.

Though I did hear through the grapevine that the cast did see it & like it.  

I just hope it gets me some business :D  

MY SHOP

Beach Writing Hazards

Yep, hazards. For every great picture I get.

I get tons of OOPS.

In my previous post, I mentioned the prop thief and how I've had people run through my shots. Those are pretty rare, except when I bring my kids with me.

I do run across garbage on the beach

And can we not even discuss the snow we've gotten this winter?

(Side note, figured out a few weeks ago that this is the spot where Snooki kept falling in the sand in the episode she got arrested! LOL)

And frozen sand.

But for the most part, my biggest hazard is the ocean itself.

Want to know why I charge a little more for stick figure families????

When a heart with 2 names gets washed away, no big deal.

When a family of 5 or more stick figures gets washed away..

It's a big deal.

Either way I love doing it. I'll take the waves washing away my work because most of the time the next writing is even better.

What I have a HUGE problem with though, is those pesky photobombers...

MY SHOP

Get your own pictures :D

I watch "Jersey Shore"

Yep, I watch it. I'm a 40 year old mom who likes to watch the stupid MTV show Jersey Shore.

But last night's episode left me sick to my stomach.

It's not their normal every stay stupid actions that left me feeling sick, it's the way Ronnie abuses Sammie.

If he were physically hitting her, it would be all over the news and he would be arrested. What he is doing is worse, he's mentally abusing her.

He treats her like crap, cheats on her, calls her nasty vulgar names (remember he called her the C-word in the Taxi) tells her to leave him alone and then when she confronts him, he tells her it's her fault & she apologizes.

Classic mental abuse.

In the episode last night Sammie tells the other girls to tell her if Ronnie is cheating on her and they're all nervous and not sure what to do. But what's the point, she's only going to go back to him every single time. That is exactly what I would have told her. "What's the point?"

Everyone in the house & the entire viewing audience knows what's going on, yet as recent as last weekend they were still together. (A friend of mine saw them at a bar in Seaside.)

I won't even talk about the example they are setting, because I don't let my kids watch it. I know some parents do and that's your decision. Maybe it can be a good way to start a conversation, especially with your daughters.

I used to joke and say that I wanted to ride on the "coat tails" of the Jersey Shore fame to further my business Names on the Jersey Shore but now, I don't know.

I still love living at the Jersey Shore but I don't know how I feel about having the name of my business, and my blog being associated with the name of a TV show that not only features mental abuse, but glorifies it.

Sorry for the dark post today, but I had to get it out and it is my blog!