all.things.fadra

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: If you could read my mind, love

by Fadra Nally on June 3, 2012 · 3 comments

in Growing Up,Stream of Consciousness Sunday,Writing

When you have two glasses of wine and fall asleep while putting your son to sleep after a long day at the zoo, your thoughts aren’t always the most coherent. Then again, normally my #SOCSunday thoughts aren’t always that coherent.

Today’s Writing Prompt: What happens when you are reminded of your teen years? Happy? Jealous? Feelings of bitterness or regret?

Here we go…

—

If you could read my mind, you know that jealousy doesn’t cross my mind as much as you might think. I have it pretty good. But when you start hearing the radio songs of your youth, your mind goes into overdrive. You know that some of your thoughts might be going astray.

Today, I had a truly lovely day. We had a family day. We drove to somewhere outside of DC, caught the Metro, and visited the zoo. We got home late, ever so exhausted, but had a wonderful time.

Me? I was obsessed with people watching, as usual. It wasn’t the people that I honed in so much as the perception of them. No kids, no lines on her face, no dimpled hair, cute earrings, smooth skin, temperate outside. And her boyfriend. Both were in their early 20s .He was freshily shaven but looked like by every evening he was ready for another one.

When she talked, he listened.. He woud gaze into her eyes and follow her every word, with his words coming at the appropriate time. She only half-paid attention to her companion. I wanted to shake her. To appreciate that moment. Savor in this young handsome man who was so invested in her. Really feel the joy of her youth.

And then we went to the zoo. Wonderful in its own right but a different story for a different day.

;

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
Link up your post below.
Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here.

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Why I Didn’t Buy a Prius v

by Fadra Nally on May 31, 2012 · 10 comments

in Cars

I made this grand statement a few weeks ago about how I was getting ready to move and buy a new house and thought it was an excellent time to buy a new car. Because I’m made of money.

Actually, my original post mentioned that if I were to purchase the Toyota Prius v, it would actually be a cost savings for me. Here’s how it was going to work.

1. Dump nice, but gas-guzzling crossover type vehicle

2. Buy new Prius v

3. Have lower monthly car payments

4. Save tons of money in gas

5. Live happily ever after

Sounds good, right? I’d do a trade-in and then buy the Prius v I wanted (Trim 5, Blizzard Pearl with a Bisque Softex interior). My husband even put a deposit down on it.

I had a chance to drive the regular Prius when I went to TWIN camp and liked it. I knew the drive was a bit different but thought I could get used to it. It’s a pretty popular car after all.

But my husband, wise man that he is, insisted I test drive it just to be sure.

So I did.

And Evan complained the whole time in the back seat which might have set the mood for the test drive. He liked my Ford Flex with the mini refrigerator and DVD player. This car clearly seemed stripped down to him. And you know what? It seemed stripped down to me too.

More importantly, the low horsepower made the get up and go feel like it got up and went. It was fine for stop and go driving but when we entered the highway, Mr. Salesman decided that he needed to put it in Power mode to give it the extra boost. I understand the need for the mode but it wasn’t something I wanted to have to rely on.

Aside from the test drive, this particular dealership didn’t give me the warm fuzzies for a lot of different reasons. So I said no thank you, got the deposit refunded, and decided maybe I should just keep my gas guzzler after all.

Then, Sean, my husband, told me to maybe try out the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

But I don’t want a sedan. I’ll have no cargo space! I whined. But it did look nice. So I did a little research.

I found one in Cypress Pearl, a gorgeous shade of metallic green, with an interior of Ivory Leather trimmed with microsuede.

You know where this is going, right?

I fell in love with that car. I felt like I went from driving a big schoolbus to a shiny red Ferrari. It makes driving fun again. It has a smooth suspension with sport handling. It had every luxury that I didn’t really want to give up (moonroof, power seats, leather) but couldn’t really get in a Prius. And it had ridiculously good gas mileage.

So I bought into it hook, line, and sinker. And I bought that car, after I walked out of yet another dealership and found it at a different dealership* with the price I wanted.

It’s been almost a week since I bought that car. I’ve put over 400 miles on that car and still don’t need gas. I took that car to Philadelphia and back and I still don’t need gas. I’m averaging 38 to 40 mpg and I get excited every time I go out to my car.

So here’s what I’ve learned. You don’t have to sacrifice comfort and luxury or even eco-friendly to drive a hybrid (although that’s just good to be anyway). You simply have to be economically driven and find the car that works for you.

I guess I don’t really need all that cargo space.

* I have to give a special shout out to Marvin and the team at Antwerpen Toyota who actually wanted our business and was going to do what he could to earn it. No games, just a simple and easy transaction.

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program withClever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.

{ 10 comments }

The Summer I’d Like to Spend in Italy (with your help)

by Fadra Nally on May 29, 2012 · 10 comments

in Blogging + Social Media,Food + Drink,Travel

The last time I asked for your help, I was looking for shoe donations. I wanted to get involved with Soles4Souls firsthand and take a trip abroad to help them distribute shoes to the needy in a third world country. While I still have altruistic intentions (see my latest venture, Charitable Influence), today I need your help for some purely selfish reasons.

I’d love to spend a week in Italy this summer.

Oh, I know. Wouldn’t we all? But I have a very real chance to go.

You see, there was this contest sponsored by DaVinci Wine. Now, I’m sort of hesitant when it comes to contests because I don’t like to put forth a lot of effort for a chance at anything. I’d rather earn my way. But DaVinci wasn’t really calling it a contest. They were calling it a Storyteller Experience.

Back in April, I applied to be considered for the Storyteller Experience. DaVinci Wine was looking for four people to take to Vinci, Italy this summer to help share the story of the land and the wine and bring it to the masses in their own way. They selected three people already who seem so qualified to go that I look like a schoolgirl: an actor and author, an Italian-inspired cook, an accomplished photographer. But I consider myself a storyteller: through writing and photos and video. I want you to experience what I get to experience. And I love traveling and wine. It’s a no-brainer, right?

I’ve actually been to Italy once before. It was 1998 and I was working the travel business. I had a chance to go to Europe for $50 roundtrip (I miss those days). So I invited my college buddy, Dave, to pick a destination and he chose Italy. I never really had a strong desire to go but in those days, I was game for anything.

We drove and ate our way from Milan to Turin, back across to Venice, down to Pisa and Florence, and wrapped up the week in Rome. Yep. We did all that in a week. But the closest I got to Tuscany was the drive from Venice to Pisa. It was stunning and spectacular and also a blur on our whirlwind trip. I do remember taking a few photos out the window and it looking much like Under the Tuscan Sun.

And I’d love to show you the photos but let me remind you what 1998 was like. No digital cameras. So I have stacks of photos that I took with my Kodak Advantix camera. My Advantix used a special kind of film (the kind you actually had to have developed at the store) and allowed me to take three sizes of photos, including panoramic shots.

My photos were surprisingly good but alas, they are all still packed away from the move. I’m not even sure that box has made it to my house yet. And then I’d have to figure out how to scan them and crop them and so on. I think it would be easier to just head back to Italy and get a fresh batch of photos and stories.

Here’s where you come in. I mentioned that they have select three people to go. They need a fourth. And instead of picking the fourth, they thought they would take the next four qualified people to go and put it to a vote. Yes, I said that ugly, awful word that every online person hates to hear. A vote.

But I just need yours. And all your friends. Every day until June 15th. You can do that, right? I’ll even bring you back a bottle of wine.

In order to encourage you, I created about the most annoyingly visual voting button I could find. So maybe you’ll give me a pity vote.

And if you can’t see the voting button, you can simply click over to Facebook to vote once per day.

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Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Overwhelmed by Social Media

May 27, 2012

I happened to be overwhelmed by my work. Social media is a hobby for me but it’s always my profession, regardless of how much money I make at it. So it’s a choice but not in a normal sense of deciding whether or not I want to do it. I feel like I’m doing some [...]

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What a Woman Needs to Know When Buying a Car

May 25, 2012

I can sum this up in one sentence. What a woman needs to know when buying a car is exactly the same as what a man needs to know. But there’s no getting around it. Women are treated differently when buying a car. And I have some recent examples supporting that. I mentioned a few weeks [...]

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And then I met The Bloggess

May 21, 2012

Here’s one thing I am not: a fan girl. Not that I’m not a fan of anyone in the blogosphere. I am. Trust me. But I haven’t been in it since the beginning of time and seen the virtual unknowns rise to superstardom. That has probably been totally exciting to watch. And I have to [...]

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Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Haven’t We Met Before?

May 20, 2012

Life is an experience, isn’t it? In a week, I’ve started to normalize. I have internet (thank God). I have a refrigerator and a washer and dryer. We still need the microwave but haven’t really missed it that much. And I’ve gotten enough unpacking done that it’s starting to feel good to go out and [...]

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#VlogMom: Yes, I have a character flaw

May 17, 2012

I may be down but I’m not out. Through the magic of my iPhone, 3G uploads to YouTube, and my husband’s wifi hotspot, I’m back this week for a quick #VlogMom. When I watched Erin’s (@ErinCLane) video this morning (because I was out of the loop on the topic), I thought I HAVE to do [...]

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Stream of Consciousness Sunday: The Internet is my constant

May 13, 2012

I waffled about writing a post for today. I just moved (yes, it FINALLY happened). I’m sick. And I have no internet. But I decided I wanted get out and see the community and see if there really was a Starbucks with internet close by. And I was in luck! Today’s Writing Prompt: How has [...]