The New Baby

My very first car that I purchased on my own was the GEO Storm...a little 2 door sports car that looked like a toy. Everytime I saw it on the street, I took a second look. Although I was a novice driver at the time, I liked the fact I could buy it at the Chevrolet dealership down the street from my office. It was also close to home. I could "buy" it, drive it 5 blocks to home and it would be easy. The year was 1991 - and I walked in on my own and did exactly as I imagined. I paid cash and a week later, the car was ready for delivery. I had it all set in my mind. I would make sure the car was facing the right way...towards my home and in my head, imagined driving it straight into my indoor garage. Sure enough, the car was facing the correct way. Yay but then the salesman threw me a curve. He happily told me that I would get a free tank of gas and we needed to go to the gas station. A gas station in an area I wasn't all so familiar with (it was only a few blocks away but to me it could have been on Mars!) I panicked and even told him I didn't want it which, of course, puzzled the poor man but then I asked the salesman to make the drive and pump the gas! Which he did. Quite funny to think of it now. I made him drive the car back to exactly the same spot where he started from and then shooed him on his way! Taking a deep breath, I got behind the drivers seat and looked at all the dials and doo-dads and gingerly started the car up and moved it along its way. I might have held my breath the whole way home and parked it in the indoor gagage and left it there! Less than a year later, it was stolen and I replaced it with a souped up model of the same car, same blue color. It did serve me well and everyone in the neighborhood knew me with this car. When I finally got rid of her the beginning of this year...she was almost 20 years old and had less than 80,000 miles on it. That's how much I drove. But she still looked pretty cool.


Stock photo but very similar to my Storm

1999 led me to another head-turning car. The Mitsubishi Eclipse. I loved the way this car looked. I heard it was known as a lady's sports car. Once again, I went to buy the car on my own but now I was abit more experienced in driving. I found a dealership in Queens that I needed to take the subway. Again, within a week, my car was ready for pickup. I drove it out of the shop with much more confidence. The Eclipse was totally me. I loved her alot.



But as with all cars, they grow old. And my poor Eclipse had been through alot this past year with the accident. Last week, her transmission was needing some fixing and I knew it was time to put her to pasture. And as much as I am a sports car kind of girl, I am also getting older (ugh) and have to think more practical and less frivolous. Darn! So it was with all that in mind, that I settled on the Honda Civic. The 2 door coupe would have been more to my liking but I went with the 4 door.

I found the Honda dealership near me and for the third time, purchased the car on my own. But this time, I walked in at 11am and drove a brand spanking new car out at 5pm! Amazing! She drives like a dream and is a beauty. All in all, my passengers will be the happiest riding in the roomiest car I have ever owned!

Secret Wedding

This is going to be a strange entry. Since it involves my ex-husband and past life. At first I was hesitant to post all of this but in the long run, it's my life and that's what this Blog is all about.

I was flipping through the TV the other day and there was a travel documentary about the French Riviera. Which reminded me of my honeymoon since that is where we went. I am not sure when I had decided that was the spot for my honeymoon - maybe it was when I entered into the travel industry.

In any case, I was working at Thomas Cook at the WTC and for some reason, Stan & I only had 5 full days to go away. My “husband” could take advantage of a travel agent’s discount which was substantial in those days - certainly the salary wasn’t why you got into the business…it was ALL about the travel perks.

Unfortunately there was a hitch. Stan wasn’t my husband yet when I was making the arrangements for our trip. Our wedding date was May 31 and we were leaving for our honeymoon on June 2. I spoke with my Air France rep and although there was no problem in getting the 75% off our airline tickets - he did say I needed to present documentation that we were married.

Not too many people know this. In fact, our parents still don’t know to this day. But because of this dilemma, Stan & I made plans to get hitch weeks before the actual wedding. We planned to go to City Hall…go through the ceremony and then I could have the marriage certificate to get our airline tickets.
The only other person who knew was my sister, Evelyn. She was our lone witness and I swore her to secrecy.

Stan & I first went to City Hall to get our marriage license. Then we had to wait 3 days before we could actually have the Justice of the Peace do the honors. I honestly don’t know which day in May it was. I never noted it. I felt this was a formality - a means to an end and never considered this day as my anniversary.

I do remember it was a beautiful day. Stan & I met up with Evelyn at the Municipal building where we found the waiting room filled with other couples. It was old. It was rather ugly. It reminded me of an old fashioned courtroom. Then it was our turn and now the whole thing is a blur.


A blur...literally!

I just remember leaving giddy with happiness…we took Polaroid pictures right outside near the Brooklyn Bridge and then we went about our way as if it were just another day.













We flew into Paris and connected to Nice. We never even saw the city - just the airport of Paris. Nice was very…French! The people there were very fashionable and I remember seeing a lot of gold lame and 6 months later…the craze hit the US. We stayed at the Hotel Meridien Nice in the center of the city. Walked everywhere and found the beaches disappointing since they were very rocky & pebbly. Everyone was topless.


On the terrace of our hotel room



Everyday, to and from the hotel, we would pass a Louis Vuitton store where I would drool over the items in the window. Stan would ask if I would want anything and I would say “No“…although the prices were fabulous - (the dollar was strong then) - I still felt it was extravagant. Maybe on my way back home?



We stayed there 3 nights, toured St Tropez, Cannes and Port Grimaud.and then rented a car to drive to Monte Carlo. There was one day we drove to San Remo, an Italian port across the border. What a difference this town was from Nice! The women were earthy!! The Nice French woman were all slim, tall and model-like. The San Remo women were plump & carrying children. We had a picnic there of bread and cheese and salami and it was really one of the best days.


Cannes & St Tropez


San Remo

It was a Friday that we started out for Monte Carlo. The road was one lane through the mountains and very winding and curvy. It took about an hour or maybe even more…(it was a long time ago)…when we finally arrived…it looked just like the photos in the brochures. I could see the Loew’s Monte Carlo which was the hotel we were staying at but we were above it and couldn’t figure out how to get down to where the hotel was. We finally stopped for directions. It was hilarious. No one was on the road but one lone soul and Stan called out the window in his best high school French “Oú est Loew’s Monte Carlo?” to which the helpful stranger rattled off the directions pointing somewhere. We nodded and said “Oui!” and “Merci beau coups!!” and then we looked at each other and burst out laughing. We had no idea what she said.!! Eventually we figured it out for ourselves and checked in.

I was still thinking about Louis Vuitton…it was the cosmetics bag I coveted. It would be $45 US!! (These days it goes for $315!) What a dope I was not to get it. Right there, I decided I would HAVE to get it when we returned to Nice for our flight home. Then it dawned on me. We would be back in Nice on a Sunday. The store is closed on Sundays!

I told Stan and what did he do? We had just checked in. Instead of prowling around the area, we hopped back into our tiny car and drove back to Nice! Suffice it to say, I still have the cosmetic bag to this day, a little worse for wear but I still use it.



We drove the winding route for the 2nd time that day but now very familiar to us…and the rest of the vacation was quietly relaxing. As they say…short and sweet.

Updates

First, the plants....yes, I know...you're asking "Where are the appetizers???" But my blue Bachelor's Button flowers has friends and surprise...in different colors!



And after months of searching...I finally located the last photo of my girlfriend, Gilda. This was part of her memorial card. And she was definitely beautiful...inside and out.