Car Shopping

Car shopping can be fun or it can be stressful and tempting in a way that can get you into trouble if you do not go about it the right way. This weekend Tom and I traveled around the tri-state (DC/MD/VA) bouncing from dealership to dealership searching for the perfect car. For the past 4 years I have been driving around my Honda Civic. I love this car, don't get me wrong. The gas mileage is awesome, I haven't had a single mechanical problem with the exception of replacing my tires (which is normal), the only problem I had was that I fell for the little trap called: A Lease.

You have to be prepared before the sharks attack! Now, know that I am not really a car person,so you can read this for pleasure or you can take my advice and run with it.

1) Budget.
 While we all want to keep our payments as low as possible, especially in these economic times. It is important to determine how much you are willing to spend because this will help you decide which car you can afford - new/used, SUV or Sedan, Lease or Purchase.

2) Your Dream Car
Now that you have determined how much you can afford, start to use your resources to find the cars you think will suit you best. Internet, the paper, kelly blue book, window shop the cars in your area, I even walked the parking lot of my apartment complex and picked out cars I did and didn't like. Whatever it may be, just get a good idea of what you can picture yourself driving. One important part to this for me was that I wanted a car I could grow into. Since Tom and I will be getting married soon we were looking for something more 'domestic'...ya know kiddies in the back...that kind of stuff. (Don't get any ideas- its not happening anytime soon. I'm just saying!) I was going for an SUV or a nice Sedan. SUV being priority.

3) Kelly Blue Book/Carmax
 I was trading in my car so it was important for me to know how much my car was worth. Kelly blue book your car before you walk in to a dealership. Luckily, Honda cars do not depreciate in value as much as other cars out there. I went to Carmax and got an honest appraisal on my car. It was better than the first dealership appraisal, so we knew they were being somewhat truthful. Of course I didn't sell my car to them, I was keeping this in my back pocket in the event a dealership I bought a car from did not give me an honest trade offer.

4) Special and Incentives
Ask about specials and incentives! If you do not ask, they will not tell. I knew about the special offers before I stepped foot in the door, but I wanted to make sure that the dealer did too! One dealer had no idea what I was talking about- After he found out the specials, he would not live up to what they actually were. Another dealership from the same company knew exactly what was going on and that is the girl I stuck with through the whole ride.


5) Never Except the first Offer
Even if the first offer is within your budget. Say No. We all know they can do better. Ask them what the invoice price is on the car NOT the MSRP. Once you know, low ball them and go about $500 to $1,000 lower than the invoice. You don't want to insult them, but you need to start somewhere. I got this great piece of advice from one of my co-workers!

6) Take Time to Consider
Okay, so you are 99% sure you are ready to commit. That's great, but just do yourself a favor and tell them you need to think about it for a few minutes because this is a big purchase!! Tom and I took the car for another stroll around the building and as we were pulling up the Salesman and her manager were walking toward us with their 'final offer'. Funny thing was that I was going to say yes to the last offer!
 
I am so happy with my purchase! I always wanted an SUV, maybe in another 4 years or so I will get the BMW or Lexus I always dreamed of ; )

FUNNY CAR BLOOPERS: 

I'm sorry I know this blog is already way to long, but I just have to tell you the funny things that happened a long the way.

#1. Car max. As we know, they only buy and sell used cars. As we are walking to the first car I said to the guy, I am not sure if I want a used car because I didn't want someone else problem. He said, Carmax guarantee's that we only sell cars that are in great condition and have never been in any type of accident, etc. Hop in to the first car and it wouldn't even start! Needless to say the guy was a little embarrassed after that.

#2. We went in to Toyota and the first thing out of my mouth to the dealer is that I want a domestic car. All Toyota's are foreign cars. According to Tom the guy made a funny face, which I missed. I probably should have been more specific about what I meant, but whatever!

#3 I gave away fake numbers and email addresses to the dealers I knew I wasn't buying from. No need to waste my time in screening phone calls if it ain't gonna happen!

Wedding Etiquette

Ever since Tom proposed we have learned so much about Weddings. I have to admit, neither one of us have really attended that many Weddings so I thought maybe we should brush up on Wedding Etiquette so we know what to expect from our guest. After doing a little research I figured I would share this with you (the reader) and to our guest of the Wedding so that you do not commit any major faux pas!

1) The RSVP

The Wedding Invite list is hand picked by us, the bride and groom with input from our families.  We want to celebrate this occasion with people who have made an impact in our lives, those who are of meaning to us. With that said, we want to emphasize the importance of The RSVP. Over the weekend a good friend of mine said he never RSVP'd to Wedding that he was invited to, he would just show up! (Don't worry I gave him a lecture) Please do not follow his lead and here is why:

• If you do not RSVP you will not have a seat at a table (Unless someone no-shows) Chances are you will get stuck at the table with the old folks
• Two weeks before the Wedding we are to provide our final count for the Wedding. Final count meaning: total number of guest. That will determine how many mouths we are feeding. So Please, please RSVP!
• Even if you are not planning on attending. That's okay! We understand. We wish you could make it, but we know that not everyone can attend.

2) The Plus 1

This one is a toughy. Here is the proper etiquette to know whether you are aloud to bring a guest to the Wedding: if the Envelope is addressed to 'Mr. David Michael', than only he is invited to the Wedding. However, if the envelope is addressed to 'Mr. David Michael and Guest', than he is welcome bring a guest to the Wedding. That is when we would ask that Mr. Michael write down his guest name on the RSVP card along with his, so they both will have a place setting at the Reception.

If you bring a guest to the wedding, when only you were invited it can sometimes be insulting to the bride and groom. And also, it means the Chef's will have to plan for more meals and the Bride and Groom will have to pay for the additional person at the end of the reception.

3) Timeliness
Don't be late! If a wedding invitation says that the ceremony will begin at 5, be sure to arrive there by 4:45 so as to give yourself time to find a seat and get settled. You wouldn't want to interrupt the processional.

4) Open Bar.
While this is definitely a big plus to have at the reception, it does not mean you should abuse the privilege. No one likes a sloppy drunk. So try to keep your cool while having a great time.


The Most Important Rule: Have Fun!
The most important rule of attending a wedding is to enjoy the day. The bride and groom planned this special day in celebration of a joyous affair and took their guests’ comfort and entertainment into heavy consideration. Be respectful, be polite and be a good guest. 

While there are many other 'rules' about Wedding guest "Do's and Dont's" those were the few that both Tom and myself felt strongly about.  We are anxious to send out our invitations and wish we could have invited many more people. Either way, we love you all and we are so grateful to have you all in our lives.

DIY Invitations Part Dos

I was strolling down Old Town the other day when I came across this fun paper store, Paper Source. They had everything I wanted, but I never knew I needed! The past few weeks I spent hours trying to create a monogram for the front of my wedding invitations. Low and behold I discover embossing while I am at Paper Source. That is when I decided to take on a new DIY Challenge. A nice lady showed me exactly how to do it and I could not believe how incredibly easy it was!

This is such a great idea and I am SO happy I stumbled upon this! If you think you may be interested in embossing then follow these easy steps and you will be on your way to having fun invitations just like me!

You can see here, I purchased two stamps, a green stamp pad and the embossing powder. I have done around 80 invitations so far and this one is still full of ink! The white jar is the embossing powder. You will have need to purchase a heating tool (Sorry, hair dryers do not work). This is what will raise and seal the embossing power and give it a shiny look.

Step 1: Well this is pretty self explantory- ink up your stamp, try not to rock your stamp back and forth on the ink pad too much- follow that rule through to stamping.
Step 2: Take the embossing powder and generously spread it over your stamps. I suggest doing this over a piece of paper so you don't make such a mess and then can pour the powder back into the bottle. You do not leave the powder on there to dry - as soon as you cover the entire stamped portion, simply pour it off on to the paper and move to the next step!
Step 3: Taking your heating tool and hold it over your invitation or whatever your special project is! You will watch your stamp raise and you will see a shine appear. And Wallah! You have an embossed invitation! Now, my picture do not really do the invitations justice because in person you can seen the shine and shimmer of the stamps. Either way, I am so pleased with the front of my invitations and am getting antsy to sending these bad boys out!