Anyhow, in the midst of all the craziness, I attended the BlogHer-sponsered GM Ride and Drive event at Atlantic Station in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday evening.  Now, for those of you who know me, you know that Lulu rarely goes beyond the borders of her office and her home during the week.  It takes something really extra special for me to break my own rules and GR’s heart to not go straight home after work.  And a BlogHer event happens to be one of those extra special somethings.  Okay, a BlogHer event and the opportunity to sit in one of these bad boys:

Fits Lulu perfectly, don’t ya think?  I’ll take that as a yes.

I was given the opportunity to test drive that fine-looking Saturn Sky, but honestly, I was just a bit too intimidated by the sexiness of it all.  It reminded me too much of the sexiness that is Maksim Chermkovskiy…

…who would also fit Lulu perfectly, don’t ya think?  But I digress.

Instead, I test drove this…

…the Saturn Vue Hybrid.  Not so overtly sexual, but definitely something I can handle.  Kind of like Colin Firth…

But, again…I digress.  We’re talking cars here, people.  I must focus.

The Saturn Vue is definitely a small SUV that I could get behind.  I don’t know anything much about hybrids, so it was interesting for me to find out that when the car is sitting still, say at a red light, the engine basically turns off!  Very cool.  Lulu is easily impressed.

I also took a gander inside the Saturn Outlook, which is roomy enough to fit 7, yet not so great on the gas mileage in my opinion (17mpg city):

And finally, the Saturn Aura, a nice, practical-looking sedan:

Sadly, my most favorite car of all was not available at the event—the Astra:

While on my recent trip to Germany, that’s what I was tearing down the Autobahn in.  However, in Germany, they call it a GM Opel Astra…but it’s a GM Saturn Astra here in the states!  Very, very awesome car and fun to drive.  I would seriously consider buying one.  Seriously, y’all.

But for now, I must settle for the payment-free, hubcap-missing, granny-mobile that gets me from point A to point B.  And sometimes to point C depending on the day of the week…

She’s the epitome of all things Southern, lady-like, Christian, and sweet tea.  The woman never has a bad word to say about anyone.  Even if she tried it would come out all, “Well, honey, she is just going through a troublesome time right now.  We all go through troubled times.  How’s your sweet tea?  Enough sugar?  Would you like a slice of homemade lemon pound cake with that?  I can heat it in the toaster oven for you, if you’d like.”  Oh, how I love her.

She’s so sweet in fact, that I feel a bit guilty writing about her, even though they are words of praise.  And it’s kind of my law not to write about GR’s family.  That being said, I’ll keep this short and sweet, not divulge too much information (not that there’s really anything to divulge—we’re a pretty boring lot), and hope for the best.

Anyhow, GR had to work on Saturday to make up for lost time on his job due to bad weather, and the great forecasting powers-that-be are predicting rain again this week.  Thank goodness for our Spring-like weekend.  Originally, our Saturday plans had been to go snow-tubing in the North Carolina mountains (a 3-hour drive) with Phoo and Big H, so I was pissed a bit disappointed that we had to cancel.  Big H even made a special trip to REI for some snow pants.  (Send GR the receipt, Big H.)

So, in order to cure my disappointment, I decided that I would go shopping and spend the money that I would have otherwise spent snow-tubing in North Carolina.  Now there’s some great logic for you…if you can’t spend it in one place, then by golly, you can certainly spend it in another.  I am a spendthrift genius if I say so myself.

And being the busy little hizzore that I am, it’s been a while since I’ve spent any time with the Goodness that is GR’s mother.  And because I felt the need for some of her kindheartedness and purity to rub off on the tainted Lulu, I decided to give her a call to see if she would like to go shopping.  Here’s how our conversation went (imagine my MIL’s sweet, Southern drawl):

Lulu:  Hi mother-in-law!  How are you?

MIL:  Hey, honey, I’m doing fiiiine.  How are you?

Lulu:  I’m doing well, thank you.  I was calling to see what you are doing today.  I was thinking about going to get lunch somewhere and then to an antique mall, and was wondering if you would like to go with me.

MIL:  Oh, honey, well, that would be fiiiiine.  What time are you planning to go?

Lulu:  Well, how about noon?

MIL:  Oh, honey, that will be fiiiiine.  That will give me time to go to the bank and run a few errands before you get here.  Where can I meet you?

Lulu:  I’ll just come to your house to pick you up.

MIL:  Oh, honey, why don’t I meet you somewhere?  That’s so far out of your way to come to my house.  I hate for you to come all the way out here.

Lulu:  Well, it’s not that far, and I really don’t mind.

MIL:  Oh, well, honey, I don’t know.

Lulu:  No, really, it’s not a big deal.  I would like to come and pick you up.

MIL:  Oh, well, honey, it’s just so far.

Lulu:  Really, it’s okay.  I’ll just be there at noon.

MIL:  Well, okaaaaay that will be fiiiiine.  I just hate for you to drive so far.  Are you sure I can’t meet you somewhere?

Truly, it’s only a 25-minute drive to her house, and GR would have killed me if I made his mother drive somewhere to meet me.  And, honey?  I really didn’t mind!

We ended up having a delightful lunch at a little sandwich shop (tuna salad for me, ham sandwich and sweet tea for MIL…in case you’re wondering, which, why would you?), and then we spent about an hour and a half at a fabulous antique mall, where I found many things on which to spend my North Carolina snow-tubing money.  Would you like to see what I bought?  Yes?  I thought so.

Since GR had repainted the bedroom furniture back in November and I had done some redecorating, I had an empty wall on which I wanted to put…something.  My first thought was a sofa or a plush chair, but seriously?  It would likely have ended up being a dumping ground for discarded clothes.  What I really needed was a resting place for my laptop.  It needed a home.  So, in keeping with my attempt at a French country theme, I was lucky enough to find this French Provincial desk…

…that I put against this wall in my bedroom here…

Actually, when I was a young girl, I had a bedroom set that matched this desk perfectly.  So, it sort of brings back fond memories of my yute youth.  Amazingly, I found the chair that matches almost perfectly for only $15!!  I just have to recover the seat, and voila!  It will be perfect.

And then I found this beautiful gold, Italian tray for $8.95…

And this small oil painting for only $5…

Truthfully, I only bought it for the frame, but I’m kind of leaning toward keeping the artwork.  It’s growing on me.

For $10, I purchased this hand-embroidered zebra pillow…

…which I put on the chair in my office…

So, basically it ended up being a very sweet, lovely, and productive day spent with my mother-in-law.  And that’s just fiiiine with me.