All Twittered Out - The Wrap Up

Dear Lord in Heaven you are saying to yourself, the woman is still prattling on about cars!

Well, yes, I am. I am prattling on and on because I need to wrap. This. Up.

So, where did I leave off? Ah, yes... the drunken pregnant bride to be in the semi-gay bar.

Good times.

After snagging a cab recently vacated by 3 cast members of Hairspray (the play, not the movie) I made my way back to my big and gorgeous and totally free of children room at the Westin where I proceeded to collapse on the bed only to jump right back up and hit the shower after getting a whiff of my smoke infused hair. Goodbye Awaphui, hello Marlborough... smoking. Alive and well in the South.

Breakfast was a gentle affair full of hushed tones and please pass the Advil. Yes, it was a late night for all out on Beale.

And then on to 150 miles through Mississippi! Which was seriously? Like the most fun ever!

I drove with Marc, (click his link for a "real" review) a true autophile (is there such a word? if so does it mean lover of cars?) which was fantastic because I drive like a mother of 3 and he drives like a bat out of hell. Over the river and through the backwoods of Northern MS. Past bars welcoming both us and our horses and hogs and past towns called "Cockrun" and past a few squinty eyed sheriffs...

As for the ride? I liked it. I drive a HUGE car with a V8, so I wasn't, to be honest, expecting too much in the way of performance... also, performance? Please. I am so not a car person. But I decided that this was my big opportunity to not drive like a little old lady and let's just say that the all the cars, including the Hybrid, were responsive and felt solid on those 2 lane back roads.

The interior was cool with a 2 tone leather option and there was plenty of room for my legs (which are not freakishly long but are long enough) and the back, where I sat and laughed my ass off with Kristen, had room for both of us (but would probably be a little tight with more than 1 car seat) and a sunroof which is always pretty but a little loud (which made it hard to hear Kelly), not to mention XM radio - hello UPop!

The bottom line? I am not the demographic the Malibu is marketed to; I am not a commuter and I don't have a small family... but I feel confident in recommending it to my mother in law and anyone else I know who is in the market for the proverbial mid-size car... it's safe, the hybrid, while just a mini-savings on the gas (about 2 mpg) is quiet and does contribute to overall reduction in noise pollution and emissions, and the LTZ is as good looking a car, inside and out as you are going to find... so, what the hell are you waiting for? Call Chevy and test drive one for yourself.

Twitter This - Part 1

*this post is sort of longish, so get yourself comfy... and a drink.

You know when something cool and off the beaten track falls in your lap and you're pretty sure that you've been mistaken for someone who actually knows things and can contribute valuable insight but really you're just sort of clueless and are having a bad hair day?

Then you'll enjoy hearing about my weekend.

Or,

30 hours in Memphis.

Or,

Sexy men design sexy cars.

GM invited me to a social media event in Memphis featuring the all new Chevy Malibu... it was a drive the car/meet the people in charge/eat BBQ kind of event... also, it was the kind of event where all your expenses are paid. Come! Stay at the Westin! On Us!

Now, having been out of the professional world for many years, it has been some time since someone offered to pay for anything to have me anywhere (unless you count the time I was an out of control hormonally pregnant nightmare and my husband tried to ship me off to Hawaii to visit my mother), so to say I was flattered to receive this invitation would be a bit of an understatement. WHOO HOO was more along the lines of my response.

7:00 am Friday morning found me sitting on a Northwest flight for Memphis... excited to be on my way and a little worried that someone at GM would wonder how my name slipped on to the guest list.

I need not have worried... for along with the writers from Edmunds, Left Lane, the Torque Report, the NBC auto correspondent and a guy from Wired, were 6 fellow, (dare I say it?) Mom Bloggers.

Or, as Kelly (the prettiest woman in the Internet) put it, bloggers who are also mothers. But then she also writes "butt sex" in the memo section of her personal checks, so I think the fact that I developed a huge girl crush on her is no great surprise.

Before I go too much further, I need to say this: Kudos to you General Motors, for realizing and respecting the reach of the Internet and the influence of women in the blog-o-sphere.

Our first afternoon was spent comparison car driving. The Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima... the cars which are the Malibu's biggest competition. Not for nothing, but let me tell you this - the Malibu is by far the best name amongst the bunch... if you drive it you can pretend to be Malibu Barbie or Mali-boozer (not mine - that would be Kristen from Mommy Needs a Cocktail.... which she didn't because she is an incredibly pulled together woman with a very cute baby who came along and served as a chick magnet for Mr. Needs a Cocktail).

So cars were duly taken out and driven around town and little notes were made and then we had to go change for cocktails.

Cocktails were across the street at the Gibson Guitar Museum and Factory... we were given a tour which was awesome and also maybe gave some of us a bit of a contact glue high and then we were introduced to the Team (yes, bold with a capital "T") behind the (all new!) Malibu.

All I can tell you is this: If the entire world brought forth the amount of passion for their work as Tim, the aforementioned sexy designer, we'd all be living happier lives.

So, the new Malibu? She's really good looking! She's sleek and vaguely European and wayyy better than before. The interior is sporty and roomy and apparently she has enough safety features to please even the most hysterical of drivers (me).

We oooed and ahhed and nodded intelligently as the many auto enthusiasts asked questions and then with chat about being excited to drive all over MISSISSIPPI (quick! spell it backwards!) in the morning, we headed out for a fabulous dinner at BB King's restaurant where some of us Twittered the evening and some of us (me again) drank too much wine and ended up in a quasi-gay bar chatting with a pregnant girl who was getting married in the morning.

That's when I knew it was time to go.

my photos are rather sparse of the weekend thanks to an unlucky move involving a semi-opened bottle of VASA water, a Prada bag and the digital camera.

info on the drive itself in part 2... coming in the next day or so...