#100HappyDays: Little red ZHP


My first car was an 87 Buick Century with blue plush velvet seats. She was long, white, boxy and no amount of effort by my shimmying dashboard hula girl could make her appear cute. But 18-year-old pedestrians don't quibble over looks, you know.

So I drove the Buick. And then later, a sportier '89 Corolla coupe. And then, er, briefly prior to rolling it, a Civic before settling in a champagne colored Corolla sedan for the last near decade. A granny mobile, according to my rude little sister. Except that she was right, of course.

And so it is with supreme pleasure and a bit of trepidation that I introduce the most non-granny car ever to grace my driveway: My new-to-me-thank-you-Mr-T 2004 BMW 330i ZHP.

Mr. T, who's definitely in the lead for Husband of the Year, flew up to Seattle to evaluate several eligible vehicles, with the possibility of purchase.  Why Seattle?  Unknown, except that for some reason there was a preponderance of middle-aged Bimmers with manual transmissions, a required feature for yours truly.

He found this ZHP, a German acronym which refers to a special upgraded performance package, with a fellow BMW enthusiast. After calling the transmission "buttery" and joking the car would be for-me-for-him, he described the hour-long test drive in superlatives.

He drove. A bunch of cars actually. While I waited, excited butterflies flapping about, wondering and trying not to text or call every five minutes to get the latest news. After a long, late-night debrief comparing features and foibles of several cars, I decided I was in love with the ZHP. Yet, even after T negotiated and was on the road for his 12-hour long journey, I couldn't quite believe the car would actually be mine.

But, just after waking up yesterday morning, I opened the garage door to find this little red lovely in the driveway. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I got a wee bit of a test drive but I can't take her out for real until the insurance comes through. But let's be honest, it's already so much cooler than my grannymobile. Don't you think?

xoxo,
shawna

P/S I will take a dollar for every speeding ticket joke.

#100HappyDays
1. 24 Hours of Happy
2. If loving a wheelbarrow is wrong...
3. A trip to the nursery
4. Transplants
5. Sweet peas
6. Cool as a...
7. A Butterfinger Blizzard
8. Happiness by the yard
9. Keeping the vampires at bay
10. Giving P.F. Chang's a run for its money
11. A little Spring snow in the Sierras
12. Communing with fellow comm nerds
13. Ladies' night
14. Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, New Mexico
15. The shredded cedar fitness plan
16. Baby's first Easter
17. Bathmat runways
18. Oasis in progress
19. My kind of Easter egg hunt
20. Mass cookie production
21. West Coast Formation Clinic 2014
22. West Coast Ravens, smoke on!
23. West Coast Formation Clinic All Up
24. Colorful, if not magical, beans
25. Stinking roses
26. Noodle salad
27. Tomato mania
28. Real smiles
29. Conquering cross-wind landings
30. Gypsy chickens and birthday celebrations
31. Conjuring a rainstorm
32. Bountiful boxes
33. The reluctant birthday boy
34. Copper poppies
35. Caprese chicken magic
36. Moms love waffles
37. Hearty soup for a hot "summer" day
38. A friend of the library
39. Talking Above the Fray
40. Go, go gadget green beans
41. Clinking frapps
42. Berries and bosom friends

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