PC, my mom has an Altima, and it has been the bane of her existence.

Ha, that's the first bad thing I've heard about it.

People do seem to love the Civic, but I test drove an '08 Civic, and it didn't do a lot for me. It sounded like a golf cart.

No-haggling = gold standard for Emily. And they seem to have some decent things near me, so okay. I just hate the idea of car payments, honestly. They go on for so long...* and then taking care of insurance!

I know this is everyday stuff, I just haven't had to do it in so long that it seems onerous.

(*though it occurs to me I might be able to family-finance it, if you will, which would at least cut down on the interest!)

Hopefully not.

"Hopefully" is one of my grammatical bad habits that I keep trying to break, but I keep going back to it. Hopefully I'll be able to break it one day.

(See what I did there?)

Guys, I'm so excited! Planning is continuing apace for our trip to SF/NoCA in October! We have plane tickets, and hotel reservations in San Francisco and in Mendocino. We want to stay in Calistoga in between, but I am overwhelmed by the choices there (not to mention that beautiful eco-place in Napa that -t linked to yesterday.)

I also had to chart out on a spreadsheet where we (by which I mean *I*) want to eat while in SF. Sadly, the fun of spontaneous eating will not be part of this trip. The SF proper part, anyway.

So excited- it sucks that it's still 8 months away!

in Mendocino.

Oooh, where? The hardest part about staying in Mendocino was picking a hotel, because they all seemed awesome.

We're staying at the MacCallum, in this teeny tiny cottage!

I must say, after being exposed to this property by you I didn't look anywhere else. Considering the agony of choice I'm going through in Calistoga, I think that was a good thing.

Is referring to California as Cali considered something rubes do? I've noticed it creeping into my conversations, and I'm afraid I may sound idiotic.

We're staying at the MacCallum, in this teeny tiny cottage!

That's adorable! The breakfast is un-fucking-believable (mimosas included). IIRC, they ask you to pick a time that you'll come to breakfast, because they're small and couldn't possibly seat everyone if they all showed up at 10:00.

If the weather is at all amenable, eat breakfast on the outside porch of the main property.

The "credit" they give you towards dinner/drinks/dessert doesn't really go very far, but it seems to work out better than some bed & breakfast's "wine hours," which have crappy wine and a handful of cookies.

There are a lot of good places to eat in Mendocino, but MacCallum's restaurant is hard to pass up, because it really is amazing. It looks like they still have the same chef that was there when we were there.

We want to stay in Calistoga in between, but I am overwhelmed by the choices there

I do not recommend the Silver Rose. Barb, debg, PixKristin and I stayed at Golden Haven (I think? Correct me if I'm wrong, women), and it was a nice-not-fancy motel-style place (still had a great spa, though). But the giant pool and hot tubs made up for the lack of fancy.

I also had to chart out on a spreadsheet where we (by which I mean *I*) want to eat while in SF.

Like for instance?