Entries from July 2009 ↓

Part 2 of my Ford BlogHer experience:

…in which I report back about my experience as one of 60 bloggers who spent about seven hours touring Ford’s Chicago Assembly plant and listening to Ford employees’ presentations about their company.

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When I walked into the hotel conference room to join the other bloggers for breakfast, I was greeted by some folks from Ford and Caitlyn and Karen from Ogilvy. Very soon afterward, I discovered that I was probably the most skeptical attendee. In fact, when Scott Monty, the Ford host, approached me, I sheepishly admitted that, if they were hoping we would leave singing Ford’s praises, I would most likely disappoint him. He emphatically insisted that he wanted to hear what I had to say. Good or bad.

In a nutshell? My perception of Ford vehicles was simply horrible.  Where I grew up in the midwest, people regularly referred to FORD as the cars you had to Fix Or Repair Daily.

And now? If you were to ask me to name one person I know who drives a Ford?  I couldn’t do it.  Okay, maybe one – and she drives an Expedition SUV.  Because she has a big family. My mom had a Lincoln, but I’ve never owned a Ford. In fact, I’ve only owned one domestic car.

Be honest.  When you think of Ford, what comes to mind?

For me it’s this:

Which, if you like trucks, isn’t such a bad thing.  I mean, they won Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year.  And hey, there’s a site devoted to Ford Truck Lovers!!  I kid you not! These folks love their trucks.

The thing is, I’m not a big truck fan.  Nothing against them, just not something I need in my life right now.

So, if you put aside the trucks, where does your mind go next? The Taurus, right?  Top selling car in the 80s, it competed head-to-head with Toyota’s Camry.

Remember this?

So what happened between 1986 and 2009? Plenty.

As Bill Vlasic reported today in the New York Times, the Taurus is back and better than ever.

Not only is it sleeker and updated for this millennium, it’s full of state of the art technology and high quality details.

But, could I imagine myself driving my family around my town in it?

Continue reading →

Part 1 (of 2) reports relating to the Ford BlogHer** event

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Ever since my dad gave a speech to hundreds of people about women drivers* years before I could legally drive, I have been determined to be a good driver. For many years, I was a bit too caught up in the notion and took myself too seriously. I even called myself a “serious driver” — whatever that means.

Over the years, I’ve rid myself of that old baggage and tried to lighten up when driving, but I am still fascinated and dazzled by outstanding, high quality automobiles. In other words, I’m still basically a car nut. Always have been, really.

My hometown was filled with car fanatics. In fact, when I was growing up, kids took pride in their abilities to identify cars by the sound of the engine or the taillights or other identifying characteristics. I could easily tell you which car was a Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler (we only played this game with domestic vehicles) by the style of the car, though I never mastered the art of engine identification.

Later in life, particularly after becoming a mom, my perspective changed somewhat. These days, I don’t spend much time identifying cars while sitting in traffic but I am certainly at a point in my life when I sometimes spend (what feels like) a majority of my day driving the kids and their friends to various activities and events.  So the quality of my car contributes to my quality of life.  You know what I mean?

If I enjoy my car and the time I spend in it, I’m likely to have a lot more fun with my kids (and be a more pleasant person).  If I’m driving a high quality automobile, chances are good that I’m going to enjoy (better still, love) the car. So the higher the quality of the car, the greater the enjoyment factor. And to take that one step further, the happier the mom then, naturally, the happier the family. Ah yes, so the happiness of my family all comes back to the quality of the car I’m driving.

Really?  Continue reading →

Today was one of those days.  I started out in a cranky, irritable mood.  Low tolerance for sibling bickering.  Annoyed by aggressive drivers.  Hyper critical of tv pundits.

Then, when I dropped off the kids at their tennis lesson, I decided to zip over to Starbucks instead of watching their practice (as I normally would).  Sitting down with my Kindle, happy to snag one of the few cushy club chairs in the cafe, I drew the tall iced red-eye beverage toward me, looking forward to tasting the creamy goodness slip down my throat when suddenly I saw them falling – drip, drip, drip onto my fresh-from-the-cleaner starched white blouse – blasted red-eye coffee droplets.

ARGH!

After suffering several more little annoyances, I finally surrendered to the day and chalked it up as one of those “Alexander” days.

As soon as the kids and I arrived home, I took off my blouse to treat the stains.  Uncharacteristically, I stayed in my white cami while I applied the stain remover.

Continue reading →

Parents often warn other parents to be prepared for those dreaded teen years:

“Just write off about five years of their lives.”

“During those years, they think you know nothing.  Then, in college, miraculously, you’re once again brilliant and they ask you how to do everything from folding laundry to paying rent.”

“Oh, they’ll tell you they hate you, but they’re just really mad at you.”

“I didn’t know the person who inhabited my daughter’s body during those years.  But, in about eleventh grade, the daughter I knew returned.”

In the early years of their lives, many kids try hard to please their parents. They implicitly acknowledge their necessary state of dependence and pretty much worship the ground we walk on. The effect on parents’ egos is rather intoxicating. We reach a point where we start to believe we know what we’re doing.  We stand tall and breath sighs of relief, as we begin to feel confident in our parenting abilities.  We go through stages where we proudly boast about achievements and quickly pull out photos of the little angels.  But if we talk to parents with teenagers, we often hear them say (to those of us with younger children) that we should “enjoy it while you can” because it can change in a flash when those adorable toddlers and grade school kids reach adolescence.

As my kids approached middle school, I witnessed other teens grow sassy and more defiant so I found myself getting a little nervous, worrying more than I used to, wondering if my kids would change and, more importantly if our relationships would drastically change.

Well?

Continue reading →

I’ve always liked the song, We are the World, and it’s particularly poignant now. Heal the World is nice, too. If we each choose to think about the lyrics in those songs and try to apply the principles to our daily lives, the world will be a better place.  How nice would it be to heal the world and begin to acknowledge that we’re all connected as one?  All human beings.  All in this together. We can accomplish so much more if we choose to be compassionate, caring and loving.

And if you missed the sincere, heartfelt eulogy by Brooke Shields, here it is:

You could feel the love.

RIP Michael Jackson.

What a match!  Roger Federer eeked out a victory against our American, Andy Roddick, in five sets at Wimbledon today.  It was his sixth Wimbledon win and 15th Grand Slam title, topping the record 14 held by Pete Sampras.  Congratulations, Roger!!

Read all about the match by clicking here.

To all my American pals, happy Fourth of July!

If you like reading my product reviews and hearing about many of the chic, wonderful goods I try to find to make your life more beautiful or fun, you’ll love my extension of Soapbox Mom. As of July 7, we will post reviews on a separate site which we’re calling Soapbox Mom Reviews. You’ll find most of my old reviews there, too.

The additional site will free me up to keep this blog more substantive.  Frankly, I found myself so distracted by the many PR pitches and interesting goodies I found in my everyday life that I felt less and less free to write the way I did when I started my blogs.  I hope you’ll check it out and leave comments over there, too.

Just click here:

The button (above) will always appear in my sidebar.

As always, I’m grateful that you’re here and I hope I make your days a little brighter or more interesting.  Thanks for your support!