Subaru Love

Turns out you can't get a convertible with a third row.

Or at least you can't get one unless you're the guys on Top Gear and you saw the top off of a minivan (or a "people carrier," as they call it). And although the effort is admirable (and the episode linked there is brilliant), that's not so much the look I'm going for.

So today we bought a Subaru. It was love at first drive.

When we went to the dealership over the weekend to test it out, I came armed with two high-back boosters and one regular booster seat. The salesman looked at me like I had three heads instead of three seats, but I was determined to know whether or not they would fit.

Ta-da!

A little snug, but it totally worked. Then Junius proved that having the extra booster seat wedged into the middle wouldn't interfere with his comfort by promptly falling asleep during the test drive. Seriously, he just turns his head to the side and starts snoring.

Four days and several emails later, we were back at the dealership to trade in our Honda Accord and bring home the new car. 

This exchange marked the end of an era -- a decade with a car that saw us from newlyweds to new parents and beyond. It was the first big purchase my husband and I made together, then the first ride to bring home each of our days-old children. It saw us through interstate travels and tiresome commutes and at least a million trips to the grocery store. We have a lot of great memories tied up in that old car. 

But still, who could have predicted this?

That's Pippi trying to be brave while completely falling apart as I tried to take a photo of her and Junius in front of the old car. 

And that's Pippi sobbing on her daddy's shoulder while we wait on the paperwork. She cried for the better part of 20 minutes, only stopping to tell us that she wanted to keep the Honda until we died. (She's also wearing a turtleneck on an 85-degree day, but that's fodder for a different blog.)

It's hard to explain to a four-year-old that it's a good thing when we out-live our cars.

Junius managed to hold it together until we were pulling away in the new car. He teared up, looking over his shoulder as we left the Honda behind in the parking lot. Thanks to some Rock-O-Matic on the fabulous new stereo, he found his smile until bedtime, when more crying over the long-lost Honda ensued.

Who knows why they're suddenly so attached to a car that was slowly but surely falling apart from more than 137,000 miles worth of serious use -- maybe they're soft-hearted, nostalgic people or maybe they never realized that getting a new car meant giving up the old one. Maybe they just don't like change, even when it involves an upgrade. I really don't know.

What I do know is that, even though it's not a convertible, I'm going to love driving this Subaru.

Share your story... What car do you still remember saying good-bye to? Or how did your kids react when you bought a new family car?

Friday's 5: Selecting Hats

Because I can't seem to make my wound heal any faster (turns out I've got a staph infection, so I'm taking an antibiotic FOUR TIMES A DAY FOR TEN DAYS), I'm focusing now on how to prevent any more skin damage. I've decided it's finally time to embrace the hat.

So I ordered five hats from Zappos. Just as Zappos' return policy is genius for online shoe ordering, it is equally brilliant for selecting hats. Now I need some advice from you on which ones to keep. But first, a few caveats...

• I took these photos myself, which was a little tricky given how big the brims are on some of these hats. My arms are long, but they're not Inspector-Gadget-long or anything.
• With the lump of bandage on my forehead, I can't get the hats all the way down on my enormous head. And when I try to do it anyway, it hurts. We'll just have to pretend for now.
• Looking at pictures of myself is one of my least favorite activities. Let's just focus on the hats, shall we?

And here, in order of brim size (more or less), are the hats:

1. Lightweight bucket hat: I love the super lightweight fabric on this hat -- some kind of magical Columbia sportswear fabric. The brim is smaller in the back, so it doesn't bump against my neck. And if I could actually pull it down on my forehead, I think it will give more shade in the front. Is the color too bright? Or cute and summery? Maybe hard to tell online.

2. Big brim bucket hat: I'm just going to go ahead and tell you, this hat is going back. It looks so terrible on my that I couldn't even get a decent picture. It's too shallow and won't sit down far enough on my big ol' head, even without the bandage. A shame, really, because it seems very pack-able.

3. Taupe ribbon hat: I had high hopes for this hat, but it just doesn't seem right. Not sure why, but I couldn't get it to bend evenly  so that it would sit straight. But the little ribbon lines are very cute, so maybe it's worth trying?

4. Tan ribbon hat: Much easier to bend than #3, this hat is very light and has a bendable wire edge to help it hold its shape. But is the color too light for my pale skin?

5. XL brim brown hat: This hat is so big that I honestly wasn't sure I could capture it all in the picture -- it shades not only my face, but also my entire shoulders. When I put it on the first time, Pippi stopped in her tracks and said breathlessly, "Mommy! That hat is FANCY!" I want to believe it's very Audrey Hepburn, but someone else in my house (who will remain nameless) made sombrero references when I pulled it out of the box. Too much? Or just the sort of glamour my poor head needs?

Okay, readers -- help me out here. What do I keep and what do I return? Or if you've got better hat options I should consider, leave me some links in the comments.
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Remodeling 5: Kitchen Before and After

Consider today your virtual invitation into my new kitchen.

It's not "decorated" yet -- no artwork or photos on the walls, no curtains in the windows, no stools at the counter. But I'm so excited that most of the work is done (we're still waiting on the replacement window and a groovy chandelier for the dining room) and I just want to share the view.

All of today's photos have the "before" picture on the left or above, then the "after" photo is on the right or below. And if you couldn't see that without my telling you, then we've done something wrong. Or maybe I'm just a bad photographer.

1. Room with a view: The old kitchen was closed off from the dining room, with just a single doorway connecting the two rooms. We basically piled stuff in the dining room (notice the toys all over the floor) and almost never ate in there. Now the rooms are divided only by the counter behind the stove, allowing both greater access and a lot more light in both rooms. Also, I actually have a cabinet and some counter to the left of the cooktop now.

2. Open expanse: Looking the other way, the dining room seems so much larger now. It's also a lot less junky, although it remains to be seen if we can keep it that way -- I'm hoping that the new visibility and the fact that we're eating at the dining room table every day will inspire us to stick with the plan. We can now see from the family room on one end of the house all the way through to the dining room on the other end, with one beautifully lit, smooth, continuous ceiling above. 

3. Pantry: Before, most of our food was crammed into a pantry that was too small, yet too deep to be useful. Now I have empty shelves, there's so much floor-to-ceiling space -- and at a 16" depth, everything is accessible (credit to my smart architect for that one). I even have room for a bulk package of paper towels in the new pantry, so I don't have to store them upstairs in the linen closet anymore.

4. Cabinets and desk: In the old kitchen, we had only lower cabinets on the one long wall in the room -- a previous homeowner's DIY project left a mess of plumbing that stuck out from the wall and big gap where cabinets could have gone. And until we moved that desk down from Pippi's room (it had been her changing table), there was no place to work. Now I've got cabinets up to the ceiling, a built-in desk area for files and my laptop, a shelf for the microwave and cabinetry built around and above the fridge.

5. Clean and shiny: I realize that part of why the new kitchen is so clean and shiny compared to the old one is that it's, well, new. But more than that -- now there are places to put everything. I can put my crockpot, George Foreman cooker (aka our grilled cheese/panini maker), the electric frying pan, the big turkey roasting pan and every other pan I own INSIDE an easy-to-access cabinet. Amazing. And the sparkly factor is greatly increased by the stainless steel appliances and the glittering granite counters.

The only great flaw with the new kitchen is that it's not a self-cooking one. So which one of you people will be coming over to fix dinner tonight?

Remodeling Week in Review:

Hire People You Trust

Eating Without a Kitchen

Tips for Prospective Remodelers

Things He Left Behind

Remodeling 5: Tips for Prospective Remodelers

Let me be clear up front. Today's post is not going to filled with tips about HOW TO remodel any part of your home.

This is about how to SURVIVE while someone ELSE remodels the home you are currently living in. Because I sure as hell didn't lift that steel beam up into the ceiling. And in case you're wondering, all those 2x4s are, in fact, supporting the upstairs above my family room in that photo. Yikes.

Actually, my first tip would be to NOT live in your house while it's being remodeled. Go to the beach for a couple months. Travel around Europe. Move in with your parents. Get a hotel room. Whatever it takes not to live in a half-destroyed house with two young children.

Because in real life, it's not at all like Divine Design, where Candace, Chico and HunkyCarpenterPaul make it all beautiful in 30 minutes. It's messy and chaotic and loud and exhausting in ways you cannot predict.

But if moving out is not an option (and it wasn't for us), then here are five suggestions to help you weather the insanity that is home renovation.

1. Hire people you trust. See Monday's post for my recommendations. These people are going to be in your house all day long for weeks at a time -- you can't be there every minute (and trust me, often you won't want to be there). If you can't trust them in your home while you're gone, then don't hire them. And if you don't think you can stand looking at them regularly for the next four months, don't hire them either.
2. Get organized first. In order to renovate the downstairs of our house, we had to move most of the stuff that normally lives in those rooms and stash it upstairs. This created a whole new level of chaos in all the bedrooms and the upstairs hallway. If we'd been smarter (or taken more time), we would have cleared out all the extraneous stuff first, had a big yard sale and made a few runs to Goodwill before we started boxing things up and storing them in every corner. The more you can get rid of or at least get sorted, the better you'll be during and after the reno.
3. Select materials early. Before anyone starts knocking out walls or tearing up floors, go ahead and make as many decisions as you can. Pick out your cabinets, appliances, flooring, paint colors, hardware, counters, whatever -- that way everything is ordered and waiting when your crew is ready to install. Many of the delays in our project were caused by us, not our crew, because we didn't always plan our decisions ahead.
4. Recycle the old. We filled an entire dumpster in two months with construction debris and demolition from the house. Blech. Thankfully, we also sent a lot of things -- cabinets, light fixtures, hardware -- to the Habitat ReStore. And Progress Energy paid us $50 (that's them paying us, not the other way around) to pick up our old fridge and recycle the parts. Some of our crew even took things home with them if it was something they could use. Anything you can keep out of the landfill, do it.
5. Have a Plan B place. You absolutely must have a safe place to go when you really need to get out of your house -- particularly if you have a toddler who needs a nap during the day and can't sleep through the wrecking crew lullaby. My sweet friend Ms. S gave us her house key and an open invitation to make her home our own while she was at work -- this was particularly brilliant since her daughter is close to Pippi's age, so we could borrow her crib (and now her big girl bed). On more than one occasion, we napped, cooked, ate and played at her house, even when she wasn't there.

The good news is that it will eventually end. And today, where once there was only 2x4s, a steel beam and a pile of brick rubble, we now have this (as-yet undecorated) view...

Remodeling Week:
Hire People You Trust
Eating Without a Kitchen
Things He Left Behind
Kitchen Before and After

Remodeling 5: Eating Without a Kitchen

When your kitchen looks like this, you have to rethink dinner. And breakfast and lunch, for that matter, since there's no table either -- but dinner is the most significant challenge.

With a major renovation under way, we couldn't afford to just eat out for every meal. And who really wants to drag a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old to a restaurants every night anyway?

For the second installment in Five Lists about Home Renovation Week, I share with you five survival tips for getting by without a kitchen and without breaking the bank:

1. Phone a friend: Without the kindness of friends who invited us over to eat or cook and one who even gave us open access to her kitchen (thanks, Ms. S!), we would not have made it through. I pulled lasagna from the freezer and heated it at a friend's house while the kids played. I brought pizzas to another friend's and cooked enough for all of us. It was so nice just to sit at a table in a home to eat dinner, even if it wasn't my own home.
2. Grocery dining: My grocery budget was way down for the past month since there wasn't anywhere to cook. So we decided to just eat at the grocery store instead. Harris Teeter sells tasty-fresh, custom pizzas for $7.99 on Mondays -- we just took ours upstairs and people-watched at the store while we ate dinner. 
3. Coupon/Groupon: We got a lot of use out of our CityPass coupon book and some strategic Groupon purchases so that we could get special deals at restaurants when we needed them. Somehow, a BOGO deal makes everything a little better.
4. Family night: On Tuesdays at Chick-Fil-A, kids get a free meal with the purchase of a grown-up meal. Plus we had a very generous gift card from another friend (thanks, PY!), so that made the deal even sweeter. Of course, other restaurants offer family night deals, too (like Moe's), but CFA is always the favorite at our house. I think it's the free ice cream.
5. Grilled cheese: When we just needed to have an easy meal at home, we pulled out the George Foreman cooker panini maker and fired up some grilled cheese sandwiches. Heat up some soup in the microwave, throw some fruit on the kids' plates, and it's a surprisingly well-balanced meal. Just had to get a little creative about the location (and notice, there's ALWAYS cereal):

But after too many nights of watching my kids eat dinner like this...

...I'm more than excited to be fixing dinner in this...

That sneak peek photo is courtesy of the little comment fit that Momsicle threw yesterday. More to come later this week, so stay tuned!

Remodeling Week:
Hire People You Trust
Tips for Prospective Remodelers
Things He Left Behind
Kitchen Before and After

Remodeling 5: Hire People You Trust

Last August, I warned you what happens when you give a girl some crown molding. When I wrote that post, we'd actually completed the story through the shower remodel.

The rest started in November.

And by "the rest," I mean tearing out walls, installing a 600 lb steel beam in the ceiling, adding lighting, replacing ceilings, replacing floors, gutting the kitchen, removing the fireplace facade, adding lots of bookcases and cabinets, installing new trim, and painting everything. Plus relocating all the furniture and accessories a million times to accommodate all the work.

Damn. No wonder I'm exhausted. And we didn't even do any of the construction work ourselves.

But as of March 11, 2011, I have a fully functioning, totally remodeled kitchen. Let the people say Hallelujah! Can I get an Amen?!

It's been a long road -- and even though we're not 100 percent completely finished, I thought I'd designate this week as Five Lists About Home Renovations Week.

Today's theme is The House that Lakemont Built. One of the cool things about this big fat messy project is that we got to work with people in our neighborhood.

Here are five of our neighbors who helped make this new house possible -- plus a bonus neighbor from the first round of projects:

1. Architect: Jennifer Heron Brock, JHB Architect. Jennifer spent many hours designing a plan that would be both structurally sound (important when you don't want your upstairs bedroom to land in your family room) and also incorporate all the changes to make the house live the way we want to live. Having architectural plans in place before anyone started swinging a sledge hammer gave me peace of mind that everyone working on the project would literally be on the same page.
2. Contractor: Joe Fiore, Residential Remedies. Joe practically became part of our family over the past 4+ months. From hoisting a steel beam into the ceiling (with a little help) to sweeping up at the end of the day -- and everything in between -- he made the whole project come together. Plus, he let the kids feel like they were part of the project, too, even when it would have been easier to send them out of the way.
3. Drywall: Juan Martinez, freelance. Juan made our ceilings so smooth they look like a freshly-Zambonied ice rink. You'd never know there's a layer of crappy popcorn hidden under there. He also spent a lot of time repairing all the walls after the electricians and plumbers were finished so that the paint would look perfect.
4. Carpentry: Matt Kesterson, Kesterson Finish Carpentry. Matt turned a pile of wood into the most beautiful cabinetry, shelves, trim and mantel you can imagine. The level of detail -- from the way the baseboard traces behind the toilet plumbing to the special touches along the crown molding -- is absolutely gorgeous.
5. Flooring: Jeff Armstrong, Brentwood Flooring (Cary). Jeff helped us select the perfect flooring for our house -- then made sure that the installers got everything just right. We had a not-so-great experience with hardwood installation at our last house, so it was a relief to know we were in good hands this time. And considering that the new floors cover the entire downstairs, we really had to get it right.
6. Shower: Wally Ackerson, Acclaim Builders. Wally took care of our shower problem last year after we discovered the leak. Even though it meant cutting into the kitchen ceiling (leading us into the rest of this project), he left us with a beautiful shower that makes starting the day much brighter -- which is particularly important when the whole downstairs was such a disaster.

Stay tuned this week for tips about remodeling, how to survive without a kitchen, surprising things our contractor left behind and some much-anticipated before/after photos.

Remodeling Week:
Eating Without a Kitchen
Tips for Prospective Remodelers
Things He Left Behind
Kitchen Before and After

Friday's 5: Reasons I Wish I Were Still There

Last week I wrote about five great places to getaway that are still close to home (assuming, of course, that your home is in central North Carolina). This week, I'm wishing I were at any of those places.

Why? Because this is my kitchen today:

Note the boxes of new cabinets filling the dining room
and the hole in the floor with insulation spilling out.
Guess who's eating out for the next week (or more)?

Specifically, here are five reasons why I wish I were still at the King's Daughters Inn in Durham:

1. The beautiful, cushy bed. I love the way posh hotels make the beds with a fitted sheet, top sheet, duvet and a second top sheet. Everything feels all velvety crisp and expensively snuggly.

2. The turn-down service. How lovely to come back from dinner and find my newly fluffed bed (see #1) with two glasses of port and two locally handmade chocolates on the side table. Perfect ending to a wonderful day.

3. The Mac/TV combo. We don't have a television in our bedroom at home -- both of us prefer it that way. So it's a total luxury to sit in our hotel bed and watch TV. Even better? Having a wireless Mac connected to the TV so that we can watch last week's "Community" episode from nbc.com.

4. The homemade granola. The inn's tasty breakfast included eggs, bacon, grits, pancakes and an assortment of fruit, muffins and cereal. But the best part was the homemade granola that I took back to our room to have with yogurt later in the morning.

5. The soft robe. Yes, I have my own bathrobe at home -- it's pink flannel and I really like it. But there's something special about a smooth, white hotel robe after a hot shower that didn't include interruptions from any small children.

What's your favorite special touch that makes staying at a hotel or inn absolutely perfect?
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Friday's Five: Customer Service

I'm a firm believer in the power of good customer service. Whether it's going the extra mile to make customers feel special or taking customer complaints seriously, the companies that pay attention are the ones that get -- and keep -- my business. It's why I love PSNC Energy, but hate dealing with Time Warner Cable.

During this crazy shopping season, here are five happy customer service experiences I've experienced recently. And as someone who worked retail (anyone shop at Limited Express in the late 80s?), I ask you to please be kind and patient to the store clerks you see during the coming days.

1. Great Goods: I found Doris' Etsy site through a Google search for aprons a year ago, but finally ordered one for my birthday this year (thanks, Mom and Dad!). Not only is the apron beautiful, but it arrived quickly and was packaged beautifully with a handwritten note and a family recipe tucked inside. There's not much left on her site now (clearly I'm not the only one who likes her aprons), but she has some really great fabrics.
2. H*Lea*Designs: Okay, so Heather is a friend of mine. But still, I trust she gives this kind of service to all her customers. The adorable hand-knit hat I ordered for Pippi arrived on time and was custom-fit to her head. She has styles for boys, too, and will customize colors on request.
3. Mabel's Labels: Not only did I get a conference coupon for free labels (which are fantastic, by the way), but I also got picked as the "Customer of the Day." Even before my labels arrived, I received a package with a great double-end pen, a reusable shopping bag and other treats from Mabel's -- I felt so important.
4. Marriott: This story didn't actually start out so happy, as you may remember from our ill-fated pack-n-play incident over Thanksgiving. But I give Marriott full credit for responding quickly, listening to my concerns, tracking down a solution to the problem and giving us some bonus rewards points as a make-up gift. Companies make mistakes sometimes -- great customer service is what makes us forgive them.
5. Quail Ridge Books and Music: I realize that not all of my readers live close enough to Raleigh to be able to enjoy our local book store. But I hope that you'll support your independent bookseller wherever you are -- or just order online from Quail Ridge. Their staff is knowledgeable and helpful, the store is lovely, the gift wrap is free (year-round) and the children's section is top-rate. Check here for some of my suggestions of what to buy.

So, what's your best customer service experience lately?

Baby Wants to Drive This Car

Several weeks ago, Pippi and I ventured downtown to City Plaza to preview the all new 2011 Ford Explorer coming out this winter. As you can see from the photo, she loved it.

Loved. It.

As in, did not want to get out of the driver's seat. As in, mommy had to peel her little fingers off the steering wheel and drag her wiggly body out of the car to give other people a chance to test it out.

To be honest, Pippi wasn't the only one who was impressed. The Explorer is clearly no convertible, but seems like a great alternative if we decide to go for a vehicle with more seats. It's loaded with safety features, including second row seat belts that inflate to soften the impact in a collision. The third row seats move at the touch of a button, hiding one or both seats to allow for more storage space. And it's a sleeker design than past Explorers, which makes it seem less hulkingly big.

When I did manage a brief turn in the driver's seat, I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong -- it's still a big ass vehicle, particularly compared to the convertibles I love best. But it didn't feel as big as I expected. As in, it felt like something I might actually be able to drive and maneuver into a parking space without crashing into everything around me.

They're claiming it will get better gas mileage than any other SUV -- which may be true, but is still a far cry from my Honda Accord. One of the Ford promotion guys hanging around told me there's a second version of the SUV scheduled for release in summer with an EcoBoost engine that will get even better mileage (you won't be able to tow anything, which is not a problem for me). That option has me intrigued.

When I asked the first few guys my most important question -- can you fit three car seats across the middle row -- no one knew the answer. But when I got to the VP who was at the event, he assured me that you can. Sadly, they didn't have three car seats on hand to test his answer, but I'm hoping he's right.

For now, we're going to keep driving the (paid-for) cars we have. But I'll be watching the release of this new Explorer and am curious to have a chance to actually drive one.

Maybe Ford would like to let me (ahem) borrow one for a few weeks? You know, take all those cup-holders for a spin and see how comfortable I could get? Lure me in so that I can never go back to not having seven seats again? Give my kids a taste of riding in big-rig super-safe luxury? Anyone?

Note: Ford did not pay me to write this post. They did give me a free Jimmy John's sandwich at the event, but they were giving those to everyone who walked by to look at the car, so I hardly think it counts as a bribe. However, I would happily take a loaner Explorer for a bit to see how it fits.
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Friday's Five: Loose Ends

Today's Friday's Five is a little random -- but there are a lot of loose ends I need to tie up this week and I don't have time for a post for each one. Consider this the grab bag of Friday posts -- you just don't know what you might get.

So, in no particular order and with no real unifying theme, here are five completely unrelated things I learned online this week:

1. Y'all love some minivans: I got one "like" and 13 comments on my post about considering a new, larger vehicle, plus another 10 comments on Facebook when I linked to the post. Nearly everyone said the minivan is the way to go. The problem for me is not so much the cool factor (or lack thereof), it's that I still feel like the Accord is kind of a big car after driving the Celica -- just not sure I can navigate a vehicle that large. Will keep you posted.
2. Ten words for things you didn't know have names: I've already confessed that I'm a super geek (particularly about things language and journalism related), so you won't be surprised to know that I love learning funky new words. This list from Merriam-Webster online includes philtrum (see photo), tittle, glabella and a couple of words I'd actually heard before. Because yes, I really am that much of a geek. And if you need more proof about my geekiness, check out my love note to the em dash in the comments on this post about punctuation.
3. People are speaking up about their experiences with Wake County's diversity policy: These two posts, from a former WCPSS student (who works in NY) and a former WCPSS teacher, were prompted by Tuesday's protest march in Raleigh regarding the Wake Board of Education's elimination of the former diversity policy. I hope you'll take a moment to click the links and read what they have to say -- both posts reminded me of the sentiments I tried to share about my experiences in Charlotte.
4. Religion is never easy: After my post about struggling with my church, I got some encouraging comments and nice emails. One friend (who is a Presbyterian minister, so she has extra credibility on these matters) called religious practice "comfort food for the soul" and suggested that many people (understandably) overlook concerns about their Church in order to enjoy the services at their church. I was just starting to feel better about my Catholic church, when I see this article about a new document from the Vatican suggesting that ordaining women as priests is as grave an offense as pedophilia. Really? Seriously? Oy vey.
5. Readers like being asked for advice: See item #1 above. In fact, I think the only thing you people like more than your minivans is sharing your opinions about them. So here's another opportunity -- now I need advice on a firm-but-still-comfortable-not-outrageously-pricey mattress set. Discuss amongst yourselves, then share in the comments. Please. I'm tired (literally) of sleeping on a mushy bed.

Can You Get a Convertible with a Third Row?

When my husband and I were first married, we had a Honda Accord and a Toyota Celica between the two of us -- both were paid for and working fine. After Junius was born, we needed more room for a car seat, so we traded in my convertible Celica -- for a convertible Solara (I am the Convertible Girl after all). Driving smaller cars -- and eschewing the bump up to a minivan or big honkin' SUV -- has been a source of quiet pride for both of us. It always seemed more financially and environmentally responsible -- plus it gave my husband a chance to show off his skill at packing a family of four for a week's vacation into one regular-sized vehicle.

But after a few years of watching friends help us out by picking up our kids from preschool or taking them to the park and not being able to return the favor -- because no amount of squeezing will fit three (much less four) car seats and/or boosters in the back of an Accord -- we're considering a big move. We don't need anything large enough to hold the whole swim team, pack luggage for 20 and tow a boat at the same time -- just something with a third row so that we could take our two kids and a couple of friends in the car together.

So here's where I need your help... taking into consideration that I want to seat at least six people without spending a fortune or buying more vehicle than necessary, what would you recommend?

Photo from A 2 Z Limosine Fleet.