Today was a sad day.
Today was the day I had to give back the Chevy Malibu I had been test driving and blogging about at www.GirlfriendGetawayFlorida.com for the past month.
*tear *tear The Malibu will surely be missed.
What did I think about the Malibu? Well, in all honesty I loved it! I mean I loved all the cool features that came with it of course, but that’s probably because the car I drive is basically feature less.
- I loved the XM radio – especially the Broadway Channel!
- I loved the bluetooth feature and it’s ability to allow me to talk on the phone hands free while driving (check out my post on bluetooth here)
- I loved the comfy leather seats
- I loved the regular outlet that came in the car
- I loved that it had 4 doors
- I loved the turn by turn directions of OnStar
- I loved the large trunk
- I love the remote start feature
- Overall, I just loved driving it!
Of course, not everything was always roses and sunshine with the Malibu
- I did not love how unsafe the breaks felt on wet roads. At first I thought it was a fluke, but on three separate occasions I felt like the breaks were going to give out on me as I tried to make a quick stop in the rain. NOT good!
- I did not love how much gas the car used. The 16 gallon tank only last me a week! I’ll admit it still had better gas mileage than the Traverse, but nothing will ever be able to compete with my echo
- I did not love how difficult it was to get out of parking spots with the car
- And I do not love the price tag. It’s wayyy out of my price range.
You win some, you lose some, right?
I still had fun blogging about my experience with the Malibu
Feel free to check out my other Chevy Girl on the Go posts
- A Day in the Life of a Chevy Girl on the Go
- Groceries and the Malibu
- Junk in the Trunk
- Meghann’s Musical Sing-A-Long
- Spoiled
- Bluetooth
After giving the Malibu back it felt strange to drive my Echo again. The car almost felt flimsy compared to the Malibu. I really need to change my Echo’s oil and have the tires checked.
Alas, the Echo is still my baby. My Echo was the first major purchase I made once I entered the real world – one I’m still making payments on! – and for that it will always have a special place in my heart. It may not have fancy automatic locks, leather seats, or XM radio, but it’s all mine and that’s what matters!
I have a new favorite snack combination.
Watermelon + Quaker Maple Oatmeal Squares
Sounds odd, but the flavor combination really works. I had a quaker square with each bit of watermelon. The oatmeal square gave a nice crunch to the refreshing watermelon treat.
I had to go home to exchange the Malibu for my echo, so I made a quick salad before heading back to work.
My salad contained
- Spinach
- Artichoke Hearts
- Beets
- Tofu
- Almonds
- Cheese
- Leeks
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Balsamic Vinegar & EVOO
Basically anything that was in the fridge that had to be eaten was thrown into this salad.
On the side some Salt & Vinegar Chips
I’m not a big chip eater in general, but since the bag was left in my apartment from the weekend, I’ve really been enjoying the salty treat.
A reader had commented how Naturally Nutter Nut Butters can be found around Orlando at Chamberlain’s (a local health store) so obviously you know where I made a pit stop on my way back to work…
Check this out – $6.99!! Score!
(p.s. how insane is it that I think $6.99 is cheap for a jar of peanut butter? lol)
The only bummer was they didn’t have all my favorite flavors, but I did make a special request for them when I was checking out.
Sneak Peak of Glee’s Season finale next week. Eeekkk!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3CWBoceKc&hl=en_US&fs=1&]










{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Honey roasted cinnamon peanut butter. Oh my. I would give my right arm for that
Have a good evening
I have Sirius Satellite radio and love the commercial free music. Much better than regular radio!
I saw that Glee sneak peak yesterday, so excited, can’t wait!
I’d be bummed, too! We just bought a “new to us” (’08) Camry and while I LOVE it, it certainly doesn’t have all those bells and whistles you described.
I just recently had the Quaker Oat Squares for the first time and they are great! They are good mixed with yogurt or I put them in a trail mix with some almonds and raisins. I will have to try them with cut up watermelon, it sounds good!
Gas expense has got to be tough to compare an SUV or sedan up next to your compact. Do you have any idea what the MPG was on the Malibu? I think that would be a more fair comparison. You don’t get all those doors and trunk space at no cost after all
It sure was pretty too don’t you think? Haha. I’m loyal to German engineering myself but if I went with a US automaker I’d definitely consider a Chevy.
The photos of your salad are super pretty too, btw. So colorful!
I have the honey roasted cinnamon at home but haven’t busted it oopen yet. I hope its good!
Car looks pretty cool, but unsafe breaks..no no.
Mhm, watermelon…you just made me crave it, again. Which means, some watermelon abuse will soon come…
Season finale already?! Didn’t the season just start?
I totally know what you mean about the Broadway channel on XM. I rented a car last month when I visited home for two weeks, and it’s the ONLY station I listened to the entire time… including two ten hour drives.
Wow, that month went by really fast – seems like you just got it!
I did not watch the video – I still haven’t seen this weeks episode!! I have it on DVR and plan to watch it over the weekend!
Aw that car sounds like it would be fun to drive, even for a little bit!! You’re so lucky to have that opportunity!
That peanut butter sounds cool. Sorry it was time to give up the car, but what a great deal to get to try it out for a month!
aahh the glee clip gave e chills!
aw sorry about the car, boo!
That car looks pretty awesome!!!
I actually had watermelon and oatmeal squares for breakfast this morning but I didn’t think about mixing them. I think I’ll give it a try soon.
Man I love Glee! I can’t wait for next week. I’ll just be sad it’s over then though…
I love your different food “creations”. It gives me ideas of different things to try.
Oh bummer!!! But at least you got it a month, right??
I wish there was somewhere I could buy Naturally Nutty around where I live! You’re lucky!
I can’t wait for the Glee finale either!!
You look so cute in that car. Sorry you had to give it back. I love that oatmeal cereal, my boyfriend loves to snack on it.
OUTLET in a car!! So necessary for passenger blogging!!
crazy Malibu question… my bf and i were on vacation 2 weeks ago and had a Malibu as a rental car, and the whole time we tried to figure out what those (+) buttons on the sides of the steering wheel did?! Does it have something to do with the blue tooth? I thought it was cruise control buttons but it didn’t ever seem to do anything? I kept pushing them but never figured it out!
I still think that it is totally amazing that blogging got you to the point of extended test drives in free cars…..Ahh-mazing!! I can’t believe that car has a regular outlet in it…..I would totally have a hair straightener and/or coffee pot plugged in.
-emily
I love satellite radio. I’ve never seen a car with a real electrical outlet! That’s awesome and about time.
Jenn
That salad looks so fantastical, and you lucky face with your test driving abilities + that awesome car! My hubby saw your blog and quickly was like “woah whose car is that?!” I hadn’t read the post yet, so I told him it was yours and you gave it away for some reason. haha. & that watermelon/quaker squares combo sounds like it’d actually work! I will take note
Happy AlmostFriday!
Funny that you mention the brakes..I had a Chevy Malibu a few years ago and the brakes WENT OUT after less than a year–terrifying! And what’s worse is that they refused to fix it. Needless to say that car was traded in immediately and we will never buy a Chevy again.
Grr! Sorry, your brake comment just ignited my anger–I wonder if it’s a common problem for the Malibu? ?