I’ll never forget when my dad took me to the dealership to pick out my very first car.
My dad has always like Lexus cars. We had a few when I was younger and then our first SUV was a Lexus. So it was no surprise that I was eyeing a Lexus for my first car.
No, I don’t think a 16-soon-to-be-17 year old needs a Lexus. But man, when my dad took me to that dealership, I was so ecstatic. I mean, any 16 year old should be. At the time, I probably thought I was the coolest because my dad was buying me a Lexus, but in reality, it was so much more than that.
I’ll never forget the feeling of driving home in my Lexus IS 250 in Pearl White with grey interior. I was gripping the steering wheel too hard, afraid of any pothole, and sweating because my dad was watching my every move (I wasn’t allowed to drive by myself yet, I still needed my dad in the car with me…but he let me drive home!)
On July 24, 2009 at 11:58PM, I got in my car and slowly began rolling out of my driveway. Once the clock hit midnight (my 17th birthday), I was officially on the road. I remember waving to my mom from the window, as I left to go pick up my friends from a house party. Yep, I stayed home on a weekend JUST so I could drive my new car and pick up my friends.
From that point on, my Lexus was my baby. That car has gotten me to a million places: to school, to track practice, to Philly, to Washington DC, to the city, to the beach, and from days to late nights. My friends and I would drive around for hours. We would JAM out to country music every day. We would turn on the air conditioned seats after every track practice in 90 degree weather, and heated seats after 10 mile runs in 30 degree weather. I’ve always loved driving, always loved the freedom and responsibility that came with it, and loved driving in my first car.
My lease was up during my second year of college, and my dad decided to not lease a new car for me…instead he got a new one for himself;) I couldn’t have a car on campus until junior year, and honestly I didn’t need one. So an additional car wasn’t worth it. I was definitely REALLY upset. Not just because I didn’t have my car anymore, but because all of those memories were gone. (Dramatic, but true.)
When I was heading to Seattle with Allie, we knew we’d need a car to get us around (the tulip festival was about an hour north). I reached out to my friends at Lexus to see if they would let us borrow a car for the trip, and we were surprised with this Lexus RC-F Sport at the airport! I felt so much nostalgia getting into that car, it was pretty similar to my first car…but way cooler. I definitely felt like a badass driving around in this red coupe!
A huge thanks to Lexus for letting us drive around in style all weekend!
