My Week in a Buick

Confession: In the craziness of end of the year travel and pregnancy and the holidays, I have a post that I just discovered in my drafts... I forgot all about it and should have shared it with you months ago! And that's a shame because it's a fun one. Let's talk about my week in a Buick!

Late last fall, Buick offered me a one week lease on one of their 2016 Buick Regals. Alex and I hadn't owned a car for years, so the opportunity to have one at our disposal for a full week was an exciting prospect! While we didn't have any super exciting plans for the Buick, it was so nice to finally be able do all of those things that we usually have to put off and cram into one day when we have paid for a rental car. So, with our previously unused parking space occupied for the week I got my To Do List ready and we took the Regal out on the town.

Now, let's talk a little bit about the Buick Regal... I won't pretend to be a car expert here, but this is not your grandma's Buick. And after spending a week in this car, I totally appreciate the "That's not a Buick" ad campaign beyond the fact that the commercials make me chuckle. We were pleasantly surprised by everything about this car: it's sleek appearance, high quality interiors, and all the bells and whistles that came along with it. It truly feels like you're riding in a luxury car. And one week was not nearly long enough to master or appreciate them all!

First off, the Regal is a perfectly sized vehicle for city life: It's a mid-sized sedan, so it's relatively easy to park but has a spacious interior and trunk for carting around friends, family, and anything else you're carting around. We used the car to make a long overdue trip to the local charity to donate basically a walk-in closet's worth of unused items (including an artificial Christmas tree!) that we'd been storing up for a time when we had access to a spacious automobile. And since we were about to start working on our baby nursery, the timing for this Regal to land in our parking space could not have been better!

The Buick Regal is a smooth ride and offers all wheel drive-- perfect for Chicago winters-- and improved impact isolation on bumpy roads-- perfect for navigating Chicago's potholes! Some of our other favorite features of the Regal included its intuitive navigation system, E-Z Key passive entry system, keyless push-button starting, and of course, I'm a sucker for heated front seats. Did I also mention that the car is also a wi-fi hotspot? Pretty cool!

While I was hoping we'd be able to take the car on some amazing adventure like a spontaneous dinner in Milwaukee or a quiet weekend getaway in Michigan, real life took over and it turned out we had a lot to get done in that week we were driving the Regal! It was a perfect companion for all of our everyday errands... I forgot how much easier it was to grocery shop with a car. Oh, and Target runs. I mean, need I say more?

We also took the Regal out in search of good eats! Honey Butter Fried Chicken in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood isn't super public transportation-friendly, so we took the opportunity to drive there and enjoyed an amazing lunch.

I'll have to come back another time and tell you about how much I love the food at HBFC, but for now let me leave you with a photo of this delicious fried chicken sandwich (plus fried egg since they were still serving their brunch menu when we were there) and their creamy mac and cheese. It's my top recommendation on their side dish menu!

We also drove downtown for a breakfast date at our favorite spot in the city for breakfast and brunch: Meli Cafe. Alex won the award for Best Ordering Decision Ever when this cookie butter-stuffed French Toast (topped with powdered sugar and bananas) arrived at our table. I had major order envy on this one and stole more than a few bites off his plate.

Thanks so much to Buick for giving us wheels for a week! And for those of you that are in the market for a new ride, take the Regal out for a test drive and prepare to be pleasantly surprised!

Editor's Note: I received a complimentary one week lease in order to facilitate this post. The opinions expressed herein, as always, are my own.