What I got for Valentine’s Day

For many years I drove around with a gold chain license plate frame. It was an ironic hipster purchase made in my mid-twenties which later became a convenient way for my husband and me to recognize our car, a common make and color combo, in a crowded parking lot. Friends who met me as a mid-thirties mother would confess that upon seeing it for the first time, they’d ask themselves, “What’s up with the license plate bling?”

Last month I bought a new (used) car and sold my old one, along with the often mocked gold chain frame. The end of an era. Ryan and I bought that car together although we were not actually engaged. It was our first legal commitment.

On Valentine’s Day, he presented me with a surprise. Yes, there’s a little irony in the concept, but also complete sincerity in his support of what I’m doing in this space. Here’s how I roll now.

As an aside, having my license plate saved as a photo on my phone is a brilliant life hack. Now I can look it up whenever I need it.

P.S. For those of you worried about my security, I have transposed numbers in this photo so that this is not my actual plate number. I have no idea what the threat might be, given that anyone who walks by my house has access to these digits, but I see them blurred on reality shows, so I figured I better not share my secret license plate numbers on the Internet.