Motor City USA

I may be a lifestyle blogger by night, but by trade, I work in the marketing and public relations field for the automotive industry. It's certainly interesting working in such a masculine environment saturated with incredibly creative and driven folks who were born and bred into generations of families who worked solely for automotive manufacturers or successful dealerships. Having not been raised around this world, I had a lot of catching up to do when I was hired into this role five years ago. After the economic recession in 2008, the success of such a booming industry came crumbling down and it was heartbreaking to watch Detroit, automotive manufacturers and the many, many dealerships across the country struggle to stay afloat. This tight-knit community is incredibly inspiring though, and after five years of rebuilding and growth, I'd say Motor City USA had one of it's most inspiring and successful launches to kick off 2013...and in Detroit no less, the capital of the automotive industry! I was thrilled to be a part of it. Here are some highlights from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit:

A view of Detroit - aka Motor City - from across the river in Windsor, Canada

Popstar Karmin performing at the 2013 World Premiere of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-class.

President & CEO of Chrysler, Ralph Gilles, presenting the new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Corvette released the new 2014 Stingray model of its popular muscle car!

Harlan Charles, Chevrolet Corvette Product Marketing Manager, with his next-generation model 

I had to try it out for myself!

I almost took this bad-boy home...

But I might have to settle on this gorgeous Range Rover Evoque instead! I might trade in my Volvo XC60 for this beauty!

My team ended our Auto Show tour at the Cars.com reception held at Detroit's historic Fillmore Theatre honoring the best cars of 2013! Fun and Counting Crows performed live at the event.