*Product Plug* - Neutrogena Try to Look Young Creams

A new feature of The Living Storybook blog will be the occasional *Product Plug.*  Any time I find an item that I simply love and adore, I will plug it on here. Why not share great finds with others?  My first product plug is for a line of Neutrogena products that I have recently been using.  The line is called Ageless Intensives.  I have been using two creams from this:  Lifting Night Treatment and Firming Moisture SPF 20.  I have been using these for almost a month now and I couldn't be happier.  They make my once tired looking skin look brighter, tighter, and clearer.  I highly recommend them.  They cost around $18 a piece, but are worth the money.  You can buy them at your local grocery store or drug store.  I've tried Oil of Olay products, but I like the Neutrogena products much better.  Here's to happy skin!

Toin Coss

Do you ever wonder about slips of the tongue?  I do.  I always think it is so strange how we know what we want to say but something else comes out.  My favorite verbal mistakes have to be when you mean to say two words and transpose their beginning sounds.  The best example of this for me is the phrase "toin coss."  My dear hubby and I watch football together on a regular basis.  We are going on 9 years of this now since we were even avid football watchers while dating.  On several occasions, with or without drinking alcoholic beverages, my hubby has referred to the coin toss as "toin coss."  I always think about what exactly is going on in his brain when this happens.  Are synapses misfiring?  Was the message lost somewhere along the nerve super highway?  I've busted on him numerous times for his beloved "toin coss."  This year, at my father's big annual Super Bowl shindig, the magical phrase reared its ugly head.  Only it wasn't my husband who yelled it out loudly in front of the entire crew of party-goers.  No, it was me.  No one said anything, despite the fact that I repeated it like five times in a span of five minutes.  Can you imagine...  "When did they do the toin coss?  I'll bet you money on the toin coss.  Who won the toin coss?  Is the toin coss important?"  No one said anything, that is, except my hubby.  He made a point to highlight my mixed-up error.  And as we cracked up laughing about this now common terminology adopted as everyday semantics in our home, everyone else just assumed we had one too many Coronas.  I actually think it sounds better as toin coss anyway.  Don't you?

Bug Dramatics

One time when I was younger, my parents and I went to Ocean City, NJ for just the day.  We had a wonderful time walking the boardwalk, hitting the special little shops along the shoreline.  On our way down the ramp, after a day of eating tasty food and finding great sales, an unexpected event happened.  My mom had been talking to my dad and I about something and mid-story a giant bug of some kind flew into her mouth right down her throat.  My dad and I didn't know what had happened.  She immediately stopped her story, began gagging, and managed to get out:  "I swallowed a bug!  I swallowed a bug!  Go get me some salt water taffy or something.  I'm gagging!  I'm gagging!  I'm going to be sick!"  At this point, the entire state of New Jersey knew what was happening since my mom is not a quiet person by nature.  Everyone was glaring at us. My poor father and I go running up the ramp, find the nearest candy store, barge through the doors, and bark at the lady behind the counter that we need some candy and we need it fast.  Once my mom had something to clear the remains of the uninvited insect guest from both her throat and her mind, all was well.  Although she insisted that it had been a huge moth or beetle of some kind, it probably was only a gnat or, worst case scenario, a fly.  We trudged back to our car with yet another fond memory and with the knowledge that when telling a story at the shore, beware of flying critters.  Otherwise, it might be Shriver's Salt Water Taffy to the rescue.

Nature Walk...The Living Storybook Type

You think nature walk and what comes to mind?  Lush trees, blooming leaves, swaying grass, enriched soil, exotic birds, unusual insects, etc.  This is what is typically encountered on a nature walk.  But, if you've learned anything about my life so far, you know that nothing is ever typical.  No, not even my nature walks.  What did we find on our nature walk?  Oh, you know, the scattered skeletal remains of some kind of wild animal.  Perfect.  Just perfect.  I love nature.

Snorkeling Does Not Equal Scuba Diving

When dating, the first time you meet your boyfriend or girlfriend's parents is typically when you want to make a good impression.  You wear your best suit or a nice dress and hope you don't stumble over your words.  The first time I met my husband's parents was an experience I will, and they will, never forget.  They were living in Hawaii at the time and I was very fortunate enough to be able to go out there to spend time with them.  We hit it off right away at the airport.  It was fairly early when we arrived so we planned on heading right to a beach.  I had never seen or been in the Pacific Ocean before so I was so excited.  I had heard stories about the clear, blue water and the abundance of sea life just waiting to be observed and photographed with underwater cameras.  We packed up the cars with all the beach gear, including snorkel equipment, and headed to Hapuna Beach.  I will never forget the view as I stood on the sandy shore looking out at the ocean.  It was heaven on earth and I thought to myself... is this even real?  My husband, future mother-in-law, and I went out into the lukewarm water together.  I had brought out a snorkel and goggles to put on and use for exploring the world below the waves.  In true Jacques Cousteau style, I spit in my goggles, positioned my snorkel perfectly over my nose and mouth, and dove right in.  Yes, I dove right in.  No, I didn't have scuba gear on.  I had snorkel gear on.  A snorkel is not meant to be flooded with water nor is the snorkeler meant to submerge themselves completely in the water.  Well, I immediately nearly drowned, re-surfaced shooting salty sea water out of my snorkel tube, and coughed until I was red in the face.  Or perhaps, I was red in the face with sheer embarrassment.  Hard to say.  Luckily, my future mother-in-law has a great sense of humor and thought that it was the funniest thing ever.  In fact, we still crack up about it to this day.  Let this be a lesson to all...snorkel and scuba are two very different things.

Note In My File At the Vet Office

So, every time I take my 5 and a half pound Yorkshire Terrier to the vet, I get a weird vibe from the staff.  It all started when I brought her over there a few months ago because she was walking funny on her rear left leg.  We were getting ready to leave on a trip to Phoenix the next day so I wanted to make sure she was okay before we departed.  We go over, head back into an exam room, and meet with a nurse.  The doctor comes in and checks her vitals.  We talk about any issues we've noticed and they check out her leg.  My dear hubby came with me out of the goodness of his heart.  Well, thank goodness he did because I ended up nearly passing out.  It began when the doctor started discussing how Chewie's back knee might just dislocate and she proceeded to explain how the bones work together.  I don't know if it was this graphic explanation or my own anxiety about flying in a plane the next day or the fact that I hadn't eaten dinner yet. Whatever it was, I felt all the color leave my face, and had to sit down.  I told my husband I had to go outside because I thought I was going to be sick.  I flew out of the exam room, ran past the front desk, and out the door.  I proceeded to head over into the landscaping (don't ask me why) and dry heave into the foliage.  I didn't want to be right next to do the door in case other patrons were coming and going.  After taking a few deep breaths, I felt a little better.  I went back in to pay the bill only to be overcome by nausea yet again.  At this point, my husband officially thought I was crazy.  I headed back to my spot amongst the mulch and ornamental grasses and gagged for ten minutes.  My husband joined me in my vomit oasis replying with a simple, "Are you okay?  I paid the bill.  Here's your purse."  I turned and smiled and thought to myself:  Wow.  That bag really looks nice with your shoes.  The green in it brings out the color in your eyes.

We've been back to the vet several times since that incident.  Every time I go now, they take Chewie out of the room into the back and do all of the procedures out of my sight.  I think they have a note in my file reading:  Overly Concerned and Easily Upset Dog Owner.  Beware of queasiness and damage to outdoor plants.

Our Christmas Tree Story 2009

In the spirit of this warmer weather, I thought I'd write a story about our past Christmas and our adventure buying a Christmas tree.  I have always wanted to chop down our own tree Clark W. Griswold style.  We ventured out into the country in my father-in-law's pickup truck.  This was no simple trip.  We decided to bring our little Yorkie Chewie along since it was her first Christmas with us.  Well, Chewie gets motion sickness pretty easily in the car and my hubby was still a little rough-around-the-edges when it came to driving a manual transmission.  To make matters even worse, we were completely lost in the middle of nowhere going up and down dark, curved country roads.  Chewie started throwing up everywhere, all over my lap.  We had no tissues or paper towels, so we pull over onto a farm driveway and I have to take off some of my layers of clothing to act as a blanket to catch all the regurgitated dog food.  We finally find the Cut It Yourself Tree Farm and, of course, it is closed.  I had the pamphlet in my hand the whole time and I had been looking at another location's hours.  Defeated, we head back home, drop off our now sick-as-a-dog dog, and decide to head over to the other tree place.  We finally find it, after having driven down several wrong roads and all the way up to someone's house thinking we were on a road when we were actually on a driveway and, lo and behold, it is closed as well.  This time I had been looking at the third location's hours.  (Yes, I am serious.)  My dear husband was so fed up, he was tempted to just leave money in the shed door and chop a tree down right then and there in the middle of the night by himself.  I didn't want to get arrested for trespassing, so we didn't go that route.  What did we do?  We went to a hardware store the next day in pouring rain to get one from a pretty shabby looking lot.  Maybe next year will be the year we chop down our own tree...

Black Velcro Sneakers

Most people try to follow the latest fashion trends and appear like they are part of the hip crowd.  Others, like my husband, prefer to set the pace for fashion and be innovative.  Yesterday, my hubby played some basketball with a few work friends after the work day.  Needless to say, he was not dressed for the occasion.  So, he headed over to the nearest Kmart and picked up some "Protege" brand mesh shorts and an even more impressive pair of black (yes, black) velcro sneakers.  To further enhance his fashionable attire, he kept all of the price and brand tags on throughout the game.  When I asked why he left all the tags on, he simply replied, "That's style, and who knows, I may want to return them."  I live with the next editor of Vogue magazine.  Look for black velcro sneakers to hit runways near you!

Polish Easter Traditions

I talked to my mom on the phone today and she reminded me of a great story.  This story is actually one from the glorious year of 1994.  My loving Dziadzi (grandfather in Polish) was chosen to be on Good Day Philadelphia to showcase how he celebrated Easter with Polish traditions.  We were all so excited to be a part of this 5 minute segment.  My mom, dad, two aunts, uncle, cousins, grandmother and I all stood around the decorated table set with Polish food and we looked like idiots.  Not one of us said a word we just stood there and smiled.  My Dziadzi was so honored and proud to be sharing his table and traditions with the world that he had his speaking parts written down on index cards.  His serious, stoic voice served as narrator as the camera panned over each item.  "The salt and pepper represent...Here we have the butter in the shape of a lamb....You will see we have two kinds of kielbasa:  smoked and fresh..." My grandmother continuously nodded her head throughout the production as if to say, "Yes, that's right.  He knows his stuff."  Meanwhile, the rest of us were just grinning away motionless in the background after being advised by the television crew to not cause a distraction.  Standing with our arms at our sides, afraid to move or make a sound, smiling away is how we spent our 5 minutes of fame.  Talk about feeding into the Polish stereotype...