Jul 11, 2023·edited Jul 11, 2023Liked by Valerie Monroe
Thank you for taking another guilt-provoking to-do off my plate. My mother lies upside down on her bed and does facial "yoga" and she swears it works. She looks great, so I take in her admonishment: "it would have been be SO WISE for me to start this in my thirties" ....before coughing in my direction. But if I'm going to hang upside down in bed for 30 minutes, I'd rather do more exciting things. And I dare say they'd make me look pretty freakin' rosy. xx
Isabel, in my experience, more exciting things DO make one more rosy...and there is actual science behind why, as opposed to the rosiness one might obtain from lying upside down on the bed (and how is that accomplished, exactly?). But it's true, your mother does look great, so maybe a combination of...modalities is the key to ultimate rosiness? Thanks, as always, for your intriguing comments. xo
Thank you, Val! I can see how, unless you are a bat in a canopy bed, this would be confusing. For technical clarity, she does her facial yoga by laying mostly on the bed, but dangling her upper body off the side.
Jul 11, 2023·edited Jul 11, 2023Liked by Valerie Monroe
-- “And I’m pretty sure you already know this, but it’s worth mentioning : comparison is the death of happiness. Let’s not do it.” I recently spoke w/ Donna exactly about that. All paths must be unique! And actually, so are the reasons and the devices involved in the treatment of wrinkles. If you are human, you surely will have them. Better be out of living, rather than out of worrying too much about their way into our faces : )
The best way to work your facial muscles is to smile a lot. Even better, to laugh a lot. That leads to lines on the face, but the lines will beautify it, and let people know that you are a happy person.
Now in our 70s, one of my college sorority sisters has become a prolific author in a genre unknown to me before Andrea Ibanez began writing "Cozy Mysteries." They're cozy! No descriptive sex, no gruesomely described crime scenes, just warm chemistry among colleagues trying to solve mysteries! If you are looking for fast, easy, comfortable stories, the Cozy genre could be for you.
AND
Houseguests this weekend included a willowy pre-teen whose friend group is obsessed with skin care. She can name every product on Sephora's shelves. Her skin is glowy and perfect. Her mom is concerned about this obsession. Should she be? Or is this, as teen hobbies go, benign?
Ruth Ann, thank you for the fairies and unicorns suggestions! As for the preteen, the first thing I thought of is that hers is a very expensive hobby, which I guess is pretty benign if she understands the concept of hope in a jar (not benign). I would tell her that there is one magic lotion that will ensure that her glowy and perfect skin will remain beautiful: sunscreen. I understand her mom's concern, because, as you know, the chokehold the beauty industry has on our self esteem starts when we're very young and only tightens as we get older, unless we become aware of it. And a preteen girl—any preteen girl—what a bundle of vulnerabilities! So on the one hand, whatever gets her through the night, and on the other, maybe suggest a more...frutiful hobby? xo
Dr. A once told me her French-speaking patient-clients had the worst upper lip gullies of all thanks to the way the language requires so much puckering for proper pronounciation.
Just got back from an hour long bike ride on a bike rail trail in Cape Cod (here for a week long training) and realizing that the best exercise for my face is to get out (with sunblock of course), smell the fresh air, see nature, and sweat a little. I haven't biked in 30 years and it's really true...you never forget!
Elena, aren't those shakes divine? Actually, I haven't had one in a very long time, but my memory of them is that they were the perfect milkshakes. As for your sad face, I say: Lactaid! xo
I remember being on the elliptical machine in my mid-30s and feeling something move. It wasn't the boobs (those Bs were well secured in a sports bra), but something was keeping rhythm with the movement. It took me a while to figure it out, then, it hit me... It was my effing face! Ever so slightly, but enough to make me resent gravity and my gene pool. So aerobic activity can, indeed, increase blood flow, as well as rude awakenings. xo
No worries, Valerie. It made me laugh, too. I wrote a blog post about it (back before blogs were blogs and you had to FTP). I'm sure it's somewhere trapped in a Blogger login I can no longer recall. xo
Right before I clicked on HNTFUYF this morning, I tried a facial exercise I came across a while ago and after 3 reps couldn’t stop laughing at my contorted image in the mirror. I still think the best facial workout is smiling.
Glad to see you’ve discovered the crime novel genre. It’s been my guilty pleasure for years. Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, the Inspector Maigret series…I could go on.
If you love Laura Lippman (and I will definitely look into her work), you might want to check out the Tana French novels, especially the Dublin Murder Squad series. They go much deeper than crime-solving. Loved “Faithful Place” and have started “The Trespasser.” And look forward to diving into Lippman! TX again for a fab and fun post!
Carol, I'm glad you got a good laugh this morning! And thanks for all the recommendations; it's going to take me the rest of the year to get through all of the Lippman books, but at least I know there's plenty more of the genre! xo
Yes, so much to read! Thanks so much for intro to Lippman!
BTW, Raymond Chandler also wrote a crime novel called “The Lady in the Lake,” published in 1943. Chandler’s tale is about two missing wives, one rich, one poor. Supposed to be one of his best. Haven’t read it yet but will be interesting to read both Lippman’s and Chandler’s versions of “The Lady in the Lake.” xo
I enjoyed Lady in the Lake as well. I lived in West Baltimore for 5 years and my 70-something Black neighbor was the first to tell me the story of the young woman whose body was found on the fountain in Druid Hill reservoir. I was curious to find out more...then came across Laura's fictional account. Hope to meet her sometime and have Royal Farms soft pretzels together (I hold her tweets responsible for this craving.)
Well this is awesome because I have been wondering that very thing. Thanks for clearing it up.
Also, Paige Turner! Bravo to that brilliant author. I think a crime novel might keep me up at night, heart racing and all that. I've found, as I've advanced in years and life seems a tad intense I need a few more fairies & unicorns in my reading - lightness and brain candy. But not too mindless. It's sometimes tough to find.
Donna -- well, Paige Turner is my idea, and thank you very much! I know what you mean about wanting more fairies and unicorns and I do, too, not only in my reading but also in my watching. But there's something about these crime novels—a kind of big-heartedness—that makes them both completely absorbing and not deeply disturbing. I don't know how she does it, but it works. Anyway, for the fairies and unicorns, Ruth Reichl's Save Me the Plums fits the bill. xo
One note on facial muscle exercising - I am a very facially expressive person - or so I am told - I don’t do it intentionally - but my dermatologist thinks it has kept me from sagging face for my age.
On another note my mother used to look up to the sky and say with great exaggeration “Kiss Steve McQueen”. The movement was supposed to help keep the neck toned. She was wrong - it does the exact opposite. Strong neck muscles can result in stringy neck and then loose wrinkly neck skin as we age.
On yet another note: smiling is a great exercise - and I have never met anyone who’s looks don’t improve from it. :)
Thanks, Christine! BTW, I bought and tried the SaltyFace self-tanner you recommended (with your discount) and am so far very impressed with the color: I've never seen a self-tanner look so natural. Thanks for the suggestion! xo
Thrilled to hear this!! Having just read a fun piece (from the skin cancer foundation; link below) about our drive to tan, I am grateful we've come so far with products like Saltyface.
Jul 11, 2023·edited Jul 11, 2023Liked by Valerie Monroe
Oh my, I love a good mystery/crime book. I used to read only non-fiction improve yourself books but realized how my brain needs a rest from all that. Started reading this genre about 4 years ago when I discovered that my city had a fanatstic public library. Since I have a long work commute, I've been listening to these books and right now I'm listening to Kate Morton's The ClockMaker's Daughter, which is read by Joanne Froggatt of Downton Abbey (!) Love hearing her voice!
After reading an article in the NY Times several years ago, I subscribed to Happy Face Yoga. I religiously exercised my face for 20 - 30 minutes a day. It worked so well, my face is on the Happy Face Yoga website. I spoke with Gary who invented the program and he's an awesome person. Seems totally legit. I also practiced Carol Maggie's Facercise program. The exercises helped fix an undereye filler botch job that no plastic surgeon wanted to touch -- it tightened up the eye area and raised my cheeks. That's my experience.
Leah, thank you for sharing your story here; there are always exceptions to the rule (and sometimes the rule is the exception). Obviously, it's always wise to keep an open mind! xo
i do love reading and back in the day Ross McDonald's Lew Archer detective stories ruined the genre for me as they were so good....Paul Neumann must have thought so too ha!
Thank you for taking another guilt-provoking to-do off my plate. My mother lies upside down on her bed and does facial "yoga" and she swears it works. She looks great, so I take in her admonishment: "it would have been be SO WISE for me to start this in my thirties" ....before coughing in my direction. But if I'm going to hang upside down in bed for 30 minutes, I'd rather do more exciting things. And I dare say they'd make me look pretty freakin' rosy. xx
Isabel, in my experience, more exciting things DO make one more rosy...and there is actual science behind why, as opposed to the rosiness one might obtain from lying upside down on the bed (and how is that accomplished, exactly?). But it's true, your mother does look great, so maybe a combination of...modalities is the key to ultimate rosiness? Thanks, as always, for your intriguing comments. xo
Thank you, Val! I can see how, unless you are a bat in a canopy bed, this would be confusing. For technical clarity, she does her facial yoga by laying mostly on the bed, but dangling her upper body off the side.
I suspected that, and clearly she is not on a futon. xo
ISABEL, I adore you!
Caroline, that makes two of us! xo
-- I am partial to opine here . . . Must go find a Yoga class : )
-- “And I’m pretty sure you already know this, but it’s worth mentioning : comparison is the death of happiness. Let’s not do it.” I recently spoke w/ Donna exactly about that. All paths must be unique! And actually, so are the reasons and the devices involved in the treatment of wrinkles. If you are human, you surely will have them. Better be out of living, rather than out of worrying too much about their way into our faces : )
Great idea—living, not worrying—dear Lara! xo
The best way to work your facial muscles is to smile a lot. Even better, to laugh a lot. That leads to lines on the face, but the lines will beautify it, and let people know that you are a happy person.
True, Tony! xo
Now in our 70s, one of my college sorority sisters has become a prolific author in a genre unknown to me before Andrea Ibanez began writing "Cozy Mysteries." They're cozy! No descriptive sex, no gruesomely described crime scenes, just warm chemistry among colleagues trying to solve mysteries! If you are looking for fast, easy, comfortable stories, the Cozy genre could be for you.
AND
Houseguests this weekend included a willowy pre-teen whose friend group is obsessed with skin care. She can name every product on Sephora's shelves. Her skin is glowy and perfect. Her mom is concerned about this obsession. Should she be? Or is this, as teen hobbies go, benign?
Ruth Ann, thank you for the fairies and unicorns suggestions! As for the preteen, the first thing I thought of is that hers is a very expensive hobby, which I guess is pretty benign if she understands the concept of hope in a jar (not benign). I would tell her that there is one magic lotion that will ensure that her glowy and perfect skin will remain beautiful: sunscreen. I understand her mom's concern, because, as you know, the chokehold the beauty industry has on our self esteem starts when we're very young and only tightens as we get older, unless we become aware of it. And a preteen girl—any preteen girl—what a bundle of vulnerabilities! So on the one hand, whatever gets her through the night, and on the other, maybe suggest a more...frutiful hobby? xo
This sounds awesome, thanks Ruth Ann!
Dr. A once told me her French-speaking patient-clients had the worst upper lip gullies of all thanks to the way the language requires so much puckering for proper pronounciation.
W -- and Dr. A, she would know. Probably also from...smoking? xo
Oui.
How's the noggin? xo
Thanks for asking. I don't have a concussion, btw. The whack is on the forehead and just feels like a crummy bruise.🤕
godspeed for the healing xoxoxo
Thanks, Val. Ox
Just got back from an hour long bike ride on a bike rail trail in Cape Cod (here for a week long training) and realizing that the best exercise for my face is to get out (with sunblock of course), smell the fresh air, see nature, and sweat a little. I haven't biked in 30 years and it's really true...you never forget!
BTW, I grew up with Friendly's Fribble but then was introduced to Rhode Island's Awful Awful a few years back (https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/rhode-islands-awful-awful-love-affair-history/). It's just too bad that have become increasingly lactose intolerant so indulging in a milkshake is rare (sad face).
Elena, aren't those shakes divine? Actually, I haven't had one in a very long time, but my memory of them is that they were the perfect milkshakes. As for your sad face, I say: Lactaid! xo
I remember being on the elliptical machine in my mid-30s and feeling something move. It wasn't the boobs (those Bs were well secured in a sports bra), but something was keeping rhythm with the movement. It took me a while to figure it out, then, it hit me... It was my effing face! Ever so slightly, but enough to make me resent gravity and my gene pool. So aerobic activity can, indeed, increase blood flow, as well as rude awakenings. xo
Sandra Ann, I'm sorry, but this made me laugh. I know that feeling. Thanks (kind of) for reminding me. xo
No worries, Valerie. It made me laugh, too. I wrote a blog post about it (back before blogs were blogs and you had to FTP). I'm sure it's somewhere trapped in a Blogger login I can no longer recall. xo
Right before I clicked on HNTFUYF this morning, I tried a facial exercise I came across a while ago and after 3 reps couldn’t stop laughing at my contorted image in the mirror. I still think the best facial workout is smiling.
Glad to see you’ve discovered the crime novel genre. It’s been my guilty pleasure for years. Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, the Inspector Maigret series…I could go on.
If you love Laura Lippman (and I will definitely look into her work), you might want to check out the Tana French novels, especially the Dublin Murder Squad series. They go much deeper than crime-solving. Loved “Faithful Place” and have started “The Trespasser.” And look forward to diving into Lippman! TX again for a fab and fun post!
Carol, I'm glad you got a good laugh this morning! And thanks for all the recommendations; it's going to take me the rest of the year to get through all of the Lippman books, but at least I know there's plenty more of the genre! xo
Yes, so much to read! Thanks so much for intro to Lippman!
BTW, Raymond Chandler also wrote a crime novel called “The Lady in the Lake,” published in 1943. Chandler’s tale is about two missing wives, one rich, one poor. Supposed to be one of his best. Haven’t read it yet but will be interesting to read both Lippman’s and Chandler’s versions of “The Lady in the Lake.” xo
I enjoyed Lady in the Lake as well. I lived in West Baltimore for 5 years and my 70-something Black neighbor was the first to tell me the story of the young woman whose body was found on the fountain in Druid Hill reservoir. I was curious to find out more...then came across Laura's fictional account. Hope to meet her sometime and have Royal Farms soft pretzels together (I hold her tweets responsible for this craving.)
Corinne --I hope you get to meet her, too! (And even share a pretzel.) xo
Well this is awesome because I have been wondering that very thing. Thanks for clearing it up.
Also, Paige Turner! Bravo to that brilliant author. I think a crime novel might keep me up at night, heart racing and all that. I've found, as I've advanced in years and life seems a tad intense I need a few more fairies & unicorns in my reading - lightness and brain candy. But not too mindless. It's sometimes tough to find.
Donna -- well, Paige Turner is my idea, and thank you very much! I know what you mean about wanting more fairies and unicorns and I do, too, not only in my reading but also in my watching. But there's something about these crime novels—a kind of big-heartedness—that makes them both completely absorbing and not deeply disturbing. I don't know how she does it, but it works. Anyway, for the fairies and unicorns, Ruth Reichl's Save Me the Plums fits the bill. xo
Maybe there is fiction in your future! I am going to try the author you suggested as I’d love to find a new series.
One note on facial muscle exercising - I am a very facially expressive person - or so I am told - I don’t do it intentionally - but my dermatologist thinks it has kept me from sagging face for my age.
On another note my mother used to look up to the sky and say with great exaggeration “Kiss Steve McQueen”. The movement was supposed to help keep the neck toned. She was wrong - it does the exact opposite. Strong neck muscles can result in stringy neck and then loose wrinkly neck skin as we age.
On yet another note: smiling is a great exercise - and I have never met anyone who’s looks don’t improve from it. :)
MP- I am so in agreement with your smile comment! xo
Your uncanny ability to dispel beauty myths with a smile is my favorite part of HNTFUYF!!
Thanks, Christine! BTW, I bought and tried the SaltyFace self-tanner you recommended (with your discount) and am so far very impressed with the color: I've never seen a self-tanner look so natural. Thanks for the suggestion! xo
Thrilled to hear this!! Having just read a fun piece (from the skin cancer foundation; link below) about our drive to tan, I am grateful we've come so far with products like Saltyface.
https://www.skincancer.org/blog/why-do-we-still-tan/
Agreed!
Oh my, I love a good mystery/crime book. I used to read only non-fiction improve yourself books but realized how my brain needs a rest from all that. Started reading this genre about 4 years ago when I discovered that my city had a fanatstic public library. Since I have a long work commute, I've been listening to these books and right now I'm listening to Kate Morton's The ClockMaker's Daughter, which is read by Joanne Froggatt of Downton Abbey (!) Love hearing her voice!
Elena, thanks for the fantastic suggestion! xo
After reading an article in the NY Times several years ago, I subscribed to Happy Face Yoga. I religiously exercised my face for 20 - 30 minutes a day. It worked so well, my face is on the Happy Face Yoga website. I spoke with Gary who invented the program and he's an awesome person. Seems totally legit. I also practiced Carol Maggie's Facercise program. The exercises helped fix an undereye filler botch job that no plastic surgeon wanted to touch -- it tightened up the eye area and raised my cheeks. That's my experience.
Leah, thank you for sharing your story here; there are always exceptions to the rule (and sometimes the rule is the exception). Obviously, it's always wise to keep an open mind! xo
i do love reading and back in the day Ross McDonald's Lew Archer detective stories ruined the genre for me as they were so good....Paul Neumann must have thought so too ha!
"In fact, Matarasso believes some repetitive movements may encourage wrinkle formation."
I've always believed that. Just seems logical to me.
Lisa, right??? xo