Vitamin E Oil, Silver Spring Store, and Skin Cancer

Ok, this review is may be a bit all over the place, because I have not one but THREE topics to cover:

-          Vitamin E Oil

-          A new (to me) Trader Joe’s that I visited today in Silver Spring, Maryland

-          And a medical issue I have been dealing with for the last couple of months but haven’t mentioned here, skin cancer

Which topic shall I start with??  Maybe the biggest – the skin cancer.  Let’s discuss that quickly and get it out of the way!!

Yeah.  So.  I had basal cell carcinoma.  The GOOD parts about this kind of skin cancer are:  it is the most common form of skin cancer and super treatable if caught early.  The BAD parts about it in my case were:  it wasn’t caught early (yes, I knew I had it and delayed going to the doctor) AND it was in a hard to cut out place – the top/side corner of my nose – RIGHT BY MY EYE…  And the fact that it was THERE is why I had put off going to the doctor.  It was a spooky location to imagine someone coming at with a knife!!!

I won't show the grossest photo here, but let's peek at a shot just 24 hours after closing surgery shall we??

 But come at it with a knife they did.  I had the cancer cut out with a surgery known as MOHS earlier this month.  It ended up being a bigger “hole in my face” than they had expected, but I actually went home with said hole covered with a bandage and waited until day 2 of surgery – the CLOSE.  The MOHS doctor did not want to CLOSE, due to the close proximity to my eye…  So, she referred me to an ocular plastic surgeon to close, which turned out to be just the right thing to do since it was a tricky hole to sew up!!

Look!  96 hours after they sewed the hole up...

And here is right after they took the stitches out!

So, the long and the short of it is:  I had basal cell carcinoma on my face, one doctor cut that sucker out, and another doctor sewed me up!!  It has been 18 days since MOHS now and I am looking pretty good (if I do say so myself!).  and it is now the VITAMIN E STAGE!  This means that I am to put Vitamin E oil on the scar, with the intention of making the scar less visible.  I am supposed to apply it twice daily until I go back to the surgeon in four weeks. 

Still the same price it was when I reviewed it 2 years ago - only $3.99

And where did I get the Vitamin E Oil??  Why, at TRADER JOE’S of course!!!  I had a tiny bit at home, but bought a new bottle today.  So that leads to part 2 of this piece – VITAMIN E OIL!  It is great for your skin.  It can be found in most drug stores.  And it is expensive.  That is, unless you but it at TJ’s!  I wrote a review of it way back on day 77 of this blog (in 2015), and I still stand by it today.  Here you go:  Vitamin E Oil Review link

Now part 3 – A NEW (to me) TRADER JOE’S!!

Believe it or not there are still Trader Joe’s stores in my vicinity that I have not ever visited!  CRAZY, eh??  Last night I passed one in Silver Spring, Maryland but did not have time to stop and check it out.  So you know where I was today!  Yup, right back at that Trader Joe’s to see how it fared compared to the 27 other Trader Joe’s locations I have visited!

The way the parking lot is set up makes it hard to get a good photo of the outside of this store.

First and foremost – the parking is NOT GOOD!!!  Oh man, parking at this store is sooooo hard!  Granted, it was a Saturday morning when I was there, which is a busy time.  But still!!  NOT enough parking spots.  I even witnessed a PARKING SPOT FIGHT!!  It never got to actually throwing blows, but it was a yelling fight!  Here is what happened:  when I got there I couldn’t find a spot to park in the front, so I followed the “more parking” signs around to the back and eventually found a tight spot.  I did my shopping, and on the way back to my car I heard a honk.  I looked up to see what had happened:  a guy in an Acura mini-van/SUV sort of thing had been waiting in his vehicle for someone to pull out of a spot.  As the person was pulling out, a guy driving a Lexus stepped on the gas and whipped into it from the other direction!!!  Oh, the Acura man was not happy….  He rolled down his window and yelled, “I WAS WAITING FOR THAT SPOT!!!  I WAS HERE FIRST!” to which Mr. Lexus replied, “No you weren’t…”.  Well that is a 3^rd grade response if I have ever heard one!!!  Mr. Acura would have none of it!!  “YES I WAS!!!!  I WAS WAITING!”.  And you can guess Mr. Grown-Up Lexus’ reply, “Nuh-uh….”.  Repeat, repeat…  Mr. Acura asked Mr. Lexus to leave the spot, and of course Mr. Lexus would not.  Mr. Acura ended up screaming something like, “You and your Lexus are jerks!!!”.  I stood around with my cart as the Lexus boys exited their car and sauntered into the store and the Acura guy found another spot.  I wondered if there might be a little “car scratching with a key” as he passed the offending vehicle, but he just kept walking.  Heaven knows what happened if they ran into each other in the produce aisle of the store!!!

While the parking is sparse, the cars parked there seem cool.  There were lots of hybrids, and some fun “hippy” bumper stickers, like this one (which I left a sticky note on):

Cool sticker!

And this was on another car was good, too!

The store itself is nice.  It is clean, has good lighting, and is well stocked.  The artwork is really good!  One thing they do NOT have is any alcohol.  I always feel sorry for grocery stores in Maryland because their regulations do not allow them to have even beer or wine.  What a rip off.  This TJ’s location still carries the smaller, double decker carts, which I really like to use.  But it is odd that some stores have them and others do not, because when I asked once why our usual store got rid of them, it was because many employees were getting BACK INJURIES because of bending down to take stuff out of the lower section!  That makes sense to me.  What doesn’t make sense is why some stores still have them?  Anyway, employees of the Silver Spring store were friendly.  One guy working a register was super happy and was saying loudly how he had his “swag” today 😊.  Way to bring your swag to work, friend!!

Artwork is fun

New Items sign with a stork.  Get it???  A stork!

This was my favorite artwork in the store.  The Silver Spring piece has the Maryland flag on it.  Cool!

I ended up having to go BACK to the store after I had left and park again because I got a text from David asking me to grab bananas, milk, and blueberries.  This time I had to drive all the way around the building, then still wait for a spot for a few minutes.  Ugh. 

There you have it! 

And remember friends – if you see something odd/funky/weird on your skin, go get it checked out!  Better to catch it early.  And if you need Vitamin E oil, Trader Joe’s sells it.  And if you are not an aggressive parker, don't go tot he Silver Spring, Maryland store during a busy time.  Just don't.

My scar as of yesterday (before I started the Vitamin E oil treatment!).  It is getting better!

Vitamin E oil:

Price:  still $3.99 2 years after the original review

Rating:  still 4.25

Blueberry Poppyseed Cookies AND Annapolis, Maryland store

GUYS!  I went to a NEW (to me) TRADER JOE’S!  I got to check out the store on Jennifer Road in Annapolis, Maryland.  What a nice store!  It is very clean, really well lit, large, well stocked, and has friendly employees!  Oh, and the signage is cool, too!  Their new product section also had something neat:  a poster of photos of refrigerated new products!  Normally the refrigerated new stuff just gets thrown into whatever department it fits in, and so it is harder to know what is NEW.  I love that this location puts photos up of the new cold/frozen stuff so you know what to hunt for if you want something you haven’t had before.  Oh, and before I forget to mention it – the parking for the Jennifer Road TJ’s is plentiful and easy (and free).  Yes siree, this store is a winner.

Neat artwork in the Annapolis store

One thing that was a bit different about this particular TJ’s location is that they had a “satellite demo” station!  As I have mentioned in several reviews, Trader Joe’s tasting stations have frequently sealed the deal for David and I and convinced us to pick up a new product.  Well, this Annapolis store has a traditional TJ’s demo/tasting station on one side, and a portable one on the other side!  That means they have not one but TWO opportunities to WOW customers with their products and personalities!!  I think that is super clever and wise.  (I say that even though, today, the satellite station was serving something that in THEORY sounds like it could be a winner, but in reality fell flat – APPLE PIE CHEDDAR CHEESE…  Yes, cheddar cheese that tasted like apple pie…  I can appreciate a slice of warm apple pie topped with cheddar, so this could have been a winner, but, umm, no thanks…  The texture was bizarrely rubbery.  But I digress, this review is not about that cheese, I didn’t buy any I just sampled it.)  I am all for dual demo stations!  The more tastes (and smiles) the more sales!

Here is Heather - wowing customers at the satellite demo table!

One sad fact about the Annapolis store is that they do not have a WINE and BEER section.  Sigh.  It is not at all their fault, mind you!  The state regulations require that alcohol not be sold in grocery stores.  I feel bad for the TJ's shoppers!  They are missing out big time.

A rather strange thing about this store is that the outside accents are painted BLUE rather than the traditional Trader Joe’s signature RED.  I am assuming that is due to an over cranky landlord in the shopping complex, but it doesn’t really look very “Trader Joe’s” to me. 

I found another TRADER JOE'S to visit!!!

I met a super sweet employee, Travis, and he helped me try to find a uniquely Annapolis (or uniquely Maryland…) item to buy.  In the end, he DID find me a chocolate bar (which I purchased but haven’t tried yet).  Thanks, Travis. 

Travis is a most excellent Trader Joe's Ambassador!

Ok, Onto a REVIEW!  Let’s examine Trader Joe’s Blueberry Poppy Seed Cookies.  We purchased these in Virginia and brought them with us on our recent visit to Edmonton, Alberta.  We opened them as we sat in a theatre (shhh, no food or drinks allowed!) waiting for a play to start. 

The first thing that David said when he looked at these were that they looked like DOG TREATS.  I agree – they look like dog biscuits.  When I took my first bite I was afraid that they also tasted like dog biscuits…  But they don’t really!  They are quite bland – not very sweet.  It is kind of surprising that there are whole blueberries in them – they are flat on the outside so you do not see the blueberry bulges.  They do not taste very poppy seed-ish.  They could be a bit sweeter for my taste.  They would be better with tea or coffee instead of just on their own.  They do not break apart much when you bit into them, which is both handy and surprising.  I think these would be good if you were trying to eat kind of healthy – they taste healthier than Oreos.  I give these biscuits a 3.5. 

New product this summer - Blueberry Poppy Seed Cookies
(which ironically are from Canada... We bought them in America, hauled them to Canada,
then hauled the ones we hadn't finished  BACK to America in our suitcase...)

Here is what David thought of them:  "These are dry but not unpleasant.  The shortbread cookie part is tasty.  The addition of the blueberry makes it just sweet enough.  It is not a cookie with CHOCOLATE on it, it is a cookie for eating with tea or coffee, and in that it is very successful at what it is trying to do.  I like the size.  They are chew-able and delightful.  I like that these look like DOG BISCUITS!  How often do you get to eat a dog biscuit and it tastes good??  I give these a 4.5."

Hey Mikey, he likes 'em!

There you have it.  The Trader Joe’s on Jennifer Rd in Annapolis, Maryland get a 5.0 rating, and the Blueberry Poppy Seed Cookies end up with a 4.0.  

Price – $3.99

Rating – 4.0