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Today is National Dog Day, and if you’re a pet owner then you are probably familiar with the popular KONG dog toy! This conular, beehive-shaped rubber item– often seen in red or black– is a hollow “mental stimulation” toy for dogs that can be filled with treats and will keep them busy for hours! But, did you know that this toy originated from a part of Volkswagen’s classic Bus? In 1970 an auto repair shop owner named Joe Markham adopted a German Shepard named Fritz to help guard his shop from burglars. Frits was a fine dog, but had flunked out of the police academy due to excessive chewing, and Joe soon realized that the black mark on Fritz’s record was indeed an issue. You see Fritz's favorite toy for teething was a rock and after a while it began to wear down the dog's teeth! Joe tried every other chewable toy he could think of, but it wasn’t until one day when he was working on a Volkswagen Bus, that he found his solution! After disassembling a customer's VW for repair, Joe came across Fritz happily chewing away on the Buses rubber axle stop. It was perfect! The rubber was soft enough not to damage the dog's teeth but strong enough to hold up against Fritz’s powerful bite! So, Joe, inspired by his pup's discovery, began developing his dog toy idea! After years of experimentation and a bit of help from a German engineering firm, the first KONG toys hit the markets in 1976 and have been a massive hit ever since! Volkswagen loves this story and hopes to continue to inspire its drivers and community in new and exciting ways!

So, My birthday rolls around and I take my test, which I might add I passed with flying colors, but I asked if I could drive to and from practice with my dad’s dad car. Both my parents had agreed that it was okay and I was living my best life, windows down, music up, and hair blowing in the wind! Fast forward two hours and practice is over, I get in the car and the gas light is on. Part of me wanted to be nice and put gas in my dad’s car, the other half of me was too naive to realize I could make it home without getting gas. I knew there was a gas station right next to school so I pull up to the tank, turned off the engine, and I realized I only had cash on me so I rolled up the windows because I had to go pay inside, but I accidentally left the keys in the engine, and I close the door and went inside to pay. I should have known this was going to be a bad experience because I forgot to look and see the number of the pump so I had to run back out and figure that out. Then, I paid and accidentally lifted the premium nozzle, not the regular, and little seventeen years old I thought I could just put that one back and choose the regular...you can’t do that. So then I had to go back in because it wouldn’t let me pump gas. Finally, I pumped the correct gas, closed my gas cap, and at this point just want to go home...but. I went to open my door and it was locked, I immediately went for my pocket and there were no keys inside. I look through the window and there they were just hanging there from the ignition, great. So I instantly start panicking, running from door to door praying one was unlocked, nope. So then I ran inside to get the attendant, who probably hated me at this point, and asked for help...he wasn’t much help. SO, I had to call my dad and before he even answered the waterworks started pouring. My dad eventually came after I sat at a gas station for 15 minutes, while crying, and having every stranger look at me. To tell you the truth I have no idea how he even unlocked the door, I think I blacked out due to stress. And I was worried about getting yelled at but instead, he laughed at me and to this day picks on me about it, so my birthday was definitely one for the books. For any new drivers or parents of new drivers make sure you or your child knows not to leave the keys in the ignition and knows how to properly pump gas, unlike little me. Find the perfect car for your new driver!

So I just picked up a new Volkswagen Beetle from Fiore Volkswagen, and DANG. I love this car. I love it so much!!! If I didn’t already have a boyfriend, I would dump him for this car. I am not lying to you. This is true love. I thought I would share with you all ten things that I LOVE about my new Beetle, even though there are literally ten billion trillion things that I love about him (yeah, okay, his name is Steve and we have a connection). But I will whittle that down to ten things. Please pray for me. The shape! We all loved the new Beetles when they came out in the early naughties, but this latest redesign is prime. Like, it looks retro? But also super modern. And the trunk opening is HUGE. You wouldn’t think that you could haul a lot of stuff in a car this small, but you fully can. It’s amazing!! The interior. I have the Titan Black leatherette on the inside and my friends it is siiiick. My Beetle is white, so the dashboard where the exterior finish is brought inside just looks so good. I am really into minimalism lately so this is really fitting into my aesthetic. And the Käferfach-inspired glovebox (okay, I looked that one up) is just that right touch of retro. That’s where I keep all the napkins I steal from fast food places. They come in really handy. The turbo engine. For a little car, this guy has a LOT of power. You can really feel the turbo when you’re accelerating up a hill… I never have to wonder if lil’ Steve can make it up. He doesn’t even slow down, not even a little. I feel like I am driving a racecar, no joke. The ambient lighting. This kind of ties into the interior one, but I wanted to keep it separate because I really love it a LOT. I can change the color to match my mood or playlist or whatever, and it’s especially great because I have trouble seeing at night, so I can make the inside red if I want. The screen. I have the navigation package, and it’s so great!! But everything else is amazing as well. I can connect my phone to Steve and play my music, look at some of my apps, and talk on the phone through the Bluetooth. And I also have the Fender premium audio system, so my beats are BUMPIN’. VW Car-Net. Like, do I need to say more? I am really bad at remembering where I parked my car, but with this app, I know exactly where it is. Like. This is a game-changer, folks!!!!! All the safety tech. The blind spot monitor, rear traffic alert, and park pilot have made my life a million times easier. Okay, sure, I passed the parallel parking part of my driver’s test, but that was literally over a decade ago. You can’t expect me to retain that kind of information for more than ten minutes after the test is over! So, park pilot. Life-saving! Keyless access. I have a purse. Things get lost in it pretty much constantly. Yesterday I found a movie ticket from 2008 in there. So, it’s really great that I don’t really have to find my keys to open up my car. Heated seats. I know not every Beetle comes with them, but Steve has them and they are incredible. Even when it’s not winter, I turn them on when I’ve just hit the gym to help relax those muscles a little. But they are going to be sooooo good in the winter, and I am SOOOO excited. How I feel in this car. It’s a freakin’ Beetle! I feel so cool! I know people are always like, oh, your car needs to be safe and reliable and yeah, I agree. Steve is totally safe and reliable. But Steve is also REALLY COOL. And I feel awesome behind the wheel. I think that’s my favorite part, actually. Get A Steve Of Your Own