Today is a 2 in 1 day for me, it feels like I’ve been going since yesterday morning with no sleep.. that’s how long today feels! I woke up early (for me) and have gotten a ton of things accomplished which feels great, but with trips all over the city and back and out and back it’s just draining. Especially going from super hot to super cold, it seems to just wear me out. Anyone else like that? Anyway today I relied on caffeine a bit, and gave starbucks another try… eh.. I’m still not too sure. I tried a caramel frappuchino a try and it was a little too coffee tasting for me, but at least it was cold. Supper (surprise surprise) was vietnamese again, it’s just so good! (That’s my usual, a couple salad rolls, shrimp, chicken and meat skewers). See what I mean though, I’ve got to wear a sweater indoors since I’m so chilly, but I’ve got a tube top and short jean shorts on otherwise. Tonight I vegged in front of the tv watching mind fluff (say yes to the dress, dc cupcakes, and top model) which worked so well that I didn’t realise that I was sticking to the couch because it had gotten so hot in my place. Time to open up the windows and take a reeeeally nice cold shower, I’m sure I smell like flowers and everything nice right now

At my last webcam chat, Joel asked if I had any puffy under-eye remedies that I could share and how could I not for a friend? Thankfully I’ve got some, being that some mornings I’m up at an insane hour to shoot I need to get rid of puffy eyes too. Hopefully it’s not an all the time thing, because then it could be your bed, not getting enough sleep, not getting enough water.. the list goes on. But quick fixes are always good so here are a few of mine that I really love:

- Place cold cucumber slices on your eyes. A lot of people think it is the cold temperature that’s helping rather than the product itself, who knows but it works for me! They smell great too, so why not? Slice them into 1/8″ discs and shake them off well before applying to your closed eyes for 5-10 minutes.

- Cold refrigerated used tea bags. Like the cucumber slices, the coolness reduces circulation, but the tea actually has a slightly astringent (tissue-shrinking) effect as well.

- If this is something you need to do once a week or so, try keeping spoons in your refridgerator. Place the back curved part of the spoons on your eyes as you lie down with your head elevated will work too.

- Rinse your face in cool water and pat dry, or at the end of your shower turn the heat down and get cold water on your face.

If this is an every day thing, instead of getting a ton of cucumbers (although it’d be awesomely hilarious to your supermarket cashier to see you walking out with cucumbers every day) then you should start going deeper and figuring out why you’ve got puffy eyes. Our bodies are great at communicating with us, but it’s a language we have to learn and not take for granted. If something is out of the ordinary, it’s for a reason. Here’s a few things to try if you’ve got puffy eyes every day:

- Try grabbing a new pillow if yours is flat, or maybe it’s time for a new mattress if you’re not sleeping well through the night.

- Reduce your salt intake. A high intake of sodium may cause you to retain more fluid than normal, which could be sitting under your eyes! Too much salt isn’t great for your health anyway so it’s not a bad thing to watch your salt anyways.

- Exercise every day to improve your circulation, even if it’s a half hour walk after supper or going for a swim, just get your body moving. It’ll help move fluid through your body and get everything working better.

- Give a reactine/claritin a try, maybe it’s simply allergies. Or it could be caused by a medication as a side effect.

Hope that helps out a little Joel (and everyone else)! If you’ve got a beauty tip request, leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to write a post asap.

Have you ever tried these? Jelly Belly jellybeans come in soo many flavors, this pack was a good one though because it had none of the nasty flavors lol. I’m not a fan of popcorn or butter, but these all tasted like fruit so it was yum. If you’ve never tried them definitely grab some, they’re neat! Yesterday was an oddly good day, one of those stressful but F it days… where you’re up to your eyeballs in worry and you finaly say SCREW IT and grab some jelly bellies, some comfy clothes, some chocolate turtles (I’m addicted lately) and just do whatever you want. Last night I chose Big Brother, I was SO hoping for Matt to go home! It bugged me when he made up a lie about his wife having a disease, un cool. Anyway it was a late night for me last night, I was planning on shooting early this morning but since I was up until around 2:30 it just wasn’t in the cards. On a brighter note though, I may have found an incredible shoot location, it’s a 50′s retro gas station complete with 3 or 4 beautifully restored hot rods! I’m trying to get a date set up for James and I to shoot there soon, hopefully at the beginning of next month. So today, since it’s blazing hot yet again I’m planning on staying indoors until tonight when I’ll venture out to go see Inception at the theatre.

Well my life has calmed down in the past few days, this time I was definitely a Monday person for that reason. This week has been nice and relaxed and I’ve been trying to keep doing at least one thing for me every day. Yesterday we were out and about, and even picked up a cupcake since I had been craving one! My favorite is usually white cake with strawberry icing, I think it’s the sweetest you can get and that’s why I love it. On the way we saw my future truck, my dream truck.. it was even the right color! Sexy black cherry, mm mm good. I’m looking to buy a truck in the next few months, I was thinking Toyota Tacoma but haven’t read the greatest reviews online. Do you drive a truck and would you recommend it?

Jack got his haircut on monday, he is so cute now! The lady who cuts his hair asked, if possible could she use a shorter razor? I said sure if it doesn’t bother his skin, and he came out with his shortest haircut yet. I don’t get the normal shih tzu haircut style, where they leave the hair on the ears and tail long, Jack gets completely shaved except for around his nose and mouth stays a tiny bit longer so he looks like a teddy bear.. but this time it turned out that he now looks like a terrier of some sort, but still cute as hell with his curly little tail. He loves it and I think he may even be chilly at times, or maybe he’s just able to cuddle even more since he won’t get hot. Yesterday we went to the park and I figured out that’s one of my stress releases, I’m pretty sure Jack will be happy that we will be going more

Tomorrow morning I’m hoping it’s nice long enough to shoot outdoors, another incredibly early morning for me (4am maybe) to beat the rain, but if we don’t we’re going to try to find a location to be able to finally shoot with my clear umbrella. The mission is to at least get one photoshoot done tomorrow so cross your fingers! I’m still not sure what’s on the to-do list for today, but I’m sure it’ll end up being a productive one. Have a good one!

Ok since everyone here is very helpful and everyone here owns a mattress I thought I’d ask you all for your opinions on the mattress you own.. why you like it or not and why or why not, and don’t forget to let me know the brand!

I just bought a new mattress, I treated myself after years of sleeping on a very uncomfortable mattress and waking up with headaches.. and this mattress turned out to be one that I need to turn every few weeks because it’s already got that sag in the middle So I’m going to put this one in the guest bedroom (heh don’t tell any of my guests) and find a new one for me but this time do some research and hear real reviews on what brands work or not. Thanks in advance guys n ladies

Edited to add, my mattress is a Kingsdown something something firm.  It has a pillow top that I wish I could rip off! It’s so comfortable to fall asleep on, but the pillow top is so thick it offers no support even though this is the “firm” version