Overall, bedbug calls have increased by 81 percent since 2000, according to the National Pest Management Association, which conducted the 2010 Comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study with the University of Kentucky. According to a study released in August, 67 percent of nearly 1,000 pest management companies surveyed have treated bedbug infestations in everyplace from budget motels to five-star resorts.

Here’s a piece from WebMD with quick tips on how to look for these tiny critters and signs of their bites. And don’t forget to check on The Bed Bug Registry to see if a hotel you’re going to in the future has been reported.

As if you needed something else to worry about, bedbugs, those pests from the old bedtime rhyme are making a comeback. More of a nuisance than a health hazard, they’re showing up to suck blood from people in hotels, college dorms, and hospitals. Take an informative look at bedbugs: what they are, where they lurk, and how to spot them before they get you. Read more…

Have you ever seen a bed bug?

My hair, that’s something else that’s damn thrilled to have the sun chill out a bit. It’s fried. And this is even with my using SPF on it.

I met Dickey (the hair guru behind Hair Rules in NYC) in August, and he had these four tips for quenching post summer hair (complete with a recipe for a scalp saver). It’s very easy to get your locks back, people.

Tip #1: Condition, condition, condition.

Conditioners work like lotion for your hair. Hair is going to be drier than usual following a summer spent in the sun. There’s no such thing as over-conditioning when your hair is really dry. You can layer on the moisture as long as you rinse thoroughly.

Tip #2: Refresh your cut.

Your hair takes a beating during the summer, especially the ends. A fresh cut chops off the fried bits and lets you experiment with trends.

Tip #3: De-stress.

It’s too bad you can’t give your hair relaxing techniques. At the very least, wear it naturally for a while. That means no blow dry, no straight, no hair ties, no product. Your hair, it is naked. If you actually feel naked without product, just choose a very light styling product.

Tip #4 Revitalize.

Post-summer is also great for revitalizing with a deep oil conditioning treatment. Hair Rules offers the amazing Ting Treatment to help overworked scalps and hair, but Dickey gave me this at-home recipe for those who can’t make it to the salon:

Scalp Ting: Mix together pure essentials Grapeseed oil, Tea tree oil (anti-dandruff), Lavender (healing), Peppermint (soothing and energizing), Rosemary (toning and healing), Sweet Orange (anti-stress), Basil (deep cleansing), and Lemon (refreshing, anti-inflammatory and energizing). Let it sit on your hair for 30 minutes and then rinse for scalp stimulation.

Equinox Back Bay (131 Dartmouth Street) and Equinox Franklin Street (225 Franklin Street, oddly enough) is having a huge blowout Men’s and Women’s performance and fashion apparel and accessories sale at The Shop. Think Nike, Stella McCartney, Splendid, and Jack Spade. Think 50% off. Think how much workout gear you can fit into your car.

Yes, I know, I know…but the hurricane, Cheryl. The HURRICANE!!! Oh cool your jets, my manic meteorologists. The sale is through Monday (Labor Day), appropriately called The Last Dip. By then, Earl won’t be but a memory.

Besides, as an added bonus, Havaianas are only $1 with any $100 purchase. Stock up for next year.

Enjoy your last dip while the sun is still shining. Or while the rain is pouring down. Either way.

I woke up Saturday unable to open my mouth (my husband shouted with glee until I smacked him). My jaw was killing me, the joint was on fire, and whenever I tried to chew or yawn it felt like a nail through my head. A nail. That’s it! I looked around my yard. I clearly have tetanus from a rusty nail.

No, Cheryl, you’re stressed. You’ve been clenching your jaw together while you sleep.

I also haven’t been listening to my husband lately. Why? Because I can’t hear him. Why? Because my shoulders have been shrugged up around my ears.

Cheryl, you’re stressed.

It’s the end of summer mayhem that has me a little…shall we say…more tense than usual. No more vacations in sight. Child isn’t in school until September 9 (that’s 6 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes…yes, I’m counting). And all those professional 9-to-5ers are done with their vacations, which means they’re raring to go with new projects for me (merely pointing out, definitely not complaining).

If I can get an “amen” from you, then you know what I’m talking about (or you’re just really super religious). These three tips on chilling out in five minutes are for you:

1. Gently hold a pencil between your teeth without biting. Ignore the desire to bite it in half. This is counterproductive because now you’re stressed to find another pencil. The action of holding it minus the chomp prompts you to relax your facial muscles, thus relieving tension.
2. Press your temples for three to five minutes. Massaging nerves in this area is an acupressure technique that relaxes other parts of the body.
3. Make sense with scents. Jasmine, not just a princess, also possesses a rich, deep scent that is used to prevent mental blockage, nervousness and sadness. It also functions quite well as an antidepressant.

Are you overly stressed these days? How do you cope with stress?

We went camping this past weekend. Captain’s chairs, tent, hot dogs, marshmallows…and yes, wine (as noted by the photographic evidence above).

One other thing we expected but didn’t welcome–poison ivy. No one got it (a miracle in and of itself), but there were plenty of opportunities. But you expect that on hikes through the woods.

I’ve never gotten it myself (I might be in the 15%  immune, but I’m not going to tempt fate). My dad has the worst reaction to it. Oozy, puffy, swollen. OK, enough. Ick.

These days there’s more of this nasty itch-inducing plant and in the most unlikely places. Poison ivy has recently been found in cities, major ones like Manhattan, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Even though the leaves will turn red or orange in the fall, they’ll still be  poisonous even after falling from the plant, so knowing how to spot it knows no season. I love the fantastic graphic on the left column of this article for a breakdown of quick facts about poison ivy, like what to do if you touch it (within an hour, rinse with lots of cold water and wipe exposed areas with alcohol), and the misconception that poison ivy leaves are always shiny. They’re often dull. Who was the PR person for that rumor? Excellent job. Bravo.

An unusually moist spring and a hot summer have conspired to produce a particularly abundant crop of poison ivy this year, leaving more Massachusetts residents than usual scratching their skin raw.

Scientists believe the plant might also be gaining in potency because, especially in cities, it is thriving on increasing carbon dioxide levels, partly the result of burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests.

Landscapers in the region have reported an increase in house calls about poison ivy, whose clear, liquid oil causes telltale streaks of red skin, rashes, and blisters.

“It’s everywhere. It’s out in force,’’ said William Bartlett of Bethlehem, Conn., who has removed poison ivy for more than 30 years around Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. “I usually don’t get busy until the beginning of June. I was busy since the 10th of April this year.’’ Read more…

Have you ever had poison ivy?

Those little 100 calorie packs. Love ‘em. Problem: Just because it says “100 calories” on the packet, it doesn’t help me stop eating them. It just helps me with the math. I just add two zeros to the number of packs I overindulge in, and poof! There’s my caloric intake.

According to researchers at the University of Colorado Denver, 90 percent of Americans could halt weight gain by burning as few as 100 additional calories every day. Depending on how much time I have, that’s one pack, two pack, three pack, four…

If you have 10 minutes:

Stepping – 30 steps per minute on 7 inch step

Jump rope

Jog quickly in one place

Calisthenics (jumping jacks, plyometric jumps and kickboxing moves)

If you have 15 minutes:

Ride a stationary bike (try around 12 mph).

Swin slow laps

Use the elliptical trainer

If you have 20 minutes:

Power walk (4 mph)

Shake your groove thing to five fun songs

Chase your kids or your dog around outside (give Telephone by Lady Gaga & Beyonce a shot, I think that might count twice)

Throughout my years as a beauty writer, I’ve met some fantastic people. But I’m so happy to call this awesome woman my friend—Jennifer Yen, founder of pur~lisse Skincare. A lovely lady in her own right, she turned her acting career into a quest for beautiful skin. After years of research, she combined her Chinese heritage with her fascination of French skincare savvy to develop the cult favorite skincare line pur~lisse.

As one of my favorite skincare experts, here are Jennifer’s Top 5 quick secrets to beautiful skin:

1. Chinese women are meticulous about moisturizing their hands because they believe “a woman’s second face is in her hands.”
2. Tell crow’s feet to take a hike! When you’re outside, wear sunglasses more and you’ll squint less, for fewer lines and wrinkles around the eyes.
3. Sweat for beautiful skin! Perspiration can actually be good for your skin. Working out helps rev up circulation, which aids healing, and sweat contains a natural antibiotic.
4. For healthy skin, juice together a fantastically refreshing concoction of kale, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, beet, celery, ginger and green apple.
5. Dry air leads to dry skin, so when the dew point goes down, turn up that humidifier in your home to help your skin retain moisture.

I’m giving away a fantastic gift bag of pur~lisse goodies. The winner will get a pur~bright (for luminous, even-toned skin), pur~youth preserve (an age delay serum), pur~moist (a delicate hydrating moisturizer) and pur~lip comfort (to comfort your dry, chapped pucker).

Here are the rules:

Initial Entry: Leave a comment below. Can be about what makes you feel beautiful, your favorite TV show, doesn’t matter. Just say something interesting.

1 Bonus Entry: Follow Easy Peasy on twitter @cherylfenton. If you already follow me, tweet about the giveaway (don’t forget to put @cherylfenton in the tweet).

1 Bonus Entry: Like EasyPeasyBlog on Facebook by clicking here. If you’re already a fan, suggest EasyPeasyBlog to your Facebook friends.

This giveaway ends September 8 at 11:59 p.m. and is only open to the continental United States.

Actually, they care. In fact, today’s fashion world is taking a stand against excess. For example, Parsons the New School for Design (a la “Project Runway”) will offer one of the world’s first fashion courses in zero-waste this September.

Here’s a piece on how innovative designers are looking forward to a less wasteful industry:

You wear organic T-shirts. You hang your clothes to dry. You recycle your unloved suits and dresses. But frankly, that’s just the tip of the green iceberg. Today’s truly fashion-forward have a more radical ambition: zero waste. That may sound more like an indie band than an environmental aspiration, but it’s a new focus of top fashion schools.

Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them. Read more…

What do you think of this new effort of the fashion industry?

Why you ask, this sudden need to be so close to God in the cleanliness factor. My MIL (that’s Mother In Law for all the non-married set) is sleeping in the bed downstairs. She came in last night from across the country. She’s the sweetest woman on the planet (this must be true, since now would be the time for badmouthing…you see, she doesn’t read EasyPeasy…not because she thinks badly of it or isn’t supportive…she’s just not online…I know…Last person standing without a home computer or cell phone, bless her heart). She would never ever judge the condition of our home. But still I feel it’s only right to make this place relatively spotless.

This means I’m taking today off. No Sunday Savers on EasyPeasy. Instead, I’m going to “save” me with a long wake-up shower and a good read on the back porch. I’ll move only when she gets up and I have to make an amazing breakfast (four food groups, freshly churned homemade butter, my own milled oats, handpicked apples from the orchard, etc). Sidenote: God bless that three-hour jetlag time cushion which probably means a late wakey wakey.

Those of you with family guests who stay with you for extended visits (especially MILs) know what I’m staring down the barrel of. So I’m sure you’ll respect my need to go sit and read a book. This will be the last time for a while I get to go do something on my own in my house.

So enjoy the day. I’ll be back on Tuesday with the news. That is unless I’m busy baking my husband a nutritious wheat bread from scratch. Cuz that’s what good wives do. We bake.

Healthy weight loss is between 1-2lbs a week. Blah, blah, blah. I want skinny now. OK, I don’t want skinny. I want slimmer. Insta-trim.

This is where my clothes come in. Good choices can slim you instantly (bad ones can add some lbs…for example, skinny jeans can actually be a misnomer for some bodies).

With a little help from Sarah McManus, fashion stylist in Boston, here are 7 wardrobe ways to look thinner…

1. Be Dull. Not literally. Just shun the shine, and stay away from fabrics with a shimmer like metallic or satin. They’re unforgiving and attract light to the largest parts of your body.

2. Opt for midrise jeans. Like muffins? Then have one for breakfast. But keep them far from your ensemble. Wearing higher waist jeans that meet your top at the midsection means a longer and leaner you. Save the muffintops for snacktime.

3. “Try a dramatic neckline or necklace,” says McManus. “It draws people’s attention away from the stomach and instead pulls it upward towards your face.” And people are supposed to be looking there anyway, right?

4. Get the right size bra. 80 percent of women wear the wrong size, leading to baby got back fat. Going up a band size erases this problem.

5. To elongate legs and appear slimmer, McManus suggests a nude pump (one without gladiator or ankle straps, which can cut legs off at the ankle). Legs appear seamless and forever-long in an instant. “Heels also add instant confidence and length to any frame,” she says.

6. If you’re a bit self-conscious about your tummy, exercise a little control. Wear Spanx under pants and dresses for a more streamlined look. If they’re a bit too pricey, they just launched a lower priced line called ASSETS by Sara Blakely.

7. Think about your proportion of color–slimming success is dark on the larger parts, light on smaller. “Choosing a lighter color on top and a darker color with pants in any outfit will appear more slimming,” explain McManus.

Do you have any go-to solutions for those not-so slim fashion days? Leave me a comment!