Making Up For Lost Sleep Is Not So Easy

Many people who don't get enough sleep during the week, try to make up for it with a bit of extra shut eye on the weekends. But is it enough? A new study saysno, it's not. In fact, catching up on lost sleep isn't an easy thing for the body.

In a study at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 2003, for example, scientists examined the cognitive effects of a week of poor sleep, followed by three days of sleeping at least eight hours a night. The scientists found that the "recovery" sleep did not fully reverse declines in performance on a test of reaction times and other psychomotor tasks, especially for subjects who had been forced to sleep only three or five hours a night.

In a similar study in 2008, scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that when subjects slept four hours a night over five days, and then "recovered" with eight hours a night over the following week, they still showed slight residual cognitive impairments a week later, even though they reported no sleepiness.

But in another study, also at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, scientists found that people recovered much more quickly from a week of poor sleep when it was preceded by a "banking" week that included nights with 10 hours of shuteye. In other words, if you know you have a week of little sleep ahead of you, try loading up on sleep beforehand, not simply afterward.

That's all fine and good, but we don't know anyone that has time to "sleep load" before a big sleep deprivation event. First of all, you never know when you're going to be forced to work late or get up early for something. And even if you did, where would you find the time to "sleep load" the week before?

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McDonald's Putting the Fast Back in Fast Food

McDonald's is determined to put the fast back into fast food. Although the company has been doing well, it has ranked lower in customer satisfaction surveys than most of its competitors for several years. But all that is changing as the company has increased the size of its burgers, added specialty coffee drinks and $1 chicken sandwiches.

They're also speeding up service. In fact, the company is pretty much fanatical about shaving seconds off each customer's drive through time, running huge warehouses where employees are timed to determine appropriate work flow efficiencies. The software is also getting an upgrade.

New software would update the complicated abbreviations of the touch-screen register with simply labeled, icon-like pictures of food. The system, which is in about 5,000 restaurants out of the company's 32,000 locations, is easy to learn and may cut as many as 10 seconds off workflow, said Laurie Gilbert, the center's director.

That saved time may squeeze another five cars in the drive-through lane per hour, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic. McDonald's currently aims to serve most customers within 90 seconds of taking their order."It's going to enhance repeat business, improve loyalty and push more people through the lines faster," Tristano said. "People expect convenience and demand it, and if restaurants don't deliver against it, then they're failing."

Behind the counter, a redesigned assembly area has three sides for workers to pack food into bags, while a new, shorter preparation table promises to be more energy efficient: It holds 50 percent more cooked burgers and chicken breasts, and it lifts a bread steamer, used for Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, to hip level so workers need not bend over for each order.

The company has experimented with self-serve kiosks, but those experiments didn't turn out so well. It took the customers much too long to figure out the touch screen ordering menu.

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Project Reconstruction: Eco Luxe

Last night was my college fashion club's annual fashion show; Project Reconstruction. It's a fashion show featuring garments made from recycled and reconstructed materials. I'm always amazed at the creativity & talent of our university's apparel design students. This year's theme was "Eco Luxe".

The garments are made out of everything from cut up sweaters to tin foil to sushi paper. I helped set up in the morning and it's always so rewarding to see all the hard work come to life when the first model walks out. I loved the Marie Antoinette picture in the background and lit tea lights at the edge of the stage.

Does your school have a fashion club or annual fashion show? I organized a couple of them in high school; it's hard work, but a ton of fun!

xoxo, lauren

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Jimmy Choo for H&M

The latest in designer collaborations: Jimmy Choo and H&M. Now this should be interesting. The line debuts November 14. Prices are said to range between $99 to $149 for heels, $299 for over-the-knee-boots, $140 for boots, and flats are $70.But shoes aren’t the only thing coming out of this partnership. The collection also includes clothing [...]

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Hasbro's Board Game Risk Being Transformed Into
Movie

Reuters reports that Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment company will partner with Hasbro to develop a film based on the strategy board game Risk.

The game was invented in 1957 by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse under the title La Conquete du Monde (The Conquest of the World). Two years later, Parker Brothers published the game in the U.S. as Risk. According to Hasbro, Risk was the first board game to offer nonlinear movement as players compete on a map of the world by amassing armies and conquering territory.

The film will be produced and developed by executives from Hasbro and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment company.

It will be interesting to see what they come up with. It will have to somehow involve combat strategy to be anything like the game. Hasbro sells several different versions of the board game risk, which can be found here.

There is also a movie in development for Hasbro's Candyland game - see here. Reuters says there are also plans for four more board game films including one based on Battleship.

Photo: Hasbro

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Tokyo Shoppers Lose Their Taste For Luxury

Luxury brands such as Versace and Gucci have been especially hard hit in their Japanese stores as the recession has sharply affected that country's love for luxury items. In Tokyo, a new sense of thrift abounds as uncertainty about the economy lingers. That is very bad news for retailers of high end handbags, shoes and clothing.

Akiko Sayama re-examined her spending habits when the Tokyo staffing agency where she works cut its overtime budget. She lost more than $13,000 in annual pay, so one of the first things she did was curb her tastes for Louis Vuitton and PPR SA's Gucci."I need to cut back where I can," said Sayama, 41, who lives in Saitama prefecture outside of Tokyo. "It's not like I lost my interest in luxury brands. I can't afford them."

Sayama is embracing a frugality that, along with a shrinking population and falling wages, is causing Japan's economy to contract by 5.7 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 17 economists compiled by Bloomberg. Luxury spending in the country could fall 14 percent to 19 billion euros ($28.1 billion) this year from a peak of 22 billion euros in 2005 and 2006, Boston-based consultant Bain & Co. said.

The worldwide luxury market is expected to shrink 8 percent to 153 billion euros this year, including a 16 percent decline in the Americas and an 8 percent drop in Europe. Yet spending in China, the world's most populous country, may grow 12 percent to 6.6 billion euros this year, compared with 5.9 billion euros last year, Bain said Oct. 19.

"Given the pace of economic growth, luxury-goods makers are starting to give up on Tokyo, as they shift their focus to other Asian markets like China and Singapore," said Naoki Iizuka, a senior economist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo."The situation will remain severe here because more people are losing their interests in brands with the advent of cheaper, fast fashions."

Many Tokyo shoppers are scaling down due to the recession. Shoppers who used to buy Paris designers' clothing have switched to buying from Uniqlo. Plans for expansion in Tokyo are being scrapped. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA ditched its plans to open a flagship store in the Ginza shopping district. The Gap took over the retail space instead.

While the spending in Tokyo is on hold, it is rising in China. That is being noticed by all the big luxury firms. It's the reason we keep reading reports about how exciting things are in Ulaanbataar. Just because you're in Mongolia doesn't mean you won't have access to a well-stocked Louis Vuitton store.

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Courteney Cox, David Arquette Partner With Satya
For Charitable Jewelry Collection

Vogue UK reports that Courteney Cox and David Arquette have partnered with Satya to create a collection of butterfly themed jewelry to benefit the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation. Courtney Cox and Daivd Arquette learned about EB because the son of their close friends was born with it.

"There is a beautiful child named Brendon, the son of one of our dear friends, Andrea Pett Joseph, who was born with EPIDERMOLYSIS BULLOSA or EB," Arquette told VOGUE.COM. "We were not aware of the condition until it affected us personally but, of course, once we got to know this incredible child we wanted to do whatever we could to help."

EB is a rare and life-threatening genetic condition which results in the skin developing burn-like wounds, making even simple tasks incredibly difficult. David and Courteney designed the collection with the Satya founders, Beth and Satya, and used the butterfly motif to symbolise the fragility of the EB childrens' skin

You can view the collection here on Satya's website. Prices for the jewelry pieces range from $24 to $328. The Satya Foundation donates 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the jewelry to the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation.

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Mercury in Mascara!

Was recently on the site Skin Deep to see if there was any toxic ingredients in this eye cream I’ve been jonesing over when I spotted this headline: Mercury in Mascara?!Given everything we’ve learned over the past 30 years about mercury’s ability to damage brain function at low levels, it’s hard to believe it’s still [...]

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Edun Partners With Dazed & Confused For Tees
Benefitting War Child

Elle.com reports that Edun has partnered with Dazed & Confused to create hand-drawn animal tees and dresses. Artist Jo Ratcliffe drew the animal drawings. Fifteen percent of the sales of the clothes will benefit War Child, an organization that helps children afflicted by war. Edun is an organic label launched by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson. The tank top pictured above retails for $90. You can find the clothes here in Edun's online store.

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Taylor Jacobson leaves Rachel Zoe

We are a day late reporting the news, but we are reporting nonetheless. Taylor Jacobson, who worked for Rachel Zoe, is no longer with Rachel Zoe Inc as of yesterday. The news is conflicting whether Taylor was fired or quit.…

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