Diamonds have their traditions in our culture. Of course, there is the diamonds are forever adage. Christmas tends to be one of the times of the year that people give diamonds more often than at other times. Just look at the flood of jewelry commercials on TV this month. Most consumers will agree that when it comes to buying diamonds, quality is important. Unfortunately, when you are shopping for diamonds, it is easy to get distracted by the setting.

That’s why your best bet is to buy loose diamonds and then find a setting in which to use it. You can find the quality you want and in almost all cases, you will save so much buying a loose diamond and then going to a reputable jeweler for the setting that you can probably pay for a fun weekend out of town. A&W Diamonds just started DiamondsoftheDay.com. It is a blog offering two specially discounted loose diamonds each day. Plus, it features articles on diamond education and useful facts about Diamonds, Loose diamonds, Wholesale Loose Diamonds, and other diamond topics. You can find exactly the stone you want and work from there.

There is more news from here in Clearwater about the trials and tribulations that followed in the wake of the August 26 car accident that left John Graziano in a vegetative state and Nick Bollea (son of wrestler Hulk Hogan) looking pretty guilty.

George Tragos, the attorney for John Graziano’s mom said yesterday that a civil suit “will be filed”, though it may not happen until it can be better determined what the costs will be for Graziano’s long-term care. He also said that Graziano’s condition is “improving” as he is being treated at the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital in Tampa. The facility has a brain injury center.

I get a lot of sinus headaches now that I am an adult. I think it started back when I was in my mid-20s and I lived near Pittsburgh. The weather had a big impact as to when I got the headaches and how bad they were. When I moved to Florida, they subsided for a while, but I’m back to getting them again.

I do what I can to avoid them: medication, good hygiene, and sinus washes. I still get stuffed up around allergy season or when something new blooms in the neighborhood.

Today is a terrible day for sinus problems. Something is definitely blooming and the weather is uncharacteristically wet and overcast for December in Florida. A week or so ago I received a bottle of Afrin All Night (which contains chamomile and relieves congestion for 12 hours) spray to try. The products claims to work much faster than pills, so I was pretty keen on giving it a test run. The day it arrived, I just happened to be so stuffed up I could not even smell my morning coffee. I opened the bottle and used the spray. Let me tell you, my breathing was back to normal within minutes.

How fast it worked was only one of the benefits. I tend to get very agitated when I use decongestants. I’m a firm believer in not using combo medications. That means, I don’t want an all-in-one cold or flu remedy. I want one product to do one thing, so that I am not putting chemicals I really don’t need into my system. Afrin contains only what you need to take care of nasal congestion, and nothing more. I was able to sleep that first night I used it, and it did not keep me awake with the jitters.

Many thanks to BzzAgent and Afrin for sending me the product to try. If you want to give it a try yourself, just e-mail me. I have coupons for free product that I can mail to you.

And now, I am off to use my Afrin.

As soon as I saw the massive stand-up display in my locals movie theater for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street I noticed Johnny Depp’s hair and I just KNEW that Tim Burton was involved in the picture. I remember smiling in pleasure. I think the world can always use another Johnny Depp/Tim Burton adventure.

I had a fleeting crush on Depp back when he was Tom Hanson on “21 Jump Street”. I guess I was 16 or 17 when that show first started airing. Cops undercover as high school kids was something I found intriguing. After Depp left the show, it quickly became evident that his career was destined for bigger things than episodic television. That man has had some of the best roles in movie history, hands down. He is never just playing Johnny Depp. He loses himself in the characters and no matter how familiar his face becomes, he is always JUST that character while I am watching him. I wish I could say that all other actors.

I love him best in roles where he plays a gentle innocent. Benny & Joon is a movie I can watch over and over, no matter how ultimately cheesy it is in the end. Depp is child-like and lovely, all at once. I fell in love with him just a little bit when he played Sam and reenacted the Buster Keaton moments.

I also adored Finding Neverland. I’m not sure how truly innocent Sir Barrie was in real life, but Depp brought a dreamlike quality to the character and a depth that made you want to lose yourself in the both the story and the man that wrote Peter Pan. He has a line that kind of sums up how I feel about my daughter growing up: “Young boys should never be sent to bed… they always wake up a day older.”

I could go on and on. There are SO many of Johnny Depp’s films that make me think of him as one of the best actors of my generation. If I had to pick only one film, I suppose I’d go back to Finding Neverland. But please – don’t ask me to choose.

So, here we are on the cusp of the film version of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. The movie opens for wide release on December 21, just in time for people to be off work for Christmas and to have the time to relax and enjoy a good movie.

Whoever predicted the death of the film musical needs to be flogged. Americans cannot seem to get enough of the musical right now, but doesn’t that historically seem to be the case in wartime? And Johnny, my friend, you sound delightful. I took the time tonight to visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site. I knew Helena Bonham Carter had a great voice, but I’m pretty sure the only other time I had heard Depp sing was when he did the drunker singing in the Pirates of the Caribbean films – and when I went though the updated Pirates of the Caribbean ride as Disney World back in February.

If you are as excited about this film as I am, don’t forget to visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace.

‘Tis the Season…, to make Christmas Tree hair clippies for the girls in your life. Or, for yourself.

I’ve got free hair bow instructions over on my Girly Things website.  There are countless step-by-step instructions for bows and other girly accessories. And, in the spirit of Christmas, I am featuring the Christmas Tree Clippie instructions right now. It’s a very easy design and if you want to jazz it up, you can decorate it with little stick on crystals for ornaments. Kudos to Michelle Cooper, who submitted the photos and the step-by-steps.