This is my Good Bye to Blogger. I have loved it here, but it is time to move on.

I have permanently moved to Skimbacolifestyle.com, hoping to see you there.

Love, Katja

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Dream: When I'm done remodeling my office
will look like a picture of a magazine.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are you ready for 2009?

Yes, I am ready!

I am ready for New Year 2009 and I am ready to make it bigger and better and awesome.

I am starting to remodel here and my blog might be acting and looking little weird for a while. I am trying to make this blog better, and I will be moving from Blogger to self hosted WordPress. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am pretty good at googling and finding out stuff and I have some amazing friends who I am going to bug to help me to renovate this blog.


What are your resolutions?

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Like my tag line says.. my life is everything from skiing in Colorado to shopping in New York City. I wrote the tag line over a year ago, when we lived in Colorado, with no intentions of moving. But life happened, and guess where we live right now? New York!

My 2008 has been one of the craziest years in my life, a lot of ups and downs.. I got pregnant, lost the baby, and a week later our dog died... our move from Colorado was a struggle, I was a all over struggle, and lucky to be alive, I survived 12 blood clots in my lungs this summer. Had to cancel BlogHer - but got to go to BlogWorldExpo and visited Las Vegas for the first time.. Spent 6 weeks on the road when we moved from Colorado to New York, survived the move, even though my laptop got stolen..

Tom Cruise endorsed a pair of ladybug shoes on Oprah Show - shoes, which I had hand packed and given to his daughter Suri! I spoke on phone with Patrick Dempsey, met Harrison Ford, and Paula Deen kissed me. I became one of Walmart's Eleven Moms, and collected moms' voices in one 9,5 minute video, which was seen by tens of thousands and resulted a major company to take their (Motrin) ad down.

I'm closing down my store now, and I am not sad to let it go. At all. The store taught me everything I needed to know, and I am excited about new possibilities this will bring. The store was my security blanket, and I'm brave enough to go without it now.

I will be focusing on PR / Social Media Consulting and Blogging - I will also start a radio show! And so far my calendar for 2009 looks promising.. I am hoping to see you in New York, Detroit, Bahamas, Nashville, Austin, Chicago or Las Vegas in 2009 - all places where blogging, promoting and social media world will be taking me in 2009. Well, I hope so. Knowing my life - there will be some obstacles, and high hills to climb over, but I'm hoping you'll stay right here with me and share my journey, my product finds, my lifestyle, and the ups and downs of it.


JANUARY
Mountain Living At It's Best
Forget About Dieting - Look Good As You Are
I Snowboarded For The First Time

FEBRUARY
I'm Getting Old - And So Is Snow
Sometimes I Hate To Love My Virtual Life
I'm In Birth Control Hell


MARCH
Cultural Differences In Complimenting
Coffee Made My Boobs Bigger?
Time Is Running Out For My Four Legged Son

APRIL
Baby News (I'm pregnant!)
Is Your Sunscreen Safe? 89% In The Market Are Not!
How The Worst In Life Can Become The Best In Life (I lost the baby)
No More Babies (and the pregnancy drama continues)
Our Dog Is In Heaven Now (I can't believe I survived loosing a baby and a dog in a same month)

MAY
Suri Cruise's Ladybug Shoes Are From Skimbaco.com
Thank You Tom Cruise - I'm Jumping On The Couch Now
"It" Happened To Me - It Can Happen To You Too
Ladybug Luck Coming To Your Way
Jäger Schnitzels In Fredericksburg, Texas

JUNE
500th Post And 50 Things About Me
I Received A Card From Angela Kinsey From TV's "The Office"!
We're Moving To New York
I Cut My Hair For Charity
The Birth Control Hell Continues - I'm In Hospital Again (this time: pills gave me 12 blood clots in my lungs)

JULY
I Think I'll Live (I survived 12 blood clots!)
Ultimate Van Lines Offering The Ultimately Worst Moving Experiences (our moving truck didn't show up)
Our Car Got Broken Into And My Laptop Stolen (first night of our move from Colorado to New York)

AUGUST
Good Bye Dallux, I mean Dallas (vacationing in Dallas)
What? I'm Not Hot Enough? (for the Hot Blogger Calendar)
You Put Me In The Spot

SEPTEMBER
Calendar Girl Here, Hello
BlogWorldExpo For Me Was About Personal Branding (My BlogWorldExpo experience in Las Vegas)
Medical Bracelets, IDs And Other Precautions Parents Need To Take

OCTOBER
I'm One Of Walmart's Eleven Moms
I'm A Silver Can Girl, And The Other Things I Learned At Coke (while visiting Walmart Headquarters in Bentonville)
Eleven Moms And Paula Deen

NOVEMBER
Want To Know How You Can Get A Porsche
Motrin Giving Moms A Headache
Thank You Motrin For Listening

DECEMBER
Meaning Of Christmas. I Know It, But I Still Want A Puppy And Wii
Patrick Dempsey On Phone, In A Bottle, On A Kitchen Table (Yes - I was on phone with Patrick Dempsey)
Ask The Author! Exciting Interviews Coming Up!
Welcome Austin, Our Rescue Dog
Christmas Time In New York City

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Santa didn't bring you what you wanted?
Time to make New Year's resolutions?

Now worries, I have something here for you I know you want. Some delicious Bliss, dripping with fun, no extra calories, this is the one treat you can have and eat it too. Meeting the top women bloggers face to face, getting new ideas, tips and inspiration to take your blog to the new spheres. And how about sipping some Blissdopolitans with your friends and getting to travel in style? Talk about a treat! Make the best resolution ever - treat yourself well and commit into making your life a bliss by learning new things!

Join me and come to BlissDom Conference in February 6-7 in Nashville, TN! Get tickets now - the price goes up first of January!

BlissDom Conference is from women to women - practical advice, friendships, inspiration and hard core information you will need to take your blog to the next level. The two-day conference offers sessions for beginners and for those who have been blogging already for a while. Learn about building your blog, your brand, and your business while achieving bliss in those other areas that are so important too: being a mom, a wife, and being true to yourself.

I am so excited about going to BlissDom and meeting all the amazing women coming there. Some of the people coming that I can't wait to meet are Lori from A Cowboy's Wife, Amy from Resourceful Mommy and Steph from Adventures in Babywearing, and especially the two superstars, the hostesses of BlissDom Conference, Allison Worthington of Blissfully Domestic and Barbara Jones of One2One Network. The main sponsor for the event is Walmart.


The BlissDom Conference is held at the Preston Hotel, a nice boutique hotel close to airport and Opryland - we used to live close to Nashville, and the Opryland shopping is a familiar experience (if you get the change to go shopping, eat at the Aquarium).

GET TICKETS NOW

Register for BlissDom Conference NOW, the early bird price 100$ for the ticket ends December 31st! Act now to get the ticket and save 50 dollars! Please leave a comment here, if you are coming, I would love to meet you there!

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One mogul mom here, hello.

Today I do say it is so nice to be your own boss and make yourself working schedules. I took the whole day off and drove to New York city (Yes! I drove to city, took my Volvo station wagon for a spin around Central Park). My in-laws are visiting, so my Mother-In-Law and me took the kids to the American Museum of Natural History and had some real Italian/New York style pizza for lunch. Photos will come later... now we will watch the Night at The Museum - and show Daddy and Grandpa everything we saw today.

So, I'm kind of busy here... spending my day off, but if you would like to know more about me, The Mogul Mom interviewed me, check her blog post out!

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Flu season is in full bloom. The good news is that there are ways you can try to prevent getting flu and


5 Tips to Prevent Flu

1. Build your immune system by eating right. Vitamin C is important for building your immune system, foods that are high in Vitamin C include citrus fruit, broccoli, papaya, mango, bell peppers, kiwi, strawberries and tomatoes. Luckily most kids love fruit salad, think of it as the immune system builder.

2. Drink a lot. Water is the best, but certain tea types can even build your immune system. For kids water is the best.

3. Wash your hands - stop those germs spreading. Teach kids the right way to wash hands, and make it a daily habit to wash hands every time you come home from somewhere and every time before each meal. Be an example.

4. Don't stress and sleep enough. You should sleep at least eight hours a night, so your body will have enough time to repair cells and build up your immune system. Kids should get 8-10 hours a sleep.

5. Get a flu shot.

5 Flu Helping tips from Vicks

When flu happens... Vicks helps and not just offers great products for easing the pain, but also helps with these 5 tips from their website:

1. Get rest - sleep helps to get well sooner.
2. Same what helps preventing the flu, helps to make it go away - drink up! Water is the best, but you can also give fruit juice like orange juice.
3. Cuddle up - being sick sucks, so make sure to give some extra cuddles and hugs. I like to watch movies and cuddle up on to couch with my kids to make them feel special.
4. Clear stuffy noses. If your child is too young to blow his/her nose, use some saline and a nasal aspirator (a syringe that sucks the mucus from the nostrils).
5. Bath helps to lower the temperature and might be a welcome fun thing to do for your recovering child. The moist vapors also help making the breathing easier.

Humidifiers help to breath better and ease the flu symptoms. The Vicks GermFree Humidifier ($87.83) is quiet, easy to use with no filters to buy or replace but you can use it with Vicks VapoSteam or Kaz Inhalant medicines. This humidifier gives pure, sanitized warm mist - killing up to 99.999% of germs, mold, and bacteria in the water, it has a patented ultraviolet light process eradicating water bred germs. Added bonus for parents: 2 tanks with total of 2-gallon capacity gives up to 24 hours of operation - for parents this means no filling up in the middle of the night and restful sleep for both sick child and you.


My Top 3 Vicks Product Finds

If the humidifier feels like a splurge, try the Vicks Soothing Vapors ($5.99) for bringing waterless menthol vapors to soothe your or your child's flu symptoms. It also works as a night light.

When your baby or child is sick, even a small task like taking the temperature might be irritating. One of the must have products for every parent is a fast and accurate ear thermometer. On great choice is the Vicks One Second Ear Thermometer ($50.56) - in addition of giving an accurate temperature reading in a second, it has a gentle sensor tip and audible fever alert. A great bonus for parents is the large lighted display so you can take and read the temperature even in the dark while your child sleeps.



Read more flu fighting tips for babies at The Mommies United

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New Year's Eve Popcorn $24.99

If you are looking for a special snack for your New Year's Eve party, check out The Popcorn Factory's special New Year's Selections.

We received some Popcorn Factory popcorn for Christmas, and oh boy, I am addicted to this sweet, crunchy and absolutely amazing popcorn. We had our family movie night last night and we just couldn't stop eating the delicious flavors of The Popcorn Factory popcorn. The tin we received had three different types of popcorn, all-natural butter, robust cheese and secret-recipe caramel corn, and even the butter popcorn was the best butter popcorn I've ever had.

To be honest I've never before thought of popcorn as a gourmet food or a gourmet food gift, but The Popcorn Factory changed my mind entirely, and I think sending some popcorn as a gift is an excellent idea, and I felt so special to receive it. The popcorn was packed will in a pretty tin (I will save it and re-use it, it's so pretty!), and came perfectly crunchy, just like it's supposed to.

Or get the deal and get some on sale like the Snowman Tin was $29.99, now only $11.99.

It may be too early to think of Super Bowl (February 1st, 2009), but when you do mark it to your calendar, make sure to mark Popcorn Factory as you snack provider as well. The Sport Tin selection is large and make sure to order your teams popcorn tin on time for Super Bowl and other sports parties you will be hosting.

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I know, I know, you've just taken the Holiday photos... but if you are a scrapbooking enthusiast, I know you are already planning on your scapbooking pages.

Do you have one of these DYMO Caption Makers? It is so easy to use, and I like how versatile it is, it has three interchangeable wheels - one for lowercase, one for uppercase and one with a script font. The DYMO Caption Maker is an embossing tool that enables creative captioning, journaling and bordering through a variety of symbols, letters and fonts, great for scapbooking and labeling at home - and I like to use it for kids' school supplies as well.


I normally don't post much about scrapbooking, but thought this was very cool: DYMO is giving one lucky scrapbooker a chance to have their artwork featured in a future DYMO Caption Maker magazine ad. To win, use captions to create unique and inspiring personalized tags, borders and fonts on your scrapbook page. Think your scrapbook should be featured? Use creative and unique captioning and titling to help create your scrapbook and submit yours NOW! Deadline to submit is 12/31/08.

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I found an amazing Disney travel offer for you and your family! For a limited time, kids can sail free on most three-night Bahamian cruises this winter and spring on Disney Cruise Line.

The 3-day Bahamian cruise from Port Canaveral (Florida) stops at Nassau and Castaway Cay, Disney's private island paradise (pictured above). The day trips offer fun activities and relaxation on the beach, the cruise ship offers non-stop entertainment for kids and parents as well.


The Disney Wonder also offers a 3-D movies in both the Walt Disney and Buena Vista Theatres where you can enjoy 3-D movies like the Walt Disney Pictures’ Bolt and the upcoming Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience. You can also enjoy “Toy Story-The Musical” in one of the on-board theatres. Children will also enjoy seeing the familiar Disney characters on the cruise. Disney has something special to offer adults as well, like nightclubs, wine tastings and shopping.


KIDS SAIL FREE OFFER DETAILS
Guests 12 and under can sail free on three-night voyages to Bahamas aboard the Disney Wonder when accompanied by two full paying guests within the same stateroom. This offer is valid for most cruises between January 22 to May 28, 2009. Government Taxes and Fees not included in this free Disney Cruise offer. Book your vacation and get more info on the “Kids Free” special offer or the 3-day Bahamian cruise at the Disney Cruise site.

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Me and my family were lucky to receive an advance copy of the newest Beethoven movie, the release date for the Beethoven's Big Break is December 26th. What is better than watching movies with your family during the Holidays..? Oh yeah, one thing: watching movies and eating popcorn and homemade peppermint bark.

We have seen and liked all the other Beethoven movies, and let me tell you, Beethoven does not disappoint this time either. Most dog lovers can not resist the cute face of the big Saint Bernard known as Beethoven, and neither can we. While Beethoven's Big Break offers the same misbehavior of this large canine called Beethoven, and comical situations it leads to, and even the bad guys after Beethoven like in the other Beethoven movies, the story line of Beethoven's Big Break is still new and fresh.

The story is about a single dad Eddie (Jonathan Silverman), who is an assistant animal trainer in the movies, and his son, Billy (Moises Arias from Hannah Montana), who would like to have a dog as a pet. Things are not always easy for them. One day Eddie gets fired and arrives home to find their home in chaos after Billy has found a huge Saint Bernard and brought it home. The next day Eddie returns to his work to pick up his lizard he had left on the set, accompanied by Billy and Beethoven, and they accidentally walk into an audition of a new dog movie, and Beethoven gets the role. In fact Beethoven becomes the new star for the studios receiving glamourous start treatment, even the dog whisperer Cesar Millan is hired to help this canine super star. (Or like Cesar would say, it's never the dog - it's the people who need the help)

The shooting of the movie starts and of course Beethoven causes more than a fair share of chaos and unexpected situations and all that makes the movie just better. The scenes of the movie he is starring are from the previous Beethoven movies (like stealing the dad's bacon scene), and it makes you almost think that some of the scenes in the original Beethoven movie from 1992 were lucky accidents, like they are in the Beethoven's Big Break. There are also other scenes in the movie that include the funniest Beethoven moments from the original movie, like the "muddy dog in the bed" scene.

I found this behind-the-scenes clip about the real life dog stars behind the role Beethoven and the real life animal trainers:

The movie has an all-star cast, including Jonathan Silverman (Weekend At Bernies), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Moises Arias (Hannah Montana), Stephen Tobolowsky (Heroes), Oscar Nuñez (The Office), Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer), Joey Fatone ('N Sync) and Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother), and it is appropriate even for the younger ones in the family making it the perfect Holiday time movie to watch with your family.



Beethoven's Big Break is $19.99 at Amazon, and I have a feeling it is one of those movies my kids will watch over and over again.

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Merry Christmas! Here is our family's Christmas wish come true (Austin, the beagle) showing some Holiday fashions.

Austin got this cute Santa outfit & toy elf from PetSmart, and kids love dressing him in little outfits like this. Austin - he would rather just take a nap, but he is such a sweet dog that he let's me and kids do silly stuff.

We've had a very low key and relaxing Christmas so far, just fun family time. Hoping you are having a wonderful Christmas!

PS. PetSmart has a huge sale going on, savings up to 40%.

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Rice Porridge & Prune Soup

Hyvää Joulua!


I have been in the kitchen most of the day, preparing our traditional Finnish Christmas dinner. We usually cook the Finnish dinner on Christmas Eve and then we cook American style Holiday dinner a day or two later. My ham is in the oven (I buy a whole raw ham and cook it myself and then make a mustard breadcrumb crust on it), but it will take a few more hours to cook. We just had some porridge for lunch.



RIISIPUURO - PORRIDGE

5 cups of water
1 3/4 cups rice (Sushi rice or Risotto rice, any type of soft sort grain rice)
6 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt

Boil the water, add rice and let it boil. Add milk and watch it until it starts boiling and but the heat down to medium, and stir constantly for about 10 minutes. There is a lot of liquid, but it's ok, the longer the rice cooks and the more liquid there is, the better the porridge. Turn down the heat to low and let it cook for about 30-40 minutes, stirring every now and then. Serve hot with milk, cinnamon and butter or with Prune Soup. Also - add ONE almond to the porridge, who ever gets it will be lucky next year and will have her/his wish to come true.

LUUMUKIISSELI - PRUNE SOUP
1 1/2 cup prunes
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbs potato starch

Boil the dried prunes in water together with a cinnamon and sugar for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool for a while. Dissolve potato starch in a drop of cold water and add to prune soup. Bring to boil. I forgot to buy potato starch and used regular flour instead, and we also like mixed dried fruits better than just prunes. To really get the "right" texture for the soup you need the potato starch or potato flour, but you can also make this using regular flour, then the consistency is just thicker, like in my picture on the top, but it was still delicious.

Rosolli is one of my must have Christmas dishes! I'm not that big of a fan of beets, but this salad is so traditional in Finland during Christmas, that I couldn't imagine having Christmas without rosolli.

ROSOLLI - BEETROOT SALAD

2 cans of beets
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 apple
1 whole pickle
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch white pepper

DRESSING
half pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons beet juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pinch salt
1 pinch white pepper


Boil carrots and the potatoes (with peels on to get better flavor). Let them cool down. Peel and chop the carrots and the potatoes to small. The smaller you chop the ingredients the better this salad will be. Chop beets, onion, apple and pickle. Mix everything well, add salt and pepper to taste. Put the salad to fridge and let it sit at least an hour before eating.

I took the above picture right after I had made the salad, but the color will get deeper red after you've let the salad sit for a while.

The dressing: whip the cream and then add other ingredients, make this right before serving.

Rutabagas

LANTTULAATIKKO - RUTABAGA CASSEROLE

2 large rutabagas
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
half pint of heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of molasses / corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ginger or cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 stick butter
1 small onion
1/2 teaspoon white pepper


There are several variations of rutabaga casserole, and if not done well, it can be very bitter. My tricks - cook for long time, and add corn syrup and cream. The original Finnish recipe calls for molasses, but the American type molasses is more bitter than the Finnish molasses, so I use dark corn syrup or even better the brown sugar corn syrup.

Peel the rutabagas, chop in fairly large cubes. Boil in water (add some salt) for almost an hour until they are super soft. Pour the water out but save about 3/4 cup of it and smash the rutabagas and add the water in the mashed rutabagas. In a separate bowl mix egg, breadcrumbs, cream, syrup and spices and let them sit for about 15-30 minutes. Chop the onion to very small and then saute it in plenty of butter to make it nice and golden. Then mix well the mashed rutabagas, cream/breadcrumb mix and the sauteed onions. Place in greased casserole dish, the deeper the better. Make spoon marks on the top of the dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. You can bake it in 400F in less than an hour, but to get better flavor, I recommend baking in 325-350F for about 2-3 hours.

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Radio City Christmas Spectacular

I would like to welcome you to spend Christmas in New York City with me! Christmas time in New York City is something I encourage everyone to experience at least once a lifetime and here are a few must see and do things I discovered during my first Christmas in the city. You can still see the magic of Holidays between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and the New Year's Eve in New York City is another experience you should see at least once!

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN NEW YORK



Build A Bear Store, Fifth Avenue

What ever your budget, you will be able to find your Christmas gifts in New York City, but even if your wallet is little bit on the lighter side, or you prefer online shopping, the window shopping in New York during Christmas time is a must. Think of it part of the Christmas culture in the city.

The Christmas department store windows are filled with unbelievable moving displays, each window telling a little story of their own. Some of the most extravagant ones are Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales.

Build A Bear Store, Fifth Avenue

While I don't like going to the large department stores with kids, there are a few stores that are just plain fun to go and stroll around with kids. My kids love The American Girl Store and the Build A Bear stores on the Fifth Avenue, and Toys'R'Us on Times Square and FAO Schwarz on the Fifth Avenue are always fun.

MUST SEE SHOWS


Radio City Christmas Spectacular

If you are visiting New York during the Holidays, make sure to reserve tickets to at least one Christmas time show. New York City Ballet's Nutcracker is a classic Christmas time ballet, which I won't get tired of seeing over and over again. If you want something new and modern, I highly recommend Cirque Du Soleil's Wintuk, it is a show with acrobatics, dancing, even ice and roller skating. Even fast & funky skateboards and mountain bikes appear in this highly skilled show, which is a cool show for the entire family. Wintuk is a great show to take your little bit older kids too, even the tweens and teens in the family will love Wintuk's story line and the young performers.

Cirque Du Soleil Wintuk


Radio City Christmas Spectacular

As you may guess from my photos galore... The Radio City Christmas Spectacular was this Christmas season one of my personal favorites. Me and kids spent my daughter's 7th birthday in the city and saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with Rockettes.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is one of the oldest still playing holiday shows in New York, and even though this was the first time I ever saw it, I would say it has developed to a very modern show with 3D glasses and multi-media parts, while still keeping the original charm and character with the high precision kicking of the Rockettes. The New York City sightseeing with a bus (the top picture) was an amazing mix of on stage performances combined with multimedia show on the background, and geek in me loved it! I personally also liked the Nativity Story part, I hadn't seen it for a while, and was also impressed of the real animals on the stage! Oh and the costumes... so colorful, perfect to the T, and you could write a whole blog post just about the costumes

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

SIGHTSEEING

There are several books written about sightseeing in New York, so these are only a few Holiday related tips I would like to share with you. Like mentioned before, the department store windows are a sight to see, and Central Park is another top hit any time of the year. Take the horse ride (only if you are equipped with warm clothes!) and then stop for a hot chocolate at one of the restaurants, like the Sara Beth's at Central Park South.

The giant Christmas ornaments are on the Sixth Avenue, only a short walk from the Rockefeller Plaza, where is probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world.

You can also find the ice skating rink at the Rockefeller Plaza, but it is fairly expensive and usually pretty crowded. There are several other ice skating rinks in New York City, and ice skating is absolutely one of the must do things while you visit the city during winter season.

If you are visiting city by train, make sure to stop at Bryant Park, only a few short blocks from the Grand Central terminal in the corner of W 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.

Bryant Park


Ice Skating in Bryant Park

Hope you enjoyed my little Holiday Tour in NYC - hope to see you visiting us here soon!

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On the first day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
a DM and a retweet.


On the second day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
two #twickuplines, and a DM and a retweet.


On the third day of Tweetmas, my followers gave to me…
three #shortyaward nominations, two #twickuplines,
and a DM and a retweet.

...

And it just gets better and better.. Get the whole song at The Problem is Men, thanks for making my day Charles, this is awesome!!

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Thank you so much for everyone who attended my $500 Walmart Gift Certificate Giveaway and shared so many great Holiday money saving tip ideas!

The winning Holiday Money Saving Tip was staycation, staying home instead of traveling and spending the Holidays at the Rockies. I do miss the Rockies, but the idea of making smores at home and sledding in the front yard actually appeals to me, and the money savings - huge! And still lots of fun with the kids. More money saving tips at Walmart.com.

Since Christmas is almost here - I wanted to give one lucky reader one more Christmas Gift - a $100 Walmart Gift Card. You won't get it before Christmas, but it'll be a gift you will find out on Christmas.

Gift cards are the perfect Last Minute Gift and that way the recipient will get exactly what they like. And don't worry if you can't do the high dollar ones, choose something that you can get for cheaper - like Starbucks gift card or iTunes Gift Card, 15 dollars gets a few cups of java or several song downloads. The above picture is a collection of Walmart's selection, but even if you don't want to give everyone in your list a Walmart gift card, you might still be able to find a gift card of your liking at Walmart - they also offer several restaurant gifts cards and the gift cards even for iTunes.



GIVEAWAY DETAILS
1. Comment here with your last minute gift tip (and leave me a way of me to contact you if you win).
2. Deadline December 24th midnight EST.

PS. DOUBLE your changes to win and enter Christine's giveaway too at From Dates to Diapers and Beyond

PS. Check out this baby - customized Eleven Moms card, we just heard about it this week, and it still is a corporate secret what all they will be used for, but I like how Walmart is embracing their Eleven Mom mommy panel with little details like this.

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