How To Get Into the Statue of Liberty CROWN

The Statue of Liberty Crown just reopened. But access is limited daily. To learn how to get in, visit ZIP TIPS by clicking here.

Note: there is no A/C in the crown and it get extremely hot in summertime. Also the windows are much smaller than they appear so you are not expecting more than the crown offers.

Personalized Photo Stamps

Now you can create your own customized stamps for any time of the year--holidays, new baby arrival, birthday, graduation.

Click here

Victoria's Secret Panty Scam

Everyone loves Victoria's Secret--women and men! Right?! Blog Sister, Christine, is a regular shopper of their catalog items. Read her experience in trying to make a simple exchange at a local Victoria's Secret.

Click here for her posting Victoria Secret Panty Scam.

Email Chains--Fact or Fiction?

We all get them--email chains with fantastic stories about cars covered in millions of diamonds, heroic deeds by celebrities, or tips to save you from those pesky telemarketers.

But are they all true? Most of them are not! Find out now.

Santa may get more than lump of coal

Looks like that winter storm which started in Northern Virginia over the cancellation of a popular Santa gathered momentum. A suprising or not-so-surprising announcement by Santa's publicist (only in the USA) stated a mutual agreement may be reached. News spread across the nation and both the management company of Tyson's Corner and World Wide Photography admitted it was not the best decision for the long-time customers. Looks like the Grinch will not succeed and steal Christmas.

LESSON LEARNED: if you lose your current job you can secure one, and earn the deed to Santa's workshop or Cinderalla's castle, as a favorite, fictional character especially if your physical features match the real character and you genuinely love kids.

This gives me an idea--I could be Mrs. Santa- wide girth, chubby cheeks and a nurturing spirit. [Alicia]

WHAT DO YOU THINK? GO AHEAD, don't be shy--tell us which country you live in and what you think! Even if your family doesn't celebrate Santa, let us know what your family tradition entails. You can remain anonymous or use a code name.

Even Santa gets Laid Off in these Hard Times

In these turbulent economic times, even Santa gets laid off. Yes it's true. A popular Santa in Northern Virginia (his real name is Mike Graham), was given a pink slip instead of a red suit. But wait, another Santa was going to replace the Santa with the real, white, snowy beard.

Like Santa who works in the north pole, and travels the globe to fill stockings of children with care, Mike Graham actually lives in Tennessee as a carpenter and works the Christmas season (a total of five weeks, seven days straight) in Virginia listening to children share their wish list. This particular Santa is known for his notable patience, wit and humor with children.

The Washington Post ran the article today and the news is spreading faster than the speed of Santa's sleigh of reindeers --that's a lot of countries in 24 hours to give you an idea.

According to the story, the management company of the Tyson's Corner mall, hired a new photo company and the two agreed to pick a new Santa.

So Blog Sisters has a couple of theories. One, if you look at Mike Graham's publicity photo--he's the perfect Santa. But when was it taken? If Mr. Graham has served as Santa at Tyson's Corner mall for 18 years, and is now 51 years old, has time taken its toll on his appearance? Are his cheeks rosy or weather gray? Do his eyes twinkle or simmer like charcoal? Yes, it could be all about looks. Let's face it, Models are hired first for looks.

Theory two: MONEY. Mike Graham was paid $30,000 for each season, -- this ain't no stocking filled with coal for working 7 days x 5 weeks straight--that's 35 days. Money talks and according to the new photography company, Santa's earn an average $17/hour. But Mike Graham invests in three costom made, red velvet Santa suits each costing $900 a piece not including the boots. We assume he has to pay for room and board nearby.

According to the article, two generations of families have sat on the knee of this Santa who enamors all. We predict this story is far from the Grinch stealing Christmas. Rather, tradition, a long-time and cherished tradition of Santa and the Christmas spirit will prevail one way or another.

What do you think?? POST A COMMENT BELOW!!!!

We're Giving Away Music CDs, Gift Cards and More!

Well we just can't wait until Christmas. With so much haunting news about the economy worldwide, we brainstormed on Glenda-the-good-witch ways to dispel economic spooks and brighten your day a little (in addition to our blogs). So we thought of giving away some fun and practical prizes for doing something as simple as reading a posting, and posting a comment. No jumping through hoops.

It's definitely fun to give especially on a Monday when the long week starts and you aren't expecting anything. It's not the lottery, but music is universal and nourishes the heart and uplifts the spirit. It's also our way of saying thank you, for supporting our efforts by reading our blogs.

Earlier this month, we gave away a Fashion gift prize to one lucky reader just for reading our blog and posting a comment! That's it. Donna from Miami (who is one of our subscribers and we've never met) was the first person to post a comment in Krysha's Shopping Kapades and won a $10 gift card to Macy's, the October issue of VOGUE magazine, mini size bottles of the new Oli facial and eye creams for antiaging, and Victoria's Secret Sexy Mints.

So we have a stack of brand new music CD's ranging from:
Roy Orbison 4CD collection , Bob Dylan collection of rare and unreleased recordings (2 CDs), Santana (Multi Dimensional Warrior), Sarah McLachlan, Jazmine, Kelly Pickler, Mary Mary, Raphael Saadiq, and some classic Christmas songs by Elvis Presley and other famous artists

We plan to giveaway more than Music CDs. We have several gift packages for gardening (seeds for planting flowers, vegetables, pair of garden gloves, and gardening design magazines). Hint: we're giving this away soon on our GREEN BLOG which we recently remodeled! Also with Christine's fascination for James Bond, hence her new blog wallpaper, we're planning to give away movie passes to see the next release, Quantum of Solace airing November 14 in the U.S.

HOW TO WIN?
Just check any of our seven blogs at any time for the announcement. To get ahead of the game, you can always "subscribe" to a blog (not all blogs have this option, only some) with your email and a message is sent automatically to your email whenever we post to a certain blog. The first person to POST A COMMENT wins the prize. And WE WiLL SHIP ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD at no cost to you!

The details--your comment will not appear immediately on our blog. It first lands in our INBOX for approval (we moderate comments to ensure there is no foul language or spammers). So based on the order it arrives in our inbox, and once we approve them, it gets posted to the blog.


LIST of BLOGS
About Alicia Grecco
About Christine Michaels
Fishing in Lake Valdez (the Green blog)
We'll Show you the Money (anything about money)
Krysha's Shopping Kapades (Fashion)
Fabulous Florida
Zip Tips