A New Year’s Stroll Through Little Falls, NY

Little Falls, NY, is a lovely and picturesque city in Herkimer County. First settled in 1723, it was originally called “Rock City.” No kidding– many of the city’s plentiful buildings were built perched on the rocky slopes and cliffs. Driving through the streets in an exciting challenge, but the views are simply stunning. Downtown was decorated for the holidays and it exuded a nostalgic “It’s a Wonderful Life” appeal.

Little Falls is another fine example of Upstate New York’s formerly prosperous era, between the Civil War and World War II. Many of the Victorian grand dames lines the streets, some kept up while other decaying.

One of the claims to fame of the city is The Human Polar Bear. City resident and eye specialist businessman Professor Louis Sugarman was thus called the Human Polar Bear for his sensationalist plunges into the freezing cold waters of the nearby Mohawk River. The man apparently bathed “daily,” even in temperatures of 20 BELOW zero!

The day we visited, the Monday after New Year’s Day, was extremely cold and the wind whipped around the rugged cliffs. No baths for us! I originally hoped we could wander the streets a bit, snapping photos and admiring the architecture, but it was too cold. Instead, we sauntered into Ann’s Cafe and Deli Restaurant for coffee and sandwiches. The prices are outstanding and the food was tasty. The coffee was Read more

It’s Coming, Get Ready

I live in Upstate New York. So when October is a few hours away, and I say “it’s coming” ….. chances are pretty good that I am referring to WINTER. I read a news story yesterday that said meteorologists are expecting an unusually cold and snowy winter for the Northern Hemisphere– perhaps the coldest of the decade– because of a weak El Nino occurrence this year. Weak El Ninos usually bring very cold winters for us in the Northeast. So we’re preparing for our winter early this year (and it was in the low 40s already today!): getting out the winter clothing, sealing up the windows, buying new coats for these growing children.

Without a doubt, one of the best winter coats you can get are the down jackets. They are light-weight, comfortable, and extremely warm. Webtogs is having a tremendous sale right now; if you are in need of some excellent winter wear or any kind of outdoor wear, you should definitely take a look at their inventory. They offer free shipping with qualifying orders all across the EU, too! Prices are good, service is exceptional, and you can find the best winter wear, and travel and camping gear available at Webtogs. The North face brand name is especially popular, and Webtogs has an incredible selection!

It pays to be prepared before the seriously cold weather hits. Webtogs can help!

Take a Trip to Kmart This Weekend

This post was sponsored by Kmart. All the opinions are mine.

It’s baaaack! The Kmart Bluelight Specials! I suggest you ditch your laze-in-the-sun plans for the weekend and take a trip out to your local Kmart. It’s for August 1st –this Saturday– ONLY. So if you’ve been looking for stuff on deep discount, check out Kmart and the Kmart Bluelight Specials.

Remember those old Bluelight specials of the 70s and 80s? I do. As a kid, I loved them! They became part of our culture. Kmart started them up in the 1960s (a Kmart in Indiana started the whole thing, using an old police strobe light to bring attention to discounted merchandise). It caught on across the nation, until the “Attention, Kmart shoppers!” became a household phrase. But Kmart ended the Bluelight specials in the 90s. I’m very happy to see them back. I LOVE buying things on discount. We frequently purchase travel and camping gear out-of-season, so maybe Kmart will be having some discounts on tents or flashlights or hiking boots. Kmart expects to feature at least 40 of the Bluelight specials, so there’s sure to be something for everyone! And there will be other big sales and promotions tomorrow, too. This is a great day for saving money at Kmart!

You can get up-to-date news and information about Kmart and Kmart deals if you are on Twitter- check them out @kmartdealsnnews. I subscribe to their emails, so I am “in the loop” about their specials, and I get coupons, too. Don’t miss this one if you’re into saving money!

Stunning Works of Art From Your Photos

Wow! If you have not yet seen this site, Paint Your Life.com, you really should check this out! Something like this would make such a beautiful Mother’s Day gift. Paint Your Life.com allows you to send them a photo (either by email, by upload at their website, or by snail mail) and they will create a work of art from your photo– a 100% real handmade painting or drawing. You can choose what art medium (pencil, oil painting, acrylic painting, etc). You pay 20% in advance. When your painting is completed, you are notified by email. You can approve the work immediately and pay the rest of the cost, and Paint Your Life will ship it out FedEx to anywhere in the world; or if you want, you can ask for modifications before making the final payment and approving shipment. Medium-sized paintings take about 2 weeks (give or take) to complete. So if you want to get something like this for your mom, now is the time to order.

I’m really amazed by this service! What a terrific gift these paintings will make– very unique and very, very personal. The prices are very affordable– many are under $100, and some of the biggest and extravagant portraits can be $500. Something like this would also make a terrific anniversary gift for the parents, or a wedding gift for a young couple, wow! You have got to check out the site. It’s really impressive.

The Kmart LayAway

Got your eye on a nice little pup-tent, or a Coleman propane lantern, or a sweet rolling computer case? Don’t have the cash on hand? (And if you’re like me, you’re trying to limit the use of the credit card for purchases now)? Well, do you remember the Kmart LayAway? I remember when it was first introduced, what, (unintelligible) years ago! The inception and ease of the credit card overshadowed the LayAway system, but credit card use has gotten a whole lot of people in trouble. Lots of folks are avoiding that way of making purchases as much as possible. So it’s natural that the frugal and easy Kmart Layaway for the Holidays would see a bit of a revival. The Kmart LayAway is actually a terrific service to save money and reserve that nice item you wanted when you don’t have the cash immediately on hand.

Here’s how the Kmart LayAway works:

1. Find your product(s) at Kmart.
2. Take it (or them) to the LayAway counter and make a down payment. New service contracts have a service fee of $5 and you pay an advanced Cancellation Fee of $10 upfront. Of course, if you don’t cancel your LayAway, you get the fee returned.
3. Make payments on your items every two weeks, for up to eight weeks.
4. Once your payments are completed, you take your stuff home.

Of course, if you want to use your credit card to make the LayAway purchase, Kmart accepts them. For me, I’d use the LayAway so as not to use the credit card, because it is too easy to use it all the time!

There are more details about Kmart’s LayAway program here.

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