Valentine Fun: Famous Couples In History

Winter Decorating Tips

As the weather gets colder, here are some tips to make your home as cozy as possible:

Light Candles
Nothing says winter like the warm glow of a candle flame. Why not dim your overhead lighting and light some candles around the house? Candles with seasonal scents like evergreen and gingerbread will doubly enhance the wintery charm.

Garnish The Staircase or Balcony
If you have a staircase or balcony, consider wrapping the railings with with lights, garlands, or bows.

Opt for a Seasonal Centerpiece
Create or purchase a centerpiece with seasonal flair. If you'd like to make your own, try using poinsettias, small wreaths, gourds, birch bark, rose hips, cranberries, pinecones, candles, or evergreen sprigs.

Warm up with blankets and throw rugs
Since your family will be spending more time inside as the temperatures drop, make your home’s couches and chairs as comfy as possibly by draping them with snuggly throws and extra blankets in vibrant colors. What better way to curl up with a book on a winter night?

Happy Friday!

We hope everyone enjoys their weekend and stays warm!

By The Bay: Traveling To Tampa

If you’re en route to the Big Guava (as Tampa is called by locals), you’re in for a treat. One of the largest cities on Florida’s western coast is overflowing with entertaining stuff to do. This quick guide will point you in the right direction.

Tampa underwent massive surges of growth in the 1950s and 1960s, as post-war prosperity swept the area. The town built two of the most popular tourist destinations in that time – amusement park Busch Gardens and the spectacular Lowry Park. Tampa was voted one of the best outdoor cities in America by Forbes Magazine, and one visit to Lowry Park will show you why. The temperate weather means that the park stays green year-round, with beautiful meadows and forests.

Located in the hip Channel District, the Florida Aquarium is widely regarded as one of the best in the United States, with over 20,000 species of animals and plants represented. While you’re in the area, visit the SS American Victory, a former World War II victory ship that has been transformed into a floating museum.

In late January, Tampa hosts the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, called by many the Mardi Gras of Florida. This rambunctious event kicks off with a flotilla led by the pirate ship Jose Gasparilla and features parades, concerts, street festivals, and more.

Tampa also has a number of excellent restaurants, as the melding of cultures in the region means you can get excellent Cuban, Cajun, French, and much more. Some of the best include Six Tables, Donatello, and Mise en Place.

5 Great iPod Accessories

Whether you’re shopping for items to enhance your own iPod or looking to give somebody else the perfect iPod-related gift, these accessories will delight you:

Zagg Invisible Shield
This shield performs the all-important job of protecting an iPod screen from scratches, dirt, grease marks, and fingerprints. It's one of the most reliable iPod shields on the market and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

BOSE SoundDock iPod Docking Station
This is a must-have item for diehard music aficionados who place sound quality above price considerations. It isn’t cheap but it offers some of the best sound available among all of the iPod speaker docks currently on the market.

Nike + iPod Sport Kit
If you’re an exercise fan, this accessory allows you to turn your iPod into a workout coach. It works wirelessly with a pair of Nike shoes; put a chip in your shoe and plug in a sensor to your iPod, and you can record the distance and pacing of your exercise.

Shure E500 PTH Earphones
Music fans rave about the exceptional sound quality of these earphones. People also love the Shure brand’s unique push-to-hear function, a small device that lets you temporarily mute your music so that you can hear the outside world – without having to remove the earphones from your ears.

Universal Charger Kit
The Universal Apple iPod USB Charger Kit is perfect for people with on-the-go lifestyle, ensuring that you can always keep your iPod powered up. The kit includes a car charger, an electrical plug-in adapter, and a USB cable. The items in the kit feature compact designs (including retractable coil-cords) for easy storage.

Tap It: Five Awesome iPhone And iPad Games

Apple’s portable devices have redefined gaming – no longer do you need a joystick or buttons to have fun on the go. Instead, games that use the iPhone and the iPad’s touchscreen interface are all the rage. There are hundreds of games on sale in the App Store, making it hard to find those that are worth your time. Here are five that will give you hours of entertainment:

-          Angry Birds. In many ways the killer app for portable gaming, this insanely popular game is deceptively simple: use a slingshot to launch cartoon birds at structures to dislodge pigs. But inside the game is a robust physics simulation and some exceptionally well-designed levels.

-          Infinity Blade. This 3D swordfighting game has won legions of fans for its bracing difficulty and gritty, intuitive mechanics. The story hook, which has you playing multiple generations of warriors, is great too.

-          Doodle Jump. One of the first iPhone hits, this simple action game has a charming low-tech visual style and is insanely addictive. Guide your little hopping hero up the clouds by tilting the device and tapping the screen.

-          Critter Crunch Lite. This charming, colorful puzzle game is easy to learn but infuriating to master, and will have you coming back over and over again.

-          Game Dev Story. A hilarious simulation game that puts you inside a software company, this addictive title has won legions of fans for its insider humor and cute art style.

The Patient’s Bill of Rights: What’s It Mean?

If you’re like many people, you’ve heard the term “Patient’s Bill of Rights” and found yourself wondering: what does that mean, exactly? Read on to learn about ways this new law helps you.

1. Choice of Doctors

The law guarantees your right to select any doctor from your health plan provider’s network. Click here for more: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/rights/doctor-choice/index.html

2. Protection Against Cancellation

Before the Patient’s Bill of Rights was established, your insurance company had the ability to cancel your coverage if you or your employer made an error on the insurance application. Not anymore! Read more here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/rights/cancellations/index.html

3. No More Lifetime or Annual Limits

Health care providers can no longer place a lifetime dollar limit on your benefits. The new laws also restrict insurance companies from putting annual limits on people’s coverage. By 2014, the practice of limiting annual dollar amounts will be entirely phased out. For more, click here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/costs/limits/index.html

4. Coverage for Young Adults

Parents can now can keep children on their health insurance policies until they reach the age of 26. Read more here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/choices/young-adult-coverage/index.html

5. Pre-Existing Conditions: New Hope

Under the Patient’s Bill of Rights, if you are a U.S citizen and have been uninsured for at least six months, you can gain access to health care coverage if you’ve previously been denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition. More on this development here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/choices/pre-existing-condition-insurance-plan/index.html

Five Best Tearjerkers

Sometimes crying your eyes out while watching a movie is the greatest catharsis imaginable. A good tearjerker moves our hearts and offers us emotional release. So get out your box of tissues and read on to learn about five of the best tearjerker films:

Goodbye, Mr. Chips - Made in 1939, this classic drama tells the tale of a beloved and good-hearted teacher who, after a life of loneliness, finds love with a wonderful woman. When tragedy strikes, some of the most heartrending moments in cinematic history unfold on the screen.

Steel Magnolias – This 1989 Southern drama centers on a group of strong-willed female friends as they navigate love, loss, and everything in between. When one of the women experiences a major devastation, the film kicks into high tearjerker gear.

Love Story - Hugely popular when it was released in 1970, this film still resonates with tearjerker-loving audiences today. It tells the story of a young couple who, after falling in love and building a life together against considerable odds, find themselves torn apart by an expected force.

Glory – No list of tearjerker movies would be complete without this 1989 Civil War drama, which tells the story of the war’s first African-American regiment. The troops, comprised of both free men and escaped slaves, train under the leadership of a Boston abolitionist, preparing to fight bravely for liberty — and their ultimate fate will leave you sobbing.

Life Is Beautiful - Roberto Benigni’s 1998 movie tells the story of a father who protects his small son from the terrors of life in a concentration camp by pretending it’s all an elaborate game. The movie’s use of humor and whimsy only heighten the poignancy of the horror that unfolds for the father and son.

Partying into the Fall!

Get ready for the fall and winter entertaining season with these exciting party themes!

Harvest Potluck – Celebrate the bounty of fall with friends by sharing homemade dishes. Heat pots of mulled wine and cider to share and make a centerpiece of decorative gourds and corn in a basket.

Oktoberfest – Serve German favorites like knackwurst and sauerkraut with a wide selection of imported and micro-brew beers in sample-size portions (use small juice glasses). Set up tables for a beer garden feel. Mimic the feel of a tent inside with strings of lights and streamers in your party colors.

Game Day – Ramp up a Sunday afternoon game with a football themed party. Decorate in your home team’s colors, and hand out beads and hats in team colors. Clear out the TV room to make room for seating for all of your guests.

Back to School – Ease the end of summer for the kids with a party celebrating the beginning of the school year. Hang up a blackboard with some chalk for the guests to write messages on. Try a craft that leaves the kids with something they can use at school, like a decorated pencil box or lunch bag.

Best Travel Sites: Save Money On Your Next Trip

Traveling can take a toll on your wallet, so why not plan your trip through a travel site to keep your costs minimal? The more money you save in getting to your destination of choice, the more you can spend on enjoying the place’s best offerings while you’re there.  Here are some of the most useful travel sites to help you find exciting deals on airfare:

Bing Travel
This cutting edge site has a “price predictor” feature that gives you a recommendation as to whether you should purchase a ticket now or wait for a lower fare. All you have to do is enter your desired itinerary and Bing will give you a list of flight options accompanied by a “buy now” or “wait until later” suggestion. Click here to try it out: www.bing.com/travel/

WhichBudget.Com
If you’re looking to save on international travel, this is a great site for you. The WhichBudget system searches through the airlines of over 170 countries to help you build a budget-friendly overseas flight itinerary. One of the major perks of WhichBudget is that it will suggest smaller, cheaper airlines that may never have reached your radar otherwise. Click here to visit the site: www.whichbudget.com

Yapta.com
This site’s unique specialty is that it will track a flight’s price for you after you’ve purchased your ticket – an especially useful feature since, if the flight’s cost drops after you’ve purchased your ticket, most airlines will refund the difference (usually in travel credits or vouchers). Visit the site here: www.yapta.com

Kayak.com
If you’re flexible with your time and exact destination, then Kayak.com is the best site for you. It will trawl through hundreds of online sources and gather the cheapest available airfares for your purposes. The site has a popular Buzz tool that will find you the best deals on flights leaving within any length of time (you choose the length) relative to your preferred dates. Another major boon of the site: the Explore feature, which will scan a map of the world for all the locations you can reach within your specified budget. Click here for more: www.kayak.com

Planning the perfect trip – rich in adventure, cheap in cost – has never been easier than it is today with so many fantastic online resources. So sit down at your computer and start dreaming up your next vacation with the help of these top-notch travel sites. Happy trails!

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