Laced with frost, shiny as satin - the naked "undertones," naughty violets, trousseau whites and skimpy pinks of this playfully provocative new colour collection are designed for your inner femme. This Lingerie is meant to be seen! Flaunt it!

Holiday spending climbed 8.7% ahead of last year, according to SpendingPulse, a retail-sales data service from MasterCard International's MasterCard Advisors unit. Demand for flat-panel television sets, MP3 players and digital cameras helped spur gains, as did sales of home furnishings. But sales of jewelry fell this season following years of solid gains.

The strongest category gains came in home furnishings, including linens and picture frames, with sales up 15%, according to the SpendingPulse data. Sales of consumer electronics grew 11%, fueled in part by prices for flat-screen TVs and digital cameras that were lower than last year. Sales of sporting goods, books, music and video advanced 6.4%, while apparel rose 5.8%, despite the lack of must-have items this year. Women's apparel did a little better, with an 8.2% gain. Furniture sales rose 5.3%. Sales of jewelry slid 4.6%, perhaps as shoppers funneled their big-ticket spending into electronics.

Online spending continued to explode this year, as retailers offered Web-only discounts and shipped gifts later than ever. Holiday retail sales on the Internet are expected to top predictions of $19.6 billion in sales this year, a figure that is 24% ahead of the $15.8 billion consumers spent online last holiday season, according to comScore Networks Inc., a Reston, Va., market-research firm.

If you got a gift card to a store that you'd never shop in, and you can't return it to the merchant, how about selling it or swapping it for another?
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Numerous websites allow you to buy, sell, or swap gift cards with someone else. You'll have to register with the site, and there's usually a small transaction fee.

"Now younger women are looking at these boomer women and saying 'Wow, it's not so bad growing older,'" says Denise Fedewa, a senior vice president at Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett who recently completed a study on women older than 45. "Maybe they're as much the trendsetters as younger women."

It's a phenomenon not just in this country but in much of the Western world, says Mair Underwood, an Australian researcher who's examined attitudes about aging among boomers and others in her country. Still, while she applauds people who want to take better care of themselves, she worries that an obsession with fending off age will cause young people, in particular, to struggle with the inevitable changes in their bodies later in life. "Will we end up with a whole generation of individuals with low self-esteem?" asks Underwood, who's based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

Amy Flink, a 24-year-old Chicagoan, agrees that societal expectations can go overboard. She recently went for a free department store facial, only to have the clerk berate her about her freckles and the beginnings of tiny lines under her eyes. That kind of harsh response, she says, "adds an extra level of paranoia and self-doubt _ and how many people in their 20s need that?"

The new tax credits replace a $2,000 tax deduction on hybrids that's been available in recent years. Credits are usually far more lucrative than deductions, because credits reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar, while deductions reduce your taxable income. For someone in the top 35% tax bracket, the old $2,000 deduction produced a $700 tax savings.

The Internal Revenue Service has yet to release final guidance on the credits, but energy-conservation advocacy groups estimate the credits will range from $250 to $3,400, based on fuel economy and vehicle weight.

To see a list of the estimated tax credits on current and expected hybrid car models, check out www.aceee.org/transportation/hybtaxcred.htm. Of 21 hybrids listed, 14 have estimated credits in excess of $1,000. Three probably won't be eligible for credits. (At least one state, Colorado, has a state tax credit, too.)

So simple and intuitive, that TechTether -- the brainchild of two Medina women -- is to be featured on "The Today Show" this morning as a hot holiday gift. The devices, with clasps on each end, come in 35 styles and retail from between $20 and $100.

After losing two cell phones, once while on a ride at Disneyland, Mary Bennett thought that surely someone else had already made such a device and hoped to buy one. But when she searched for such a product online, she found nothing.

"I couldn't believe it. Even to this day, I'm still waiting for, 'Hey, did you see this" similar product?

So the stay-at-home Medina mother of four went to a store and bought two strings of freshwater pearls, which she tied together, then duct-taped them to her phone and purse.

The Neova Eye Therapy is an incredibly elegant gel goes on smoothly and helps to rejuvenate aging skin changes under the eye. Copper helps to rebuild collagen, elastin and GAGs and promotes the appearance of more youthful, luminous skin. Antioxidant properties help slow down or prevent further signs of aging. May be used with care on the upper eyelids. As always in this delicate area, should any redness or irritation arise, discontinue use on the upper lid. Keep out of the eye.

Creme De La Copper (0.5 oz) contains an innovative combination of GHK Copper Peptide Complex micronutrition, marine minerals and antioxidants nourish deep within the skin’s surface. Copper stimulates collagen and elastin production, while providing a potent antioxidant defense against free radicals. This intense moisturizing formulation provides immediate relief to dry, aging skin, improving skin texture and appearance.

Tomczyk's business has been challenged in other ways. In April 2002, he made the Snip program eBay-compatible. Soon after, eBay Germany prohibited the use of automated programs on its auction site, at one point suing a company that sold automated bidding software. A settlement was eventually reached and eBay revoked the ban. eBay has since acknowledged the existence of automated bid programs, but refers to them as "outbid" services in its help section.

Tomczyk has now set his sights on the U.S. market. "We currently have about 30,000 Snip users in the U.S.," Tomczyk said. "The potential for Snip in the U.S. is huge because of the popularity of eBay in that market. It dwarfs the online auctions of Europe."

The growth of Snip from a hobby to a worldwide enterprise has consumed much of Tomczyk's life. Last September, after seven years of study, he achieved his Bachelor's degree. He is now pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science.

"We are excited about this wonderful opportunity with Marriott International to involve its customers in supporting the American Red Cross," said Kathleen Loehr, Interim Senior Vice President of Development for the American Red Cross. "Contributions from the purchase of the Marriott bear will help us achieve our mission to help Americans prevent, prepare for and respond to life's emergencies."

Carmel is a pet friendly town where dogs can run free on Carmel Beach. Several Carmel restaurants welcome your pet for lunch and dinner and some provide your pet with a water bowl and biscuits. Some restaurants even feature a special menu for your dog!

Many might have thought Coca-Cola was being a soda jerk for canning Vanilla Coke last month, but now we know the reason behind the move: The company was clearing space on supermarket shelves for a coffee-flavored drink called Coca-Cola Blak.

Apparently tired of losing the thirst-share of Generation X-ers addicted to Starbucks and Red Bull, the beverage behemoth will launch Coca-Cola Blak in coffee-craving France next month, with a worldwide rollout soon to follow.

"We believe we have created a new category of soft drink — an adult product in a carbonated beverage — and a whole new drinking experience. This brand is ideal for any part of the day when people are looking for renewed energy or simply to take a break," said Marc Mathieu, vice president of global core brands.

We assume when he says "any part of the day," he means anytime that does not precede sleeping.

Raul Vazquez, vice president of marketing at walmart.com, estimated that traffic on the Web site was up double digits this past weekend over a year ago. The most popular item is a one-inch cube-shaped digital music player that's available only online - 1,000 units of the $100 cube, are selling per day, he said.

In August, PC Magazine's Web site called the Cube "the smallest, most impressively full-featured flash player we've seen yet."

The Cube features an FM radio receiver and voice-recording capabilities, can be used as a portable USB drive and comes in six colors. It has no ports other than the headphone jack, which is used to connect to computers and to charge the battery as well as to listen (the flip side is that one can't listen to the Cube while charging it).

The battery life is 8-10 hours, falling short of the iPod Shuffle's 12-hour capability.

"We compete head-on with the iPod Shuffle," said Bob Fullerton, director of product marketing for mobiBLU's parent company, Hyun Won Inc., "and many reviewers give the Cube a better recommendation than the Shuffle for our added features."

Expect to see more. IPods and other portable MP3 Latest News about MP3 music players are forecast to be the top electronics gift pick for the holidays, paving the way for a season of robust sales in the consumer electronics category.

It's a perfect storm of factors, analysts say: Prices of some of the most coveted goods have fallen as much as 30 percent, and there's a critical mass of shoppers who are ready to shell out for such pricey gifts as high-definition TVs and iPods.

"You have a tremendous amount of new products that are out there that have finally reached the point of mass appeal," said Sean Wargo, industry analyst for the Consumer Electronics Association.

"This year we really like the globes. They're a really popular item," said shopper Brenda Way.

Snow globes certainly are a popular item. The globe, which lights up and displays a continuous snowstorm within, recently sold out at both Lowe's and Home Depot in Rome.

"They came in maybe two weeks before Thanksgiving, and they were gone before Thanksgiving," said Brent Scott, a Rome Home Depot associate.

"Pretty much every person walking in the store had to stop and stare at that thing I know I always did walking past it, you know I think little kids looked like they wanted to live inside that thing," said Mike Stiadle, Rome Lowe's store nanager.

Customers all around the country, including an enthusiastic Lee County contingency, are snapping up the $199 8-foot blow-up snow globes. They contain more than 1.5 million white pellets that swirl around like snow. The "snow" in the globe looks especially real when it's blowing around Santa Claus, a snowman and a Christmas tree. The globes take about four minutes to inflate.

Made by Gemmy Industries, the globes also come in smaller sizes, but the large varieties are the most popular.

"We are already sold out," said Joe Dinnegan, sales specialist at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse in Cape Coral. "I don't think we're going to get any more."

Snowblower technology has come a long way in recent years as the machines have become easier to use. Some of the biggest changes have been "ease of use" features such as better steering systems, Blewett said.

"Things that were optional before, like hand warmers, drift cutters and headlights, are now expected," he said.

Smaller, compact snowblowers are a hot item, Fette said, as consumers want machines that are lightweight to push and maneuver.