Nevada boasts that it has a lot to offer Californians—no income taxes, no corporate taxes, fewer regulations.

And all the foie gras you can eat.

Almost six months after California banned the sale and production of foie gras, or fatty duck liver, a few dozen Californians were heading to Reno over the weekend to buy the contraband product. They were attending a foie gras tasting prepared and hosted by Laurel Pine, owner of Mirepoix USA, a gourmet food company we profiled last June.

Pine moved her business from California to Nevada last year in anticipation of the ban. "My sales have actually doubled, so the ban has been a very good thing for my business." She says all the publicity around the outlawing of foie gras drew attention to the product.

Some long-time liver lovers stocked up, spending hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars. Others tried foie gras for the first time to see what the fuss was all about. "It's actually increased interest in the product more than ever."

Foie gras is made from livers that have been plumped up to several times their normal size through force feeding, a process called gavage. Animal rights activists call it cruel. Supporters of foie gras say it is not, that ducks don't have a gag reflex. California lawmakers took the side of animal rights groups in banning the product, but it is still legal in California to possess foie gras. Many chefs and foodies are crossing state lines to buy it or making purchases online from out-of-state sellers.

There's a nip in the air, and it's not just winter. It's the coming bite from higher capital gains taxes and other inevitable "punishments" for being successful.

So before we go off the "fiscal cliff," or before at least some taxes rise to avoid it, here are ways Wall Street is bracing for the new year. It's the annual list of finance-related cocktails created by Cognito, a financial marketing and PR firm. (Read More: Par-ty! Office Holiday Parties Are Back.)

It's that time of the year! Mistletoe, jingle bells, cutting through deadly plastic toy packaging.

Wearing ugly sweaters.

Last week I wrote about a fun holiday fundraising campaign by StandUp2Cancer. Sign up to wear an ugly holiday sweater at least one day during December, and then encourage your friends to pledge money if you have the guts to follow through. The money goes to su2c's efforts to bring together researchers and speed to market potentially lifesaving cancer treatments. (Read More: Color 2013 Blue, but Color December Green.)

Why use ugly sweaters to raise money to fight cancer? Because it takes courage!

Thank goodness that port strike is over. Now criminals can get back to the business of smuggling illegal stuff into the United States.

Like rubber ducks wearing Santa hats.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection say they've intercepted nearly 36,000 seasonal toys from China which contain harmful amounts of Phthalates (just trying to spell that word made me ill). "Phthalates are a group of chemicals--oily, colorless liquids--that are used among other things to make vinyl and other plastics soft and flexible."

It's a cruel day in Whoville when the Grinch has even poisoned your bath toys.

(Read More: Hot Holiday Toys for 2012)

Calling yourself "creative" is getting less and less creative.

LinkedIn has released its list of the most overused buzzwords on LinkedIn Profiles, and for the second year in a row, "creative" tops the list.

Come on, people, be innovative. Use something more effective.

On Tuesday I blogged about the Craigslist post from a Wall Street mover and shaker seeking to hire someone to manage his online dating endeavors.

"I am a busy Wall Street professional and don't have time to do this myself," he wrote. Or someone wrote for him. Because he's busy.

I sent an email to the writer and promised to update readers if I heard back. (Read More: Help Wanted on Wall Street: Manage My Dates.)

I heard back.

Sort of.

Few places are as romantic as Wall Street. It's a warm, fairy-tale land where people put others before themselves, where sensitivity is cherished and chivalry lives on.

So it may come as a shock to you that someone claiming to be a Wall Street pro has shattered that caring image by wanting to outsource management of his online dating pursuits through Craigslist.

"If I were going to start a brothel today, I wouldn't."

You don't hear that every day.

Susan Austin is the madam who runs Nevada's legendary Mustang Ranch, the state's first legal brothel.

Prostitution is legal in ten of Nevada's 17 counties. Austin worked her way up in the industry, and when businessman Lance Gilman bought the Mustang Ranch in 2003, he hired her to renovate and expand the facility.

"I started this from the concept with a large group of working ladies," Austin said. "We decided how it should look, and then I put on a hard hat and steel toed boots and built it with the help of some construction gentlemen."

Nevada has been hit harder than any other state in the downturn. Last month, it had the highest unemployment rate and the second highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Las Vegas is slowly recovering.

Further north, there's still a fiscal Reno 911.

Congratulations. This time Thursday you will be wealthier than your wildest dreams. YOU are going to win the Powerball jackpot which, at the moment, is $550 million. (Read More: Can You Guarantee a Powerball Win?)

So, what are you going to do now? Buy Disneyland?

Here are some suggestions. You may notice a theme.