There's nothing sweeter to my heart than being remembered.

Postcard from Margaret: 6.50 Guatamalan quetzal's

In honour of Valentine's Day, I picture here the best present I've gotten from a boy in quite a while: a rare-earth magnet liberated from an impressively amazing wind turbine project. I am so blown away by the sheer coolness of both the magnet and its boy of origin that you'll probably be hearing more about both . . . eventually.

Magnet: $0, a badass gift (yes, it's holding a book to the fridge)

Bad jokes about magnetic attraction: $0, unfortunately those come real cheap

So, I can pretty much die happy now. One of my favourites pointed me in the direction of a boutique secondhand store with the promise of good bead treasures. Three minutes of my Maritime charm and the owner was bringing out a sack - yes, a sack - of all the broken, unloved, mangled, and plain ugly crap that she couldn't sell in her store.

Within were two gaudy gold bangles that now prove an excellent study in before & afters.

Bangles: $.50 each

Beads & findings: $1, maybe

Dirty secret haunt: $0, hallelujah!

So, uh, apparently you can buy beads online, eh? Crap.

Etsy Gold: $not saying

Vase: $0, gift from a few of my favourite Winnipeggers

Whoumphf. I was told to show up somewhere 'dressed nice and all that' (by someone who should maybe know me better by now). So I gleefully hauled out my best polyester and peach pits and sashayed to a little shindiggy that ended up being populated by 40 women my mother's age in black cocktail dresses & Badgley Mischka costume jewellery and their equally streamlined looking fellas.

Dress: $3.99 at Salvation Army

Peach pits: $6.99 at bead den in Miami

Long organic strands: $0, from my great grandma

One for the memoirs: $0, enough already