News

LADY MOSQUITO HANDBAG

As a handbag fetishist, I have to have one of these adorable Peruvian imports from Toronto's Lady Mosquito. (The one shown here sports an image of a peque bird.) The bags are colourful, chic and, best of all, affordable - the perfect pick-me-up for any little black dress. $89 through http://www.ladymosquito.ca.

A GOOD FOOD PROCESSOR

I have diced, sliced and mortar-and-pestled enough for one lifetime. It is now time to grow up and finally get a food processor. Cuisinart is the Cadillac of cooking appliances, so a top-of-the-line one of these will do the trick for me.

Pesto-filled ice-cube trays, here I come.

$299.99 at select stores across Canada (http://www.cuisinart.ca).

A TRIP TO THE MALDIVES

Paris might be burning, but the Maldives are sinking. More precisely, they are being submerged (because of global warming) by a steadily rising Indian Ocean. This month, the country's President announced that he's setting aside a chunk of the islands' significant tourist revenue in order to buy land for his people's eventual relocation to India, Sri Lanka or Australia. Now there's a beach vacation you can almost feel good about.

DIY CLAY-BEAD NECKLACE

For the past two years, Toronto's Allyson Tache has hosted African beading parties to fund a children's home she founded in Burkina Faso. For a measly $75, you can make your own beautiful necklace and meet some great fellow beaders. And it feels good knowing that every cent goes to needy kids. Tache's next parties will be held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 11 (contact tgtown@sympatico.ca for details).

WET-WEATHER RUNNING GEAR

I'm running the London Marathon in 2009. There: I said it. And you know what that means. The next few months of my life are going to include a lot of running and a lot of rain (often at the same time). That's why I want to kit myself out with some state-of-the-art water-resistant training gear - the athletic equivalent of a Mac and Wellies. English weather be damned. $89.99 jacket at the Running Room (http://www.runningroom.com).