Happy New Year in Montreal

What can I say about my hometown except ... je t'aime toujours!

Now that the post-Christmas markdowns are in effect, no one who plans to be in Montreal in the next little while should deny themselves retail therapy. We recently visited Sarah Pacini (www.sarahpacini.com) in Les Cours Mont-Royal ( a BIG KISS and thank you to Yvan, Rachel and friends...) and my advice is to get there quickly as the line is truly amazing and sizes are becoming more limited as the clearance items move out!

Also hit Aqua Skye on Crescent St. (www.aquaskye.com) for my earring fix, Specchio on Mountain St. for shoes, some of the fab-o shops on Sherbrooke in Westmount (hello Intermix!) and ogled shops on Laurier but ran out of shopping time, can you believe it?!

Sydney Hannah Wilkes as an Indian Princess

This sultry looking babe is my god daughter, age 18 months. The stunning outfit she's wearing belongs to her daycare provider.

Go see Angel -- She really is one!

Angel, the owner and stylist of Boutique Michelle at First Markham Place is such a uniquely wonderful spirit that even our lack of basic common language (she speaks Chinese) has not impeded our relationship. She has great and original finds and will always make you a "good price" if you mention me (Janet). I went by today to wish her a Happy Christmas and she gave me a gift of a beautiful scarf. As far as I'm concerned, the world needs more Angels!

More vintage finds

Nothing like crystals and jet for the Holidays!

A Gift from My Sister

This is one of my all time favourite things, purchased in New York City. My sister and I met a lovely woman who had a vintage jewellry store in Soho, but closed up shop. A year or so later Claudia managed to track the woman down, showing vintage pieces out of her loft. We both fell in love with this brooch. I think it's 1940s plastic with crystals, but I could be wrong. The clasp needs fixing, but otherwise it's in perfect shape!

This is Toby, the Wonder Dog!

Rant of the day: The no return policy

Even a savvy shopper occasionally makes a mistake. You know what I'm talking about. You buy something and the minute you walk out of the store you have shoppers remorse, BIG TIME. And what makes the whole experience worse is having to deal with a retailer who treats you with disdain and contempt, pointing to a dippy little sign next to the cash that reads: "ALL SALES FINAL, EXCHANGE ONLY".

A dissatisfied customer should be able to return any purchase for full refund within a reasonable amount of time, if said purchase is obviously unused with original sales tags intact. Retailers who give attitude instead of service will find themselves without customers. End of rant.