With the New Year and a new decade just days away, it is time to take stock of what we have accomplished over the past year and set goals for the near and long term future.

As for me, I had a very eventful and enjoyable 2009.  Firstly, I want to thank each and every one of you who have helped me make it such a successful year.  I also want to thank those throughout Canada and the world who have given their time, resources and energy to make change.  You are the true unsung heroes who make the world a better place.

In 2009, I held the “Barefoot Challenge,” where I lived life without shoes for seven days during National Volunteer Week, from April 19 to 25.  Thousands of young people from more than 25 countries around the world kicked off their shoes to better understand the struggles faced by poor children in underdeveloped countries, many of whom cannot afford shoes, let alone other basic necessities.  When people asked me why I didn’t have shoes, I told them because millions of children throughout the world didn’t either.

During the summer, I had the honour of traveling to South Africa to meet with Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  We spoke about so much that is happening in the world today, and how young people can work together to create a better world.  I also had the opportunity to meet some incredible students at schools throughout the country.

In August, I participated in a scientific expedition in the Arctic called “Students on Ice,” where 75 young people and 30 scientists from all over the globe learned how increasing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are affecting the rest of the planet.  I also continued on a very busy speaking tour for my book, Making Change: Tips From an Underage Overachiever, and was the focus of a story on CNN.

Yet all this activity took a lot of planning months earlier.  In fact, I have already begun planning for my short and long term activities over the next year – and the next decade.

In the second part of my book, there are worksheets that will help you plan your next twelve months.   They ask you to list spiritual, personal, educational, community service, financial and even fitness goals.  There are also weekly and monthly goal lists that will help you stay on track throughout the year.

The worksheets also ask you to list your strengths and most importantly, your personal mission statement, so that you can utilize what you do best in order to live 2010 – and the next decade – to the fullest.  The best way of doing that is to realize what your dreams are.  After all, dreams are simply your goals being fulfilled.

So start dreaming and realizing your potential.  Here’s wishing you the best in 2010 and beyond.  Keep on making change, and Happy New Year!

Author: Bilal Rajan

While the holiday season is the time of merry making and giving back to our fellow human beings, this year’s Dec 25^th brought back the focus of the world on security related issues.

On Christmas eve, Pope Benedict XVI was jumped by a 25-year-old unarmed Susanna Maiolo. It is reported that she had some psychiatric issues. The security lapse raises questions about Vatican security.

June 2007: A 27-year-old German man tried to attack the Pope as he travelled around St Peter?s Square in an open topped Jeep

Earlier in the month, Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was assaulted by a man with mental problems. The assault took place at a campaign rally and resulted in breaking Mr. Berlusconi’s nose and two teeth. These were two high profile security breaches in Europe.

In America on Christmas Day, 23-year-old man Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. As the other passengers intervened, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to blow up the plane. Some news reports say that he has told the FBI that he has been trained by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. He has also told the authorities that there are other men like him in training in Yemen.

A screen shot from Italian television news shows President Silvio Berlusconi looking dazed after being assaulted in Milan

Umar Farouk’s parents are wealthy Nigerians and he has studied engineering both in the US and England. BBC has reported that he was refused a visa and placed on an immigration watch-list last May after applying for a bogus educational course.

American officials have said Mr Abdulmutallab was put on one of their “long” watch-lists but was not banned from travelling. His name was on a US security watch-list of more than 500,000, known as Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide).

These incidents have once again sparked the debate about how effectively security work to keep air travel and our leaders safe. And the tougher restrictions in the US meant snow-balling effect in all flights arriving and departuring the US.

The holiday air travelers were stuck at Pearson international airport in Toronto. About 10 per cent flights to the US were cancelled in the wake of terrorist capture in the US. Much of the delay was du e to additional security measure such as only one carry-on bag and additional body searches. In addition to this the flights mush leave and arrive on time at the US airports otherwise they are cancelled.

In Washington, secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano conceded that aviation security system failed and “No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way.”

Back in 10^th grade when we were preparing for the English regents, my teacher told everyone to write on the top of their loose-leaf papers, “I want to get a 100 on my English regents”. At first, I just thought it was a one time thing but when she told us to do that every day, I was annoyed and curious. I wondered what difference would writing it everyday make if I wasn’t working hard and studying.

As my frustration increased, I decided to ask my teacher why she wanted us to write “I want to get a 100 on my English regents” everyday in our notebooks. She replied with a smile, “Raj, Writing it again and again will motivate you more and more and you will work harder to achieve it”. “Really” I wondered. Huh, what a misconception! I totally disagreed with my teacher. She was simply making us think that we will get a 100 just by writing it on a piece of paper. Huh!!

A recent article on Newsweek calls announcing goals “traditional” and a plain myth. New York University psychologist Peter Gollwitzer and his colleagues did an experiment in which some of his some law students kept their goals private while some had made them public. Then the students were given difficult cases to analyze and were told to work very hard. When the results came out, NYU psychologist found that the ones who kept their goals private worked hard and others did not.

Law students who made their goals public did the talking but didn’t put all their effort into the work. Many times when we announce our goals, we lose our focus and feel overconfident. Thus, simply announcing a goal won’t make you achieve it, you actually have to work for it and that work requires real effort.

Author: Raj Malhotra

A few weeks ago, I directed my walk towards the Borders bookstore by my house. I browsed through the store and saw a large display of Martha Stewart’s newest cookbook. Some of you who are sports fans may have a favorite athlete- one that you follow every move of. Perhaps you buy every album of a musician or band and buy tickets to their shows. Well, my culinary queen, Martha Stewart, recently released her latest cookbook. The enormous display held a multitudinous amount of her overpriced yet genius book. I promptly swiped a copy from the display and sat down in the leather chairs that Borders oddly provides (I once read an entire book while sitting in one of them.)

I flipped through Martha’s recipes; what brilliance she displayed by dividing her book by seasons. The recopies use vegetables that are in season, hence the division. Oh, my gastronomic guru, how you care for your adoring fans! You want us to eat only the freshest of vegetables! It doesn’t stop there. Martha provides an appetizer, main dish, sides and dessert. 52 delicious, cohesive meals.

I sat on the Borders chair leafing through the pages. “Ooh” and “Oh, I never thought to put those things together” is a sampling of the thoughts that were in my head. I even had the audacity to scribble down a few recipes in my notebook; clearly, I had no intentions of buying the book.

When I got up to put it back, there was a big sign that I failed to pay attention to before. Borders is a place of overstimulation with way too much to look at to be able to pay mind to all of it. The sign read that Martha herself would be doing a book signing on Thursday night. I was floored. A big time celebrity coming to my town, my hero no less!

Let me explain that my love for Ms. Stewart was not love at first sight. Essentially, I saw one of her craft ideas. Take a glass jar, fill it with all of the dry ingredients for a cookie recipe, print the recipe and tie it to the jar with pretty ribbon. I copied it and people loved it. Then I went to her for more ideas. And from there, I began to develop my own ideas and incorporate hers with my own until I realized that I love her.

I added Martha’s book signing to my mental calendar. Throughout the week I fantasized about impressing her with my skills as a baker. She would love my cupcakes so much that she would ask me to wait to speak with her after the book signing when she would say, “Please, could you give me the recipe for your delicious cupcakes? Better yet, why don’t you come work for me and create more recipes like this? I have never tasted a more delectable morsel in my life!”

It could go the other way too. I might be walking back to my car after the signing and I would be accosted by big burly men in leather jackets. They would shove me into a black stretch limo. Martha would be sitting across from me wearing the cutest knit poncho, a big man on either side of her. “Listen,” she would say. “I tasted your cupcakes and I looked at your Facebook pictures of all your baked goods and crafts. I see where this is headed, and frankly, I don’t take kindly to competition.” I would be paralyzed with fear. My eyes would be fixated on the vintage ceramic floral buttons of Martha’s poncho. “Enough with the baking, Farrah. Or you’ll be sorry.” Martha would slowly turn her head towards a gigantic goon and mutter, “Get her out of here,” at which time I would be thrown out as quickly as I was dragged in.

Plausible, very plausible, but I do think Martha would have much more tact and grace than this. Her mode of death threats would probably come via mail on pretty monogrammed stationary.

Several friends were not very supportive when I told them that I would be giving Martha some of my cupcakes when I meet her. They all told me that she wouldn’t accept them for fear of accepting rat poison-laced baked goods. “But I’m not a crazy fan!” I said. I resolved that they were probably right and Martha would stop me before I could even place the box of cupcakes on her table.

Thursday came and I baked some coffee infused chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with coffee frosting. A very tasty selection. I arrived at the bookstore to observe the line that swirled all the way around the store. First, I purchased several copies of her book. I walked to the back of the line and waited for my turn to meet THE Martha.

I was definitely nervous when I got on line. Martha is notorious for being a right snob. It is something she doesn’t take dire measures to hide. I’ve watched her in interviews and on her show and the way she interacts with other people is definitely in a snooty manner. But isn’t that better than being the extremely sugary typical chef/homemaker that we see on TV? Martha is real, even if it means she shows her true colors that aren’t very pretty. She doesn’t hide the fact that she got into trouble and was in prison for a few months. She got into trouble and STILL continued to be a success, even after she got out of jail. What an inspiration! Would she be as pretentious and uppity as she sometimes seems?

I finally reached her table. It was like being the next kid to sit on Santa Claus’ lap. Or the next group to go on the roller coaster. “I have a gift for you!” I said when I reached her. “Oh, really?” she said. “These are coffee infused cupcakes.” She thanked me graciously and placed them next to her and proceeded to ask me if I had a bakery. Our conversation was quick and friendly and my admiration for the great business woman/ domestic diva was reaffirmed.

Questions? Comments? E-mail farrahmohsin@gmail.com

Author: Farah Mohsin

Amrita Pritam ( 1919 – 2005 ) was an outspoken critic of the partition of British India. As one of India’s foremost writers and poets, her scholarship deals specifically with wording the experiences of females in colonial and post-colonial South Asia. Pritam is an archive of female experiences of the partition and her Punjabi poem, Today I plead with Waris Shah ( Ajj Aakhan Waris Shah Noon ), documents her own experiences in Punjab. Waris Shah, a Punjabi Sufi saint, is remembered as the Sufi saint of love and is revered as the custodian of love ( Ishq Da Waris ).Buried in Pakistan Punjab, his shrine attracts love-struck devotees throughout the year, many of whom undertake the pilgrimage to utter their vows ( Manat ) to their beloveds . Most Punjabis, Sufis and non-Sufis alike, have committed Waris Shah’s poetry to memory and Pritam’s poem to him stands as a revealing dialogue between Sufism and females, a dialogue that breaks female silence on the violence of the partition. Pritam invokes Waris Shah as the sharer of people’s sorrows and she shares the sorrows of the females of Punjab with him. The poem asserts a female’s right to write. Pritam’s work breaks the codes of femininity. She confronts the saint directly and does not ask of a male to mediate between them: perhaps Pritam was the only female left standing as Punjab was bathed in blood? Written in Punjabi, Ajj Akhan Waris Shah Noon ( Today I Call To You Waris Shah ), stands as an ageless text and it takes on the present progressive tense, ensuring that her words are always grounded within the reader’s present reality. Innumerable renditions of the text have been performed in genres other than Qawwali. Most recently, a Pakistan rock band, Meekaal Hasan, has utilized the text to bring together the musical heritage of India and Pakistan. Pritam’s work is eternal. I read her poem as a Ghazal, an ode to love about the death of its lovers. And I would venture a step further into categorizing her work as a Sufiyana Kalam. The difference, though, is that a male is not required to speak: Pritam speaks and Waris Shah is silent. Pritam eventually does ask Waris Shah to respond to her – however, his silence serves as his response to a female’s suffering in Punjab. Pritam approaches the shrine of Waris Shah and pleads with him to rise from the dead. The poem is grounded in the unseen, a site that characterizes the individualized worship of Sufism. Imagining Waris Shah to be listening to her plea, Pritam mourns the death of the “daughters” of Punjab. She mourns that a hundred thousand of such daughters have been killed and that Waris Shah’s beloved Punjab is bathed in blood. Indeed, Pritam is asking Waris Shah to say something about the deaths, “ When one daughter of the Punjab wept you penned a thousand dirges of lament – Today a hundred thousand cry out to you to make another statement”. In essence, she is asking Waris Shah to put an end to the violence. However, Waris Shah is silent and Pritam is left in the bloody fields of Punjab. Without delving further into the poem, Pritam’s acrid accounts are quite unnerving. She is referring to the slaughter of women, a genocide that goes untold in the glorified narratives of partition. I cite this work as a Sufiyana Kalam because it has the heart of Qawwali in it : Pritam is in the raptures of an individual bond, an individual bond that speaks for various other individuals who have been denied this bond. The power of these lyrics are undeniable. Are we not left to wonder as to how much more could Sufism attain if female participation was furthered? The question, I believe, answers itself.

I say to Waris Shah today

I say to Waris Shah today, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love Once one daughter of Punjab wept, and you wrote your long saga;
Today thousands weep, calling to you Waris Shah: Arise, o friend of the afflicted; arise and see the state of Punjab,
Corpses strewn on fields, and the Chenaab flowing with much blood. Someone filled the five rivers with poison,
And this same water now irrigates our soil. Where was lost the flute, where the songs of love sounded?
And all Ranjha’s brothers forgotten to play the flute. Blood has rained on the soil, graves are oozing with blood,
The princesses of love cry their hearts out in the graveyards. Today all the Quaido’ns have become the thieves of love and beauty,
Where can we find another one like Waris Shah? Waris Shah! I say to you, speak from your grave
And add a new page to your book of love.

This translation is taken from book in English by Darshan Singh Maini called STUDIES IN PUNJABI POETRY

Click image for Enlarge

• Step 1

Tell everyone you know. I was once offered a job by the brother of a friend that I had talked to about part time work. He just happened to be thinking about hiring someone part time.

• Step 2

Check out every business within walking distance of your home. Working a job you don’t especially like or for low pay is more attractive if you are not spending time and money commuting.

• Step 3

Ask at any small retail store that you frequent. A fashion boutique, a hobby related store, anywhere that they recognize your face. Many small business owners can use part time help and do not have the time to advertise and sort through the applicants.

• Step 4

If you have a skill to offer, get the word out. Hang advertisements on bulletin boards everywhere you can find one. Gyms, public meeting rooms, pet and feed stores, craft stores, grocery stores. Many communities have local newsletters with free advertising for individuals. If you are good at something like scrapbooking, tell people about it, go to retirement homes, churches, tell all of your friends. Make your skills available.

• Step 5

Apply at retail stores that are geared toward an interest or hobby of yours. You have your knowledge and ability to relate to their customers to offer.

• Step 6

Generally part time jobs are not a career move, but if you find the right niche it can develop into more than just a part time job.

How to Find Part Time Jobs for a 16 Year Old

1. Step 1

Read local newspapers. Often times, the classified jobs section will contain several part time job postings for teenagers.

1. Step 2

Visit the part time job section on Craigslist.com. Be sure to search within the appropriate city and call ahead to ensure that the employer is legitimate before scheduling an interview.

1. Step 3

Search internet job sites. Many large cities have their own employment websites where part time job postings can be found. Avoid professional job websites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, as they are geared toward older applicants.

1. Step 4

Check bulletin boards in local gyms and community centers, where part-time job postings can sometimes be found.

1. Step 5

Talk with the area’s high school counselor. He or she may be in contact with local employers that seek part time teenage help.

1. Step 6

Take the initiative to call businesses in your area that hire teenagers. Swimming pools, community centers, and golf courses all traditionally employ 16 year olds. If a 16 year old can have a driver’s license in your state, you can also try businesses that hire drivers.

1. Step 7

Ask relatives if they need help around the house. Offer to do it for free–they will probably insist on paying you anyway. While you won’t technically be working for a company, you can still earn a good amount of money performing odd jobs like cutting grass or cleaning pools.

How to Find a Job as a 16 Year Old

• Step 1

As a 16 year old, your job search is going to be very limited. Stick with retail, or fast food jobs. You don’t want to set your expectations too high, because most jobs that you’re going to like are going to involve a lot of work, and some sort of education. Try the Internet with websites like SnagAJob, that deal with hourly work.

• Step 2

If you don’t want to work for someone else, you may want to consider working for yourself. Think of some things that you can do around the block. Things like tutoring, lawn care, snow removal, and more, are in demand during the peak season, and you can make some great money at it.

• Step 3

If you don’t want to leave the house, you may want to try smaller gigs online, such as freelancing work, or even doing paid surveys. There are so many ways to make online, and who knows? It may turn into a lucrative career for you. Try freelance jobs, paid surveys, or gather stuff to sell on eBay.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/

One of my friends often says Google is the new God. It knows everything and what it does not know, it is working very heard to find out. However, the trend is now changing to Facebook.

In past few months, almost every one of Facebook’s applications has raised issues of privacy and how safe it is for people to use it. And almost every debate ends with the fact that there are people who oppose it and there are people who are all for it.

Chris Mejaski (centre-left), Tim Inman (centre-right) and other pairs of Facebook look-alikes.

The latest one is finding your look-alike on Facebook. The application uses the same technology used by security agencies; however it just puts the same fact more nicely, saying “you’ll be able to find a person that looks just like you.”

The disclaimer is how you use this application is “up to you.”

Experts are obviously not too happy with this application. University of Toronto’s Professor Andrew Clement researches online privacy and did not feel comfortable using the application.

Why?

He says “I’m not sure that it’s harmless.”  “Once you’ve allowed it, it looks like it’s too late. There’s no indication of your privacy rights, whether you can pull out if you don’t like it.”

In spite of the privacy issues, more than 200,000 people have already signed up and found their look-alikes. Most of them are not looking to find their childhood lost twins or any such matter, but the photos are remarkably similar.

Professor Clement points to another hazard of the application: “all the matches on the Facebook application point to a flaw in larger databases. People do look like each other, which can create hassles if you have the misfortune of sharing facial features with a criminal.”

“If one of your doubles comes afoul of the law, and they (government or police) use facial recognition software on your face, that other person is very likely to come up,” he says. “It shows a match without it being a match. This is a very big problem for large-scale databases.”

Author:

Through a discussion with friends about what to do during the holidays; the event that most girls love- Boxing Day came up!  Thoughts and memories were shared about previous boxing days came up. Horrible turn outs of too- small sizes;to great prices on ‘that awesome dress’ were our memories of that day.So inspired by thatconversation- I decided to share with you some great tips that me and my friends came up with to help you and your buddies find the best of the best in the ‘unbeatable’ prices!Top of Form 1

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1. Make a shopping list and go out only for those items. Try not to browse or you’ll most likely grab items that you really don’t need and don’t want. Just because an item is on sale doesn’t mean that it’s a “must have”!

2. Get an early start! It’s not uncommon for shoppers to line up at the store an hour or two before the store opens. While I don’t necessarily recommend getting in that early you will probably want to get there very close to when the store opens. Much of the good stuff is taken a few hours after opening, so if you’re looking for a “hot” item be prepared to get up with the  early birdies!

3. Wear comfy shoes and clothes that breathe!! The lines will be long and you may even have to sprint once or twice. Sneakers, UGGs or any kind of flat shoe will keep totsies relaxed. I know it’s cold here but wearing a big, bunchy winter coat will have you sweating the small stuff in no time. Either a vest or medium weight sweater should be warm enough to walk to your car while keeping you snug in the store or mall. Keep it casual and you’ll be keeping your cool while others are hot under the collar.

3. Good deals can often be found on electronic goods but beware of bait and switch tactics. This is when merchants draw you in with bright & shiny sales ads but then don’t have the advertised goods in stock. Instead, they try to convince you to buy a similar, higher priced item and poof your saving are all gone! If the store is out of the item that you want wait until another good sale comes along.

4. Check the retailer’s website before you go. Many retailers’ websites allow for in-store pickup for items purchased online and almost all offer free shipping. Skip the check-out and shop online if at all possible!

5 Take advantage of price matching! Most large retailers and department stores will match or beat the lowest advertised price. Make sure that you have the current store flyer with the sale price listed and make sure that you’re looking at the exact same item (model number, size, description etc.). Stores will only match the price if the item is identical (ask me how I know, lol) so avoid confusion by going over both items thoroughly.

6 If buying something on impulse, be careful, remember chances are you won’t be able to return it because it was on sale. If you’re buying clothing make sure that you try the item on first. Especially shoes! Do not be taken in by the sales-clerk telling you that the shoes will stretch! I can assure you that if they’re not comfortable in the store they won’t magically stretch and form to fit your feet when you get them home.

7 Apres-shopping take some time to relax! Grab a coffee, soak in the bath or munch on some yummy holiday left-overs. You did good…now enjoy your new treats and your much deserved time off!op of Form 2

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Well then- those are some of my general tips for boxing day! However- the most important tip of all the we should all abide by should be that we need to use our intution with sales and remember to always have fun! This is really important because if we are not satisfied with what we buy- when we wear it or use the item we will never be happy and  always find a flaw within it.

So here is to wishing good shopping, fun and a lot of good sales!

Author: Nida Shamsi

Derek Bo once said, ‘Whoever said money can’t buy happiness, simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”

Well, the shoppers in GTA knew really well where to go shopping this Boxing Day, and retailers promised sales for not only the Boxing Day but the ENTIRE Boxing week and this mere promise made the shoppers really happy.

Be that the outlets at Square One, Eaton Center, Yorkdale, Shoppers World or Heartland, the lineups were long and sales associates really busy ( I hope the bonus they get for working the boxing day was worth the pain.)

The Boxing Day mania started early as the malls opened at 8 a.m. in the morning and it was a challenge to find parking space. While people were busy celebrating Christmas, the rest of Canada was anxiously waiting to go shopping the next day. The banks were busy making transactions for their worthy clients, depositing, transferring and withdrawing money from their accounts.  The day for shoppers started early, but the day for retailers started even earlier (some went to work as early as 4 a.m. in the morning)

But shopping at the mall outlets was not the only option shoppers had. In an effort to avoid the headaches often associated with boxing-day shopping,  a poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of PayPal  reported that among the shoppers who will shop on Boxing Day this year, 41% (4 in 10) will do a portion of their Boxing Day shopping online (up from 34% last year.)  Among those that will, 5% will make all of their purchase online, while 42% will make some online, and 52% hardly any, perhaps just making one or two purchases. Three quarter of Canadians (73%) didn’t rule out shopping on the Boxing Day this year.

Well, when three-quarter of Canadians are out shopping, you can well imagine the conditions of the mall. And this makes you really think whether the sales are really worth spending an entire day at the mall.

A simple stroll through Square One, took us more than 2 hours. The big posters at every window promised up to 80% discounts and shops like Costa Blanca had even closed the doors because of space issues. Store managers had sale target starting at $13,000 for the day, which I am sure no one had difficulty to meet.

Most of the shoppers had already chosen their favorite brand stores to shop at while others were browsing the mall to come across a ‘good enough’ deal. While some sales were genuinely good (such as 50% off at the entire store at Espirit) others were attracting customers because of a single good deal (American Eagle selling a hoodie at only $20) whereas nothing else in the store was on sale.  When the shoppers make a tedious trip to such outlets, they do end up buying things at regular price and spending more on Boxing Day.

Talking to a few customers, we found out that the usual complain was the long line-ups and most things on regular prices. Some stores (such as Suzy Shier) had even closed the fitting rooms to save themselves the trouble. While women were busy purchasing shoes (as low as $10), bags, accessories, clothes and make-up, men were also busy lining-up outside Best Buy and Future Shop. Many agree that it is a good time to buy electronics, be that a Dell laptop (that is offering up to $200 off) or the kitchen appliances where you save by making use of the ‘no tax Boxing Day sale.’

Many smart shoppers had reviewed the flyers, done their homework and saved up for the exciting day from a long time.  While the malls were busy as a bee-hive, many seniors had just decided to spend the day at the nearest coffee shop in the mall. The experience to watch people go crazy over a discount deal is even better than standing in the line for an hour to pay for that single item on sale.

Whether you shopped this weekend, or just enjoyed your meal in the food court, or spent the day with your friend going from one shop to the next, the warm weather added to the happiness of shopping.

This weekend, we also discovered the true meaning of ‘shopping therapy.’ The continuous swipes of credit cards, the excited shrieks and broad smile, indicated that it does work, well just sometimes. I hope those smiles long last and credit card bills paid on time!

But after the shopping trip, I did ask my friend what she would prefer next, a Spa treatment or another shopping trip? Well, go ahead and make a guess…