I haven't done a good ol' fashion chain letter in a while so was pleasantly pleased when Andy tagged me on Facebook.

I have received them via blogging in the past, which was also fun, however, very difficult to include close friends and family members (as they didn't have an outlet to share).

With Facebook, that has all changed! So if I tagged you, it means I want to learn more about you. Here was my response, because heck, not everyone is on facebook as well you know!

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Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. "When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs desire and from desire comes anger."
2. I am super excited for spring (End of May, beginning of June in particular)!
3. I thoroughly enjoy watching The Hills and The City.
4. I want to kick a field goal.
5. Love to randomly sing songs inspired by words of recent conversations.
6. Knows to always take a deep breath - it makes a world of difference
7. Am terrified of rodents and birds.
8. "I know I would die if I could come back new"
9. Am thinking of one day becoming a sommelier
10. Favourite place in the world is Spry Point, PEI.
11. I love my family and friends dearly.
12. Wonders what the men two floors above the Gap in the corner office of Bay and Bloor do?
13. Want to design my own line of women's golf clothing.
14. Loves a good rockin' tune first thing in the morning.
15. "Hard to have and then have not"
16. Loves a good cup of coffee
17. Truly enjoy the pleasures food brings to the palate.
18. Tries hard not to 'hate'
19. Get really frustrated playing golf...but still loves it.
20. Got my first Barbie at the age of 31.
21. I can't scream
22. Believes there is nothing like listening to a well produced album
23. I can't stand cleaning the washroom and emptying the dishwasher
24. Loves to sleep to the sound of rain against the window
25. Strives to be a better person

With the wifi now set up in our house, it was time to dust off the good 'ole iBook G4.

I took it out of its fancy black case and noticed right away that it was heavier than my work laptop, it was missing three of its corner rubber stands and the keyboard is now a dull yellow.

But I am not deceived by its degrading looks or its lack of the latest and greatest programs. It is still a great machine and worth using while at home in front on the television or while Mark is busy on the other house laptop.

So, don't get rid of yours just yet (if you were considering it). It can actually still fit your ever evolving online lifestyle. Below is how mine has.

1. Most if not all of the programs I use on a daily basis are online. So, as long as I have a strong connection and an Internet browser, I am all set. Google docs continues to be my main source for word, excel and powerpoint files, I use gmail for my email, flickr for my photos (I even use an online editing tool) and of course, meebo for chatting. Of course, delicious and facebook are two other key applications I use - All are online.

2. My laptop no longer travels. With a iPod touch and a blackberry in hand, there is no need for me to break my back and carry a laptop with me to and from the office or when I am out and about town. I am connected 24/7. (But if you call, no guarantee I will answer).

3. Mark and I manage and store most, if not all of our music and photos on an external hard drive. With them being cheaper than they were years ago, you can purchase a drive with super large memory. We use this to share files we cannot pass online and more importantly, as a back up. There is no need to store large items on my laptop anymore.

4. Work VPN. Need to work from home? Most offices have VPN access so as long as your files are stored on your office network, location access is limitless.

If you have still decided to throw out your old laptop or computer, try these possible money-making environmental tips first.

A) Try to sell it on craigslist or kijiji. You never know what people need. (NOTE: many parents look for old laptops for their kids who too are only accessing online programs).

B) Give it away to a friend. Post in on your facebook profile or on twitter...again, someone may find value in your old technology.

C) Can't find someone to take it? Make sure to recycle it. I believe Best Buy and Futureshop offer recycling programs free of charge.

NOTE: A, B, and C include coffee machines, blenders, toasters...basically anything you plug in.

Mark and I are house hunting.

It is exhausting and to be honest, somewhat painful.

In the current economic conditions, it is definitely a buyers market - but that does not necessarily make things easy. Although housing prices have decreased, this down market is still new so realtors and buyers have nothing to compare it to in order to negotiate.

With that said however, the pursuit of our dream home is still alive. If you are interested in purchasing a new home, check out these great online resources to help keep your sanity in check in the midst of making one of the largest purchasing decisions of your life.

1. Realtor.ca - use this listing to search out homes in the hoods you want to live in. If you haven't been to mls.ca in a while, check out the new site. It has way better mapping (Microsoft VE map) and search criteria that gives you a better search experience.
2. Realosophy - this is a great tool to let you figure out the neighbourhood home data, area stats, entertainment etc. in your area. If schools are important to you, this site has a fantastic mapping and listing of the schools in that area as well as their EQOA report. Learning more about how the school rates will make or break your purchase (at least for me).
3. Are you a commuter? Use this site to figure out just how you may have to get to work if driving is out of the question.
4. Don't know how much you can afford? Want to figure out what your monthly payments will be? Check out your bank's mortgage calculators. Most of the banks have them and provide the real deal numbers to help you make sure you don't go house poor.
5. The CMHC has some great tools to help keep you on the right path. Although this can be exhausting, it is worth your while to go through. The best tool is the Life-cycle of your home.

I have read quite a few articles and emails the last little while regarding wedding planning in a recession.

This actually surprised me quite a bit since planning for a wedding or really anything of grand expense should be done carefully and should be affordable depending on your money situation.

But, nonetheless, the topic is (indeed) more relevant today than it was last year.

So, with that said, and after planning a wedding less than a year ago, here are some of the budgetary tricks I learned to keep us on budget, manage expenses and get the most from your buck (web style of course!)

1. Set a budget and share it with your significant other. Use Google Docs so both of you can access your documents wherever you are and make sure you have the most up-to-date budget on hand. (If any of you are interested, I build a lengthy excel spreadsheet for couples to plop in numbers so you can play around with pricing and see what it will actually cost you - just email me.)

2. Research. Make sure to do a lot of research on the goods you are putting on your registry, invitations, costs of vendors, make-up etc. This of course, can be all done online. It will save you time. Be sure to email vendors any questions and costs and negotiate via email. This also lets you have a paper trail on what you have negotiated.

3. Get on email lists. Many bridal companies have email lists where they will send you the latest information on what they are carrying. More important, they will send you information about their sales which are typically first come first served.

4. Read blogs and forums. Learn from others how they are creating their dream day on the cheap. I subscribed to about 10 bridal feeds, many which gave me great ideas on things I can do myself or alternatives to expensive options.

5. Search our photobloggers and videobloggers. This is a great alternative to the often pricey wedding photographers and videographers out there.

PS. Movie poster at the top of this post was designed by my little brother (we had our wedding at an old 1920's movie theatre). Interested in your own? Ping me.

I get a LOT of marketing emails. I don't mind really, it keeps me up-to-date with great case studies, how companies are using email and of course...some great deals.

But, in the last little while, I have seen a lot of email marketing no-no's (on the consumer end) - so as a reminder, here is a link to the CMA email guidelines as well as some other tidbits not necessarily listed.

1. Email is the same as a phone call or text message. It better be relevant if you are sending it.
2. Relevant - that means, the offer is for the person you are sending it too (I just got an email for an offer not valid in Canada - ergh).
3. Manage Data - if someone doesn't want to get an email from you, that means DON'T SEND THEM EMAIL. Make sure you have clear unsubscribe opportunities every time you send an email.
4. Rendering - make sure the email looks good in multiple email clients. (I received an email that did not render in gmail at all. I couldn't make out the offer so I deleted it and marked it as SPAM as I didn't recognize the sender)
5. Get Recognized - that means make sure you have a solid contact program. Manage your audience's expectations so they know how often and why you send out emails.