An anonymous benefactor gives you $500 (or an equivalent amount of money in your currency of choice) with the following stipulations. You must spend all of it within a week: any money left unspent must be returned. You must spend at least half of the money on yourself. You may not use it to pay off debts or bills of any kind. What do you do with the money?

Duct tape purses and wallets and things are pretty darned cool. Who else thinks so?

I don't carry either, so yeah, they're cool, but not for me

Are you an avid reader? What's your favorite book/series?

Oh books. Once upon a time when I had a 45-minute train commute each way, I inhaled books. Nowadays, I'm lucky to have 15 minutes a day to read for myself - and it's usually cooking magazines & parenting articles I miss reading desperately, and long for the day when my life slows down enough to allow it again. I try to read Tolkien every year, and am frequently going back over my old Ray Bradbury. Andrea Barrett's Voyage of the Narwhal & Ship Fever, and Sena Naslund's Ahab's Wife have been some books that have blown me away in recent years.

Any cooks? Could you use anything cooking related? Aprons? Cookbooks? Measuring Cups? Recipes? Herb/Spice containers? Fancy Spices? Dish Towels? Cocktail napkins? Amazing Beaded Pot Holders? (like from our very own Pottersville! ) Something else?

Oh yeah. I'm a trained pastry chef, and worked the food industry for nearly 20 years. I do free-lance baking & catering from my home now, and have a few much-needed tools on my Amazon wish list. My two aprons are unflattering & utilitarian - I'd love something with a bit more style but that's still functional (a big front pocket for herbs snipped in the garden, no frills/ruffles to drag through fresh buttercream, machine-washable). I love proper British tea towels - the flat cotton/linen weave, not the terrycloth kind. ETA: Oo. Tiny C has been demanding a packed lunch nearly every day. He looooves sushi, and I have been eyeing some egg & rice molds to jazz things up, as well as some of the kawaii bento books. Some tiny cookie cutters in car/truck/plane shapes would be superawesome, too...

Who likes coloring books?

I love Dover Publications, esp anything botanical or historic...