My passion... beads. Oh, and men's underwear is interesting, too.

I was taking my sick little rat home from the vet today when I passed a bead shop. The car automatically slid into a parking space so I went in. She had a fantastic selection at reasonable prices but, unfortunately, did not know where many of the beads originated from. I am going back there in a few days but am in a quandary whether to buy the ones without a known origin, knowing they are most likely from China but not necessarily. Before Christmas I found an adorable princess-themed wristwatch for my niece that did not have a "made in" label. At the time, I thought it was fair to get it (until I eventually did, after poking around a bit, see a "made in China" sticker on it and had to put it back.) Hmmm. If I cannot get a place of origin after due diligence, is it cheating on my pledge to buy those products? I'm not sure.

On a sexier note, I found some interesting underwear at www.freshpair.com called "Mens 3G Not Made in China Low Rise Brief". I called customer service and they had me on hold for several minutes while they were researching the place of origin. They are made in Canada! (Lookin' good, Canada.)