Open your heart to love and your mouth to chocolate.

Just so you don't think I've got some sugar problem - I'm visiting Sweets Etc. in Multnomah Village today to do a taste test...for my customers. I swear! I'm giving them treats this year, so don't tell them. My new psychic, the Magic 8 balls, says: "Definitely Yes," they'll love it. Sweets Etc. (7828 SW Capitol Hwy. Multnomah Village) rock candies my world. Tricia, the owner, handcrafts truffles and other chocolate delights in vintage jewelry showcases. She's got it all - ice cream, fudge, Swedish fish and surprises, like carmel-encased marshmallows and espresso malt balls. In the window: a chocolate Santa the size of my four-year-old. Tricia's raffling him off for charity. Would it scar my kids for life if I told them, Sorry, kids, Mommy ate Santa.

Become one with calories. Harness their destructive power.

We were walking around downtown Bend, Oregon, yesterday when we spotted a full-on, old-time candy store called Powell's Sweet Shoppe. (If you're from Portland, you're probably wondering how they can call it that- maybe because there wasn't a book in sight.) Candy is everywhere. Candy you see all the time and some you haven't seen since you were like born, like the ancient Sky Bar. Blow-molded dispensers of every color of M&Ms. I had to stop myself from emptying one straight into my pie hole. Towers with lollipops jutting out everywhere - we might as well have strapped feed bags filled with sugar to each child. One kid walks out with two pounds of jelly beans; the other one has a heart-shaped lollipop bigger than Saturn. My husband Brian opts for some nasty food-flavored jelly beans, like popcorn. I left with nothing! That's right, I went to Starbucks and sucked down some espresso latte thing that probably cost me more calories than all the jelly beans and lollipops combined. Good thing we didn't pig out on Thanksgiving.