There are a million stories to be told at Boulder's DecorAsian, where the artifacts breathe with history. Owner Rusty Staff stocks the place with a traveler's eye -- he owns Asia Transpacific Journeys, after all -- personally bringing back much of his stock from the exotic places he visits. There are temple doors, carved ceiling panels and gilded monks' chests from Thailand; inscrutable Buddha figures from old Burma; baskets, carved gamelan xylophones and elaborate shadow puppets from Indonesia and Java; and bamboo birdcage lamps and tribal ancestor figures from Vietnam. And that's just a fraction of the journey. Such treasures cost a pretty penny, but the browsing is free -- and that's a fine price to pay for an extended trip through the Orient.

Italian majolica pottery is like a priceless drug. Oh, to own a wall of classic Deruta platters hand-painted with roosters and peacocks and patterns done in such vivid colors they'll make you cry. Vario is majolica central, simply brimming with grapevine-encrusted bowls, lemon-embellished plates, terra cotta horse heads, shimmery lead-crystal goblets, clocks, elephants, birds and cats, each one a true treasure -- even the little floral refrigerator magnets. Ooh. Aah.

Tibetan refugee Palden Yangsto Hester is the real thing, a forced emigree whose heart still burns with love for her birthplace, even though her family was persecuted and some members killed. Now settled here, Hester imports wares from Tibet, Nepal and India, selling them in a richly appointed Cherry Creek North emporium under a banner that roars "Save Tibet." The store is ringed with a stock of fierce tiger rugs, intricate thangkas, antique furniture, prayer flags and Buddha figures, but Hester's main focus is the kind of jewelry that really must be called objets d'art: heavy strings of breathtaking natural coral, amber and turquoise hung with beautifully etched silver pendants. Glorious.

Maxine's isn't so much a garden shop as a shop that speaks to gardeners. Megan McNeish has created an indoor/outdoor theme, with sweet-smelling sachets, French glassware and luscious ripple-edged dishes cohabiting with birds' nests filled with tiny blue eggs, glass cloches housing sprays of forced tulips, pillows made from burnt orange- and celery-colored umbrella fabric, wirework furniture and doormats made of recycled plastic. As spring blooms, she'll add potting tables, aprons and gloves to go with her clay-pot seed kits and tin-can gardens.

Walk into Jean Snow's Apiary and you'll find every nook and cranny loaded with untold stories of long ago. The aroma of orange blossoms emanates from a tree in the window, and Snow's motto -- "Nature makes the most amazing things" -- manifests itself on every shelf, as it has for more than thirty years. The shop pays homage to the apiary that Snow's father kept during her Connecticut childhood -- beehive lamps, beeswax candles and a delicate white hornets' nest hanging from the ceiling -- but it also celebrates her sensibilities with her own picture-perfect dried-flower arrangements, plus horn-shaped Tussy Mussies, botanical art, pheasant eggs, French linens and sweetly scented soaps. Something this divine is everyone's beeswax.

Saints and pigs, gargoyles and gMile-Hi Statuary 5048 Morrison Rd. 303-934-3244reyhounds, dragons and geese, lions and tigers and bears -- oh, my! Mile-Hi's amazing selection of fountains and yard ornaments outpaces that of the garden stores, many of which offer similar products at a higher price. Another advantage to shopping here: You can request your rabbit, gnome or Elvis in colored cement -- charcoal, white, blue, green, even buff -- at no extra chare.

Not much has changed in the world of the Tooth Fairy since you were a kid, except maybe the rate of exchange -- and the packaging. Kristi Howard crafts Tooth Fairy pillows for her store, Starlet, sewing them in bunny-soft chenille with pockets just the right size for a bitty tooth, quarter or folded bill and personal note, and ribbons to hang them from a doorknob or bed frame. Sweet dreams.

Walking into Bella Sera Baby, there is no doubt that owner Courtney Lupe is the kind of mother who marches to a different drummer. It shows in every detail of her sweet baby bedding and accessories, which she sews mostly by herself. Lupe, who was originally a wholesaler, recently went retail with a limited-hours store so that shoppers could see and touch her wares, including cute bibs and burpies, baby slings, chenille and double-sided satin blankies. Your baby never had it so good.

Give the newly fledged little man or woman in your life the gift of the Jewish Community Center. Cards are available in any denomination and can be used toward any of the services offered at the JCC, from a free back float to tennis camp. Today you are a mensch!

Kids are a pain in the ass. They demand to be fed, and they take all your shoe money. Thank goodness for Family Flex, where parents can drop the youngsters off and spend a worry-free night on the town. Family Flex's daycare program has been wait-listed for much of the year since Marie Hueston opened the facility, but her drop-in evening care is available to anyone in town with a child under age twelve. Send the little demons over anytime between 5 and 11 p.m., and she'll feed and entertain them -- in an educational manner, of course -- for just $30 for five hours. All that, and it won't break the Choo and Lucchese budget.