... is not a handbag nor a pair of shoes but a handheld gaming console in what has to be the most adorable shade of pink ever! I received a Nintendo DS Lite as a gift from my boyfriend for Christmas. I was hesistant about keeping it at first, wondering if I would really play it a lot. The gift came at a good time though as we were headed on a trip to Orlando with my family. The little gadget was played on the entire flight down; more importantly during those those long lines at Disney. Sure, my cousins and I may have looked like geeks, screaming over who was going to find the difference between the two pictures in "Quick Spot" or creating the most original picture for the drawing-challenge on "Brain Age 2", but we definitely weren't bored like everyone else. Even now that the trip is over, I'm still having fun with it. I made some good choices for my first set of games, which includes "Brain Age 2". This is the follow up to the popular game "Brain Age", which launched the trend toward brain-teaser games. In this edition, you can "exercise" your brain with Word Scramble, Soduku and Math puzzles. As with the first edition, the game can determine your brain age after a series of actvities; 20 being the ideal age. The thinking behind it is that the more you play, the lower you can bring down your brain age, or in other words, the the smarter you become. Don't even ask what age I started at! My favorite part of the game is the multi-player competition, which is really fun. I also bought "Flash Focus", which is similar to "Brain Age", except instead of challenging your mind, it tests your vision and hand-eye coordination through simple games and puzzles. I bet your curious to know how old you eyes are. The other game I have is "Cake Mania", which was a hit online game. In this game, you are a bakery owner. Your goal: to serve your customers all sorts of confectionary goodies and make them happy (you'll know when they aren't -- their face gets red in anger). You do everything from hand out menus, wait on customers, bake and decorate the cakes, and collect your cash, which you can use to buy all sorts of upgrades to your kitchen. Seem simple enough? Each level, you have to go work faster and bake more complicated cakes. It's hard to turn the game off, especially when you are so close to earning the tips you need to move on to the next level. Let's just say, like in the real world, some customers are never easy to please!

If you're an adult and on the fence about getting a DS, don't be. You'll be surprised how much fun you'll have, especially with the puzzle games and you won't feel like your wasting your time because your "working out" your brain. It'd be fun to revert to the classics too and try your hands at Super Mario or Tetris (those are next on my shopping list). If you have a DS and love it, leave me a comment. And if you have any recommendations for games, let me know. You can probably tell the kind of games I like. Call them girly if you want. :)