Are Ferraris faster than Lamborghinis?

Which dead celebrity earns the most money?

Who is the most searched for woman on the Internet? 

Men are obsessed with what’s the biggest, the fastest, the smallest…..  So this book will keep them fascinated for days and provide the answers to every question you never wanted to ask.

While I was hunting for Fathers Day presents, I stumbled across Top 10 For Men which has over 250 lists that matter.  Well to men anyway, but to be honest I have found it fascinating and been seen to pick it up time and time again.  To be fair it was destined to be a Fathers Day present but for some funny reason never quite made it there, it’s far too interesting.

This book has over 250 lists covering the most important subjects like cars, most popular playboy names, who has the biggest boat, most expensive items of rock memorabilia sold at auction and many more.  I could go on and on. 

A great gift for any man and is one to remember as a stocking filler at Christmas time or as a birthday gift.

Available:  All leading bookstores

Price:$25.99

  Well I did it, after years of talking about it I finally did it.  On Saturday I went to Fashion Week and more importantly to the Designer Selection show.

I entered the venue for the first time, you know what it’s like when you see all these events on TV and in magazines,  somehow they just seem to look glamorous and exciting, well it just wasn’t.  The entrance is relatively plain and then you just carry on though what seems like a large tent.  We headed straight for the Designer Garage Sale which was held in a big shed around the back. This is where the designers are selling off any samples and end of lines, so great for those in search of a designer bargain.  It definitely had that garage sale feel to it and you need to take your time to really have a good look through.   So to be fair,  given that we were there late Saturday afternoon, and it had started on Monday, I guess you could say that things had pretty much been picked over.  It could be worthwhile if you went earlier in the week, but I am sorry to report that even the Shopping Queen herself walked away empty handed.

The Designer Show started at 5.30 which showcases the hot favourites from all the designers who have shown at Fashion Week.  This for the public is the best show to go to, as you get a little taste of what each designer’s style is like.  Just being there is a fabulous experience, the music starts blasting and the next thing you know you are transported away to a catwalk and really you could be anywhere, New York, Paris.

There is something to be said for seeing this show for the first time and it is a great thing to do if you get a bunch of your friends together to go.  The show itself was a bit like a buffet, some bits you want more of and some you wont.  Chelsea Thorp stood out to me with her beautiful detailing and you certainly could overlook Yvonne Bennetti with her amazing colour for summer.  The obvious favourites didn’t disappoint with Trelise Cooper pulling out all the stops with her skirts and capes.  I will say however I may struggle to get my husband to wear the really short shorts form the mens section and the outfit that resembled a straight jacket may not be on my hot ticket list for summer either.  Even the model wearing it, had trouble keeping a straight face.

One of my favourite places at the venue would have to have been Beauty Zone, where they had Aromaspa, Accupucture Facial Renewal, Cut Above Beauty Therapy, Dermologica, You Photography just to name a few.  There were seminars you could go and listen to which would have been really interesting and a visit to the Rumpus Room where they had Glassons Breast Cancer Research Trust T-Shirt design competition, Nova Model search and much more.

So, as they say in the fashion world, that’s a wrap and my advice would certainly be to put it on your things to do list, but maybe not just not right at the top.

Available:  tickets can be bought through ticketek.co.nz  general admission$30 and children under 12 are free

Designer Selection Show tickets are $90 also can be purchased through ticketek.co.nz

  As I mentioned recently I have a list of my favourite things, you know its the things that you go back to time and time again because they really are good.  Well this wee gem certainly makes it onto the list and its the Luxe Travel Guides.

I was told about them by a friend who has used them around the world, so I went and bought some for myself and they really are great.  It’s like travelling with your very own hotel concierge.

In their words they describe them as ‘the consummately stylish, pocket travel guides, packed with astute opinionated information for the busy and sophisticated traveller.’

Translated,  it means a really cool pocket size travel guide, which is funny and really helpful.  So why are they so good?  Well it really comes down to a couple of reasons and the first being their size, they really are small and fit into your back pocket.  Second would have to be the content and style of writing.  It’s fun, to the point and very honest.

A great example of this is, in the Luxe Melbourne guide they give phrases that may help you out with the locals.  One of my favourites is:

‘Strewth, look at the Muffin-top on that!  :  That young lady has a large amount of excess flesh above the waistband of her low-cut jeans and is doing herself no favours.’   Very funny.

Luxe also comes with online city updates, you just simply log-in on their website to find out what’s new.  Now that’s very cool.

What I truly love about them is that they take all the guess work out of visiting somewhere new for you and have chosen only the very best places to go. 

You will find:

half-day shopping and activity itineraries for you to mix and match.

hidden places to relax in, the very latest places to dine, drink and dance

shops you simply never find as a visitor

the most beautiful spas and salons

and services you can’t find in any other guides

This is a fantastic gift for anyone travelling overseas, they will be reminded of you and what a cool gift giver you are, during their holiday.  Don’t leave home without it.

Stylish, brutally frank and sometimes, frankly, brutal.

Available:all major book stores and at www.luxecityguides.com   

Price:  per guide $17.99   or can be bought as a set from the website.

  I found this pen that can rub out. They are called Frixion Eraseable Pens and are available from Whitcoulls in red, black, blue, green, orange , pink and purple.

It’s quite handy because you write something in pen and when you make a mistake you can just rub it out. The pens are good quality, feel good to write with and the output looks as good as any other pen.  I want one in every colour!

  We know they don’t ask for directions and pretend to know exactly where they are going.  It can be hours before they admit to having no clue to where they are and half the time they find it purely by accident.  Going somewhere with a man can be really frustrating.

So what would you say if I told you I can take all the guesswork out of trying to find somewhere new, or somewhere you have been before but maybe get there faster.  How about you have an unplanned detour and aren’t sure where it will have you end up.

Well if all this sounds too good to be true, I am happy to say it’s as good as it says it is.  I am talking about Satellite Navigation and the Garmin Nuvi 310 to be exact.  I bought this for my husband as he travels regularly and often has to attend meetings in other cities and I bought this one especially for it’s size, small.  He can carry it round in his laptop bag.

Like most electronic gadgets these days it has heaps of features you will probably never use like bluetooth hands free for your phone, MP3 player and Audio Book. The hands free is pretty hopeless and who needs another MP3 player or an Audio Book. The main thing is that it does its core job, navigation, very well.

One thing people don’t often think about when they purchase a Sat Nav is that the data (maps and points of interest) held in the device when they buy it, will get out of date. The manufactures usually offer some sort of update service where you can get updates to load on your Sat Nav. Some offer them for free but others ask you to pay for them. But few do them more often than once a year. The best thing about purchasing a Garmin device is that Garmin are one of the only manufacturers who have third party mapping tools available. This has allowed a group of smart kiwis to create “The New Zealand Open GPS Maps Project” which provides free Map and Points of Interest (POI) updates for Garmin Mapping GPSs (Sat Nav). The project is based around a forum where users report issues or bugs and regional mappers pick up the reports and make changes to the source maps. Usually within 24 - 48 hours a revised version of the map is available for download.

You can find the “The New Zealand Open GPS Maps Project” at http://www.gwprojects.org/gps

Rating: 3.5 (used with The New Zealand Open GPS Maps Project data, 4.5)

Price: $472.17 from www.ferrit.co.nz

   Could this product be any more stupid?  I think not.  I bought the Define-a-lash Lengthening Mascara by Maybelline the other day because it’s supposed to be their great answer to great lashes.

They say it has zero clumps, sleek definition and wait for it, sensuous length. Are they sure they are talking about this mascara?  Nevertheless I have got one and tried and tried to use it, but with very little success.  At first I thought, damn it’s broken.  The end of the wand wobbles around and there’s nothing for your lashes to push against when you roll it past them, it’s too floppy.

But I asked my girlfriend who bought hers at the same time and, like me, thought this can’t be right, it must be broken.  Ah no.  Just useless.

It’s a total waste of money, there are much better mascaras on the market, my advice is just don’t bother with this one.

Available at: New World Supermarket and major pharmacies