I did it because of the kids I promise, really they begged me and apparently according to my girlfriends, I am a soft touch.  I give in to everyone requests which includes my children begging for a new CD.  So I bought the new Stan Walker CD, winner of Australian Idol.

Now to be fair I wasn’t a big fan of him on Idol, to be honest I wasn’t a big fan of anyone  on the latest Australian Idol.  I thought they were all a bit low rent, not that my opinion counts when it comes to singing.  They would have to be tone deaf for me to make it past the first audition.  But seriously we all have seen enough of these shows to become Simon Cowell stand-ins.  I did think at the time, is this the best that Australia has to offer?

So it really hasn’t come as a big surprise that the CD has turned out to be a big fizzer for me.

I have to say Purple Rain has always been a song I loved even if I hadn’t heard it for years, but the real kicker would have to be one of my all time favourite songs was ‘Hallelujah’ sung by Lenoard Cohen.  Now there are some things that just shouldn’t be touched, to say he killed these songs would be being nice. He damn well murdered it.  He starts off so low, to low for him and its hard to decipher the words, it gets better as he goes on but really not much.

The girls initially thought that I was being unkind until they heard him sing the ‘Climb’ song which Miley Cirus has on her latest album.  Whilst she may have been marketed to death, she can at least sing and has quite a distinctive voice.  So once again why try to rerecord a song that she sings and is really popular.  Ugh I know he sung these songs on Idol but that doesn’t necessarily make them great choices for an album.

The only positive on the CD has to be his song ‘Black Box’, this I do concede is sung well and suits him.  Don’t get me wrong I am all for people triumphing over adversity which he clearly has and should be proud of that.  But I have really been disappointed with the album and am surprised the so-called experts advising him have released this rubbish.  Stan can sing but it just shouldn’t be some of these songs.

Available: all leading record stores, The Warehouse             Price: $34.95 (pricing varies)

Track Listing:

1. Purple Rain
2. The Climb
3. Man’s World
4. Ordinary People
5. Let’s Stay Together
6. Hallelujah
7. Superstar
8. We Will Rock You
9. Think Of Me
10. Black Box

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you have seen some sun and had a relaxing fulfilled time with your family and friends.

Apologies for my absence, but I have been away on holiday and decided that this year I would take a break.  I wanted to spend the time thinking about where to from here.  What do I want to change on my site?  What can I add to make it even better?  What else is helpful to you?

I have always wanted this site to be different, honest and helpful.  To make your everyday buying decisions easier and 2010 is going to be a better year for us all, so how do I make my site better?

Well I think I have some of the answers to these questions and over the next few months you will see some changes.

My new ‘Product Testing’ section which I am adding will be interesting, I will be making small regular posts on products I am trying out. You will be able to track the progress of those with me.  I am currently testing a new Face Cream, my new phone and this really wizzy new ‘I can make you look ten years younger’ face machine I got for Christmas.   Funny, I am either going to end up looking like Cindy Crawford or Herman Munster, wish me luck.

Another change is going to be the new Community aspect of the site which I know you will all love.  I get so much feedback, helpful tips and really useful information from you, I want for you all to be able to share your good advice with each other.  So you will be able to post your hot tips on the site whenever you find a great buy or have a favourite product you have been using that you love.

I am going to add some photos of me, so you can get to know me better.  Also I will have more product giveaways this year as well.  So it’s all very exciting.

I have in my travels over Christmas and New Year found some great things to share with you all.  I have discovered a few ‘hot buys’ and a couple of ‘not so hot buys’.  So keep checking in for those.

I am also going to launch my new and very exciting project in the next few months.  So stay tuned for that.  2010 is going to be an exciting year, action packed and probably a little scary for me, but more on that soon.

2010 is going to be a great year.

                             

  

How cool is this, a CD from Plunket, with a whole host of Kiwi talent singing Christmas songs.  With the likes of Opshop, Annie Crummer, Shona Laing, Hollie Smith just to name a few it’s a must have in the CD player this Christmas.

The initiative was taken by Monique Rhodes, a singer song/writer living in France, who on her visit back to New Zealand felt moved to do something to give back and she chose Plunket to do just that.

‘Titled ‘Merry Christmas Baby’, the album combines original songs with a handful of unique versions of traditional Christmas songs. It is my Christmas wish that with the help of this album our children have the chance of a good life.’        Monique Rhodes

Proceeds of the CD go to Plunket to help Kiwi kids get a better start in life and personally I can’t think of a better cause to support at Christmas.

Check out www.merrychristmasbaby.co.nz for a complete list of artists but this is definitely one to put in the CD stack at home, or in my case the car so my children can get the benefit of my singing as well.  Funny that they don’t seem to appreciate that.

Available: Plunket, The Warehouse, the CD Store, JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy, Marbecks or shop online at www.merrychristmasbaby.co.nz

Price:$25.95  or if you pop into Plunket, Level 5, Plunket House, 132 Lambton Quay, it’s only $20.00.

  

Stink, Stink, Stink.  I know it’s not the best way to start an article but to be fair Christmas always brings out the kid in me and I really don’t know any other way to put it, but I am really disappointed with the Kirks Christmas store this year.  Seriously it’s the biggest bore I have ever seen and now I need to re-think my whole Christmas decoration strategy for this year. 

You see ever year since the girls were little we have gone to the Kirkcaldies Christmas Shop to buy our decorations for the tree and I have always bought an heirloom piece, you know the ones you have for forever and bring out year after year.  Well that’s all well and good but this year there is nothing in there that I would buy.

Apart from the fact that the place looks like its nearing the end of Christmas not the start, there still isn’t anything that stands out as a ‘must have’ for this year.  Even the girls both commented that there wasn’t as much ‘cool’ stuff as last year.

Christmas as you know is my favourite time of the year and there really are certain things that I look forward to and this was one of them.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, they have stock if you are into building villages with the little character houses that light up then you’re in luck, but at $364 dollars a pop it’s not what I call “good bang for your buck”.

There are some lovely decorations this year but they just seem to be lacking the ‘wow’ pieces that they have had every other year.  What a shame, it looks like I will have to shop around, so I will keep you posted on how I get on.

It’s still always lovely to take the kids to see and don’t forget Santa is there in December, but just don’t go with high expectations.

Keep a look out also for my Christmas List due any day and it will be under it’s own section to make it easy to find.  Happy Christmas shopping everyone.

Location: Harbour City Centre Mezzanine Floor, Lambton Quay, Wellington.

  We’ve all seen the image of an oasis in the desert, the lush green foliage in a sea of desert sands. That is just what it was like when I arrived at Triton Drive in Albany. In front of me was an oasis for outlet stores amongst the drab grey commercial buildings. It was also a refreshing change after fighting the crowds at the Onehunga Dress Smart, an altogether more civilised shopping experience.

There is a good quality collection of stores with a good range of stock along with the expected discount prices. Although we were only there for a couple of hours we probably bought more than in the whole afternoon at Dress Smart. We found some great bargains at Ice Breaker, my daughter loves her new socks and top. We also found a great wallet at the Rip Curl store fo my daughter about half price and there were lots of other great bargains if we had more time.

By far my favourite shop was Citta Design Store , I just love browsing through the shop getting inspiration from their designer homewares. It is even better when it is at outlet store prices. I used the opportunity to make a start on my Christmas shopping and probably would have bought even more had my husband not looked so stressed at the sight of the growing pile on the counter.

With outlet stores like those in Triton Drive it makes me wonder why people would shop anywhere else. If you are in the area, be sure to pop in for a look.

Triton Drive Outlet Stores:
- Citta Design
- Federation
- Ice Breaker
- Rip Curl
- Billabong
- Soccer Scene.

North Shore: Unit E 7 Triton Drive, Albany (off Rosedale road) Open 7 days 10 – 4pm

  

How’s your life going? Are you achieving the things you want to? Or is there something standing in your way but you don’t quite know what?  If things are not going the way you want them to, no doubt you are blaming yourself for lacking motivation. You probably keep saying “this should be simple, why can’t I just do it?” Worst of all, you probably tell yourself that everyone can do it.”

Nike has a famous slogan “Just Do It!” Simple to say but not so simple to do. You may need something to “un-block” you and Neuro-Linguistic Programming could be the answer. What would you say if I told you that you can re-focus your thinking and change how you feel about something with NLP?  Amazing is all I can say and life changing. 

So what is NLP and why is it so good?   Well I am going to give you my uneducated guess because I don’t know if you ever really will know the extent of what NLP is, it may require a professional to explain it to you.  But in a nutshell NLP provides amazingly simple, powerful methods for changing the way you think, feel, act and learn. In essence, all of NLP is founded on two fundamental presuppositions:

1. The Map is Not the Territory. As human beings, we can never know reality. We can only know our perceptions of reality. We experience and respond to the world around us primarily through our sensory representational systems. It is our ‘neuro-linguistic’ maps of reality that determine how we behave and that give those behaviours meaning, not reality itself. It is generally not reality that limits us or empowers us, but rather our map of reality.

2. Life and ‘Mind’ are Systemic Processes. The processes that take place within a human being and between human beings and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies, and our universe form an ecology of complex systems and sub-systems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other. It is not possible to completely isolate any part of the system from the rest of the system. Such systems are based on certain ’self-organizing’ principles and naturally seek optimal states of balance or homeostasis.

Ok so that’s one of the official explanations you could get someone to give you, mine is far simpler.  What we perceive we believe.

With NLP you get a systematic approach to understanding how your perception of something can prevent you from achieving what you want to achieve. With that understanding, you can re-programme your perception and break though the barriers that you place in front of yourself.

I am pretty sceptical about anything like this but when I tried NLP I was stunned by the results. I found it to be a really practical approach to something that is normally pretty fluffy.

Here’s the catch, do your homework before you go to see just anyone.  It doesn’t come cheap to re-arrange your thoughts and at around $130 for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, you need to make sure you are seeing someone good.

My recommendation would be Charlotte Hinksman in Wellington and if you are out of the Wellington area she may know of someone else you can contact closer to you.  You can contact Charlotte on 021 701 138 or chinksman@gmail.com 

Price:  varies on practitioner but generally around $100 - $140 a session

   Last night I had the special privilege of being able to attend the 6th Annual Affordable Art Gala at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington, which is being held from Friday 31 July to August 2nd.  Wow is all I can say, I don’t think I have ever seen that much art in one place at any one time and, together with all the people there, it’s a large event.

I must say that when I first got there I was a little overwhelmed to be fair, John Key officially opened the event and then it was all on.  You could go in any direction and all the art was displayed in sections around the venue.  What was really funny though was after John Key had opened the Gala, I felt this immense sense of panic too get a move on and find my great special deal for the evening.

What turned out to excitement very quickly dissipated into disappointment, I couldn’t find anything I liked and certainly not when I was under pressure.  There were the seasoned art lovers who were taking paintings up to the pay table, but there were even more of us just wandering around.

What I think I was most disappointed with was the price, I think maybe they forgot to mention to the artists it was the Affordable Art Show not the unknown Artists Art Show.  I couldn’t find anything I liked for a reasonable price and one friend, who has attended for many years, also found the prices very high.   The first year it started she and her husband bought two pieces that were really good for $250.00, for both of them.  She didn’t buy anything either.  If you were going in search of that fantastic bargain you will be very disappointed. 

I loved a ceramic handbag which funnily enough is very me, but had far to much trouble parting with the $1050 they wanted for it.  I also really like another painting but once again had trouble parting with the $3,500 they wanted for that one as well.  There were lots of other paintings that were cheaper but the really amazing deals that were to be had when the show probably started years ago certainly weren’t there.

I did however like the social side of the event, meeting people, the food was fantastic, the atmosphere buzzing and in general was a nice event to catch up and meet people.

This is one of those things that probably when it first started it was great and you could get a really good deal, but I certainly didn’t find it so.  They do however keep replenishing the artwork all weekend so don’t assume all the good ones are gone already, they claim they unpack their work randomly and their piece might just be going on display today.

Don’t forget to take your cheque book, you’ll need it.  The price of most of these paintings you wont have cash for.  Good luck.

Venue:  TSB Arena, Wellington.

I am currently away on school holidays with my girls and was tonight trying to do some early preparation for a trip to Fiji next week.   I booked in a couple of days ago at the one of the local Hawkes Bay Beauty Therapy Houses to do those important things we females do before we expose our white bodies to all of the other people seeking sun in Fiji.   I must say I was really looking forward to going tonight as the weather certainly hasn’t been turning on it’s usual Hawkes Bay charm and prospect of cheering myself up a little was exciting.

Now I have been to this place before so I am a bit of a regular there in the holidays, was pretty certain I knew what to expect as the service had been fairly consistent up till now, so it would be fair to say I wasn’t really prepared for tonight to have gone so badly.  It would be fair to say I didn’t feel the love.  Now when you are paying for a service, it’s a service that is pretty standard in most places you would go in New Zealand, and when that standard isn’t met, it’s really obvious.

So it brings me to my point today about our expectations as consumers, in times of recession we should be getting the royal treatment, not the slip, slop, slap, roll her out the door faster than she arrived treatment.  I swear I think I left the place before I arrived and certainly didn’t feel I got value for money.  This poses the question.

Should we be expecting the standard to be high, services to be better and products to live up to what they claim? 

Well I say damn right we should.  The glory ‘I don’t really care if you come back again’ days are over and I say we should be getting value for money and we should all most certainly be feeling the love.  Why?  Because in this current economic climate money is hard to earn and it’s precious.  Oh isn’t this going to be music to my husband’s ears, he’s been trying to get this message through to me for years.

But seriously now, we should be getting the royal treatment, even me the Queen of Shopping herself who usually just says I wont go back there again,  should step up and say this is not ok.

So whilst I haven’t written today on a specific product like I normally do, I wanted to write about shopping in general and what we should expect.

My challenge to you all is to spend your hard earned money wisely, shop around and look for that good deal, they are there to be had.  Everybody is prepared to bargain and I say don’t except a bad deal or service.  This is my new pledge to myself.

We most certainly should be expecting to be treated like Kings and Queens.   Why?  Because a recession is a great way of wheedling out the pretenders and the rip off artists.  Good luck in your shopping endeavours, aim high, spend wisely and keep checking in with me because I will help you do that.

  

I was surprised by the fact that reviews have been either really fantastic or really bad.  Why?  How can a show evoke such a contrast of opinion. I mean usually you get a bad review and sometimes a mixed review with the odd average one but not normally very good to very bad.  Uh oh, this may not be a good sign and given I have tickets, could I live to regret buying them?

When I first sat down and the show started, I thought, “oh I don’t think I’m going to like this”.  It’s a show about trains and I don’t even like trains, but worse than that it’s a show about trains and they are on roller skates.  I don’t know about you, but it hardly seems riveting to me and certainly not enough to have pulled me out of my warm and cosy living room on such a cold night.   I know it’s an Andrew Lloyd Webber masterpiece and that it was the second longest running musical in British Theatre, but still I just don’t know,  maybe it will be a fizzer.

But after the first ten minutes and I started to settle into the storyline to understand what it was all about, I realised this was really quite unique and like nothing I had ever seen before.  You get so engrossed that you forget they are on skates, which is incredible in itself when you see the moves they can do and this only adds to wonderment on the kids faces as they couldn’t take their eyes off the stage.  Re-written for his children, should give some of you a clue that this really is one for the kids as well as fun loving adults. I am really glad I went but more importantly that I took the girls, they absolutely loved it.

The show was held at the TSB Bank Arena on Queens Wharf in Wellington, which I might add is not the best venue I have been to.  It seems to lack a soul or an ambience, it certainly doesn’t add to the show at all and coupled with the fact it was so hot in there, it wasn’t my favourite place. It was so hot in fact that it resulted in everyone rushing off for water at intermission and people were seen to returning from the bathrooms with extra clothes they appear to have removed.  Surely a venue like this should be able keep the temperature at a comfortable level and doesn’t require us all to turn up in our togs.   So dress so you can undress as it gets warmer, strange advice I know.

If there are tickets still for sale and you are finding yourself at a loose end this week, go and see it.  It gets a 3 of of 5 for me largely due to the poor venue and how hot it was.  Also we sat upstairs and had great seats.

cost:

Tickets from $45 - $125 plus booking fees.

dates:

Wed 01 Jul 09, 7:30pm

Thu 02 Jul 09, 7:30pm

Fri 03 Jul 09, 7:30pm

Sat 04 Jul 09, 2:00pm

Sat 04 Jul 09, 7:30pm

Sun 05 Jul 09, 1:00pm

Sun 05 Jul 09, 6:00pm

Tue 07 Jul 09, 2:00pm

Tue 07 Jul 09, 6:30pm

venue:

TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf, Wellington

region:

Wellington, New Zealand

ticket outlets:

Book Tickets Online

  It’s taken me a long time to finally watch it and yes I know many of you have already been there and done that, but better late than never.  I watched The Secret.  I have to confess I read about it before it had arrived in New Zealand, owned it before most people even knew what it was and now after all this time have finally watched it.

Yes, I can hear you all say why didn’t you do that earlier?  But it’s like this, you really have to be at a place in life where you are going to take it on board otherwise it’s a complete waste of time.  You know what I mean you can read all the self-help books and watch all the DVD’s you like, but it’s not going to make a jot of difference if you aren’t able to put any of it into practice.

So why have I given it four stars, because you know that is quite high for me.  Well it’s good in a word, it’s easy to watch and it just makes sense.   The Secret is basically about what they refer to as the ‘Law of Attraction’ meaning what you put out for in life you get back.  So if you run around unhappy and negative, always expecting the worse then that’s what you get back.  On the other hand if you are positive and open to challenges and change that’s what you get.

They refer to one of the things I do all the time as an example.  Whenever I am going anywhere in the car, I always visualise me arriving there and a car park is free.  So I always get car parks, now I am renowned for this and it really cheeses my girlfriends off because they can never get a park.  I always do and so this is the theory behind the ‘Law of Attraction’, what you put out is what you get back.

Yes they do tell you how to do this and give you the steps necessary to make those changes.  Now it wont happen overnight but they say if you start behaving like the ‘Law of attraction’ good things will happen.

You can buy all sorts of stuff about the secret, but really it’s not necessary.  The only two things to look at are either the DVD or the book.   Now in my case as you would expect, I have both.   Primarily because I had the book for ages and could never find the time to read it, so I bought the DVD and it was much easier to sit down to watch that instead.  I have picked up the book now I know what it’s about and am referring back to it. You need to do that to cement the process in your head.

Where I do think it let itself down was with the start.  I want to stress that you shouldn’t be concerned when you first start watching it that  it’s some kind of weird cult recruiting exercise.  Give it a chance, the speakers appear and it starts to unfold in a very simple, understandable way.  I don’t subscribe to the whole “it dates back centuries” rubbish.  I just believe that this is a good idea and it makes sense to me.  What you put out there in the world, is what you are going to get back.

There will be those who want to disprove this theory and each to their own.  I certainly don’t buy into mumbo jumbo either, but this is certainly worth thinking about.  I am going to re-think my attitude and where I invest my time and energy.

In these difficult times we are in, anything that gives a helping hand is wanted in my view.

Try my car parking trick.

Available:  all leading book stores, over the Internet etc

Price: all prices seemed to vary but the Books were around $39.95 - $45.00 and the DVD’s were around $55.00 - $60.00