Marks and Spencer Launch New Site

It appears www.marksandspencer.com launched a new look website at the end of last week. It's an exciting time to be an online shopper as retailers seem to be moving their online offerings forward to respond to the growing demand. As for the new M&S website I think they have made good progress in making it a little more lifestyle driven. The search seems to work well as I quickly found a bold print tunic I've been looking for as part of my must have Spring/Summer look. I'm not so sure about the animated introduction when I logged in, fun the first time but may quickly become ittitating. Also I found the black borders very heavy going and not sure it fits in with their image. However a great step forward and an excuse to buy my new tunic, suppose I'll need some new shoes and maybe a bag now.....

Cubalaya Relaunches

Looks like one of my favourite websites, www.cubalaya.co.uk , has relaunched their website. The new Homepage looks great, much more colourful than before and much easier to get to the hot products I want to see like shoes. They seem to be sticking with that crazy chicken mascot which makes it kind of fun, I noticed that the chicken does different things as you search around the site. However it appears to be more than just cosmetic changes. I see they have added lots of search functionality in categories like digital cameras where you can now sort by using key criteria like megapixels. I also like the store ratings and shop by brand features you see around the site. Overall the site looks even better and is even easier to spend hours browsing around my favourite products. Nice work Cubalaya .....

Digital Cameras for the Summer

I don't regard myself as a technically minded individual but I have to admit that having children has helped me embrace digital cameras. I've always enjoyed photography and surrounding myself with pictures of family or holidays. For the last 3 years I've owned a digital camera and at the moment I have a little compact HP model that is fine for quick snaps but I'm ready to try something a little more advanced. With Summer approaching I've been investigating and plan to buy soon. below are my top 5 digital cameras for very different reasons.

1. The Canon EOS 400D is in my opinion the best of the SLR cameras out there. If I'm going to buy something that allows me to really explore digital photography then I think it will be this great all rounder. Although it doesn't come with compact flash it appears to be an excellent point and shoot camera as well and at 10 mega pixels the image quality should be good enough for a pro.
2. Sony Cyber-shot DSC T50. I've always liked Sony products (I know you pay a little extra for the brand name). They always produce very stylish looking products and this is no exception. Although I'm tempted by an SLR I may also need to upgrade my compact so I have something sleek and stylish on me at all times. Built in flash, over 7 mega pixels and 3x zoom are pretty impressive and would be more than enough for my compact.
3. Nikon Coolpix S7 - I couldn't resist choosing something from Nikon, I just love the branding of 'Coolpix'. I know not a reason to spend money on a digital camera but I'm always a little irrational when I shop. I like the styling and the thing I like most is the huge 3 inch LCD screen on the back.
4. Samsung NV7. Another camera I have chosen purely based on it's fantastic styling. this ultra slim camera has a 7x Zoom, quite amazing when you see how small it is. From what I've been reading Samsung also provide excellent value for money and are a very underated brand in this country.
5. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7. This was the other SLR that I considered along with the Canon. It is well priced and unlike the Canon comes witha built in flash.

There are so many models out there that it takes some time to research and deciede which one to go for. Please let me know if you have recently bought a camera and how you rate it as I may still change my mind. I predominately used Cubalaya to source product and retailers.

Husband Driving me Crazy

My husband is now at that age (36) where he still like to feel trendy but doesn't want to spend any time, money or effort ensuring that he is. I found a great new site this week that sells high quality trendy footwear that will suit him perfectly. http://www.awaveshoes.co.uk/ is really well put together and from what I can see have a nice little niche for themselves in the market. I've ordered my husband a pair of the Oak rugged lace ups and that should keep him going for the next 3 years.....

30% Discount on Leather Sofas

I've been pondering a new Leather Sofa for some time and have just found that Marks and Spencer are offer a 30% discount on all Leather Sofas and Chairs from now until the 10th of April. I bought a sofa from M&S 5 years ago and it has been great so I think I may take them up on this offer. www.marksandspencer.com

Live to Shop

The first post and it feels like I've spent far to much time thinking about what to write. I've concluded that the reason I'm writing this blog is partly because I know there are thousands of women out there who feel the same and because I want to enhance on the main theme in my blog.

As a woman rapidly approaching 40 years of age I am married with two adorable young children, working 3 days a week and feeling constantly sucked into a world of which I have precious little time for myself. Me time, time to indulge, enjoy my hard earnt time and money, where I can treat myself and get high on life for the sake of satisfying a core need. Yes I am yet another woman that like to shop. Shopping Therapy is nothing new, men still don't understand it, women love to do it but the advent of online shopping has given us time starved shoppers an extra opportunity to browse and buy when we get a valuable 15 minutes late in the evening.

I thought I'd start by just giving you an idea of my favourie online shops, this will give you a good idea about what I like to buy:-

1. Boden - I have always liked the Boden Catalouge and been a fan for a few years. the website might not be the easiest in the world to use but I simply love their clothes. Also great for buying stuff for the kids. These guys are constantly sending me discount vouchers and offers which I just can't resist.

2. Jigsaw - Whilst the online shop has been withdrawn they have launched the www.kew-online.com brand and site which is slightly cheaper but still very good. I still try to pop in to Jigsaw when ever I can but find myself always thinking very carefully about prices as it can be expensive.

3. Marks and Spencer - Like many people I felt that for a few years they did a bad job of targetting my demographic. Clothes have always been high quality and good value but their styling was very conservative and 'frumpy'. However the last 18 months has seen a remarkable turnaround and I can honestly say this is once again one shop I always like to go to for a quick browse.

4. Next - this has been a long time favourite of mine but I think it has suffered a little of late, possibly as Marks and Spencer has been revived. I still like to look at the Catalouge but think the online shop needs improving. It always feels to slow and clunky compared to the glorious catalouge they produce.

5. Finally one of my favourite online hidden gems is a shopping comparison site called www.cubalaya.co.uk . I think it's new but I stumbled across it just before Christmas. there are lots of price comparison sites out there but this one has a nice feel to it, no useless adverts that feel irelevant and it turns up some real gems of online retailers you just couldn't find any where else.

I hope this blog will capture some of the joy I experience when I shop online and I hope other like minded people will tell me about their love of shopping and point me in the direction of great products and special offers or just highlight great things they have recently bought.