I was recently introduced to the designboom blog by one of the creative team at my new job at Ocado. Basically, they'd seen an article on there about a virtual supermarket in South Korea; and by virtual I don't mean, like, Ocado online, I mean a whole underground station transformed into virtual supermarket, using QR codes to enable passengers to shop whilst waiting for a train. How awesome is that?

Anyway, naturally once I'd read the article, which was, for all intents and purposes work-related, my fingers slowly found themselves edging the mouse towards the designboom shop... I wasn't disappointed. It has loads of supercool presents; presents for you, presents for me, presents for wine buffs, presents for geeks, like, for example, this laptop bag which looks like a Windows 'My Documents' folder. CLEVER.

This costs $30 (about £18.80, thank you Expedia Currency Converter), not including postage. I really want it; I think it will definitely help me in my eternal quest to attract a cute, geeky boyfriend. It totally sends out the right vibes. It's like 'I'm geeky, but also cool', in a non-contrived way, obv. And 'geeky-and-cool-in-a-non-contrived-way' is a rare and attractive combo.

Sadly, I don't actually have a laptop, so once geeky-cool-non-contrived-potential-Mr-Nom saw the contents of my case, he might be slightly dubious about my coolness and geekiness, but I'm sure by that point I would have probably made some good jokes involving innuendo and maybe dazzled him with my smile*, so he'd be trapped in my web like a geeky and cool fly and the Find Nom A Boyfriend Plan would be successfully executed.

*If not my smile then definitely my boobs. Or my aforementioned zebra print onesie.

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.

Wicked weekend bags

The other day at lunch I was having a total mard slight whinge about the fact that I have no one to go on holiday with as all my lovely friends are shacked up or already have their holibobs booked. Obviously the continuous sound of my whining voice pitiable tale of my lack of plans struck a chord with my ever-patient kiwi colleague, who mentioned that she was about to book a weekend break with her boyfriend and a few friends to Budapest in November and would I like to come? Obviously I jumped on that shiz like a podium when Nelly Furtado's Maneater (what? It's my song) is playing and booked it. November baby, Budapest is MINE!

Now though, I have a delightful excuse to scour the interwebs for a weekend bag. I've needed one for yonks but I've never quite found the right one. I'm undecided as to how much I'm willing to invest in this purchase at the moment, so I have selected a mix of scrimp and splurge numbers that I'd love to have your feedback on!

First up is this tropical flower print bag from Asda, which is just £8. I spotted this the other day when I dashed in there for an emergency work birthday cakes scenario (I was desperate and they charge like, I dunno £2 for fify mini flapjacks or something) and thought to myself... 'Oooh! You're a nice size. And I rather like your pattern too, although I think perhaps I might be feeling a bit panicked so I'm not going to outright buy you, but I'm glad to see you're here and so I'll just remember you for the future. Just in case'.

I also rather like this suede Modalu Coralie tote bag from ASOS, which is currently reduced to from £160 to £86 and comes in electric blue, as below, and senape (read yellow).

Also worthy of mention, but not worthy of image as the pictures can't be scraped from the websites without being either minute or highly pixelated are the Perfect Weekend Collection boxy patent leather overnight bag from M&S at £89 (especially in mulberry, I like the mulberry) or the £85 overnight bag from Hush.

Despite liking all of the above very much, I feel that perhaps my weekend bag quest is not yet complete. I have not yet discovered the perfect bag to complement my travel persona (avec massive sunglasses, possibly a headscarf, red lipstick and a slight pout - you know how I like to do things in a totally theatrical manner). So if you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments!

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.

Swanky accessories

Do you ever have one of those days where you're just insanely busy and nobody is adoring you and everything is going wrong and you're pretty much just like AAAARGH? Of course you can't actually scream that out loud, because people might think you were unhinged or something, so maybe you just stick to thinking it or tweeting it. Or maybe you wear it around your neck to subtly remind people to give you a freaking break:

This AAAARGH necklace costs £22 from jewellery designer Swank, aka Becky Wignell. Based in Otley, Becky's designs are often made from recycled material (the chain on the above for example and her range of recycled Lego-themed necklaces are pretty squiffy geek-chic too), which means you can feel happy about what you're hanging round your hooters.

Also worthy of note are her really cool plane-related necklaces, which come in silver, gold or black-backed perspex. You know me, I love black and gold, it's so opulent and trashy:

Seriously cool, non? The F1-15 Fighter Jet necklace costs 30 smackeroonies and can be located by clicking this link here.

And then there's the Grumman Wildcat necklace, which also costs £30.

Lastly I want to show you my favourite, because it's named after a song which never fails to make me giggle and it's also AWESOME:

The Rock Lobster necklace costs £18 and comes in red, pink or gold perspex. Seriously cool. Which one should I choose, red or gold?

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.

Woof - Woof, by Meow Girl

Do you like dogs? I know people are usually dog or cat people, but, just to be my usual awkward self, I'm both. I love Geoff, my big fluffy ginger cat, but as you may remember from my previous posts, I'm a firm believer that 'one day my Fritz will come'.

As Fritz, my short-haired miniature daschund currently only exists in my mind, I do so like to see things that remind me of him, be that homewares or clothes or jewellery. So I was quite frankly elated when I was looking at Aussie shop Meow Girl's collection of painted miniature pooch necklaces and spotted dearest, darling Fritz on the end of a silver chain for a mere AUS$45 (£29.52 at current exchange rate, thanks expiate).

There's a whole host of the funniest little pups, including Ria's imaginary Pug, Pierre, for AUS $39 (about £23):

And Bill Sikes' dog Bulls Eye! Bulls Eye costs AUS$39, which is about £26. I know they are sort of ugly looking, but I quite like English Bull Terriers. Look, he's having a little sit down:

Also worth mentioning is the Chihuahua (ooh isn't that funny to write) for AUS$30, the Dalmatian, AUS$39 and the little Jack Russell AUS$39!

I originally wrote this post for About Your Dress Blog, you can still find it amongst heaps of other posts by me and two other talented ladies there if you'd like to go and have a peek.