Yespresso

When someone mentions Le Creuset to you, you probably either think 'Oh crumbs, I don't speak French, how can I stop myself from looking stupid right now? I'll just nod and look like I'm concentrating.' or you think of bright orange 70s cookware. Le Creuset has actually always come in a multitude of colours since its launch in 1925, but probably the most iconic colourway is that graduated orange.

I'd only ever seen the orange - which is officially called 'Volcanic', according to le website (don't be scared, I'm just making things sound French by putting a 'le' in front of them, I'm not actually writing in a different language - I know, INSANE right?) so I was truly thrilled to discover what pretty hues you can procure them in. 

Take, for example, these lovely espresso mugs - and whilst we're on the subject of espressos, who else dies a little inside when you hear someone say expresso? Hello! THERE IS NO 'X' IN ESPRESSO! IT DOESN'T MAKE IT COME FASTER! Ahem, sorry, these lovely espresso mugs cost just £7.50 from the Le Creuset website and come in 9 different colours, below are some pictures of my personal favourites. 

First up, ladies and gents, we have the Le Creuset espresso cup in 'Cassis'. She's lovely, isn't she? Turns out cassis is just a posh (or French) way of saying blackcurrant.

Next in line we have 'Kiwi'; bright and zingy, strong coffee served up in a Le Creuset espresso cup in kiwi is a sure fire way to kick-start your morning.

Next we have Teal. Teal feels fresh and calm to me. Fresh and calm. Like...like something fresh and calm.

If you're not an espresso drinker, you might just want a normal mug, for tea and whatnot and incredibly, thanks to the combined wonders of product development, charity and marketing, you can get one of those for just £10 AND help save the world, because Le Creuset have a rose coloured line in conjunction with Breast Cancer Care. Yay! 

Hello Rose

The full range is called The Strawberry Tea Collection and it's limited edition for 2011. On average, Le Creuset donates £1.25 for each item purchased and has pledged a minimum of £20,000 to the cause. What are you waiting for?

I things that feel heavy and look sturdy, mainly because I'm extremely clumsy and break fragile objects at the drop of a hat, or rather, mug. Although I distinctly remember struggling to lift a fully loaded Le Creuset cast iron saucepan in my youth, I figure that once the Nommie Dream House is established, a fully kitted out Le Creuset kitchen will be an excellent way of keeping the bingo wings at bay. Move over Madonna, Nom is snapping at your armbands.

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.

Cooler than carbonite, kids

There was a time in my (as you're about to discover) misspent youth, that I would idle away my lonely hours in Forbidden Planet, looking at comic books and pining after over-priced toys. Despite the fact that any geek worth their salt will pinch the bridge of their nose and scream in your face 'THEY'RE NOT TOYS! THEY'RE MOVIE MEMORABILIA/ACTION FIGURINES/COLLECTIBLES', they are, actually just toys. Toys for grown ups. Deal with it. I have.

I stopped going to Forbidden Planet because a. I was never given pocket money and b. although I know I dazzle you on a weekly basis with my charm, wit and intelligence, I'm simply not intense enough to be classed as an actual geek, so I got totally bored of having conversations with people who just *have* to prove a point, even if it's over an incredibly minor footnote in the history of The Marvel Universe.

So it's not surprising that I've entirely missed the boat on this Star Wars Han Solo ice cube tray, which costs £8.99:

Now, I know I said that I gave up on the quest to become a genuine geek, due to commitment phobia, lack of funds and unacceptable dress-sense, but when my twitter pal @marcusgalley hooked me up to a link with this, I got ridiculously overexcited. So excited, a little bit of wee came out.*

Look at poor Han! He's DROWNING! Nooooooooo!

Now, I'm hoping that you all get why this is great, but in case you're too young to have seen any Star Wars films prior to Episode I, this product makes a most amusing gift for the true Star Wars Enthusiast, because in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (which is arguably the greatest of the Trilogy, but I do like a bit of the old Episode IV: A New Hope, particularly the bit with The Cantina Band, which is my ringtone, incidentally), Darth Vader forces Solo's old Frenemy Lando Calrissian to trick him into chilling out for a bit in Cloud City, where Vader imprisons Solo in carbonite and turns him over to the faceless and mysterious bounty hunter, Boba Fett (I know, isn't his name awesome?) who sells Solo's ass without a second thought to slimy, slug-like kingpin, Jabba the Hutt. It's a particularly poignant moment in the film, because *just* as Solo is about to be encapsulated (and no-one really knows if he will even survive the carbonisation process - it's never been tested), Princess Leia finally tells him she loves him, after much sexual tension and bickering has been played out on screen. Like I said, it's a VERY POIGNANT MOMENT FOR STAR WARS FANS. This is what Han Solo looks like in the film when he's all carbonised and shiz:

I know, right? Travelling across the galaxy this way makes Sleazy-Jet look like a dream.

In short, this is seven types of awesome and if you buy it for a Star Wars fan, they'll appreciate it massively. Unless they have already been given fifteen of them. If you don't feel comfortable going into Forbidden Planet, you can always buy online, or you could just make them a Han Solo Trapped In Carbonite Cake.

*Actually that's hyperbole, I'm a fully and happily continent member of society peeps. So please don't spam me with offers of Tena Lady.

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.

Skaagen mugs

I just want to clarify something here - are we all in agreement that we love tea? Good (okay fine, coffee is allowed too if, like my friend Imogen, you think that tea is 'The Devil's drink'). There's a lot of pleasure to be taken from the simplicity of a nice cuppa. This is made even more comforting when you're supping from an aesthetically pleasing recepticle.

Very Nice Things is a shop which, unsurprisingly, (as I'm posting status updates about every three seconds) I found on Twitter. Run by Emma, it's full of...well, very nice things. She's on my Fantasy Rounders Team and because lovely possessions are her speciality, she assures me if the fantasy ever becomes reality, she's going to bring delightful deckchairs and pretty picnic baskets.

Anyway, back to tea. On the Very Nice Things website Emma's listed these pretty £6 Skagen mugs, which I just want with every inch of my being, except I live with two boys who have successfully broken two full sets of crystal glasses and if they chipped one of these mugs I'd actually have to kill them until they were dead. And I'm rather fond of them, so I don't really want that to happen. I'm just going to have to keep them in my bottom drawer for the Nommie Dream House...

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.