Recently my best friend and I had dinner at my favourite restaurant, Pane E Vino in Ponsonby.

Pane E Vino was opened by Tito an enthusiastic, charming and friendly Italian who, with his family, arrived in NZ in 2004 bringing with him a passion for Italian food and wine and a desire to share this with New Zealanders and what a privilege this is.

Tito’s welcoming persona is apparent from the moment you call for a reservation, believe me you will need one. We watched as multiple people were turned away during our meal with a few even opting to wait standing out on the street for a table to become free. And you know I can’t blame them.

I booked my Friday night table at 10am that morning and was given the last table available, a narrow hall table at the front of the outdoor eating area with a plastic deck chair either side. Now this might sound a bit of a ramshackle arrangement but after being met by our warm and friendly Italian waiter, who encouraged us to try out the Italian pronunciation of the dishes we were ordering while he listened patiently and smiling the set up was quickly forgotten.

Being a vegetarian I was astounded and overjoyed at the range of vegetarian dishes on offer and after some slow sounding out of the names and pointing to spots on the menu we settled on sharing entrees of the Bruchetta topped with fresh tomato, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil and the Melanzana alla parmigiana - Oven baked eggplant topped with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. They arrived quickly along with a basket of fresh ciabatta and we enjoyed every last bite using the ciabatta to mop up the remaining tomato sauce from the eggplant dish and washing it down with mouthfuls of the Carafe of Montepulciano red wine recommended to us by our waiter.

Just as we sat back in admiration of what we had just devoured questioning whether we had been hasty in ordering a main each. Our mains were delivered to the table. Mine, a Lasagna ai funghi - a delicious vegetarian Mushroom Lasagne and my friends, the Cannelloni di carne con funghi - an impressive Pasta tube dish filled with ragu of beef, porcini mushroom parmesan cheese and truffle pesto topped with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce along with a side salad recommended as a good accompaniment to our choices of main meals. So we sat a little lower in our seats and set about making our way through the amazing flavours and taste of our meals.

Even with the regular checking in by our waiter and Tito himself we didn’t feel rushed to leave to free up tables for new diners. In fact we were encouraged to take our time enjoying the food and atmosphere of the good mood across the diners and even those waiting for a table as new plastic deck chairs were brought out to make them comfortable and even drinks and garlic bread to keep them going.

And then Tito visited to let us know he’d just created 2 desserts, new specials for the evening. He gave us the names of them and then described them to us using English, Italian, his hands and face. There was no way we were leaving without trying those, so we grabbed the next waitress that came in close proximity to us and asked for the new special desserts. She enquired which ones and we were stumped, between us we managed to play back some of what he said but to describe it we would have to replay the words, hand actions and facial expressions. We got there in the end and did not regret for one second having to lie down for the rest of the night from being so full from the good food.

Most of all though we left happy, smiles across our faces and recalling the many good things about Pane E Vino, we will be back, again and again and again.

From ages 0-12 and up Lego is a household favourite and always will be. It’s the toy that doesn’t make a noise, doesn’t need its batteries replaced and you can sit down and play Lego with your child and actually enjoy yourself.

Coming up to Christmas I know Lego will be on most children’s ‘Dear Santa’ letters so here is some tips I’ve found on Parents.Lego.com to make sure ‘Santa’ packs the right bits and pieces.

TIP #1: Use the Whole Child Product Timeline on the LEGO Parents Website to see what LEGO sets other parents and caregivers have bought for different age groups.

TIP #2: Remember all LEGO building sets are compatible with one another and new sets can easily be incorporated into existing LEGO collections.

TIP #3: Get to know your child’s play interests as a guide to choosing the right set. Does she like to build houses or cars? Does he like outer space or medieval knights? Knowing ahead of time will help you narrow your choices once in-store.

TIP #4: If you’re unsure of a child’s interests, look for LEGO sets with lots of versatile pieces. Any of the LEGO CREATOR sets provide great bricks to add to any collection, and are designed for building and re-building many models and themes from one kit of parts.

TIP #5: Look for the model boxes that retailers have on-shelf. Here you can see what some of the models look like assembled. The size, scale and complexity of the model will help you choose the right set for his or her ability.

TIP #6: Follow the age markings on the packaging. Many people purchase things for older children as a way to promote their younger child’s progress, but age markings are provided for a reason. LEGO designers spend a lot of time determining which models and themes provide the best building experiences for children. A set marked 8+ is designed to be challenging and rewarding for children 8 years old and up. Unless a 5 year old is a very advanced builder, this is not the right LEGO set for him, and you’ll probably spend a lot of time helping him complete the model.

TIP #7: Buy early! LEGO sets are quite often in strong demand at this time of year, so don’t wait until the last minute to get that set your child is wishing for!

Buy cheap Lego in New Zealand

My friend managed to drag me along to the T2 store in Botany in the weekend, and while I drink the odd green tea, I am not a huge fan of flavoured tea, rather opting for a big coffee to kick start my day.

The T2 store however is simply amazing, from the moment you walk in, you can smell the fresh aromas of all the fabulous flavoured teas they have on offer. From Strawberries and cream, to chilled chilli-strawberry, they really do have every kind of flavoured tea you could want.

I ended up walking away with three different flavours and will definitely be going back for more. Their chilled teas will be great for summer and they have lot of great gifts for Christmas. One that is sure to be a great present is their exciting new White Xmas blend which has aromas of soft spice and zesty citrus, along with the taste of sweet meringue, raisins marzipan and orange. Take it from me; this is the scent and taste of Christmas!

So I think I have quite possibly found one of the coolest things invented. This being because I am one of those unlucky people that is prone to spilling! No matter whether its my first glass of wine, my morning coffee or that miso soup out at a restaurant, my clumsy hands seem to manage to knock all of the above over within seconds, much to my embarrassment I must say.

But now…… spilling coffee all over those important work documents can become a thing of the past with this snazzy little coffee cup holder that clips onto your desk. Oh how exciting!

Now all I need is a wine holder for those nights out and a soup holder I can take with me to Restaurants, and I will be all sorted!

Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland & Zombieland) stars as Mark Zuckerberg in the drama film ‘The Social Network 2010’ about the origin of the social networking website Facebook.com and the consequential lawsuits.

The plot is an adaptation of Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay which he based on Ben Mezrich’s 2009 non-fiction book ‘The Accidental Billionaires’.

The Social Network is an entertaining movie showing how something as internationally successful and popular as Facebook comes from such small ideas and beginnings.

Jesse (Mark Zuckerberg) plays a convincing social outcast with little regard to others feelings believing himself to be of a higher intelligence than those around him and announces this on a regular basis to anyone who challenges it. Money is and never was an issue to him but the love of Erica Albright is and this is reflected by his quiet solemn face whenever he is caught alone with time to think about something other than facebook. He truly makes Mark Zuckerberg someone you hate to love and vice versa.

The supporting cast also do a persuasive job of their characters including that of Justin Timberlake as Napsters co-founder Sean Parker. I heard recently that JT was giving his music career a breather as he gives acting a proper go and if The Social Network is anything to go by I think he might just pull that off.

I don’t want to give too much away but I recommend this movie as one to see this season with a 3.5 stars out of 5.

See The Social Network in New Zealand

External hard drives have become quite popular and are one of the most convenient devices to store and transfer large amounts of data and the storage capacity of external hard drives has increased considerably over the past few years.

With the increased popularity and use new brands and types have been popping up all over the place. Here is some information to help you make the choice of what drive is best for you.

What is an External Hard Drive?

An external hard drive is the same type of hard drive as you would find inside your PC or laptop, except that it is mounted in a separate enclosure. It can be used to store information (data) permanently or temporarily, in the same way as your computer’s hard drive.

External hard drives (the actual drive itself) come in two main physical sizes, 2.5″ & 3.5″. The 2.5″ drives are the same as you would find in your laptop computer, whereas the 3.5″ drives are identical to hard drives found in desktop PCs. The difference is in the interface that connects the external hard drive to your computer.

Usually, external hard drives connect to your computer via a USB/Firewire cable, most modern operating systems will automatically recognise the hard drive as a storage device, and assign it a drive letter.

The fact that external hard drives are simply placed in an enclosure means you can usually change the actual hard drive itself without too much effort. This allows you to swap drives between enclosures, so you only have to buy one enclosure for many hard drives (of the same sort).

There are two main types of external hard drives, portable and desktop.

The Portable External Hard Drive

Portable external hard drives are usually the 2.5″ (laptop) hard drives in a slimline enclosure, making them simple to carry. Although they are portable, they are not unbreakable and extra care is needed while transporting them, for example, don’t put them in your back pocket and then sit down!
The portable external hard drive is commonly “USB Powered”, which means you don’t have to carry a separate power supply unit around with you. The only downside to this is that the available power is limited to the computer it is attached to.

This may not seem like a big problem, but if you have many other USB powered devices connected to the same computer (especially when connected to a laptop/notebook), then you will find the USB powered external hard drive will not perform at its best.

Some of the portable external hard drives that are available come with a separate USB power cable, which provides an extra power boost to the hard drive if required.

The Desktop External Hard Drive

Desktop external hard drives are normally the 3.5″ hard drives mounted in a larger enclosure than its portable counterpart. The enclosure may also have fans integrated to assist in keeping the drive cool during operation, which extends the life of the disk drive.

The desktop external hard drive is designed with storage capacity in mind, rather than portability.

These type of external hard drives are still portable in a sense, i.e., you can still unplug them and transport them. They often come with a separate power supply, which can be vital when you are transferring lots of data as it maintains a constant current, independent of the computer’s USB power supply.

External Hard Drive Jargon Glossary

When shopping for your new external hard drive you will be confronted with jargon, below is an description of common terms used in the advertising of external hard drives.

Hard Drive Capacity: This figure, quoted in GB/ GigaBytes indicates the storage capacity of the hard drive, your choice will depend on your requirements. As a guideline, a 160GB (GigaByte) hard drive will hold over 40,000 MP3 songs or 133,000 digital photos.

Spindle Speed: This refers to the speed at which the drive rotates, the higher the speed the better. The speed will be stated in RPM/ revolutions per minute. 5,400RPM is around the average speed of portable drives, whereas 7,200RPM (and above) is common in desktop hard drives.

Interface: This indicates how the hard drive is connected to the computer, usually USB and/or Firewire

Hopefully this will assist you in your choice of purchase leaving you feel confident and informed.

Buy cheap hard drives in New Zealand

This week in the office we have all been giving the Geoskincare Hydrating hand & body cream a go.

Geoskincare touts itself as a pure, simple, organic product and that’s what it is. It is simple - in a good way. the fragrance is pleasant and not overpowering. The consistency is a bit thinner than I am used to in a hand cream and also takes a little longer to absorb than I am used to, but given some patience and massaging into your hands it leaves them smooth and hydrated. (A good excuse to give your hands a break from the keyboard for 5 minutes too)

I myself have sensitive skin so really have to be careful what I put on my body and I was pleased to find this didn’t irritate myskin and atually appeared to help the intense dry patches I have.

I can see myself trying more from the geoskincare range as a result and including their products in the tenpin arrangement of body care items on my dresser.

While planning to travel overseas is the most exciting thing ever, the stress of trying to organise everything before you go can become too much. Where are you going to visit, what clothes are you going to take, where and who are you going to stay with, so many things to work out.

My partner and I are planning on travelling to America next year, and already the anxiety and fighting has begun over which cities we are going to visit. With the bright lights calling my name, I want to spend all my time in New York shopping, but apparently that’s not the done thing when you have a boyfriend coming along with you.

The great thing about travelling in the New Year is that Christmas comes first, and with that, lots of useful things I need for travelling as presents. After seeing the amazing offer on Kathmandu of two for one travel bags on Lasoo, I managed to sneakily hint to my Mum that we should stop at the Kathmandu shop when we were out shopping.

And…surprise, surprise, the offer was just too good to turn down. As my sister is also travelling next year, my Mum was easily convinced that this was the perfect opportunity to knock out both of our Christmas presents in one go. Walking away with two new travel back packs, the Entrada pack valued at $479.98 and the Hybrid Trolley valued at $359.98 a saving of almost $500, I just wanted to take my brand new bag home and start packing. Although I think five months prior might be just a tad too early.

They say that when you’re onto a good thing, you should stick to it.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the new MacBook Air takes more than a little inspiration from the phenomenally successful Apple iPhone and iPad.

Not only is the new MacBook Air Apple’s lightest Mac ever (it weighs in at just over 1kg), but it also uses the flash storage last seen on the iPad, rather than a traditional notebook hard drive. The upshot of this is that the device runs much faster than your typical hard drive-based laptop.

The new MacBook Air also incorporates the FaceTime video chat technology, currently seen on the iPhone 4 and the latest iPod Touch. Using the integrated camera, microphone and stereo speakers, you can chat with other users running the software on a compatible device.

Apple has also announced it is introducing an App Store for the Mac, similar to the stores for iPhone and iPad apps. While this is scheduled to launch overseas in the next three months, no firm date has been set for a New Zealand launch.

The new MacBook Air is available in New Zealand now. It comes in 11-inch and 13-inch models, with pricing starting from $1699 the model with 2GB of memory and 64GB of storage.

Buy a cheap MacBook on sale in New Zealand

Are you sick of paying ridiculous prices for make up and skin care products? Well so am I! I love having nice moisturiser and foundation, but it really dents my bank account especially when I run out of everything at once.

Finally, I have a solution! Strawberry Net, the answer to all my financial woes and love for extremely expensive make-up. I have only just discovered this site, I know right, where has it been hiding all my life? But it is seriously fantastic, there are so many premium brands to choose from such as Bobbi Brown, Lancome and Chanel and all at really affordable prices. I was surprised to find that most of the products are cheaper than you find at duty free.

And… whats more, they are now on Lasoo, YAY! So make sure you take a look at the products they have to offer and if you are like me, you will never buy make up or skin products from anywhere else once you have discovered Strawberry Net.