The perfect summer dress is not about showing off highly tanned legs or highly toned arms. It is not about making a statement or showing off.

The perfect summer dress should be laid-back, suiting all shapes and figures and should feel romantic and sexy.Summer Dresses should never be black – too prim and proper – and on some occasions shouldn’t be white – too posey!

The best summer dresses have a pattern like a floral design or poker dots. It should look timeless and classic.

Not sure what I mean? This is my perfect summer dress:

Picture: John Lewis

I've been labouring over this decision for too long now: to iPad or not to iPad?

I've wanted the iPad since it was announced back in January 2010, and have drooled over it ever since, but have not yet been able to justify the spend.

Now the iPad 2 has come out, and is even more awesome, so now if I do decide to get one, do I choose iPad 1 or 2?

Apple aren't selling the original iPads directly any more, but you can get them in other places for a fair bit cheaper than the original price.

I've been saving for a while, doing online shopping and price comparisons for almost everything! Those annoying adverts that plague the TV these days telling us to compare gas and electricity prices have actually proved quite useful. I've saved enough to buy an iPad fairly guiltlessly, but now that I've saved up the money I'm not so sure.

I think I'll just take the plunge and go for the newer one - I have no doubts that it'll be well worth it!

Photo: connorsmac (Flickr)

Hold on to your seats, ramp up the volume, buy some new headphones and open up your iTunes account. Ed Sheeran has well and truly arrived onto the scene. The young singer songwriter from London has been around in one form or another for quite a few years now but has really taken himself to the new level over the last few months. With a back catalogue behind him that would be the envy of most established artists it is unbelievable that until this point he has been relatively self produced and self funded. His most recent release was the Colloborations EP which saw him teaming up with a variety of established and upcoming Grime stars, holding his own with his own unique flow, acoustic rhytms, eclectic beats and angelic tones.
Recently he has finally been given the break that he deserves and has been snapped up by Atlantic Records and has finally begun work on his debut official album, which will surely be a massive hit. I’m so chuffed that this artist is finally about to get the recognition that he deserves. If most people had done the work that he had done they would have run out of steam a while ago with flat batteries. Luckilly for us, Sheeran seems to be holding Rechargeable Battery.

So since last talking to you through such self absorbed prose I have been made the offer of a lifetime. An old friend of the family who is wanting to expand their own horizons has decided that they no longer require their beautiful family sized villa in Portugal and are wanting to sell it. Knowing that I had previously mentioned becoming involved in some sort of timeshare type holiday home they offered me the chance of jumping on it first – and at, might I add a lower than usual price.
Now, although it is January and I am still recoiling from the Christmas expenses, I have decided to take on a shortsame day loans from the website Wonga to take advantage of this offer. Yes this means that I will be starting the new year slightly more out of pocket than I first thought that I would be but what’s a few more grand when you have the chance to have holiday of a lifetime for the rest of erm...well.. your lifetime.

Image: fontxito

If you are a compulsive shopper, the best you can do for yourself is to make the most of what you spend. In order to do this, there are a few tips you need to keep in mind:
1. Always try to shop from a fixed location. Loyalty is usually rewarded with great discounts and chances to shop at sales before they become open to the general public
2. It's a numbers game. If you know you'll need something for a long time, better buy in bulk. Over time, not only does this add to your loyalty score, but also helps you save a lot of money in bulk discounts
3. Be friendly with the sales guys. They're the ones who know everything €“ which products are better, which ones provide more value, and so on. Have a few of these guys on your side, and they might just tell all the secrets of the trade