Clothes Show update

Right I've seen the Coca Cola advert which, according to my colleague Shelley, makes it officially almost Christmas. There may be a credit crunch going on but there should always be room in the kitty for presents, no matter how small, there's no excuse for being a Scrooge.

One easy present would be tickets to this year's Clothes Show Live at Birmingham's NEC from December5-10. Tickets cost £24 for a standard ticket, which includes entry into The Style Show presented by Handbag.com and a seat in the Fashion Theatre, and £36 for a platinum ticket where you get VIP treatment with fast track entry and great seats in the Fashion Theatre, a goody bag and showguide.
To book you tickets call: 0844 579 3177 or buy them online at http://www.ticketswitch.com/tickets/web_finder.buy/clothesshowlive

But if your pennies really won't stretch that far, handbag.com has a competition running every Monday until December 5- so get entering!

Another idea would be a magazine subscription, and they're all offering Christmas deals to help you out. One tip though, hang on as long as possible as they get better the later you leave it. It is money well spent just for the warm fuzzy feeling when you see it waiting on your doorstep each month (and Elle do limited edition covers for subscribers).

Highcross Leicester

A thousand apologies for not writing on here in over a month, it won't happen again.

It may have taken me a while but I finally visited it - and I liked what I saw!

Having attended the Derby Westfield opening back in October last year (the first in the country to be owned by the same company) I had high expectations. I'd never been to Leicester before so that was an experience in itself - it took a little while to find but then again my sense of direction has never been a strong point!

Inside I suddenly heard my former editor screaming in my ears - "it looks the same as every other bloody shopping centre, you could anywhere!" Yes you could be anywhere - and it is exactly the same as every other shopping centre - but it's definitely worth a look, especially with Christmas coming and sale days already beginning courtesy of the credit crunch (oh and the new House of Fraser outlet store offering up to 50% off which opens this Saturday).
Leicester's worth checking out too while you're there. Make a day of it.

Next up the new Westfield centre in London...