Marks and Spencer

There are loads of reasons why I'd like to recommend Marks and Spencer. But there is one particular one on my mind and in my tummy).

Marks and Spencer are now selling entire packets of coconut chips (you know the yellow and pink coconut wheels from liquorice allsorts. Love them.

Parsnip, Beetroot and Carrot crisps

I like crisps but I'm not an obsessive fan. I can take or leave them really.

But I just discovered Parsnip, Beetroot and Carrot crisps and they are my new latest obsession. They are a bit sweet so it is like a savory and sweet snack. I only wish they were cheaper really. 90p for 40g in eat and 70p for 25g in Pret.

Photo credit: Dilona

The little dry cleaning place practically inside Holborn Station

Because my trousers are now hemmed properly (and pressed for £6.50) and my cardigan with the hole looks like the hole was never there (for £2.50).

I'm a happy lady.

Photo credit: Fimb

Chrome

OK this is more of a review than a recommendation. But I feel like I need to say something about it after two weeks of using it. I have one very big reason (for me) to recommend it and two reasons why it won't be my only browser.

But before I start let me explain. Chrome is Google's new internet browser software. If you are my mum that means it is like Windows Explorer. You know, the big blue e that you double click to get on the internet.

I converted to Firefox a few months ago but when Google announced Chrome I thought I'd have a go. The main reason was that I use quite a lot of Google applications – notebook, calendar, igoogle, blogger, talk. I thought that being a google browser these would be more integrated into the brower – WRONG. They are better integrated into firefox as it happens.

The second thing that Chrome hasn't mastered (in my opinion) is RSS feeds. [Quick explanation: RSS feeds are a way of knowing if a website or blog have been updated and the content delivered to you without you going to the website itself to look for it]. I know that Google have a reader application but as none of their applications seem to be easily accessible from the browser it seems an oversight when compared to Firefox or Internet Explorer.

So why might I recommend it at all? Well apart from the usual "challenge the dominance of Internet Explorer argument" my reason is the spell check.

My name is Claire and I cannot spell. I can tell you where to put apostrophes but my typing fingers work faster than the spelling bit of my brain which has never been that reliable.

However when writing forum posts or comments on blogs etc. Chrome comes up with a red wiggly line under mis-spelt words, Now, like any spell checker it's not perfect. And you can't right click to get a list of alternatives. But it is great for me who is used to the horrible feeling of noticing a spelling error just as I click the post button.

So not an overwhelming recommendation but it is in beta (whatever that means) and so things might improve…

Photo credit: Randy Zhang