Vivastreet blog

Mom deserves something special. To help you find it, we’ve released our new Mother’s Day Gift Category so you can find that perfect Mother’s Day present.

Here are some amazing deals to spoil your mum this Mother’s Day.

• Glasgow – Award winning, professional make-up artist offers make-up lesson gift vouchers. Each voucher is £75 and comes in a gorgeous gift box, tied with ribbon and can be mailed to any location.

• Cheshire – Italian Restaurant in Cheshire presents exclusive Mother’s day adoration lunch and dinner. Each Mother will be spoiled by an exquisite glass of Bellini cocktail or their legendary Sicilian Emporio red or white wine!

• Cambridge – Very unique flat tree aromatic candles in four different scents: ocean, apple, orange and lemon.

• South Shields - Spoil your mum with a private chauffeur driven Alfa Romeo and a free bottle of champagne.

• Croydon – Brand new vintage silk scarves from only £5.

Well it’s that time of the year again, where hearts are fluttering and mens’ brows are perspiring!! Yes, Valentine’s Day is on Sunday,  and across the UK, thousands of men will be tearing their hair out because; 1/ they’ve forgotten to buy their loved one a present or 2/ they have no idea what gift to buy their loved one – something which encapsulates, very simply, how much they love them – awwwww! Trust me chaps, two tickets to Chelsea vs Liverpool won’t get her heart palpatating, I promise you!

To be honest, if they could get away with it, most men would happily just buy their girlfriend/fiancee/wife a box of choccies and a cheap card from the local service station, on the way home from work. Unfortunately, there’s no avoiding it chaps – your loved ones will want sooooo much more than choccies, naff cards and a bunch of roses bought over the counter at Tescos! Don’t worry, it’s not too late to save yourself from spending a night in the doghouse… if you act now!

And because over here at Vivastreet, we care about the welfare of our users and particular those male users who could be spending a night in the doghouse, we thought we’d lend a helping hand if you’re in desperate need of some Valentine’s gift ideas inspiration. Vivastreet has set up a special category for one week only dedicated to love!!! Yep boys, your salvation, and more importantly a happy girlfriend, is just a click away. So, don’t delay, find a Valentine’s gift today, in our special category, which is listed in our Buy and Sell section on the Vivastreet Homepage.

Good luck!

The new year is a good time to consider relocating

With the new year comes an opportunity for fresh starts and new beginnings, and in our previous post we showed you lots of ways you can dust off those cobwebs and kick start a brand new you.

However some of us may be considering a bigger life change than simply losing a few pounds or getting a new hairstyle. Maybe you’re thinking about a complete change of scene, and upping sticks and moving homes. Well, the new year is the perfect time to think about relocating as more people put their homes on the market once the chaos of Christmas is out of the way.

Here at VivaStreet we have a wealth of properties for sale and for rent, from tiny pied-a-terres and studios to this luxury five-bedroom house. Perhaps you have had enough of city life and have always dreamt of living near the sea. We’re happy to report that you could go and make that dream a reality with this lovely 1930’s property in Devon, complete with panoramic sea views. Or for those who prefer a more tranquil water location, then take a look at this gorgeous house which has its own canalside private mooring. Heaven!

For the more ambitious, we also have a section specially dedicated to land for sale for those looking to build their own home. If you are in the fortunate position of having a sum of spare cash you’re looking to invest wisely, you could do much worse than considering purchasing land. Take a look at our investment land section where you will see an array of different types of land for sale from building plots on the Scottish borders to cheap land in Bulgaria.

Which leads us smoothly on to the option of relocating abroad. Our overseas property selection is extensive, with properties for sale in Europe and beyond. We list a huge number of homes on the market, from farmhouses in Italy and France, to ski chalets in Austria and villas in Cyprus. This farmhouse in Brittany kills two birds with one stone, as it comes complete with an established cattery business – ideal for those wishing to relocate asap!

So what are you waiting for? You may be saying au revoir to cold Blighty before you know it!

Let VivaStreet help you write this year's New Year's Resolutions

It’s that time of year again when it’s out with the old, in with the new. The start of a new year is the perfect excuse for a spring clean in all areas of our lives. For most of us it’s time to make some changes as we resolve to get healthy, tone up that ever expanding waistline, and sort our lives out. So whatever your New Year’s resolutions are – and even if you haven’t decided what they are yet – VivaStreet is here to help you firm up your very own realistic and achievable goals for 2010.

One of the first things we all think about doing after making a pig of ourselves over the festive season, is to shed those extra pounds. Here at VivaStreet we have all manner of ideas of how you can get in shape. Perhaps you’re thinking about getting your diet in check by joining WeightWatchers. You can find your local group which meets in your area right here on VivaStreet. But the food is of course only one aspect. We need to get our backsides off the sofa too! Whether you’re into circuit training, boxing, or maybe getting yourself your own personal trainer, you’ll be tightening up that belt buckle or dropping a dress size in no time. And how about (perhaps for the more uninhibited among us!) belly dancing, or even pole-dancing! There are all sorts of ways you can get yourself looking trim.

Another thing many of us want to do with the coming of a new year is to ditch the cigarettes. Well instead of going down the tried (and often failed) route of nicotine patches, why not try hypnotherapy? It has worked for many people wishing to kick the habit once and for all. While you’re at it, you can use these electronic cigarettes to get you through the tough moments en route to quitting.

If you feel like you could do with taking a look at your whole life, then have you ever thought about enlisting a life coach? By having a few sessions with one could really help you identify and unlock any issues you have been having, and give you some tips as to how to improve your life.  But if all that’s a bit much, then you could begin with some self-help books to get you started.  This self-help e-book is a great way to begin exploring for yourself whatever stresses have been getting you down.

And finally, the new year provides the perfect reason to give yourself a kick-start and learn a new skill. How about brushing up on your IT know-how by taking  a computer skills course? Or how about French or Spanish classes? Check out which courses are being run in your local area and you’ll be Parlez-vous-ing francais before you know it, and speaking like a native in time for 2010’s summer holiday!

So however you want to improve your life, just remember that there’s no time like the present, and that you will always miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take!

Grab yourself a hat and scarf to stay warm this winter

We’re all feeling the cold here at VivaStreet as the weather has suddenly plummeted and a seriously chilly spell has taken over the country. It even looks like we may be in for a white Christmas!

While we’re all trying to keep warm and avoid coming down with the sniffles, we still want to look stylish in the big freeze. So instead of digging out your holey old winter woollens from the back of the wardrobe, why not take a look at our large selection of winter wear to help get you through this cold snap.

We’ve got everything to help you feel cosy, from cashmere scarves for your extremities to this gorgeous thermal vest for what’s underneath.

You can’t help but feel toasty in one of these gorgeous fleeces, but how about a sheepskin coat? No longer the reserve of dodgy car salesmen from the 1970’s, they can’t fail to keep you warm and they guarantee to make you look stylish at the same time.

Ski gear is the perfect way to make sure you don’t catch cold when the temperature drops, and despite its name it doesn’t have to be reserved for the slopes. Check out this ski jacket, for example, which promises to keep you warm without looking out of place while you’re wandering along the high street.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget our feet! You can’t go wrong with Ugg boots to ensure your tootsies don’t freeze. Even though they’ve been around a few years, they’re still all the rage and look so stylish with jeans, leggings or a skirt. But this year why not check out the latest line in Uggs….. cardy Uggs. A cardigan for your feet = perfect!

But this cold weather isn’t just affecting our own bodies. Don’t forget poor little Fido, who wants to keep warm this winter too! Have a look at these cute little dog coats and make the pooch in your life happy.

Hopefully this cold weather will be gone as quickly as it has arrived. In the meantime, wrap up and stay warm!

This Christmas hamper would make the perfect festive gift

Christmas is about many things; giving and receiving gifts, singing Christmas carols, spending time with the relatives and watching yet another James Bond film being just some of them. Well, there’s one thing the festive season most certainly is about, and that’s eating! Yes, it’s that time of year when most of us have to resort to loosening the belt buckle by a notch or two after some serious over-indulgence.

If you’re the unlucky one lumbered with the task of having to cook for the extended family on Christmas day and you’re dreading the thought, then don’t despair. VivaStreet is Santa’s very own little helper, and can advise on everything from where to buy turkeys, to how to cheat and buy a ready-made Christmas cake! It’s your veritable one-stop Christmas food shop!

We have some gorgeous luxury hampers on offer, which would make the perfect gift and guarantee to keep the family quiet for several days. They contain all the Christmas essentials, from cranberry sauce to Christmas pudding, and come as a fantastic reusable woven wicker basket.

If you need a little bit of guidance on how to rustle up the perfect festive feast, then why not pick up this Gary Rhodes cookbook, which is full of tips on how to impress your guests. Of course you can use it long after the Christmas season has passed.

Admittedly, even with the help of dear old Gary Rhodes, some of us just aren’t as au fait in the kitchen as we would like to be. We don’t know about you, but here at VivaStreet the mere words ‘dinner party’ are enough to get us into a tizz! But yet again, there’s no need to panic. VivaStreet has just the thing. Have you ever thought about what it’s like to hire a chef? This could be the answer to your prayers – let them sweat over the Christmas spread while you sit back and relax with your glass of mulled wine. We love this idea too – cookery class gift vouchers. They make the perfect Christmas present for a loved one who has always dreamed of being able to cook like a pro.

But let’s not forget one of the most important things…the grog! Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some mulled wine, and Santa will never forgive you if he doesn’t get his annual glass of port or sherry. VivaStreet’s food and wine section has endless ideas for what booze to fill up the cupboards with. This case of wine, for example, will keep the family happy until the supermarkets re-open.

So make the most of the opportunity to over-indulge before you make your New Year’s resolution to lose those extra pounds. Bon appetit!