Apple's New Keyboard

A side shot of Apple's new aluminum keyboard. Wireless option available, in case you felt like cuddling with it at bed time.

Which I will be.

Numbers

New addition to Apple's iWork - Numbers. Spreadsheets the Mac way. In true Mac form, Numbers makes Excel beautiful, simple and personal, all while retaining and enhancing functionality. I highly encourage Mac users to look over the Numbers Product Overview.

There's even a host of tutorials for...our parents. At $79 the iWork suite is a steal, and it's compleatly compatible with Word / Excel / Powerpoint Documents.

Download a 30-Day Free Trial of iWork.

The new iMac

Need I say more? Her slogan, "You can never be too thin, or too powerful," should be on my headstone. A total redesign from the ground up, and a price drop! She starts at $1,199 for a 20-Inch (which is what the 17-Inch used to cost). That's not factoring the Education discount, students and teachers, or the company discount you may be entitled to. Ask your benefits specialist, and expect 10%. No reason to buy this without a student discount - everyone knows a student, or has a student ID card. If you by via the online education store, you may not even need ID.

I actually gave them my report card when buying my last iPod.

She's packing iLife '08, unrealistically incredible software for all of your photo, movie, web making needs.

My boyfriend is a big "Dell Value" proponent. We went through Dell's website packing on the new iMac's features onto their smallest CPU computer (taking up my desk space?) and came out even - He had equated "Microsoft Works" to "iLife + iWork", which is an embarrassing lie. And then, oops, we forgot to add the incredible web cam. Winner: iMac, best computer on the market.

I'm waiting till October when Leapord comes to to buy mine.

Sperry Top-Siders

I love these shoes (on men). Restoration Hardware has a few pairs left in Size 9 - $19.99.

Thomas O'Brien Towels

I'm willing to spend money on smaller luxuries: French jelly and towels in particular. In this case, I've found a towel worthy of the luxury category but comfortably nestled in the affordable isle at Target.

Thomas O'Brien Towels are $6.99 - $9.99, and I couldn't for the life of me tell the difference between this and a $100 competitor. I don't know what Thomas does to make these towels so fluffy, but god bless him.

Free shipping at Target.com with a $50 minimum purchase.

Banana Republic - Free Hemming

Banana Republic - an inescapable staple of New York Fashion. It's actually in my office building. It's the only chain store within a 5 block radius of my west village pad. There was a time in my life when Banana Republic full on dominated my wardrobe - I found comfort and safety in the the ubiquity and low-level trendiness available to me for $78 a sweater.

This year I've made a continual effort not to shop at Banana Republic. In fact since I've started my first full time job, I haven't bought a single item. I've instead replaced them with BCBG Max Azara. Which is decidedly cooler, especially when I'm raiding the 70% off rack (which exists only in SoHo).

But I've come to realize that I do miss one aspect. Free hemming. I'm short, I get pants hemmed - This service is the flame, I am but a moth. So this winter, I'm coming back. I'm buying my pants here. Size 0 fits me perfectly, and don't tell me its vanity sizes - which a store clerk actually did once. Oh my god, fire yourself.

Domino Magazine

It's hard to imagine how one publication could capture the essence of modern and classic design so perfectly. I would live in any page of any issue. The articles are well written. The pieces features range in price from Ikea to Look But Don't Touch. I've racked my brain with so many amazing ideas for embellishing any place I live. I consider this magazine to be my best educator in interior design - absolutely essential.

The subscription is $17 / Year from Amazon.com. I've ordered subscriptions from Amazon before and they take a while to get started...you may better off ordering from DominoMag.com directly.

The website itself is a great source for ideas, but not so much detailed information. They'll show you a picture of a beautiful bedroom, but won't tell you where to get any of the pieces - in the magazine, they reveal their sources.