To me, one of the highlights of every Christmas season is the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book and its selection of fantasy gifts.  Do you dream of Jeannie?  Well, even if you don’t, this “I Dream of Jeannie”-inspired 18-foot yurt is a great glam-ping getaway — if you have $75,000 to spare for the “Dream Folly.”

While it may just look like a strange oversized tent in the middle of the yard, the interior is more intricate than many homes.  The yurt is decorated with hand-embroidered velvet down pillows, a velvet couch, vases of roses, candles and a crystal chandelier.  The colors and textures are selected “bubbles of a warm, soothing bath.”

Since Neiman’s is in the business of granting wishes, you can choose a different color scheme and decor from the ones depicted here.  But why bother?  There’s no improving upon perfection.  Simply ask for this dream getaway, and they will have it installed on your estate grounds in the blink of an eye.  For every retreat sold, Neiman Marcus will donate $5,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  The “Dream Folly” stands 12’5″ tall with an 18′ diameter.

Everyone needs to be able to answer this question every Monday morning… and be thrilled with the answer.  Don’t you agree?

Therefore, I am completely excited to be winding up an amazing week at Acquity Group headquarters in Chicago, Il., for New Hire Orientation.  Yes, I’ve changed my work yet again, and just started work as a Senior Manager, Digital Strategy, in the Dallas (Frisco), Texas, office where I’ll be developing digital marketing strategies from gathering primary and secondary research and integrating findings into long-term roadmaps for global clients.

Acquity Group is the world’s leading multi-channel commerce and digital marketing company, creating award-winning digital experiences for global brands, according to AdAge.  Our multi-disciplinary approach brings together digital strategy, user experience, and technology to create brand-unique experiences that build unbreakable customer relationships.

Our clients touch you everyday with unique digital experiences that are changing the way you live, work, and play.  We create those experiences spanning web, mobile, social and new emerging channels for over 500 global brands.  With our next big think, we offer news and resources, big ideas, and innovative strategies in thought leadership pieces for real-world business challenges.

Here, our plan is simple… Keep building at the intersection of Technology + Creativity to…

Senseless Drawing Bot is a 4-wheeled graffiti machine, with a pendulum arm, arduino and spray cans to create random strokes as it moves up and down the gallery space.  This unusual robot, designed by So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi serves a single purpose – to draw senselessly.  Well, really it uses a can of spray paint, so it should be called the “Senseless Painting Bot,” but I won’t be a stickler on the details since I wish I had this thing as a pet.   Watch the bot as it churns out some of its senseless art:

I love how its arm gesticulates wildly as it rolls its way along the wall, painting abstract images.  I wonder how long it would need to keep going for before it actually randomly spelled a word.  It’s amazing how something so senseless can still be so intriguing, don’t you think?

The Whole Story photo albums are designed to exist sculpturally in your space, and encourage the physical sharing of stories through photographs.  Designed by Debra Folz, these albums are a hybrid of traditional bookbinding techniques and contemporary engineering.  They stand independently due to a reinforced front and back cover.

Presenting a photo album inspired by the way we access our memories, the books utilize a removable binding which allows the book’s contents to be expanded enabling you to view your whole story.  Each book holds 24 4×6 photos which can be inserted into precut corner slots to showcase your photos in landscape or portrait format.

“In thinking about how a book can exist differently in a space and how images and memories can be displayed more in line with the way we access our memories, I developed a photo album which supports itself independently and sculpturally while allowing it’s contents to be expanded allowing the user to view the whole story at once, opposed to one frame at a time.”  Ms. Folz also states, “Photographs today are stored and accessed digitally, and viewed one frame at a time. These photo albums were designed to fall off the shelf and land in your life, living amongst you the way the memories do, in-between the spaces of everyday, yesterday, and tomorrow.”

This incredibly detailed metal sculpture is manufactured and designed in the UK by Sam Buxton as part of his Mikro Collection.  Buxton created this design, “Work,” for an exhibition in London’s Design Museum.  Each scene folds from a flat sheet of stainless steel just 0.15mm thick, from “Mikro Man” at 95 x 35 mm to “Mikro House” at 325 x 85mm.

With various themes like “Bath,” “Eat,” “Garden,” and “House,” all sculptures are packaged flat with folding instructions for you to complete the work of art.  Before transforming the stainless steel into it’s finished 3D design,  wash your hands and only fold each joint once.   Makes for great home or office décor with impressive details fitting to the theme of the sculpture.

While you sketch on paper, your idea goes digital.  Inkling bridges the gap between traditional, freehand sketching and digital development by capturing a digital likeness of a pen-on-paper sketch.

The Inkling digital sketch pen captures a digital likeness of your work while you sketch with its ballpoint tip on any sketchbook or standard piece of paper.  Designed for rough concepting and creative brainstorming, Inkling is ideal for the front end of the creative process.  Later, refine your work on your computer using an Intuos4 tablet or Cintiq interactive pen display.

In addition to capturing your sketch, stroke by stroke, Inkling allows you to create layers in digital files while you sketch on paper.  Digital files are transferred to your computer using the Inkling Sketch Manager software, and later, exported to applications such as Adobe® Photoshop® and Illustrator®.  Files can also be opened with the included Inkling Sketch Manager software to edit, delete, add layers or change file formats.

The Ciak Leather Journal… another handmade Italian masterpiece.  While I originally found these notebook journals on Jenni Bick Bookbinding, Ciak is actually a company based in Florence that opened shop in 2001.  Their products are made entirely in Italy, suggesting a significantly higher level of quality than those that hail from the conveyor belts of Chinese factories (ahem Moleskine ahem).  What’s more, emblazoned on the back of this particular notebook are the words “Handmade in Italy.”  That’s right: handmade.  I have NO idea about the accuracy of this statement.  The company’s website doesn’t go into any aspects of being handmade, but if it’s at all true, it’s a great selling point.

The interior sheets render the richest, boldest ink colors of all tested with good ink saturation and contrast.  Ink dries quickly and sinks well into the pale ivory, thick, acid-free paper that is easy on the eyes.  With rich saturated leather cover colors, the exterior is bound with a black elastic band which opens and closes to release or protect your most hidden thoughts.  Embracing everything important that has been written, essential and without fringes, the Ciak is ready to be customised, filled and characterised by intimate and personal words, sketches and emotions.

The story of United Nude begins with a broken heart.  Rem’s attempt to get the girl back was made by downsizing architecture to its smallest and most vulnerable scale, that of a woman’s foot.

While most romantic notions are often foolish, what was hatched through the inspiration of romance was the ‘Möbius’ shoe. The girl was gone, but he knew the shoe had to become real.

Now add Galahad to our story.  The seventh generation of the Clark’s shoe-making dynasty.  When Rem and Galahad first met, Galahad saw the Möbius shoe design, and he was instantly convinced that a new brand had to be formed.

Joined together, Rem and Galahad created United Nude.  The name derived from the fact that products evolve from international teams in an open way with direct recognition.  United Nude launched in 2003 with the ‘Möbius’ shoe.  Since then, United Nude has established itself as an iconic brand at the intersection between design and fashion.  United Nude products are about clear concepts, elegance and innovation.

After the Möbius shoe, United Nude has launched countless other products. The current Autumn/Winter collection for 2011 boasts more than twenty different styles of shoes in addition to the original launch product.

Today, the United Nude brand is sold in over 40 countries worldwide and United Nude has a booming retail business with a flagship stores in Amsterdam, New York, Shanghai as well as proprietary stores in London, Vienna, Tianjin, and two retail stores in Guangzhou.

BevShots are posh prints of beers, wines and cocktails photographed under a microscope and featured as modern art.  An intoxicating blend of art and science, BevShots’ vibrant colors and distinctive patterns bring an edgy element to any room.  BevShots easily mix in with today’s trends in abstract décor.  As the ultimate conversation piece, BevShots make the perfect splurge for yourself or a truly unique gift for friends and family.  With prices starting at just $24.99, contemporary art has never been more affordable.

Each BevShot has a distinctive design and color combination (Champagne shown above).  At BevShots.com your modern art is customizable through sizing, shape and framing options. Cost-savvy BevShots fans can navigate through our Prints section, while those craving something more luxurious should browse the Fine Art collection.

In December of 2008, Atelier Minyon opened an exquisite flagship jewelry boutique on Spring Street in SoHo, New York.  The shop is an expansion of their six stores, named Jewel House of Minyon, based in Ankara, Turkey.

In the SoHo shop, you step through the doors and you are instantly transported to a very special time and place in Turkey – everything is crafted by hand, custom tiles grace the walls, one of a kind lanterns illuminate the space and soft leather chairs welcome clients.  However, don’t be mistaken, we also have a WILD side…

The piece above is called the “Bone Bracelet.”  With rubies and diamonds embedded into brushed steel and 14K gold, this bracelet is a stunner which expresses everything unique that I love about this jeweler that knows no boundaries.