In light of all the foooood over at Tastespotting today, i've been both famished and inspired... especially in the photography realm. Often i find the most intriguing pieces to be the behind the scenes of catalog shoots, etc... take this Kate Spade set for example, the final shots are gorgeous! In a very surreal, retro, playful, glammed out sense... and then the behind the scenes shots manage to balance those same qualities, while adding another layer of realism to them. Basically, they just made me want to run out and take pictures... or start planning NOTed #2. (via love made visible)

TASTESPOTTING, feed your addiction... it's about food. all about food. everything from the ingredients, the process, the photography, the reviews, the products... it is to delectable delights what notcot.org is to design. So, you guys know the drill, if you know a food lover, are a food lover, see a food related link you MUST share, here's your new destination on the web for it!

As you can imagine, i'm terribly giddy to share this new site with you. Design is my obsession, and when i started talking with Sarah of The Delicious Life, and realized food to her was what design was to me... we clicked... and she was a huge fan of the .org model, so we figured why not have a place to collect our fav food porn shots as well? And to any designy kids who doubt their love of gorgeous, delicious food... prepare to have your mind blown... there are some impressively drool worthy incredible edibles out there! And this will definitely raise the bar for what you allow on those designer plates of yours...

So i'm pleased to present - TASTESPOTTING - and can't wait to hear what you think.

Just in time for Valentine's Day ~ FORM 6 ~ the latest in designer vibrators from Jimmy Jane. Waterproof with cordless recharging (check out its handy dock below), a seamless coat of silicon, varying digital vibration modes, and engineered for sound isolation... but really, its got some gorgeously sleek curves.

NOTCOT.ORG has come a long way, been good fun, and we're still growing and trying to figure out where to take it... do you love it as a place to over indulge in design/inspiration daily? do you want a resource? do you want to search by color? shape? theme?

It's come to my attention that some people don't quite "get" the difference between the two sites (notcot.com and notcot.org) so for quick clarification... think of it as two different filtration levels... with all that designer goodness in the world, first level of filtration is NOTCOT.ORG that gives you quick visual tasters with a blurb to help you out, and you can click to see more. NOTCOT.com is more magazine/feature style filtration... focusing in tighter on things we love that you will probably see on or from NOTCOT.ORG as well. NOTCOT.ORG is for user contributions ~ group bulletin board of sorts where we would normally stick inspiring magazine pages and such...

As for why i'm late this week on the roundup (and even then decided to post my favorite row of the week) - i up and drove to SF yesterday, and then proceeded to not stop until 2am, got a few hours of sleep, then was up and at it all day today as well between meetings and such, but don't worry, i'll be back on top of things tomorrow, and there is a lot of exciting news to share in the upcoming weeks!

Karen Walker Jewelry ~ heads up the flashy popuppy site pained me, but the photography for the jewelry is breathtaking... in that slightly creepy stylish taxidermist sort of way. Noticed this over at Sub Studio.

NY Designer, Joey Roth, went and checked out the MoMA Spring Preview for us, and i must admit i wish i could have been there! See more below for his coverage of what exciting new products are coming... Personally, i'm already wanting the Speaker Mug...

--- Today I visited the MoMA store in SOHO to see a preview of new products they're adding for the spring. While they didn't push the springtime vibe as far as they could (patio furniture, gardening tools, and a kite or two would have been perfect), the buyers put together a collection that was quiet, airy, and playful.

The wii is such a unattainable, trendy, brilliantly designed (from exterior to UI to UX), cultural obsession of the moment - following the stories and products coming up around it are just hard to ignore. Latest level of Wii-ness, NY's boutique Hotel Gansevoort, "the first full-service luxury hotel in Manhattan's meatpacking district" - has WII's for guests to play with (as well as telescopes, LG HDTVs, directv, etc). LOVE this video on CRAVE of Caroline McCarthy having a chance to play with the PR ladies in the penthouse suite. I'm jealous, and the designer tech lover i am, even though i have a wii, i'm now more curious about any boutique hotel so that is brilliant enough to see the edge in providing wiis for guests in a time where people are still ready to line up all night outside a best buy in socal's freezing weather! [side note: should there be, don't drink and wii warnings?]

And a quick CRAVE shoutout ~ while engadget and gizmodo are like the cnn's of tech... CRAVE (with sci-fi tech blog in a close second) has quickly become my favorite tech read every morning.

On design trends, we've certainly been seeing a lot of weaponry showing up - but this revolver/handgun(?) trend has become even more predominant as of late... Laura Sweet seems to have been picking up on a lot of the NOTCOT finds this week, and has compiled quite a comprehensive list of gun inspired goods in her "Stick Em Up! Gun Shaped Stuff" List.

Yes, that's a blogit ~ so you know the drill, click the pics to see more. (for those who don't know, blog-it is kind of my baby)

This is the "Auto Bird Turd Emergency Kit" by Grumpy Girl. Let the name settle in for a moment, and then take in the great carrying case and graphics... then realize how much you want it. Ok, well i want it anyhow, when i have the energy, i am the kind of girl who could really use some de-pooping supplies in the car to keep it in good shape. With everything from waterbottle, windshield wiper fluid, shop towels, plastic baggies, cleaner wax (!), microfiber sponge and towel, and antibacterial wipes ~ its genius really. [via Outblush and NYT]

"Plant The Piece" - fascinating project by Christopher Humes and Noah Scalin's "Swords into Plowshares" traveling exhibition. With their seed bombs and this 9mm gun made of dirt and seeds ~ they change the way you can plant "peace/piece"... check out the gallery for some great imagery...

*Plaster Mold of 9mm 910 Pistol
*Red Clay Powder
*Dry Organic Humus Compost
*Water
*Seed Mixture of Annual & Perennial Species Native & Naturalized to the Region; Maltese Cross, Annual Baby's Breath, Dwarf Cornflower, Shasta Daisy, Siberian Wallflower, Lance-leaved Coreopsis, European Columbine, Foxglove, Purple Coneflower, Indian Blanket, Spurred Snapdragon, Dense Blazing Star, Scarlet Flax, Perennial Lupine, Shirley Poppy, Black-eyed Susan, Sweet William, Russell Lupine and Catchfly

Modern Twist's Vinotagz ~ 1. beautifully simply elegant 2. great materials (non-toxic silicone stem markers can even pencil a name on them ) 3. ingenious packaging - did you SEE that carrying case that you can slip on a bottle of wine?

Design*Sponge tipped me off on these this morning, and i just LOVE them, they are possibly the perfect gift to stock up on, for each and every time you bring wine to a party.

Stumbled upon this Vlieger & Vandam GMT (glasses - music - tickets) "basic travel equipment for all time zones" bag and it appealed to my inner jetsetter. Something fun about that envelope like pocket... not exactly the most subtle of pockets... and what about the most critical - mobile phone!!! But i suppose music and phone are really one in the same these days. The details were cute, the quality looks nice, and it would be a good fit for my quick/short in and out of planes, trains, and automobile trips...

It's been a little while since my latest weapon based jewelry find... but gun lovers or not, the quality of these are impressive... and oh so cute. Love the shark bomb and the grenade especially - and something so fun about the snub nose, and the pirate pistol, and the silencer... PNUT Jewelry.

Jaime Hayon ~ if you recall, i am a huge fan of his AQ Collection... here is his latest Showtime collection for BD Barcelona. His trademark sleek curves are all over this collection... so check out the images below, they speak for themselves.

Brilliant doodle filled campaign for Samaritans (see full posters and tv spot below) ~ created by Alex Holder, Oli Kellett, Daryl Corps and Ben Kay at advertising agency Lunar BBDO. Illustrted by Billie Jean. "The campaign for 2007 is based around the idea that doodles are a way of expressing your inner thoughts, and that if there are things on your mind then Samaritans is there to offer confidential support 24 hours a day." Heart warmingly doodle inspiring...