Just came home to Audrey Kawasaki’s “She Entwined” print ~ and it’s stunning! In her usual delicately innocent and suggestive (ok, this one is more suggestive than some) style ~ with her girls coming out of the wood ~ it looks gorgeous in the frame! I gave in to one this one at one of her flash print sales a month ago (seriously, they disappear in less than a minute it feels like!) ~ and ended up with lucky #13 out of 300. Take a peek at some of the details up close on the next page…

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It was fascinating to see Guy Limone’s work up close at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin… and the way people interact with it. The Parisian artist’s works are often made of miniature plastic figurines strung in long ceiling to floor length strands as statistical visualizations (taking infographics to a whole new level), two of which i encountered when wandering the gallery ~ and others are figurines spreading across a table/etc… what’s most fascinating when encountering them with no context or explanation, are the details! The bizarre situations/characters these figurines are in… from farmers to scuba divers, pigs to horses, police men and shopping carts and so much more… they also make awesome shadows! Take a look at some details at two strands i was mesmerized with on the next page!

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A roundup of the most beautiful and delectable from Tasteologie and Liqurious. To find out more about each post, click on its individual image.

Ok, first you got a kaleidoscopic tour of the bathroom at my room here in Le Royal Monceau, Paris. Well, are you ready to see room #620 that goes with it? From the faces in the sheets… to the mind boggling parisian map on the desk… to the silver on the outside, pink on the inside “good” vs “bad” mirrored minibar… to the guitar in the corner… tv hidden behind the one way mirror… and the Royal Monceau Pizza from room service with Iberico, mmmm… art on all the walls… there is so much care taken in each and every detail of the room… take a peek at the pics on the next page to soak it all in!

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For my final night in Paris, popped into the newly redone Le Royal Monceau… and it is an understatement when they say this luxurious hotel designed by Starck is meant to embrace and inspire artists… my head couldn’t stop spinning from the moment i checked in with all of the tiny visual details and surprises tucked EVERYWHERE! (Yet somehow it still pulls of a beyond 5 star luxury lusciousness…) So as i curl up jetlagged from a non stop week into the ridiculously comfortable bed (details to come on that) ~ and while you could probably sit in me in a corner of the hotel with my camera and multiple inspired posts would appear… let’s start with the bathroom. A wonderland of mirrors… fun amenities… an inviting tub…. AND there are vintage swimmers in black and white hidden behind the mirror! As well as a silver lobster over the loo… Don’t believe me? Check it out on the next page!

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Petite Lap Giraffes! They have their own website!!! If you follow my silliness on twitter / Life.NOTCOT, you’ve probably noticed my post way back when i couldn’t resist screenshotting the DirecTV ad with the creepy russian and his adorable teeny tiny giraffe! Well, DirecTV, has given them their own website, complete with “giraffe cam”! Petite Lap Giraffes!!! Take a peek at some screenshots and also the two DirecTV ads on the next page!

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It’s Friday! Where will you be getting away to? Running through Bordeaux? Enjoying the local delicacies in Hong Kong Or walking through a New Zealand glacier? This week has been full of inspiration from NotVentures and here are just a few posts to arouse your wanderlust. To find out more about each destination, click on its individual image.

This weekend ~ to kick off spring and celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Boutique champagne house, Perrier-Jouët, they brought 200 people from around the globe to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts… what a beautiful space! Skip the red carpet for a Perrier-Jouët grassy green path… and upon entering, you encounter a mysterious box popped up in the center of the cavernous space covered in projections… and surrounded by flowing bubbly and black and white old hollywood glam Harcourt Studio photos specially commissioned for the gala showing important people and someone they are passing their legacy to, and the Daniel Arsham limited edition piece to go with this concept. The surroundings were surreal to say the least, you must see a video on the next page of the projections from within, as well as all the lovely details!

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A fun mix of materials and geometric, multifaceted textures… the ESPA Spa: Istanbul EDITION Hotel. Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates, it is “inspired largely by Turkish traditions, with design elements that echo the Hammam customs and atmospheric elements of Istanbul” to create a contemporary, luxurious space filled with embossed bronze floors, chocolate brown marble, cast bronze sinks, walls of crystals, horsehair walls, mirrored glass tiles, and more. Almost an intentional aversion to straight lines, paths and corridors lead you through kinks everywhere, creating a mysterious effect as you explore the unknown relaxation space… Take a peek at some of the design sketches before, and a peek at the newly realized Espa on the next page!

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There’s something so refreshingly lovely about the champagne region of France. Is it the air? The people? The stunning champagne houses and the lifestyles inspired by champagne over the centuries? And there’s something particularly magical about the chalky caves below the area that millions of bottles of champagne are hiding in awaiting their time… While some say, once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all… Perrier Jouët’s is particularly visually enticing… those signature belle epoque flowered bottles (and with their pastel green bottle caps during the process) just pop so beautifully, breathing life into the otherwise damp colorless chalky caves. SO take a peek into the cellars with me on the next page!

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A fashion roundup from Notcouture. To find out more about each post, click on its individual image.

We’re excited to announce being part of a new Wordpress project, PopPressed, featuring daily arts and style coverage from around the web (including NOTCOT!). The collaboration between the blogging platform and our ad folks, Federated Media, promises “the freshest in culture” across photos and features. It’s presented and supported by Lexus’ new CT Hybrid. You can follow PopPressed on Twitter and Facebook and send along your own concepts for coverage.

So many experiences and pictures i’m dying to share with you about adventures with Perrier Jouët from the last few days, but a full day without WeeeFeee (wifi sounds like that in french! i love it!) and i’m in slight withdrawl, so silly, fun posts first! Yesterday while explore the caves in Epernay, we ended the tour of where the champagne is stored in the beautiful new vault of a room to house the special 100 magnums of ‘98 waiting to be “passed on” as part of the limited edition collaboration series with Daniel Arsham, but more on that later. For now… you HAVE to see this amazing vintage safe they moved from their main offices into the space to hold the certificates for the bottle holders… the 4 dials have alphabets on them! And the key holes are covered by fire breathing dragons! And when it opens, the doors are even thicker than they appear! OH, and the KEY… it looks like a rocket launcher… absolutely amazing! So take a peek at all the details on the next page!

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Stunning roundup of a fabulous week at NOTCOT.org. This week we’ve seen slides instead of stairs, book sculpture portriats, high end foosball tables and so much more. To find out more about each post, click on its individual link.

Teeny tiny elevators… which of course open and close and make all the corresponding noises… except actually moving up and down. (Though i’m still secretly hoping, if you put something inside one, it disappears, or pops out in the other.) Discovered the Liliputian “Lift” by Maurizio Cattelan while checking out the legendary Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris. See more pics of it on the next page!

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