Since I can’t draw or design, I like - no - I LOVE to gawk at sketches by designers.

Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers by Laird Borrelli has original sketches from designers all over the world including Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Doo-Ri Chung and my personal favorite, Phillip Lim.

The book also includes sketches from up-and-comers Roksanda Ilincic and Yoshikazu Yamagata and boils over with 250 sketches.

It makes a great fashionable accessory to your coffee table. Plus, it’s a book. And smart people read books. Ergo, you will be smart.

Available for $26.40 at Amazon.com

Thanks to JWT, the largest advertising agency in the U.S., I got a lot of insight in what we can expect in 2008. Some if it good, some of it bad, some of it questionable. Nonetheless, there is a lot to chew on in the upcoming year. I don’t know how much of it will actually be true, but here is the list JWT released…along with my two cents:

1. Africa (foreign investment and development in)
2. Antibiotic backlash
3. Assisted marriage
4. Beijing 2008
5. Blue replacing green as the environmental movement’s color du jour - How many times have I mentioned this already?
6. Brain exercises
7. British actress Keira Knightley: I’m one step ahead of you, I’ve been watching Bend it like Beckham for YEARS!
8. Carbon tax
9. Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang
10. Classical musician Gustavo Dudamel
11. Climate sightseeing
12. Continuation of comebacks (Indiana Jones, The Cure, etc.): Can we expect a Facts of Life redux? I THINK SO!!!
13. Cooperative consumption
14. Couch surfing: What the hell is this?
15. Country branding (Oman, Indonesia, etc.)
16. Designer Phillip Lim: I heart Lim.
17. De-teching
18. DJ Tiësto
19. DNA-based exercising
20. E-clutter (and e-clutter consultants)
21. Eco-fatigue
22. E-mail étiquette
23. Facebook suicides
24. Fashion label Vena Cava: Lim vs. Cava: the fashion match up of the year!
25. Foreign government investment (e.g., China, UAE) in U.S. companies
26. French President Nicolas Sarkozy
27. Game 3.0 (gamer-generated global gaming)
28. Google’s Android
29. Gossip Girl: Ugh.
30. Gphone
31. Green weddings: Will green replace white as the color of virginity?
32. Higher education online
33. Hip-hop’s Retro Kids: Nothing new here.
34. Humbling of the hedge fund manager (anti-excess post sub-prime)
35. Hybrid taxis
36. Indian actress Deepika Padukone: Have you seen this gal? She is gorgeous!
37. Intellectual luxury: Um…does this mean leather LV pocket protectors?
38. Investigating ingredients
39. Japanese designs (Tsumori Chisato, Uniqlo, Muji, etc.): Yes! Japanese designers finally step into the limelight.
40. Kitchen appliances as new power tools
41. Lifestyle curators
42. Lipstick trumping lip gloss: Does this apply to men too?
43. Manga-inspired clothes: I think we are seeing another Harajuku-esque invasion.
44. Mobile technology explosion
45. Mobulimia: This just sounds unhealthy.
46. Music as awareness driver; concerts and other residuals as cash cow
47. Musicovery (music tailored to moods)
48. Myanmar
49. Nollywood (the rise of Nigerian cinema): Interesting.
50. Outsourcing to Ukraine (and other Eastern European countries)
51. Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto: You will be missed.
52. Pantone’s 18-3943 (blue iris): I TOLD YOU SO!
53. Pets in the office
54. Prius homes
55. Radical transparency
56. Radiohead repeats (name-your-own-price music)
57. Recycling into fashion (Nau, Gary Harvey, etc.): I really suggest you look up Harvey. Good stuff here!
58. Selfless as the new selfish
59. Sex and the City, the movie: With all the hype it’s getting, I wonder if anyone is actually going to see the movie.
60. Shiny Toy Guns (the band)
61. Skiing in novel spots (Kashmir, Japan, Greenland, Russia, Korea, etc.)
62. Single men saying no to sex: Refer to number 63.
63. Skype sex: Gross.
64. Smart Cars in American cities
65. SNS (social network service) brand communities
66. Spanish actor Javier Bardem: Hopefully without his mushroom, Dorothy Hamill haircut in No Country for Old Men
67. Staycations: That’s code for LAZY.
68. Sturking
69. Tequila as the new wine
70. The N-11
71. Third screen (the mobile screen) rivaling the first screen (TV)
72. Trans-ertainment
73. U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson
74. U.S. presidential election
75. Vicarious consumption
76. (Video) Gaming Olympics
77. Virtual gifting: Now if this isn’t lame, I don’t know what is.
78. Wannabe young Internet entrepreneurs (a.k.a. Mark Zuckerberg copycats)
79. Weak dollar/strong euro: That’s not really something to look forward to.
80. Women juggling men: What’s so new about this?

Rock Band Special Edition for Xbox 360 or PS3, $169.99 at RockBand.com

The Guitar Hero phenomenon has taken the world by storm. People who have never picked up a guitar in their entire life can now believe they are the next Slash or Peter Frampton,

The other night, I jumped on this virtual rockstar concept with an evolved video game called, ROCK BAND. I know that this has been around for a while, but now I realized what all the hoopla is about. It is so damn fun. With up to four players, you can sing, drum and play a guitar to the highest hierarchy of rock superstardom. The game comes with a faux drumset, microphone and guitars to make your dreams come true…kind of.

I didn’t think I would get addicted to this, but other night I stayed up until two in the morning playing the game. It was like crack. I was switching roles from drummer to singer to bassist - but I didn’t dare touch the lead guitar. That was too much pressure for me.

I was singing songs like “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi and “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones. I wasn’t that good at it, but I was good at fashioning my own rockstar who I named “Puss in boots.” If you get enough gigs, you get money and you get to go shopping for new clothes, accessories and tattoos. Who doesn’t love imaginary shopping sprees?

That said, this gift is perfect for any and everyone with a video game system.

After browsing through their site, they take this whole “Rock Band” thing to a whole level with rock ‘n’ roll accessories and clothes that cater to the game. That said, if a person already has this game, I would suggest giving them some of these cool extras that will make them dress the part as a rockstar!

CZ Skull Ring, for $45 at RockBand.com

Pavé Angel Wing Necklace, for $115 at RockBand.com

But the best thing I saw was something by one of my FAVORITE designers, Phillip Lim. In fact, I was really surprised that this video game would go the couture route:

3.1 Phillip Lim Short Fingerless Gloves in Heather, for $150 at RockBand.com

Yes, I know that $150 may be a little steep for a pair of fingerless gloves, but it is way cheaper than that $775 3.1 Phillip Lim cardigan that keeps taunting me at Barney’s.