Welcome to 2010! A chance to look forward to all the expectations and dreams of the new year. Even though we are still at least knee-deep in recession, it’s fun to do a little super-high-end window shopping!

Maybe you had some bubbly cheer to celebrate the decade change. I bet it wasn’t this one, a stunningly beautiful bottle of vintage 1995 Dom Perignon in a special limited edition white gold wrapper. Only $17,000 in 2008 dollars!

And, if you didn’t finish the bottle, I bet it would make a perfectly fine addition to soup the way any other flat champagne would, in the place of your usual white cooking wine!

Or, for fun, maybe you could spruce up your bathroom in rarified style and cache. You know your neighbor and friends won’t have this exquisite metal-coated throne.

Chocolate is always a little slice of luxury. Treat yourself to a piece of the world’s most expensive chocolate, according to Forbes Magazine. The “La Madeline au Truffe,” from

Knipschildt Chocolatier in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a handcrafted chocolate truffle with a black truffle inside it. Yes, the truffle that pigs sniff out in France. Covered in chocolate. It will set you back $250 plus shipping. Better eat it fast, it has a shelf life of just 7 days!

Here’s to the New Year, and best wishes for you all.

Until next time!

-Elaine Bothe

Resources:

Dom Perignon image courtesy of www.luxury-insider.com/

Toilet image courtesy of Artistic Illusions.

Chocolate image courtesy of Knipschildt Chocolatier.