The Burning House – The concept of this beautiful and inspiring blog -a winning Weekly Blog, in fact, by Foster Huntington– is simple: “If your house was burning, what would you take with you?” Each post is the submission of a different person showing quite aesthetically his or her must-have objects.

See what Luca Cavallaro, a 34 year old designer from NY has picked:

Name: Luca Cavallaro
Age: 34
Location: New York
Occupation: Designer
Website: http://officineottiche.tumblr.com/

List:

• Alma Lou, she would even be enough.

If I have time:

• Hard drive, for memories that my brain failed to store.
• Sunglasses, I feel naked without them.
• Wallet, a gift from my wife.
• My father’s old camera, I promised him to take good care.
• Sneaker, emergency orange.
• In the black box, my vintage eyewear collection (favorite only).
• Phone.
• Vintage leather mask, in case I have to protect my face from the flames.
• Dieter Rams alarm clock, I don’t wake up on my own.
• Orange hummer, if i have to brake some windows during the escape.
• Life buoy ring, in case of flooding. In Italy we say:” le sfighe non vengono mai da sole”, misfortunes never come alone.

To submit your own photographed list of items you would take from your burning house, submit your own post.

The Next Web – With over 100 thousand Facebook fans and millions of unique visitors each month, The Next Web is undeniably one of the most prominent technology resource out there. The site started out as a spin-off to The Next Web Conference, and soon became an authority on startups, Internet and culture in and of itself, with the added value of offering an international perspective.

The Next Web provides insightful news stories on a number of topics including gadgets, the World Wide Web and its cultural by-products, design and development, entrepreneurship and many others. The posts are well-written and to the point, which I can’t say about other leading tech blogs. My personal favorite section is The Next Web’s Lifehacks category, which is filled with productive tips and tools for startups and entrepreneurs. That’s where I found the post Getting Started with LinkedIn by Alex Wilhelm.

Life + Times – Sometimes there simply isn’t an easy way to explain what a site is about except for exploring it by yourself. This is exactly the case with Jay Z’s fabulous Life + Times, “a digital experience” covering art, sports, music, fashion and culture.

Hidden Heroes – What would life be like without, say, thermal flasks, light bulbs or even baby pacifiers? It’s almost impossible to imagine and indeed, these and many other mundane, widely used -obvious- objects have made our life much easier. Vitra Design Museum has collaborated with plastic-based multipackaging systems supplier Hi-Cone to give the daily objects -the ‘hidden heroes’- we all take for granted the thanks and respect they deserve.

The beautiful exhibition is physically showing at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, but also online, on this website. At the homepage, pick a number of products and click Enter Exhibition. This will prompt a visual continuum where each of your selected products gets a page of its own with historical background, designer info and product use details.

To give an example, see the product page of the Thermos Flask, patented in 1903. Interesting, isn’t it?

AHAlife – This upscale website is an “online discovery destination where you can learn about – and purchase – the best unique products from around the world, collectively curated by our group of influential tastemakers.” In other words, AHAlife (‘aha’ referring to the sound of discovery) features high quality products for you to admire and buy, ranging from fashion and home decor to food, travel and technology. Think of it as an online store offering a curated collection of items for people with exquisite taste.

To get an idea of the sort of things you can buy here on AHAlife, here’s the What’s New page.

What really makes AHAlife stand out from any other upscale store is its team of curators. This certainly serves as worthy added value you won’t find elsewhere. I strongly encourage you to register to AHAlife and be inspired by beautiful, meaningful things on a daily basis.

Architizer – This exquisite site offers a much anticipated meeting point for professional architects and companies of the industry, with prospect clients and other professionals. As the site explains, “one architectural project has dozens of contributors, from the intern who made the conceptual models to the construction administrator.” Architizer tries to bring all of them together.

Architizer offers different pages for projects, firms and people from all over the world, in addition to news, jobs and competitions. This is a terrific hub for all the various professionals working in the architecture industry, and I’m certain it also acts as a project facilitator in many ways. Great job Architizer! Here’s a project I wish I were the client of: Lefevre Beach House in Chile by Longhi Architects.

Man Made DIY – This unusual yet intriguing blog (another Weekly Blog winner) by Chris Gardner is a cross between guerrilla-style craft making and modern day indie design inspirations. The range of topics you will find in Man Made’s posts varies tremendously, but one thing stays the same: interest and lots of it. I suggest starting out with Man Made’s Top 10. If you can’t wait, see the two posts below I decided to share:

How to Make a Back Yard Drink Caddy for $2.00

Sci-Fi IKEA Manuals

That’s Chic – Style galore is what lies behind the That’s Chic blog title. Rachel Nguyen is a model-icious young woman from California who lives and breathes style and aesthetics. Whether it’s the amazing clothes she wears to the pretty photographs she takes of moments in her life, Rachel invites us to explore her exquisite taste.

Each post is a well-written account of Rachel’s recent events, and includes large photos of Rachel, chic as ever. In addition to clothes, accessories and home design you will find food related posts with mouth-watering photos. That’s Chic is one of last week’s Weekly Blog winners, and here’s a photo that shows you why (click the image to read the full post).

Planning a wedding always seems like a daunting, stressful task, with so many things to think about and choose. Since wedding season is almost at its peak this month and will last through October, we’ve decided to make the special event’s mission totally possible and easier for you: Here’s our Top 10 list of the absolute best wedding resources out there online. This hot list will show you where to get the best gift registry, where to find gorgeous invitations, and how to make your wedding look like a million bucks without exceeding your budget.

1. Project Wedding – Think of this site as wedding day central. It’s a comprehensive source on all things wedding and the site is a perfect first stop in your big day’s planning path. Aside from the obvious bride and bridesmaid dress designs and vendors, Project Wedding shares photos and inspirations from real weddings. You will also find lots of decor, wedding cake and beauty ideas on this site in addition to practical tools such as check lists, wedding websites and more.

2. The Knot – Perhaps the most familiar of the bunch, The Knot offers solid help on every possible wedding aspect you can think of. The colossal variety of topics might confuse you at first, but after a deep breath you’ll see The Knot truly provides a wealth of information and ideas. To start off, check out the ‘planning basics’ menu on the left (offering ideas and tips on wedding destinations, vendors, vows, songs and invitations, etc.). Once you’re ready for more hardcore planning, make use of The Knot’s gift registry page to pick your store (an adventure in and of itself).

3. My Wedding – Although this website might seem as a bit less comprehensive than the two above, its forte -free wedding sites- outweighs any content downsides it may have. Wedding sites have become huge these past few years, and for a good reason. In many cases the bride and groom’s family is scattered across the country, and although phone calls might do for keeping everyone updated, there’s nothing like a designated Web space everyone can visit anywhere with ease.

My Wedding offers a huge variety of website options neatly categorized by color and theme (green, outdoors, traditional weddings and more). If you’re thinking about creating a wedding website for your special event, My Wedding is your spot. Here’s the gorgeous example of Samira and Maxwell’s wedding site, created by My Wedding.

4. Martha Stewart Weddings – For those of you seeking an all-American, traditional wedding style, Martha Stewart’s designated online spot for weddings is a perfect resource to start with. Get all the event’s basics down and stay on top with all your check and to-do lists with Marth. One cute post I loved reading here is Good Things for Spring Weddings – great inspirations!

5. Macy’s Gift Registry – Although there aren’t any right or wrong gift registry choices, I think Macy’s is the best one in terms of both variety of products and the system’s ease of use when registering and adding gifts. Signing up to Macy’s registry service is super easy and quick, and you can start adding gifts in no time. Wedding guests checking in to buy will also find a swift and no-brainer process leading straight to the couple’s list. In short, I can only say that on my wedding day Macy’s will be my gift registry provider of choice.

6. Style Me Pretty – There’s nothing like peeping over at other people’s weddings pictures to see what works, what doesn’t and find new ideas. Style Me Pretty’s Real Weddings section is packed with tested strategies, approaches and features worth checking out before planning The Day. Browse the section’s various wedding styles, including Budget Beautiful, Contemporary, Do-It-Yourself Inspired and Vintage Chic, among others.  You should also explore Style Me Pretty’s vendors’ guide, DIY projects and wedding inspirations.

7. Once Wed – Dedicated to the to-be-wed folks who seek a non-traditional wedding, Once Wed is a brilliant resource for planning unconventional weddings that are “artistically innovative or effortlessly beautiful.” Created by the gorgeous Emily Newman, OnceWed is one of the only places online where you can find beautiful pre-owned wedding dresses and get lots of inspiring and creative ideas for your big day. Speaking of dresses, here’s one that caught my eye.

8. Wedding Invite Love – This amazing website brings together soon to be wed couples with graphic designers and studios all over the country, to make successful and beautiful invitations that suit couples’ needs and desires. Search for your favorite invitations vendor via a number of parameters such as price, nearest city location or style and a world of fabulous design will open up to you. Here’s an example of a beautiful design that’s well within the budget of any wedding, by The Letter Office in NY:

9. Wedzu – A site for the budget brides and grooms, Wedzu offers a saner approach to wedding planning, and offers a wealth of cool products for the indie-at-heart audience. From affordable yet absolutely fabulous wedding dresses to reception decorations and cute cuff links, Wedzu is all about making your wedding Etsy style (handmade, that is) while maintaining the event’s haute-couture look and feel.

10. Wedding MiniFaves page on All My Faves – This MiniFaves page dedicated to wedding planning and celebration is an abundant resource for all the big day’s different aspects. Find all the great websites listed above and many others in one place to make your wedding day the event you always wanted. Congratulations to all the newly weds and the soon-to-be married couples!

Cut Out + Keep – With over 11,000 Likes to date, this site probably does something right. The craft site offers a colossal collection of make-it tutorials, from hats and jewelry to tea strainers, furniture and accessories. Think of Cut Out + Keep as the Etsy how-to hub.

The vast number of categories and sub-categories seemed overwhelming at first, but once I found something interesting, I decided to share. Actually, I think I will be making this Cat Hammock next weekend.

Defringe – This minimalistic-looking site is actually bursting with rich creativity, and it offers a wealth of inspiring posts showing today’s innovation in a variety of fields, including advertising, illustration, music, product design, typography and many other fields. Defringe is an elegant, sophisticated design and talent hub that is packed with cool ideas and products. It wasn’t a Weekly Blog winner for nothing.
Here’s an interesting post I found in Defringe’s Product Design section: Miniot, innovative and organic solution to protecting the iPad.

Nowness – This is a Weekly Blog winner for a good reason: it’s a sophisticated Web storyteller, meaning it offers a regularly updated dose of the coolest and most chic stories currently circulating the Web. Claiming to be “the digital leader in luxury storytelling,” Nowness is the creation of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which explains its posh appearance while its content is editorially independent.

Each story or post concerns the creative world (fashion, design, film, gastronomy), and is accompanied by large high-quality photos and videos. As the reader you are encouraged to vote for each post, by clicking ‘Love’ or ‘Don’t Love.’ I just adored Il Pellicano: Tuscan Paradise (see screenshot below), and I feel this is but one example of the semi-infinite wonder you will find here on Nowness.