$150,000 better.

And so I would happily take a sabbatical to explore more of what the world has to offer. Yes, I will be applying for what must surely be The World’s Best Job.<cross fingers>  Before you go getting all worked up about how some people have all the luck, know this: It could be you, instead of me, that gets this gig.  Keep reading.

Position: Island Caretaker Great Barrier Reef

Contract: Six months

Working Conditions: Based on luxurious Hamilton Island in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  A live-in position with flexible working hours. Key responsibilities include exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer.

Reporting Requirements: You’ll be required to report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews.

Job Perks: You’ll receive return airfares from your nearest capital city (in your home country), accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period, computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Start Date: July 1, 2009

Education/Experience Requirements: A broad range of experience will be considered, but the successful applicant should posses:

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Good written and verbal English skills
• An adventurous attitude
• Willingness to try new things
• A passion for the outdoors
• Good swimming skills and enthusiasm for snorkeling and/or diving
• Ability to engage with others
• At least one year’s relevant experience

For more information, and to apply, click here.  Tell them Denise Reynolds, Luxury Lifestyle Writer, sent you.

And no more whining about how confining your cubicle can be.

Two pear-shaped black diamonds with a combined size of 100 carats form the focal point of this spectacular creation by celebrity jeweler Martin Katz. Watch as Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima unveils this studded sparkler for the Victoria’s Secret Christmas catalogue.

Priced at a cool $5 million, this over-the-top gift is sure to make someone’s holiday season the merriest ever.

Only 5/8 of an inch wide, it’ll store up to 40,000 images in its 4 GB internal memory. At ten shots per meal, that’s enough to cover you for ten years of dinners.

I don’t mind toting a full-sized camera and lenses around while I’m traveling, but pulling it out of a bag to shoot pictures of the food isn’t exactly discreet. So I’ve been looking for a little sliver of a camera, one that will be equally at home riding to a trattoria in the pocket of my black jeans, or slipped into an evening bag for an apres-opera soiree. I’m pinning my hopes on the svelte T700.

Doing double duty as a photo album, the T700 sports a 3.5-inch touch screen for dazzling display, and allows you to search and organize shots by event or date. And once you’ve uploaded the high-res shots to your computer, it will offer to keep low-res versions in memory, so you can use the camera’s display to share images in slideshow or scrapbook format, complete with music if you wish. You can even import photos taken by fellow revelers, incorporating them into your mix. For those who want to upload photos or videos to social networking sites, the T700 includes pre-programmed sites like YouTube, and a USB cable for ease of transfer.

I’ve tried to coax the ship date out of my Sony Style store in Boca, but they aren’t talking. Until then, I’m eagerly anticipating my first dinner date with this hot little number. But like securing a coveted reservation for a top table, we’re going to have to wait another month or so to get a taste of what promises to be the best little dinner camera yet.

My new MacBook Air is a lot like those precocious shoes. Guaranteed to garner glances of admiration, it makes working a pleasure.  Of course it’s not my primary system, or even my primary notebook.  I don’t expect it to do everything they do, not any more than I’d expect those fabulous pink patent pumps to stand in for my basic black heels. They’re not even the only pair of pink shoes I own.  The MacBook Air and the bubblegum Blahniks were both designed for a particular purpose, and each one fulfills its unique role in a way nothing that attempts to be something-for-everyone ever could.

Neither one was purchased on a whim. Like the shoes, the MacBook Air is the perfect accessory for something else. Something that was the driving force behind the accessory buy. Oddly enough, I didn’t really want a Mac at all.  I wanted Scrivener, a piece of software for writers that only runs on Mac.  Scanning the Mac display at my local Apple store, it was abundantly clear that only the Air would meet my need for fluid creativity and uber-portability.

Everyone I asked tried to talk me out of the MacBook Air and into the more practical MacBook Pro.  What they just don’t understand and probably never will, is that sometimes I just want to dance through my day in a pair of pretty pink patent leather shoes.

Meet Mi.To from Alfa Romeo, the little car that could change your mind. Sounds like “Me, too!” but it’s actually named after two Italian cities: Milan, the city that created the car’s style, and Torino, which is responsible for its production.

Leave it to the Italians to take a car this tiny and make it sexy.

C’mon. Include every conceivable luxury. Not every one except our iTunes. Be completely fabulous!

Shopping under pressure is never fun. Shoe shopping, in particular, is best when savored. But when time is tight, having the right people in place is half the battle. Suzy at Neiman’s understands this. Clients have her cell on speed dial so she can help even on her day off, which has saved me more than once. Then there’s Maggie, who has been in shoes at Nordstrom for 20 years. She can work miracles.

Yesterday, I found a sassy Weitzman patent pump that was the perfect shade for my Sunday suit, but too tight in the instep. With a single glance, Maggie accurately diagnosed the condition, taking the offending shoe behind the magic curtain. Moments later she reappeared, having rolled the unruly edge smoothly into place, salvaging an otherwise doomed match. And, while I was there, the soles of the retro Candies I was wearing decided to come loose. It’s almost as if they knew she would be there to save them. Maggie whisked them away to the back room, secured them with some rubber cement, and returned them with a smile. Bag in hand, I left her happier than I had arrived.

Shoes procured, I made it to the movie the following day, accompanied by five gal pals. Laughs aplenty, and good scenery, but in the end we all wished there had been more shoes.

Now you can capture the moment with some moonlight of your own, thanks to a German company called—what else?—Moonlight.

You may have seen their glowing orbs gracing properties in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, where they lend their luminosity as sculptural interior design pieces, illuminate outdoor paths, or even bob gracefully in swimming pools. Exclusively distributed in the U.S. by Moonlight USA, these gorgeous globes range in size from 10 to 30 inches in diameter and can weather temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Their energy source? Rechargeable batteries or household current.

Now if they could only find a way to make them lunar powered.

Photo: 2008 Visuelle Medien, www.visuelle-medien.de

That’s all I really wanted. Something to settle my stomach. Hugging the occasional guardrail, crawling along the exceedingly narrow roller-coasterlike roads that twist through the tiny towns dotting the shore of Lake Como had left me feeling lightheaded and somewhat queasy. But it’s Sunday, and essentially everything is shuttered: groceries, gelaterias, even gas stations.

As fate would have it, the torturous ride was worth the wait. My reward: the most memorable gnocchi I have ever wrapped my lips around. A sumptuous sauce of Camembert, studded with walnuts and enriched with truffle. That dish will haunt me for years to come. Eventually, I will succumb to its siren song, returning to Nuova Capannina for yet another taste of the plate that rescued me from the drive that almost put me over the edge.