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After a global search spanning six continents, Forbes has put together their list of the World's Most Expensive Homes for 2007. $100 million will get you more in - for example - South Africa than it will in New York, but the international ultra-luxury market is growing so fast, say real estate agents who deal with clients in the market for such homes, that the price gap is diminishing and soon all of these houses could be closer to the high-end of the pricing spectrum and a list like this one might look very different in 5 years. For now, top priced homes (in USD) include:

• Updown Court in Windlesham, Surrey ($138 million) is a 103-room home on 58 acres of lush grounds, with an indoor squash court, bowling alley, 50-seat cinema, helipads and a heated marble driveway.
• Hala Ranch in Aspen, Colo. ( $135 million, pictured) has 95-acres and a 56,000-sq. ft. mansion, with multiple outbuildings and guest houses, stables, a tennis court and an indoor swimming pool.
• Waterfront Estate in Istanbul, Turkey ($100 million) is on only .75 acres of land, but has 30,000 square feet of ultra-luxe space divided into 64 rooms, most of which look out onto the water.

Check out the full list for further details and the rest of the top priced homes.

For some, Valentine's Day is a celebration of an existing relationship. For others, it is a first date that could become something more. Forbes decided to help out first-daters this year and put together a list of the most expensive cities for a first date. The only downside to a study like this is that, since you are unlikely to be traveling too far outside your comfort zone (or your date's, for that matter) is that the only thing you really gain is a knowledge of how much less expensive your meal would be somewhere else. And, unless you're in the number one city, the knowledge that someone out there is paying more than you are.

Not everyone is looking to settle down, particularly celebrities and other extremely wealthy people, so the market for luxury rentals that offer a no strings attached home for as long as they care to stay is booming. Forbes has a list of the most expensive rentals of 2007. Instead of simply picking ten million-dollar-a-month pads, Forbes chose to list the most expensive in ten different metropolitan areas, which is something to keep in mind if you change cities as often as you change clothes. On their list, you'll find:

• Atlanta - $6,500 per month for an 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Buckhead in a building with a 24-hour concierge and fitness center.
• Washington, D.C. - $12,500 per month will put you in a 14,000-square-foot, six-bedroom estate in Spring Valley that looks a bit like a castle and features a heated swimming pool.
• Los Angeles - $40,000 per month is all it takes to get into a Monterey-style Spanish colonial in the Hollywood Hills. The six-acre property has a 7,000-sq. ft., six bedrooms house with gardens, a heated pool and a 2,700-sq. ft. guesthouse.
• Miami (pictured) - it is $300,000 a month for the 11,000-square-foot Villa Miami XIII on Palm Island. The 6-bedroom estate has "a full gymnasium, cinema-style theater, two Jacuzzis, a regulation beach volleyball court, heated pool and a waterfall," in addition to a boat dock that can accommodate up to a 100-ft. yacht.

There is nothing like an amazingly beautiful pool to coax even the most reluctant vacationers to don their swimwear and slide into the water. As much as we wish that we were the ones to do the traveling involved in picking out ten of the world's best swimming pools, Forbes Traveler took care of it for us. Their list of must-visit pools includes the Intercontinental Hong Kong's three luxurious pools, including one of the largest outdoor pools - feng shui-inspired, no less! - in Hong Kong. La Casa Que Canta in Zihuatanejo, Mexico has in infinity pool (pictured) that plunges into the ocean and many "private pool suites." The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has a massive beach-themed pool with a swim-up blackjack area and bar at the center. Read the rest of the list for more info on the other seven picks.

Forbes has the scoop on the most expensive jeans. They cite trends towards custom-fitted denim and lots of added detailing, including embroidery and crystals, as major reasons that prices were driven upwards, but not every pair on their list has these features. The single most expensive pair was 115-year old Vintage Levis sold on eBay for $60,000, followed by the significantly newer Ernest Sewn custom jeans, which cost up to $1,000 per pair.

Other pairs we liked this year included Levis iPod Jeans and Denim for Immortality Jeans, though we also liked the opportunity to make our own from Denim Design Lab.

While some celebrities max out their earning potential young and drift off into relative obscurity, others keep earning long after their deaths -- or at least, their estates keep earning by using their name, likeness or works. All totaled, the 13 earners on Forbes' list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities made nearly $250 million in the past 12 months. Some of the celebs on the list are icons, like Elvis, and their earning power continues at a steady place. Others, like musicians and actors, depend on how their estates have been managing things. A freshly printed "greatest hits" album could get them back on top, while in an off year they might not even come close to the $7 million or so needed to be considered a top earner. This year's list includes:

Neiman Marcus has identified what they feel are the top ten fall trends in women's fashion. They stuck with broad categories, rather than picking individual items, so it's easy to pick out items that will fit in with the trends and your personal tastes. Of course, a top ten list isn't going to cover every single fashionable item (they're missing bows and animal prints, for example), but it's a good place to start. The list includes:

• Black/Gold Handbags
• Red Accents
• Belts
• Tunics
• White Shirts
• Skinny Pants
• Gold Jewelry - and lots of it
• Black Leggings
• Booties and Boots

The only real question here is why they don't offer the same type of list to men, too.

Conde Nast Traveler has a brilliant piece this month for those who love to - or want to - island hop. As they point out, at any given moment, some island, somewhere in the world, is at its peak. The trick to having a great island experience is knowing when it is and getting there at that time. To facilitate this, the article lists 72 gorgeous islands and, sorting by month, identifies the best times to hit their shores based on criteria that include weather, water conditions and local festivals, in addition to gorgeous wildlife and scenery. There are too many to list them all here, so do check out the full list, but these are our favorites for each month:

• January: Cebu, Philippines; Djenné, Mali
• February: Langkawi, Malaysia
• March: Benguerra, Mozambique; the Maldives
• April: Corfu, Greece; Fiji
• May: Java, Indonesia; Mauritius
• June: Capri; Galápagos, Ecuador
• July: Bornholm, Denmark
• August: Île Sainte Marie, Madagascar
• September: Cook Islands
• October: Cristalino Island, Brazil; Seychelles
• November: Big Island of Hawaii; Gozo, Malta
• December: Cyprus; Phuket, Thailand

Catching on to the fact that collecting and consuming very old whiskies is one of the most popular trends of recent years, Forbes put out a list of the most expensive whiskies that they could find. Fortunately for those in the market, whiskies have not been at the forefront of popularity for very long, meaning that while supplies are certainly not unlimited, there are more special-edition and small-batch options to choose from. Forbes' top ten are listed in categories. For example, the most expensive in the world is the Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926 ($38,000), while the most expensive that you can still buy is the Macallan Fine & Rare Collection, 1939 ($10,125).

This gift list isn't about tickets to sports games or picking out new sporting equipment. Consider, for example, that if your father is a golf fan, he doesn't need drivers, chippers or putters because he probably already has those things. And have you ever tried to pick out a club for a die-hard golfer? It's tough, to say the least. The same thing applies to other sports. In terms of gifting, it's much better to leave the actual equipment to the player and outfit him with accessories. And we're sure you could have come up with the gift idea of tickets to a game on your own. 

Ballpark Pens let you give the gift of a baseball stadium - or at least a little piece of it. Each pen is made of wood from the salvaged seats at historic ballparks, obtained during demolition or renovation. They are laser engraved with the name of the stadium, and the years that it was in existence. Available parks are Yankee Stadium ($125), Wrigley Field ($150), Dodger Stadium ($125) or Ebbets Field ($200).

Father's Day started in 1910 and though there is no record of when the tradition of giving Dad a tie began, they are the quintessential father's day gift. Unfortunately, the more popular ties were as a gift, the less attractive they seemed to get and before long, father's seemed to dread getting "another ugly tie" - as though they were often besieged with such ties. But ties are useful and, thanks to more than a few good designers, there are a lot of fantastic looking ties. Here are some of our favorite picks for Dad this Father's Day.

If Dad likes a bit of a vintage edge to his clothing, or simply doesn't seem to have completely gotten over his fondness for his younger, wilder days, Ben Sherman's warm, vintage brown silk tie with a geometric, floral pattern is one he'll love $59.50. 

Forbes Magazine just released their picks of the most expensive homes in the US for 2006. The real estate market may be slowing somewhat, but that fact didn't stop the average price of a home on this list from jumping up to $71 million from $58 million. In a change from last year's list, the $75 million asking price of the top home from 2005 - the Three Ponds, in Bridgehampton - was surpassed by two houses: Donald Trump's Maison de L'Amitie in Florida, with an asking price of $125 million, and the Portabello Estate in California, also listed at $75 million. Other picks include Martin Zweig's apartment and a limestone mansion in San Francisco.

We already saw the recommendations from Bride.com for their top five honeymoon destinations, released just in time for the upcoming late spring/summer wedding season. According to Forbes magazine, eighty percent of weddings are followed by a trip for the newlywed couple, who spend a total of $8.6 billion annually on them and an average of $4,400 per couple. People are traveling further afield on these vacations, intending to make the trip into the event of a lifetime as they set out on their newly married life.

Forbes has just selected their picks for the top luxury honeymoons. Of course, some of these picks are quite a bit more costly than the average honeymoon  -  we refuse to use the phrase "moneymoon" -  but are well worth it. The most luxurious stays include:

Anse Chastanet on Santa Lucia is in one of the Caribbean's most breathtaking locations, with over 600-acres of lush garden, tropical flora and gorgeous beaches. Couples can do everything from scuba to shopping or nothing at all. The honeymoon package is $4,480 for a seven night stay (in June) and includes everything but wine, champagne and airfare.