The Gilt Groupe is quickly becoming one of the hottest ecommerce sites on the web. It’s an exclusive, invitation-only website that offers short term sales on ultra high-end luxury brands.

Recently, I heard a board member recount a story about a sale on Gilt that included a certain designer’s shoes. Apparently, Gilt sold 10,000 of these shoes in less than three minutes and the waiting list climbed to 40,000 members. Pretty unbelievable. The site currently runs sales in categories for men, women and children.

For those that are looking for an invitation to join, here is a link with the invitation code included.

Join Gilt Groupe

A good friend and foodie, (and not to mention, recent Food Network alumna and soon to be founder of a gourmet catering business), has launched NYCulinarian, a blog that chronicles her culinary adventures throughout New York. Already, it has given me some excellent ideas on where to eat in the City and what to order. She is not shy on using her camera, so be warned — there are lots of savory photos accompanying each post.

TheyRule.net is a site that maps the relationships between directors of top companies and institutions. My favorite map connects Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This site definitely shows the power of social networks (both online and offline).