September 2008 Archives

We are popping the cork here at Extraordinique in celebration of our first review published on September 21, 2007. With close to 150 reviews since that day, we have enjoyed sharing our favorite finds with you. Taking a look back in the Archives, we revisited some of our top favorites. The team worked to identify a Top 10 list for Extraordinique - A Year in Review, but we all agreed if they are in the Archive, they are all Extraordinique in our view.

For 2007-08, revisit these favorite finds and let us know what you think.

Vibram FiveFingers
We first started Extraordinique with Vibram FiveFingers footwear, making one of Time Magazine's best inventions in 2007. Since our first post, it also looks like FiveFingers has come out with two more lines - KSO and Flow. Vibram FiveFingers was catalytic in our concept for Extraordinique. In an era of innovation and "smart" technology, footwear has been taken to a whole new level with Vibram FiveFingers.

Vosges Haute Chocolate
Vosges is a fun one because a year later, we still find family and friends talking about Mo's Bacon Bar or the truffles we brought home, which included a symphonic blend of sweet and salt. Muah! Delish!

Christine J. Brandt
Another artist bringing elements together in an extraordinary way is jewelry designer Christine J. Brandt. Her jewelry collection is beyond words - setting stones and minerals in rich wood carvings for rings, necklaces, and cufflinks. The color, shape and texture of all of her pieces embody the word - Extraordinique!

Ego
There is no such thing as "check your 'Ego' at the door" if you own one of these artistically and fashion-inspired notebooks. Winner of this year's Microsoft Fashion PC Award and nominated for the 2009 German designprize Ego will be competing with brands such as BMW and Porsche for uber design excellence.

SIGG
Eco-friendly SIGG bottles became our favorite functional, go-anywhere water bottle for the car, the gym, and our weekend bike rides this year. We found them to be ultra durable and kept our drinks cool and refreshing.

Stokke Strollers
Over the past year, Stokke seems to have had a major influence in the design of baby strollers and it doesn't stop there. Now, Stokke is featuring the Tripp Trapp - designed to "invite your child to the table" like no other high chair can. Again, Extraordinique!

Flip Video
The best in plug-in-play digital video recorders, we flipped for Flip Video. End of story!

Easy Glider
Taking "people mover" to a whole new level, we found EasyGlider to be the ultimate mash up of inline skating, skateboarding and surfing melded into the design of a "scooter."

Coal
As Fall is upon us, Coal is still the first company I think of for super cool (or should I say toasty) knitted caps and scarves that we love. Debuting their latest 2008  Winter collection, you gotta check them out.

Pi
In a year of outrageous gas prices, Pi took electric mobility to a whole new level with a highly functional and beautifully designed electric bike.

If you have a favorite, please comment and let us know what enjoyed the most from Extraordinique - All Things Extraordinary & Unique.

Now, to celebrate, if only we had some Bling H20!

Pardon the play on words here, but "iWood totally get this" for my iPhone 3G. We were just at an Apple store this weekend looking for iPhone cases and I have to admit I was disappointed with most of the designs. The iPhone is really an aesthetically gorgeous device in my opinion. It is sleek, clean - a minimalists dream. I don't want to cover it up with something that detracts from that, but I also want to protect it.

The iWood is the first case I have seen on the market that can aesthetically enhance the iPhone in ways that make it even more Extraordinique!

Miniot's iWood comes in five different wood grains and can even be engraved to further personalize your case. I wonder if I should put my Twitter name - @Extraordique or our logo?

I have the white iPhone 3G so I think the Padouk case would be gorgeous. Although I want to research which wood is most sustainable. Hmmm, too bad one doesn't come in bamboo. Hint! Hint!, Miniot.

Miniot also offers a matching wood docking station. Put it all together - it's Extraordinique!

• Special thanks to one of our Twitter friends who tipped us off on Miniot's iWood iPhone case. "HellYeah!"

Website | Where to Buy

Innovation seems to be woven into the corporate culture at ASUS. Committed to green practices, ASUS recently launched their Bamboo Series notebook, a groundbreaking bamboo-clad product that is reported to be "green" throughout every phase of its life - from its conception, production and use to its eventual recycling and disposal. ASUS' commitment to continually bolstering its green capabilities sees their Bamboo Series notebook as proof that meeting the demands of modern computing can be reconciled with the need to preserve the Earth, especially when a green mentality has become more prominent and necessary for the planet.

The style of the notebook is modernly designed with artisan-grade Moso bamboo paneling. ASUS believes that their latest innovative line has "an arresting aura of spirituality, warmth and old world charm that synthetic materials and cold, impersonal metals will struggle to replicate." Now, that's Extraordinique!

Website

I have to admit, I've often liked the Crocs concept - colorful, fun, creative shoes and certainly their back story on how these fun(ctional) and funky shoes were conceived, but I've never actually bought a pair. I even went so far as trying some on at the Crocs store in Santa Monica, but again, I didn't pull the trigger. Now, that I found that Crocs have come out with these really cute Prima Ballet slip-ons, I'm thinking how can I get one in each color.

As a side note, in doing research on Crocs, I ran across an interesting article Slate ran in 2007 that exposes the Croc Epidemic. ;)

Website | Where to Buy