Hasta La Ideas

For commuters, jetsetters, sightseers and more, 12 accessories to make traveling easier

For those who spend more time on the road than at home, we’ve culled some favorite items from our Gift Guide to make their travel experience more comfortable and entertaining. While all of these products sell online, you can check several out in person at our holiday pop up shop in NYC (noted with an asterisk below).

Nikon CoolPix P7000

Capture every moment with this camera that’s perfect for the photographer who wants control and quality in a more portable package. The latest CoolPix features a 7.1x Optical Zoom, a three-inch LCD display and a five-way VR image stabilization system. ($434)

Tamasyn Gambell Notebook

Jot down travel memories with London-based, eco-minded illustrator Tamasyn Gambell’s recycled notebook. Printed with water-based pigment, the geometrically patterned notebook is bound with reject (though perfectly good) sheets of paper from local Holborn printers, making each one unique. (£10)

Rapha Tailored Jacket

Rapha collaborated with esteemed British tailor Timothy Everest to make a cycling jacket perfect for on the road and at the office. Made of 100% wool that repels water and dirt, it features a zippered key pocket, button holes to secure the bottom hem of the jacket up and out of the way, a storm collar and more to keep you looking pristine even on long hauls. (£400)

Bowery Lane Bicycles*

Designed specifically for the urban cyclist, Bowery Lane Bicycle’s elegant Dutch-inspired Broncks bike is made in New York City, with 30% of their factory’s energy source coming from renewable solar energy. ($595)

Tom Scott Hairy Slippers in Red*

Tom Scott’s Hairy Slippers are made of soft 100% wool and give your feet a comfortably silly place to dwell when at home or on the road. ($207)

Organic Linden Sachets*

Drawing on her South American heritage, Karen Young creates textiles, scents and paper goods combining British architecture, history, and Caribbean/multicultural influences. These environmentally-responsible sachets keep clothes smelling super fresh with their attractive organic scents. ($20)

Sol Moscot Sunglasses

A global lifestyle brand driven by nearly 100 years of eyewear expertise, Sol Moscot’s “rounder, nerdier” number has served as the calling card for generations of thoughtful, free-spirited intellectual and artistes—from Buddy Holly and Truman Capote to Johnny Depp. ($225)

Matt Singer Canvas Brief*

This briefcase introduces the sleek design of former Jack Spade designer Matt Singer to the quality construction and materials of the Martin brand. Waxed cotton handles are a Martin family secret passed on for seven generations from father to son. Involved since 1838 in the dyeing and finishing of textiles in the U.S., the Martin family treats the cotton so that the fabric breathes while the waxes impart a unique, comfortable patina. ($215)

iWatchz Q Collection

Both convenient and stylish, the iWatchz band will disguise your iPod Nano as a wrist watch. Simply slide it into whatever color band you like (eight total) and it will snap into place, leaving your hands free for other activities. ($25)

Celebrity Chekhov*

New Yorker editor and McSweeney’s contributor, Ben Greenman cleverly reinvented and intertwined the stories of Anton Chekhov with the lives of present-day celebrities and pop icons in his new book. Celebrity Chekhov is filled with endless entertainment and brilliantly rewritten stories, perfect for a long flight. ($10)

Brelli Medium*

Made of renewable bamboo, organic cotton and patented biodegradable bio-film, Brelli is the world’s first 100% biodegradable umbrella. Stylish, lightweight, eco-friendly and easy to tote, it features a clear canopy and two settings for high or low wind and rain protection. ($54)

Jonathan Adler Playing Card Set

Like gambling at the Golden Nugget, the retro lacquered box holds two sets of playing cards adorned with a lucky clover motif. ($68)

Food-focused highlights from our holiday gift guide and an event in NYC

Among the food-focused items in out 2010 Holiday Gift Guide we’ve selected ten stand-outs including some highlights from the Cool Hunting for Gap Pop Up shop—where we’re having an event dedicated to this favorite topic. For those in NYC, stop by the store from 12-2pm Saturday, 4 December 2011 to snap up products launching that day—including a chocolate bar collaboration we facilitated between Brooklyn’s Mast Brothers and Berkley’s June Taylor as well the deliciously addictive Happy Goat caramel sauce infused with Macallan whisky—and meet your favorite cookbook author while sampling goods from local artisans like Brooklyn Salsa Company.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook

The The Essential New York Times Cookbook contains over 1,000 recipes compiled by former NYT columnist Amanda Hesser. Dishes span Caesar to Fava Bean Salad to a 19th-century Raspberry Granita—all fully explained in a simple format.

State-by-Food Tote Bag

Shop your local green market with the State-by-Food Tote Bag, featuring illustrations of popular foods from each of the 50 states. No matter where you go, you will always have some inspiration to draw from.

Nudo’s Quattro Stagione

Olive oil for every season, Nudo spices up any salad, sandwich or pasta with four delicious flavors, all made from 100% hand-picked olives that go straight from the grove to pressing.

Tartine Bread

Nothing beats perfectly baked bread, especially when it’s baked using a recipe from Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread, a James Beard award-winner and arguably the best bread maker in the United States.

Sing Sing Dinner Tray

The Sing Sing Dinner Tray is a refined replica of the trays used in New York’s infamous prison. Perfect for portion control, dinner in front of the TV or as a distinct tray for serving guests at your holiday party.

OXO Four-Piece Grill Set

For the BBQ ace with discerning tastes in and out of the kitchen, the OXO 4-Piece Grill Set comes with an attractive set of essential grilling utensils, each with retractable hooks and a patented design for the silicone basting brush, which keeps marinades from sliding off its bristles.

DeLonghi Gran Dama

Used daily by CH founder Josh Rubin, with the touch of a button the DeLonghi Gran Dama creates espressos, lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos—each with programmable amounts of coffee and milk, as will as adjustable cup sizes. The convenience is well worth the price.

Damn Good Cookies

While most of us are dreaming of dessert before our meal even starts, these cookies are worth the wait. Chocolate Gourmet’s “Damn Good Cookies” definitely live up to their name. Our mouths are watering just thinking about the delicious treats.

Avocado Salt and Pepper Shaker

The uniquely designed Avocado Salt and Pepper Shaker by Brooklyn-based ceramicist Daina Platais is cast from an actual avocado, her personal food favorite.

Brooklyn Salsa

Brooklyn Salsa engages us with its quirky names that represent the different boroughs of NYC. With flavors such as The Hot, The Pure, The Green, The Tropical and The Burnt, there are no shortage of options on how to spice up your next snack attack.

With an all-new design, our 2010 gifting round-up offers interesting and creative options for all your loved ones

Each holiday season we look high and low for the best gifts—from debut designs to classic products and everything in-between. Divided into categories designed to help find gifts that span both your White Russian-drinking uncle and his eco-chic wife, almost everything is available with the click of a mouse (though some are available at physical stores too). Check back often as the guide will be updated daily.

Visit the 2010 CH Gift Guide

Custom wooden messages by Chicago artist Sighn

As if his ambitious ITSOK project—hand-cutting one million wooden ornaments with the slogan “It’s OK”—wasn’t enough, the aptly-named artist Sighn is putting the creativity in your hands with his new project What Wood You Say. For a limited time, Sighn will carve out your favorite saying or wisdom-nugget for a tailormade art object or personalized gift.

Sighn put it simply, recently explaining, “I’ve been getting requests for a long time, that I haven’t been able to make time for. This concept standardizes the production, making it easier for me to create custom pieces for people. I’ve also been doing some larger paragraph pieces for collectors, and have really gotten the font/way I make it down pat.”

He will be accepting orders for his hand-crafted commissions through November and December 2010. Each signed and dated work sells for $5 a character (with a 50 character maximum) from Multi Polar Projects. To see some of Sighn’s more conceptual typographic works, check out his woodcuts at Allegoric Space.

From Benromach to Yoichi, a definitive guide to whisky by one of the industry’s more illustrious tipplers

In his new book “101 Whiskies to Try Before you Die” whisky expert Ian Buxton poses the fun challenge of learning about whisky by drinking a lot of whisky. Having the enviable job of working in the whisky industry for over two decades, as a consultant, Marketing Director of a world-famous single malt, and builder of several distillery visitor centers, he learned the ins and outs of whisky and the people who make it. In this book, he shares his wisdom and some entertaining details along the way.

Over a golden dram of Highland Park 50 at its Harrods launch in London earlier this year, we talked scotch with the book’s illustrious author.

Buxton’s love of whisky led him to write this book not as “an awards list,” but rather as the definitive “guide to 101 whiskies that enthusiasts should try” to complete their education. He focuses generally on bottles that are neither obscure nor prohibitively expensive. Buxton’s love of whisky jumps off of the page with each story he has to tell about the geography of Scotland, the history of distilleries, the stories behind some of the unique companies that create award-winning blends. Of the whiskies included in the book, 72 are from Scotland while the rest hail from Ireland, England, Japan, Sweden, Canada, India and the U.S.

From insider details about distilleries he visited on his honeymoon to honest disclosures about companies he worked for, 101 Whiskies is full of anecdotes that make what could otherwise be a dry who’s-who into a page-turner. From three types of the brown tipple created in small batches by Compass Box to impressions of the impossibly hip Monkey Shoulder site, he covers it all with wit and a balanced perspective.

While some brands are accessible like the Macallan 10 and Makers Mark, more exclusive labels make the cut when Buxton feels they’re worth the money, which includes Johnny Walker’s Blue Label George V Edition and the surprisingly delicate Highland Park 40. All of this variety turns the book into a whisky-fueled journey through tasting these 101 whiskies into both a inspiring travel guide and an education in scotch, whisky, whiskey, bourbon, rye and new make spirit (whisky before it’s been aged).

Buxton always makes sure to prioritize the actual liquor itself, adding his own DIY suggestions for some of the packaging, such as the posh wooden box for the Dewar’s Signature that could become “a handy coffin for a pet hamster or gerbil.” Though he’s similarly skeptical about Basil Hayden’s copper belt, he likes the contents.

Buxton does have a few preferred places for drinking whisky, including Edinburgh’s Bramble Bar, The Pot Still in Gasgow, the Highlander in Craigellachie, NYC’s The Brandy Library and in London, The Athenaeum Hotel or Albannach and Salt. And if there was to be a 102nd bottle? “Probably some moonshine from the hills, but we don’t want everyone to know and the cops to visit the guy.”

“101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” sells online from Amazon and will be available December 2010 from Powells . Sláinte!