For the next special occasion in your life, are you yearning for more ties, cologne or slippers? Probably not, so for gift-givers who want to break out of the mundane and aim higher, there’s Cloud 9 Living.

Instead of giving things, this company’s mission is “to enhance people’s lives through memorable experiences.” Their gifts open the door to 1,500 experiences to choose from in 42 cities. Cloud 9 covers everything from the deep sea to a taste of space.

A gift box includes a certificate, DVD showing a sample of experiences, a personalized message card and a Cloud 9 brochure. Procrastinators can choose an e-mailed certificate for quicker delivery. By logging onto the company’s website, excited recipients can schedule the date and time of the excursion.

Purchasers will utilize the “Experience Finder” on Cloud 9’s site to locate the perfect gift. By choosing a category, price range and/or city, a number of possibilities will present themselves. For example, Pittsburghers looking for a local experience can choose among kayaking, mountain biking or rock climbing at Ohiopyle, a paperweight workshop in the city, or a float trip down the Youghiogheny.

• Cloud 9 Living was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2005
• Adventures are available at a variety of price points; for $75 or less, you can experience an urban Segway Tour, hip hop dancing lessons or a ghost tour of Coconut Grove
• More generous givers can check out the $10,000+ category – this includes a commercial weightless flight, 100 copies of a book featuring ten stories about your life, complete with your picture on the cover, and diving with great white sharks
• Really big spenders can spring for a concert or outing with a celebrity starting at $100,000; for slightly more, your own special star can star in a movie, filmed at a resort and ending with a private wrap party

Wary purchasers reluctant to choose a gift can provide a gift certificate and allow the recipient to choose, but selected gifts are also able to be exchanged or refunded in full. Experiences are pre-screened and customer-surveyed to ensure an excellent adventure.

Along with individuals, Cloud 9 has worked with a number of companies to provide memorable experiences, including Coca-Cola, InterContinental Hotels, Neiman Marcus, Sprint Nextel, and Deloitte & Touche. The uniqueness of this challenger brand has yielded considerable publicity – it was featured by The Today Show, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press.

Cloud 9 Living is a company that’s reaching for the stars by providing a little slice of heaven for those who seek a break from the mundane. In both its array of gifts and its future, this is a company that believes that the sky’s the limit.