Oscars Day

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly backstage at the 1956 Oscars // The 1958 Governors Ball // Elizabeth Taylor with her first Academy Award for Butterfield 8 in 1961 // Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty yuk it up at the 1962 Oscar ceremony // All photos from LIFE photo archives

I get excited about awards ceremonies like some people get into sport, so the Oscars is like the Superbowl, or World Cup for me. I'm hanging out to watch the free to air television coverage tonight, though I doubt I'll be able to keep away from the internet all day so I'm bound to find out the winners before then. I don't really take much stock in Oscar winners anyway… I just enjoy it for the awkward/funny banter and sparkley celebs!

Small things #1

1. I've taken up knitting again! It's been a few years since I was last in the knitting saddle and it's good to be back. Knitting makes me feel productive while slobbing round watching telly (for instance). I'm planning on getting a lot of knitting done tonight while I watch the Oscars coverage!

2. I have been struggling with takeaway coffees while riding my bike in the mornings - which is pretty ridiculous and now my bag is covered in spilled coffee stains. This has been going on for months until a few weeks ago when Mr Meet-Cute bought me a cup holder to attach to my bike, and now I have this re-usable coffee cup, with a handy sealable lid. My morning coffee problems are now solved. Honestly, I don't know why it took me so long but this has been life changing. In a small way :)

Songs for Christchurch

A whole bunch of New Zealand artists have donated tracks to Songs for Christchurch, a fundraising compilation which you can download here for a minimum donation of $NZ5. All proceeds go towards helping those affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch last week.

Pictured above are the lovely band Teacups, who are one of the many contributing artists. All photos taken by Amanda Cheng during Teacups album launch last year at Hopetoun Alpha.

Shakey

My heart goes out to everyone affected by yesterdays devastating Christchurch earthquake. I am just so thankful that my friends and relatives in Christchurch are all okay, though there are many there who are not so lucky, and the city is still in crisis.

There are lots of ways you can help the people of Christchurch, information on this can be found here and here.

The Christchurch SPCA also has a Pet Emergency Earthquake Fund which you can donate to here.

Kia Kaha xxx

Raw Energy

My sister bought me this gorgeous cookbook for my birthday. I was well chuffed! Ripe Recipes from Auckland's Ripe Deli, features recipes and tips on preserving and seasonal cooking. After a week of eating waaaaay too much birthday cake, I decided that their 'Raw Energy Salad' was exactly what I needed.

The main ingredient in the salad was a hell of a huge pile of beetroot. I'm a huge beetroot fan, but even if you're not I'd still wholeheartedly recommend this dish - the amazing dressing meant that it didn't taste overwhelmingly 'beetroot-ish'.

As you can see beetroot preparation results in pretty gruesome red dyed hands! A handy tip I've heard is that if you slather olive oil over your hands before preparing beetroot then they won't be stained. I always forget to try this though!

Ripe's Raw Energy Salad recipe can be found here.

Dalmation Spotty

Love this spotty pussybow 'Dalmation Shirt' by Gorman. I already own one polka dot shirt though…

Crafty types

I'm such a sucker for any type-based art, so when I saw these, which are embroidered, of course my mind was blown! And of course I had to share them here with you too!

More of this stunning artwork by Sydney based twins Maricor and Maricar can be found on their website here. They also work in graphic design, illustration and animation so have a look and prepare to have your mind blown too!

NYC Creatives

Tim Barbers New York Creatives portraits are a beautiful glimpse into the homes and studios of some pretty cool NYC residents.

Mark Borthwick // Mark Borthwick again // Kitteh! // Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon and Carol Lim // Chloe Sevigny // Andy Spade of Partners & Spade // Opening Ceremony // Rita Ackermann's studio floor

Beach House

These were taken a few weeks ago during a weekend in Wye River. Our accommodation was the most amazing retro beach house - everything about it seemed to be stuck in the 1960's. It was also blazingly hot all weekend - I think you can see a bit of that sizzling sun coming through in these pics!

Like!

{Photos from Isaac Likes}

Designer Rachel Antonoff held a homecoming dance party to showcase her Fall 2011 collection during New York Fashion Week. The show was held at a real high school filled with balloons, streamers, spiked punch and music provided by The Like. I am going to see The Like this weekend and I am quite excited!

{Photos from here}

Raro Houses

Finally, some more Raro photos to share with you! I had about 6 rolls of film after this holiday which I've slowly been getting developed. I took a whole bunch of pics of the colourful houses in Rarotonga, bright electric blue, lavender and turquiose are pretty standard colours there. So tropical!