Cute Stuff #7

There's an awful lot of Christmassy cuteness out there at this time of year.

Like this cheery collection of tree ornaments by Alice Oehr and Rittle.

And these festive goodies from craft Queen Kitiya Palaskas.

Rittle artist Ellie King's new webshop Pieces 4 Places is full of covetable Christmas goodies, like this Jessilla Rogers Trophy Vessel, and Rittle soft sculpture.

The new wall ornaments from Beneath the Sun are just too cute for words.

Years ago I had a poster by New Zealand artist Tanja McMillan, aka Misery, but she's been off my radar for the past few years. Now after having kids she's created the Misery Guts line for 'Little Humans'. I'm loving these wall hangings - cute, with just a bit of an edge.

This is seven year old artist Yung Lenox, 'foremost doodler of rap' who is donating all sales from his 'Killa' print this year to the Seattle Children's Hospital Toy Program. I really love this idea. Despite having just posted a list of stuff that I wish I could own (I just really love stuff!), now that I'm a Mum I want to instil in Ray the importance of being generous and giving.

I was following the Facehunter instagram feed while he visited some of my favourite parts of New Zealand, and made them look even more insanely beautiful than I remember.

Also lately I've been:
Listening to the Miss Moss December music mix and loving the summer party vibes!
Watching High Maintenance. I love the format of this show.
Reading about Chris Pratt talking about his premature son. Having Ray early made me realise how common premature births are. It even happens to celebs!

Gifts for guys

If you're stuck looking for the perfect gift for your Dad, brother, boyfriend or guy friend, I feel your pain. And I can help! While I find it easy to buy gifts for the ladies (probably because there's a million things in my head that I'd like for myself), I'm often at a loss for what to get for the blokes in my life. I've come up with a few good ideas over the years so I figured I should share them for anyone out there who might be in a Christmas gift buying jam.

Socks n' jocks!

I don't care that it's unoriginal, everyone appreciates nice socks and undies. Vanishing Elephant do really nice socks, and I like these Topman underwear packs. One year I got Mr Meet-Cute Ellen underwear, but it's probably a bit late to order those online for Christmas.

A simple grey sweatshirt is a wardrobe staple. You can't beat Carhartt for simple sweats, and I love this MJ grey pullover, which I would probably be pinching for myself.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi dvd is what I'm getting my Dad this Christmas (Mum, if you're reading this, don't let Dad see!). Zombie Tits, Astronaut Fish and Other Weird Animals by science blogger Becky Crew is a cool read about odd animal behaviour.

Everyone needs a good backpack or duffel and Herschel Supply Co do both really well.

Note to Self are a small Melbourne company making really great, 'comfortable and unassuming' men's jeans. And Head Full of Snakes motorcycle magazine is what I bought my brother this year. He's impossible to buy things for, but he likes motorbikes so I was pretty chuffed with myself when I found this.

This Beard Elixir sounds so amazing I almost wish I had a beard myself, though you can also use it straight onto non-bearded skin as a deluxe moisturising oil. Status Anxiety make all manner of 'fine leather goods' to treat yo' man with, but it's mostly wallets.

Birthday helper

It was Mr Meet-Cute's birthday last month and Ray helped me with decorating and wrapping some presents.

We used these 'playon' crayons, that are good for little hands. Ray was quite interested in how they tasted. Not so much with the scribbling on the paper.

He was quite good at putting the 'finishing touch' stickers on the parcels after they were wrapped. He also contributed some lovely dribble spots.

The card!

The cake! I used this recipe to make a delicious, moist orange cake with a crunchy top. I felt it needed a bit more birthday festive-ness though so I added the heap of chocolate ganache to top it off.

NZ trip

I have just returned from a fantastic trip to New Zealand to visit family and friends. It's so good to get back and breathe that crisp NZ air. I also went hard on the NZ treats.

I had a quick night away in Dunedin where I got to meet my friends amazing dog. My phone is full of photos of her, she's just so sweet!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Seeing as it was Halloween the other day, I thought I'd share a suitably creepy movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I'm terrible with horror films, being that I'm a giant wuss, but this one is just the right level of 'not too scary'.

The film is set in San Francisco, and Brooke Adams' character lives in one of the 'Painted Ladies'.

Her house is amazing and full of hanging plants, which I tried my best to screenshot, but most of the interior shots were really dark. Still, I like what she's done with the place (a lot better than those Tanners down the street).

Donald Sutherland also has a nice place. I wonder what he's cooking?

Ah, some manner of stir fry.

Best eaten romantically outside with your platonic colleague.

Jeff Goldblum and his wife own a bath house, specialising in therapeutic mud baths. I was hoping for lots of scenes of the baths.

I wasn't disappointed.

Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance at the baths.

Including this shot purely because the outfit is so great.

And this one because Veronica Cartwright plays my favourite character.

Want more scary film recommendations? Here's my last Halloween post from a few years back.