Top Gifts for Holidays

The best fur for the season is faux fur and nothing is cuter than your little bundle wrapped up in fluff!! Check out our Minimink faux fur hats!

Add a scarf to keep baby deliciously warm!

Also comes in milk and honey!!

Baby it's getting cold outside

Drover our Shih Tzu got up early this morning and did his morning whimpering at the base of our stairs (he doesn't know he can climb them) which has become our official alarm clock. At 6.22am it was VERY chilly and I had to find my woolly boots before heading downstairs.

There is nothing quite like warm comfy shoes on a cold day and it made me think about our Minimink booties and how delicious it would be to wear them! Unfortunately they only come in two sizes 0 - 3 months and 3 - 8 months. Hmmm - wonder if I can get a sample done in a size 9....

Minimink For Dogs

Today’s blog is inspired by two things – one is Drover our adorable 5 month old Shih Tzu who is the star of his agility class and the other is his Minimink rug – something we once only looked at as a child’s blanket but now realize it’s the perfect high class doggie bed.

Drover claimed his own Minimink rug at our office (where he works on a daily basis) as well as a duckie handsqueaker and a FLATOUTbear. All items were acquired when our backs were turned and he had gone into the product area only to return with a collection of his favorite things slobbered on just enough that they are forever his.

The Minimink rug comes home with Drover each day and at bedtime, he cuddles up into it and sleeps immediately on lights out. We took his blanket to obedience class on the night he was learning ‘go to bed’ and it only took him one try before he had it down. I said, go to bed and he happily trotted to his Minimink blankie and lay down. The ooh’s and ahh’s from the other dog obsessed owners made us realize that not only does his blanket work for him, but other furry friends were happy to join the luxurious bedding club.

Beanies

The first thing I do every morning after leaving the house is head to the post office. For some reason I LOVE mail. I have always loved mail and unfortunately the sad thing as we grow up is that mail stops being as fun - more bills, less letters and cards. I even love junk mail - the pictures, words and always the bargains!

Today I opened our PO Box and saw an envelope with 'Parents' written on it. I had been asked to send some clothing items recently for consideration in the magazine and they mentioned they may use our hats. I never get too excited until I see the magazine as you never now if you make the final cut until it arrives.

Well - a page was marked with 'so cute' with a post it note from the editor and I opened it to find out delicious Oobi Baby bear hat and also our Minimink Russian Hat inside!! Wooo hooo so to speak.

Some people say it never gets cold in Los Angeles (I guess they live in heating...) but it does and certainly hat season is here. I can't even imagine living anywhere colder...yes I am baby about that but it was summer year round where I grew up. Our little bear hats are so adorable and now I think I just need to get them done in our size....

The First Little Luxury

I guess the first thing I should do - is say a huge thank you to all my supporters, friends, stores and vendors for getting me to the point where I had to start a blog! Little did I know when I started Cute-ture 2 years ago that I would be at this point so soon. Nor did I realize that when the company started that it would take over my life so completely and with so much fulfillment that I couldn't remember what life was like before it was this crazy existence. For those who are really left behind - what on earth is Tracey talking about - doesn't she work in film??....

I left Australia in 2004 to take up the role of Film Commissioner for Australia in Los Angeles and not long after my American boyfriend Joey proposed. Life was incredibly good and I was living in a nice fantasy world with celebrity friends, great perks at work and gorgeous husband who happens to be a wonderful actor. But then something happened...my incredible boss (who is located 12,000 miles away in Australia) decided to retire and the new boss was one that took the sunshine away from my happy existence. Then Joey and I decided to start a family and I thought I may finally pursue that dream that was constantly lurking in the back of my brain and start a business.

With a bit of luck I was shown a teddy-bear called the FLATOUTbear. One of my work colleagues came by and asked if it was something one of the celebrities I work with may like as a maternity gift. Two weeks later I was in Australia for work (with the not so shiny boss on a road trip) and I had dinner with the two sisters who created the FLATOUTbear. Suddenly after a few glasses of wine (I am an Aussie after all) the words ' I would love to import and rep your bear' came out of my mouth. I hadn't thought about it, I didn't know how I was going to do it and certainly I didn't think they would say yes. And that really is how it started.

Since that point, Joey and I discovered that I have some medical issues that have prevented us from getting pregnant thus far (though we are adopting and incredibly excited and in waiting for our baby) - and then our business boomed - I think God had a different plan for me than the one I had in my mind! FLATOUTbear introduced me to Minimink - an amazing faux fur line from Australia and around the same time I approached two incredible companies Oobi Baby and Alimrose Designs and suddenly we went from one bear in six colors - to over 400 products from four incredible companies and a bunch of stylists who loved the pieces and kept them in magazines.

So that is how Cute-ture began! We are now just starting year three in business and are so excited to have stores such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Shop Intuition, LOVE in Greenwich, Kitson and Calypso carrying our products. My dad recently joined our team as our business manager (he inspires me so much) and we are moving to a new location and new home next week!!

So with that as my very first blog - I look forward to updating you on all that is going on in the Vieira household and at Cute-ture. Finally I want to encourage you all for this Christmas - to volunteer! I took Joey to Treepeople (great non-profit) in the Hollywood Hills on the weekend to weed mustard plants (bad fire hazard) and then took Dad aka Stanley to Gibbon Center in Santa Clarita to clear scrub away from the endangered ape area again to ensure their safety if further fires flare up. It is so easy to be too busy to help others but if we all just take 3 hours out of our month and contribute to something much bigger than us, it would make an incredible difference! It really is easy to find places to volunteer and I am happy to help direct you to wonderful organisations such as www.laworks.com