In a Wellington Winter, I need pick-me-ups more than usual. Grey clouds, slushy puddles and grim weather (especially if your umbrella gets killed in our wind) can leave you feeling like a grumpy mole. So to compensate, I tend to spend. A gorgeous scented candle here - a lipstick there - it can start to add up and by the end of the month, I am wondering where all my funds have disappeared to! I also am feeling sluggish so I want to feel healthy and keep the bugs at bay wherever possible. Outdoor activities are also out of the question.
So for my picks of July for The Residents I wanted to share three things that will help you beat the winter blues without the strain on your wallet. Sometimes something as small as a special delivery box, a delicious drink or a trip to seeing a bright show that the Gallery can put a spring in your step and lighten your dark days.
1. My July Box by I Am Co.
I AM Co. are a New Zealand company that deliver delicious goodies to your doorstep, allowing you to try specially curated healthy treats. For $35 per month (or less if you subscribe for 3 months or more), you receive up to 10 goodies in a beautifully presented box. Every month you get to try new things from local or healthy brands that the clever people at I AM Co think you might like. Their website is also a cool resource with interviews and recipes. Getting this box is like having that friend that drags you on a walk when you just want to stay inside under the duvet and watch Netfix. You might feel sceptical at first, but you come away feeling inspired to make better choices and even feel healthier. Great for keeping well in Winter.
I loved everything that came in my box. It was so pretty I almost didn't want to ruin the presentation of it all. But inside was very rewarding with Baked Beans by Ceres Organics, Pukka Tea, The Health Discovery Co Blueberry and Chia Bar, a sample fragrance by Neat, Kumura Chippies by Sunny Hill, a voucher for 25% off for NuZest Clean Lean Products and a sachet of protein powder, Aotea Horopito native tonics (I really liked this one and will definitely look out for it at my local) and some fab recipes and yoga suggestions.
I'm not gonna lie - this one fits squarely in the "stuff middle-class white girls like" camp. It's one hundred percent a luxury item for a bit of fun - not an essential (like a YSL handbag, for example, is essential). BUT GUESS WHAT! I'm a middle-class white girl!! SO Hurrah! Like Britney Spears, Volkswagon Polo's/Golfs, warm PJ's and small dogs, this is something that is targeted at me and I'm owning it. You'll find me dancing like a ho at home on a Friday night with a bottle of sav', scented candles smelling of aromatherapy, waving my kale in the air. LIFE EH?
BUT BACK TO THE BOX.
Personally, it's less about the value of everything inside and more about the excitement of looking forward to a treat. I think we can all agree that we need treats in life. You can be sure everything is super good for you because founder Georgie is a trained holistic nutritionist. So here's to more delicious I AM Co. Boxes.
2. Lemmy Lemonade by Karma Cola and All Good Organics
Sometimes in Wellington it feels like you can go from coffee meeting to coffee meeting to coffee meeting. By the end of the day, you're so over-caffeinated you can hardly hold a pencil. That's when I reach for my Lemmy Lemonade!!
I've been a fan of the Karma Cola range for ages - and this is my favourite in the entire range. Yep - you guessed it. A little dude called Lemmy. Lemmy Lemonade is a delicious natural organic lemon drink that packs a punch of happiness. In particular, this packaging always gets me smiling. The lids are super cute!
I really love that Karma Cola is based just around the corner from my work and underneath my parents building in the Hannah's Factory Laneway. It makes it feel very local (especially because there is an image of the Gingerella Girl over the carpark to Ghuznee Street - she a babe!).
I've ended up with a wonderful crate of the stuff because the good folk at Karma Cola noticed a tweet I made out Friday before last when I was alone at the movies drinking Lemmy. They were sporting enough to send me some more for those rainy days when it's just me and Lemmy. I have to watch it, or I am at risk of drinking my body weight in lemony sugary goodness.
So if you like soft drinks every now and then, Lemmy could be the man for you. Karma Cola also believe in Fairtrade and all their products are organic. Now that's something I can get behind. Every time someone buys a bottle of Karma Cola proceeds go back to the people who grow cola in Boma village, Sierra Leone. I also choose to believe that because lemons have Vitamin C that this fizzy drink is certainly a healthy supplement.
3. Sister Corita's Summer of Love at City Gallery Wellington
Last Thursday I went to the Tuatara Open Late session at City Gallery Wellington to check out their new exhibition - Sister Corita's Summer of Love. Sister Corita’s Summer of Love surveys the graphic art of Sister Corita Kent (1918 – 1986), an unsung figure in pop art. Tuatara Open Late, in case you haven't been before like I had, is a night on the first Thursday of every month where CGW puts on music, food from La Boca Loca and a cash bar and you can stay and enjoy art, films and generally a cool night with like minded souls.
The show is a display of works made by this Roman Catholic Nun. She was quite the bad ass and in the 1960's not only made pop art but rebelled as a feminist against the patriarchy of the church. You go SISTER!
From 1936 to 1968, she lived, worked and taught at the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in Los Angeles, heading their art department from 1964 to 1968. In the 1960s, she became famous for her distinctive screenprints, with their graphic treatments of words, in bold, often fluoro, colours. A magpie, Corita drew on the language of advertising and packaging, signs and slogans, poetry and lyrics, to develop her own messages of joy, faith, love and protest. Her works supported the civil-rights movement, protested the wars in Indo-China and Southeast Asia, and lamented the assassinations of American political leaders.
As a teacher, Corita encouraged her students to discover new ways of viewing the world, seeking revelation in the everyday. Corita’s friend, theologian Harvey Cox noted, “Like a priest, a shaman, a magician, she could pass her hands over the commonest of the everyday, the superficial, the oh-so-ordinary, and make it a vehicle of the luminous, the only, and the hope-filled.”
In 1968, she left Immaculate Heart and relocated to Boston, where she remained for the rest of her life. There, she is remembered for her 1971 Rainbow Swash gas-tank mural, one of the city’s most beloved landmarks.
I loved the bright colours of this show, and the story of the rebel heart who made them. They are the kinds of bright and happy works you want to see when you are feeling down. I particularly liked her most famous work, the 'Love' image. I got my hands on the book of essays (only $5! A steal!) and the poster for the exhibition as merch.
Sister Corita is a lovely exhibition to go to on a cold winter's day, and is showing at the same time as Francis Upritchard's Jealous Saboteurs (which I reviewed in full here).
Surrealism at Te Papa is where it’s at this winter with these wonderful events…!