Happy Friday folks, we've been on the coffee wagon this week at s t w s t u d i o, finding all our coffee people out there in the insta world. (side note: is the insta world even real? i'm not sure i've had enough caffiene to answer that question.)

I've been thinking recently about how there are some who lead fairly orderly and balanced lives with a degree of self control evident in their everyday. BUT there are also the others, whose lives revolve around the daily beans to buzz encounter that is ........c o f f e e.

The coffee people, we are them. We like nothing better than to get down to our local cafe for a good brew.

C o f f e e h e r e, C o f f e e t h e r e,

C o f f e e e v e r y w h e r e

(who said Dr Seuss had the monopoly on writing literary cheese?)

In the morning coffee comes before food, it rides in the car, it sits on my desk, it accompanies me in the garden, it goes on walks, it loves the beach, it attends school pickups, is prolific during holidays and has even climbed the odd mountain or two.

It marks all the good occasions and is there in the bad ones. Addiction you say? well maybe just a little.

Since becoming parents and well...life, most of our coffees are consumed on the run, we're takeaway cup people and for those 20 minutes it takes to relish a creamy/foamy brew of the good stuff - life is good.

A l i t t l e b i t o f D u n e d i n o n a C u p

Best of Beach 1 P4051081.jpg — What am i doing seated in the circle of sand, with my fave cafes on takeaway cups you may ask?
well i'm getting to that.......

G r o u p T h e r a p y

(disclaimer: this is not intended to diminish those brave enough to attend therapy, I salute you but for those like me that are dealing with their stuff by having another cup - this one's for you!)

Meet my coffee circle:

Now (just to be clear), I don't go to 11 cafe's after the morning school run, head to the beach and sit in a circle alone drinking coffee and singing Kum ba yah.

However there are regular appointments with members of the circle, there's a facilitator of therapy (the cafe & the humble coffee bean) and a participant (that is moi.)

The best part of this group therapy (& an introverts dream) it all takes place in silence the only sound contributed is the satisfying slurp of a hot bevy going down.

Group therapy

There's nobody describing or discussing their inner workings, it's just me and my coffee and yet in a simple way therapy nonetheless. As for the psychotherapy part of group therapy, the treatment of the mind through therapy of the psyche, well......

That's a complex question right? Does coffee treat the physical/mental/emotional/spiritual aspects of being human? I don't know about you but i'm convinced coffee ticks this box, yup it's good for my psyche too.

So there you have it - Coffee group therapy - Just $5.00 bucks for 20 minutes of goodness indulged in anywhere you want it.

A b o u t t h o s e C u p s.....

As you can imagine a lot of photos get taken around here but every now & again ONE really stands out. The kind you feel like you could look at for years and never tire of.

One day a few months back Nick said - "I reckon that photo would look good on a cup", so we did it and he was correct.

That photo looked stunning on a cup.

Which got us thinking - what if we could take our two great loves & combine them?

C o f f e e + I m a g e = A c u p p a t h a t l o o k s g o o d !

A little bit of Dunedin on a cup is new for us but the concept of integrating customised art on packaging is not. One company that's doing this with skill and innovation is the Australian based Biopak whose regular Art Series Cups feature the work of New Zealand and Australian artists.

At the core of Biopak is a dedication to sustainability and producing goods that are carbon neutral. The biopak art series products are stunning: check them out on their website www.biopak.com.au. (pathway to the art cups:products/double wall hot cups/art series cups.)

Instagram@biopak.au, a great addition to your feed.

It's not just the Aussies, fast growing Kiwi Company Innocent Packaging which launched in 2013 was founded upon the question:

What if we could make packaging from plants and plant products?

Today Innocent Packaging are transforming industry standards in the New Zealand packaging market with numerous sustainable products and a core commitment to both customer and process.

They apply their knowledge to the complete packaging supply chain and beyond, from product conception/creation/distribution right through to composting and waste streams.

AND the packaging LOOKS GOOD therefore ticking two boxes: good for the eyes and good for the earth.

They can be found online:www.innocentpackaging.co.nz

On the gram:@innocentpackaging. Check them out!

Best Fixed.jpg — Coffee & green: the way of the future.

So fellow coffee lovers that's enough chat for now, you've heard the story behind our Dunedin cups and our ongoing craving for more coffee.

I reckon we owe our local cafe's a little gratitude because lets be honest they're keeping our lives on the level. We show up in the morning @ our worst (under caffienated), with our money, needing our meds and our friendly barista's produce the goods.

T H A N K S T O O U R S T W L O C A L S

Coming soon: The Warehouse Precinct

We're flying out to Marlborough tomorrow for the school holidays but watch this space as we have some great content coming up next week.

Our instagram feature week for this month starting on Sunday (15th) is about Dunedin's revitalised Warehouse Precinct. We have a daily treat on the blog next week (from tuesday to friday), we'll be featuring people of the precinct with insight from four fantastic business owners in the area. Included are the first sneak peeks of an innovative new restaurant at the end stages of its heritage building restoration and soon to open in Dunedin.

Nick's captured some fantastic images to accompany our features so come back for a look and on Saturday (21st) we'll have a post containing plenty of great pics and a little history on the Warehouse Precinct. Thats a wrap from me - thanks for reading.

H a p p y W e e k e n d F r i e n d s

May the good oil be with you!