Sustainable Sundays With Elysian Haze

Sundays are always well spent when you’re with friends, and last week I spent mine with the wonderful writer of the lifestyle/sustainable blog, Elysian Haze, Lexi Seager. Lexi and I met this year in our first year of University together. Awkwardly across lecture halls and eventually through freshly made mutual friends, we connected over our passion for the planet and our love for a sustainable lifestyle. 

Since the beginning of our friendship, we have talked about outings, adventures, places, and products to try together, but like most people, we all have stuff going on and we were rarely able to organise a time for us to connect. That was until the stars aligned, and on one fated Sunday, on the 20th day of October, Lexi and I met up for a day packed to the brim with eco-conscious adventures. 

Our day started with a veggie brekkie at Sarah’s Sisters Sustainable Cafe. We had both heard of the cafe and the enticement of a hearty vegetarian meal was too hard to resist. So we set out to Semaphore in the early hours of Sunday morning for a breakfast we won’t soon forget.

We knew the cafe prided itself on being a place for vegan’s and vegetarian’s to rejoice in food paradise, with sustainable practice being the backbone of their establishment. And as both of us like to indulge in a plant-based diet for environmental reasons, Lexi and I were more than thrilled with the wide variety of veggie dishes on offer for our first meal of the day. From “Big Breakfasts”, to crepes, to crunchy granola, there was something for everyone as Lexi and I readied ourselves for a bite to eat. Filled with vibrant colours, potted plants, and beautiful pictures hanging from the walls, the atmosphere was alive with the chatting of cafe goers mixed with that smell of coffee beans and seasonal spices wafting from the kitchen. 

Over hot cups of coffee, Lexi and I took photos, oozing with delight over the aesthetic of the cafe. We chatted about Uni, our blogs, and exclaimed with delight over the visual feast of lush greenery that surrounded us. Our mugs had barely drained before we were presented with our plates of plant-based goodness. 

My plate was sent straight from vegetarian heaven. Fried eggs, seasoned with a series of spices so tasty I was sure salt and pepper would no longer satisfy me from that point on. Buttery toast, potato dauphinois, pan-fried tomato slices and mushrooms drizzled in a creamy sauce. No words were been exchanged as we eagerly tucked into our veggie feasts.

Coffee, drunk. Plates, empty. Bellies, full, we paid for the scrumptious meal and wandered into the neighbouring nursery waiting for us next door. Resisting the urge to adopt hundreds of plants, we explored the lush, green wonderland. And after a handful of minutes spent snapping photos and admiring the plant life, we were ready for the rest of our day.

Next stop: Sustainable Clothing Co.’s Fashion Show at the Chateau Apollo / Roxies on the corner of Grenfell Street and Frome in the Adelaide CBD.

I had passed the Chateau Apollo and Roxies many times before, admiring the lush greenery of the jungle bar and peeking through the wide windows that framed the inner contents of the Apollo, but never before had I ventured into the enticing venue. 

Walking in we were embraced with the sound of music trickling through speakers mounted on the walls, mixed with the chatter of vendors and customers as people wandered through the room. Bright colours, leafy greens and fairy lights decorated the space, transforming it into a vintage aesthetic dream. The afternoon sun filtered through the wide windows on each side of the building, washing the room in a warm, yellow glow. And racks upon racks of vintage, thrifted, and sustainable clothes, jewellery, and local artwork lined the walls, each stall waiting to be explored.

Although the room was small, the possibilities were endless, and as we rifled through the collection of 70s party shirts, corduroy pants, floral bucket hats, pre-love jackets and more, our bags slowly filled to the brim with nifty, thrifted threads.

Between photos, peeking through the racks, and trying on clothes we had chewed up over an hour before we had made our way through half of the market. As the clock had just reached one o’clock, and the actual show only started at two, we decided to wander down Rundle Mall in the afternoon heat to get to the Lush store on the other side. 

Now, if anyone has ever seen my blog, they’d know I’m a major Lush fan. The smells, the colours, the music. The excitement of all the new and innovative products packed with the promise of all-natural goodness in recyclable containers always gets me giddy with excitement. Wandering around the store I stocked up on some Charity cream that I use as a body moisturiser, and decide to add their Independent eyeliner as part of my makeup routine. After a successful shop stop, we headed back to the Chateau Apollo to make sure we caught the two o’clock sustainable clothing speech, which was to be followed by the elusive fashion show. 

Returning back to the venue nearly on the strike of two, we waited for the talks to begin, filtering through the stalls once again, and wandering outside into the sunlight for the Roxie’s garden. The air was filled with the smell of baked dough and melted cheese. Although we had ventured out there earlier, we hadn’t noticed lunch was being served in the bar next door, with tables of people sitting in the sun enjoying the freshly made pizzas oozing from the outdoor oven at the end of the bar. Tummies rumbling, we eagerly agreed to sit down for a quick bite to eat. And then the show. 

One delectably cheesy margarita pizza later washed down with sparkling water and accompanied by even more photos, Lexi and I wandered back inside to find that while we munched down on a delicious slice, we had too much of a ball outside to realise we missed the show altogether. 

But, with full tummies and bags brimming with thrifted threads, we laughed our short-lived disappointment away. After taking a last look through the wonderful vintage and thrift stalls, a few final photos, we left the Sustainable Clothing Co. Fashion show, certain that although we may have missed the main event, our sustainable Sunday adventures were not spent in vain. Because after all, Sunday’s are well spent when you’re with good friends, especially friends like Elysian Haze.