Smoothie: Watermelon + Cucumber

In today's post I'm sharing a super easy (also healthy and delicious!) smoothie recipe. I know, some people might match smoothies with summer and hot weather, but I love drinking smoothies all year so here it is my last smoothie-discovery!

The ingredients you'll need are really basic: just a cucumber, 1/4 watermelon aproximately (depending on it's size) and the juice of half a lemon. To be honest, I don't follow fixed proportions, I just keep adding as I see; so maybe it's a good idea to start with less quantity and keep trying it and adding. To mix it all together I use a regular blender (the result is in between a smoothie and a juice). And that's all!

Cucumber and watermelon? Yes, this combination can sound strange (it sounded to me at first) but I promise it's so good and refreshing. Both are of vitamins and are low in calories:

• Cucumber has a water content of 95% and contains a lot of antioxidants. It also contains fair amounts of vitamins K and C, slightly less of vitamins A and B, and alkaline minerals such as potassium, manganese and magnesium. 

• Watermelon has a water content of 92% and each bite has significant levels of vitamins A, B6 and C, lots of lycopene, antioxidants and amino acids. It also contains a modest amount of potassium. 

And smoothies are not the only thing which combines these 2 super-ingredients; I've searched on Pinterest and there are a lot of ideas for salads, with feta cheese or mint, for example. 

Hope you liked the post! Let me know in the comments if you're going to try it out (you definitely should) or if you already have :)

Paula

Thoughts: Once in a lifetime

Back at home, I was working on a school project when suddenly I started thinking about those little experiences and feelings that everyone gets (or should!) at least once in a lifetime; and I believed that sharing my thoughts with you might be a good idea. This post will be a little bit different from the others as I will just write 'personal stuff', but I hope you enjoy it anyways! :)

"

Once, after a long day of walking/shopping/laughing, I arrived home and opened the living room door: there were most of my friends singing 'Happy Birthday'. Even now I can't explain all the emotions I felt that day; I felt so lucky, grateful and thankful... Before going to bed I thought that everyone should have a surprise party once in a lifetime.

Once, I heard the doorbell and went downstairs to open the door. There she was, with the same smile than the previous year at the same place where we had said goodbye. Time had flown and it felt as if she had never left, being reunited with a good friend was something special.

Once, someone told me that they wouldn't forget me, that they couldn't. There's a quote (I probably saw it on Pinterest...) that says: "Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody", and that's the closest way I can find to describe the feeling. It's amazing how people can impact on you and you on them, most of the time without knowing it; so knowing it it's just more amazing.

Once, we had the idea to mix two things we had been doing a lot: picnics and birthday parties. The result was great, but organizing and preparing it was fantastic: shopping for the picnic food, cooking, making up excuses, keeping it all in secret, choosing the presents, making the decoration, the emotion of being hidden minuts before we shouted 'Surprise!'...

Once, I just followed the emotion of the moment and did what I felt it was right. My Irish stay couldn't had been better; a lovely host and friends, great moments... and I was leaving in three days, so why not change the flight? I knew I had things to do back at home and that I might change some already arranged plans, but you don't get to live the same experience twice.

"

Feel free to share in the comments your "once" moments!

(wow, it even rythms hehe)

Paula

Hello 2016!

Welcome 2016 and happy new year to everyone!

I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays and had a great time! This post is going to be a little bit more personal than usually as I'm going to share with you my 2016 resolutions (and others!).

2015 has been an amazing year, and I'm really thankful for the experiences, the opportunities, the people who has shared their year with me, the new people I've got to meet, the new knoledge and how I've grown as a person during these months. Not all have been happy moments, but I belive happiness should make you get over those not-that-happy-moments. And if 2015 hasn't been your year, don't worry, you've got 366 new opportunities in 2016! :)

And with the new year's arrival most of us write down some resolutions or just think how we would like this year to be. I know resolutions aren't a thing you achieve in one day; effort, constancy and positivism will make your resolutions come true (this could be my first resolution). But beginnigs always give you that enthusiasm needed. So here are my top 5 resolutions!:

1. Try my best in everything; with effort, constancy and positivism. Don' give up!
2. Be so happy that when others look at me they become happy too. (I actually took this quote from one of my sister's T-shirt! hehe)
3. Sleep more: stress, work, pressure... sometimes make me go to bed really late and that can't be a good thing in any way. So one of my most important resolutions is sleep more to be fresh, full of energy and ready for the day!
4. Take up running: it's not that I don't already do sport, but in some way I feel that I want to get stronger and fitter. Maybe I've been kind of inspired by people that I know they run. I will keep you updated about this in another post!:)
5. Get my skin 100% cleared.

Let me know your new year's resolution! I would love to know them and maybe get inspired so I could add some more to my list!

See you soon in my next post,

Paula