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

Christmas Gift Guide 2015

Hi everyone! It's been a while since my last post, I know... But I'm back!

And I also know what you may be thinking after reading this post's title: it's a little bit late to post a Gift Guide for Christmas, considering that it is just in a few days! But as it is said, better late than never, right? So that's why I'm sharing it with you today. 

Last week I was making a little list of what could I get for Christmas and I was also thinking about what should I buy for "Secret Santa" so I did a little research on Pinterset to get inspiration; and although I find some cool stuff, I didn't really see any Guift Guide or Wishlist for Christmas that I totally like. So I thought, why not to make my own?

Maybe you have been seeing plenty of posts like this recently, like I have, but I'm pretty excited about adding mine! 

The items I have chosen are varied and mostly under 50€ (except the Instax mini 8 and the Daniel Wellington watches). Obviously I'm not asking for everything; they are just some ideas to ask for but also to give. I have already some of this things, which I'm in love with, so I thought you could love them too!

1. Grey coat from Mango Outlet  // 2. Vanilla Snowflake candle from Bath&Body Works // 3. Watches from Daniel Wellington // 4. Chow chow socks from Oysho // 5. Instax mini 8 by Fujifilm // 6. "Monster of socks" pack from Oysho // 7. Ears beanie from Zara // 8. Scarfs from Zara (1) (2) // 9. Lip butter Blueberry Blush from Nivea // 10. Eco Instant Dry hairdryer from Rowenta // 11. "Happy is cool" from Women'secret // 12. Floral pencilcase from Stradivarius

13. Botanical print cushion from Zara Home // 14. "Upcylcling" book by Index Book // 15. Light blue stripes shirt from Zara // 16. Kilner Drinking Jar from Amazon  (products linked on shops' names)

Also, I love giving little handmade gifts to my family and friends for Christmas every year; for example, last year, with my sister, we made winter decorated cookies for our family, and they really liked the detail! So if you just want to give something more personal, these ideas that I have picked from Pinterest are perfect: 

For me, Christmas is the time of the year when you meet with your family, including those who live far away and you haven't seen for months; spend time with them and the people you love. The perfect excuse to have little details with them. The end of a year, in which I'm sure have happened a lot of amazing and not that amazing things to everyone. I wish that all of you can enjoy Christmas, celebrations or simply this beautiful time of the year! 

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year,

Paula

Cool quotes all around!

Hi everyone!

After my two first weeks of school, I'm back! I've been thinking for the last few days what I would be sharing in my 5th post, and inspiration came to me; in this post I'm sharing some "quotes ideas" along with some thoughts to make this blog a little bit more personal :)

With "quotes ideas" I mean some ideas to have your favourite quotes around you and be able to read them and feel inspired. I know this can sound a little bit cheesy, but don't think I'm talking about romantic long poetry with a deep and existential meening, just cool messages to have in your desk, hanging in your bedroom's wall or as a decoration.

I made this first quote-decor a year ago, I all needed was some fonts from dafont.com, picmonkey.com photo editor and cardboard and nice wrapping paper (for the frame):

🙌🙌🙌 // 🌸🌸🌸 // Today is a good day to have a great day. #diy

Una foto publicada por Paula Balcells (@balpaula) el 30 de Jun de 2014 a la(s) 8:47 PDT

The second idea has the quote "It always seems impossible until it's done", and is my most recent project (actually I made it this last weekend):

🌸🌸🌸 // 🎨🎨🎨 "It always seems impossible until it's done." #diy #quote

Una foto publicada por Paula Balcells (@balpaula) el 26 de Sep de 2015 a la(s) 10:36 PDT

I don't know if you will agree with me on that, but I think that sometimes little quotes can make you smile or just remind you something that you already know and you believe in.

I'm not a big fan of writing quotes in every Instagram post and I'm not a big fan of writing quotes in every Instagram post and I neither usually use quotes for everything an everywhere (in my school journal and notebooks, pictures...); but when I find a quote that I really feel identified, it's the one I write it out everywhere! (and sometimes make a post about it hahaha).

Have you got any favourite quote or a quote that you feel identified with? Inspirational quotes? Quotes for Instagram bio's? Quotes' Pinterest board? Cool quotes all around!

Leave your opinions in the comments below

and if you want let me read some of your favourite nice quotes!! :)

Paula

Back to school 2016

Today was my first day of school; that's it, back to routine! For the few past weeks, I've seen so many videos/posts/pins about back to school and I wasn't into it at all. But at the end my thought was, 'what better way to go back to school than with positivity and lots of motivations?'; and here it is, my back to school post!

I feel like having nice school supplies makes you want to use them and do a nice work. However, that doesn't mean you have to buy expensive super-cool supplies every year, actually I've been using most of mine for years; the thing is that you can add your personal touch to them by using some washi tapes, metalized color markers, colourful wrapping paper... Also I think that having a good care it's important, so your pens and pencils will still look like new after you have used them for months. Here there are some 'back to school' mini DIY's, from Pinterest :)

And that's my back to school set!

• My weekly planner: can this be more easy to make? I love how this DIY looks on my desk and it's also very useful! You can get it in just a few steps: 1. Go to Microsoft Word (horitzontal orientation) and use the text box tool to organize the days and whatever you would like to have in your planner (like notes or a 'to do list', like I did). 2. Customize it with cool fonts (I get mine from dafont.com) and Word's own settings. 3. Choose one or two matching colours to give your planner some life and print it! 4. You can stick it to a cardboard (tip: previously wrapped with craft paper) and decorate it with washi tape and clips, for example. Done!

• Mint agenda: I got this lovely academic year agenda for just £1!, from a shop in London, Poundland. I absolutely love it, it's got the perfect colour, the perfect size and the perfect design, and not to talk about the prize...

• School supplies: Nothing is missing in my suitcase!; pens, markers, pencils, post-its, highlighters, rubber and sharpener, calculator, a ruler, scissors, colour pencils, scissors... It tends to get a little bit messy...

We have to be realistic, we know that our school supplies don't look always like this picture or Pinterest back-to-school pictures, especially after at the middle of the year... But that's how to get into it; nice supplies, positivity and projects in mind! 

I wish the best for the first day of school (if you aren't back yet) and for the rest of the academic year! 

See you soon,

Paula

In my bookshelf: Frozen Yogurt

Hi again!

Because I'm really excited about this blog, today I wanted to start a new section, which I've called "In my bookshelf". Although I love reading and I have several novels I would like to recommend for a good read, in this section I'm not going to talk about them. The entries will be about other kind of books; recipies books (like this one!), illustrated books, guides, simply nice books, with lots of inspirations... Creative, different and special books!

So the one I'm talking about in this post (I think I can't call it reviewing) is about frozen yoghurt. It might sound a little bit strange; "a book about frozen yoghurt?", that's it and it is a delicious book!

The autors are two sisters, Constance and Mathilde Lorenzi, owners of the frozen yoghurt shop "It Mylk" in Paris. They share more than 60 recipes (including milkshakes and cupcakes), the secret of a 0% frozen yoghurt and some topping suggestions to try at home! 

The book is originally in French but I got it while my stay in Italy last year, so it's in Italian which I can pretty much understand, but, anyway, thanks Google Transalte! The good news is that I've found out that they have realese an english version available online, HERE.

Paula