Dark Blue

Another look for cold Summer weather...



... we took these pictures the day before yesterday when the weather was still cold. Today, however, Summer came back and I am thinking about shaving my legs and putting some shorts on ;)

In this outfit I am actually wearing a skirt which I own since two years and which I am wearing for the first time here. I was thinking about the "No Longer Neglected" challenge which was done by some bloggers one or two years ago. That time I did not participate in the challenge but now I am making my own little challenge :) 

So yes, an old skirt from H&M which I have never worn before and a shirt from my husband, together with some black tights, my favorite booties and a new pair of earrings (I love them!)

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you are having a great week so far! I am all in Greece with my thoughts this week and I feel very sad and angry about the EU policies. I always said that politics are not a topic of my blog but this little mention is okay, I guess. I have family in Greece so that is why the whole situation touches me. 

Anyway, I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday, I hope you get to enjoy the sun and I hope you are grateful and happy about all you have got in your life :)

Sending you all much love!

Favorite Summer Dishes Part V: Watermelon Cucumber Smoothie

Is a smoothie a dish?

I don't know but I decided to make this recipe part of my favorite Summer dishes series :)
That is because I am having this smoothie every single day, either for breakfast or as afternoon snack and I just looooove it.



It's as simple as all my recipes and has two ingredients: Watermelon and cucumber.

I use half of a medium sized watermelon and one entire cucumber to get around 1 1/2 - 2 liter of this delicicous smoothie. Just cut the melon and the cumcumber into pieces, put them in your high speed blender and blend until no pieces are left (no added water - there is plenty of water in the cucumber and the melon). Make sure to use organic cucumber or, if not, peel it. However, when peeled you will loose lots of the great nutrients. 

This smoothie definetly is the most refreshing one in Summer, especially when you put the watermelon in your fridge before making this drink. And, like all my recipes, it's not only super easy to make but its also encredible healthy.

Watermelon has plenty vitamin A and C plus iron (great news for vegans ;)). Furthermore, it's 95% water but has almost no sodium which makes it the perfect fruit to clean your kidney. And by the way, also the seeds are stuffed with vitamins and minerals so if you don't mind them - blend them in your smoothie too! 

Cucumber has different B-vitamins, vitamin C and E plus calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and potassium. But as mentioned above - these nutrients are in the skin so make sure to purchase organic cucumber and eat the peel so that your body can enjoy all the nutrients - and not the pesticides.

What is your favorite Summer smoothie? I would love to know :)
Sending much love!

About Baby Wearing

Today I want so share some thoughts about baby wearing with you...

 ... as I already told you in this post we use our pram as a shopping cart, putting lots of mangos and watermelons in there - but never our baby. Why? Here are some thoughts about that. 

First of all let me tell you one thing; its soooo much easier! Seriously, I constantly ask myself why other women are using a pram when grocery shopping or when going for a walk. Its so much more work! You need to carry the pram up and down stairs, you do not have your hands free to talk on the phone or to hold your husband's hand and you have to move it around obstacles on the ground (like branches or construction sites. But this is of course more of a side note :) 

The "real reasons" why I find it so important to carry my baby instead of putting it in a pram are much more physical and psychologic. 

About the physical part- Baby wearing is calming to the baby who can put all its energy into growth and learning instead of whining. It helps the baby’s  body to continue to function optimally and effortlessly after it left the mother's womb. There are even studies which show that babies who were worn in a sling or wrap gain weight faster and are healthier (I can confirm this when talking about our little one!).

But most important (for me) is the psychological/emotional part of baby wearing: Studies have shown that the more babies are held, the less they cry. Our little N does not cry much at all - only when she is hungy or when she needs a new diaper. Crying is actually exhausting for babies (even though many people say its normal or even good for the lungs!) and may cause long-term damage since the baby's developing brain is flooded with stress hormones every time it cries. The baby is feeling safe and protected in a sling or wrap and this has an effect on its entire life - babies who were worn are more confident and can handle challenges or problems better, than those who were not worn. The overall self confidence is higher when the baby feels confident and safe from the beginning of its life.
Furthermore, baby wearing is great for bonding. Usually the mother is bonding with the baby when breastfeeding - and the father is left behind. However, when the father is wearing his baby every day the baby is becoming used to his voice, heartbeat, movements and facial expressions, and the two are forging a strong attachment.

Finally, babies can see what we see, and are constantly learning when they are carried in a wrap or sling. They experience everything with us - what it is like to sit in a café having a tea with friends, to put the items in the shopping cart in the grocery store, to cut veggies and cook them etc. 

There are of course some more positive things to say about baby wearing - it's easy to breastfeed discreetly, it's less expensive than a stroller, and, as mentioned above, its so easy and so practical! 

What are your thoughts on baby wearing? Did you do it too or do you plan to? I would love to know :)

Sending you all much love!

Cold Summer Days

Summer went to Florida or Croatia or somewhere...

... at least its not at all in Germany these days. 
But thats okay, I am sure the plants and trees are happy about all the rain and I still go for walks in the rain with my baby. Yesterday when we walked through the woods, it started raining sooo bad that we both were completly wet. Since I was carrying N in her baby sling it was difficult to protect her from the rain. I felt so sorry for her but she was sitting in the sling and laughed and laughed and laughed, the more wet she was, the more raindrops she had on her face, the more she laughed. I really love her :)

 About the outfit - I decided to wear my Summer dresses anyway, even though its cold. So I am wearing a H&M shirtdress (so perfect for breastfeeding!) with come black tights, my new boots and an old blazer/jacket which urgently needs to be fixed (I will go to the seamstress this week, hopefully). 

I hope you are doing good and are enjoying the Summer, no matter what the weather is like!
Sending you all much love!

Pink Vintage

Happy Saturday!

I hope you are all having a most wonderful weekend! While this post is going online, I am in Berlin at a seminar for my nutrition studies. A few more month and I will receive my certificate and I will be an official nutrionist. Can't wait for it :)

Anyway, about the outfit - the pink coat is another steal from my latest second hand haul where everything was for 2€. Yep, this coat too was only 2€ so there was no way to leave it in the shop. Its a really light coat and perfect for Summer. The day we took these pictures, it was really hot, yet grey and a little rainy. It was the perfect weather for a coat like that. 

I am also wearing a simple H&M linen shorts and a striped top from Lands End. Plus my earrings from my friend Lea Marie Franck (feel free to check out her webshop).

You may have noticed - my black shoes do not really look black anymore, thats because we took these pictures after a 1 1/2 hour walk through the park, so they were just slightly dirty ;) 

Oh yes and of course and I had to look what was actually in this container that I choose as a background - there was nothing inside though. 

Sending you all much love!

Summer with Love me Green

Summer with Love me Green smells like papaya...

... and since I love papaya I am going to share my two new Love me Green products with you.

I got the organic radiance face cream and the organic moisturizing facemask to try for you and both products seem to be perfect for me and my skin.

The face mask is perfect for Summer - I used it twice so far, after a long day outside with lots of sunshine. My skin was feeling dry and irritated at night so I used the mask and did not apply any other product afterwards. My skin felt nourished, moisturized and smooth after applying the mask and even the next morning. The facemask consists of white lupines (I love to eat products with lupines but I had no idea there were used in cosmetics too!) which is extra high in proteins (supports the skin in the form of new tissue) and of red grape leaves - and like all products from Love me Green the face mask is without any parabens, silicone or mineral oils.

(Do not be confused- on the website the product descriptions got confused, so the text next to the facemask is actually a wrong one and so is the one for the radiance face cream...)

The radiance face cream is the one smelling of papaya, something I really enjoy every morning when I apply the cream. The most intersting ingredient in this face cream is Osilift. That is a 100% natural extract from cleaned avena seeds. It immediatly smooths the surface of the skin and has a lifting effect. Perfect for me when I had a bad night (the baby is sleeping really good most of the time, but there are exceptions of course... ;)). Then there is the papaya (and it smells sooo good :)) The papaya has a purifying and detoxifying effect and can protect against aging. This definetly sounds good to me! I use the cream every morning since around one week and my skin feels good and also seems to look a little better (I actually had some problems with pimples after pregnancy- yes, the hormones... and this got a lot better since I am using the Love me Green day cream. Maybe its the papaya doing this!? ).

You can get all products from Love me Green at http://love-me-green.com/
You can read my other reviews on this brand here or even here and here .

I hope you are having a great week so far and I wish you a perfect day :)
Sending much love!

Blue and White

A blue and white outfit for this Monday morning...

... wearing striped second hand pants, a Jake*s top (which I got for my Kisura Review last year) and a H&M blazer. Not much more to say this, except that I love every single of the pieces and I wear all of them a loooot during the warmer months. Especially the pants and the top are some of my most worn pieces :)

Oh yes, and I got my hair cut. It was way too long for this warm weather ;)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

I did- I went for lots of walks with friends and my little family, I cooked some yummy meals, I went to see a friend of mine for her birthday in another town (first time for the baby to take the train :)) and we had a wonderful day in her garden, I skyped some faraway friends and I planned this new exciting week :)

Have a great Monday everyone and have a wonderful new week!

Sending much love!

Favorite Summer Dishes Part IV: Mango Sorbet

Another super easy Summer recipe...

...one that I love and that I could eat every day (which I actually did this entire week): 
MANGO SORBET!

All you need are some very ripe mangos that you cut into pieces and freeze for at least 12 hours. Then you just put the frozen pieces into your high speed blender (you will need a really strong blender for this recipe, like a vitamix or similar) and voila: You will have the best creamiest mango sorbet! 

I promise you, this sorbet is better than any of those dairy ice creams out there, which are full of fat, sugar and unhealthy animal-protein!

This is what the final product looks like and in case you are wondering why I put some basil on top of my sorbet - try it out before judging! Basil and mango are the perfect combination! I also love mango and basil as a salad dressing :)! 

And now you also know what happend with the box of mangos that I've been carrying in my pram in this post ;) 

Have a most wonderful weekend everyone! 
Sending much love!

Homemade Sunscreen

I have been looking for a good sunscreen for my baby...

... of course I only use organic products for my baby since I only want the best for her skin. However, even in the organic sunscreens available on the market there is lots of stuff in there, where I am not sure if I really want my baby's skin to absorb it or not. So I decided to make my own sunscreen to make sure that only the best ingredients are used and that no chemicals and no non-natural ingredients get in contact with my baby.

Now, the whole family is using this sunscreen since its really easy to make, it is super easy to apply (those of you know organix sunscreen know the thick texture and the white skin you have after applying it...) and it makes the skin soooo soft because of all the good oils in there. I am pretty much in love with my homemade sunscreen and this is why I thought I better share my recipe with you :) 

So here is what you need:

100 ml sesame oil
60 g cocoa butter
10 g coconut oil
10 g bees wax (if you want to make it 100% vegan, leave this out and use slightly more cocoa butter insetad)
6 teaspoon carrot oil (or a few drops of carrot seed oil)

In this recipe its mainly the sesame oil which gives the sunscreen an UV protection of approximately 25, but also the coconut oil has a natural UV protection. There are lots of other natural oils out there which can protect your skin from the sun, but sesame oil is one of the strongest and this is why I decided to use this one for this sunscreen.

Its as easy as it can be to make this sunscreen - you just add all the ingredients into a pot and let the cocoa butter, coconut oil and bees wax melt (just put the pot with the ingredients into another pot filled with hot water). Then pour the blend of oils and fats into a glass.  

The sunscreen will smell like sesame oil and coconut oil. If you do not like the smell, you can always add essential oils of your chocie! The yellow color of the sun lotion is of course because of the carrot oil. If you do not like that, you can always use a few drops of carrot seed oil instead of the 6 teaspoons of carrot oil. 

The sunscreen will look like this when its still hot it will only take a few hours for the oils to harden and for you to have a  sun screen with a nice texture - not too hard yet not too soft.

When applied on the skin, it will melt easily so that its really easy to apply. This is especially important for me because I dont like to stress my baby's skin with lots of rubbing of cream into her little face. 

As mentioned above, the sunscreen had a UV protection of approximately 25. I use it several times a day when I spend lots of time outside and believe me, my skin gets sooooo soft from all these good oils! My baby seems to like it too and now she does not have an all-white face like she used to have when I put the organic sunscreen on her face. 

Have fun trying and let me know what you think about this recipe :)!

Cord Shorts

I usually don't like cord...

 


...but I do like these cord shorts of mine. 

This is why they made it on my blog quite often (especially back in 2013 when I lived in Ohio and these were the only shorts I brought with me from Germany). You can see them here here or here in other outfits. I even like to wear them in Winter as you can see here. 

Anyway, so this time I wore them for a day in the park where baby girl N. my husband and I had a nice picnic. I am wearing a floral blouse with the shorts, which I got from a friend of mine :) 
The shorts are from ONLY and the blouse is from Promod.

How is your week going so far? I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and the Summer! 


We are starting to get a routine here and thats really nice for me. I am able to work for my nutrition studies and I have time to plan and organize things for my blog. I may even begin to work a little again soon (translation work from home) but I am not pushing myself to it. If I feel like working, I will and if baby N needs a little more time from me then I will give her all the time she wants :) 

Sending you all much love!

More from the thrift shop

So here I am wearing some of my latest purchases...

...from the next door thrift shop where I went the other day :) 

Both the jacket/blazer/vest (how would you call this thing?) and the jeans are second hand and I really love both pieces. I got them for 2euro each and I am pretty much amazed but the price and the pieces! 

My tote bag is actually from Cork in Ireland and its new in my huge tote bag collection. I wear tote bags a lot (instead of purses) since they are so handy and they go with almost every outfit ;)

That day the weather was really good and I actually felt pretty hot wearing this vest on top of my shirt. Today its supposed to be around 30°C and tomorrow even 34°C. So we are taking our baby girl on trips to the park where we spend most of the day in the shade underneath a tree. And we also want to go to the lake with her tomorrow. All these things, that we used to do so naturally before, become small adventures now that we do them for the first time with the baby. We never know how the day will turn out because we never know how she will like what we are doing. But actually, most of the time, she is just happy, looks around and sleeps aloooooot :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Sending you all much love!