Happiness

DAY TRIPPING – DESTINATION ALNMOUTH

Published on August 6, 2018September 5, 2019 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

Last week I was lucky enough to have 3 days off, which for me is very rare and thus meant that I actually had time to do something nice for myself once all the housework and various other tasks were completed. The weather was so nice and I was craving a beach trip, but not being able to drive made this wish a bit problematic. Sadly there aren’t many easily accessible by public transport beaches around, well not unless you want to sit on a bus for over an hour which for me is a big no no as I get serious travel anxiety when it comes to bus journeys that are longer then 20mins! After some research however I discovered that Alnmouth station was pretty easy to get to only being a 30min walk away from the beach and so I had my day trip destination.

The walk to the beach is quite a pleasant and easy to follow as it’s just along the main road. From the station you firstly walk through a small housing estate and then it’s out in nature with wild fields on your left and glimpses of the sea on your right. After about 20 minutes you reach central Almnouth and walk through it’s floral hanging basket lined street until you reach the golf course and the beach.

On my way down to the beach I came across these beautiful roses and I had to stop and give them a sniff – does anyone else do this whenever they see roses?! They smelt divine and I’m not going to lie, I was very tempted to snap one off and take it with me!

The beach was relatively busy, the sun was out and there was a light breeze rippling through my hair as picked a little empty spot to put down my picnic blanket. Once settled I sat back with my feet in the sand just enjoying being in the present moment and watching the world around me; the grandparents sitting in their folding chair reading their papers, children hopping from stone to stone and family’s running around playing Frisbee and flying kites. It was a beautiful afternoon.

It wasn’t long until I unpacked my picnic full of healthy vegan goodies and read a bit of my book whilst savouring my lunch. I had grapes, blueberries, pretzels, veg, hummus and crackers as well as a little can of G&T. It was the perfect picnic! Afterwards I lay down with my headphones on listening to my audiobook (The Count of Monte Cristo) and relishing the feeling of the sun warming my skin.

Sadly the clouds came in not long after and they didn’t seem to want to budge meaning I got chilly quite quickly and ended up deciding to pack up and head on home again, but not before I took a stroll along the beach and dipped my toes in the chilly sea of course. Although I was only there for about 2 hours, it really was worth it and I enjoyed every minute of my mini excursion!

I hope you’ve all found the time recently to go out and do something nice for yourselves too! I know I need to make time for myself like this more often. I don’t do it enough and it did me the world of good!

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS!

Published on January 7, 2018January 7, 2018 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

It’s that time of year where inspiration is found around every corner and motivation fills my pores driving me to succeed. I don’t know if you enjoy making resolutions, but I personally love this time of year. Although every day can be seen as a new start, there is just something about the new year specifically that fills me with hope, a belief that this will be the year I succeed, that this will be the year I work towards my dreams.

2017 was good to me, although it had it’s bad moments and threw many learning curves my way, when I look back on last year there is so much for me to be grateful for and with this positive mindset I am excited for the year ahead and have made some resolutions I hope to fulfil; here goes:

Turning Vegan – I have reduced my meat and dairy intake in the last year and have felt soo much better for it. I have toyed with the idea of turning vegan for quite some time now, but always put it off making excuses thinking I’d miss certain foods such as eggs (eggs are definitely going to be the hardest part of turning vegan for me) however every time I watch a vegan documentary and am reminded of all it’s benefits and positive impact on our health, the environment and of course animal welfare it fills me with a deep longing to be a part of this movement and thus I decided that this year is my year to make the transition.
My Health & Weightloss – Last year I lost 2 stone and then slowly and annoyingly put 1 stone back on again. I always begin the new year on a high and then bit by bit get comfortable again eventually falling back into old habits. I am hoping that eating a Vegan diet will help me loose some more weight, but I know that the main culprit for me is sugar which I can still eat on a vegan diet of course! What I need to work on this year is curbing my sugar addiction. Now I know diet isn’t everything and thus upping my exercise is another thing I need to work on. Getting into a regular gym routine is back on the menu as well as making myself walk to work again rather than just hoping on the bus – this will also save me some pennies. So all in all, my resolution is to loose 2 more stone this year and keep them off.
Work On My Mental Health – I want to take more time for myself this year to work on myself. I know from previous experience that meditation works well to start my day on the right side of the bed and give me a more peaceful nights rest, so one goal is to start meditating in the mornings and evenings again. Another thing I want to work on is my anxiety, I want to learn to not let it hinder me from fulfilling my dreams.
Re-learn To Play The Cello – For Christmas I got the best surprise present ever, a cello on loan. I haven’t played the cello in over 6 years and so I want to make the most of this opportunity and re-learn how to play the cello maybe even take some lessons and really enjoy being able to make music again
Minimalise – Another big goal for this year is to become less attached to my possessions and slowly de-clutter and minimalise my belongings.
Start Saving – For the past few years I have had a deep urge to travel the world, but never managed to scrape quite enough together for a lengthy trip, so my last goal for this year is to begin a travelling fund!
Make More Time For Friends – Sadly so many of my best friends do not live close by, they are scattered across the UK from London to Edinburgh or even further afield like Germany and France. This means I rarely see them and I miss them greatly so I want to make a conscious effort this year to call more and hopefully actually visit them too.

Well there you have my main resolutions for 2018! I’m excited to start working on all of them and shall update you throughout the year as to how I am getting on! Did any of you make any resolutions for 2018 – I would love to know what goals you are working towards?!

MINI GETAWAY – DESTINATION EDINBURGH

Published on December 8, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo8 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I have been savouring my last two days off relaxing in gorgeous Edinburgh with my sister. For once I was lucky enough to find a really cheap first class ticket from Durham to Edinburgh and I enjoyed the finer things. Well, I tried to; I kinda messed up the first class thing never having been before and missed out on half of the breakfast I could have had. Oh well, I’ll know for next time. I still enjoyed my croissant and chamomile tea whilst gazing out at the ever-changing scenery and listening to the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

It was a peaceful journey up, and I arrived with plenty of time to have another cuppa in a cute cafe near Haymarket before going to find the German consulate to get myself a German passport. Once that was all sorted I got on the bus google maps told me would take me to my sisters, however here was me failing at my finest because I didn’t think to check in which direction I would have to get the bus and so of course I soon realised I was half way out of town going in the wrong direction. The bus driver made my day though when I told him what I’d done and he gave me a free day ticket before letting me off to catch a new bus in.the correct direction. So a good hour later I finally found my sister.

We spent the whole afternoon relaxing at hers, but it felt nice to just chill drink tea, eat good food and really catch up. We don’t get many chances to spend quality one on one time together so it’s always nice when we do.

Today after athe relaxed start to the day we wandered around Edinburgh almost freezing ourselves to death it was so icy. But it was lovely all the same as the sun was out. Once we got to the Christmas market we treated ourselves to some delicious mulled wine to warm us up. It was yummy, and I decided to keep the cute mugs too. I love walking through the Christmas markets, they always make you feel so festive. It’s good I didn’t have much cash on me either because there were so many cute stalls with beautiful goods, I’m always especially attracted to the handmade wooden things, from tree ornaments to bowls.

When we’d seen most of the market and with still over an hour to spare till my train home, we popped into costa so I could finish this blog post. I bought a large Americano and was thoroughly disappointed, it came in what looked like a soup bowl with two handles and did not taste grear either. I swear I am spoilt with coffee now aha, since getting used to good coffee, its difficult to not compare coffee to my dads nowadays. Anyway after a short but sweet stay, I am now on my way back to Durham, but sadly not in first class.

Here are just some photos from my brief time with my sister in Edinburgh, enjoy!

Hope you’ve all had a good week!

Love Carina xo

MINI GETAWAY – DESTINATION ALNMOUTH

Published on October 8, 2017September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

At the beginning of the week I was away in Alnmouth, a beautiful village on the seafront. It is my dads 50th this November and he’s celebrating early with his brothers, sister, their spouses and his mum who have all flown over from Germany so they can enjoy a weeks holiday together in Alnmouth. I could sadly only visit for three days as I had to work, but I did enjoy three days with my extended family. I took the train up on Monday and on Wednesday we all drove down back to Durham together so the family could see our hometown. Although short it was so lovely in Alnmouth; I am already missing it. Anyway the coastal scenery is just so beautiful there I just had to share some photographs with you.

On Monday we went to Bamburgh a short drive up the coast from Alnmouth, for a lovely walk at the beach, although it was so windy the sand whipped around our legs in a bit of a sandstorm.

The next morning the sun was rising over the beach and I enjoyed my breakfast with a view. The living room window had a lovely window seat looking out onto Alnmouth beach and it was the most peaceful breakfast I have had in a long time – breakfast goals on point!

After breakfast I went for a walk at the beach with my dad which was lovely as the sun continued to shine. The weather was just fab!

Later on in the day we went to the Alnwick Gardens where we had booked to eat lunch in the tree house in which is just so cute and quaint. The food was amazing and we all enjoyed ourselves. I sipped on my favourite Rose Lemonade, had a terrine for starters and pork belly with broccoli and apple mash for mains which was just scrumptious!

After our meal in the tree house I walked to Barter Books in Alnwick. It is one of the cutest bookshops I have ever been to. A large building filled with secondhand books, antiques and first editions. One can really spend half a day here browsing through all the books. If you are ever in Northumberland I totally recommend you take the time to visit this quaint bookshop. There is a little cafe for refreshments and chairs to sit and read in oh and there are some CD’s and DVD’s too, but only a small section. As far as I am aware you can also exchange books, as in if they don’t already have certain books you can trade them.

On Tuesday evening we continued family time and had a lovely night reflecting on the past by looking at old photos which was cute.

Well that sums up my mini getaway in Alnmouth; thanks for reading! Also I’d love to know if you have ever been in Bamburgh, Alnmouth or Alnwick, so please do let me know!

Love Carina xo

MY GARDEN BEFORE & AFTER

Published on August 16, 2017August 26, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Hello friends,

The other week my parents came over for dinner and brought me a little present. I’d been saying for ages that I needed to de-weed the garden and so they showed up with a little trowel and my own cute gardening gloves! The back garden almost looked like a little wilderness and I couldn’t wait to tidy it up! So on a sunny day off I got my fingers dirty and took out all the weeds!

After a good two hours of gardening, here are the after photos; from a weed infested garden, to a tidier, cleaner looking back yard! Although surprisingly tiring work I enjoyed myself and can now enjoy soaking up the sun again on nice sunny days!

All that is left to do now is the front garden!

Love Carina xo

2 TASTY SMOOTHIE RECIPES

Published on April 25, 2017March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo3 Comments

Good morning guys,

As you already know I failed the smoothie cleanse challenge I set myself. The thing which really caused me irritation was not being able to eat anything, like physically being able to chew something. So in the end I resulted to having a breakfast smoothie, a lunch smoothie and a meal in the evening.

Sadly also apart from yoga I can’t remember going to the gym last week so I only lost 1lbs this week but onward and upwards! It’s a new week now! And I started it with a healthy day and 1 1/2hs at the gym yesterday! Today I had a yummy smoothie bowl for breakfast too – so the health game is back on!

Anyway I did say I’d share my favourite smoothie recipes with you, so here’s two for you – I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think if you try them!

Peanut Butter Blaster:

1 banana – 1 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder – 1 heaped tbsp of smooth peanut butter – small squeeze of honey – almond milk (however much you like depending on how runny or thick you like your smoothie)

Green Machine:

40g of fresh ginger – a good handful of mint – 1 squeezed lime – 3 squeezed oranges – 1 large handful of kale – 1 pear – 1tsp of greenboost powder – 1tsp of matcha powder – 1/2 mango (depending on how juicy your oranges are you can also add some cold green tea)

Enjoy guys

Love Carina xo

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Published on April 22, 2017April 22, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey guys,

It’s a very important day today!

“The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” ― Gaylord Nelson

“It’s going to take all of us, gathering our voices and acting together. Saying,”Not on our watch” to create a future for humans, animals and the environment.” ― Eileen Anglin

I am slowly becoming a little bit of an Eco warrior, don’t get me wrong I don’t nearly do enough, but it’s a ‘I don’t nearly do enough yet’. I am working on it, slowly making small changes and that’s all I’d like to ask of everyone too! If we all work together to change small habits we can make big changes!

Our societies are currently living such unsustainable lives. We are hurting our earth, its inhabitants and our ecosystem – something needs to change!!! Let’s all start making some little changes – every little helps and it’s important we all play our part and look after the earth!!!

I will be writing more detailed posts in the future about the changes I have been making to do my part to help the environment! So keep your eyes peeled!

Love Carina xo

THE ART OF SAYING NO!

Published on April 8, 2017April 8, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

“Imagine you’re at a party. A guy offers you a drink. You say no. He says ‘Come on, one drink!’ You say ‘no thanks.’ Later, he brings you a soda. ‘I know you said you didn’t want a drink, but I was getting one for myself and you looked thirsty.’ For you to refuse at this point makes you the asshole. He’s just being nice, right? Predators use the social contract and our own good hearts and fear of being rude against us. If you drink the drink, you’re teaching him that it just takes a little persistence on his part to overcome your ‘no.’ If you say ‘Really, I appreciate it, but no thanks’ and put the drink down and walk away from it, you’re the one who looks rude in that moment. But the fact is, you didn’t ask for the drink and you don’t want the drink and you don’t have to drink it just to make some guy feel validated.” —The Art of “No,” JenniferP

Hello my beautiful friends,

I saw this online and I think it is a very true and important lesson we all have to learn. This applies for me in so many situations, I am terrible at saying NO to people, because I either a. don’t want to offend b. be perceived as rude or c. giving in is just the easier option instead of having to keep fighting for your NO until it gets awkward.

Like Jennifer says, often it is something we didn’t ask for, we don’t want it so why feel obliged to accept it?! Giving in eventually does not teach people to respect your decisions but gives the impression you’re easy and that they just need to be pushy for a bit and they’ll get their own way. Saying NO and being true to what I feel and want is something I need to work on, even with friends. If they are good friends they should understand if you don’t want to do something or go somewhere for example and you should not feel bad about perhaps letting them down or offending them. In the end it is your life and you should be doing what makes you feel best.

I’d like to think that in certain situations I am a leader, but actually mostly, especially in social situations I am a follower and I don’t want to seem needy or bossy by fighting for what I want, so I just come across blasé and follow others decisions.

I find it strange how the notion of offending someone is so hard wired as unacceptable into many peoples brains, to the extent that they ignore their own hearts, instincts and thoughts of what is right, just to follow that unwritten rule. I was just watching A Girl With A Dragon Tattoo the other day, and at the end Martin Vanger the bad guy says something along the lines of: ‘It is strange how strong the fear of offending someone is. You knew there was something not right, but you came in regardless when I invited you in. I didn’t force you to come, you ignored your instincts because you didn’t want to offend and willingly came in.’ So again, even in a situation of danger, the fear offending was stronger than the instinct to run.

So it is important to learn to speak for yourself and stick to your guns, learning to say NO and being selfish sometimes is something we should all give some thought to! Let me know your thoughts on the subject!

Love Carina xo

MINI PRIMARK HAUL

Published on March 24, 2017March 24, 2017 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Hello my beautiful readers,

On my day off on Tuesday I went into Newcastle in the afternoon as it was such a nice day, although really windy, and I just needed to get out of the house for a bit and enjoy some me time. I popped into Primark as I needed some new leggings and trainers, but as usual ended up picking up a couple of other things too, so I just thought I’d share!

First I just picked up some plain black leggings; they are my no.1 wardrobe staple. I then spotted this cute peplum top for only £3 and had to get it. Admittedly it’s not quite warm enough yet to walk around in tops aha, but it has such a cute floaty shape and is great for layering. Shoe wise I only needed new light breathable trainers but I fell in love with these greeny/grey slightly sturdier trainers and had to get them too!

Next I decided to treat myself to some new gym wear; having new stuff to wear to the gym is always motivational don’t you think? So my old gym trainer were very worn through and needed replacing, these black ones are super lightweight and airy which is perfect for the gym. I always get sweaty feet and hate trainers which are too thick and don’t let your feet breath, so I hope these will do the trick. On my way to town on Tuesday I dropped of some clothes at a charity shop, including a pair of gym leggings which were just too large, so when I saw these beautiful leggings I had to get them! Such cute floral pattern with a bit of meshing at the knee – I am in love! Although I’m a sweaty mess at the gym it’s nice to at least feel a little pretty in what you’re wearing aha. I also decided to get a new sports bra as I really liked the back mesh like pattern.

Just to mention, this is the first time I’ve posted photos of me in skin tight clothing and part of my stomach out, but you know what, it’s all about self love, and I felt great taking these photos and knowing I’m on my journey to self improvement makes me very happy and proud, this is my body, the only one I’ll ever have and I am learning to love it!

Love Carina xo

WHAT I EAT IN A DAY

Published on March 23, 2017March 1, 2024 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hello my beautiful friends,

It’s time for another What I Eat In A Day post!

Last week I stewed up some plums which were just a bit past ripe to enjoy, and then totally forgot about them. Yesterday morning I spotted them in the fridge and decided to make some French toast as it’s amazing topped with stewed plums! I had a soft roll which needed eating so I cut it into three parts and then dunked it into my cinnamon and egg mix (cinnamon is a must for me when making French toast) and then fried it in the pan (no butter or oil). The plum compote I just warmed up in the microwave and enjoyed with the French toast. I also made myself a berry smoothie to drink throughout the morning. I can’t do mornings without a smoothie aha, it’s so much a part of my routine now!

For Lunch I had some vegetable soup with low sugar toast (Warburtons tiger bread at 0.5g of sugar per slice is by far the lowest sugar bread I have found). For some reason however, I started feeling full and a bit queasy halfway through my soup so didn’t manage to finish it.

Dinner was a bit of a naughty meal as it was the leaving do from one of my work friends. We all went to an Italians and enjoyed some yummy food. We all had olives and bread for starters, then for mains I ordered a breaded chicken with asparagus in a tomato sauce with vegetables and garlic bread (the only thing that was disappointing was that there was so many potatoes in the vegetables I was hoping for more greens) but the chicken was super tasty and such a large portion that I only managed half and got the rest wrapped up to take home. With the meal I enjoyed a glass of white wine and the we got a shot of limoncello on the house after dessert. Although I was really full I indulged in a hazelnutty thing with meringue and chocolate filling for dessert.

So that wraps up my what I eat in a day!

Love Carina xo