New Year's OOTD

Today's post is just a very little one. I want to share with you what I am going to wear today evening. Incidentally, I received this lovely dress for Christmas, it's from the online Shop called Nelly (www.nelly.com). My high heels are from the brand 'Cosmoparis'.

This year I just stay at my grandmother's place, but I wanted to dress up a little bit haha. We are going to play my fav card games and for sure dance a lot. Another highlight is our dinner. We are going to make some yummy vegan meals. What are you going to do tonight and I am curious what you are going to wear, so let me know!!!

kisses, Valerie

Tory Burch Sale

I can get obsessed when it comes to shoes, i love every kind of shoes..especially high heels btw...
I love to wear shoes with higher heels especially wedges, but i really like flats or ballerinas too. Last year I bought my first like expensive designer shoes from Tory Burch. I love the snake detail and the package was packed so sweetly. I don't have regrets buying them.
What's your opinion? (If you want to buy Tory Burch shoes, wait till the end of January because that is the time when there are many sales going on on their website (www.toryburch.com)


xoxo, Valerie Brooks

Most beautiful time of the year

Merry Christmas. I hope you are having a great Christmas Holiday so far. I truly love this season. I mean winter is great, isn't it? I love the snow (if we had more it would be great haha), the lights, family parties and I especially adore drinking tea. Uhh and long walks in the glittery snow. Ahh I am just in love with the atmosphere in winter. Currently, I am staying in Budapest (listening to christmas songs) and I have a lot of things I want to do. But first of all I have to mention that I am surrounded with my lovely family and friends. And of course we are going to visit some beloved friends as well. Soon I am going on an after christmas shopping and I would like to visit two vegan restaurants, my fav hairdresser and go for long walks on the beautiful margin island. Someday, I am not sure on which one haha, I also have to look after my cousins. As you can imagine, I have lots of things to do, but I enjoy every second of the holidays.

This post was supposed to be about an outfit I wore a long time ago. Soo, my black pants are from Zara and my Poncho as well. This bag is one I bought in an Outlet, it's from the brand called Liebeskind.My chic gloves (which I lost, sadly) are (were) from H&M. 

Sending you lots of love, xx Valerie

Milan OOTD / part two

Last Week I published a post with one of my outfits I wore in Milan a couple of months ago. When I travel I often try to avoid bringing too much stuff with me. Obviously I don't keep my resolutions, but  let's just pretend that I do.This short post is another ootd post. As you can see I pretty much wore the same thing as the last time...BUT I combined the jeans and the boots with a rough Cardigan and a basic Shirt (Both are from Zara). I know, I know it is still very similar to the other one, but though I wanted to show you an other combination.

 Till the next time, lots of love

xx Valerie

Carrot pasta sauce recipe

Uhh an other recipe today. I have to share this deliciousness with you. Well, basically I eat this with everything. From rice to vegetables.. But let's be honest. It tastes the best with pasta. Yes. It's creamy consistent only comes to the fore with (Brownrice) Pasta (but as I mentioned it works with everything).

What you need for one portion:
-4 medium carrots
-3 medium turnips

You need a lots of carrots and turnips. Peel them and cut them into small pieces,  boil them in water until they are soft. After taking out the water, puree the vegetables with a hand blender or even a mixer. And you are finished.I knooow it's truly easy and tastes way too good. I can just say, try it out.
Wish you a wonderful day!

xx Valerie

Açai Spinach Smoothie Bowl

Another Smoothie Bowl Recipe today hahah. I had to share this one with you since it tastes so good and nourishes your body as well. The Spinach is low in Fat and very low in Cholesterol which is great and it's a perfect source of Zinc, Protein and Vitamin A. In Raspberries you can find Magnesium and in Bananas Vitamin B6. Last but not least, Açai is a very good source of Dietary Fiber. Sounds really good, right? So let's get started.

You need a handful of fresh spinach or frozen ones, then you need some bananas, 2 tbs of Açai powder (if you have fresh ones, these work also perfectly). You can basically add as much raspberries as you want to. I usually go for a small mug. Mix everything together and you are finished. Add some Oats, Chiaseeds or Buckwheat and some fruits for the Topping. Enjoy!!

xx Valerie

3 Vegan Restaurants in Budapest

1.Napfenyes Restaurant (http://www.napfenyesetterem.hu) 

This Restaurant is fully vegan and has a lot of options for raw vegans, gluten-free vegans. The location  is very good since it's located in the middle of the city. They always write the whole ingredients of the foods out and you can enjoy delicious juices, smoothies, pastas, salads, pizzas, Hungarian specialities and  there are so many desserts you can choose from. They not only have raw cakes, energy balls, cookies, they also have vegan ice cream (healthy ones). Such a gorgeous place.

2.Mannatural (http://www.mannatural.hu/cgi-sys/defaultwebpage.cgi)

This place is probably my favorite one. It's fully raw and although you can just choose from like 8 Dishes, it is always so good. I really feel that it is nourishing my body and let's talk about the dessert there. Unbelievable good. My grandmother always buys there raw cakes for my cousins (they are 3,4 and 7 Years old). They all love it, although they are not vegans. It is worth a visit, trust me.

3.Olive Tree Hummus Express 

Here you can also find non vegans dishes, but it's possible to eat vegan. They have very good hummus and the ingredients are always fresh. I can just recommend it if you look for a tastefully vegan lunch / dinner.

4. I know I just wanted to do 3 Recommondations, but there is a place I really like. You could go there if you look for a small snack or just to chat with your friends. There are barely vegan options, maybe one salad or a food salad. The atmosphere is so calme there. It is vintage and simultaneously modern. I love the decoration and the interior. It is called  'Vintage Garden' (located in the middle of the city)

Vintage Garden / Budapest

Napfenyes restaurant, raw food

Budapest

OOTD

Vintage garden

sugarfree lemonades

Milan OOTD

Good morning! Today's little post is going to be about fashion. In October I had been in Milan, Italy. My dad and I decided to gor for a weekend getaway since my brother and my mum were in Budapest. Time went by too fast, unfortunately, but it was a very nice weekend. I like Milan because there you can express yourself through fashion. Here where I live, you can't really wear something offbeat except you take into consideration that everyone starres at you ... Back to the actual topic. That day the weather was not great, but it was not really cold. I combined  My torned Zara Jean with black Boots  and a classic Poncho. The jeans, the Shirt and the Poncho are from Zara and Stifeletten are from a boutique in Milan. Oh now I almost forgot the bag. Isn't it beautiful? Frankly the bag actually doesn't correspond quite my style, because I'm more girlish if you know what I mean and the bag is almost risky for me. However I am in love with it. Incidentally, it is from Mango. What do you think? I wish you a beautiful day, make the best of it.

In love, Valerie

Raspberry Nice Cream / Smoothie Bowl

I like to make a cold bowl of raspberry nice cream because when it is hot, nothing is better than this delicious and healthy snack. I have to admit that I also make this in Winter though. It's just so good and nourishing.

The recipe is very easy, you just need frozen raspberries and bananas.

Use so may Bananas as you need, if you just want a small snack use one to two. For Breakfast I recommend more.

It tastes the best, when the bananas are ripe.

Just cut your bananas and add 200 grammes raspberries (or more) and mix it all together.

Enjoy! You can add some granola, cocos, chia or fresh fruits for the topping.

If you don’t like raspberries, just switch them with strawberries or frozen mangos, or if you love chocolate, just mix together a ripe banana and some frozen bananas and add 2-3 tablespoons raw chocolate powder. Enjoy!

xoxo, Valerie Brooks

Summer OOTD

Today I just want to share one of my fav outfits from summer. I wore this when I was in Croatia. Btw it was a very hot day and hence I wore a light blouse. If it's hot, I love the combination of a simple blouse and some shorts or even a skirt. Yes I know, this blouse is not that simple, but it has a nice contrast although it has many colors. My hair were lightly twisted and my sunglasses could not be missed as well.

Have a very nice day, xx Valerie

Shorts / Reserved, Blouse / Zara, Shoes / Nike Thea, Sunglasses / Rayban (If you want to know any details, just ask)

Tips for Motivation / My workout routine

My fitness routine is a little bit complicated, but well let’s get started.

I play tennis once a week, dance ballet twice and when I have time i do a little homeworkout everyday. Recently I started kickboxing, I love it. The time goes by way too fast and I am so exhausted every time. When I am not in the mood for doing a workout I just do yoga or pilates. I try to go running once a week (or go on a bike tour, not in winter though).

In the summertime I do sports usually everyday because I love it and because I have more time and for this reason I do more.I mean if it’s hot I always go for a swim which is not just good for the soul you can also do that with friends and have lots of fun.

For sure there are also days when I don’t workout or not as much as I usually do. I just workout when I really want to because I think it’s is important to do sport if you are in the mood for it. It’s also so important to rest once and to not overexercise. Particularly you should give your body a rest when you are ill.

In the summer holidays or other holidays I go to the gym twice or more a week with my brother and it is so much fun because I have never been there before and I started to love it. I always spend most of the time with running haha but it’s fun though and if there are many people around you, you get so motivated to keep going on, believe me (plus you can make new friends).

My tips for Motivation:

-do sports you really like, because if you hate swimming but you force yourself to go, you won’t enjoy it and you won’t do it anymore and skip doing any kind of sports.

-meet up with some friends and do something together, then you can catch up and do something great to your body too.

-for me it really helps when i put my sport clothes out in the evening before (I like to do sports in the morning) because then I remember that I wanted to go for run for example and I will rather do it.

-if you have never been into sports begin slowly (go for a walk, don’t take the bus for short ways or ride your bike instead) 

-don’t be too hard with yourself, if you can’t manage to run 5km then start with 2 and increase it every time.

-don’t set your goals too high, it’s better to reach your goals slowly then quickly because then the results will stay longer (yoyo-effect).

xx Valerie Brooks

The Ultimative Raw Rainbow Salad + Green Juice

I usually would have this in Summer or so, not in Winter. However, not everywhere is Winter, so I want to show you this delicious salad recipe today. I had this a few months ago. It is incredibly tastefully and it contains so much goodness. It is rather unusual to eat fruits in salads, but I'm a big fan of this mixture. You will realize that I did not make a sauce, but because it's very fruity, there is no need for a sauce.Okay let's get started.

What you need (Salad):

• Passionfruit
• Mango
• Avocado
• Apple
• Cucumber
• Salad
• Chiaseeds
• Carrot
• Paprika

How to:

1. Just chop everything in eatable pieces and serve. ( I know nothing special, but this combination is too good, trust me)...

What you need (Juice):

• 1/2 apple
• 1/2 banana
• handfull spinach
• water
• dessertspoon ginger, spirulina powder
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 pear

How to:

1. Just mix together all the good things and enjoy.

Rovinj / Croatia

This year my family and I decided to go to Croatia, Roving for the Holidays.Since we had a crowded calendar, we stayed for a week. Time went way too fast. However, this whole vacation was so relaxing and beautiful. In our hotel we received breakfast where I plundered the fruits and in the evening there was a massive buffet. I always ate a lot of vegetables from the salad bar and they even had kale, spinach or any green stuff every day. Of course I also ate a lot of rice. It was such an incredibly dinner! During the day, we strengthened ourselves with lots of fruits, Juices, Smoothies or with Vegan lasagnas ...

Okay enough of the food haha! Every day I visited  a yoga class before breakfast and after having a nice breakfast we went swimming immediately or to the gym. The Fitness room there was such a dream! There were huge windows / doors and you had the feeling if you were in the nature all the time because the garden was full of plants. The room also was designed very natural. In the afternoon, I often headed to another classes such as Pilates, Archery and Zumba (which I loved the most). I often walked in the afternoon to the town of Rovinj and went to the market. Although it had 40 degrees and it was very very hot, I enjoyed the time. After I had bought my fruit, I looked for a place in the shade and read or simply meditated for a while.

Finally, I just want to say how happy this trip made me and I hope I can also experience such a beautiful time next year. Were you on vacation or will you go somewhere soon?

xx Valerie