Happy Smooothie Tuesday friends! This bright pink mango dragon fruit smoothie bowl is coming in hot right after a beautiful long weekend. Well, technically it’s coming in really cold, like frozen, but you get the point.
The best way to tell if I had a great weekend is if I have absolutely no new pictures on my phone. It’s usually a sign that I’ve forgotten I had a phone and was too engrossed in who I was with to take the time to capture the moment. This year, I spent my labor day weekend playing in a pond up in Maine, hanging out with old friends, meeting some new ones, drinking by a campfire and cooking eating s’mores. I’m dirty and drained and happy.
Something we talked about, over beers around the campfire, was how different our middle and high school experiences were compared to kids now, even though it was only 8 years ago. When we were that age, we battled for time to use the dial-up internet and only had to worry about what about our AIM away messages said. The only social media we dealt with was Facebook (when you just communicated through wall-to-walls).
I can’t even imagine the stress that kids feel now, when they’re competing with Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and crazy sites like Yik Yak (it’s like anonymous twitter, but super mean). As someone who works in social media and leverages it with this blog, I know how overwhelming it can be at times. It’s this nebulous space between reality and projections of our lives. What I love is how it brings people together. What I hate is how it warps your perception of real life.
In high school you felt FOMO the day after, because you saw someone post pictures on Facebook of everyone at a party you weren’t invited to, and now it’s feeling FOMO because you’re bombarded 360º by everyone you’re not with, everything you don’t have and everywhere you’re not. I seriously worry because I’m not sure kids are being taught how to “unfilter” what they see and learn how to be present, to be uncomfortable or to be alone.
The reason I bring this up is because while I’m a huge fan of Instagram, it’s just a slice, a curated picture-perfect slice. I love creating and sharing beautiful snapshots of either food (on my blog’s page) or fun moments from day to day life (on my personal page.) While they are real things I did or ate, they are also crafted. My smoothie bowls don’t always just wake up like that. Time goes into setting up how I want the shot to look. Sometimes I use 2 different apps to create the image I want. It’s like wearing fake lashes. It’s still you, just with makeup on. It’s not because I’m afraid to show you what the often messy desk that I actually eat my food at looks like, it’s because I love the process of creating images.
A lot of blogs try to paint a picture of living this easy care free life or that health is super simple if you just have enough kale in the fridge. But it’s not always easy and I hope I’m always transparent with you about that. I guess thats why I care so much, because it’s not easy but it’s still really, really worth it.
But on a side not, pitaya (pink dragon fruit puree) really is this bright pink and this smoothie bowl happens to taste amazing because when frozen bananas and mangos get together you can’t really go wrong.
[Tweet “I can’t wait to blend up this beautiful Mango Dragonfruit Smoothie Bowl”]
- 1 1/2 Frozen Bananas
- 1 Pitaya Pack (dragon fruit)
- 1 Cup of Frozen Mango
- 1 Scoop of Vanilla Vega Protein Powder
- 1 cup of Spinach
- 1/2 Cup of Almond Milk (or less if you prefer a thicker smoothie)
- Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth
- Serve in your favorite bowl
- Add Toppings (I like coconut shavings, strawberries, almond butter, granola & seeds)
Save it for later & PIN
Catch last week’s smoothie Tuesday: the Oatmeal Cookie Dough Smoothie. Creamy, sweet and as close to cookie dough as one healthy smoothie can get, you don’t want to miss it!
Your Turn:
- Have you ever felt overwhelmed by social media?
- How do you like to unplug from social media?
1. This is the most gorgeous smoothie I have ever seen. 2. I love you so much for this post. Social media can be sooo overwhelming, and with every new platform it can feel more and more suffocating. I’m a few years older than you, so I totally had the high school MySpace fomo, which was nothing compared to nowadays. I usually try to tune out the noise and focus on connecting with others, but I agree it does get challenging at times.
Thank you so much Les! Oh man, good ‘ol Myspace. I remember getting real into HTML code to try and trick mine out.
Exactly! I wish I would have kept some of those MySpace HTML skillz fresh. It would have made this whole blogging gig a little easier! 😉
Haha right? Might you it was mostly just a weird knowledge of my favorite colors HEX codes
This is the most beautiful smoothie bowl I’ve ever seen.
d’aww I’m totally blushing
Oh Georgie, your words warm my heart! <3 And this smoothie bowl looks like a joyous way to start a morning. I need some dragon fruit in my life! Pinninggggg
Thanks so much Ashley! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!
The smoothie looks amazing, beautifully “crafted” for sure! And you really nailed down what I both love and hate about social media. I’ve been feeling this way a lot as I find myself on it both for my blog and personal stuff. It’s really overwhelming, both good and bad. Having three kids who are still young, I don’t even know what to think yet about how it will affect them. And of course they don’t know anything else, which makes it trickier!
I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a mom in that situation. While I didn’t love it at the time, my mom didn’t let us have phones until the very end of high school and even then they were limited. Who knows if that’s still realistic but it can be so stressful feeling like you’re living your life on a device
This post is sooo true. Sometimes I worry about the kids younger than us because all they know is to aim for the highest Instagram likes and how to take the best selfie. I feel like we just barely missed the worst of it, but I still see my generation falling into the same trap. Documenting their lives without actually living them.
I love social media, it’s name of the game in the industry I want to go into after graduation, but I think we need to step back and just live without telling every part of the story.
PS that smoothie looks deeeeeeeelicious
So so very true. I was tempted a couple times this weekend thinking “should I be taking a picture of this” but it’s so nice to take time to really disconnect. You come back with so much more perspective and clarity when you can take breaks.
I definitely get overwhelmed from social media. I get frustrated. I get frustrated with all the weird things that people post. How people can be fake, mean, and like I said weird. LOL! I am so glad that you weren’t on social media this weekend and having fun with friends and eating all the s’mores. That is the way weekends should be! XOXO
Ahh yes, there will always be trolls. And no matter how many times you remind yourself they aren’t real or don’t matter it’s so easy to let them bring you down. Even with limited social media in high school I was still bullied so I don’t even know what it would be like now
This is the most perfect post. I feel overwhelmed by social media today, and I seriously can’t imagine dealing with it if I was only 12. I too love Insta, but I am constantly having to remind myself that even the more perfect Insta pages aren’t real life. Or, they are, but they aren’t the ENTIRETY of someones real life.
You bring up such a good point, it might be real, but it’s not the whole picture! Honestly, as crazy as it is, I think that’s one of the benefits of being on different types of channels because you can see a fuller picture, but of course nothing beats a real life relationship.
GIRL PREACH!! And that sounds like a wonderful weekend and a perfect description of how to detect a good time. I love the feeling of forgetting you have a phone and forgetting about the digital world for a few days. This smoothie bowl is all kinds of beautiful and I’m loving this new series!
Thanks so much Christina! It seriously is the best feeling to forget about phones and to be surrounded by people who are present!
I can’t believe I’ve never made a smoothie bowl…I think I’m skeptical of eating something cold with a spoon that isn’t froyo? This is so beautiful I need to reconsider and take the jump!
I love your sentiments about social media. I was on Snapchat earlier this weekend, but I mostly sat on my couch and read books and drew in my sketchbook and it felt so good. Social media is sooooo much like wearing false lashes! hahah.
I’m willing to risk it and say that I like smoothie bowls more than froyo!
It’s easy to discount the things that bring you joy because they don’t feel “shareable” – I’m the same way. I would love nothing more than to work on my blog or write or read but it’s not something most 20 somethings brag about online.
I was just thinking about how different things were in middle/high school!! I remember laboriously typing out texts using T9… those were the days! I feel like it’s a lot harder to be a youth today, when everything is publicized and shared. Your point about instagram is so true – we just see the highlight reel of a person’s life and it’s not an accurate representation of what really happens. Food for thought. 🙂
Oh man, T9 was the death of me! Yes, it’s so hard to remember you don’t see what people’s full days look like. It’s also important to remember how you might be projecting your own image, which I often forget about too
Wow, I can not believe the color of that smoothie, its in favorite shade of pink too! I agree social media makes growing up so much more difficult now a days. I can’t imagine being in middle school right now.
Right? It kind of makes my head spin. I feel insecure about social media sometimes as a 23 year old, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be 12
I need to find dragon fruit! I will have to search! this looks so refreshing and tasty 🙂
The dragon fruit doesn’t have as powerful of a flavor so an acai pack would be pretty similar if they’re easier to find!
Being a digital immigrant, your thoughts on the challenges of navigating social media in today’s world resonate clearly, as I’m working in a middle school. Of course I /we all had our teen angst within our generations, but the insta factor does take socializing to another level(for good or evil). So glad you lived in the reality and focused on where you were & who you were with over the weekend!
I unplug out in my garden!
ps- that bowl of ‘false eyelashes’ does look mouthwatering! 🙂
I can only imagine how different it must be to raise kids in one generation and teach kids in another! Hopefully you can model and discuss the role that social media does play in their lives in a healthy productive way.
Mmmm big ol bowl of eyelashes 😛
I hope someone confiscates your blender.
Just kidding, Excuse me as I go on yik yak (lol!) and complain about the beauty of this.
Haha Yik Yak is a dark dark place
I’m a middle school counselor and I can tell you – social media is the root of like 90% of their problems! It’s overwhelming and it completely consumes their lives. You speak the truth girl!
Wow! I can only imagine. I’ve heard that a lot of young kids just feel an enormous pressure to know what everyone is doing all the time
This was amazing 🙂 Thank you for sharing! I will definitely be making this again….and again…..well, you get the point. ;p
My god this looks gorgeous and delicious! awesome article as usual Georgie!!
Also, agree with the little social media rant!
Liz