DIY Food Photography Table Board

April 11, 2014 by Christine Skari

Hi there everyone! Kyle here and it feels great to be back with another post on this wonderful blog! This one is about something I can actually boast some experience with: building stuff. More specifically, putting together a photography backboard (the one you’ve seen lately in Christine’s photos).

This project was really fun, and I it turned out better than I had hoped, which is always a rare (and really nice) occurrence! Just as a disclaimer, I used power tools but if you haven’t before, you should avoid using them unless you have experience working with the machines. They’re extremely dangerous and you can do all the things in this project without them with no problem. So, that being said, let’s begin!

First thing, which may seem obvious, is that you have to do is get an idea of what you want to make. Otherwise you will likely make mistakes and take way more time getting to your finished product than you would prefer. For Christine’s boards, we referenced a few boards from other sites, primarily Pinch of Yum (Christine has a girl-crush on Lindsay) and Bree Franklin. Christine showed me those boards, told me what size she wanted, and were able to work together to put together a plan for building it.

Here’s what Lindsay’s board looks like:

Once you have decided on the basics of your design, you need to get materials. Home Depot is always a great place to find anything and everything you need. It’s basically my version of going shopping at the mall. Along with that, the employees are always really helpful, so feel free to ask for their advice/help. For these types of backboards I would recommend getting thin pine planks, around 1 inch thick, since they absorb stains well and tend to have really unique abnormalities. Christine hand picked the ones she wanted, which were the most beat up and rough looking ones available. We were trying to go for a more rustic feel, so the more blemishes we could find, the more we like the piece of wood!

For the stain there will be a catalog of types and colors that you can peruse (peruse is such a great word isn’t it?). Christine and I decided on “Cordovan Brown” as our transparent stain. Transparent stains are great for this because they do not conceal the natural knots and marking of the wood in addition to giving it a richer color.

Now that you have your materials it’s time to start building!

1. Set yourself up. When I begin a project I start by getting out all of the tools I will need and set up a sort of workstation for myself. I prefer to use two sawhorses and an old piece of plywood in our backyard. Tools you will need are a saw, a tape measure, a pencil, painting materials, sandpaper, hammer, nails, and wood glue.

2. Measure, mark, and cut. I am sure you all have heard the saying “measure twice, cut once.” (Christine: “nope”).Well, do it. It really slows you down and is just a bummer when you measure incorrectly and your parts don’t fit. We made our boards about three feet long and alternated different width sizes to give the boards more uniqueness. After measuring, feel free to cut away!

***IMPORTANT: If you don’t have the proper tools, or just don’t want to cut wood yourself, you can just ask the workers at Home Depot to cut your wood for you! I enjoy working on projects and didn’t have any other work (WOO spring break!) so I gladly did it all myself =) , but it’s always easier and faster to just have the Home Depot peeps cut the wood for you!***

3. Paint paint paint. I found it best to paint each individual board before connecting them, to give the whole fake table a less uniform look. We used two coats of paint for the table this time. Once dried, try sanding down the wood a bit to give it a nice, roughed-up appearance. If you’re feeling particularly angry or are just in a thrashin’ sort of mood feel free to throw the boards around a bit or hit them with a hammer. They can take it! And it might just make them look better while working double-duty as cheap therapy, win-win right?

4. Put it all together. For the next part, connecting your planks, there are two options I would suggest. First option is to just set all your planks onto another surface and glue and nail them down. We used masonite but scrap wood, plywood, or even thick cardboard will likely work just fine. The other option would be to just not connect the boards. Instead, you can just line them up on a table and put whatever you’re going to take a picture of on top. This is a bit easier, although you will have a bundle instead of a board as your final project. The choice is yours!

The lighting here makes the board not have as rich colors, but look at all that character!

Here’s a closeup ofwhat are finished product turned out like:

Also, if you’re wondering where my helpful girlfriend was this whole time, she was off playing with our family’s chickens. As in, she was taking pictures of their butts so she could come ask me, “Guess what?!? CHICKEN BUTT”. We’re very mature.

So there you have it! A somewhat lengthy outline on how to put together a photo-board for all your photographic endeavors! Hopefully you find this post helpful and you all can soon get your own unique, nifty backgrounds!

-Kyle

The Pros and Cons of Fitness Trackers

March 29, 2014 by Christine Skari

Happy Saturday, all! Today’s post comes to you courtesy of the lovely Sara Upton, who is a recent college graduate with a degree in journalism. She contacted me with a request to guest post, and wrote up a great article about the pros and cons of fitness trackers! Being an avid iPhone app user myself, I got a lot out of reading it :). Thanks, Sara!

As you may have noticed in browsing through the app stores on your smartphone, there are numerous apps out there that can serve as fitness aids. How (and how often) you choose to use them, however, can be of concern. Personally, I find it difficult to keep up with some of the apps that require you to, say, input every single thing you eat as a means of tracking calories. While it certainly can be useful, there’s also the almost-nagging element of it all. “If I really want to exercise, why don’t I just do it?” I often think to myself, scrolling through the apps that promise to help me stay motivated. It can clearly work for some people and for some companies.

In referencing both, there are studies that show fitness apps definitely have a market—and a growing one at that. To that end, it’s not terribly surprising to see that new smartphones are taking advantage of the health-centric craze.

In particular, there’s Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S5, which comes with a built-in heart rate monitor and activity tracker. That’s the word according to Verizon Wireless, which makes note of how the tracker will follow your steps, keep up with calories burned, and allow for the gamification of exercising. For those unfamiliar, gamification refers to how certain apps have introduced video game- like qualities to something far removed from that context. In this case, you’ll earn “badges” on the GS5 app based on your exercise routine. For those who have used activity tracker RunKeeper, it sounds like it’ll be similar in its approach in that you’ll get a virtual pat on the back for your longest run, most calories burned, and the like.

But does this approach work? To that end, I ask, “What about those of us just wanting to exercise every day without worrying about anything else?” It’s a question I’ve been pondering lately, and one that I’ve decided to finally answer today after doing some research and trying out many of the available apps myself.

(Source)

In my opinion, here are the pros and cons of fitness trackers:

Pros

1. They take care of any possible guess work – This probably seems obvious, but it needs to be mentioned. Unless you have come up with your own formula to track how many calories you’ve burned, distance you’ve traveled, etc… you’re going to need one of these apps.

2. They keep you motivated – Going beyond mere fitness trackers that, well, simply track your movements, there are some that really make sure you’re exercising. Take GymPact, for example. It’s an app that you can actually earn money (albeit in nominal amounts) from working out. Your bank account can also take a hit if you don’t exercise.

3. They’re intuitive – Again, there are definitely more complicated apps out there that can be a pain in the rear end. But something like the aforementioned RunKeeper app, which tracks more than just running, keeps up with your activity and the calories you’ve burned with just the touch of a few buttons. It’s not exactly rocket science.

Cons

1. They can feel like work – Getting back to the comment from Adam mentioned earlier, this is where apps really fall flat for some people. Again, if you’re just trying to exercise without adding anything to it, chances are you’ll give up on an activity tracker.

2. They drain your battery – Another common gripe with these apps is that they can suck the battery life out of your phone. This is particularly true if you exercise for a long period of time and have music playing through your phone.

3. They can cost money for the best options – A majority of fitness apps, especially the best ones, can be yours for free. However, if you want to get the most out of them, you may need to throw down some cash. There are those that cost money upfront, too.

If you haven’t caught on by now, this whole debate really boils down to whether or not you feel like you need to monitor any portion of your activity. If you are the type to run and/or bike the same route every day, you probably already have a good idea of how far you travel and maybe even the calories

Question of the Day: What is your favorite fitness app? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons?

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Brownies

August 28, 2013 by Christine Skari

When the weather starts getting colder, I turn into a pumpkin addict. I mean, I basically consider the day when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice lattes a national holiday and start planning my pumpkin-themed Thanksgiving menu a month in advance.

Quick Note: I’ve started a Facebook page for Apple of My Eye! “Like” the page to get updates on recipes, workouts, and more on your newsfeed! (I’d really appreciate it!)

While I’m really a summer girl at heart, I love and idolize the things that come with Fall. Boots, scarves, layers, you name it, I love it. (Except for actually being cold, I’m a wimp when the weather drops below 60 degrees.) That’s why I think it’s about time to start baking and cooking up a whole army of pumpkin-themed recipes, starting with these ridiculously easy skinny pumpkin spice brownies!

These brownies have a texture that’s in-between a brownie and fudge and are SO moist and dense! You can bet your pretty little face that I’ll be enjoying a few of these babies with my morning coffee for the next couple of days.

And yes, the brownies in the picture are cut to portion size!

They have a yummy pumpkin flavor and I promise they aren’t just itty-bitty bites per serving. You get a sizable brownie!

I don’t know about you, but I love splurging with treats and could easily eat 4 of these and still be much lower in calories and fat than a grocery store brownie. Win! Keep in mind that these brownies have a different taste and texture thanks to the addition to pumpkin and lack of oil and butter- but in they’re own sweet-tooth satisfying way!

Another bonus? They only require one bowl and 6 ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand.

*New format for pinning images on Pinterest! Nice and vertical :). I’d appreciate it if you pinned it!

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Brownies

Fabulous Feedback from Fabulous Readers!

“Great recipe!! Thank you for sharing! I’m a pumpkin fanatic and I also added milk chocolate and butterscotch chips to the top because I had them in my cabinet. They made the brownies look even more ‘fall festive’! I’ll definitely make these again!”- Mon “Love these brownies! Made them for my little family yesterday and half of them are gone! Even my hubby who isn’t the biggest pumpkin fan is sneaking these! I love the heavier-fudgy brownie texture. Thank you for the great recipe!”- Andra

Guest Post: What I Wish I Knew Before Training for My First Half Marathon

July 4, 2013 by Christine Skari

Hey everyone! Happy 4th of July! I’m taking a short trip up to Santa Barbara with Kyle for a friend’s party and won’t be able to post for a couple of days. I’m so excited that Beth from Mangoes and Miles accepted when I asked her to write a guest post! She’s an AWESOME blogger and has such a unique and enjoyable writing style and takes amazing pictures to boot. I look forward to reading her posts immensely every day! Head on over to her blog if you don’t follow her already, I promise you’ll love her as much as I do!

Hey guys! I’m Beth from Mangoes and Miles, where I talk about food, running, my adorable puppy, and my (dreadfully boring) life in general. I’m a daily ~~stalker~~ reader of Christine’s blog—I love her upbeat attitude, her California adventures, and she and Kyle are just the cutest things. (Amirite?)

So when Christine asked me to write a guest post, I was the happiest little clam. She’s been wanting to run a half marathon for a while now, but hasn’t quite mustered the courage. I’m hoping that I can nudge her a little in the right direction through this post. 😉

In March of this year, I decided I wanted to run a half marathon. I’m not really sure why; I didn’t really like running prior to it (although I did it every now and then for kicks and giggles), but I wanted to give myself a performance-based workout goal to motivate me to get off my butt and do something.

I trained diligently above and beyond what my schedule called for the first seven and a half weeks of my training, and then I didn’t run at all the last two and a half weeks…and I almost didn’t even run my half. I was tired, overtrained, and burnt out.

Thankfully, I did finish, I enjoyed myself immensely (though I was cursing myself at mile 9), and it made me realize how much I truly love running. (I’m now registered for two more halves and planning on my first marathon in May next year!)

But there were a few things that I wish I knew before I started training, and I’m here today to share them with you so that you don’t end up like me.

1. Build up some kind of endurance base before you start training.

When I first started training, I had only been running about 2 miles every other week. Not exactly in the best shape. Attempting to move from that to the training weekly mileage was a strugglefest.

Most plans start with the weekly mileage in the teens, and it’s very, very hard to do that week after week (and keep building on that!) if you haven’t trained your body for it. (Yes, you may need to train your body to train.)

2. Stick to your plan.

I never thought a two mile run was a “real” run. And I wanted to push my long runs, so I would add a mile here and there on those. Those extra miles quickly added up, and ended in plantar fasciitis (inflammation in the heel) and a few hip injuries.

Once you decide on a training plan, stick to it. It’ll be really tempting to try to push your mileage one, two, three miles every run, but don’t. Adding too many miles too quickly will lead to overuse injuries, and possibly even sideline you for your race—and that would just be a bummer.

3. Get decent shoes—or even better, get fitted for shoes.

The one thing I think is an absolute necessity for any runner is a good pair of shoes. Any quality running store will analyze your gait and fit you for free. I started off running in Nike Free 3.0’s, which, while they have their uses, are not meant for long distance running.

Trust me on this one, the investment you make now will pay off later when your feet and legs are happy and well-supported.

4. Every run doesn’t have to be at breakneck speed.

Until very recently, I always had the mentality that I would need to run faster than the day before, and if I didn’t, it was a terrible run. But, just like adding miles too quickly, this can easily lead to burn out and injuries.

Your body needs rest. It can’t function at its maximum effort, day in and day out, for weeks on end without any sacrifices.

Now, almost all of my runs are at a comfortable pace, enough that I have to work to maintain it, but not to the point where I’m breathing heavily—or even audibly. Not only does my body feel much better, but I enjoy my runs a lot more, too. And then when it comes to speedwork days? I end up running much faster than I ever thought I could.

5. A little anxiety is natural.

Full confession: part of the reason I didn’t want to run my race anymore was because I didn’t know if I could finish. What if I didn’t? What would my parents, my friends, think of me?

The truth is, if you’ve put in the work, you will finish. Even if you have to walk. (I had to walk. There’s no shame in it.)

So get your butt out there, get your runs in, believe in yourself, and have the time of your life. The feeling of crossing that finish line after 13.1 hard-fought miles is so incomparable to anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s so worth every hard run, every moment of self-doubt, every early morning. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t trade for anything else.