Outfit of the Day and Weekend Recap

As the weather gets warmer, I find it a major struggle to try to get work done. I have a physics midterm this Tuesday and my attitude towards it has been alternating between semi-stressed and nonchalant, which is really uncharacteristic of me. Usually, I’m a ball of stress and anxiety when it comes to math-based classes and that causes me to be able to concentrate and focus on practice questions for hours at a time. The problem is that I live riiiiiiighht above the pool in my apartment complex and seeing all of my friends down there partying all day in the warm (90 degree!) California sun is a huge distraction. The weather in general here has been so gorgeous that staying indoors at my desk almost seems like a crime! I’m trying to balance work and play this weekend, but there hans’t been as much studying happening as I’d like. But you know what? Not as much work means that my weekend recaps are much more fun to read. Here’s what I’ve been up to so far!

Friday was spent watching a little Netflix, studying, taking a blissful nap, and hanging out with friends. Oh! And more s’mores ice cream because ya’ll know I can’t get enough of that stuff.

I woke up early on Saturday and went for a super short 2 mile run to stretch out my legs. If I were to pick one fitness goal I’d like to improve on, it would be running longer and faster. For me, running gives me the best overall cardio workout, but I have a love/hate relationship with it and can fall out of a good running groove in no time at all. I kept it short since a.) it was hot and b.) I went out too hard for not running consistently and burnt out early. I feel like if I signed up for a race I would be motivated to run and (hopefully) catch the running bug, but for the most part, my motivation is lacking. If anyone has any tips on how they developed a love for running, I’d love to hear them!

After my run, I came back, showered, did a little more studying, and got ready to go to State Street for a lunch date with my parents who had driven up for a day visit. I tend to only put on real-girl clothing once a week, so I was excited to wear my new floral cardigan out for the first time! If you want to know the formula for how to dress like a stereotypical California girl, just add together high waisted shorts, a crop top, sandals, and some sort of beachy-Indie flair. Voila! You fit right in. 

Outfit of the day!Lunch was at a restaurant named “Jane”, which had high reviews on Yelp. My mom is yelp-obsessed and won’t go to a restaurant without scrutinizing the reviews there first.

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My parents had appetizers waiting for us when we arrived, which included balsamic-glazed onion rings and french fries. Both of which were good, but the onion rings were a little too heavily battered for my taste. For my main course, I ordered a salmon shrimp salad that came with avocado and a light dressing. 

appetizer collageDSC_2109DSC_2105After Kyle and I got back, we both tried to get some work done (unsuccessfully), before deciding that the only way we’d be able to concentrate would be with a large amount of espresso and a trip to the library. So here I am! Taking a small break to type this post up before getting back to physics :(. I’m almost done though, so I just gotta power through so Kyle and I can get back to a night of snuggling on the couch with our bff Netflix and more ice cream. Go Christine, GO!!!

WIAW: Don’t Eat Oats in a Rush & Ribs. Mhm.

 Happy Wednesday, all! I’d like to say I’m happy the week is moving by so quickly, but the prospect of having to take my physics midterm next week is putting a damper on my excitement for the weekend. On the bright side, Kyle and I are celebrating our 3 1/2 year anniversary the night after my exam, and he’s planning out a special date night for the two of us! I know, I know. Three and half years doesn’t seem like a long time for a lot of people, but we’re young’ins so it’s a milestone for us! 

Anyways, I’m sure you didn’t come here to hear me complain. Let’s get to the food. Onwards! 

Breakfast:

I had planned to go to the gym before my 9am class, but caught up reading blogs so I ended up being in a time-crunch. Breakfast was a hot bowl of brown sugar banana oats while I rushed madly around my apartment getting my things ready to go. I’m sorry, but trying to stuff super hot oatmeal down your throat really takes away from their enjoyment level.

brown sugar banana oats

At the gym, I did a quick 20 minute warmup on the elliptical before doing an ab routine. I’m really lazy about training my tum, so any day where I focus solely on them is unusual for me. Also, I’ve realized that I don’t ever refer to my midsection as my “stomach”. It’s always tum. In our apartment, my best friends and I have developed a habit of shortening words. For example: my roommate Lakshmi asked me today if I had any chocolate. I ask her if she wants a “bun”. She immediately knows what I mean and I hand her a leftover chocolate bunny from Easter. 

Coffee Break:

After my gym session and first class of the day, I had an hour break before I had to run over to my physics lecture. I took the time to go grab a coffee cake and cup of jo to snack on as I read my stats textbook outside. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day and it got to the point where it was almost too hot. I’m typing up this post on my bed and am hoping I’ll be able to sleep comfortably when it’s so warm! 

UCSB Nicoletti's

Lunch:

After my physics class finished at 12:15, I was starving. I headed over to grab an enormous salad and homemade whole wheat bread stick from our college’s main eating area. The salad was only so-so, but the bread was to die for! I’m constantly on the lookout for healthy alternatives that actually taste good, so I’m hoping to recreate a similar bread recipe at home!

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After lunch, I had a 2 o’ clock stats section that went by quickly. Then, it was back home to throw some ribs in the crockpot, inhale an orange, and drive to my bio lab. Luckily, it was a super short and easy one that just focused on the lifecycle of various plants and identifying different plant parts under a microscope. Usually they’re much more intensive, so it was a nice little break from the norm. 

Dinner:

Once I got back, I took the ribs out of the slow cooker, reduced the sauce they cooked in, and dinner was served! They turned out fantastically and Kyle could not get over the sweet and salty flavors. I grew up eating asian-style ribs (soy sauce+brown sugar lovin’), so that’s how I usually make them if I get the chance! Look at all that sticky-sweet goodness! 

Pre-smothering by the reduced sauce

Pre-smothering by the reduced sauce

Asian Style Ribs Crockpot

The rest of the night was spent reading various textbooks and watching the newest episode of The Following with Kyle over some S’mores ice cream. It was a busy, but productive day!

Question of the Day: What is the best thing you’ve eaten today?  


Weekend Things/MIMM!

Happy Monday, all! I hope you’re feeling rested and ready to take on a new week. This weekend was just what the doctor ordered for me and I felt like I was finally able to relax and set my mind at ease for the first time in ages. Here’s a marvelous weekend recap!

After I got back home on Friday from my day of classes and stats test, I took a looonngg two hour nap to try to shake off some of my tiredness. Whenever I’m under a lot of stress from my classes, I don’t really sleep because I’m up late/early studying or I sleep restlessly since I dream of whatever I’m learning. You would think this would be helpful (studying in your sleep, woohoo!), but it’s the complete opposite since I’m subconsciously trying to solve problems with no answers. I end up waking up early from panic and then feel like I don’t know anything since I could’t solve my imaginary problems. Go figure haha. 

ANYWAYS, I promise I didn’t come here to complain! My point is that I slept and it was beautiful. 

Kyle and I had a date night planned to celebrate my freedom and went to grab some sushi and watch the movie Transcendence. Not my favorite film, but nonetheless it felt great to get out of the house and actually wear real-people clothes. Sweatpants are great, but after a week and half straight they tend to get a bit old. 

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Casual date night outfit!

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After we got back, we spent some time hanging out with some of our European friends. A little while later, I ended up heading to bed while Kyle went out to a tennis party. 

Saturday was a shopping day! My housemate, Lakshmi, and I drove down to State Street to peruse the stores and eat lunch with Kelty and her mom. I ordered the chicken caeser salad and it was delicious! 

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As far as purchases go, I got a steal on two white baking dishes from Sur La Table, as well as the cutest new workout top from Forever21 (only $15!) and a gorgeous new floral cardigan. To test out the larger of my two baking dishes, I made a mouthwatering cheesy chicken and broccoli pasta bake for dinner and it was the perfect post-workout meal. Cheese+pasta= [emoji white smiling face] [emoji heavy black heart] .

forever21 workout top ImageAlso, don’t white baking dishes look gorgeous in food photos? I can’t even explain how excited I get when I get a new prop/dish/etc that helps improve my photography. Even buying new dish towels gets me excited… How cool am I?!

DSC_2159I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. Since I hadn’t been to the grocery store in almost two weeks, I was in dire need to restock my pantry and fridge. Am I the only one who adores grocery shopping? I honestly could wander up and down the isles for hours checking out new products and imagining what I could make with them. Don’t even get me started about how much time I waste in Whole Foods! 

Once back, I ate a quick breakfast before grabbing a triple shot latte and banana bread with Kyle and heading over to the library. I read my physics textbook for almost three hours straight before calling realizing my brain was mush and that my productivity levels had reached a standstill.

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We headed back home, ate lunch, and relaxed before driving the gym for a quick workout. I ended up doing 30 minutes of varied cardio before hitting up the weights for a back routine. After getting back, I did a few small blog-maintenance things before walking over to a local froyo shop to bond with some of the girls I’m living with next year! I know a handful of them already, but can already tell that I’m going to LOVE my new housemates and they’re all just extremely down to earth, outgoing, and sweet. Plus we’re living ocean-side (seriously, you open up the windows and all you can see is ocean) on our school’s “party street”, so I’m expecting my upcoming year to be much more relaxing and fun. 

Image 2 I ended the night by watching the new Game of Thrones episode with the boy and finishing up some chemistry/physics note-taking. 

 So that was my eventful weekend! It’s back to the grind now, but my second round of midterms are much more spaced out (aka not 3545345 in one week), so hopefully I’ll have time to completely catch up on my Bloglovin’ feed and spend some time doing “me” things.

Question of the Day: What was the highlight of your weekend? 

Weekend Things

Helllllooo all you party people! I hope the weekend it treating you right and you’re getting in a lot of relaxing and downtime. I wish I could be saying the same, but this last week (and this weekend especially) have been pretty hectic for me as I have a crazy week ahead of me school-wise. The schedule for now is an Ochem midterm Monday, lab quiz Tuesday, microbiology midterm Wednesday, and a stats quiz Friday. Yikes- I know. Feel free to send me positive thoughts, I’m here with my arms open wide for them! 

Anyways, let’s look into some marvelous weekend things!

One nice thing about this weekend is that I’m back in my hometown. Kyle wanted to come back to celebrate Easter and his brother and dad’s birthdays, so we made the two hour car ride back home. It ended up working out nicely since I’ve been productive with my studying and was able to make it to my cousin William’s 21st birthday dinner. Kyle ended up coming with us since he’s a friend of Will’s and we had plans to go out to an old-school ice cream parlor for his dad and brother, but I ended up staying at home since it wouldn’t have been responsible for me to spend more time away from my textbooks. Womp womp womp. Dinner was tasty, though, and served family-style so I got to eat a whole lot of everything! Some of my favorites included chicken fettucine alfredo, a seafood pasta, and calamari ( [emoji heavy black heart] ).    

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My parents were there as well and I got a picture of the two most important guys in my life! As well as their matching shoes because, according to my dad, “They’re cool, young people shoes!”. Hmm… okay dad  [emoji smiling face with sunglasses].DSC_2070 DSC_2068DSC_2076

Other than that, I’ve been taking advantage of our latte machine to help fuel my studies. Let’s just pretend that having 6 shots of espresso in one day is good for you. Ignorance is bliss. Or coffee. I guess coffee and bliss are just synonyms so whatevaaa.

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Oh! And exciting news! I’m hosting a giveaway from Kind this upcoming week for a big ol’ package of Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt (my favorite, omnomnom <3) Kind bars and two boxes of their newest product, Healthy Grain Bars. Stay tuned for the opportunity to win lots of free stuff! WAHOO!  

Kind Bars Variety Pack

   I hope all of you are enjoying your Easter Sunday! Sending everyone lots of love [emoji heavy black heart] . 

*Contains affiliate links! 

MIMM: Work, Recipes, & Exciting New Purchases!

Ugh, Mondays. Who even invented them anyways? NOT ME. 

I feel like the weekend always goes by in the blink of an eye, which is probably partly due to me always on the go. To be honest, I feel like I’m almost running myself to the ground with all the studying and work I’ve taken up. If anyone has any tips on how to increase your efficiency 500%, I’m all ears :).

So enough of this pessimistic Monday-talk. Let’s get on to appreciating all the marvelous things that life holds!

1. Marvelous is getting a ton of work done this weekend!

Even though I’ve been busy, it’s always satisfying to be productive. On Saturday, I studied physics for well over 5 hours and on Sunday I got in a good 3 1/2 for organic chemistry and an hour for biology. I don’t have exams for another week or so, but I hate cramming and find that the consistent hard work pays off. Along with that, I got some recipes developed and (finally) finished up a piece for my freelance work. Just gotta keep chugging along!

Weekend Recipe Collage

2. Marvelous is an assistant.

Also known as a boyfriend who is sweet enough to offer to help me with bloggy-related things. Since I’ve been completely drowning in work, Kyle (who has an easier workload this quarter) offered to help me with a few things like monetizing Apple of My Eye and helping test out a few easier recipes. While AoME is such a wonderful creative outlet for me and I lovelovelove all you guys (<3), it would be awesome to eventually get the site to a point where I can make a part-time living off of it to help pay for its upkeep and my need for apple pie err’day. 

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3. Marvelous is shopping!

Total impulse buy with this dress. I usually have a rule where I need to wait a couple of weeks to buy something to make sure I really want it, but the moment I saw this my hand clicked on the “add to cart” button. SO STINKIN’ CUTE. 

image-33I also finally got around to using a Williams Sonoma gift card I’ve had for almost a year. I’ve been wanting to add more one-pot dishes to my recipe itinerary, but need pretty baking dishes to put them in. I found some great deals and am so excited for them to come in the mail! Here’s what I ended up buying:

I’m going to be on the lookout for when all my mail arrives. It’s going to be a field day! 

So there’s a few marvelous things going on with me right now. It’s time to hit the hay and get ready for another busy week!

Question of the Day: What’s something marvelous in your life right now?