Apple of My Eye’s New Look!

January 27, 2014 by Christine Skari

So, if you haven’t noticed yet, Apple of My Eye got a huge facelift!

I’m completely in love with the design and couldn’t be happier with the fantastic work that Tasha at My Cute Lobster did! She’s a great designer and worked patiently with me to get every detail down the way I wanted. I highly, highly recommend her if you’re looking for a talented and reasonably priced graphic artist/web designer!

It might take me a while to learn to navigate my new sight, so please excuse any discrepancies in posts/the layout/things in general for the next few days.

Hope you love it as much as I do :)!

-Christine

Skinny Salted Caramel Apple Crisps

January 21, 2014 by Christine Skari

When it comes to food, I usually have a pretty good sense of intuitive eating. All you can eat Korean barbecue? No problem. I eat till I’m full. Free pizza? If I’m not hungry, I don’t really care to have it. But, throw in anything that involves apples and brown sugar and I’m a sucker. Zero self-control. Like, I’ll eat apple pie till I’m sick and eventually have to ask Kyle to take it away from me.

What I’m trying to say here, if you haven’t already caught my drift, is that I have the self-control of a 4 year old when it comes to any type of apple dessert.

That’s why, these single serving Skinny Salted Caramel Apple Crisps are perfect for me! Well, they’re perfect for anyone who loves gooey homemade caramel blended perfectly with soft baked apples. Then you throw on a fabulous crumble made with golden raisins, pecans, and oats and you’re set! A fantastic dessert with only 235 calories and with its own built-in control system for those days when you think it best not to devour an entire pie singlehandedly.

One recipe makes two mouthwatering crisps total, so you can use it to earn brownie (err… apple crisp) points with a significant other, or you can stop kiddin’ yourself and just inhale the second one as well. You’ll have to guess at which option I’d go with.

Honestly, these crisps have everything you could possibly want in an apple dessert and are bursting with that sweet caramel flavor that’s accentuated even more by that small pinch of salt that makes them mhhmm mhmmm good.

And they’re easy to boot! Cut up yo’ apples, pour that sweet caramel over (don’t lick the spoon, you’ll burn off the top layer of your tastebuds… not that I would know), and straddle that streusel right up in there. Also, let’s pretend I didn’t just use those two words in a sentence together.

Then you get a scoop of vanilla ice cream that melts into the ramekin and makes you swoon. Honestly, why are there Hey Girl memes when skinny salted caramel apple crisps and vanilla ice cream exist in the world? Some things in life just don’t make sense.

Ahhh, that’s better.

Marvelous In My Monday: Eat ALL the Food!

January 19, 2014 by Christine Skari

Happy Monday all! I hope you have today off to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but if you don’t, I hope today is going smoothly for you.

Here’s a few marvels from my Sunday. Mostly food, because food is always marvelous!

Kyle and I went to browse through our local Farmer’s Market this morning and had a great time in the sunshine. The weather here is unreal right now and I’m really enjoying being able to wear sundresses and sandals!

While we were there, I grabbed some apple chips from a local vendor to snack on as we walked around. I feel like these would be so simple to make. Just slice some apples super thin, sprinkle with cinnamon, and pop em’ in the oven on a low heat for a few hours! I’ll try them out within the next few days and report back :).

Kyle and I went to one of our favorite Thai restaurants after some shopping at TJ Maxx to grab some lunch. Since he had a late breakfast and the portions are huge, we split a beef pad thai. Delicious!

Later that day, Kyle and I took his little brother and my younger cousin (they’re bffls) along with a few other boys to get some Korean BBQ!

Then, to round the day of eats off, we split a huge bowl of frozen yogurt.

To say I’m stuffed would be an understatement!

This is going to be short MIMM since I need to sleep off this food coma, but I’m also looking forward to some birthday festivities for Kyle tomorrow. His actual birthday is on the 24th, but we’re home for the long weekend and his family want to celebrate!

Have a fantastic Monday!

Pins I’m Loving: Style Edition

January 17, 2014 by Christine Skari

If I had to pick my dream job, I would be a professional Pinterest pinner. That site sucks up so much of my time and I love endlessly scrolling through the site to find inspiration in regards to how I dress myself. Not that I really wear much else other than workout clothes and pajamas. But hey, a girl can dream!

All pictures via my Pinterest Boards!

Now this is a ring…Looks simple, but probably would just tie my hair in a knot haha!

Holy smokes… this dress is rad.

Sparkles… I die.Thinking about changing up my hair. Love this color and cut! Think I can pull of a dirty blonde?

A Day In The Life

January 16, 2014 by Christine Skari

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Ugh, that’s my alarm clock. Remind me again why I set it for 6 a.m when I don’t have class till 10? Oh yeah, that thing called my health is calling my name to lace up my running shoes and get in some mileage before the heat sets in. Also, someone please tell me why there’s a high of 80 degrees this entire week… mid-January. What the heck, California. You have like 330 days a year to be warm and you decide that you want to take over January as well? Greedy son of a state.

It’s now 7 a.m. Gotta get going! It’s the first time I’ve really ran in a month and a half, so it’s an easy 4- miler.

Cue internal debate on whether or not to read/comment on blogs or shower right away. Blogs win, of course. After all, after a busy week, I have 142 (OMG) unread blogs in my Bloglovin‘. It actually fo’ real stresses me out. Eat a breakfast of Honey Bunches of Oats with milk. Coffee, too, of course.

Time to shower and put on big-girl clothes. A sundress and sandals with a side of a whole wheat bagel, because since when did cereal ever keep anyone full for more than 22.8 minutes?

Class time! French from 10-11.

Secret to becoming swoll? Simply transform into a croissant.

(Source)

Bike reeeaaal fast to CLAS (a free college tutoring class) from 10-11 a.m for my organic chemistry class. Spend an hour writing down mechanisms on how to form different compounds. Cry.

Time to learn some bio, yo. 12-1 class. After bio I run to go talk to an academic advisor about my major and studying abroad in France next Fall. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to since I have too strict of a schedule and will have to go for the summer instead.

By now it’s 2 and, just so you know, I’m getting pretty hangry.

I still need to pick up a package that I ordered for Kyle’s birthday. When I get there, I realize that it’s 3 times bigger than I thought and it would be a miracle if I could get it back myself while on my bike. SOS HELP. Call Kyle so he can carry his present back to my apartment. Realize how fabulous of a girlfriend I am.

Once I’m back at my apartment, I make a sandwich and devour it. Randomly snack on things in the fridge including my Pumpkin Spice Apple Butter with cottage cheese (don’t ew it till you’ve tried it) and mocha fudge ice cream.

I answer a few emails, read/comment on some more blogs, and study/take notes from 3-6.

Kyle and I head over to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant to grab some dinner before my 7-10 p.m lab. I get my usual (loaded fried rice with pineapple) and we split a thai tea.

Doesn’t he look a bit goober-ish here? Also, yes, his hands are really that big. Monstrous.

Lab time. It involved mussels and I find a bebeh crab, some worm things, and barnacles in my mini ecosystem. SCORE! Also, remember when I sexually assaulted a sea urchin? #throwbackthursday

It’s 10 p.m now and I’m exhausted. I bike back, study some Ochem for an hour, then pass out in bed because I have an 8 a.m class the next day.

So there ya go, an average day for me! Busy, but such is the life of a Microbiology major and it makes me appreciate sleep 23352 times more ;).

Side note: I have a guest post up for Understanding Menopause and Testosterone. I would appreciate it if you could pop on over there and check it out! (Only if you have the time, of course!)