Bench Presses & Italian Pottery

May 8, 2013 by Christine Skari

Today started off bright and early with an 8 o’clock trip to the gym! The weather has finally been getting nice! I’m such the spoiled SoCal girl. Anything below 60 gets me shivering and complaining ;).

What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this ;)?

I did 20 quick but intense minutes on the elliptical for a warmup, then met up with my friend Hot Ryan for a great lifting session! The name “Hot” Ryan teasingly originated at the beginning of the school year and has stuck ever since! It’s to the point where I can’t think of him by any other name haha.

quick and efficient!

Ryan came from an early morning Crew practice, but was still game to show me some new additions that I can add to my weight routine! I tried bench pressing for the first time and had a blast with it! It was great hour long workout and I’m excited to be extra sore tomorrow.

ARGHH! Get swoll!

After the gym I rushed to Starbucks to pick up an iced coffee with a few pumps of sugar free toffee nut syrup. It was refreshing but not overly sweet. Totally hit the spot!

Sip-a-dee-doo-dah!

Sweeet Nectar of College Life!

Lunch involved some fresh fish tacos with shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. A salad on the side along with a bowl of grilled vegetable cous cous.

At 3 it was time for some much needed shopping with my girls! I ended up getting a cutout dress, some shirts, and a really adorable pair of belted red shorts. The two shirts were from a thrift shop (Macklemore anyone ;)?) and were only $12 together!

Red Belted Shorts

Simple Blue Dress

I love cut outs!

Chiffon Dusty Pink Top

Sheer Paisley Brown Top

The best buys of the day were a dusty pink Lululemon headband (I came thiiiiiiiiis close to buying a pair of back capris) and the perfect Mother’s Day present for the Mama! She LOVES Italian hand painted dishes/pottery, so I got her a petite olive oil container that would look perfect on our rustic wooden dinner table. I hope she likes it!

The rest of my night will be consumed with homework and the usual See’s Candy/Latte date with my main man!

“You talkin’ bout me?”

Hope you had a great day

xoxo Christine

Elliptical Interval Workout & Call for Blogs!

May 7, 2013 by Christine Skari

Hurray! I love Tuesdays! Tuesday is by far my easiest school day as I only have two classes back-to-back from 12:00-2.

Side note: please comment below if you have a blog! I’m trying to expand my reading horizons and would love to subscribe to some new ones :).

Workout

I celebrated my easy day with a not-so-easy workout from pbfingers.com. Her workout had me constantly changing things up and my workout went by super fast! I rounded it out to a solid 30 minutes by cooling down at a resistance of 8. Julie (the owner of pbfingers.com) is actually the person who inspired me to start my own blog. I’ve been a long time reader of hers, and love hearing about her life!

post-workout glow ;)

Love Julie’s blog!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was a good one! I’ve been on an oatmeal kick and had a big ol’ bowl of oatmeal with a sprinkling of brown sugar, a little honey, and raisins! A banana on the side and coffee to get me moving.

I also had half a sticky bun with my coffee. Who could resist such gooeyness?

I’m off to do a little work before heading to my French class. The plan is to grab some lunch and play some tennis with Kyle later! Nice and relaxed!

xoxo Christine

Cold Spring Tavern

May 6, 2013 by Christine Skari

Tonight was absolutely wonderful!

I’m the luckiest girl in the world :)

Kyle and I celebrated 2 1/2 happy years together by going to one of our favorite places, Cold Spring Tavern. It’s located in Santa Barbara and is about a 25 minute drive from where we live. The drive up is so scenic and beautiful and is filled to the brim with picturesque mountains that provide a stunning view of the surrounding area.

All dressed up!

What’s cookin’ good lookin’ ;)?

One of the things that Kyle and I love most about Cold Spring Tavern is its uniquely rustic and homelike feel. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it was originally a stagecoach stop in 1886 and was preserved by its previous owners.

The inside is dimly lit and the seating is very intimate. My photos didn’t turn out as well as I’d like, but it was totally worth it for the warming atmosphere!

To start, we were served the most delicious freshly baked bread and immediately ordered the tantalizing looking Charbroiled Tiger Shrimp on Saffron Linguine. It was spectacular! Kyle and I couldn’t stop raving about how mouthwatering it was.

For my main course, I ordered the New York Steak, which came with a salad with Lingonberry dressing and mashed potatoes that were out of this world!

Kyle ordered the Sautéed Duck Breast with roasted shallot glaze. I’m salivating just thinking about it ;).

We opted to skip dessert since we have 4 lbs of See’s Candy waiting back home, but I accidentally ate a bug on my way out. Does that count? It more like kamikaze-bombed its way into my throat. I never stood a chance in defending myself. Kyle approvingly mentioned that I probably got a ton of protein from it. We estimated probably about 13473 grams. I should investigate the nutritional facts later.

Pre-bug consumption. All smiles… for now..

I’m looking forward to the rest of my evening being nice and relaxing. It’s been such a great day!

Catch ya’ll later!

xoxo Christine

Two and a Half Years

May 6, 2013 by Christine Skari

Today has already been a good day, but the best is yet to come!

Last night was a late one. I had a french essay due and a history midterm, so I was immersed in work and studying my entire Sunday. I ended up going to sleep around 1 and waking up at 6:30 to finish up some last minute reviewing. However, I think my essay turned out fairly well (thanks. Tiana, for proofreading it!) and my history midterm was a breeze. I also got back my French and Chemistry midterms and am pleased with my grades. It’s been a good day!

However, things are just going to get better! Today marks our 2 1/2 year dating anniversary, so Kyle and I have plans to go out to a fancy shmancy restaurant called Cold Spring Tavern. It began as a stagecoach stop in 1886 and was chosen as the best place in California for a romantic getaway. It’s become “our place” after going there on Valentine’s Day, and I absolutely adore it. I can’t wait!

Valentine’s Day

Moving on!

Breakfast

Today started off on a good note with a delicious bowl of oatmeal. I added some raisins and honey to give it some extra flavor and a banana that I ended up cutting up and mixing in as well! As always, coffee made an appearance.

So much nommage!

Lunch

Lunch was filled to the brim with veg! I had some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots with a piece of roast chicken and sun-dried tomato bread. Raw carrots/celery with hummus and spinach dip on the side.

Workout

After a power nap I read some blogs and decided that a quick workout would be a perfect way to stretch out my legs.

I did a quick 25 (or should I say 24:59) minute workout that had my calves burning!

If you couldn’t tell by my timing, I was dying to push that stop button! It was AWESOME 😉

shweaty!

xoxo, Christine

Two and a Half Years

May 6, 2013 by Christine Skari

Today has already been a good day, but the best is yet to come!

Valentine’s Day

Moving on!

Breakfast

So much nommage!

Lunch

Workout

After a power nap I read some blogs and decided that a quick workout would be a perfect way to stretch out my legs.

I did a quick 25 (or should I say 24:59) minute workout that had my calves burning!

If you couldn’t tell by my timing, I was dying to push that stop button! It was AWESOME 😉

shweaty!

xoxo, Christine