One thing that I find myself struggling with fairly often is avoiding falling into the comparison trap. With social media becoming such a prevalent part of my life, I find myself constantly exposed to a whirlwind of “wants”. Wanting to be thinner, but simultaneously more toned and muscular. Wanting to be faster. Wanting to be prettier. Wanting to have ALL the ridiculously expensive clothing I see on the fashion blogs I read. Wanting my photography to be better and never feeling like its good enough.

With all these wants, there isn’t much room for happiness.

It’s easy to get caught up in a world of things you aren’t and things you don’t have- especially when most social media platforms are imaged-based and depicts the highlights in everyone’s lives. Oftentimes, I make the mistake of assuming that those highlights make up the entire reel of everyone’s day. I see beautiful selfies with girls wearing flawless makeup and my self-esteem can take a big hit. The same goes for anything I’m working towards bettering myself at, whether that be cooking, food photography, my small business, my body, school. The list can go on and on and my insecurities cangrow more and more if I let them get the best of me.

That’s why, I am proud and excited to share Soffe’s #TheUsProject campaign to challenge the comparison trap and start a movement that aims to encourage young women to focus on each other, those who give them strength, motivation, and encouragement and essentially promote community over competition. Soffe stands for a brand that celebrates the collective strength of young women and wants to create ways to bring them together in support of their shared goals. Instead of constantly comparing ourselves and becoming wrapped up in jealousy of those “wants” (which studies have shown lead to decreased intimacy and more shallow relationships), #TheUsProject aims to use social media to bring us together instead of pitting us against one another, or in my case, against myself.

Together, we can build a more beautiful picture and build each other up to reach our maximum potential!

While Soffe and I are doing all we can to promote awareness for this campaign, we would love your help and participation! To help spread the word (and possibly win some AWESOME gear from Soffe), post a photo of yourself and your friends on Instagram and tag #TheUsProject and myself (appleofmyeyeblog). We can’t wait to see how you and your best girlfriends support each other!

And here’s my contriubution with this super sweaty, makeup-less photo that I took with some of my housemates after we conquered our first 10 mile run EVER! There is no way I could have gotten through all those miles without their continues support and presence and I am beyond thankful for them. I love you Taylor and Lana! (A special shout-out to our neighbor Tom for his manly support as well and our foster dog, Charlie, who ran outside and insisted on being in the photo as well)

Learn more about the movement here: #TheUsProject movement

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Soffe for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Andddd a big happy Friday to all of you! After a SUPER busy week, I’m relieved to have it finally be the weekend. Today’s plan include editing some photos from a super small wedding (!!) I did a few days ago, a best friend session, doing some blog work, going to work at my internship (more on that later), rushing back to photograph a graduating senior session, cooking and photographing a recipe, and NETFLIX! I probably should do some studying, but I always find Friday nights the most challenging in terms of getting myself to sit down with a heavy textbook and actually pay attention to what I’m reading.

Here are some of my favorites for the week!

Long Runs:

Okay, so I may be stretching the whole “favorite” thing when it comes to actually getting myself running, but the high you get towards the end of it and after is incredible. And when I say incredible, I mean I lie on the couch staring blankly after I shower and can barely walk but feel faaaan-reaking-tastic. My half-marathon is coming up in a little less than a month and we’re starting to tackle some long runs. This last Sunday I ran my first EVER 10 miler (still gawking as I type out that number…) with my housemates Lana and Taylor and with my next-door neighbor, Tom. The 9 other boys that live in Tom’s house were all gone partying at Coachella, so he spent a good amount of time hanging out at our house and on a whim decided to come out and run with us. I kinda hate him for being able to just bust out 10 miles easily, but also loved having him there since he brought in some new conversations and fun to the run. One thing I’ve noticed with running is that after you get past the 6 mile distance, you kinda start to get bored. Lana and Taylor and I always run together and have basically talked about everything there is to talk about, so having some male conversation helped the time pass faster!

Neighborly Notes:

“To the lovely ladies at _____,

I donate these bananas to your house banana bread making efforts, so long as you share some of the banana bread with me.

Thank you, neighbors!

-Tom

P.S: This is in no way some form of gender inequality, except that my whole house sucks at baking. We are grateful for your skills.”

You better believe I made the best damn Banana Bread Muffins with Walnut Streusel and Vanilla Glaze ever. Not bad for a college student, right? No one was downstairs when I walked into their house, so I left a simple note saying:

“Ask, and you shall receive”. 😉

New Food Photography Props:

‘Nuff said. Cost Plus World Market is the land of rainbows and butterflies <3.

I ended up getting the cutest little milk bottle decorations (I put some fake flowers in it that were left from my flower crown-making obsession), two huge mason jars for an upcoming post I’ve been meaning to get to, two monogrammed mugs, a gold plate, rustic spoon, and two bowls. It’s like Christmas, I tell ya.

{Follow me on Instagram for more behind-the-scens photos like this!}

Amanda’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Energy Bites

Oh Amanda, constantly teasing me with your delicious and healthy treats all the way from the land of Canada 😉 . These beauts are done in a flash, only take 5 ingredients and are vegan! WOO! The Spoon strikes again!

Love Culture’s 20% off Store-Wide Sale

Love Culture is probably my favorite online site to shop for cute clothes. It really caters to my the beacy, bo-ho style and the prices are great! I randomely clicked over during a bloring lecture (shhhh, don’t tell my parents I do this 😉 ) and was excited to see that they’re having a huge sale!

Question of the Day: What are some things you’re loving this week?

Hi, friends!

I just want to pop in today and ask for your help on something. While Apple of My Eye is my personal place to post whatever is on my mind, I’d love to get more of an idea of what my readers want to see. I would appreciate it so much if you could take the 0.1892 seconds to answer my supahhhh quick poll below! Muah! You guys are the best <3.

Oh, and if it matters to ya, your votes will be completely anonymous!

Hi friends! Happy Friday!

I have a productive day today that involves geting mentored by a professional photographer, going to an interview for an internship (more on this late, big life change to be announced), shopping with some of my housemates downtown, and photographing a graduation session on the beach. It’ going to be a fantastic day!

I’ve decided to make Friday a day where I can just share some of the things I’ve been loving. That way, things aren’t just food food food all the time and ya’ll can get a closer look into what I’ve been up to. Onwards!

Bagel Brother’s Banana Walnut Baked Bread

You guys. This stuff. AMAZING. My housemate, Sophia, used to always make their cinnamon bread in the morning and the good smells coming out of the toaster prompted me to go find my own loaf at the local Albertsons. They periodically sell out, though, so a few days ago I decided to try their banana walnut bread and it is out-of-this-world good! It’s not like the traditional banana bread where it’s more cake than bread, so it makes a more hearty breakfast treat without being all that terrible for you. I like to spread some cream cheese on a toasted slice and use my cinnamon sugar grinder to top it off (best Trader Joe’s purchase ever).

Studio Work

I’ve been doing tons and tons of practice in a local photographer’s studio for the last week and have been absolutely loving trying out a new style. While I think my heart is more in natural light, my mentor, Matt, is insanely talented at studio work (all photography in general, really) and he’s been helping me get a better grasp on artificial lights. I’ve been bringing in my housemates to use as model and we’ve all been having a blast!

Current Craves: 

NEED.

This monkey…

Because I think we could all use a little extra smile today :).

Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend? I’ll be popping in tomorrow with a yummy & nutritious drink recipe that will help you get into the springtime mood.

What have you been loving lately?

Happy Monday, folks!

I meant to get this post up yesterday night, but after driving back to Santa Barbara with Kyle and getting home around 11, all I wanted to do was hangout with my girlfriends before heading to bed. I usually like to have posts up before the next morning, but since I don’t have any lectures on Monday OR Friday that is quarter (PINCH ME), I’m writing this up with a cup of tea before any of my housemates wake up.

Here’s what I’ve been up to during my week in my hometown for spring break!

High Tea at the Botanical Gardens

My mom recently turned 50 (happy birthday, mom!) and some of the girls in the family drove over to Huntington Beach to stroll around in the gorgeous gardens and have high tea at a small restaurant in the rose garden. There’s something so fun about getting slightly dressed up and eating finger food and little delicacies. I probably had around 3-4 plates and left feeling absolutely stuffed.

Photography 

I did a bunch of portrait photography sessions over break and it was definitely one of the highlights for me. I LOVE photography and nothing makes me happier. If you want to view more photos, feel free to check out my website!

Korean BBQ

My extended family often gets together on the weekends for food+swimming+general family time every few months. On Saturday, everyone met at our house and we had quite the spread of things to eat. On the menu was korean bbq, homemade sashimi and sushi rice, salad, chicken katsu, fried rbi, tons of veggies, two different ice cream cakes, and more!

Hiking with Kyle

On Sunday, Kyle and I headed out to a local hiking area that has a gorgeous view of the ocean. I only live about 3 minutes away from the entrance to it, so we both like to go on a nice long hike whenever we’re back home. The first half of it was largely downhill, which made for a super sweaty trudge back uphill (my legs are pretty sore), but it was great to just spend some time outside with him. He’s been ridiculously busy with all his engineering things, so most of the time we spend together is in our garage-turned-study-room. Not exactly my date of choice 😉 . After hiking, we got an early lunch at The Yellow Vase. He went with a savory crepe and mocha and I had The Californian egg-white omelet, which came with a house salad and fresh baguette. You better believe I ate every last bite!

After brunch, we drove to Kyle’s house to play around with Tucker for a while. He is getting SO big and is just the funniest little pup ever <3.

And that’s just about it! My week in a picture-filled recap.

What have all of you been up to?