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

As many of you know, I’m a true California girl at heart. My parents moved here when I was just a few months old, and I could not possibly imagine calling anywhere else home! Part of this is definitely due to the fantastic food and great selection of seasonal fruits and veggies the state has to offer. My heart swoons over plump, juicy oranges and goes haywire over the fresh avocados that are constantly making appearances in my salads, on top of my burgers, and even in some of my desserts to add in that extra delicious creaminess! And that’s just the fruit side of things. We can’t forget spicy and flavorful arugala or those gorgeous golden and blood red beets. Both come together in the most delicious of salads that quickly became a family favorite and has my meat-loving dad eating likes it’s his last meal!

Eating seasonally not only makes for a great meal, but also provides health end environmental benefits. Since fruits and veggies are picked when they’re in their prime ripeness, they have higher nutritional value in things such as their vitamin and antioxidant content. Along with that, when you buy seasonally, your food doesn’t have to travel as long of a distance to reach your plate- meaning less fuel used in transportation and less pollution in our environment.

Spending my Sundays perusing the local Farmer’s Market is one of my favorite ways to relax, support my local farmers, and get inspiration for the fantastic recipes I can create for my blog!

Want to join in all the delicious eats California has to offer? Why not take a trip over to enjoy some of the month-long restaurant specials! Visit California and California Restaurant Month will give away five OpenTable gift cards, each valued at $100. Enter the “Dine On Us In CA Contest” to have the chance to win!

See the Participating Destinations!

Need more info on the seasonal fruits and veggies of January in California? Here’s a quick list!

Fruits:

Avocados

Citrons

Grapefruit

Lemons

Limes

Mandarins

Olives

Oranges

Vegetables:

Arugala

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Fennel

Garlic

Herbs

Kale

Mushrooms

Onions

Parsnips

Radishes

Spinach

Turnips

Ahhhh Wednesday. The week is officially in full force and, like I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, I have not been feeling the past few days due to jet lag and a new college quarter beginning. One thing I am feeling is FOOD.

How’s that for an intro? I swear, it gets harder each post. So let’s just try to ignore that lead into todays WIAW and just jump into a look into what has been making their way on to my plate!

Breakfast:

Proud of myself for doing just a tiny bit of food prep and chopping up some veggies. I luuuurve omelets and scrambled eggs for breakfast and tosses about a cup of my veggie mix in with two eggs, two egg whites, and a little but of cheese. Plus a big glass of water (another 2015 goal… HYDRATE!) and a cold orange.

Lunch:

Lunch turned out a little bit scattered since I randomly texted Tiana and Kelty and asked if they wanted to come over to hangout for an hour or so before I had to go to my physics lab. Kelty and her partner, Afton, brought over two packages of Kraft mac and cheese and hotdogs. We feasted and I was too busy chatting up my friends who had been studying abroad for Fall quarter to snap photos. I also ate some leftover beef soup that Kyle and I made last night!

Snack:

Fudge Graham Zone Perfect Bar

Favorite. Bar. Ever. I discovered these a few years ago and this flavor has been my favorite health bar ever since. I probably eat at least one a day whenever I buy them from the store!

Dinner:

Yakisoba (a yummy Japanese noodle) with cooked carrots and some of the veggies I had chopped up this morning. ALSO. A little comforting cup of a green tea latte thing that a family friend gave to me one morning in Japan. Before leaving, I picked up 9 boxes because I became so obsessed. They are amazing and I have to limit myself to two a day since I could sip a lllll day long. I’m not a big tea person, so the fact that I think I like this drink more than coffee (shocker- I know) is a pretty big switch up for me.

If anyone know how to make it at home and not from a package (I think it’s some sort of macha powder, but I could be completely wrong since I don’t even know what matcha really is), please let me know! I only have… 120 packets left so I’m already freaking out 😉 .

What was the best thing you ate today? 

Hello hello my beautiful friends! How are things going for you? I’m already back in Santa Barbara and had my first day of class today. Let me tell ya, jetlag and 8 a.m classes do NOT mix well together. Who would have thought 😯 . Since I squandered the day away with a class, a 3 hour nap, restocking all my groceries, hitting up the gym, and Law and Order, I’m finding myself typing up this post at 11:31 at night. In other words, this post will be short on words and long in photos. Hope you don’t mind me showing you a bit more of Japan!

Is it bedtime yet? Yes. See all you crazy cats on Wednesday for a What I Ate Wednesday Post!

I can’t believe 2014 is already over! I know most of you blog readers are getting tired of the redundancy of that phrase, but seriously. Where does the time go?

How was your New Years? Did you stay up late or did you go to bed at 10:30 like me? I did have the excuse of being sick and beyond exhausted from exploring Japan all day, though 😉 . At least that’s what I tell myself! I’ve been mulling the idea of making some New Year’s resolutions over for the past few days, and even though I’ve never been huge on making them, I decided to set some small goals for the upcoming year. Part of that decision is due to my mom picking my sister and I up these little Japanese figures. You fill in one of their eyes when you make your resolution, and if you complete it, you fill in the other one. For some reason I can’t help but suspect that seeing this slightly creepy face staring at me everyday will help motivate me…

Here are some of the resolutions I’ve thought of trying to accomplish this year!

Exercise at least 3-5 times a week.

My fitness lately has been nonexistant with getting pretty sick, killer finals, and being in japan for almost 2 weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset about it at all. Sometimes life gets in the way (hellooooo feasting on delicious asian food for hours a day) and I’m perfectly fine with letting fitness fall to the wayside in order to live life to the fullest. It will, however, be so nice to start moving my body more and lifting heavy things again! Making it to the gym, playing tennis with Kyle, or going on a run 3-5 times a week is a sustainable goal for me.

Explore Santa Barbara more.

When I asked Kyle was his goals for 2015 were, he read my mind and said that he wanted to explore our home more. We both have pretty intense schedules and are busy most days, so we don’t really get out of the library or the garage we converted into a study room at my house. Santa Barbara is insanely beautiful and we both want to spend more time wandering the beaches, hiking up the mountains, and going on dates to different restaurants in the area.

Be more present on AOME.

These last few months have been such a blessing for me and I am ecstatic to have dwelved deeper into the food blogging world. However, I sometimes feel like I’ve lost a lot of my connection to my blog since there’s only so much of my personal life that I can incorporate into my food posts. If you’re a long-time reader of mine, you probably remember the days were I hardly talked recipes at all. My blog back then was much more in-the-day-of-the-life and fitness focused. I want my little site to be more than just a food blog and more about my life in general. That means food, life musings, and fashion posts all wrapped into one site. Hope that’s okay with all you fine people!

Improve my photography.

From my personal Instagram! 

I really want to take my photography to the next level this year. A few days ago, I made a HUGE purchase and bought myself a D750 Nikon body. I picked it up in Japan since it’s literally around $700 cheaper and ohhhmygosh. I’ve fallen in love. *squeeeeeee*

Learn more Norwegian.

Norwegian was my first language, but we stopped speaking it in my household when my sister and I started Kindergarten (my mom can speak English, Norwegian, and Japanese). I can understand a decent amount and speak a little, but I know it’s slipping away from me each year I get older. I really would love to become semi-fluent, so I’m going to try to start cracking down on some textbooks when I have freetime. Crossing my fingers that I’m able to stick with it!

So there ya have it! I have a million more resolutions racing around in my head, but I know it’s better to concentrate on a few rather than half-ass a ton of them.

Question of the Day: What are some of your resolutions?