Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2015 by Christine Skari

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

I hope you’re relaxing and spending time with those you love. Kyle and I have plans to go on a beach walk and to try a new-to-us steakhouse in downtown Santa Barbara. I’m excited to get all dolled up and go on a nice date!

Anddd now I’m going to post a photo-overload of some of the amazing photos that the amazingly-talented Natalie Schutt. I started following her on Instagram because I absolutely adored her gorgeous photography and jumped at an offer she had on couple photos! She randomly suggested that we meet in our hometown, so things worked out perfectly and Kyle and I had a nice weekend at home and had some photos done at the local cliffs/lighthouse. If you’re ever in the Southern California area, I couldn’t recommend her more .

Natalie did such a fantastic job capturing Kyle and I being goofy and ourselves. I love this boy and it makes my heart so happy to have such beautiful photos with him!

I hope your day is filled with an abundance of love and your weekend it lovely and relaxing

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things Giveaway!

February 13, 2015 by Christine Skari

Hiya friends!

This giveaway has been a long time coming and I’ve had the concept in my mind for a while. For the last 4 months or so, I’ve been gradually picking up small things that catch my eye for a “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things” giveaway! Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I’ve decided to finally get around to hosting it as a “thank you” for supporting Apple of My Eye and being some of the best internet friends a gal could ask for <3.

I’ve accumulated cute cooking tools, sparkly gold earrings, a workout headband, a package of my favorite green tea lattes, and a few other treats that I hope will make you guys smile! I’ve done giveaways in the past, but they have all been product-based from companies who have put together the packages. But not this one! This one is hand-picked with love, and though it’s not huge, it’s got a lot of heart in it .

I hope you guys enjoy this! The giveaway will last for 4 days and you can enter my simply following the Rafflecopter steps below. Love ya’ll!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Berry Protein Shake

February 12, 2015 by Christine Skari

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

The weather in California has been on par lately. Usually, we get at least some semblance of “winter”, but this December and January have been especially warm. It’s been in the low 70s with lots of sunshine, so my college has been filled with girls in shorts, crop tops, and sandals. And I’m not complaining- especially when the warm weather inspires me to create super delicious and protein-packed cold recipes like this Berry Protein Smoothie!

To make this recipe, I used a new-to-me product, Renew Life Skinny Gut Vanilla Shake protein powder, and loved the extra nutrition it gave me! While I’m usually more of a chocolate kinda girl, the vanilla flavor paired perfectly with the frozen berries I had on hand and was a fantastic switch-up from my normalprotein shake recipe. The frozen berries and nonfat greek yogurt gave a tasty creaminess that was complimented by the vanilla flavoring of the protein powder that left me scraping my glass (yes, I’m weird and like to drink my blended beverages with spoons hahah) when I finished it. Nothing gives you a case of the sads more that finishing something tasty!

This shake helped me recover and cool down after a sweaty 5 mile run and I can’t wait to sip on some more creations after I lift weights tomorrow! I can see myself experimenting with all sorts of protein-packed baked goods and trying out a variation of cookies and cream shakes with it. The possibilities are endless!

And in case you’re wondering, check out the killer nutritional facts about this Renew Life Skinny Gut Ultimate Shakes protein powder! Wowza!

20 grams of Organic, Grain-free Protein from seeds and legumes to help guild muscle*
10 grams of Prebiotic Organic Fiber, including acacia fiber, to help curb appetite by helping you feel full*
10 Billion live Ultimate Flora™ Probiotic cultures providing specially selected strains to support healthy gut balance*
Organic Fruit and Veggie Antioxidant blend plus vitamins and minerals to nourish cells.*
Full-spectrum Digestive Enzyme blend to support healthy digestion and help optimize nutrient availability.*
Low fat and low calorie
Available in delicious natural vanilla and Renew Life Skinny Gut Chocolate Shake flavors
No Artificial Ingredients or Preservatives
No Added Sugar
Gluten & Dairy Free
No GMOs
Vegan

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Mom’s Simple Prosciutto & Beet Arugula Salad

February 11, 2015 by Christine Skari

Oh hi there, you gorgeous salad.

I forgive you for making me scratch my head in frustration over what to name you for the entire time I was writing/editing this post. It’s hard to name something that has so many note-worthy ingredients that I want to keep in the recipe title, yet I also want to underline how simple and easy this salad is to make. I don’t know about you, but whenever I see big and shmancy foreign words like prosciutto and arugula in a recipe, I tend to shrug my shoulders like ehhhhh and head to the freezer to pull out a microwavable meal. I finally settled with my Mom’s Simple Prosciutto & Beet Arugula Salad, but that doesn’t include the yummy balsamic dressing, sweet tomatoes, and feta cheese.

Arghhhhh… the struggles of being a food blogger…

I guess true love (liiiikee the one this salad and I have <3) involves your heart strings being pulled a bit 😉 .

So let’s chat a bit about this salad!

The stars of the show include plump juicy beets, salty prosciutto, peppery arugula, and a stupidly easy dressing. And when I say stupidly easy, I mean it. When I asked my mom to make this recipe for the blog (hi mom!) and to measure how she makes her dressing so I could give you guys accurate proportions, she gave me a skeptical stare. My mom is the kind of cook who never measures anything, so the thought of pulling out the measuring spoons to get a ratio had her rolling her eyes. It involves just two ingredients (olive oil and balsamic vinegar) and, if you’re my mom, you just pour both on until it “feels right”.

This is the salad that has my steak-and-potato-loving dad asking for it exclusively for dinner. That’s a big deal folk! The man grew up on a rural potato farm in the Norwegian countryside, so his tastebuds have come a long way. I don’t want to give you the impression that he knows how to cook (he has yet to master the microwave and could burn water), but he can appreciate a great combination of flavors and texture that makes this healthy salad a winner!

While we love having some prosciutto in this recipe, if you’re vegetarian or aren’t a big fan of it, feel free to leave it out! Serve with some crusty baguette and wine and you’re in for a goooood night!

Breezy Chambray

February 9, 2015 by Christine Skari

Hi all you party people! I’m currently typing up this post at 11:38 p.m and trying to string together some coherent sentences before hitting the hay. Kyle and I just got back to Santa Barbara after a fun weekend at home. We decided to head back to our hometown on Friday for an amazing Valentine’s photo shoot and I am incredibly excited to see how they turned out! And yup, I might have just squealed a little inside from the anticipation of seeing our first real set of professional photos edited. AHHH.

Anyways, I had two outfits that I had in mind for our couple’s photo shoot, but ended up wearing a floral maxi dress. This outfit was the runner-up, but I still loved how girly and breezy it was so Kyle helped me snap a few photos around my backyard/neighborhood to share on the blog . Both the chiffon skirt and chambray top were purchased at Forever21 for under $20 each, which makes this college girl pretty darn happy. I’m not all that huge on buying for the sake of brand names, so any sale item that is both functional and cute are right up my alley! To top the outfit off, I added a chunky coral statement necklace that brought a burst of color in.

chiffon skirt (Forever21) // chambray top (Forever21) // leather purse (Michael Kors) // coral statement necklace (Francesca’s Collection)

Stay tuned for a yummy and light salad recipe tomorrow annddddd a small giveaway that includes a few of my favorite things soon! Hope all of you had an amazing weekend .