Thinking Out Loud…

February 4, 2015 by Christine Skari

Anddd hello all you friendly faces! Long time no chat.

I’ve been MIA lately since I just finished my first round of midterms (I had genetics on Friday and Biochemistry on Tuesday), which means that I don’t spend any time online or doing fun things like interacting with all of you guys . But hey! I’m done and am excited to join in with Amanda today for some random thoughts! This week has been flying by, and come Friday night, Kyle and I will be making a quick trip to our hometown to do a mini couple’s photo shoot. An amazingly talented photographer I follow on Instagram offered a fantastic deal, so Kyle and I decided to treat ourselves and get some nice photos of the two of us. And by that, I mean I sweet-talked him into it (not hard to do with an easy-going guy like Kyle) 😉 .

Anyways, not sure where I was going with that introduction, but let’s move on!

Spending more time on things you love…

Nothing makes you appreciate free time more than being super stressed, over-caffeineted, and sleep-deprived for a week. Today, after my one morning class, I grabbed lunch with Kyle at a local bagel shop and then spent an hour just walking around and taking time to concentrate on a little creativity. Have you ever stopped and thought about how, when we get older, we stop playing? I remember being able to amuse myself for HOURS on end with stuffed animals, pebbles, and other kids I had just met. Things were so simple and there was never a time were I felt bored or under-stimulated. The world was my playground. It makes me all sorts of sad to think that I’ve lost that part about me. While I don’t think rocks would interest me as much these days, I’m working on “playing” in my own adult ways (woah woah woah guess I’m techinically a grown-up now) by taking more time with my favorite creative outlet: photography. My goal is to shoot at least once a day (even if it’s just a crummy iPhone picture), then gather all my photos together at the end of each year and see all the places I’ve gone, people I’ve talked to, and things I’ve learned.

Here are some photos from today! Including one hell of a gorgeous friend who offered to model for me so I could practice my portrait photography and one hell of an amazing bagel. I think I’ve ordered this three times this week 😯 . Poppy seed bagel with light cream cheese, lox, and fresh onions <3.

Speaking of photography…

I’ve been loving watching my new friend, Abbie, grow as a photographer and work towards her dream of capturing weddings! We both went to the same middle school (I think?), but ended up at rival high schools in our hometown. I’ve only recently connected with her through our mutual love of photography, and get so excited when I see her post new glimpses of her work on her Instagram! Such a gorgeous girl and I love how shared passions can bring you closer to someone you’ve never really known!

I’ve been running…

YOU GUYS. GUESS WHAT I DID. I ran 6 miles tonight with my roommate Abbie. Which is officially the longest I’ve ever ran before. We didn’t go super fast (a 10:13 pace according to my beautiful new Garmin) since Abbi had eaten nachos right before we ran (laughed out loud when I wrote that out… typical college kid move), but I am so proud of myself! I’ve never considered myself a huge runner, so the fact that I finished 6 and felt fantastic at the end amazes me. I felt like I could have kept on running forever and totally understand how people get addicted to running.

Green tea latte game is still going strong…

Still addicted to these things. My stash isn’t close to running out, but I have a minor freakout every time I open a packet since I know the end is inevitable. Luckily, my mom found more of these beauties at a Japanese grocery store. *pumps fist in the air victoriously*

And on the note of green tea lattes…

Get ready for a fun giveaway that I’m going to be starting in a little! Hint: the name of the giveaway is “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things” and include a bunch of supahhhh adorable things that I think you guys will love! Stay tuned 😀 .

And that’s all I got for you guys today! I’m typing this up and just realized that running 6 miles for the first time makes you damn tired. Time for bed!

Best of January!

February 1, 2015 by Christine Skari

So here we are. One month into the 2015 and January has passed me by like whaaaaat. I think it’s completely crazy how fast the time flies. It feels like just a week ago that I was in Japan for the holidays and then someone mysteriously pressed the fast-forward button on my life. Now we’re into February and I’m hoping to get in some really adorable, love-themed recipes for ya’ll!

I’m taking today to talk about some of my favorite posts and recipes from January.

The Food:

Baked Teriyaki Asian Meatballs

These totally are going to be a repeat dinner at my house! Big meatballs that are covered with the most perfect sweet-and-salty teriyaki sauce. To die for!

5-Ingredient Skillet Herbed Garlic Bread

STILL swooning over this. Fluffy and flavorful bread that’s topped with rosemary and sea salt- all made in mini skillets!

Breakfast Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

Because, c’mon, you can’t go wrong with anything chocolate and peanut butter flavored 😉 .

Healthy Weeknight Spaghetti Bolognese

A big favorite for me and Kyle! It’s super speedy and chock full of veggies to boot 😀 .

Iced Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

I absolutely loved these and they were gone when I came back two hours later from class! Dense muffins with plump berries- you can’t go wrong! I also was pretty proud of how my photos turned out. I’m always really lazy when it comes to styling my food, so I put in an extra 5 minutes (I told you I’m really lazy haha) and am so glad I did!

The Life:

On Letting Go

Probably one of the posts I’m most proud of on the blog. The overwhelming support I got from you guys means the world to me!

Reunited: The Importance of Good Relationships

Becauseee I love these girls more than life and having them come back to me after studying abroad made me feel super sentimental 😉 .

Porcelain Chic

My first outfit post! I decided I wanted to incorporate more of my lifestyle into my blog, which means asking Kyle to help me get some photos on that one day of the week when I’m not in sweats or workout clothes haha. Just tryin’ to keep it real here.

Celebrated Kyle’s Birthday!

Love love LOVE this boy and was so happy to celebrate with him! I made a big batch of my Decadent S’mores Cupcakes and Vanilla Cupcakes with Hazelnut Frosting for a party I threw for him. Both turned out divine!

The Fitness:

I signed up for my first half marathon! Training has been going well and I’ve been getting through all my runs. I didn’t think these words would ever come form my mouth, but running is addicting. To all those marathoners and cross country runners: I take back everything I used to think about you guys being crazy! Running is such an exhilarating way of moving your body.

Wheewwww. Looking back, January was a pretty successful blogging month for me! I decided to sign up for an easier schedule this quarter (going back to my post on letting go) and it has made a huge difference for me in terms of being able to put more of my heart into my blog. Can’t wait to see what February has in store for me!

Question of the Day: What’s one of the highlights from January for you?

Iced Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

January 27, 2015 by Christine Skari

Is it just me, or does it feel like an iced berry oatmeal breakfast muffin day?

Any of the following responses will do:

a.) DUH

b.) HECK YEA

c.) TEN. GIVE ME TEN. Wait, ALL OF THEM.

Healthy Iced Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

Every morning for the last 3 weeks has followed somewhat of the same pattern. I get up at 6:45, basically fall down the stairs on my quest to get some liquid gold (aka coffee) into my veins, log on to my Bloglovin (shameless plug hehe) to read as many of my fellow bloggers posts as possible, realize it’s 15 minutes before I have to leave for class/head out for my run, rush rush rush to get ready, and either miss out on breakfast alltogether or grab a bar on my way out the door. I be moving like zooooooooom.

And guess what. Come the end of my lecture, I’m either starving or gettings all sorts of sad because I missed out on a real breakfast for a lousy little granola bar. I mean, I’m a healthy-ish food blogger for cryin’ out loud. I think I can do better than a pre-packaged snack for breakfast! And these put bars to shame because amidst the gloriously juicy and plump berries and vanilla icing, there’s fiber and healthy carbs and are those trumpet I’m hearing? Unleash the celebratory breakfast muffins trumpets!

These are very dense and filling due to the whole wheat flour and oats and contain no butter and are sweetened mostly by bananas and just a leeeetle sugar in the batch. And those perfectly tart berries? Don’t even get me started. They make me… berry happy. Also, can we just ignore how bad that pun was? You guys da best.

For those of you who like a bit of extra sweetness and prettiness, you can also add on the optional vanilla glaze. And by that I mean, DO IT.

This Week In Food & Fitness

January 25, 2015 by Christine Skari

This weekend absolutely flew by for me. Saturday was Kyle’s birthday, so I started off the morning with a 3 mile run before grabbing a poppy seed bagel with lox with him and then eating our breakfast at a lovely ocean-side park. That night, we had a fun party for him that involved surprise homemade cupcakes, good friends, and the normal college shenanigans. I made vanilla cupcakes with hazelnut frosting + berries and mint garnish and Decadent S’mores Cupcakes (on the SS website!) for everyone, and both were deeeelish!

Oh! And I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I’m starting to train for my first half marathon! A bunch of my housemates and I are taking the plunge and signing up for one in gorgeous Solvang, where we will be running through the cute Danish-esq town and around horse pastures. I’m a little nervous, but I know that if I train right and put in the miles, I’ll have a great experience! We aren’t following a crazy/super rigid training plan since our schedules sometimes make it hard to run on planned days, but this is our cute little refrigerator running chart:

Basically, we aim to complete the listed runs during the week whenever we can make time for it. Then, we get to give ourselves a happy little checkmark! I’ve noticed that running with other people makes the time pass so much quicker and overall make the whole workout more enjoyable, so doing the 13.1 miles with some of my best girlfriends will be a blast!

I also splurged and bought a Garmin yesterday, so brace yourself for some of those stereotypical post-run wrist photos 😉 .

Here’s my plan in terms of food and fitness for the week. Kyle and I usually keep breakfasts simple and our lunches are mostly sandwiches/leftovers, so I’m only listing the dinners we have going for us:

Monday: Salmon Teriyaki with Brown Rice & Veggies // 3 mile run + yoga class

Tuesday: Chicken & Sweet Potato Bake with Garlic Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts // 3 mile run + weights

Wednesday: Mom’s Beef Soup // rest day!

Thursday: Eat out! // 5 mile run

Friday: Leftovers from Mom’s Beef Soup // weights

Saturday: Roasted Red Beet & Quinoa Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette // rest day!

Sunday: Healthy Garlic Lemon Shrimp Orzo // 3 mile run + abs

Andddd it’s off to bed for me!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

January 23, 2015 by Christine Skari

I just wanted to take a quick minute on this lovely Saturday to wish my favorite guy a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

You mean the world to me and I can’t even begin to express how much I love you. Thank you for always loving and supporting me unconditionally and being, without a doubt, my best friend. It’s been such a blessing to have had you in my life these last 4+ years and I can’t wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you .

Love you to the moon and back, lovebug!

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