California Restaurant Month!

January 15, 2015 by Christine Skari

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

Ahhhhh California. Or as I like to call it, my forever home. The combination of the wonderful people, insanely gorgeous weather, and, of course, the delicious and diverse food here make it a place that I never want to leave. Whenever I leave for vacation, I always find myself equally looking forward to coming back to my coastal hometown and think every day here is such a dream! I live for the year-long sunshine and sound of the ocean waves!

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If you’re thinking about planning your next getaway, what better place to go visit than the Golden State? Not only is it the perfect place for a family vacation or much-needed retreat, but January brings with it month-long restaurant specials at participating restaurant (check out more on that at California Restaurant Month or to see Participating Destinations) . What could be better than enjoying a delicious meal with an ocean view? Trust me, nothing compares!

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At the moment, Visit California and California Restaurant Month are giving away five OpenTable gift cards, each valued at $100 and you can enter by heading over to the Dine On Us In California Contest on their Facebook page! Entering to win is a great first step to planning your Californian vacation and, who knows, you might be one of the lucky winners!

Want to join in on the fun? VisitCalifornia runs a Twitter Chat called KnifePoint every Wednesday at 11am PST- make sure you join in with the hashtag #KnifePointChat!

5-Ingredient Skillet Herbed Garlic Bread

January 14, 2015 by Christine Skari

I go through cycles of food cravings. One month, I’ll be aaalllll about Japanese food. Then I’ll move on to Mexican and then it’s OMGZ! Eat all the Vietnamese!

But one food craving never changes for me, and that’s my love for carbs. And what better way then to fuel my Italian cravings (mhmm pasta carbs) with this skillet herbed garlic bread? Carbs on carbs on carbs!

To be honest, yeast used to freak me out. I mean, it seems harmless enough in those tiny small packets, but, c’mon. Just the word “yeast” itself doesn’t sound pleasant. My face kinda does this subconscious snarl when I say it. yeast. And I know I’ve brought this up before, but I actually wrote one of my college essays about my irrational fear of baking with yeast. I will admit, it tied in and connected to another part of my life, and hey! I got into college! So apart from this absolutely delicious bread recipe, yeast also played a role in my higher education. Maybe I should stop being so mean to it 😉 . I bring this up because I know a lot of people are intimidated by recipes that involve yeast. Stop! Don’t be! It’s actually much simpler than you think, and once you’re pulling out your gorgeous loaves of bread from the oven, you’ll be kicking yourself for not using the stuff sooner- I promise!

This recipe is lightly adapted from Baker Bettie and let me tell ya, it’s mouthwatering. I’m always a little hesitant with baking bread, so the idea of making it inside a skillet made me question how the final product would turn out. Two words. Insanely good. The outside has that perfect chewy texture and is topped with rosemary, sea salt, and garlic salt to give it the most perfect combination of savory flavors! I drizzled/sprayed the top of my loaves with some olive oil to give it a gorgeous color and loved the extra taste it added. And don’t even get me started on that fluffy inside. Once you break open the steamy-hot bread with your hand, you’re greeted by the softest and most melt-in-your-mouth goodness ever! Argh, I’m drooling just typing this!

I used three mini skillets that I found at Cost Plus World Market for around $6 each. If you don’t have/can’t find mini ones, feel free to use a full-sized skillet! Just see the “Notes” section of my recipe to see the extended baking time you’ll have to wait.

Also, I’m totally counting this as a 5 ingredient recipe since water and salt don’t technically fall under the ingredient category for me. Just pretend my logic makes sense 😉 . Thanks, friends!

Best of Beauty! Nails!

January 13, 2015 by Christine Skari

Hi guys! Today I’m super excited to share a new beauty product that Kyle’s stepbrother’s daughter showed me (and yes, that was a mouthful haha!). They’re called Jamberries and, in short, they make your nails look amazing without having to pay those expensive salon prices (usually at least $25 for me, without tip) and are really easy to put on! This review is long overdue since Brittany sent me my Jams to try over a month and a half ago, but I’m so glad I finally applied them. I’ve gotten a ton of compliments and most people can’t believe they’re not professionally done.

But first, let’s meet Brittany!

I need to get this off my chest. I was OBSESSED with her son, Levi, when he was born and squealed every time I saw a picture of him on Facebook. This boy is the most beautiful little guy you’ve ever seen and he is the exact picture I have in my head when I think of the Gerber baby. Brittany recently had her second son, Luke, with her husband Matt. Such an adorable family! She is a Jamberry consultant and also just one of the sweetest ladies you’ll ever meet!

So back to Jamberries. I was, to be honest, a little hesitant about the whole application process itself since I’ve had bad experiences with painting my nails in the past. And by bad experiences, I mean I’m just incredibly impatient and always mess up my nails before they’re dried. As soon as the polish goes on, I instantly seem to need to touch ALL the things and end up having to remove all my hard work with nail polish remover since the final results are absolutely horrific haha. This application process is much more my type of deal since there is no nail-drying needed. While there are lots of different application ways to try out, I improvised with a hot potato in a sock. And no, I’m not joking. I put a potato in a sock and microwaved it. The Jamberries seal on to your nails with heat, so I simply stuck them on my nails like stickers, put the potato on, and made sure everything was nice and sealed before trimming off the edges to fit perfectly to my nail. Hey, it wasn’t the most classy of applications, but it worked!

I would highly recommend Jamberries to anyone and know I’m going to be a follow-up customer. I already have my eyes on some cute Valentines themed nail wraps and think they would make the perfect gift for my girlfriends!

If you want to get sent a free (woooo!!) accent nail Jamberry wrap to try out with your normal nail polish, comment below and I’ll send you a link to a super quick form to fill out and Brittany can send it your way to try out! You can also see more my clicking on over to her website, where you can see all the freakin’ adorable designs they have. Give me all of them 😯 .

What are some of your favorite new beauty discoveries? 😀

Reunited: The Importance of Good Relationships

January 11, 2015 by Christine Skari

There are a lot of reasons why I’m happy that I’m starting a fresh new quarter in college. A few weeks ago, I was overloaded with work, took too many challenging and time-intensive classes, and my best friend group was all torn up. Let’s just say I’m a little bitter at Ireland and Senegal for stealing Kelty and Tiana away from Lakshmi and I when they went to study abroad!

Even though we’ve all been back up in Santa Barbara for a little less than a week, it took us all till Friday to finally be fully reunited! I lived with these girlies all last year in a snug little apartment and we have a wonderful group dynamic. Even though we’re all extremely different in terms of personality, when you put us all together, we fit together like puzzle pieces and I always find myself having the most meaningful conversations, laughing the hardest, and feeling completely comfortable in my own skin when I’m with them.

I think we all have a tendency to think of “health” in terms of fitness and the foods we put into our bodies. Oftentimes we overlook the mental aspect of things and don’t consider that the conversations, positive vibes, and respect and love that we have with friends and family are just as important to our health, if not more. I cannot even begin to express the powerful positive influence these girls, and many of my other friends, have made on my life. From maintaining a positive body image, keeping an open mind and heart, finding my own self-confidence, and so much more, the people I surround myself with help me improve as a person on a daily basis.

I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but through my friends, I’ve found myself. And that’s how I think friendships should work. To me, they’re an incredible mixture of giving and receiving that involves sharing everyone’s best qualities in a way that leaves everyone involved bettered and continuously growing as individuals. What friendship should NOT be about is feeling used, belittled, judged, or like you need to put in energy and effort to please and satisfy someone who does not accept you as you are. In my opinion, you should not invest emotional energy into the those that are constantly putting you down, instead, you should work on building relationships with friends who lift you up and will, as cliche as it sounds, catch you when you fall. Good friends are ones that know you and your heart and come running to you with open arms- happy, accepting, and true. This extra sassy quote sums up my opinion on unhealthy relationships:

“Take me as I come, or watch me as I go.”

And yes, I’m actually this weird in person.

And since I don’t want to end this post with that embarrassing picture, I’m going to mention that, along with my other 2015 resolutions, I’m going to work on building even stronger bonds and relationships with all my favorite ladies and guy friends (and all my online bloggy buddies as well <3) and continue to let them influence me and challenge my current ways of thinking. 2015 is going to be a year of personal growth for me and I can’t wait to see what it brings!

Seasonal Fruits & Vegetables

January 10, 2015 by Christine Skari

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