The Benefits of Self-Hosting Your Site

September 1, 2013 by Christine Skari

Hey guys! On my last post I asked if anyone would be interested in me writing a post about becoming self-hosted and my thoughts on it. I got a ton of positive feedback requesting one, so here ya go!

Let’s start off with a basic definition and what web host I use.

What is self-hosting exactly?

“Self hosting is the act of having your website totally under your control. This can include you managing all whole aspects of it, from setting up the web server to installing software, to simply managing your weblog software like WordPress.”

What Web Host I Use: Bluehost!

I personally use Bluehost as my hosting site and love it. Here are some reasons why:

They have fantastic 24/7 support via phone (they called me to help me set up and to answer any questions I might have when I first signed up!), email, or live chat.
Bluehost is affordable and only cost $4.95-$6.99 a month.
WordPress only recommends three hosting services- Bluehost is it’s top choice!
It doesn’t have limits on your disk space or domains. That means you can host multiple blogs on one site!

What do you have now?

“The opposite of self-hosting is free hosting, where you use a free service to host your site. Usually this is done either through Blogger, WordPress.com, Livejournal or any other popular system. This means that you have very little control over your site other than the content and you have to follow specific TOS, which are very frequently quite limited.”

I know, I know. SNOOZEVILLE.

Try to keep your eyes from glazing over! To make it more simple (I don’t really even get what all that mumbo-jumbo means), here’s a more understandable list of what changes becoming self-hosted will bring.

Advantages:

1. More freedom over your blog code.

1. Hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of available themes/designs for your blog.

After you become self-hosted, you have much more control over how you want your blog to appear. When I first made the switch, I scrolled down the available layouts for over 30 minutes before finding the perfect fit for me, but I still haven’t seen nearly all of them.

3. Countless different plugins.

Plugins are similar to the apps you can get on your iPhone and are only available to self-hosted sites. There are countless numbers of them and each one of them serves a different purpose, is free, and you can install them with a single click.

For example, if you look at my site you can see the boxes on the side that show my latest pinterest pins, twitter feed, about me, “Share” on twitter/pinterest/facebook etc.

One of my favorites is called “EasyRecipe”, which puts my recipes in a cute and easy to read/print format. It also has an added bonus that lets a picture snippet of my recipes or blog to show up if you google me!

Plugins allow me to customize my site in any way I’d like and to bring much more of a personal feel to it. I noticed a big spike in traffic form people finding me on Google since being able to add my pictures next to my site! **Probably my favorite benefit of self-hosting!

4. Advertising and monetizing your blog.

This can be a touchy subject among bloggers, but I feel like it’s definitely worth mentioning. While I don’t blog for the purpose of making money (it’s really something I just LOVE to do), earning a little on the side from advertisements and getting to review products for free is a major bonus.

One of the biggest differences from self-hosted blogs to free-hosted blogs is that you are able to run advertisements on your blog. For example, free blogs on WordPress are banned from putting up Google advertisements and could get in serious trouble if they tried to do so.

While I don’t make a ton of money off my site, it’s more than enough to cover my monthly fees from being self-hosted and pay for my Starbucks addiction! So, in my honest opinion, it’s a win-win since making the switch to self-hosted doesn’t cost me anything (I actually make a tiny bit of profit!) and I reap a ton of benefits for my blog.

Disadvantages

As far as disadvantages, I can only really think of two:

1. You have to pay.

Like I mentioned before, this doesn’t bother me since the few ads I run and products I get to review more than make up the cost, but it definitely is a downside.

2. Setting it up can be a pain in the butt.

I was pretty frustrated for about two days after I made the switch. I feel like this comes with any new change, though, and now I have absolutely no problem navigating my site (the dashboard will still look almost exactly like your free WordPress one). Luckily, there are some pretty great guides out there to help you out with step-by-step instructions. If you’re good with technology, it shouldn’t be a problem for ya!

Let me know if you have any questions!

**If you are thinking of signing up and found this helpful, I’d love it if you could click to the site from my affiliate link :). If you go from my site to Bluehost (with this link), I get a portion of the cost they get paid from you signing up (with NO expense to you of course)! That just means I can afford more pumpkin spice lattes!

Click Here to Sign Up For Bluehost!

xo Christine

Currently Crushing On: August Edition

August 30, 2013 by Christine Skari

This is going to be the first of (hopefully) many posts on some of my reflections of my favorite things of the month! I love reading posts from other bloggers about what finds they loved, so why not join in the fun?

Makeup:

Maybelline’s Colossal Mascara:

I totally second Amanda on this one! This has been my go-to mascara for about a year now, and I LOVE it. I need to curl my lashes because they are stick straight (my Asian side saying hello), and this mascara doesn’t weigh them down and makes them look ridiculously long. Even my “Better Than Sex” mascara from Sephora can’t hold a candle to it!

Smashbox’s Bronze Lights (in Sun-kissed Matte):

This is a more recent buy of mine that has become a staple in my makeup bag and that I’m absolutely in love with. I got it at Sephora when I was vacationing in Hawaii and love how it gives me a very natural and, well, sun-kissed look without making my face look cakey! I don’t like wearing foundation in the summer because of the heat, so my go-to look involves a quick brush of this powder, a dab of blush, and some mascara. Voila! I’m good to go.

Jergen’s Natural Glow Moisturizer:

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Okay, I lied, my morning routine also involves moisturizing my face pre-makeup. This lotion evens out my skin tone and makes for a wonderful base for my Smashbox bronzer. Love it!

Brushing with Baking Soda:

08769817000_20100325160248047

I know, I know, this isn’t the best for your enamel if you do it too often, but my dentist instructed me that every so often wouldn’t do any damage. I don’t use whitening strips because I have sensitive teeth, but about once or twice a month I brush my teeth with a mixture of water and baking soda. Baking soda is mildly abrasive and can help remove surface stains on your teeth and is a heck of a lot cheaper than the $40-80 kits you find at the drugstore.

Fitness:

iPhone Apps:

Zombies-Run-Game

I mentioned this before in a separate post, but I’ve been loving my iPhone apps as resources when I’m at the gym! My two favorites? Zombies, Run! and Nike Training Club.

DIY Non-Slip Workout Headbands:

I’m still so obsessed with these headbands. These are the first headbands I’ve ever worn that stay put without endless amounts of bobby pins (I always thought I had a weirdly shaped head!). I love not having to readjust them mid-workout or deal with pins poking stabbing me.

Recipes:

Lemon Shrimp Orzo:

I prefer lighter dishes in the summer, and this Lemon Shrimp Orzo recipe is one of mine and Kyle’s favorite (he actually had leftovers of it today for lunch)!

Kabocha:

I’ve been eating roasted kabocha like a madwoman lately. It also provides me with an alternative workout just trying to cut it open and slice it. I honestly break a sweat trying to crack those things open, but it’s so worth it! Some fun facts about kabocha:

“Kabocha is like butternut squashe’s sadly underappreciated sister. A single cup of kabocha has forty calories compared to butternut squash’s 60, and has less than half of the carbs of butternut squash (7 grams vs. 16 grams). But, it tastes better… the perfect substitute.”
It’s a great source of beta-carotene (which your body converts to vitamin A). A single serving has 70% of your daily recommended amount. This means your eyes, skin, hair, and white blood cells will thank you!
Fiber. YAY POOP.
You don’t have to peel em’. When they cook, the peel softens and is so, so, so delicious with the creamy fleshy part on top.

Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles:

I still can’t get over the Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles I made a few weeks back. They’re seriously unreal!

Blogging Related:

Being self-hosted.

I made the switch about a month or so ago and haven’t looked back. It gives me SO much more freedom with my blog’s appearance and different plugins, as well as letting me monetize the site. While I certainly don’t blog for money, being able to advertise pays the cost charged by my self-hosting site several times over. (And I’m a poor college student, so it pays for my Starbucks haha!).

I was thinking about writing up a post about becoming self-hosted and what I’ve learned from it if anyone would be interested! Just let me know!

Picmonkey:

Summer sweatin'

I’m sure most of you guys know about picmonkey already! I just recently used it to create my blog header and love playing around on it to make graphic images for my workouts and recipes.

That’s all I can think of for the moment!

Question: What are some of your favorite things that you tried/experienced/made in August?

xo Christine

Quest Bar Giveaway & Review!

August 29, 2013 by Christine Skari

A little while back, I was on a mission to find and try some Quest bars. They have literally taken over the healthy living community and I was seeing them everywhere, yet couldn’t find them in any nearby stores. (Talk about taunting!)

Luckily, when I contacted Quest Nutrition, they kindly sent me over a huge sampler to try and review. To say I was excited when I saw the box sitting on my front porch would be an understatement.

I ripped opened my package, took out the coveted cookie dough flavor, and popped it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

The verdict?

Yum! The bar was perfectly sweet, sizable (not one of your puny protein bars), and ridiculously filling!

Here’s the lowdown:

High protein: “Quest Bars use cross flow filtered why protein isolate, the most expensive and highest quality protein in the world.”

Low carb: “With just 2-7g active carbs and 100% gluten free Quest Bars will help you achieve your goals no matter what thet are.”

Perfect ingredients: “Most protein bars have a list of ingredients a mile long filled with chemicals you’ve never heard of. Quest bars, on the other hand, have just a few simple ingredients.”

I’ve tried my fair share of protein bars, and let me tell you, most of the are pretty gross. Not only do they have an ingredient list chock full of things I can’t pronounce, they are basically just glorified candy bars. Being a student, I love being able to reach for a Quest bar on my way out of the door to snack on in-between meals or as a post-gym snack!

There are also a ton of different flavors, my personal favorites being the cookie dough, peanut butter, and coconut cashew bars!

Don’t get me wrong, no protein bar will ever taste like candy or sweets loaded with fat and sugar, but Quest does a remarkably good job at providing protein-packed bars that actually taste good and have phenomenal nutritional stats!

Want to try some?

Quest is sponsoring a giveaway for a similar sampler pack to the one I received!

Any reader can win (you don’t have to be a blogger), so feel free to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hope you enjoy!

xo Christine

Skinny Pumpkin Spice Brownies

August 28, 2013 by Christine Skari

When the weather starts getting colder, I turn into a pumpkin addict. I mean, I basically consider the day when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice lattes a national holiday and start planning my pumpkin-themed Thanksgiving menu a month in advance.

Quick Note: I’ve started a Facebook page for Apple of My Eye! “Like” the page to get updates on recipes, workouts, and more on your newsfeed! (I’d really appreciate it!)

While I’m really a summer girl at heart, I love and idolize the things that come with Fall. Boots, scarves, layers, you name it, I love it. (Except for actually being cold, I’m a wimp when the weather drops below 60 degrees.) That’s why I think it’s about time to start baking and cooking up a whole army of pumpkin-themed recipes, starting with these ridiculously easy skinny pumpkin spice brownies!

These brownies have a texture that’s in-between a brownie and fudge and are SO moist and dense! You can bet your pretty little face that I’ll be enjoying a few of these babies with my morning coffee for the next couple of days.

And yes, the brownies in the picture are cut to portion size!

They have a yummy pumpkin flavor and I promise they aren’t just itty-bitty bites per serving. You get a sizable brownie!

I don’t know about you, but I love splurging with treats and could easily eat 4 of these and still be much lower in calories and fat than a grocery store brownie. Win! Keep in mind that these brownies have a different taste and texture thanks to the addition to pumpkin and lack of oil and butter- but in they’re own sweet-tooth satisfying way!

Another bonus? They only require one bowl and 6 ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand.

*New format for pinning images on Pinterest! Nice and vertical :). I’d appreciate it if you pinned it!

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Brownies

Fabulous Feedback from Fabulous Readers!

“Great recipe!! Thank you for sharing! I’m a pumpkin fanatic and I also added milk chocolate and butterscotch chips to the top because I had them in my cabinet. They made the brownies look even more ‘fall festive’! I’ll definitely make these again!”- Mon “Love these brownies! Made them for my little family yesterday and half of them are gone! Even my hubby who isn’t the biggest pumpkin fan is sneaking these! I love the heavier-fudgy brownie texture. Thank you for the great recipe!”- Andra

WIAW: New Things & Let’s Eat All the Peaches

August 27, 2013 by Christine Skari

First of all, I’m super excited to share my new layout! I worked with freelancer on a site called oDesk, and he made a graphic character out of my likeness. How cool, right?!

It took me the longest time to make my banner because I kept on tweaking the font, debating whether or not my giraffe should be wearing a chef hat (the struggle), etc.

Overall, I’m happy with it, though! Let me know if you think I should add a background or keep in clean and white.

Second of all, I added a new “My Favs” page that list a couple of my favorite things involving my daily life and blogging. I’ll be adding more to it shortly, but feel free to check it out!

And lastly, tune in sometime within the next few days for a Quest Bar sampler giveaway! Woot woot!

Now, on to the food!

Breakfast: A super juicy peach and a slice of whole wheat bread with a good shmear of PB.

Lunch: A big ol’ sweet potato hash with onions, red bell pepper, lean ground beef, garlic, and corn. It definitely hit the spot and I’m planning on repeating this combo soon!

Ice Cream Break: Because every day deserves one.

Pre-Workout Snack: Another juicy peach (obsessed) and some blueberries!

Dinner: Finally getitng in some greens for the day! Dinner consisted of a Chinese chicken salad and hummus.

So those are today’s eats! Tons of good stuff in mahhh belleh.

Can’t wait to see what you guys have been munching on!

xo Christine