WIAW: A Day In The Life

Today was a jam-packed day. Or, to describe it more accurately, it was an apple butter-packed day. I know, I know. Worst intro ever

Anyways, it’s been a busy day, but the fruits of my labor (okay, I promise to stop now) are paying off and I’m starting off my Winter quarter on the right foot and (hopefully) am getting into a pattern of balancing school work with cooking, workouts, blogging, friends, and Kyle

Here’s a look into my busy Tuesday with interjections of my eats courtesy of WIAW! Thanks, Jenn, for hosting! 

My day started around 6:10 a.m and I groggily checked my phone, which I keep on a desk next to my bed. Now that I think about it, I probably am going to end up from some sort of unknown cancer from having all those cell phone rays (is that even a thing) so close to my brain. Anyways, I digress. So I opened my phone, read some emails, promptly read them over again because I can’t understand or compute anything at 6:10 in the morning, and then nimbly dropped it on my face because I have the world’s best motor skills. Not fun, but it certainly woke me up! 

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I crawled out of bed, took a shower, half-did my makeup, read and commented on a few lovely blogs, and ate a breakfast of yogurt, cottage cheese, and fruit. (Too boring to post a picture).

Then, I rushed to my 8 a.m Organic Chemistry class and sat through a long lecture. By the end of it, my brain juices were basically depleted, so I used the 40 minutes between my Chemistry and French class to grab a mocha from our campuses’ cafe and browse Pinterest/answer a few emails on my iPad mini (thanks Dad- I love it!).

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Then, it was off to my French class, followed by an interesting biology lecture on ecology. While I had a busy day, I was done with class by 12:30 and had plenty of time to work on non-school related things!

I came back to my apartment, cleaned up the living room/took down Christmas decorations, started making my Pumpkin Spice Apple Butter while watching Dexter on Netflix, and prepared a fast and easy lunch. I know it sounds like a weird combo, but that apple butter (which tastes like the inside of an apple pie, by the way) pairs AMAZINGLY with cottage cheese. I made a big batch to have as a healthy, protein-packed snack or breakfast.DSC_1828 DSC_1831I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet before, but I recently was contacted and hired by a women’s fitness and health website as a freelance writer (!!!). This is actually the second job opportunity that I’ve had directly due to Apple of My Eye, and I can’t even express how cool it is to have a hobby lead to new work experiences! Anyways, one of my first couple assignments is to create a recipe and write a corresponding post with it.

Here’s a small (unbaked) teaser of the healthy Apple Crumble Fruit Bars I created! 

DSC_1846After the bars were done baking, I walked over to a nearby small gym that is owned by our apartment complex and did 25 minutes of a HITT elliptical workout, followed by a 20 minute interval workout on the treadmill. To round everything off, I did a few arm and leg exercises (holy jump lunges). 

IMG_3983Once I got back, I snacked on a banana while I cooked up some panko crusted salmon, Balsamic Garlic Brussels Sprouts, and brown rice for dinner for Kyle and I. Kyle was off playing tennis till 9 at night, so I wanted to make sure he had a good dinner waiting for him when he got back!

IMG_3990 IMG_3992Post-dinner work included writing up most of the article for my recipe, replying to a few more emails, and studying a bit for my classes. Oh, and a bit of online shopping on Hautelook. How cute is this?!

Cute pink workout topNow, time to sleep!

~Christine 

WIAW: Delicious Eats and Man-Doll

Hello lovelies! 

I hope life has been treating all you perfect people well and that you’re ready for my weekly WIAW post (I know it’s the highlight of your week, obviously). My eats have been pretty delicious, but my photos aren’t up to par. Sometimes you can’t beat the convenience of snapping a quick pic with your iPhone! Anyways, tallyho! 

Breakfast: a simple cereal bowl with cheerios and mini wheats. Milk added after, since soggy cereal is my biggest enemy.

DSC_1167Snackage: trail mix! Cashews and chocolate=my life.

IMG_2928Lunch: I’ve been getting a Chipotle craving every week or so, and my belly was quite satisfied to have an enormous salad bowl with all the fixings. Well, minus the spicy salsa. Fun fact: I basically have no tolerance for spice whatsoever. Like, zero. 

IMG_2846Dinner: homemade pizza with a garlic-infused crust! I tried out using part whole wheat to make it, and it turned out fabulous! Add an extra slice to the picture, it was too good to resist ;). 

IMG_2938Dessert: fresh blueberries! The perfect post-dinner sweetness.

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In other non-food related news, I went shopping with Kyle for some new clothes and had a blast dressing him up. He’s like my own personal man-doll.

IMG_2926Anddd that’s about all I have, folks! 

Can’t wait to see all of your eats as well!

xo Christine 

WIAW: Tangy Toasted Coconut Fruit Salad & Random Bites

Howdy everyone! Hope everyone is successfully getting over the humpiness that is Wednesday. My eats on Tuesday were sporadic and pretty random as my appetite wasn’t what it usually is. I didn’t have a very concrete meal except for breakfast (it was delicious, by the way!) As always, thanks to Jenn for hosting!

Side note: This is last 24 hours of my giveaway for a copy of Tasty Food Photography! The recipe you see below was taken and edited using tips from the book. I’ve found in enormously helpful and can’t believe how much it’s already improved my photography (in less than a week)! Click here to go to the giveaway post! 

My day started with a quick trip to the gym before breakfast. I played tennis with Kyle on Sunday and to say I’ve been sore would be a huge understatement. Holy mother of the Big Man’s son, my entire back is one big knot! I took the next day off and shook myself out with 15 minutes of incline walking and 20 minutes of stationary biking. Nice and easy. Now, on to breakfast!

DSC_1073I made this cool and creamy fruit salad that was absolutely delicious! Tangy greek yogurt blended together perfectly with the sweet fruit and the toasted coconut brought a delightfully tropical twist to it. I highly reccomend it and have been snacking on it multiple times a day! Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give it a try!

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Since I ended up snacking the entire day, here are a few of my other eats!

I’m in love with a new cup I just recently purchased from Home Goods ($4)! You know that feeling when a cup fits perfectly in your hand and holds just the right amount of morning coffee and you know it was a match made in heaven? No? Just me? 

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The lemon bars were definitely one of the highlights of my day! The best lemon bars I’ve ever had, by far! I don’t know about you, but I love mine extra tart :).

What’s the best thing you ate today?

xoxo Christine


WIAW #4

Hello and happy hump day! Since I usually post what I eat on Tuesday, I decided to just include the other things that went on yesterday as well.

Breakfast: Fruit salad with granola and cottage cheese for some protein. COFFEE!

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 Lunch: Hayuuuggeee salad with some honey mustard dressing. And a SUPER delicious spiced chicken burrito as well.

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Dinner: Spaghetti with both meat sauce and pesto sauce with some caesar salad and a small piece of garlic bread.

IMG_2347I wasn’t feeling at all hungry, so dinner was a little on the small side for me.

Snackage: The lazy girl’s way of eating a banana and PB.

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 After eating, I read some blogs and got inspired to go on a run. Let me tell you, running after a spaghetti dinner is probably the worst idea anyone has ever had in the existance of forever. I ran two miles before calling it quits and walking a quarter of a mile home.

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I love UCSB!

I love UCSB!

 I felt pretty gross and sick, but the walk back helped me get back some bounce to my step and I joined some friends for Zumba! We even managed to persuade Hot Ryan to come dance with us. That boy sure knows how to get down and shake dat ass ;). He particularly excels at the sultry dance moves.

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Sexy and he knows it!

Zumba Group

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#divas

Zumba was a ton of fun, but like usual, I looked like a total goof trying to keep up with the instructor. My sport since I was 5 years old has always been soccer (I was captain of a Club team for the last 6 years!) and I’m the most uncoordinated person ever when it comes to dancing. I kid you not when I say that Hot Ryan is a better dancer than I am ;).

After our workout, some of my main ladies and I tried out a homemade honey facial. I’m not sure if it actually worked any magic on my skin, but it tasted delicious!

The rest of the night is going to include a coffee/chocolate date with my love bug and studying a bit for my upcoming finals. DSC_0752

One happy camper

One happy camper

4 lbs!!

4 lbs!!

I hope everyone else had some wonderful eats as well!

xoxo Christine

WIAW #4

Hello and happy hump day! Since I usually post what I eat on Tuesday, I decided to just include the other things that went on yesterday as well.

Breakfast: Fruit salad with granola and cottage cheese for some protein. COFFEE!

IMG_2341

 Lunch: Hayuuuggeee salad with some honey mustard dressing. And a SUPER delicious spiced chicken burrito as well.

IMG_2343 IMG_2344

Dinner: Spaghetti with both meat sauce and pesto sauce with some caesar salad and a small piece of garlic bread.

IMG_2347I wasn’t feeling at all hungry, so dinner was a little on the small side for me.

Snackage: The lazy girl’s way of eating a banana and PB.

IMG_2091

 After eating, I read some blogs and got inspired to go on a run. Let me tell you, running after a spaghetti dinner is probably the worst idea anyone has ever had in the existance of forever. I ran two miles before calling it quits and walking a quarter of a mile home.

IMG_2352IMG_2365

I love UCSB!

I love UCSB!

 I felt pretty gross and sick, but the walk back helped me get back some bounce to my step and I joined some friends for Zumba! We even managed to persuade Hot Ryan to come dance with us. That boy sure knows how to get down and shake dat ass ;). He particularly excels at the sultry dance moves.

IMG_2364

Sexy and he knows it!

Zumba Group

IMG_2362

#divas

Zumba was a ton of fun, but like usual, I looked like a total goof trying to keep up with the instructor. My sport since I was 5 years old has always been soccer (I was captain of a Club team for the last 6 years!) and I’m the most uncoordinated person ever when it comes to dancing. I kid you not when I say that Hot Ryan is a better dancer than I am ;).

After our workout, some of my main ladies and I tried out a homemade honey facial. I’m not sure if it actually worked any magic on my skin, but it tasted delicious!

The rest of the night is going to include a coffee/chocolate date with my love bug and studying a bit for my upcoming finals. DSC_0752

One happy camper

One happy camper

4 lbs!!

4 lbs!!

I hope everyone else had some wonderful eats as well!

xoxo Christine