Risotto oh no

On the left you can see the picture of the risotto I tried to make (a "creamy corn and garlic risotto" from Betty Crocker).  The right is what I came up with...a soggy, only slightly cheesy, super garlicky, hard to stomach but still ate it anyway risotto. Very disappointing.  It was my attempt at using my leftovers again, this tme a failure. 

You may also notice that that picture does not have the beautiful amateur photographer quality of someone using a brand new dslr.  That's because I've yet to turn the new camera on.  Fact about me: I tend to buy gadgets, clothes, self help books, cookbooks or craft items but then not use them until a few months later.  I don't know if it's that I'm way too excited I don't want to ruin the moment or my fear that the more I use it the more ruined it will get or maybe I'm just strange.  That's ok, everyone has their quirks.  The saving money blogs I religiously read would hate this behavior.  I personally like the feeling of finding a brand new dress in my closet that I completely forgot I purchased.  Or looking through a cookbook a few months later and discovering a recipe I never knew I possessed.  My dad hates this behavior.  As I've often said, his favorite statement is waste not want not, which to him means that if you buy something you must use it right away.  Again, everyone has their quirks.  He reads instruction manuals cover to cover before using an item.  My mom always picks up a box of pasta at the grocery store even though we have a cabinet full.  My neighbor likes to line his garbage bags up outside of my doorway instead of putting them into the garbage can.  Everyone has their quirks.

Anyway, dinner wasn't satisfying and even though I saved the leftovers, there's a strong chance they will see the garbage before they see the inside of my stomach.  Good thing, I found a box of microwave popcorn in my cabinet that I purchased a few months ago. 

My Eyes Hurt

The title of this entry has nothing to do with the entry.  I just thought I'd state a fact. My eyes do indeed hurt.  They are incredibly dry.  It feels like my contact slipped but I don't wear contacts anymore (yay lasik). Driving me crazy.

Today I read my horoscope on my phone and it told me all my relationships will be shallow and short-lived.  It also warned me to be careful what I eat otherwise I'll get intestinal pains.  I didn't know all pisces in the world suffered from IBS.  Whatever, horoscope, I defied your logic and ate chili tonight.  I threw out so much unused (and rotten) food last week. I really wanted to get better at using all of my leftovers.  So tonight I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge..I put the chili on top of it and it was like eating a delicous shepard's pie.  I saved some for lunch tomorrow and froze the rest.  Waste not want not as my dad always says. I still don't really get that saying.

On a completely unrelated note, I finally mastered the bind-it-all.  Actually not really mastered, more like slightly conquered.  The worst part of the machine is that it doesn't come with the owires required to do the actual binding....so in reality it's just a giant pink hole puncher.  The project I'm working on is still slightly secretive, but here's a little glimpse of the binding magic:



And here's a little glimpse of the inside...just because I was really happy I made the base of this patterned page out of ribbon:



Bind it None

So tonight I decided to learn how to use the bind-it-all machine so I can begin working on my secret mini album.  I thought..because the words on the box were so promising..that it would be really really easy. The box lied. 

I wish my camera phone worked properly so I could show you the disaster pile I accumulated before I got the hang of it (or kind of got the hang of it).  It took at least 10 tries to finally get the holes to line up correctly.  Then I thought I could do all pages at once, as falsely advertised to me, but not all pages fit...so I had to punch holes two by two (hoping that in the end the holes will all line up).   When the frustration of punching holes was complete I tried to attach the "o-wire" (immature me kept laughing at that name). Six tries later, I could not get the O-wire to make an actual O.  After much internet research I realized the owires I bought are too big.  So I ordered smaller ones on Amazon.  Luckily I can start working on the album without binding it.

The whole deal left me not only frustrated but completely exhausted. So now I'm just going to sit down and watch Extreme Couponing. 

Life Unbalanced

I apologize for being a terrible blogger or maybe just bad at life? Actually, life is pretty good.  I've been so busy and I'm never busy.  I've been going out every weekend, a few days during the week, staying out until 5am, spending Sundays in my pajamas.  It's like I'm back in college all over again, except I thankfully don't have to write any papers while nursing a vicious hangover.  I knew dying my hair brown would get my mojo back. 

The only problem with an active social life is other parts of my life suffer...like my finances and my two faithful blog readers.  There's no scrapping going on around here.  I didn't even play with my new camera yet ack!! 

Well after I finally catch up on much needed sleep, I have two goals.  One is to learn how to use my new camera and two is to learn how to use the awesome machine pictured below.



It's a bind-it-all! As the name suggests it binds...it..all.  I need to learn how to use it so I can make the secret mini album that's in my head but not quite yet on paper.

That's all the updates for now. I promise my next entries will be funnier and peppier.  I actually can't make those kinds of promises...

I have a new toy

I know I haven't written in a while.  I've been under the weather the past two weeks but I feel great now.  So great that I bought myself a new toy! I'm so so so so excited.  I used my tax refund to stimulate the economy and purchase my first ever DSLR:

Look how cute it is!  I love my Sony point and shoot but I also went with the Sony because it was so affordable.  $500 for the camera, lens, memory card and camera case!! Insane deal.  The camera is cheaper also because it doesn't shoot video. That's not a feature I need, I never take videos.  The only problem is I don't have a disk drive to upload the software but I think it will be OK.  I'm sure I can download it from their website.

I can't wait to use it! I'm waiting impatiently for the battery to charge. Once I start taking pictures I'll post some of them here.  I'll also start scrapbooking again. Yay!