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Hello there!  I can’t believe that it is just about mid-August.  Where does the time go?  Seriously. Where is my ‘stop time so I can think’ machine?  I hope you all had a nice weekend and are soaking up the last few moments of summer.  I experimented with a curry recipe this weekend which didn’t turn out the best, tried to get organized with the randomness of my desk, had some contemplative moments about life, went for a bike ride, and attended a friend’s margarita party.  But first . . . . and foremost . . .

Holy Moly!

Chris made a slick move on me Friday evening and slipped this on the table without me noticing.  I couldn’t believe it and I about had a heart attack.  Our anniversary is coming up and his old boss was selling all his Canon gear, so he got dibbs on this macro beauty.

And let me tell you . . . I have no idea how to use it, ha!  I’ve been trying to read up and experiment, but boy I have a lot to learn.  I think the lighting is really going to be key because this lens is sensitive to bad lighting, which we have a lot of in our house.  I also have to get a smaller table because you have to be fairly far away for shot with a 100mm.

A few experiments . . .

I didn’t have enough fruit sweetness for this green smoothie in a bowl and it didn’t taste that good, but looks pretty!

Little hairs on the raspberry!  The lighting is pretty terrible, but you get the idea!  Now if only it was a 1-5x macro I would be able to see the hair on the tip of the hair hehe

I’ve been having a lot of yogurt in a bowl lately, mixed with a scoop of cottage cheese, Any Whey protein + nuts, fruit and peanut butter on top.  Oh yes and in a cute new bowl from Home Goods 🙂  Love that place!

This next one I was messing with aperture, meaning how much light the camera lets in.  This aperture is fairly closed at f/11, meaning the shutter speed has to be slower to let more light in and focus.

This next one, I widened the aperture to f/3.5 and see how it blurs the background and accentuates the raspberry?  Pretty neat, but I think I like the first one better?

I also got a little gadget called the puffer which helps with softening the flash.  I’ll probably only use this when I need to get portraits in weird lighting, but it’s pretty neat too.

The first picture of the bananas is just plain, nasty flash. ick.

The next one has the puffer attached and it’s not the best, but a bit better and softer!

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Ok, and now for my curry experiment. . .  It was ok, but not the best.  Le sigh.  I think it was the tofu I used though.  I wanted to try TJ’s higher protein tofu, but it was super firm and the texture wasn’t right with me.  I like when tofu is not too firm, but slightly soft. I’ll have to get a softer version next time.  The tofu was very bland as well.  I think I need to experiment with marinating it first because the second day the recipe was a bit better.

I don’t have a cool Tofu Xpress, but used a handy tupperware that was just too short for it and pressed it down with the lid and stuffed paper towels around it.

We shall try again next time.  BTW, the next day I toasted up a corn tortilla, topped it with the curry mix, an egg, and sliced avocado and it was tasty!

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Now for some margaritas!!!  I know India to Mexico? but hey it’s all good!

My friend had a margarita-inspired party to show off her cute margarita glasses she got at Pier One for her birthday.

There was lots of tequila involved and she definitely has the good, aged stuff.  That black bottle is sourced from her home town. Very neat!

Kristen made a killer black bean salsa that was very tasty and she said it was super easy.  Go check it out!

So here was my first one, but I didn’t like the flavor of the mango mix too much and only had a few sips.  Those glasses are so huge!

I started with some chips and salsa.

And then it was time for some Mexican lasagna mmm this was good.  This would be a great recipe for the week because it make a butt-load and would be tasty for leftovers.

The filling of ground beef, spices and beans was layer between cheese and lasagna noodles.  Kind of like an Italian-twist, no?

Oh yes I went for some more salsa! munch munch munch

Here was my second attempt and the strawberry mix was much tastier and the liquor was sure smooth.

A little messing around Photoshop which is another thing I have absolutely no idea about.  That program is sure neat, but there is so much to learn and takes lots of time.

We are silly!  It’s funny when we get together because we take a bagillion photos while everyone else must think we’re crazy.  It’s fun!

Oh yes and dessert!!  Our lovely hostess made a chocolate cake version of Tres Leches.  It was moist and lover-ly.

Awwww Louie!!  Isn’t her doggie cute?  He’s such a ham.

I actually made it to body pump this morning with Kristen and her sista, it was fun!  Then I ran around for some errands and did a bit of cleaning.  Now, I better get dinner going.  I’m thinking cumin-crusted salmon salad.

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Have you had any fun parties inspired by a theme?