When I came back to it, custom orders had closed down!
But a whole bunch of new creative designs had surfaced.

Well, it’s only sensible to check out the true colors of the acrylic before spending more on a custom design, isn’t it?

And so I ordered two necklaces – the “kawaii bow” in bubblegum pink and the crown in mirror pink.

I ordered on February 20th, it shipped on the 24th and arrived March 3rd.

かわいいbow:

(even the holes for hanging the chain are hearts! how cute! ♥)

crown:

I don’t like mirror pink as much as I thought I would – it has too much blue in it, although it’s very shiny. The crown design and the necklace itself are very nice, however. Incredibly shiny.

and! In my package, I found one more item!

a pixel heart ring!
I don’t know what size the ring is, although I’d guess 7/8 based on the fact it fits on my right ring finger pretty perfectly. It’s pretty adorable ♥
I was really surprised! I know smaller crafting stores often throw in free items for larger orders, but a ring for purchasing two necklaces seems like a better ratio than most give. (If it’s to encourage people to order more, then it’s working! I want a pixel heart in a pink shade ♥)

CBT’s Closet has a great selection of designs and colors to choose from, I highly recommend them!

Essentially, the crispier the better.

I’m also the kind of person who prefers edge brownies to middle brownies – the mushy crumbly center pieces get left in the container for as long as I can stand it. As M said, if there’s a brownie craving, then I’ll give, but if I can avoid it (i.e. push them off onto someone who will appreciate them) then I will.

Enter the All Edges Brownie Pan by Baker’s Edge

Shaped in a unique way that reminds me of a maze, the pan ensures that every brownie will have at least one edge, if not two or three! Ideally this sounds great! No wasted – or at least required to be passed off to other people – brownies.
However it’s not uncommon for innovative-seeming items to fail in the execution – great idea, not so great product. Would this one match expectations?

After reading the instructions (wash before use with hot soapy water, towel dry), I set about making my first batch of edge-full brownies.

First off, I should mention that the pan is much heavier than I thought it would be. Picking up the box, when I received it, I thought to myself “cast iron?!”
but in reality it’s not quite that heavy.
I suppose the increase in weight is at least partially due to it containing at least 40% more metal than typical baking pans, but I think the overall material is different, and not as lightweight as I’m used to. Hopefully this means higher levels of durability.

Pouring my box mix in (I’m lazy, forgive me!), I found it relatively easy to navigate the winding path without spilling batter all over the place.

When I did get bits on the middle/sides, I simply pushed it down with my spatula. The coating seemed very slick and the batter did not stick much.
I did have to take some time to even out the distribution, since I figured it wouldn’t settle naturally in the oven. (I do this also with regular brownie pans – I had a disaster one time where half came out burnt, the other uncooked (-_-; ))

The instructions warned me that the pan might cook brownies faster than normal pans, so I set my timer for 22 minutes (the box said 24-26).

22 minutes later, my center brownies were still not cooked.
4 more minutes after that, not quite perfect.
An unspecified amount of time sitting in the no longer actively heating oven, and I determined them cooked.

What I most had to get used to with this pan was not knowing how to cut the brownies. I’m used to doing two longway cuts and three perpendicular cuts to that, but the center metal makes this more difficult. I cut each section individually, to varying degrees of success. I think further practice will result in more equally sized brownies. (I ended up with some very small and some very large ones.)

Fresh after cooling, the first piece I took was the three-edged brownie from the top left corner.
Three edges! Impossible in normal pans <3
It was quite nice~

Sadly brownies are not quite as good a couple days later, even if reheated. Not bad, mind you, just not the special crispy goodness that my first piece was. I wish there was a better way to preserve it.

For $30, it’s a bit steep for a brownie pan, but if you love edges it might be worth it. (I bought mine with the geek points I’d saved up, so for me it feels like it was “free”, and therefore seems more than worth the price XD)

056

pink “netbook accessory set” – tiny mouse!

057

an interesting disclaimer on a jacket I bought (it’s not a bug, it’s a feature!)

058

pink USB drive, post-deco. not the best deco job, but I just wanted it to stop being that weird pink color.

059

pink rose hair clip.

Why?

Because the Touch really ought to have a camera.

The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. Not only are companies sticking mp3 players into everything (including even tasers), but cameras are becoming ubiquitous. It’s true that smartphone companies need to make non-camera versions for people who work in high security clearance jobs, but every phone has the option to have one. Most computers and netbooks have built-in webcams, admittedly frequently pretty poor quality ones, but that’s beside the point.

Cameras are everywhere.
Including, as of Sept ‘09, the Nano, which Apple introduced to a lot of confusion. Even saying it’s a Flip Mino competitor seems like a stretch to me.
Surely this is an affront to the more advanced Touch, which actually has the ability to utilize a camera in interesting ways via apps.
Why would a higher-end product get short shifted, while the entry-to-mid-level product stands out as actually getting an upgrade?

Theory one immediately brings one to think of another very similar Apple device, the iPhone.
To many, the Touch is just steps away from being an iPhone without the contract. Indeed, the insides are quite similar, minus the obvious difference of cellular capability and storage.
But the iPhone has a camera, and the Touch does not.
With the addition of a mic and speaker, the Touch inches closer and closer to being the contract-free iPhone many are wanting.
Why would Apple want to keep these two devices separate?
True, the iPhone is a pricier device, but most of the money spent on it actually goes to the carrier, not Apple (unless they are paying far more to Apple than I’m thinking). Would they really lose out so much?

Theory two popped up days before the announcement.
There was an issue getting the camera to fit/function properly. But why would there be such a late delay? Surely they would have worked out things much earlier, having planned the release date far in advance.
But technological mishaps are not always predictable, or easy to fix, so while a bit of a stretch, it’s plausible. And this rumor arrived just in time to make people feel very disappointed about the Touch receiving little to no improvements over the previous generation. The Nano getting a camera was just rubbing salt in the wounds.

Will the Touch get a camera in the next iteration?
I certainly hope so.
Do I need a camera in my mp3 player?
No, but the Touch is more than just an mp3 player – it is the gateway to hours of entertainment fueled by both music & movies as well as games & other apps.

I won’t buy a Touch until a camera is added (or, I suppose, my Gen5 iPod bites the dust hard – it’s chugging along, still) because I feel that if I do, Apple will finally add one right afterwards.
Tech is always advancing, so having the “newest stuff” as a condition only lasts about a month or less.. unless you have a lot of cash to burn (and I would note that such a method of spending is largely a waste), but when you can see an improvement coming (such as the storage upgrade), it is better to wait for it than to buy now and regret it later.

I look forward to the day when I can write up a review for an iPod Touch with a camera ♥

Please make it happen, Apple!

050

Doing more planning for August, using my trusty Bilingual Tokyo Atlas. The Kyoto/Osaka one is sadly not quite as helpful…

051

Keys to my new car~~ a black Ford Focus tentatively named 桜夜 (Sakuya).

052

I got tired of using my brown table as background so I tried the next laziest thing – my planner XD; Sparkly star jewelry ftw!

053

Been reading this – Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (<3 Discworld!)

054

One of my most favorite nail colors ever – Cherry Crush by Revlon. The nail polish itself is pretty nice quality, too – very opaque and doesn’t chip easily (esp. if you use a topcoat).

See, I went to the mall for dinner (mmm Uno’s :9). But there was a 25 minute wait, so I thought I’d go poke around Claire’s for a bit.

It was empty when I arrived, so I leisurely looked around and eventually settled on a crown keychain (for my car keys!)

and a pink x black polkadot cosmetics case because my Liz Lisa one is too small to hold all of my stuff….

(compared with my rose Liz Lisa cosmetics case)

and all of a sudden the store was full of parents trying to get their two year olds’ ears pierced! (@_@)
so it took me an extra 5-10 minutes just to check out. which led me to grab two sparkly rose hair clips by the register.

Thus accomplished, I headed back to Uno’s, slightly worried that they’d already called for me and I was gone (u_u; )
Dinner was buffalo chicken quesedillas (:9!) and some pounded-flat-and-breaded chicken thing with a heavily dressed salad on top (next time I’d get dressing on the side, I <3 balsamic vinaigrette but not when my greens are drowning in it, thanks)

After dinner the mall was still open for another hour, so naturally I didn't want to waste this valuable time~
First was WetSeal. I don't normally buy much in person there, but I did find some awesome accessories - namely a sparklysparkly key necklace,

pretty large jewel hinge bracelet,

and three pairs of stud earrings including one set of pink sakura-like earrings!! so pretty~~ the website image doesn’t do them any justice at all!

(shinyshiny~ <3)

Still not out of time, I browsed MAC to check out some eyeshadow shades (Pink Venus is <3!), and then walked by bebe and saw...
a black quilted heart purse.
I couldn't pass by. I had to see it.
It was huge! and the last one, apparently. She offered to call another store to see if they had the white but it was white x gold and the black was x silver.
I thought about it. looked in the mirror. checked out the construction (pretty solid!)
and thought about it.
and said....

yes! <3

bebe’s shopping bag. keys for size comparison. there is no pornography inside the bag, sorry. (although thinking about it, if you buy sketchy stuff, you tend to hide it in plain bags, anyway…)

the polka dot tissue paper was too cute! there were HEARTS! <3 <3 <3

it’s a pretty large bag! <3

this was how it was displayed in the window – it holds its shape very well <3

inside – there’s two pockets (one for stuff, one for phone) and a zipper pocket.

zipper pull, might add something to this~

rationally speaking the black won’t get dirty as fast, goes with everything, etc. etc.
I’m still naturally drawn to white bags but realistically I don’t have many nice black ones to use! at least not a large one. I went from having all black stuff to almost none now XD; so I guess it’s a good decision.
and it’s cute!

so after that I went home.

but my shopping wasn’t over yet.
I went to check some things out on wetseal.com, and found some cute belts that are very similar to the white one I bought from Liz Lisa over the summer… and a light pink cardigan… and some light pink rose clips.. and a couple camisoles… and this really cute ivory ruffled jacket.
On the up side, ebates will give me 3% cash back on the purchase, and my credit card gives me 1% on all purchases. Plus I found a code for free shipping (I love the internet, srsly <3)

but! not done yet!

I’ve been stalking this lasercut acrylic jewelry shop on etsy for a while and even though I can’t get my custom necklace yet, I bought a couple of the preset designs to try out the quality – the crown (in mirror pink) and kawaii ribbon (in bubblegum pink). I was tempted to get the diamond earrings too, but I thought that was enough for a first purchase.

So finally, I’m done.

Well, as long as I don’t buy almost anything else this month I’m fine… XD

034

the three faces of (Nendoroid) Mio~ (I’ve got a review of her coming up soon!)

035

my newly prettified monitor stand! Kona’s アホ毛 is blocking Haruhi XD; Yes, those are the Suzumiya Haruhi Pinky:st girls (although I swapped Tsuruya’s long green hair for some cute brown curls). Kona, Kagamin and Haruhi are all pointing at me, reminding me to stay on task! (well, it doesn’t always work, but. XD;; )

036

This… might also have contributed to my not blogging (^^;;; ) Dragonica Online, an MMORPG that’s cute and I’d been following for a while before it opened… and then Shirayuki died on me and I was using Ai XD; But! I’m able to play now (I’ll explain later) and it’s pretty entertaining. I have a lv20 warrior girl and I’m debating changing classes or trying to see if the “hidden” classes really exist…

037 of 365

Edible chalk! also known as off-brand Tums. I’ve been ordered to take them, along with another pill I think I took a photo of later. V. colorful, right? Fruit flavored XD Kind of tastes like smarties… if they were made out of chalk.

038

Tiny cupcake~ one of my birthday ones! Well, technically it was made to be a seasonal (Valentine’s) cupcake, but.

039

Another missed package! But this time I didn’t even know it was coming! And the tracking # was written wrong on the paper so I couldn’t request redelivery (-_-; ) It was full of Japanese snacks :9 well, mostly おっとっと XD;

040

Somehow ginger ale (in particular, Canada Dry) has become my soda of choice at home. (I always get coke/pepsi while at restaurants… I don’t think they tend to have ginger ale) The redesigned cans are pretty~

041

I haven’t been eating a lot of candy recently, but when I saw this at the grocery store I decided I had to try it. (Because I love pb <3) It's pretty similar to normal Reese's, just with 2x the pb. Not bad.

042

The base of the doll-sized dressform I bought while out XD Unfortunately I don’t really have a lot of extra outfits for Aryanna so I don’t have anything to put on it at the moment… XD;;

043

Aryanna’s new wig! (Well, one of two) Yes, it is really that light. It’s much lighter than the color seemed in the photos… oh well. But the wig itself is very cool! it has two clip-on extension curls <3 <3

044

おっとっと!~ They are v. similar to goldfish in the sense that they’re light, airy, crunchy snacks that are shaped like things that live in water. Only おっとっと is 10000x more tasty and the alternate flavors are also nice.

045

Chinese New Year was on Valentine’s Day this year. Well, red for both, I guess XD;

046

An adorable Marie notebook I bought at Narita airport before leaving Japan last time XD So cute! Came with stickers, too~

047

The screwdriver Sony sent me to remove/replace my hdd with. The handle is long and skinny, which is good for removing screws on laptops. It’s also slightly magnetized <3 I get to keep it <3

048

And finally, Yui arrived today! Her box is pink! ♥ (Mio’s was blue! hee hee~ { if you don’t get why that’s good, just ignore it~ }) I love that she has TWO v-pose hands… うふふふ～

Okay! More posts will be forthcoming! Promise!

033

and this photo brings me to what I want to talk about…

to-do lists. todo lists. grammatically correct or not, they’re the only reason I remember to do anything I meant to do hours or days ago. I have a pretty short attention span (that only seems to be getting worse) and so what I do is largely dictated by whatever pops into my head at the moment.
It’s a great way to waste time (I should know) but not so great if I actually want to get anything productive done. I mean, that actually makes sense to be doing when I’m doing it. I’m a professional procrastinator – want me to do the dishes? Tell me I have to sort through laundry. Whatever I’m supposed to be doing, almost anything else seems more appealing. Which, when it comes down to it, substituting chores for other chores seems like a strange diversion tactic.

But that’s not the point. (See? distractions…)

What I mean is, how do you know what, and how much, to put on your to-do list?
A lot of varied tasks that you might get to at least some, if not most of them?
A short list that you’ll definitely complete, but is somehow lacking in substance?
A bunch of long-term goals you’re never quite sure you’ve finished?

I tend to subscribe to philosophy #1. I have to limit the physical size of my list, otherwise I’ll just end up making lists all day…

Ideally, of course, you’d make a concise list of exactly what you need to get done and all of it is technically feasible for that timeframe. I know all about breaking down large goals into smaller, more easily quantified tasks, but sometimes even that much seems like too much effort XD; So I’ll have a mixed bag kind of list.

I recently bought a (somewhat silly) girly to-do pad, that includes columns for “To Do”, “Calls”, “Errands” and “Misc” – the category above is my “Misc”; it has tended to contain longer-term tasks that are not essential to daily life (like this blog. Sorry, but until someone is paying me to do this it’s way down on the priority list XD;) I’ve found that having to categorize what I’m thinking of doing helps me sort out things I should be doing rather than things I’d either like to be doing, or think would be nice to get done.
I still end up with a lot of overarching megatasks though. (Surprisingly “clean up x room” is not as simple as it sounds on paper.)

In addition, I have a skinny vertically oriented Muji-brand notepad that I have been trying to use for small, daily tasks (i.e. “wash dishes”, “clean makeup brushes”) although occasionally I’ll slip up and add things that really belong on the big sheet of paper.

I’d been pretty good about making/reviewing my lists for a while, and then for some reason stopped in the past few days.
It was a really noticeable change. I have no idea what I accomplished, or whether I even accomplished anything (aside from what I did today, I suppose)! Thankfully I continued to monitor my vitamin use in my desk calendar or I would have had no idea whether I’d taken any of those, either! (And the iron supplement is the most scary of the bunch – easy to overdo and icky consequences. I’d rather skip a day than take two by accident by far.)

It’s funny because the desk calendar was a completely on-a-whim purchase. It was pink, and cheap, and looked pretty decent, so I said “eh, why not.” and I’ve actually been using it a lot to track daily stuff like the vitamins, and my 365 photo progress (checkmarks for having taken photos ). I occasionally go into compulsive buying fits over stationery stuff so it’s less surprising that I bought it (I will photograph my collection some time…) and more surprising that I’m actually using these things rather than storing them away.

I can’t quite seem to get in the habit of writing something like a blog entry every day, however. My life is just not that interesting XD