Banana Drama

If we're going to be friends there are two things you should probably know about me. 

1. I have an insanely good sense of smell. 
2. I hate bananas.

Today I did something that I would usually avoid at all costs, I accompanied someone to the bank (having worked for a bank in the past I tend to avoid going to the branches if at all possible). Little did I know I was going to be sat in the waiting area for the better part of an hour... I heard people discussing expensive important payments that needed to be sent immediately, lost cards, inactive accounts and all manner of other banking problems. 

When all of a sudden I got that awful overwhelming smell of banana. Whenever I can smell banana I feel strangely and inexplicably panicked, I picture the small black seeds inside and the stringy bits that hang off and I have this really vivid memory of being a child and chewing it too much so it was just pure slime in my mouth. 

Me being cute as a child

How I feel about bananas
Source: theinfothority.com

 I glanced around and couldn't see the person who was eating it, then heard the garbled sound of a child behind me. I instantly knew I had found the culprit and a very smooth look behind me confirmed it. All I could do was hope they would move and luckily they did! 

So I got back to people watching and trying to hold my phone at an angle that would give me a decent enough signal to allow me to read through twitter. Being nosy though I was looking at this small family in front of me discuss how they were going to get the pushchair up the stairs to the meeting room. In case you are wondering they decided the Dad would just go shopping. Then all of a sudden the banana eating toddler opened her mouth and honest to god spat at least a quarter of the banana on the floor... Mushed but still pretty much intact. The Dad then did the right thing and picked it up, with his bare hand 

Me.
Source: hollywooddame.com

Then, unexpectedly, there was a game changer! He left a small chunk on the floor... I am pretty sure the girl who was running the front of the branch saw it, I saw it. There was no way in hell I was going to touch it and apparently neither was she. Do you have any idea how close to the edge of my seat I was for the next half an hour?! I thought about telling someone about it BUT before you judge me for not saying anything, I've worked in shops and restaurants before and when someone comes up and tells you about a mess that needs cleaning you do not mean it when you say 'oh thanks very much, i'll get it sorted now'. Really you are thinking WHY THE F**K did you have to tell me?! 

There were staff members in stilettos dashing past it, children running around near it and at one point an old man very nearly stood on it (can you imagine my guilt had he fallen).  Seriously. Anyway you are probably waiting for the fact someone fell over and broke their leg but guess what, they didn't. The closest someone got was a woman in the thinnest stilettos that ran over it but the toe of her shoe landed in front and the heel landed behind the banana chunk. Who knew wearing insane shoes could potentially save your life?!

I also saw a man trying to chat up the girl at the front of branch, remember? The one who pretended not to see the banana chunk of doom? Anyway she was just like this 

Source: betbomb.com

Which made me chuckle quite a lot to myself. As the man doing the chatting up had been sat next to me earlier on and call me judgmental if you like but he sounded like an arrogant arse. 

Anyway! 

Happy Wednesday

Love you!

Love, me. 

Twitter @NatalieFurlong 

Tumblr natfurlong.tumblr.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

So we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, However I do have a lot of family over in America so this post is dedicated to all you lovelies celebrating today. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Source: greekpeak.netShare

I thought I would share with you guys ten things that I am thankful for I'm going to do five serious ones because I don't want you all to think i'm a complete arse... 

1. My Family! As insane as we all are, everyone is kind of awesome.

New Year 2011/ 2012

2. My Friends... My awesome, awesome friends.

Halloween 2012

V Fest 2012

Clare there are NO photos of us since 2011. WTF?!

3. Mine and my family's health... Just saying

4. The internet... I'm not even kidding! 

Source: Gagful.com

5. As much as this country is in trouble it could be soooo much worse! I'm thankful i'm British... But not in an intensely scary way. 

Ok that's enough of the 'serious' stuff. 

6. Caaaake - Making and eating... nom nom nom...

I fking LOVE cake

7. Music... You tube... Music! 

I have written a blog about that recently so we'll leave that one there. 

8. Camera phones...

Enough Said. 

9. Hats. hee!

10. YOU! I am thankful that you click and look at this blog...

Those of you in the States, eat LOADS and drink even more! 

Love you! 

Love, me. 

@NatalieFurlong

 

Writers are forgetful - Forgive me?

To all of my wonderful friends and family who may sometimes feel forgotten... I promise I haven't forgotten you! I stumbled across this on Tumblr and thought it summed me up rather well, I have had a million conversations where people are surprised at the detail I can remember of a relatively random situation, yet their birthday/ Christmas/ anniversary card turned up about a month too late with profound apologies. 

I genuinely think I have a condition that stops me remembering important days and physically stops me from writing them down. Upon seeing the writing below I now understand it is in no way my fault... Right? I also realise this is written about falling in love BUT imagine it isn't and it's just talking about everyday things... I LOVE all of you! 

Writers are forgetful,

but they remember everything.

They forget appointments and anniversaries,

but remember what you wore,

how you smelled,

on your first date…

They remember every story you’ve ever told them - 

like ever,

but forget what you’ve just said.

They don’t remember to water the plants

or take out the trash,

but they don’t forget how

to make you laugh.

Writers are forgetful 

because

they’re busy 

remembering 

the important things.

(Source: http://ofheightsandhollows.tumblr.com/)

I aim to be better at writing and remembering the small and big things next year. I vow to buy a diary and a calendar and use both at least until the end of January 2013. 

Love you, 

Love, me.

Also I really like this font, do you? I might change from Arial to Trebuchet from now on. Trebuchet - that is a good word, i've just googled it and its one of those massive caterpult things from medieval times. Is that a bad message to send? I just don't know. 

@NatalieFurlong

Let them eat cake. Lots of cake.

Confetti Cupcakes - Vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream

Before you swiftly leave this page thinking this is going to be an instructional blog about how to make cakes, it's not. 

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you will occasionally see a random photo of my most recent bake pop up on your news feed. Quite often I stick to the same sponge recipe because for the most part it has been fool proof. So yeah I tend to use that and jazz it up with different things. However yesterday I stumbled across this blog here... 

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/06/01/classic-yellow-funfetti-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting/

Above is the recipe I used - The cakes are delicious by the way! What is about to follow in this blog is in no way a reflection on the recipe it is purely the fact that sometimes I just do not have a clue what I am doing. 

And neither does Oprah

Source: mediaoutrage.com 

The recipe was an american recipe so would give me a chance to try making something using measuring cups rather than scales. I thought using these cups was going to be easy peasy. IT WAS NOT. The cup didn't fit inside the flour so I had to spoon the flour from the tub into the cup and then flatten it off thus getting flour all over everything. Same goes for sugar and butter. 

This is a lie.

Source: talltalesfromasmalltown.blogspot.com

So between scooping and spooning and measuring I was dashing back and forth to the computer to read the instructions. I had measured everything out and the recipe said I had to 

"beat the eggs and sugar with a stand mixer (with paddle attachment) or electric handheld mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes."

So I set the timer and whisked my little heart out for two full minutes. It looked light and foamy and wonderful. So I skipped back over to the laptop for my next instruction. 

"While beating, slowly pour in the butter and then the vanilla."

Right... WAIT what?! Damn, I was supposed to have already added the butter in that two minutes and it's supposed to be melted. So I quickly melted the butter and whisked it in cursing myself for not reading ahead in the recipe. 

"While mixing, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients."

Source: alltheragefaces.com

 So by now I had been whisking for at least three and a half minutes. I tried not to feel too tense about the fact I had done this all wrong. I mean when I make cakes usually it feels like a very precise thing to do, whereas today I was just freewheeling and hoping for the best! Anyway I kept whisking and adding and whisking. 

"Do NOT overmix the batter."

Source: alltheragefaces.com

For GOD sake! So I had been whisk, whisk, whisking for about six minutes and I was supposed to have done all of the above within two minutes! I had come this far though so I put the batter into the cases and put them in the oven with a heavy heart not knowing what I was going to pull out of the oven...

No one is more shocked than me that these babies came out looking pretty good! So I followed the recipe for the chocolate buttercream and other than making twice the amount that I actually needed. It was SO good. I think I 'tried' about a quarter of the mixture just to make sure it was as good as I thought it was. I think the addition of salt is what makes it so damn more-ish! 

Anyway here is the finished product...

 OMNOMNOM

 I just ate one whilst writing this and I fully recommend you try this if you like to bake. Soooo Goooood. 

Hope your Sunday has been delightful. 

Love you! 

Love, me.

Follow? @NatalieFurlong

You can leave your hat on

I'm just going to come out and say this, I absolutely LOVE hats. My love for hats is possibly the only reason that the dreary cold summer we just had didn't drive me insane. Here are the main reasons I would find it hard to give up my hat addiction. 

• They keep your head and ears warm when its cold.
• Realistically if you are committed to keeping your hat on only your fringe has to look good.
• People who have heads that are too big to wear a hat will be jealous. 
• I got a new hat today and wanted to show you. 

Excuse the curly mop that is my hair! 

It has a seriously impressive pom pom too, I'm going to save that picture till the end to build a bit of suspension... oooh.

• A snowman walked for miles and miles just to buy his lovely lady friend a hat (as well as other winter accessories) and that's good enough for me.

• There are just so many kinds! You can have a hat for every mood! 
• You can judge someone on the hat they are wearing eg... 

If someone favors baggy hats like me, they are obviously awesome.

If someone wears a hat like this. Well I don't even really know what to tell you. Avoid eye contact and walk the other way. 

Source: london-lass.blogspot.com

This is an important one. If you see this man, in this hat. Get his number for my friend Rosie.

Source: themediafeed.co.uk

Lastly just so you know, if you ever wear a hat this small, even if you were in the OC. I am judging you. 

Source: http://news.everychina.com

• Hats when drunk are very fun. 
• You can use them to stop your hair getting wet if you run through the rain. 
• You can use them to pretend to be someone else... No wait. That was only on The girl who pretended to be three boys. Did any of you see that?! 
• You can hide things under it.
• Lastly when you remove said hat after running through rain and not taking it off all day you will have the best Hat Hair you have ever seen in your life. Ever. 

Here are a small selection of my favorite hats.

Well I think we have come to the end of me waffling on about my love for hats, but I do feel like I might be forgetting something...

Oh yeah. 

Terrible quality video. Outstanding live! Rosie and Laura we were there! woooo. 

Oh well! 

Happy Tuesday.

Wear a hat tomorrow I dare you! 

Love you!

Love, me. 

Twitter: @NatalieFurlong

Inside the lines but out of control

Music seems to not only provide the perfect escape from reality, sometimes it can brush so closely to your own life they will forever be there crafted in the moment. It can be a specific moment in time or even an entire friendship. 

Ellie i'm looking at you. 

Other songs will always remind you of random lunchtimes

with the most random bunch of work friends you could ever hope to meet... 

If you like me seem to be unable to go anywhere without having music playing in the background you will probably understand what I mean when I say that sometimes it can feel like your life has a soundtrack, I used to constantly have my Ipod on shuffle but found myself spending most of the journey doing this. 

Source: http://anongallery.org/4421/ipod-on-shuffle

Now I have started to make playlists of the things I like to listen to to stop the constant skipping, Actually here is a good question for you! What do you name your playlists!? I mean mine are just the most random collections of songs you could ever find. I struggle to come up with names for them that aren't completely irrelevant. Example I have a few called New Playlist, New Playlist One, Newest Playlist and one simply entitled !?!. Answers on a postcard. (or in the comments below, facebook or tweet me!) 

This blog didn't really start out with any point other than to give me something to do as I was feeling extremely bored. 

What are you guys listening to at the moment? I tend to go through phases where I only listen to a few people and at the moment it's mainly the following three... 

Frank Turner: Complete Legend 

Lucy Spraggan: Completely Addictive and Awesome 

King Charles: Just Watch.

So there you go, a little insight onto the soundtrack to my life at the moment. Oooh also if you know anyone I should be listening to that are anything kind of like the above. Link me up! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday. 

Love you!

Love, Me. 

Tweet me maybe? @NatalieFurlong

Glasses Shopping Sucks!

Hey Guys

I think I have spoken to you before about my hate of going to the opticians for an eye test... Allow me to just shamelessly add the link in here:
http://furtivelittlefeelings-manic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/sight-for-sore-eyes.html 
Getting your eyes tested isn't actually the only traumatising thing about a visit to the opticians, you sometimes have to choose glasses too. Now to those of you who don't wear glasses you are probably wondering why I am writing a whole post dedicated to the horror of it. Well imagine you were only allowed one coat/ jumper/  pair of trousers or shoes for the next year or so, but you had to wear them on your face. 

My lovely friend Ellie said she had to go and choose some new glasses and being the good friend I am i agreed to go and help. Ellie has been seen on this blog before, Anywhoo here she is again (on the left)

And again on the day we met Nicki Minaj.

Wine... oh wine. 

So with no real system in mind we started having a browse through some glasses, and then some more, and then some more. After about forty minutes we realised that we now had lost our minds and had absolutely no idea which ones she had tried and which ones she hadn't. Pro tip for glasses shopping: For the love of god come up with a system. We carried on and about half an hour later were both now vowing to become glasses designers because all the glasses here were just not right!  

Source: thedigeratilife.com

Some were far too big like this: 

Source: ciarasdiary.wordpress.com

Some were too small like this: 

Source: quickmeme.com

And some where just plain bizarre: 

We eventually managed to find a decent pair of glasses. What's that I hear you cry? Well no I can't actually show you them. So in hindsight I should have saved this blog until I had permission to reveal the final choice, but I didn't so deal with it! I will get the lovely Ellie to send me a photo of her with the finished article for a follow up blog. 

 

In other news I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and Bonfire night! I certainly did, My lovely Mum can been seen in this photo with her birthday cake as made my me: 

Love you Mum!! 

A close up of the cake, because this is my blog and I want to show off a bit... 

Omm Nom nom

God it's been so long I have a lot I want to say. I'm going to write a list of the blogs I need to do and hope this helps me actually write them!  

Lastly if you are reading this from the states PLEASE go and vote today! 

Have a lovely Tuesday evening. 

Love you!

Love, Me. 

Also: Come find me on Twitter - @NatalieFurlong 

Tumblr: natfurlong.tumblr.com

That's it. BYE

Source:alltheragefaces.com