I love Liverpool = Loverpool

I've been meaning to tell you guys about my trip to Liverpool for a couple of weeks! I rather stupidly decided to make my journey on Good Friday, got to the train station to find the platform full of people with big suitcases and groups of drunk men. I got the train at 11am. 

Now I don't know if we have talked about a little thing I like to call 

Train Panic 

but here is what happened next: 
I got on the train along with half the population of Stockton and whilst looking around in panic to find a seat that wasn't reserved I spotted one at a table that was reserved from York to Leeds, facing the right way (I detest going backwards on a train) and it wasn't too close to the loos. Perfect. I threw my bag and coat above the chair and settled down for the first hour of my journey. 

Source: tgnp.me

So the plan in my head was that when the train pulled into York I would get up along with all the people getting off and sit in one of the seats across the aisle and a few rows behind. That way the people getting on at York wouldn't have nabbed these unreserved seats. 

..............

You can probably realise this didn't quite go as planned. I got up and threw my bag and coat into the free seat, Turned back to get my bag from the overhead shelf and a queue had formed behind me. At this point my brain went into meltdown. I would like to point out the logical thing to do at this point would have been to sit down, let the people get off the train and then calmly get up and get my bag. But no, no no. 

Source: Allthetragefaces.com

The bag was only slightly out of my reach so I stepped forward and said to the man blocking my way, 'sorry I just need to get my bag' but then he didn't move, I moved. I tripped on my own foot and fell forwards because there was nowhere for me to put my feet. I then half crushed the man... My face touched his face guys.

I can't even find a picture fitting to this situation so i'm just going to sat it again in a bigger font size. 

My face touched his face. 

At this point you would think i'd just give it up and sit down. But no I still reached over him and about three other people to drag my bag off the shelf almost giving said three people concussion whilst doing so. I honestly think I got drunk off all the alcohol fumes on the train and just lost all real ability to think. 

No one else got on the train at York and I had the entire table to myself all the way to Manchester. 

Source: en.wikipedia.org

So lets move past that, I had such an awesome time in Liverpool. Stayed with one of my bezzie mates Caz... 

Girl makes a mean omelette

Drank copious amounts of wine with the lovely Linda on Friday night and got all caught up in a couple of a years worth of gossip, and ate some lovely deep fried food. We also were drawn into conversation with some VERY drunk Glaswegian men who did not understand a word we were saying.

Stolen from facebook... :P

I let Linda go home eventually and met Caz, who then pulled out the old card tricks, which I must say I found very impressive! AND she gave me her bed which I was very grateful for!!

On the Saturday I met up with Becky a friend of mine (that I love loads) from when we worked together at Waterstones many moons ago. She has the two most beautiful boys I have ever seen in my whole life and we went for Brunch at Brink. I chased her child around for about an hour, cutest ever.

Pre mum Becky

With Permssion, gorgeous children!

Ok I had to put an old photo of you here dude because you're such an awesome mum that ALL your recent photos have children in and I didn't want to put one of those on without permission. It just felt a bit creepy. 

I then dashed from Brink to Leaf to meet my other beauuuuitful friend Angelica for a quick coffee as she was in serious prep mode for going to Prague the following day. We ate cake. It was wonderful (and I don't just mean the cake). 

Angie and Cow. 

Then came Caz and her birthday celebrations! 

Drunk eyes Caz!

Keyring shaped evidence that at the end of the
night we did not look as drunk as we were! 

So there it is. My weekend in Liverpool was amazing. I love the city, I love my friends and Liverpool will always be one of the places I grew up. I love that visiting there is just as much like going home as where I live now. 

The train journey home almost killed me due to the severe need for junk food and no way to get any. Just wanted to end on a realistic note. 

Love, me. 

Have an awesome weekend guys! 

@nataliefurlong

natfurlong.tumblr.com

Blackbeard's Tea Party

Hey guys, I have three blogs up my sleeve for you this week! Sadly they will not be in the order I wanted them to be because technically this one should be last but I just can't wait to tell you about my adventure in York! 

Source: Stolen from Rosie's Facebooook. 

We went to York for my AWESOME friend Laura and her birthday celebrations. 

My friends and I went to see a band called Blackbeard's Tea Party, I genuinely didn't know what to expect. I pretty much had quite a chilled out folk band vibe in my head. I was sooooooo wrong!! If you go onto their website www.blackbeardsteaparty.com. They are described as...

"Funky folk tunes, saucy songs and an infectious stage energy, Blackbeard's Tea Party mix fiddles & squeezeboxes, guitar noise & synth bass, and a feast of international hand percussion to bring you an unforgettable folk-rock extravaganza."

The only thing missing from this description is the word pirate, pirateish or perhaps pirate adjacent but then perhaps this is implied in the bands extremely apt name. Guys watching these perform was like nothing I have seen for a very long time! You can absolutely tell that the entire band love to play and they do a fantastic job of drawing the crowd in and getting everyone involved, it is impossible not to at least bob your head or tap your toes along with everyone else in the crowd, by the end the entire group I was with was joining in and punching the air at every opportunity, infectious stage energy couldn't be a more accurate description.

Source: blackbeardsteaparty.com

At this moment i'd just like to take a second to remind everyone how much I like pirates... and also to say i'm singing the song Chicken on a raft in my head. 

Ay-O Chicken on a raft!

Chicken On a Raft

We saw them at a venue called 'The Duchess' in York, excellently intimate and it completely lends itself to the bands sound, at one point I honestly felt like I was in some sort of secret cave, then out came the sword dancers which very nearly made me lose all sense of reality. It's bands like this and gigs like these that remind me why I love live music so much. Sometimes it's easy to forget what it feels like to be stood with people who are all there for the same reason and all getting caught up in the same moment as you. 

Source: weheartit.com

This band know their stuff, with a sound that I haven't heard before yet seems strangely familiar. They have more instruments than I would even attempt to list and a violinist that could rival any lead guitarist Blackbeard's Tea Party are a must see! If these guys are at a venue near you I implore neigh insist that you go and see them and then message me on here and tell me how excellent my taste is, i'd like that. 

Also buy their new album here! 

http://www.blackbeardsteaparty.com/shop.php

So moving on from the gig portion of the evening, Laura, Ellie, Rosie and I along with a host of Laura's lovely friends danced the night away drinking extremely cheap vodka and free shots. Here's what happened next... 

Rosie and Ellie woop!

...

sexxxxxxxy

Ellie was born to be in the spotlight.

I'm not going to lie to you guys, I respect you too much. We danced to the Spice Girls and David Guetta, we drank too much and ate pizza and then when we finally got into bed we all sat watching videos of goats that scream like humans for about half an hour. 

Fast Forward to 0:24 for the real giggles. 

That's just who we are, a group of bloody fantastic weirdos. Wouldn't change them for the woooorld. 

Love yah don't ah! 

Have an excellent Sunday Evening, I'm going to go now because i'm still hungover and this is making my eyes hurt. 

Love, 

Me. 

@Nataliefurlong

natfurlong.tumblr.com

Pink Jelly Beans that taste like Banana

Sometimes in life, you eat a pink jelly bean that tastes like banana and it makes you question everything you have ever known. 

Last night I was just chilling out and munching on a few of these bad boys...

Source: coolbrands.uk.com

When, as the title of this blog suggests, I selected a pink one expecting either 'candyfloss' or 'pink grapefruit' but no. Banana. BANANA?! 

Tumblr.com

Then I got to thinking about a few other things that are not all they seem to be. 

It's no real secret that I enjoy a glass of wine or two, white or rose and i'm your friend Red wine though, really? ... Really?!

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Expectation

blog.ribena.co.uk

Reality

mysupermarket.co.uk

Rather typically i'm fairly sure that red wine is the only one with any health benefits what so ever! Who drinks wine to be healthy anyway? I think i'll just have a beer. 

Another pink jellybean has to go to, cotton buds, or Qtips depending on where you are reading this from. 

Source: Improbable.com

On all boxes of these you will find a warning, 'Do not insert these into your inner ear'. I'm sorry but these were blatantly invented to be put in your ears and then i'm fairly sure people who were too over zealous at shoving these in their ears because it feels so good there were popped ear drums all over the place. So then they decided these were only for putting on make up, and cleaning between babies toes.  

Well cotton buds. I call BULLSHIT. We all know what you are really for, even if you are prepared to lie. 

Lets talk about how umbrellas are meant to be awesome at keeping you dry. 

This is everything I want from an umbrella. 

Source:photographyblogger.net

In reality how often do we really get rain without wind? As soon as you mix rain and wind together you no longer have a cute/ whimsical umbrella keeping you dry. You enter into a crazy game of predicting the wind direction. A few weeks ago I entered into this very game whilst waiting for the bus to take me into town. It was actually quite fun despite the water running up my arm and one side of my body slowly soaking up a few liters of water. Until someone else came and stood at the bus stop. I promise you the pressure of having a spectator nearly made me crack. 

Source: keepbusy.net

I won. 

Next time though i'm doing this. 

Source: quitor.com

Deciding to start a blog and post it publicly on my Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr is the final thing I will talk about today. Although it is fun and I absolutely love writing this blog, what I didn't think about was that whenever I start a new job and the people there add me on Facebook. Maybe not straight away but eventually they will realise what I am actually like and how ridiculous I really am. New work friends, if you are reading this... Welcome. 

Source: http://funny-pics-fun.com/funny-compilations/happy-saint-patricks-day

Happy St Patrick's Daaaay! 

Love you! 

Love, me. 

@nataliefurlong

Brain Worm

Hey guys, 

For the past three days my brain has been alternating between two songs, not just once in a while... Literally every two minutes. 

Song 1) 

If you haven't seen the film Easy A yet, get yourself on amazon and buy it now because it is awesome. Also...  

I gotta pocket, got a pocket 

fulla sunshine.

Song 2) No, not the Blur song. 

This...

I only discovered this genius video because of Derek, the Ricky Gervais programme that has just finished the series. Again, if you didn't watch it where have you been?! I'm not going to lie, before I actually saw the programme I was worried. Everything about it looks wrong and horrifically politically incorrect however what it actually was, was funny, touching, challenging and real. I loved it and so did everyone I know who actually watched it. So before judging just watch an episode will ya! 

Moving on. 

Baby Monkey, Baby Monkey

backwards on a pig

Baby Monkey. 

Anyway I have to go now, so basically the point of this post is hoping that one of you will now suffer the loop of either of these songs going round and round your brain for the foreseeable future. 

Happy Saturday, 

Me x

Happy Mothers Day

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Raisin Face

Consider this a Saturday night blogfession.

The only skincare regime I do is occasionally before bed I will use a make up wipe to remove the eyeliner that I've probably smudged all over my face. Literally that is it, apparently I missed the memo that says I should probably be doing more than that if I don't want to look like a raisin by the time i'm 35. 

Source: vi.sualize.us 

I mentioned offhand to my Mum that the skin on my face was feeling tight and I thought she was going to just say I was tired or something. But no, she said... Well you are twenty six now so you should really be using some moisturiser to stop you getting wrinkles.
Errr, firstly why didn't you tell me this years ago 
and secondly...

Source: Knowyourmeme.com

I will now be sticking to a strict skincare schedule, probably for the rest of my life... or the next three days, you know, whatever. 

To make up for the years of abuse i'd probably need to look something like this for the next three weeks. 

Source: popscreen.com

Anyway I came on here to start writing a post about my Mum so it would be ready for mothers day, but this came out instead. 

Hope you have all had an excellent week and superb weekend so far. More tomorrow on the day of Mothers.

Stay happy

Source: alwaysabbynoel.blogspot.com

Forever love, 

Nat x

@nataliefurlong

Book Geekery

I Love Books

When I say that, I mean I reaaaaallly love books. I love reading them, talking about them, sharing them. I like that you can just put one in your bag and read it anywhere. They never run out of battery and you can always tell how good a book is by how many cracks there are in the spine. If you don't enjoy reading then this blog post probably isn't for you. Sorry. I mean I love books so much I did an entire degree in the subject which pretty much lead me to nothing!

I bet if more libraries looked like this
 people might love them a bit more!

Source: http://www.oddee.com/item_96527.aspx

Remember the film Beauty and the Beast? While most children were loving the fact there was a magical singing candlestick (I actually did LOVE Lumiere) and a crazy scary beast man, for most of the film I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing the library he gave her was and how tall the ladder would need to be to get the top books out! 

Source: oxfordworldbookcapital.wordpress.com

I can't possibly imagine a not being able to immerse myself in a story, well, that was until i discovered a form of writing that I actually hate! *shock horror*

Here are three books I wanted to love, but that broke my heart a little bit.

We need to talk about Kevin:

A few years ago there was a massive buzz around the book 'We need to talk about Kevin', I had been meaning to read it for ages before the buzz even started, it had been a book i'd seen everywhere. One of my favourite Tweeters @hotpatooties had been saying how awesome it is, so I finally just took the plunge a bought it. I did love it in the end, harrowing and horrific but overall an excellent story. Bear with me for the reason I hated it.

Source: www.booksidoneread.com

Cloud Atlas:

So you have heard the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover?' 

Source: digitalspy.com

Everything about this book tells me to buy it. I like the colours, the quirky drawings, I like the font and the cover had a matt feel, but with shiny parts. I realise this sounds fully insane. This book is the kind of book I am drawn to in every way. I never made it past chapter two. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

A while ago when I was still working for Waterstones I had to go for an induction at the Newcastle branch. It was a day filled with awful getting to know you games and silly tips on how to talk to people. We also had to all talk about our favorite books and there was a girl who described this book so wonderfully I knew I had to read it! To be entirely honest I completely forgot until the film came out. I missed out on the film in the cinema and recently purchased a copy of the book, I thought I may as well read it before watching it on DVD. 

Source: feedmebooksnow.blogspot.com

before I go on my massive rant allow me to explain I am actually only halfway through this book at the moment, and in general the story is good. If it wasn't written the way it is I would have had it finished in a couple of days. 

So... Readers of my blog, readers of books. What do all three of these books have in common? 

Do you know?

Yep, you got it. They are all Epistolary Novels. 

They are all written in the format of a series of letters. Well technically Cloud Atlas isn't entirely letters (apparently). 

Source: www.offensivelydefiantapparel.com 

The thing I love most about books is the way writing can pull you into a story, you can submerge yourself completely and block out everything around you. For me a good book is like when you are taking a bath and you put your head under the water. You can't hear the hoover or washing machine, you can block out the chatter and people walking past the door. I like descriptive writing that puts you inside the story and carries you along to the end with little effort. If a book doesn't do this for me i'm lucky if I get halfway through never mind to the end. 

Source: serendipity-puzzles.blogspot.com 

So when I was in college we had to read The Colour Purple. At this point I realised that this kind of book just doesn't do it for me. Then I bought Cloud Atlas in the hope I was wrong. Nope, These books make me feel like i'm an outsider, essentially they make me feel like i'm reading and in my opinion a good book makes you feel lost. Anyway I then purchased We need to talk about Kevin without looking inside, excitedly sat down to read it and opened the front cover. 

November 8 2000

Dear Frankin. 

Oh God NO! Skipped a few pages...

Dear Franklin... Eva.

Source: jgoome.com

I just can't see how having it in that format helped the story. I mean, ok the big reveal at the end was made more dramatic from it, I never felt like I got a true sense of Eva because we never got in her head. 

At this point I vowed I would never again buy a book without opening the cover. 

...... 

I didn't even think about it when I bought Perks of being a Wallflower. The thought it would be letters didn't even enter my mind. I got on the bus and opened it to the first page. 

August 25 1991

Dear Friend... 

Love Always, Charlie. 

At this point honest to God, I could feel the panic rising through my body. I flicked to halfway through the book. 

December 19 1991

Dear Friend... 

Love Always, Charlie. 

Why, WHY! 

Source: alltheragefaces.com

I really felt like just throwing the book out of the bus window or onto an open flame. I realise this sounds insane to most people, and it is overly harsh considering the book is actually pretty good. If I could, I would put all these books into room 101 and make the authors write them in a different way. 

Anyway this has taken me far too long to write today, I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. 

I went to bid a good friend of mine farewell as she has moved back to Cornwall for a while. Here's a pic of our little farewell shindig! 

Courtesy of Emma Hinton

It's almost the start of a brand new week, I hope it's a good one! 

Love always, 

Natalie. 

@nataliefurlong