Change of pace and awesome music. Good times.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I am a massive fan of fanfiction and, in particular, the works of WhoNatural. I love every single one of her works especially 'Linski's Late Night Antidote to Lame which re-introduced me to this song.

If you have any love at all for Teen Wolf and/or good music, then please go read this because the writing is 500 kinds of awesome, the characters are spot on and no matter how many times I re-read them, I still adore them.

I may become a fic-rec blog for a while. Consider yourselves warned!

Much love, QoS

I am an awful, awful person

To be honest, I think the title of this sums up the entire post.

I am a horrible person. I keep promising to do the London post and I keep failing. Just to clear things up - this is still not the London post. I'm a failbunny. I will totally admit that.

This post is a summation of the junk that has been happening to me to make me forget the London post. First there was the inevitable post-holiday slump where doing anything that isn't sightseeing is exhausting. This totally includes breathing and being awake. Then there was the high blood pressure thing.

The blood pressure thing started when I went to the doctors with a rampant chest infection. It turned out he was about 5% concerned with making me able to breathe again and 95% checking my blood pressure 13 (I am so not exaggerating here) times. He made me see another doctor who put me on a waiting list for a 24 hour bp monitor.

Four weeks later, said monitor is attached but only for 13 hours (random but yay!). Said monitor then went on to die somewhere around hour 10. Such is my life. I go to take the monitor back the next day and the nurse tells me she'll get back to me. Three hours later, I get a call asking me to go in for an ECG because my bp is higher than they like and they want to figure out why. Sigh. I also found out I had to go to the hospital the next morning for blood tests on basically anything they can check on a blood test. Double sigh.

I'm now waiting (with blood test bruise and 10 hours of blood pressure checks bruised arm) for the results to come in. This should be sometime Monday but because I work ridiculously far away from home, I have to wait until Saturday to get in to see them. Triple sigh. And an eye roll. I've seriously rolled my eyes so many times in the past three days that I'm legit worried about straining them.

Other than this, I've also had a birthday and a bit of a social life - quiz night with the girls and a meal and cocktails with an old  school friend. For me, this is a busy social life. I'm quite proud of myself to going out twice in 2 weeks. Yay me!

Much love, QoS

Memories I keep on my bookcases

This blof (dammit!) blog post does exactly what it says in the title: explores the things that are hidden on the  amongst my books. There are pictures and everything. I have absolutely no idea why I decided to do this and, to be brutally honest, I don't really care so if you don't want to read, feel free to come back for the extremely late London post that I promise I will get to eventually.

If you're still with me, here goes:

The guardian angel was brought for me when I was going through a bad time. The tarot box it's sitting on was brought by me because I was curious about tarot cards but didn't want to spend a lot on a nice deck in case it didn't interest me. By the time I'd realised it was actually really interesting, I'd grown strangely attached to this set and decided not to replace it.

The two sister things were brought for me by Sister when she went on holidays because even if we're on the same holiday, we still buy each other a present. It's a thing.

Harry Potter badges are totally self-explanatory because HP rocks hardcore. The fairy snowglobe was a present from Nan and Grandad (I'm pretty sure it was from Nan and Grandad :/) The perspex thing with the stag in just seemed to appear in my collection a while ago. I've no idea where it came from but as it had Prongs in, I decided to put it on the shelves.

Princess Piggy was a stocking filler from Goddess Among Women Auntie a few years ago. 

  

I've had these ladybug tissues for about 15 years (and that makes me feel ancient). I've kept them because they're adorbs and are called Sniff and I haven't seen them anywhere since.

My ID badge from my second (and favourite) job and the pin that I got for donating blood 10 times. Considering I'm fucking terrified of needles, that's a big achievement. 

Yet more awesomesauce HP pins. In case you were wondering I'm a Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw hybrid. I'm strangely proud of this.

I've got no idea where the duck came from but if you hit it on something it flashes and is, therefore, completely awesome. The Flubber was brought on a trip to Disney World in Florida and makes weird ninja noises when you smack it. 

This was a present from my lovely friend, A, when she went to Barbados one year. She knows I love pirates. She also brought rum cake. The rum cake didn't make it. It was both tragic and delicious. 

Giant badge that I was forced to wear on my 16th birthday. Thank fuck that I had the luck to be born during half term or school would've been fun that day. Some of my earliest concert/event tickets: 

• Smash Hits Tour in Sheffield, 2000
• One of the first football matches I remember attending - West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers, 3 days before my birthday; 
• Westlife at the NEC, Birmingham, 2001
• Westlife at the NEC, 2002
• V Festival, Chelmsford one day pass that I won in 2005 - I went with friend, Steff and had an amazing time

Yet more tickets:

• OK Go at the 02 Academy, Birmingham in 2010
• Party in the Park at St. Andrews Stadium in 2002
• Boyzone at the NEC Arena in 1996 (my first gig ever)
• the filming of Gladiators at the NIA in 1996
• ride ticket from when I went with Sister, Cousin the Younger and Cousin the Middle to Blackpool
• Blackpool Tower ticket from when my awesome Mom overcome her fear of heights and walked over the 'Walk of Faith' glass floor with my friend, Denise.

Doctor Who stickers and Avengers badges. My inner geek is strong.

Collection of necklaces I've been given over the years, from left to right: ox pendant because in the Chinese zodiac, I'm a freaking ox; Egyptian cat pendant from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; dreamcatcher pendant that used to hang from my bedroom curtain rail before I got blinds; pentagram pendant that Sister gave me because she's awesome.

Avengers badges and Doctor Who badges. Geek is still going strong.

My voodoo doll collection. The one on the right was brought by my friend S, who brought it as an in-joke because our boss was an evil hellbeast and we'd joke about using it on her. The other two were leftovers from stocking fillers that I thought were kind of cute.

Table favour from Cousin the Oldest's wedding.

Various wristbands from Drayton Manor and V Festival. The Virgin Mobile one was our entry into the VIP area. Good times and much free alcohol were had there.

A picture of my Mom holding me while I was in hospital with Whooping Cough. I was only a couple of months old here and in isolation a lot of the time. This, and the raging case of Rubella I had, is the reason there are a lot of baby pictures of me. 

Leaflets and postcard from my trip to Paris. Also, ticket to Renault World Cup at Silverstone. Yep, I'm a speed freak as well as a monster geek. I'm allowed to have layers. Don't judge me. 

Previous photo but with added postcards.

Guide map to the Louvre. We spent a day here and still didn't see even half of it. I guess that's where going with 3 ex Art students is a downside. I'm a 'I like it, it makes me feel (insert emotion here)' or 'Nope. Soooo much nope. It's just not working for me' kind of art appreciator. They're more analyse everything about the painting kind of people and I just do not have time for that. 

Postcards and guidebooks from recent London trip (I swear, I will get around to finishing that post). The M&M's pad was a gift from my sister from M&M's World in Leicester Square. Did you know you can't take pictures in Westminster Abbey? I had to buy postcards and a guidebook so my Nan would have something to ooh and ahh over. 

Tickets from our 3hr Thames cruise from Westminster to Greenwich and back, Westminster Abbey, various underground tickets and our train tickets to London and back. Also, receipt for eye-wateringly expensive bag for Nan from Harrods and a tube map.

My prefect tie from Britannia High School. My regular tie was adopted by Sister who set fire to it on her last day. Some people just do not understand the concept of nostalgia. The regular tie was black where this is blue and fitted much better with our black uniform. The beads were from a stranger at the Kerrang tour at the old Carling Academy in Birmingham. She walked past, said I had a beautiful soul and handed me these. I kept them as a reminder that people are strange and sometimes lovely for no reason.

Oh god, these were the result of having one beer after taking co-codamol for a knackered back before Nan H's 60th birthday. These were part of the decoration on the buffet trays and I started hoarding them and texting my Mom at home about how people were trying to steal them and I was going to have to ninja them away to save them. 

This is Jose the sea turtle. I brought him last year while I was on holiday with Dad, Stepmom and Sister in Mallorca. I was so pleased when he made it back in one piece. I was having stoned airplane dreams about finding him decapitated when I opened my case. (They were stoned dreams because I'm absolutely terrified of flying and had to dose myself with an anti-anxiety med to avoid a panic attack - the downside was me being off my face and telling my Dad that the car was making weird noises)

A cute witch that Sister brought me in Mallorca because I love reading and witches. 

An evil ex-workmate brought me these as an additional Christmas present when I still worked with her. I think she was trying to make a statement about me but fuck her, because I think they're totally adorable.

 I think that's everything for now. I'll come back and edit this to add more story to the facts when I haven't been up since 5am and spent 10 hours at work. There's another thing to look forward to. Along with that damn London post.

Much love and goodnight, QoS

Witch movie

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year - every year Sister and I dress up, put on a years worth of eyeliner and hand out sweets to sugar-hyped infants while watching horror films and trying to scare the bejeebus out of ourselves. So far, I've avoided this but Sister is scared of zombies so it's easy to freak her out.

This year I'm planning to be Death. Again. The main change is that I'm going to quiz night at a local pub with the girls so I'll miss the handing out sweets portion of the evening. Luckily, Cousin the Younger is taking Nephew to our house to watch toddler friendly scary films (oxymoron?) and do the sweet handing out because Sister is also scared of people in Halloween masks. Sister is scared of everything fun.

After quiz night, I'll be heading back home and partaking in a few more drinks while watching as many witch movies as I can before I fall asleep on the sofa. I like this plan.

It's my birthday on the 28th and because Cousin the Oldest is on holiday, I couldn't get that time off work so I've booked the 31st and 1st off. So on Halloween afternoon, before all the festivities, I am going to bake some delicious cakes - some for the girls and some for Sister, Cousin the Younger and Nephew to snack on. I will then watch witch films until I really must start to get ready for quiz night. One of the bonuses to having to get up at 5am for work is that it carries over to when I'm not at work and I get loads done before Sister even surfaces to start her day.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween (even though I'm 10 days early!)

Much love, QoS

Sleepy Hollow

I am obsessed with Sleepy Hollow. The film and the tv show but this is going to be about the tv show.

Seriously, you need to be watching this. Tom Mison is the sassy man out of time, Ichabod Crane, and I love everything about his acting choices. Also, him in general.

Nicole Beharie is the perfect foil to Ichabod in Abbie Mills, the final member of the pair destined to stop the apocalypse.

I can't even stop raving about how much I love this programme. As soon as I get home and watch it for the third time, I will attempt to give a well-rounded review that doesn't just consist of 'OMG JFC ASDFGHJKL THIS IS THE BEST TV SHOW EVER TO TV SHOW'. I make no promises, but I will try.

Much love, QoS

I lead a Formula One Appreciation Life

I got up at 6am (on a Sunday!!!) to watch the Japanese Grand Prix. The race was good until near the end when Sebastian fucking Vettel took the lead and won the race. This is the  same asshole who screwed over his lovely Australian team-mate, Mark Webber, earlier in the year. Sometimes the universe just sucks. Huge sigh. At least Mark came second (my phone keeps autocorrecting second to sexing - why??? I so know why) and Romain Grosjean came third. Vettel didn't get enough points to win the championship today so I suppose it's not all bad. 

Also, Romain (the cutie in the picture) has the face of an adorable French angel.

That is all. 

Much live, QoS

London Calling

I'm off to London on Monday for a week of sightseeing with little sis' (who is 15 months younger and 4 inches taller than me but meh, details). I've only been to London for odd little day or two day trips in the past and they've all been for a specific reason - killing time before getting the Eurostar to Paris, visiting the British or Natural History or Science museum. I live such a thrilling life.

This time, though, we're seeing all the cheesy tourist crap that you usually skip because it's your country and you're not a tourist. I have a list somewhere but as I'm at work and without my comic book pad, I can't really remember all of it.

Anyway, if you happen to be in London next week and you see a short girl with dark curly hair, a dress and combat boots, taking pictures of anything and everything - give her a wave. If she looks confused and asks the taller redhead with her who the fuck is waving at her, it's probably me. This would probably mean more if anyone other than me actually read this. Sigh.

Much love, QoS

Millionaire's Shortbread, I presume?

I love to bake. It's seriously one of my favourite things and if I could figure out a way to start my own business without risking everything, I totally would. I'm thinking a kind of retro tea shop with a built in quirky book shop and I'm dreaming when I'm supposed to be working. Oh well. On second glance, it's seven minutes past my finishing time so I'm freeeeeee!

Anyway, the point of this was to impart my recipe for Millionaire's Shortbread because it's the one thing I make that I always know everyone will love. Even people who don't like desserts love this bad boy so here goes:

9" x 9" baking tray or throwaway foil tray (I tend to go with the throwaway option because it's easier to get out of the tin when the caramel has stuck to the sides. Also, no need to grease it which makes it healthier. Or as healthy as a shortbread/caramel/chocolate concoction can be)

Preheat oven to gas 5 or whatever degrees that is in your oven (190C/375F - thank you, Google)

Shortbread base
125g cold butter cut into small chunks
175g plain flour
50g light brown sugar (you can use dark brown if that's what you have)

Rub together flour and butter until fully combined and looking like buttery breadcrumbs. If there's a few lumps, it's not the end of the world.
Sieve in sugar to get rid of any lumps then stir into flour/butter.
Mix it all up until it becomes a ball of doughy goodness.
Press mixture into tin, making sure it's right up in the corners and spread evenly.
Grab a fork and stab some holes in to prevent air bubbles
Put in oven for 20 mins - when cooked, the edges will just be golden brown.
Remove from oven and leave to cool
When base is cool, start the

Caramel middle

50g dark brown sugar (again, if you don't want to buy another sugar, you can use light brown)
50g butter
1 tin of condensed milk

Put ingredients in a pan, medium heat, mix together and do not under any circumstances stop stirring until it starts to bubble. When this happens, time 5 minutes and stir like your favourite actor will vanish from the planet if you stop. Seriously, do not stop stirring like a maniac for these 5 minutes.
When the five minutes are up, pour over base. Make sure you get an even covering.
Leave to cool.

Chocolate top

200g (ish) milk chocolate (don't use less than 180gish or it won't be enough to cover)

Melt in a dish over a pan of simmering water. When fully melted, pour over caramel. Make sure to cover completely and evenly.

I'll add pictures next time I make some so you can see how perfectly neat (ha!) mine turns out. It usually looks like my 3 year old niece did it but it tastes good so what does that matter?

Much love from the QoS x

Back again...

Hello again universe. It's been a while since I've done anything with this blog. Partly because I read back over the majority of what I'd wrote and shuddered and partly because I couldn't remember the email address or password to log in and change it. I thought about scrapping it completely and starting again but it took me so long to get this just how I wanted that to start again made my brain weep in agony. Fair point, brain - I'm lazy as hell, too.

On my first blog post, I listed a bunch of things I could be ranting, raving or just being boring about but some of those have changed so I'm going to have a play around with it until it reflects the sort of junk I whine about on a daily basis. The original list will be in the usual colour which, if my memory serves correctly (not sodding likely) is a purpley sort of colour and the new version will be green, for contrast.

Things I rant/rave/bore people stupid about on a daily basis

Pacific Rim
Teen Wolf
Avengers (or just Marvel movies of any description)
Harry Potter (not sure why I forgot this last time)
Star Trek (or this)
Supernatural  
Suits
Castle   
Merlin             
Firefly             
Doctor Who
Torchwood
Formula 1
Glee This has been moved down the list because the newer seasons suck. Has only retained a place on here because of Kurt, Finn, Santana and Adam. Everyone else can suck my non-existent dick.
Vampire Diaries (I have to be in the mood but when I am I watch it continuously) 
I love a massive variety of music which you'll probably read about at some point.
Socks. The brighter and more patterned, the better. Socks are love, remember that.
Chocolate. Need I say more?
Pretty dresses. Worn with my lovely grey combat-y style boots. (RIP grey combat-y style boots. Long live black combat-y style studded boots!)
Bags. Not just gorgeous handbags (of which I seem to have a bajillion) but backpacks and completely impractical purse sized affairs that I squeeze my phone and some money in when I go out. 

There are so many more things that will probably turn up at some point that I haven't mentioned but, meh, I'm sure you'll survive. If there's anyone who is even reading this. Probably not. Oh, well. 

Much love, QoS