Summer Blog Challenge 6: Summer Senses

Greetings blogosphere members! The time has come for my next instalment of the Summer Blog Challenge, this time totally revolving around the theme of 'Summer Senses'. Given that there are 5 of them (or 6 according to Hayley Joel Osment), I was given quite a bit of freedom with this post. But come on, if I had to choose my favourite sense, no doubt it would be taste. Because seriously, food wins over everything! Food or sleep? Food. Food or breathing? Food. Food or tumblr? Now that's just a bridge too far. However, I think you've all now got an accurate depiction of the importance that is the glorious world of all that is edible. So, to truly knock this challenge out of the park, I've decided to include some of the most awesome summer food recipes available! Are you excited? I know I am. Stick around for the awesome culinary epicness to come . . .

Sandal Cookies

What would be better to munch away on in the summer heat than cookies shaped as your go-to beach footwear? The answer is absolutely nothing. They look ridiculously awesome and cute, plus they incorporate a large array of sugary goodness in just one bite! That my friends is the definition of a food miracle. Perhaps the only downside is there may be misconceptions when you're trying to explain what they are to your international friends. Seriously, I even struggled with creating my subheading! In Australia we call them thongs, however if I rocked up to a bunch of people from America and was all like 'I made you some thong cookies!', they'd probably run screaming in the opposite direction (and if they didn't, that doesn't reflect very well on their part, and you should probably be the one bolting for your life). Confusion aside, I say you go for it and make these sweet treats, and because I'm awesome, I've even provided a link for you so you can get baking ASAP!

Hawaiian Beach Cake

There's nothing greater than the beaches on the island of Hawaii, except perhaps ones that are edible. I mean come on, check out this construction of awesomeness! Doesn't this just look like the perfect summer cake? It truly is a masterpiece. And look at all that intricacy! It's nothing if not impressive. I've never wanted to eat sand so much in my life, but I guess if it's made from crumbled up cookie pieces, I can be excused. Not totally lured yet? I don't know what's wrong with you. Come on, give it a go and have a look at a recipe on how to create this epic dessert.

Sandcastle Cake

It seems that we're going back to the beach with this cake, however this time we're getting a bit more up close and personal with the sand. Doesn't this truly look magnificent? This castle's fit for a pint-sized princess, and simultaneously looks super duper delish. What makes it even better is the fact that it contains mega awesome ingredients. I've always been of the opinion that the cone of an ice cream really is the best part, so now, with these waffle cone turrets, everybody wins. All the detail is seriously the best, even down to the edible rocks hanging around the sand at the bottom. Now it's time for you to give it a try, make your very own sandcastle following this handy recipe.

Barbecue Cupcakes

A big part of the summer experience is spending time chilling with the fam bam and having truly epic, barbecued lunches (well you know, at least in Australia it certainly is). So, what better way to signify that than with these grill-a-licious cupcakes? They'll certainly impress males and barbecue enthusiasts alike, plus they look pretty fancy and will be sure to liven up the party. It's pretty much a proven fact that anything miniature looks ridiculously cute and appealing, so there's no way these will disappoint. Plus, this is certainly one way for a vegetarian like me to get their daily meat intake. I don't even think I need to persuade you any further, because really the image does all the talking. Here's the recipe so you can make some of your own awesome, barbecue-tastic creations!

So that's pretty much where I'll leave it for today. I bet this is where you're all at right now, and for that, I apologise (though you know I don't mean it of course):

Sorry for inducing so much hunger. I hope I at least inspired you to progress with your summer baking, and create some super awesome, totally lick able desserts. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx

Wedding Dress Debate: Can You Wear White to a Wedding?

Hello my readers, welcome back! Today, I plan on addressing a debate that has been constantly pressing down on wedding goers everywhere - is it okay to wear white at someone else's wedding? My post today didn't just come out of nowhere, in fact it was inspired by a post regarding the very same issue on Lover.ly. This can sometimes be a tricky issue to tackle, I mean, what if you upstage the bride? Or what if you get ridiculed by everyone in attendance? Don't worry, Teenage Fanatic is here to make a final judgement call on the matter and determine what exactly is socially acceptable in the least embarrassing way possible. Want to put this to rest once and for all? Keep on reading and discover the verdict . . .

Aisle Be There Dress in Lily by Modcloth

I am not a traditionalist in any way, shape or form, so it's only natural that I am totally on board with guests being able to wear white at a wedding (hence the randomly dispersed dress suggestions throughout this blog post). We're no longer stuck in the 1800's, so why not disregard some of the old, overly conventional wedding dress regulations? Let's face it, brides themselves some of the time don't even stick to wearing white, so why should guests conform? I say if it's done in good taste, go for your life and wear as much cream coloured clothing as you wish.

Regent Dress by Review

However, although I'm all for it, there are some boundaries that you probably shouldn't cross just yet. Wearing all white is totally fine, provided you don't totally steal the bride's spotlight (no matter how tempting that may be). Perhaps steer clear of anything vaguely resembling your typical wedding gowns. What exactly does that entail? If you find yourself rocking up in a dress covered from tip to toe in white lace, you know you've probably gone in a massively wrong direction. And please, whatever you do, stay away from anything floor length. Seriously, the length of a white dress determines whether you're dressed for the alter or dressed for the pews. I think you've all at least got the required bare minimum intelligence to determine for yourself what's appropriate and what's not, because really anything that doesn't turn into this will ultimately be A okay:

On the other hand, if you aim to totally overshadow the bride, then I suggest this is the best idea for you. I think everyone's secretly resentful at weddings, but for those of you actually willing to go the whole hog and fully frock up, disregard the last paragraph and just throw on whatever you want. For the rest of us in a relatively sane state of mind (who are we kidding? if you're reading my blog that's probably not you), then there are other ways you can ensure you stick away from anything verging on bridal.

Lara Crochet Skirt Dress by Forever New

To truly differentiate your white little number from a full on bridal gown, perhaps add something a little vibrant to truly set yourself apart. Accessories can often transform an entire outfit, so by adding a fun, sparkly belt, you automatically establish yourself as being a guest who flies under the radar, rather than the bride's number one adversary. Because let's face it, there's nothing more cray than a woman on her wedding day, so why make yourself the target of her insanity? Better safe than sorry I say.

Short High Neck Dress by XOXO

So that's officially the end of my short little fashion themed post. I thought I'd shake things up a bit today, and if I do say so myself, I think I managed to do just that. Hopefully I've managed to settle the debate for you all, and you now feel free to where as much white as you please around a church without feeling the need to get hitched. Now go on and live your lives! Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx

Disappearing TV Characters

Hello once more members of the blogosphere! I apologise for my brief blogging hiatus, I've just been ridiculously caught up with school work lately. Yep, you read that right, I'm once again back at school. Gone are the days of lazily getting up at 12 and living on a diet predominantly consisting of grilled cheese sandwiches, and in are the 7:30am wake up calls and heavily shoulder-padded blazers. However, that doesn't mean I can't keep blogging about the things that pique my interest whenever I get a free moment. Today, I'm going to pay homage to those TV characters who seem to have miraculously disappeared without a trace or any semblance of an explanation over the years. Where are they now? What happened to them? These questions are yet to be addressed. Just think of this as one massive missing persons add jam packed with colloquialisms and TV references. So without further ado, here they are . . .

Tiger from 'The Brady Bunch'

I think everyone's familiar with this groovy 70's family sitcom, and if you're not, I seriously don't even know what your childhood was. We all got acquainted with Mike and Carol and all the kids, even Sam the butcher was held close to us! But one person we've always been a bit unsure about is they're family dog, Tiger. In the pilot episode, this canine plays a massive part in causing chaos at Mike and Carol's wedding, however after season 1, he is never seen again, no questions asked. Why? Well in actuality, original Tiger went to the little dog kennel in the sky after getting caught up in an unfortunate car accident just before the first episode of season 2 (don't worry, he wasn't driving). So, naturally, they found a Tiger replacement as soon as possible to fill his shoes (despite the fact he doesn't wear any), however he didn't exactly have the acting chops (or basic training) to continue on with the role. So how did Sherwood Schwartz decide to address this? By never mentioning it again and hoping no one noticed. Well sorry, I noticed. 

Coach Tanaka and Matt Rutherford from 'Glee'

Although these are both very different characters and wouldn't ordinarily be lumped together in the same category, I felt the need to merge these two into one given their shared place on hit TV show 'Glee'. Remember way back in season 1, before Coach Beiste came into the picture, there was another football coach who was at one point engaged to Emma? And remember that guy in the Glee Club who hanged with Mike Chang and had about two lines? As soon as the first episode of season 2 aired, both of these guys were never seen again. To be fair, they were at least formally written out of the show, however this was done using a total of 2 words for each character, in the lines 'nervous breakdown' and 'Matt transferred'. Will they ever make a cameo appearance? I guess only time will tell.

Dr Grace Miller from 'Scrubs'

Are we all familiar with the little medical comedy 'Scrubs'? Well I bet you don't remember who the hell Dr Grace Miller is. Don't feel bad, I've seen nearly every episode and had absolutely no idea. While she was on the show, she acted as a snarky female counterpart to Dr Cox. Maybe she annoyed everyone so much that people just decided to boot her off the show? Or perhaps she was just too forgettable and took up much-needed space on set? Whatever the reason, she randomly disappeared from the series with absolutely no explanation.

Chuck Cunningham from 'Happy Days'

There's no way that all of you haven't at least heard of the massively popular 50's esque 70's sitcom 'Happy Days' (and if you haven't, seriously, what is wrong with you?). Despite it having stopped well before I was born, I've always been able to watch the constant re-runs on TV1 (and boy, have I ever). Once you watch it, I think pretty much everyone gets invested in the gang always hanging at Al's - there's Mr and Mrs C, Joanie, Richie  and of course, the Fonz. However, this wasn't always the case. Believe it or not, there was another member of the Cunningham clan - Chuck. Throughout the entire first season, you would always see Richie and Joanie's older brother hanging around, however as soon as season 2 rolled around, he was nowhere to be seen. Not only was there no explanation for this, but it seems his own parents forgot he even existed. In fact, in the last ever episode of 'Happy Days', Mr Cunningham says that he's so proud of his 'two kids', way to be forgotten (and he wasn't even the middle child!). This has become such a popular lapse in continuity that now, when a character disappears without any explanation whatsoever (like all of the ones on this list), it means a series is suffering from the 'Chuck Cunningham Syndrome'. You have to admit, that's quite an achievement.

Dr Goodman from 'Bones'

Everyone loves a good detective show, and nothing fits the bill like 'Bones'. For anyone who's seen the first season, you'll notice that there's a guy, Dr Goodman, who's a former archaeologist and current director of the Jeffersonian Institute. Throughout the show, he often acted as an enforcer of the rules and sometimes was an obstacle in Bones and Booth cracking the case, however by the end of the episode, he'd always come around. However, once the second season started, these little interactions were never able to occur again, as it was announced that he had gone on a three month sabbatical. However, the show's 10th season is airing in September, and we've never seen him since. Well then, that's the longest three months I've ever experienced in my life!

Coach from 'New Girl'

Okay, I guess this one doesn't really matter that much anymore seeing as Damon Wayans Jr's character made a reappearance in season 3 and has now become a series regular, however before this happened, it was still a pretty odd and notable occurrence. For those of you who watch the show, you may remember in the pilot episode of 'New Girl', there was a guy living with Jess, Nick and Schmidt who went by the nickname 'Coach'. However, after this episode, he mysteriously left the series, to be replaced in the second episode by Lamorne Morris in the role of Winston. It was super weird at the time, as the character we got to meet and learn about initially had randomly vanished, however now that he's returned, all is right with the world. That is officially the best case disappearance scenario!

So that's the end of my little blog post honouring the characters we shall most likely never see again. At least now they can rest in peace. I hope you vaguely enjoyed it, and perhaps learnt something new about the shifty, deceptive world of television. I promise I will continue to blog regularly, and will try not to keep you all hanging for too long. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx

Cory Monteith 1 Year Anniversary

Readers, we meet once again! As some of you may be aware, today officially marks the one year anniversary of the day amazingly awesome 'Glee' star Cory Monteith tragically passed away. For hardcore Gleeks like me around the world, July 13th (or 14th Australian time) 2013 was seriously one of the worst days ever. Personally, 365 days later, I still can't believe it. Firm in my denial, I'm quite happy to believe in the conspiracy theory I created, which basically suggests that Cory was receiving death threats from a bunch of people who also auditioned for the role of Finn, and as a part of the witness protection program, he was forced to fake his own death and hide out under a pseudonym in Iowa. Although I wholeheartedly believe that to be true for the sake of my mental health, there's a small, sane part of me that realises that my theory is absurd, hence my blog post today. Of course, this is a super depressing day for Cory fans everywhere, but amidst the sad commemorations, how about we just remember some of the Canadian's best moments. Sound good? That's what I thought.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

Turns out, Cory Monteith was always striving to be a master of all languages. Don't believe me? Remember when he tried to sing along in Spanish during 'The Spanish Teacher'? Because I do.

But his attempts at mastering Español didn't stop there.

And then of course there was that time he tried to speak French, but ended up speaking gibberish that nobody understood.

I guess he finally realised that he couldn't speak other random languages, so just decided to make up bits of his own. Low and behold, his very own Gretchen Wiener moment.

It's only fitting that his very own catch phrase revolved around food. Although he had an all-round obsession with all that is edible, he had his favourites. Namely, his deep, deep chicken love.

As with all food enthusaists, along with his favourites are his least favourites.

Is this one of his only words of wisdom via Twitter? Most definitely not. Cory was always a very avid tweeter.

Even when he wasn't verified.

Fan interaction just so happened to be one of his strong points.

So much so that they ended up attacking him on the Ellen show.

Being a likeable guy and all, you'd think he could at least get one high five during the Glee concert tours. But did he? No.

Maybe it's because this tends to happen when he high fives people.

You'd think that maybe to make up for his lack of coordination he'd be good at lifting things, however this doesn't seem to be the case. Remember when he dropped Lea during the Rocky Horror filming? Because she does.

That walk though. I'd think I'd forgive him just for the awesomeness of this.

At least he has his bromance with Chord Overstreet.

Which even extended to doing impressions of him.

And naturally, having half naked pictures of Chord on his phone.

One thing that I always admired about him was his blissful ignorance when it comes to 'Twilight'. Sure, it wasn't full blown hatred like me, but at least he didn't care enough to know anything about it.

Plus, he really seems to have mastered many trades. He even had a little stint as a day care bus driver for a day. Sure, he crashed it and tried to bribe the kids with ice-cream, but still, solid effort.

He luckily found his calling for acting before he killed any children. Once he became comfortable with his acting career, he just started chucking in some improvised throwaway lines, which has now become classic, Finn Hudson dialogue.

I think it's fair to say another one of his callings was art.

Or cinematography.

Or dancing.

It's also great that Cory's a fellow nerd. Seriously, he spent his childhood reading through encyclopaedias.

Overall, Cory Monteith was a pretty stand up guy. He was honest . . .

never afraid to speak his mind . . .

and always asks the tough questions.

That's now officially the end of my anniversary post. I hope I managed to make an ordinarily awful day just a little bit more enjoyable for all you Gleeks out there. Don't stop believing! Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx