The 2013 Review.

Seriously...where has this year gone? It completely and utterly flashed before my eyes! I think I spent half of it in the library so that might explain quite a lot. All in all I think I have had a fabulous year; yes I had a hiccup in October but I am out the other side of that and feeling all reflective. I met and left some gorgeous people, I pushed myself as a 'brand' even further, got back into modelling, met a boy, and even started my own small business! Absolute craziness!

Check out all my hair colours!

I have much to be thankful and proud for from 2013. Mainly the fact that I graduated from university with a 2.1 in Archaeology. It is something I worked incredibly hard for so it is a great achievement that fulfilled the dream of a little girl who quite liked history. I met some amazing people during my three years in Liverpool, both from university and from the city. It was tough at times for a southern girl in the north but I am very now very attached and connected to my adoptive city and all the memories it gave me. If you want to read more about my experiences then check out this post. 

As well as the delicious people of Liverpool I met lots of people in the vintage and rockabilly world, all who have been equally fabulous. I really tried to boost my social networks this year and even branched into getting myself a Facebook page and profile for this blog and my other works. I have this to thank for meeting these people, and I hope in 2014 I continue to grow as I did this year.

First up we had the vintage blogger meet up in May. It was a brilliant day spent in London, shopping and getting to know the people behind the pages even better. I think its about time another one of these was planned!

Another amazing person I was introduced to was Bethan, aka Bettina Scarlett. We are now firm friends, sharing chalets at the Rhythm Riot and having lots of dancing fun! She is the one I have to thank for kick starting my modelling again really, as she asked me to be an Atomic Bombshell. This was another big highlight of the year for me; I had an unbelievable amount of fun doing it, met some great folks, and got a nudge back to getting in front of a camera. Hopefully in 2014 I'll have many more photoshoots and get myself noticed that little bit more.

What a year I have had! I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for me, who I'll get to meet, where I'll get to go, and what I'll get to do! It all is really exciting right now!

Carry On Hayridin'

I cannot believe that it has already been over two weeks since the Hotrod Hayride came and went! Once again the weekend excelled itself and flashed past in a blur of cars, music, rum and friends. I did my documenting of the event a little differently this year and instead of writing up a lengthy blog I decided to film my experience instead, so below you'll find my two-part vlog on all the shenanigans (well most of them, some were too drunken to show you!) and then some photos to accompany it!

Enjoy!

Carry on Hayridin' Part One

Carry on Hayridin' Part Two

Photo credits to Subsculptures Photography

Here is me and the other Atomic Bombshells doing a little modelling and flyering for the new vintage festival Atomic! A great time was had by all even if we were sweltering in our jumpers in the British summer heat!

As I said before friends played a big part in this year's Hayride. I met up with three lovely lads called Sam, Rick and Harry who put up with me and my friend Steve all weekend. We were a nice little gang I reckon.

Here we are! (Plus Salvatore and minus Sam who was behind the camera) Evidently we were kinda merry by this point...especially Rick.

Lots of dancing was going on on both nights - sadly I am still no good at jiving :(

I was a little bit fixated with the array of beards that were on show this year but this man, complete with beehive and blue eyeshadow, really stole the show!

So there we have it! We had some modelling, some dancing, some drinking (okay...more than some), lots of friends, and just a general jolly good time!

Only 348 days until the next one!

Best Weekend Of My Life?

No doubt about it.

This time last week I was walking around the stalls of this years epic Hotrod Hayride. And when I say epic, I mean epic - hence why this post is five days late, it's taken me that long to recover! This was my third venture to the annual event, held at Bisley Shooting Range, and it was by far the best one yet. Both nights the bands were outstanding, the cars were even better than previous years with many coming from across the continent for the weekend, and the people were the nicest they've ever been - but maybe that was the bottle of rum I had consumed...?

Friday, as always was quite a chilled day, people arriving at various times, bikes steaming up and down the roads throughout the day, and the casual beer by the barbie. The highlight, by far, for me on the first day was the performance by the Swedish rockabilly band, The Go Getters. I've been following this band since I first really got into the scene and have wanted to see them for a long, long time. They certainly did not disappoint! I think they were called back for encore four times? I'm not sure, the rum had set in by this point. That's probably also why the photos of the set I took are rather blurry. Anyway, myself and Steve enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, and promptly got very excited any other time in the weekend when we saw any member of the band.

Probably the least blurry of the images

With a slightly sore head I woke up on Saturday in a boiling hot tent, ready to brace the day's racing down at the hill climb. Usually they would have drag racing at this point, but the landing strip they usually use had been commandeered for those pesky Olympics. Anyway, the hill climb was fun, apart from the fact I'd made the foolish decision to wear shorts and was rather cold after an hour under the shade of the trees. Mark, my dad's friend and part of the Bleek Autos team (they like to build customs, rods and bikes in their spare time and call themselves Bleek Autos), nearly took out part of the forest, a number of spectators, and not to mention the fire engine, with a fabulous near-crash as he sped up the dirt track.

Credit to whoever was brave enough to film this!

No sh*t, Sherlock...

So after we'd all recovered, we drove back to site and settled in for the night. Read "settled in for the night" as: got drunk and danced like crazy people. Seriously, my feet the next day, I swear they were physically bruised from the amount of stompin', boppin' and strollin' I did. Best set of the night goes to the fabulous Gizzelle, who's voice could probably knock you off your feet. She was joined for one song by Jake Allen, who I later accosted. Apologies, Jake, once again Mr B. Cardi had reared his drunken head. But seriously, amazing set!

We also saw Big Boy Bloater - an amazing voice by a lovely man...

Watched a Freak Show (how does one realise one has the talent for hammering nails into one's nose exactly?)

And burlesque was brought to us by the ever sexy Anna Fur Laxis...

Sunday was subdued; I was very sore headed, me and mamma sold a few things at the Trunk Of Junk before the heavens opened, we saw the soap box derby - which was a little slow, I won't lie to you, a few needed a little push towards the end - where I spoke to a lovely lady called Lydia, and got packed up to go home. In the car (called Delilah) back Steve and I seat-danced to songs we'd heard that weekend and lamented over it being gone from our lives for another year...

But lets not end this on a sad note! Here are some more photos from the weekend that makes me not feel like a freak! 'Til next year!

Agatha went home, and Steve let his feminine side out

I wish I could dance like these guys...(I also owe them apology - or rather, pardon - as I confused them when I asked for instructions to Sainsbury's, and they didn't speak English...)

Trunk Of Junk

Credit to Steve Biddlecombe for this one. The guy in the background represents how my liver felt the next day.

It Was A Very Good Year...

And for once, it really was! Usually I absolutely despise new years because I remember everything that went wrong, everything I didn't do, everyone that hurt me in some way. But 2011 was different, completely different. I didn't do a Christmas recap and this won't be a New Years Eve one either (I don't have a camera anymore and the photos that were taken are a little too incriminating for the public eye I think) so instead I will take a leaf out of Missy Vintage's book and do a picture recap of the entire year. Hold onto your hats...

So I started the year with brown hair...yeah...really not me is it? Too natural! This was our first night out after our first semester exams which was a massive relief! I quite like my outfit, but that skirt is so short! It definitely requires tights!

February saw me back in lectures and the start of several more nights out. The photo above is a Barbie & Action Man night out. I might not look that Barbie'd up but for me, I really am. Hair is straightened, I'm wearing fake tan (uuuurgh) and just generally girly.

Look who it is! Let me introduce you to Yinka, my oldest friend whom I've known since we were tiny (well she was tiny, I was never tiny). She came up to Liverpool for our friend Victoria's birthday and hopefully she'll be up again soon! Notice the brown hair is still there...shudder.

Phew! That's more like it! The blonde was back in April thanks to a bottle of bleach - my hair is now well and truly frazzled! This is me and Kat, my best friend who moved to Plymouth later in the year which saddened me greatly. I think I remember this night as the night I got ready in twenty minutes hence the lack of styling and complex make up.

Meanwhile back in Liverpool we had a couple of weeks before the exams began and then finally the exodus of Lady Mountford C Block. It was a stressful month in terms of work but my exams were over in the first week so I had a nice 10 days of to do absolute nothing. Cue hours wasted on Sims, Youtube and walks to Tesco and back.

And here it is, the penultimate night as a Fresher, and it was a very interesting night indeed! The actual last night was a foam party and thus really not glamourous at all. I really like this outfit, especially in summer months, even though it's not vintage or rockabilly one bit. 

July was a glorious month with the Hotrod Hayride and the adoption of my lovely Agatha! It truly is the highlight of my year and I can't wait for this year's! Needless to say I adore this outfit :)

There it is again, that photo! I said it would crop up again! August saw me embarking on my first proper archaeological dig at Eddisbury Hillfort. Marvellous times all round me thinks!

Pink! The hair is pink! I had a major hair colour chnge in September and took the plunge and went pink. I have only just got the colour out and there is still a mild tinge of pink lingering. I loved the colour and I plan on going many other colours but for now I'll stick to pearl white.

October and my twentieth birthday! Scary times! I really liked my outfit this year, and I think my hair and make up made the look complete - even if it did take me a full hour to brush out the back combing the next day!

Another little hair change in November when I had Bettie Bangs cut back in and a splash of more pink. November was a quiet month really as the work really began to mount up. In the six weeks I had left of the semester I had 11,000 words to write and countless books to read. Partying and socialising outside of the library took the back seat, although Heather and I had some raves with our Tesco meal deals and peach water of an eve...not.

So here we are at the end of the year. December was very busy for work with a deadline a week for essays and when the last one came (a very long report on the Eddisbury project) I could have kissed the ladies on the front desk when they took it off my hands! Homeward bound there was Christmas, meeting friends and family again and finally new years eve! I wore a Topshop dress that I got in the sale a couple of years ago for £20. I rarely wear this dress but I think it needs to come out the wardrobe a lot more!

And that's it! Here's to 2012 and I hope y'all have a good'un!

Hot Rod Hayride! A Rockabilly's Paradise!

I got home on Sunday evening and felt all deflated. I realised I had very little to look forward to now the big event of my summer (who am I kidding? It's the highlight of my year!), the Hot Rod Hayride, was over. It flashed past in the blink of an eye and yet so much went on I'm still remembering some of it - or maybe that was the copious amounts of Bulmers I got through?

We (my parents, their friends, and I) arrived at about half ten on Friday morning and still weren't the first ones in. The first field was half full already and our's was filling up quickly too. My new tent got it's first airing and our little camp was soon set up, and the bud's were cracked open before lunchtime. I had also already seen my perfect man by this point - first sighted on the gate, in fact, with a blue Triumph - but soon found out he was attached (damn!) not that it stopped me looking haha! The rest of Friday was spent looking through the stalls (Freddies of Pinewood was naturally my favourite), looking at beautiful cars and motorbikes, eating lots and lots of barbecued meat and drinking a lot of beer. We did have one run in with good ol' health and safety on the Friday; we were told to move our cars either to the show ground (for pre 1966 vehicles) or to the public car park because they were a fire hazard. We all thought this was completely ridiculous as some of the cars, like my dad's 1967 Dodge Coronet and his friend's 1953 Cadillac coupe DeVille, is a prized possession and to be separated from it can cause a bit of tension. Most of the people at the Hayride have been going to shows for years and no one we know of has ever had a problem with having their vehicle near their tent/caravan, so, in my opinion, this was health and safety madness!

We cracked open our bottles of Italian pin up lemonade on Friday

Saturday was the main event day for the weekender and involved, yup you've guessed it, more cars, shopping, eating and drinking. My main purchase of the weekend was bought just before we went to the drag strip; you can read about my lovely new bicycle (called Agatha) here. After a horrendous journey through Guildford to the Top Gear test track - to be on this 'hallowed ground' excited me, as just the thought of being somewhere where Jenson Button has been is just amazing - we discovered we were too late for most the racing and only caught the finale. It was supposed to go on until 3pm but was all over just before 2pm. Maybe if we hadn't been led through a city with a one way system on a Saturday we'd have been there sooner, but oh well! At least we didn't end up in a housing estate like my uncles who mistakenly followed the wrong biker! On another note, a first was had on the Saturday! The first ever wedding took place at the Hayride which I think is brilliant! What a great place for a wedding no one will forget! Congrats to the couple!

Agatha and I

The second, and last, night of the Hayride was just amazing! The music was brilliant, the spontaneous clog dancing from the Dutch bunch was entertaining, the Freak Show was...freaky (who knew a man could do that up a pole?!), and Anna Fur Laxis' burlesque was seductively sexy (This is also a call for anyone who knows where the half of her unique, handmade bra is. Anna can't do this act without it so if anyone knows any information please, please, please get in contact with her!). One personal highlight of mine was the £50 note practical joke our lot played on unsuspecting victims from the pavilion's veranda. Mum had got a pack of quite convincing napkins that resembled £50 notes and so we planted them on the ground as if they'd fallen from our pocket and then watched as people pick them up and realise it was a fake. Sneaky, sneaky! We had the whole side of the veranda going!

Fake £50 gag in action

Pole Dancing Freak Show style ;)

Anna Fur Laxis - Mr Perfect was stood next to me at this point =D



Sunday was over far too quickly for my liking! It started with more shopping at the bootfair sale which offered clothes, art and vehicle pieces (I skip those - it's all gobbledegook to me!) and ended with the famous Hot Rod Hayride Soapbox Derby. The event seemed shorter than last year, but I put that down to the track being a lot shorter - it missed the speed bump which I can only put down to health and safety demons again. We were packed up by 2pm, and soon enough I waved goodbye to paradise for another year...

I won't even bother to give you a verdict because I think my opinion is clear: the weekend is my idea of heaven! Looking past the health and safety dramas (unnecessary if you ask me) and the Guildford disaster I cannot fault it. I look forward to the weekend all year and this certainly hasn't changed! The only thing I'd like more (apart from the obvious Mr Perfect part) is more people to go with, so anyone interested in next year please get in touch because I would love to meet more people in the scene and get my own crowd going!