I Feel The Need For (The Goodwood Festival Of) Speed

Back in July (I'm the worst for Blogging at the moment sorry) Chris, Vana and I went to the Goodwood Festival Of Speed. For Chris' upcoming 30th birthday we always said we'd go to an F1 race but unfortunately the price and possibility of crowd cancellation we thought we'd give the Festival Of Speed (another event we also had on the 'to go to' list) a visit, and I'm so glad we did! It was such a fun day and we actually got to see more than we would have at an F1 race. 

Obligatory "We've arrived!" selfie

First pit stop of the day

Our attention  was immediately caught by the revving up of the rally cars. I can't pretend I know much about rallying but the cars sounded cool 😂.

I know that this is a Subaru!

The cars ran in different 'Batches' twice a day which was great as it meant we had the opportunity to see everything. The next batch we saw were some historic F1 and NASCAR cars. 

 

  

 

  

 

Goodwood House itself is beautiful

I was also really excited as the Red Arrows were displaying and it was the first time I'd seen them in two years!!

Yay! 

New for the display this year was the 'NHS Pass' as the RAF's way of thanking the amazing NHS staff and their work and sacrifice through the pandemic. It was fantastic to hear the cheers and applause from the crowd too. 

I love how close they get 💓

Chris caught me photographing the Reds with my new Red Arrows tattoo on show 😂

You can see my video of the Red Arrows display here -

Before the next batches we had a look around and the cars on static display. 

Not quite sure I can afford this for your birthday Chris!

A lot of the F1 teams had this season's cars on display in their garages (they also had the Mercedes and Red Bull merch stands next to each other - spicy!)

Aston Martin - no Inspector Seb sadly. 

Red Bull 

Ferrari 

Whilst we were at the Ferrari garage they revved up one of the engines and it sounded awesome!

Mercedes

Williams had some of their championship winning cars on display. 

McLaren - sadly no Lando or Danny Ric. 

We then went to another vantage point to watch the F1 cars and a couple of bikes run again.

 

 

Bruno Senna driving his uncle Aryton Senna's McLaren

Jenson Button driving Keke Rosberg's 1982 Championship Winning Williams

Chris watching Jenson!

 

We think this is Mark Webber's Red Bull (driven by Alex Albon - give him his seat back!)

Esteban Guttierez in the Mercedes

He also pulled some donuts

And last but not least the F1 Safety Car!

You can check out my video highlights of the day here- 

We had an absolutely fantastic day and I really hope we can go back next year.

Love Jen

XxxX

Painting A Picture - Fun with hair and make-up

The best way to celebrate finally getting the hair you want is with a cuppa on the beach!

If the Covid pandemic has taught me anything over the last year, it's the power of "Fuck It", prior to the lockdown putting make-up on to go out felt like a chore and something my brain just couldn't cope with on top of leaving the house. I started to really miss popping lip stick and eyeliner on to go to town and taking Eos to the local field didn't really justify a full face of make-up with my scruffy dog-walking clothes. 

I also got fed up with looking at the beautiful goth influencers I follow (check out Toxic Tears , Emily Boo and Black Friday) and wishing I had the guts to do their crazy, gorgeous make-up and cool alternative clothes on a daily basis. So I did. As soon as we were let out last summer to meet up with friends and family outside I wore black lipstick to the park (hayfever scuppered my eyeliner each time but hey I tried 😆) 

Eyeliner in place for all of 5 minutes despite hayfever tablet and nose spray. 

Some more black lippie pics -

Pretending to be an OOTD blogger - I was dressed for a walk in the woods .......

The best goth accessory is always a cocktail

Or a large gobful of cakeshake .............

A punky OOTD 

I've hair my undercut dyed for a few years now and really like putting fun colours on it

I couldn't decide what colour to do it .........

More of that later ....

Once I got to the stage that wearing dark or black lippie was the same as putting on clear lipgloss I started experimenting with my eyeshadow too (not just as an excuse to buy the Revolution Nightmare Before Christmas range honest!). 

I called this look 'Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge' as it had a My Chemical Romance vibe to it

Admittedly I probably do have a slight problem with the amount of make-up I own now but the best thing about make-up is that it fits no matter how fat I get! The same goes for piercings and I finally got the septum piercing (along with an additional nostril piercing to keep things matching) that I'd promised myself after I had to give up work.

Ta Dah!

Earlier this spring my lovely friend and hairdresser Ian suggested that we split dyed my hair and kept it it's normal black on one side and bleach the other so that I could eventually dye the other side a bright, fun colour. Which is great in theory apart from the living with blonde hair for 2 months.... I have a complicated history with blonde hair, when I was in Year 8 (second year of secondary school so I was about 13ish) I had highlights and bright streaks at the front to try and look more like the 'cool' in-crowd *epic fail* For some unknown reason I also tried it again, with added red streaks (those were cool though in my humble opinion) when I was 16.

Definitely not the Prom Queen!

Mum and me at my 16th with 'the hair'

You'dve thought I would have learned my lesson but no, I tried lightning it again a few years back and it went rather, er, ginger .......

Yesssssssss

I found that when my hair is a light colour I just don't feel like 'me', I used to try dressing rockabilly/vintage but it was the same, it just didn't feel right. So after that I went back to the comforting arms of the 'dark side' and reembraced my gothy self and we've been very happy together ever since. 

So going temporarily blonde was a really big deal for me, but I'm glad I took the plunge as the eventual result is worth the identity crisis and gritting my teeth whenever people complimented my 'change of look' or telling me how much it suited me. 

A studded hairband, Border Collie, fun lipstick and pretty background helps.  

I was blonde for my Halloween birthday party but I made sure I did some black and orange to make up for it. As an aside I think Halloween should be celebrated in the summer from now on - it's far more fun drinking vast amounts of Ophir in a decorated garden bar rather than shivering in the Autumn. 

Black and Orange! 

Halloween came early to the bar

Earlier this week I had my final blonding -

The next day ....on went the colour ....

There are 3 colours - a blue undercut, purple main section and pink in my fringe. 

Hooray! (Spot the Border Collie)

I'm glad that I've pushed myself into experimenting more with hair and make-up, it's helping me sculpt myself into the aesthetic I've always wanted to have (aside from the fat obvs) - a don't give a fuck alternative dresser (plus people leave you alone when you look like me - win!). Next up my Red Arrows tattoo!

Love Jen

XxxX

PS For those of you who made it to the end here are some of my favourite make-up products!

The Revolution  'Jack' Nightmare Before Christmas palette - https://www.revolutionbeauty.com/uk/en/makeup/eyeshadow-palettes/makeup-revolution-disney-nightmare-before-christmas-eyeshadow-palette-jack/1399425.html

The VE Cosmetics Grimoire palette - https://ve-cosmetics.com/products/grimoire-15-pan-palette

(Plus any brand with this as it's logo gets my vote)

My favourite black  Kat Von D lipstick https://www.kvdveganbeauty.com/lip/liquid-lipstick/everlasting-liquid-lipstick/40001.html?dwvar_40001_color=4029

Kat Von D Mascara https://www.kvdveganbeauty.com/eye/mascara/kvd-go-big-or-go-home-mascara/10058.html?dwvar_10058_color=1025

My Suavecita Bride Of Frankenstein Lip Duo https://www.suavecito.com/products/bride-of-frankenstein-bundle

And last up my go to eyeliner NYX Epic Wear (in black obvs) https://www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk/eyes/eyeliner/epic-wear-liquid-liner/NYX_806.html

Oh and all my choices are bunny friendly!

Yes, I approve!

Goodbye (For Now)

Hi guys hope you're all ok and not going too lockdown stir crazy.

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm quitting social media for a bit. My Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts are all 'staying open' as it'll be a pain in the (quite large in my case) backside re-opening them all as and when I want to flit into them.

There's just too much toxicity (not from my 'friends' I hasten to add) being spread around, whether it's Covid conspiracy theories, anti-vacers, attacks on bloody hard working NHS Staff and other vital keyworkers in transport, retail and other professions still doing their best to keep the country going. 

The nasty comments levelled at public figures or those who hold different political or social beliefs to each other (particularly virulent on Twitter), that and bloody 'cancel culture' and general drama that's inescapable even if you have no interest in those involved. I'm unable to resist 'doomscrolling' (an unfortunate product of my OCD) to see what's trending and all I see is depressing stories.

All this is contributing to my mood and anxiety levels which I am trying to address. I now have an Adult Social Care worker who takes me out for walks once a week to give Mum and Dad much needed respite. 

This is of course aside from the genius Weetabix debate, the lawyer turned into a cat and the amazing Handforth Parish Council zoom call ("YOU HAVE NO AUTHORITY HERE JACKIE WEAVER"🤣 🤣) - do click those links to brighten up your days 😂.

I do still want to hear your guy's news and fun stories. So please text/WhatsApp/call/Facebook message or send me communications via carrier pigeon (extra points if it's called Speckled Jim) for a natter. And to leave this blog on a more positive note here are Eos and Esme enjoying the snow earlier this week. 

Love Jen

XxxX

 HOPING THAT THE PSYCHIATRIST WHO ASSURED ME A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THAT I'D 'GROW OUT' OF BPD WAS RIGHT. AS I'M GETTING PRETTY SICK OF DEBATING WHETHER THE STUGGLE IS WORTH IT AND WHETHER IT'S BETTER TO JACK IT ALL IN AND SAVE EVEYONE ELSE THE BURDEN

When you see the effect you have on the lives of your loved ones you wonder what the kindest thing for them would be. In a "It's not you, it's me, very very much me" way.

Of course the only 'you's' really are those who helped contribute to this point. Those of you at Willingdon who decided that groping me in front of 20 other 11 year olds and shaming ME for it for the next 5 years. The rest of you who stood back and laughed. You guys who thought it was great sport to mock my looks, mannerisms, clothing, hobbies etc on a daily basis, shoot at me with BB guns, shower the back of my head with projectiles during lessons every day. Congratufuckingwelldone I hope this makes you laugh that one last time.

The other you's at CMS/Veritek who thought it was acceptable to scream in my face or across the office at me. Blame me for everything that went wrong though you knew full well I had no control over what was happening. Keeping spreadsheets of all my 'mistakes' over the 4 years I was there, damn I bet that was a good read.

Shall I list your names both school and work colleagues? Shame you like you gleefully did me? As tempting as it is I know there's no point, you'd either not remember or still feel justified in your actions. Because of course I brought it on myself through my own inadequacies, silly, silly Jen.

They could of course been onto something. Maybe some people are just too inadequate?

Lucky mental health nurse who gets to talk to me later. Hope she gets paid enough. 

2020 In Music

Well, it might have been a god awful year for pretty much everyone around the world but my goodness has it been a fantastic one for music! 

Hi everyone how are you all doing? It's time for my favourite blog of the year the music review and this year it's a corker (in my humble opinion). I always love writing about music (as you may have noticed) and the music reviews are a great way to round off every year no matter how good or bad it's been, you can read previous year's blogs for 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016 . 

This is a really tricky blog as there has been so much music that I've loved this year. In fact for the first time I'm having to award 'Album Of The Year' to multiple recipients as I simply can't chose between them, possibly the best problem I've ever had! 

Album(s) of the year (click on the song titles to check out the videos on YouTube) -

Lady GaGa - Chromatica

What a return to form! 2016's Joanne was by no means a bad album but it was a real departure from anything GaGa had done before but I feel it was the the album that GaGa needed to make to move onto Chromatica so to speak. Chromatica is GaGa back to her traditional dance pop best but it's by no means a happy,clappy vapid pop record. There are some really raw lyrics about GaGa's experiences with mental illness that particularly hit home to me, however it's not a depressing album. When promoting the album GaGa expressed her desire for us to "dance through our pain" and the album helps us do just that, there is positivity to be found such as Rain On Me's "I'll never be dry but at least I'm alive". I cannot wait to hear the songs live when the Chromatica Ball lands in London. 

Best songs on the album - 

Rain On Me ft Ariana Grande my favourite song on the album!

Stupid Love

Alice

Enigma

Bring Me The Horizon - Post Survival Horror

This is BMTH's second consecutive year as album of the year *round of applause* and I love it even more than last year's Amo. I think what I particularly love about Post Survival are the collaborations with Yungblud, Amy Lee, Babymetal and Nova Twins. In my opinion really good collaborations are hard to come by, you can put artists together but the results aren't always great (for example as much as I love 30 Seconds To Mars the addition of Kanye West on Hurricane or A$AP Rocky on Rescue Me add absolutely nothing to two songs that are perfect on their own) but on here they are awesome. The album is nice and heavy with just the right amount of 'scream'. I got into BMTH way back in 2011 after seeing them at Reading and I'm finally going to be seeing them again at the O2 in September. 

Best songs on the album -

Obey ft Yungblud I can't stress how much I adore this song!

Ludens

1x1

Yungblud - Weird!

I've spent a large amount of 2020 getting into Yungblud and his back catalogue (more of that down below) and feeling pretty down with the cool kids if I saw so myself. Yungblud's music is a real melting pot of different musical influences - you can hear elements of Emo, Rap and Brit Pop but importantly he still sounds completely original. Weird! is a great album with really smart, witty lyrics but with an undercurrent of darker reflections of mental illness and isolation. Those lyrics rather than just being depressing also help his fans feel less alone which is something that Yungblud is keen to express in interviews along with his campaigning for the LGBTQ+ community. Another gig I can't wait for next year!

Best songs on the album -

Cotton Candy

God Save Me, But Don’t Drown Me Out

Strawberry Lipstick

It's Quiet In Beverley Hills

Honourable Mentions -

The Killers - Imploding The Mirage - The most Killers sounding Killers album in years. Best song My Own Soul's Warning

Green Day - Father Of All Motherfuckers - Short, sharp and great. Best song Oh Yeah

Songs of the year -

We've also had some absolute tunes this year-

Billie Eilish - Therefore I Am

Deftones - Error

Royal Blood - Trouble's Coming

The Pretty Reckless - 25

I also want to mention some older music I've only heard for the first time time this year that I've really enjoyed -

Motionless In White - Another Life

Motionless In White - Voices

Yungblud ft Dan Reynolds - Original Me

Yungblud - Hope For The Underrated Youth

I'd really love to know what's soundtracked your guy's 2020 and helped you through the year, comment below or drop me a tweet @jenraefrances  on Twitter. 

Take care and stay safe.

Love Jen

XxxX