helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

Glamorous days….

24th May 2007 by Helena 6 Comments  

Olivia was home sick yesterday. She caught a cold by pouring cold water all over herself and then getting on the air-conditioned bus to come home after the school outing. I did tell her not to, but of course she took no notice. There are some days I feel like a ‘don’t-machine’ I just say don’t do this and don’t do that all the time. I even get bored with the sound of it myself so heaven knows how the children must feel.

Anyway, after a whole morning watching my movements she said: “Is this all you do all day? Just work and hang out the washing?”

Take me to the shoe departmentI wish I could have said that no, I’m just being boring today because you’re here. Normally I crack open a bottle of champagne just after you leave for school, then my personal trainer (who also happend to double as Colin Firth in his spare time) comes over and we do some pilates, then a friend of mine picks me up in her helicopter and whisks me up to Paris where we land on the roof of Galeries Lafayette. We have a spot of lunch and then spend the afternoon shopping and having manicures. The helicopter whisks me back home in time for the 4.30 school run. So if I seem a little tired when I collect you, you can understand why. But sadly I had to admit that my days are really very mundane. Working and washing, washing and working and if I’m feeling really foot-loose a little ironing and emptying the dishwasher too. But only as a treat.

Just one more thing on Madeleine and then I will shut up. If it is possible to put micro-chips into pets then why not children? I know it’s drastic but at least then this wouldn’t happen again. They could have them removed when we stop fretting about them; so never.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007


Filed Under: Children, Life, blog --> Tagged With: glamorous

6 thoughts on Glamorous days....

  • Jonathan Miller says:
    24th May 2007 at 12:44 pm

    Microchips should be tested first in wives.

  • lady macleod says:
    24th May 2007 at 3:28 pm

    I like your schedule – the one with the helicopter!

    You know even if we did the chips, evil would find a way to make it work for them. We all have to watch out for each other I think.

  • alchesay says:
    24th May 2007 at 4:58 pm

    I can’t stop thinking of that sweet little face. Madeleine is so small I hope she isn’t afraid or hurt. It makes me so angry to think of all those poor children who get kidnapped and no one but there parents even care. People like the ones who took Madeleine are the ones that make everything in this world thats cruel.

  • Yvette says:
    24th May 2007 at 11:44 pm

    I would have thought husbands.

  • Claire says:
    25th May 2007 at 5:30 pm

    Yvette, you’re singing my song!!

  • Wendy says:
    26th May 2007 at 11:25 am

    Yes they should have little GPS tracking devices installed in them…. perhaps someone should invent a watch or necklace with one in.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

© 2023 Helena Frith Powell
Website by Web Inclusion
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:3em; -webkit-transition: all 0.8s; -moz-transition: all 0.8s; -ms-transition: all 0.8s; -o-transition: all 0.8s; transition: all 0.8s; margin-top:-100%; padding-top:100px; padding-bottom:50px; margin:0; } .scrolled .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:1.2em; padding-top:30px; padding-bottom:20px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .HFPA-section{ width:100%; background:#eee; } .HFPA-Image{ background-position:center right; background-repeat:no-repeat; height:276px; width:100%; -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Safari 6.0 - 9.0 */ filter: grayscale(100%); } .HFPA-Text{ padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .footIt{ background:#222; padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */