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Happy Kitschmas

12th December 2009 by Helena 4 Comments  

We are back from Italy and gearing up for Christmas. Apparently real Christmas trees are not readily available here, which came as a surprise to me. The thought of a fake one was too depressing. I considered several options before coming up with this…..I figure if you’re going to go fake, you may as well really go for it.

pinkchristmas

As Rupert saw me gazing at it last night he said; “You may never agree to having a proper one again.” He has a point.

The other thing on my mind is Tiger Woods. As I struggle to find the time to buy Christmas presents for my nearest and dearest I dread to think how long his shopping list must be. Poor love, maybe he could get a mass-purchase discount at Agent Provacateur. And to add to his woes his Swedish wife has banned him from playing golf, which I think seems a little harsh. I mean to ban a man from his favourite sports is just churlish.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009


Filed Under: Abu Dhabi, Style, blog --> Tagged With: happy, kitschmas

4 thoughts on Happy Kitschmas

  • Cate Cetona (SI) says:
    12th December 2009 at 3:15 pm

    Simply sensational tree, Helena. But, look, Spinneys can’t get you a real one even to order? In Dubai, I’m told, the first consignment of real trees that appeared in the Satwa flower shops last week are almost all sold out but the canny Christmas shopper waits for the second (slightly fresher) batch. Ludicrously expensive though, you’re looking at $150/200 for anything decent and it’ll be dead before New Year without daily watering.

  • helena says:
    13th December 2009 at 6:36 am

    I don’t know, have not really investigated as was put off by the ridiculous price you mentioned and also I fell in love with the pink one!
    Hx

  • Kate says:
    15th December 2009 at 5:39 am

    Let’s face it, if you’re planning on doing over-the-top kistch, the Middle East is the place to do it! Have a great Christmas, Helena, and I look forward to continuing to read your blog next year. Kate. BTW, have you had the torrential rain we have? Our street has been totally flooded twice in the last 2 weeks.

  • helena says:
    15th December 2009 at 7:51 am

    Yes, totally appalling, unbelievable. I was so glad to see the sun again!
    Have a great Christmas you too.
    Hx

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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. Helena is also working on a thriller called Thin Ice that will be published in spring 2021 as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

Her latest non-fiction work Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles came out in hardback in 2016 and in paperback in April 2018.

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

 

 

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