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Last week…..

11th April 2010 by Helena 3 Comments  

This is getting ridiculous. I have no time to blog. So many things happen that I want to talk about and then suddenly another day has gone by and I haven’t had a chance. So here is a quick summary of recent events…

Most upsetting moment – the Wikileaks video US soldiers shooting civilians (including a journalist) in Iraq. The language they used was so cold and callous. It was like they were playing a video game. Horrible.

Most exciting moment – blind auction of a Sheikha’s vintage handbags at a charity event at the British Embassy. It was extraordinary to see the effect handbags have on women. Especially me. I turned into a predator, prowling around, waiting to pounce on anyone who looked set to outbid me. Happily I had a pro with me, a Lebanese lady called Reem, who was not going to lose the fight.

Most touching moment – last night when Leo made me promise never to marry Mika. “I know he’s quite cute, but daddy is much cleverer and he can play the guitar, I heard him once, and Mika can only play the piano. Daddy is good at singing too.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him Mika would rather marry daddy than me.

Most look into the future moment – shoe shopping with Olivia. She is a natural.

Proudest moment – listening to Bea do a spelling test with my English-teacher friend Justine in the back of the car, getting words right that I have trouble spelling.

Most surprising moment – being stopped at the gates of the Ghantoot Polo event, thinking we were going to be charged to go in and instead being given raffle tickets to win a Maserati. Only in the UAE….

Most disappointing moment – not winning the Maserati.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2010


Filed Under: Abu Dhabi, Children, Life, blog -->

3 thoughts on Last week.....

  • autumn says:
    12th April 2010 at 12:34 am

    “I’m sorry ,Madam ,but oscilloscopeI shall have to charge you twenty dollarsdc power supply for pulling your boy’s gold for saletooth .” “Twenty sell wow account dollars! Why ,I understand shanghai massageyou to say that you chainsaw partscharged only four dollars Warhammer power levelingfor such work!” “Yes ,but this youngster yelled so terribly that he scaredroll forming machinefour other patients out of the office .” by wd Apr.12th,2010 All secrets may eventually come to light!

  • Fiona says:
    12th April 2010 at 12:01 pm

    Young sons believe in the sanctity of marriage. My Léo (7) said to his father the other day : ‘papa, I don’t know why you even bother to look at other girls – none of them are as pretty as mummy!’ I didn’t even have to bribe him.

  • Catherine says:
    13th April 2010 at 10:38 am

    Your life is action-packed and SO entertaining Helena – it is a million miles away from most of ‘daily grinds’ I think! But then life is what you make it, so well done to you.

    How is your trial for deputy editor panning out? Hope you get it but equally that you still have time to blog.

    Best wishes
    Catherine

    P.S. whilst I remember, any chance blocks can be put on the very annoying spam ads that keep masquerading as comments on your blog?!

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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. 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

 

 

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