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Brazilian Birthday surprise

17th December 2008 by Helena 8 Comments  

""No, nothing to do with waxing, but Two Lipsticks & a Lover is now available in Brazil. The news was a lovely way to end an otherwise fairly unremarkable birthday. The highlight was lunch with Olivia and Bea at IKEA where they looked and behaved like princesses. Leo was at a friend’s house and all was apparently going super well until he tried to leave with said friend’s Spider-Man socks. Any grandparents reading please take note – I can’t find a pair anywhere in Abu Dhabi….

So tomorrow we head off back to Sainte Cecile. How do I feel about this? I’m not sure really. I know there will be lots of admin chores and things to sort out (although thankfully Max now has a home thanks to my lovely in-laws). I am almost nervous about how I will react at seeing our home. Will I lock myself in the bathroom when the time comes to leave and refuse to go? Will I long for the sunshine and domestic staff in Abu Dhabi? Will I feel emotional every time the children say or do something they could only do at Sainte Cecile?

Our home is a little like an old boyfriend you split up with when you were still in love. Seeing him again might re-kindle your feelings or you might realise you are totally over him.

I hope it’s the latter when it comes to Sainte Cecile. I think we will have to sell. And there’s nothing worse than parting with something you still love. As Leo’s friend realised when he saw his Spider-Man socks walking out of the door.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Abu Dhabi, France, blog --> Tagged With: birthday, brazilian, surprise

8 thoughts on Brazilian Birthday surprise

  • Jo says:
    17th December 2008 at 1:16 pm

    Don’t sell…! It’s your love, your base, the roots you put down for your growing family…and an investment too! Surely it’s too soon to make that sort of decision? Anyway – I’m sure – and I hope – you will have a fabulous time.

    Jo x

  • Patricia Rodriguez says:
    17th December 2008 at 5:15 pm

    You sounded much happier when you were writing from France…I’d lock myself in the bathroom if I were you…

  • snusmormor says:
    17th December 2008 at 5:40 pm

    Spider-Man socks found in Otricoli! Just think that your book now exists in Portuguese and that lipstick is the same word as baton which in Swedish would be truncheon and imagine Royal Symphony Orchestra being conducted with a lipstick!

  • snusmormor says:
    17th December 2008 at 8:11 pm

    Spider Man socks found in Italy. To think your book has been published in that lovely language and that lip stick is a baton which in Swedish would be a truncheon and I am imaging the London symphony orchestra being conducted with lip sticks! Enough silliness for today!

  • J says:
    17th December 2008 at 11:29 pm

    I agree with Patricia – your posts sounded more content and happy from France. In Abu Dhabi they often sound like you are close to tears, and trying to turn it into a joke but really it’s not (the “you’ve gotta laugh, or you’ll cry” mentality). Or perhaps it’s just me?

  • I says:
    18th December 2008 at 8:39 am

    It seems very sad to sell but you know best for you right now…
    In relation to the spiderman socks:
    http://www.sockshop.co.uk/products/boys_4_pairs_tm_spiderman_socks/index

  • mimi says:
    19th December 2008 at 12:44 am

    Belated Happy Birthday, and congrats on the book. Hope you have a lovely time in France- I agree with previous comments that you sometimes sound as though you could cry. You’re brave to battle it out and write so beautifully while doing so. I really enjoy your blog very much. Happy Christmas, and do relax and enjoy your break, mimi

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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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