Monthly Archives: February 2013

Romantic Getaway to Paris

The infamous lock bridge in the Paris, France

Happy Valentines Day to all my readers! To celebrate the day for ‘Travel Thursday’ we will look at a romantic trip to Paris. Having grown up in Europe there are many places that I wish to return to now as an adult. Getting to return to Paris on the arm of my husband was the perfect beginning to a romantic two days in the city of love. While you do not necessarily need a reason to go, we went this past August for our 9th wedding anniversary.

“In French, you don’t really say ‘I miss you.’ ‘You say ‘tu me manques,’
which is closer to ‘you are missing from me.’ I love that. ‘You are missing from me.’
You are a part of me, you are essential to my being.
You are like a limb, or an organ, or blood.
I cannot function without you.”
– unknown

Using the website Airbnb we rented a studio flat in the Belleville, Ile-de-France. This beautiful neighborhood is about a twenty five minute commute by public transport to the Musée du Louvre. We really enjoyed in the parisian flat in lieu of a room at hotel because we felt like we were living in Paris and could not easily spot another tourist in the area. The neighborhood was peaceful and the view from our window was beautiful as it overlooked Parc des Buttes Chaumont. The nearest metro station was minutes away and we were able to purchase fresh bagettes and french cheeses at a nearby shop.

Parc des Buttes Chaumont includes the belvedere of Sybil, which sits atop of the 30 metre peak of the island in the park’s partially surrounded lake. The other sights include several English and Chinese gardens, a grotto with waterfall, and bridges.

We were recommended by the owner of the flat to check out the park at sundown to see the spectacular views from on top of the highest point. We enjoyed a dinner one evening doing just that and having a picnic together on the gentle sloping hill. I would also recommend taking photos at the belvedere of Sybil. It is a Corinthian-style monument, modeled after the ancient Roman Temple of Vestain Tivoli, Italy. I think it makes a beautiful backdrop and so I had my husband model for me.

I brought a pair of heels to wear for our anniversary. But to be fair I knew we would be doing quite a bit of walking on our anniversary and so I opted to wear flats. My husband and I love going out on walks together and walking around Paris taking photographs of the beauty around us was just heavenly.

Also I might add that we went to the famous cemetery in Paris where it seems everyone who is someone is buried. I will blog about this at a later time because I took quite a lot of photographs. It was a short walking distance from our flat.

After our walking tour to see the parisian sights we spent our 9th wedding anniversary having dinner at the Le Pre aux Clercs. I will say this was the most expensive meal we had on our trip but it is Paris and it was a special occasion. Besides the amazing service, nice atmosphere it was the food that won me over. To this day I had one of the best steaks I have ever eaten in Paris, France. It was a perfect place for us.

Le Pre aux Clercs 30 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France

How do you spend your anniversary in Paris fashion? Our answer was to channel Audrey Hepburn and go to a jazz club. We chose Caveau Des Oubliettes which is a jazz club underground in a dungeon. Epic. It was laid back and very chill. Next trip I plan we are definitely coming back. Perhaps a Jazz club hop?

We also made a detour to make sure to check out the Moulin Rouge for our photo album.

How do you end the perfect romantic trip to Paris? Definitely if you see the Eiffel tower during the day, make sure to see it at night time. The best part is when they turn the blinking lights on for the light show. C’est magnifique!

Sweet Heart Tea Tag

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Tea Bags & Sweet Hearts for Valentines Day

I had one of my sweet heart teas yesterday for Pancake Day.

I took shopping bags I had saved from Christmas and used heart punches to punch out the hearts. With a piece of hemp twine I sandwiched it between two hearts and secured with an adhesive.

With a needle I sewed the end of each tea tag to the tea bag.

Pretty and glittery pink tea tags for our Valentines Day tea.

Pancake Day 2013

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Pancake Day. Could there be another day sweeter? Valentines Day is in two days time, but for now lets focus on the circular sweet goodness on my plate this morning. Did I mention it was shaped like hearts?

Homemade Beet Pancakes are a perfect (all natural) colour option for Valentines Day.

Traditional English Pancake with butter, sugar, and lemon served at Ella’s Yummy Delights in Brighton, England.

Homemade zucchini pancakes are a huge hit with my boys. Here they are embellished with Nutella and fresh strawberries.

Heart shaped pancakes I made this morning with a sprinkling of a stevia & cinnamon mixture.

Pancake Recipe:
140g flour
200ml whole milk
2 eggs
Unsalted butter for greasing

Directions:
1. Start by sifting the flour into a medium sized bowl with a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center.
2. In a separate bowl beat together two eggs, add the milk, and mix again.
3. Slowly pour the liquid into the well you created as you mix in the flour. Do not over mix, just stir it all until all combined.
4. Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Once you hear the butter sizzling you can add the pancake mixture. To make the hearts below use a spoon to pour the mixture slowly into a heart outline. Then spoon some more pancake batter into the middle of the outline to fill in your heart.
5. Air bubbles will form when the pancake is ready to be flipped. If you have your heat on too high you will notice that when you flip your pancake it will be over cooked. Flip the pancake over with a spatula. Once cooked on both sides place on the plate and repeat.

Extras: If you would like to try out some of our veggie pancakes above (or just want to sneak in some extra nutrients for your family) you can add ingredients to the batter before you pour it on the pan. For our Beets and Zucchini pancakes the vegetables are washed and then graded finely with a cheese grader or mandolin. We used two cups of beets to make pancakes for a family of four. A little butter sometimes is all we need to top the veggie pancakes because they are so tasty!

http://www.ellasyummydelights.co.uk/
51 Queens Road, Brighton, England.

If you are in the Brighton area, I highly suggest stopping at Ella’s Yummy Delights. We enjoyed having our Pancake Day there last year and the service was lovely. With their location near the Brighton rail station, it is a perfect first or last stop while you are in town. Thank you Ella’s for the delicious food!

** Photograph of Ella’s Yummy Delights borrowed from their facebook page.

Snowing in Bath

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I knew I had acclimated back to life in England when I started using the weather app frequently on my phone and actually talking about the weather in conversations. This morning I saw we had 90% chance of snow fall in the afternoon and started to get excited. Sure enough after lunch my kids started talking excitedly about the heavy snowflakes falling outside. Unfortunately it only lasted a little while and we were left with no reminder. After our first snow fall of 2013 last month we are left longing for more. We had so much fun going into town and seeing all the architecture covered in the white snow. Of course back at home there were plenty of snowball fights, snowmen and snow forts that were built. In England we get plenty of rain but the snow is always so magical to me.

Here for the first time on the blog are photographs from the snow we had fun enjoying while it lasted.

My husband with my sons enjoying the snowfall with plenty of snowball fights.

Our neighbourhood looking beautiful covered in a blanket of snow.

Icicles hanging from our house in Batheaston, England

For everyone else getting snow this winter, what has been your favourite thing about it?

A Third Culture Kid meme

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As a nomadic person by birth I have made a lot of acquaintances and friends in my thirty years of life. Whether a person comes into my life for a few minutes or a couple of years, there is one question that will always be asked.

The question:
“Where are you from?”

Of course here in England it gets slightly altered with the wording:
“Where in America are you from?”

In my first year back to England I would answer without missing a beat “I’m not.”

Which of course leads me into a much longer answer.

This photo pokes fun at my situation that is being a TCK.

Self Portraits from 2012 Pt. I

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I have not shared my self portraits on this blog before and would like to commence doing so this year. I will start with sharing the first thirteen of my favourite self portraits from 2012.

Want to see Part II?

‘In Your Eyes’ Self Portrait

Wanted to show how a person would look in the eyes of someone who all they can see is the other person. I created distortion and blurs in camera using a wine glass positioned in front of the lens. I took this self portrait with aid of a tripod.

www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Flying

Self-Portrait by Bonnie Rose
for 2012 Self-Portrait Competition for the theme: Flying. I used trick photography by putting together two images, exactly the same though one contained a chair. Wanted to express the height that music can take us when we give into the music and/or lyrics and put our worries and worldy stresses aside.

Bridal Self Portrait

Taken at my home studio.

Gotta Move

For the Self Portrait challenge 2012, theme: ‘You Gotta Move’. I really want to do more and push myself more, but sometimes its a little scary to just let go and be free creatively. I tried to express that in this image. The force, depicted by my hair being blown up and the feathers of my skirt being blown about. The not wanting to let go and to hold onto old perceptions that I cannot go further or push myself more. The birds being that ideal of being free and following off in the direction of breeze.

Aint no Sunshine

www.bonnie-rose.co.uk Image for Self Portrait 2012 challenge for ‘Aint No Sunshine’. I took two images the same day. The first is from inside a castle I visited. When I got home I took a shot of me in the dark with just the light of three candles. Two below and one to the side (that is still in the image). I put the two images together for this composite.

Orange Crate for Self Portrait 2012 challenge.

www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Black or White

For Self Portrait Challenge 2012 for the theme Black or White. Chose to play with shadows to see the toying of the choice of the darkness (black) or the light (white) and the shadows (Grey) in between.

Have you Seen the Rain

For Self Portrait Challenge for theme have you seen the rain shot with a 50mm. Bonnie Rose Photography @ 2012

Bonnie Rose Photography

‘Out of Time’. I took this spontaneously while walking through Pompeii. I wanted to show the movement of time passing too quickly with me in many places at once amongst the left over remains of a fallen city. Time is always passing and we often talk about how quickly it just slips out of our reach. We can wish that time would slow down or we cold go back in time, but we are always moving and racing forward till the end of our life.

Holding back to memories.

Waiting.

Self Portrait taken at the Jersey Shore in Seaside Heights from the boardwalk looking down on the beach.

Far, far, away.

Want to see Part II?

* All photographs belong to Bonnie Rose and cannot be used without written consent.

http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

UK Invasion in US Television

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If I had £1 for every time I pulled up IMDB on my phone to figure out where I know a particular actor from, I would be really well off. I am just glad that the website does not charge you to use it. It is no secret that there are a lot of actors out in Hollywood and that not all of them come from the mainland USA. However in the past year I find my self constantly wondering why I am surprised to find out a certain actor hails from this side of the pond. Two nights ago I gave my husband and I the challenge to come up with ten actors who play ‘Americans’ but are really from the United Kindgom and Ireland. We came up with not just ten, but fourteen! I am certain that there are far more that could be considered for this list and many more if we had included film. However these are the ones we came up with from the shows we have watched.

In no particular order:

1. Sam Palladio (English) in Nashville (USA) and the Hour (UK)

2. Dominic West (English) in the Wire (USA) and the Hour (UK)

3. Georgia King (Scottish) in the New Normal (USA) and Merlin (UK)

4. Idris Elba (English) in the Wire and the Office (USA) and in Dangerfield (UK)

5. David Harewood (English) in Homeland (USA) and Doctor Who (UK)

6. Damien Lewis (English) in Homeland (USA) and Band of Brothers (USA/UK)

7. Ed Westwick (English) in Gossip Girl (USA) and Casualty (UK)

8. Stephen Graham (English) in Boardwalk Empire (USA) and Coronation Street (UK)

9. Andrew Lincoln (English) in The Walking Dead (USA) and Love Actually (UK)

10. Kevin McKidd (Scottish) in Grey’s Anatomy (USA) and Rome (UK)

11. Joely Richardson (English) in Nip Tuck (USA) and the Tudors (UK)

12. Chris O’Dowd (Irish) in Girls (USA) and the IT Crowd (UK)

13. Hugh Laurie (English) in House (USA) and Jeeves and Wooster (UK)

14. Stephen Moyer (English) in True Blood (USA) and Castles (UK)

Heres a question. They remake so many shows from England in the USA with american actors. Have any of our hidden UK citizens acted with an american accent in those shows?

‘In Your Eyes’ Self Portrait

Wanted to show how a person would look in the eyes of someone who all they can see is the other person. I created distortion and blurs in camera using a wine glass positioned in front of the lens. I took this self portrait with aid of a tripod.

Flying

Bridal Self Portrait

Gotta Move

Aint no Sunshine

Orange Crate for Self Portrait 2012 challenge. www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Orange Crate for Self Portrait 2012 challenge.

Black or White For Self Portrait Challenge 2012 for the theme Black or White. Chose to play with shadows to see the toying of the choice of the darkness (black) or the light (white) and the shadows (Grey) in between.

Black or White