Monthly Archives: November 2013

London Blogger Tea a Success

Today I had the amazing opportunity to go to London for an awesome London Blogger Tea arranged by the beautiful Selena. It was so great to meet so many of my blogger friends in person after following their blogs online. I met and made new friends and the event flew by so fast. I want to post on it properly in a few days once I get my photos online and share more about the event. Until then make sure to check out all the wonderful bloggers who attended and send them some encouraging shout outs. I know my life was made better having met each and every single person tonight. Thank you for a perfect night out in London.

Melanie from Melanie Fontaine

Selena from Oh, the place we will go!

Gina from Sweet Serenity

Mandy from Emm in London

Erin from Erin Out and About

Sarah from The Experience Collection Project

Sarah from The Wanderblogger

Tina from Girl Meets Globe

Jacintha from Urban Pixxels

Anna from Eat, See, Do

Emma from Adventures of a London Kiwi

Janelle from The Halfpenny Diaries

Jaklien from Passport and Toothbrush

Kara from Pen Plus Passport

Sarah from The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife

Shobha from NYLon Living

Annie at Sew Graceful

Kelly from Around the World in 80 Pairs of Shoes

Samantha from To the Days Like This

The Cosy Club in Bath, England

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This monday my husband had a vacation day off from work and so we had a rare day date while the boys were both at school. Since we needed to go into town to run some errands we look forward to going somewhere nice for lunch. We have both come here once before with other friends and this was our first time here together. I was looking forward to tea and cake, but we got swayed by the delicious looking options on the lunch menu. Just another excuse to return for a heavenly slice of victoria sponge cake. My favourite thing about being at the Cosy Club is the interior design and atmosphere inside. Like the mix of grey concrete ceilings with sparkly chandeliers, the collage of art and mirrors on the walls, the mix of primary colour choices with damask wall textures. It is a great place to stop in after a busy day of errands, shopping, or sightseeing in the heart of Bath.

“Think gents club meets village hall meets cricket pavilion.

Quirky, eccentric and playful the Cosy Club

offers casual dining, drinking and lounging.”

www.cosyclub.co.uk/‎

Unit R4, Southgate Shopping Centre,

Southgate St, Bath BA1 1AP

01225 464161

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Q: What is your favourite thing to order when you go to a cafe?

Confessions of a Blogger

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With the I was tagged by Kolbi with the Confessions of a Blogger post that has been going around the blogosphere. With so many new readers it felt like the perfect time to jump right in and play along. The rules are simple. Answer the nine provided confessions, including the one written by the person who tagged you and come up with a tenth to answer.

1. When did you first start blogging and why?
I started blogging days before my first son was born in 2005. I started this blog under it’s previous name ‘Mummy Paparazzi’ as a way to share photographs of my son to my friends and family who lived all over the globe.

2. Have you had any past online presence?
Yes. I am thirty now, but I grew up with the internet. As a teenager I fell in love with web design, creating custom graphics in photoshop, and was a web mistress for a band I loved. With my career in the hairdressing and beauty industry I grew my online presence through Myspace, and later through Facebook and Twitter. Now social media is a huge part of my online presence both as a blogger and as a photographer.

3. When did you become serious about your blog?
I take that to mean when I started tailoring my blog for public consumption and not just for my family members. When we made the big move from Hawaii to England I became more serious about my blogging and wanting to keep it updated regularly. It was in the beginning of 2013 that I realised there was a whole expat blogging community and decided to start blogging every day.

4. What was your first blog post.
My very first post on the 4th of January 2005 was entitled Waiting in the Wings. A one paragraph post about what my life was like at that moment, waiting for my first child to be born. We were in between places and on our way to move to Arizona where my husband would be joining the military. It was the prelude to a new chapter in our life.

5. What have been your biggest challenges blogging.
Keeping up with my blog through the ups and downs with life. While I created this blog in 2005 there have been some times in my life where blogging needed to be put on the back burner. Luckily I was always able to come back to my blog and also able to put focus where it needed to be in my life during those times. Though out the challenges I am glad I was able to keep up with my blog to continue to archive my nomadic life.

6. What is the most rewarding thing about blogging?
I do love having an archive of photographs and blog posts about my life through out the years. While that is a personal reward, my blogging reward is all the relationships I have made through having this space in the blogosphere. The people who have connected with my words, who have been moved by my photographs, and connect with this blog. Even more so to me is the blogging community who has given so much to me. All the blogs that I connect to, the posts that have impacted my life, and the bloggers who reach out to me and have become my friend. I am more appreciative to the blogging community than I think anyone will ever truly know.

7. What is the most discouraging thing about blogging?

The most discouraging is the negative side that shows up. The people who tear others down and the people who write negative things they would never have the face to say in person. I have seen bloggers who have been bullied online and I honestly do not understand how anyone would have the time to exert to such ugliness. Luckily I have seen way more encouraging and uplifting bloggers and readers that go above and beyond to build people up.

8. What is your lasting inspiration or motivation?
For me it is to be true to who I am. I do not just post pretty photographs of a ‘perfect’ life living abroad in Europe. I share the good and the bad. I share what inspires and motivates me. I share the beauty around me. I share what I love and what I am passionate about to my readers. As a Third Culture Kid, my blog does not have a simple theme. It has may facets as I have a chameleon soul. However the lasting motivation to blog is to blog for myself and my brand.

9. What is your blogging dirty little secret? (Question asked by Kolbi)

While I try my best to write blog posts in advance and have many scheduled that way, I do not stick to that method. I often write blog posts first thing when I wake up in the morning. There is something about having that special time to myself and writing first thing in the morning. I also sometimes tend to talk out loud as I write…it is just part of my impromptu writing process.

I AM TAGGING:

Crystal from A Happy Type

Lindsey from A Broad’s World

Kim from A Moving Story

Melanie from Melanie Fontaine

Lixx from A Classic Notion

Kate from Diaries of an Essex Girl

Louisa from My Family and Abruzzo

Selena from Oh, the place we will go!

Gina from Sweet Serenity

Mandy from Emm in London

Erin from Erin Out and About

Sarah from The Experience Collection Project

Sarah from The Wanderblogger

Tina from Girl Meets Globe

Jacintha from Urban Pixxels

Anna from Eat, See, Do

Emma from Adventures of a London Kiwi

Janelle from The Halfpenny Diaries

Jaklien from Passport and Toothbrush

Kara from Pen Plus Passport

Sarah from The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife

Shobha from NYLon Living

Annie at Sew Graceful

Kelly from Around the World in 80 Pairs of Shoes

Samantha from To the Days Like This

My question for them is…

10. What is your current goal as a blogger?My answer: My current goal is to blog every day and aside from having an unforeseen blackout from the internet for a few days I have kept to that since February. I want to continue that through to the 2014.

Want to do this Post?

Whether I tagged you or you want to join in all you have to do is answer the nine questions and add your own for the tenth. If you have been tagged but do not have the time, no worries. I would love to see your answers so please put a link to your post in the comment section below!

Bonfire Night, Batheaston 2013

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Saturday night we had our first round of Fireworks in the heart of Bath, England in preparation for Bonfire Night 2013. Last night on (Remember, Remember…) the 5th of November we celebrated in typical English fashion with a Bonfire, fireworks, warm food and mulled wine. The USA has their firework displays for their Independence Day from England in 1776 and the UK burns effigies of Guy Fawkes, a man who failed the Gunpowder plot of 1605. After celebrating Bonfire Night last year in Lewes, I honestly favour the UK holiday. If you are ever going to be in England for Bonfire night I highly recommend heading to Lewes for it is the biggest celebrated Fifth November Event in the world. In fact there are six different bonfire society’s all celebrating the Fifth in various parts of the town. Each has their own processions, traditions, costumes, fire sites and fireworks.

My History with Bonfire Night

When we lived in England, when I was a young girl, I loved going to Bonfire night. Even when we moved away from England my dad will still take me to celebrate it. I have fond memories of when we lived in Italy and getting together with the RAF families to set fire to the Guy and watch the bonfire burn. When we moved to England in 2011, this was one of anticipated ‘firsts’ that I wanted to experience with my husband and sons. There was a bonfire society near where my kids went to school that year and the school was involved in the procession. This meant we got to hold up banners and march all around the town of Lindfield, waving to the crowds of people watching. I even got to hold a flaming torch which was probably the most exciting part of that night for me. As we were part of the procession we got a prime location to watch the bonfire and fireworks from later that evening as well. It was our first Bonfire Night together as a family in England and a very memorable one indeed.

I hope you enjoyed our photos from Bonfire night last night. I did not blog in the month of November last year and so I have not yet shared photos from Lewes on ACR. Will be sharing those soon, so please check back.

Q: Did you celebrate Bonfire Night last night?

Portobello Road Market & Notting Hill

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Travel Tuesday is here and since it is our first Tuesday of the month it means our themed post! November’s prompt is ‘relationships’. I love solo travel but I just as much appreciate the relationships I have when I travel with family and friends. On a recent trip to London with my visiting family we made the rush from where we were in Wales to get to the Portobello Road market. We were not sure we would make it in time and I am so glad that we did because we had a great time! While we were out I spotted with my camera this couple enjoying their relationship with a passionate kiss in the middle of Notting Hill. I had to recreate this romantic gesture with my husband and have shared the pair of kissing photos below.

I hope you will love the rest of these…there were just so many things to photograph and my eyes were on sensory overload. I loved all the silver and found the antiques and old cameras my favourite things to look at in the market. My sister, a level II sommelier enjoyed all the smells of the food stalls like the lush varieties of mushrooms. Even my sons found some interesting things to purchase while they were out exploring. If you have seen Notting Hill, the travel bookshop was in the blue ‘Notting Hill’ store front you see in the photographs. I definitely recommend making the point to go to this market when you are next in London and venture into Notting Hill. Much thanks again to my friend Lauren for letting us stay at your place while we were in town.

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November Fireworks – Bath, England

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This past weekend we kicked off the holiday season with fireworks here in Bath, England. For those of you who do not know, November 5th is Bonfire night here in the UK. Since the 5th lands on a Tuesday this year the city had fireworks going on for the weekend. We had the pleasure of watching the show with our theatre community and had an amazing view. It started pouring rain half way through so we caught the last half inside the Drama Hut. It was a great local to see the firework show. We just found out there will be something in our town for tomorrow night and I am hoping it includes a Bonfire complete with Guy Fawkes!

Just to recap the rest of the weekend, we had a lot of rain. However despite the showers we kept ourselves busy. Friday we went into Bradford on Avon for a country walk, I had a committee meeting with the Bath Drama group that night, followed by drinks at the pub. Saturday we watched Arsenal play Liverpool at the pub followed by the Fireworks. Sunday I caught a secret engagement going on on at the Pulteney Bridge on my way to Panto rehearsal. It was really romantic and all the people watching from across the way cheered the happy couple on. It was a great weekend and now that it is over I am looking forward to my trip to London next weekend!

Q: What were the highlights from your weekend?

The War on Girls: ‘inDependent’

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In this next installment of The War on Girls I take another look at how society is failing us. I feel the need to preempt this with the fact you may not whole heartedly agree with me. I am not a medical professional and I do not claim that all medications are unnecessary. Perhaps you function perfectly well with them and live a ‘normal’ life. Or maybe you are living in a part of the world where it seems unfathomable and unbelievable that one could live a life dependent on anything but a superior being. Then again maybe this story will be all too real for you and a truth you too share. Which ever walk of life brings you to The War on Girls series at ACR, I thank you for your open mind and taking the time to hear my words.

There was a time in my life where I was dependent on drugs just to get through the day. I was taking them to fight off the depression and anxiety that plagued my life after the sudden death of my father and during a near divorce in my marriage. Out in public, even with friends, anxiety attacks would make me want to rush home and just be alone. In my solitude I could not find comfort and the emptiness would swallow me up. I did not feel safe in my own skin. My pills became my security blanket, helping me to feel…well to feel nothing. They did not make me happy and they could not make me forget. However, a quick swallow and life would just slow down for a long enough moment that I could relax and calm down. My depression weighted on me heavily and often I just wanted to sleep. Something my medication helped me do easily. I may have not been having to feel the entirety of my sadness but I was not living life fully either.

It was not the solution I had sought after for myself. I had tried to be independent and take it all on by myself. Even my closest friends did not know what I was keeping to myself. My religion told me I could take it all on with prayer and my nomadic free spirit pushed me to carry the weight myself. But when it got to be all too much after my father’s funeral, my mum urged me to see a doctor for medical help. I had seen therapists before and I was hungry to talk to someone. To have someone hear me who could listen and offer advice. My psychiatrist however spent more time filling out my prescription than he did asking about how I was doing or listening to what I had to say. I became seduced by the magical idea that a miracle pill could help me. After all it had helped friends I know. Was I buying into the idea that having prescriptions was trendy? I was too sad and too anxious to focus on anything but change my current state of mind.

“There were issues with the dosage while I was taking it as they tried to find the right amount over the course of my treatment. After getting my dosage raised once and still taking it in the morning, it would knock me out so quickly. I would not even know I was getting tired until I was fast asleep. It was more than that it was the way it took away the passion and the heart of my personality. I may have not been myself with dealing with everything going on in my life, but I was definitely not me on Klonopin either. My emotions felt very flat and if I was needing to take another pill I could be really irritable and upset. I remember just wanting to be alone a lot of the time. Being around my in-laws at all brings on a lot of stress and I just sat in a closet once during the Christmas holiday to find some quiet and past out amongst the coats and the darkness until my husband found me. There did not seem to be an end to this tunnel because it was masking the problems. It was not fixing the loss of my dad or the cracks in my marriage.”

– Excerpt from ‘Overcoming Klonopin’

You can click the link above in the excerpt to read the whole story of my personal journey with taking Klonopin. In the end I found alternative people with optional solutions to help me find my happiness. I realised that it was okay to ask for help and that I would have to rely on myself and be okay with that fact. While I cannot change my past I look at my experience as a way to connect and reach out to others. I cannot help but think that people like me have been failed by society and the people around us. In a world where it is so much easier to find a medicinal answer to our ailments instead of a solution for the underlining problems. Where everyone wants to get the job done and fix things but no one wants to take the time to listen. Where we feel too scared to reach out to our friends when we are ourselves drowning in pain. When as girls it is easier to just say we should ‘see a doctor’ or be put on medication then to see us as beautiful, raw, individuals with our individual flaws. I have in-laws who continue to see me as a broken individual, a fragile rose with thorns, a person who should always have to see a doctor. Why? For the believe that depression never ‘really’ goes away. Who makes these rules and puts these shackles on us just because we are girls who feel ever pain and strain of the world around us? Why must the girls of this world be made to feel like we are worth less and unable to be built up stronger than ever before?

I am happy to say that I found my happiness in England. The anxiety attacks which still plagued me every now and then up until 2011 stopped as soon as I relocated back to Europe. It amazes me that the personal triggers and situations that I knew all too well, do not phase me in my ex-pat life abroad. I finally feel like myself. I am not saying I do not ever get sad. I am not immune to monthly mood swings, culture shock and homesickness. I recognize that things like ‘seasonal depression’ do exist with the changing seasons and shorter days. For me personally I focus on a more positive look at life and I know what things can quickly turn my mood around. Cuddles from my boys, kisses from my husband, and being outside on a country walk do more for me than my pills could have done. It makes me thankful to know that life does get better.

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The photographs in this post were from my project, Secret Lies of Men & Women. The middle image pictured was the main image chosen to represent my woman who was dependent on drugs and alcohol. The lie written on her hand states ‘i am inDEPENDENT’. I chose to write the the word ‘dependent’ in all caps as it was the real truth visible in the image series.