Category Archives: zoe

Revisiting the Peter Pan Statue 23 Years Later

It is Tuesday and you know what that means…Travel Tuesday! Make sure to link up with us all below and then have fun hopping around to visit the other travel and wanderlust posts for the week. Next week I will announce our theme for the first Tuesday in November. I was feeling a little nostalgic today and wanted to show you how traveling back to places we went to before can be so much fun! The Peter Pan Statue in London is one of those places for me. It is great to compare not just how much I have changed but the trees around the statue as well. Time keeps moving and and still so many people come every day and take their photo next to this landmark in London. We visited this summer while my family was in town for our Vow Renewal and took photographs to remember it by:

My sister and I lived in England when we were really little. It was my second time to living here after being born in Oxford. I cherish this photograph of us when we were little and since moving back have been longing to recreate the photo. I attempted in 2012 but since Zoe was not with me it was just not the same. This year we made it a mission to both be in London together to make it happen. We also got a photograph of the boys on the statue with their Zia Zoe too. It will be great to see how tall they become as adults to recreate this image again!

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Happy 25th Birthday Zoë

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It is my half birthday which means it is my younger sister’s Birthday today! She turns twenty five years old and to mark her quarter of a century birthday I have devoted this post to her. Zoë, who works as a sommelier in DC, is celebrating this milestone by jetting to California to enjoy the wineries out west. While I so wish I could be celebrating with her I will have to wait until she comes back to visit the UK at the end of July.

Took these in Tucson, AZ in 2011 before saying goodbye to Zoë as she headed home to DC and we soon left for the UK.
Effect caused by placing her BlueBlockers sunglasses in front of the camera lens.

Zoë is also a Third Culture Kid, graduated from Pepperdine University, and is the favourite Aunt to Ronan and Maddox.
Since we spent a significant part of our lives growing up in Italy, my sons call her Zia Zoë.

My sister and I in Naples Italy during the total of sixyears that we lived in Naples, Italy.

I am holding our boxer, Baci, who stole our hearts as just a young puppy. RIP <3

So excited and proud to be able to see her graduate from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California in 2011.

Zoë, means ‘life’ in Greek and we have always joked from a very young age that she is ‘full of it’. She really lives life to the fullest and is not afraid of taking risks. She grew up moving and traveling around Europe until she was a preteen. In the states she found her love for dance, ballet, cheerleading, and music. Spent her senior year as a foreign exchange student in Australia before attending Pepperdine University. While there she studied at their campus in Florence, becoming fluent in Italian and began learning Arabic back in California. After getting her degree in International Relations, she found her passion in wine and is now a Sommelier certified, level 2 of 4. Though she now lives in DC, I can foresee her moving abroad sometime in her future. She is a Third Culture Kid after all and traveling is in her blood. I am so blessed to have her in my life and I only hope our paths continue to cross through out our lives.

Zoë in Photography

I love taking her photo when we are around and here are some of my favourites:

‘Broken Down’ was a concept fashion shoot about a dancer who got delayed during a cross country road trip.

Zoë at Seaside Heights boardwalk at the Jersey shore in 2012 and on a rooftop in West Hollywood in 2011.

Our Holiday portraits December 2012 in Bath, England.

Love this behind the scenes shot with Zoë, who was assisting me on a photography shoot in California.

Music can remind you of people and places.
Mumford & Sons will always remind me of Zoë.

Have a great 25th Zoë!

We miss you so way much and

look forward to seeing you this summer!

Meet Zia Zoë

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A con to living the expat life is being many miles and many more miles away from family.

In my life my family is already quite small and scattered across the United States already.

My mother lives in Arizona, her father lives in Arkansas,

my father’s brother lives in New Jersey, and my sister lives in Washing DC.

Thats my family.

Zia Zoë with her nephew Maddox

My sister Zoë and I are five and half years apart in age…to the day.

Our half birthday’s land on each other’s birthdays.

She was still just in elementary school when we moved from Italy to the United States.

I was on the verge of graduating high school and ‘too cool’ to hang out with my younger sister.

In University I was ready to build that relationship and she was busy growing up in high school.

Since her graduation from Uni we have finally met on the same plane, but now separated by distance.

I really look forward to the short moments of time we get to spend together.

I was fortunate to have a week last summer and a busy week at Christmas with my sister.

Zia Zoë with her nephews Ronan and Maddox.

My boys having special time with her means a lot more to me now that our dad is no longer with us.

When its the two of us with Ronan & Maddox

I see us filling our dad’s shoes so they can experience his life through us.

Loss is hard and distance can equally be challenging.

It is why I really enjoy having Google Hangouts,

especially since many people can join in with no charge, compared to Skype.

Video chats are a luxury my sister and I did not have

when we were growing up as a military family living abroad.

It makes me quite interested to know what technology will be available

when my own children have children.

Zia Zoë with her ~~nephews~~ superhero and villian.

Side note: My boys call my sister Zoë, Zia, which is ‘Aunt’ in Italian.

My mum is called ‘Nonna’, Italian for grandmother.

The six years my family spent in Italy alone has impacted our family culture.

With my ~~little~~ sister Zoë and my two sons.

Our first Christmas in Bath

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We moved just a couple of days before Christmas to Bath, England and we able to celebrate the holidays with Nonna (my mum +Teresa Nystrom ) and Zia Zoë (my younger sister +Zoe Nystrom ) at our new place. It had been a little stressful, but nothing could make our Christmas better than having our family here for the Holidays. I have not spent a holiday back in Europe with my mum and sister yet, and it was an amazing sense of ‘home’ to break in our life in Bath. Although my dad could not be here with us in person, he was definitely felt here with us in spirit. What great memories +Ryan Aherin and I to share to end our 2012.

My family (from L to R): Bonnie, Ryan, Zoë
, Teresa, Ronan, and Maddox)

Making snowflakes on Christmas Eve with roasted chestnuts and mulled cider prepared by my husband.

After getting their new Arsenal christmas pyjamas, the boys opened the stockings on Christmas morning that Nonna brought for us from the USA.

Maddox asked Father Christmas for a spy kit and looks like he listened!

Nonna brought the boys full Science kits including lab coats!

Ronan ‘trying’ to look sad because it was not a metal detector. But really he was and is still very excited about his Meccano kit.

My husband and I brought back these Roman gladiator sets from our trip to Italy for Father Christmas to bring on Christmas day. Looks like they can both play ‘Rory’ now.

We took my mum and sister, Zoë, to the Abbey in Bath on December 27th.

Zia Zoë and my sons lit a candle for my dad on his birthday, who would have been 59 on December 27th.

The view of Bath at night time is equally as beautiful and I loved seeing the water lit up by the lights and bridge under the moonlight. There were a group of swans that you cannot see in the photo but that added to the ambience of the moment.

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Unusual & Hot

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Shout out to my little sister on her 24th birthday today!

‘Hot': The weather has gotten quite hot for English standards.
Had to do away with my black tights/leggings and go bare leg.
#maycreative #photoadaychallenge
http://instagr.am/p/LFWgu7Iky2/

Found two Olympic coins!
#limited #50pence #Olympics #london2012
http://instagr.am/p/LEMP4Cok_F/

‘Unusual': the view outside the backdoor of work…
giant baby climbing across the fence.
#maycreative #photoadaychallenge
http://instagr.am/p/LDunMUok_4/

Buon compleanno mia sorella, Zoe!

@the_bonnierose on Twitte · via Twitter

Random fact: Today is my half birthday.

@the_bonnierose on Twitte · via Twitter

Something that makes me sad

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Photo included is my dad’s last trip to Disneyland with my family. Ronan was two and I was pregnant with Maddox at the time. Pictured here with my sister and our friend Austin.

“Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don’t, then who will, sweetie? so keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life’s a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” Marilyn Monroe

Shoe shopping with my partner. What do you think of these?
My current pair has holes in the soles, no good in puddles.
http://instagr.am/p/KCvjidIk58/