Skiing with school – what to think about Four out of the five of us are fortunate enough to be going skiing this February. Packing for a ski trip, for school or otherwise, can be quite a minefield so I thought I’d write a quick blog post on it and my top tips! A skiing holiday is quite a big thing to prepare for and I am by no means an expert! Both my older boys went skiing with their school whilst in year 6 and my youngest is heading off in year 5 this year. All the schools have been great with meetings and advice, but I think it’s those little tips that us parents share with each other that make things a little bit easier. I posted out to my facebook friends and have had a few tips come back, so along with my own ideas I’m sharing them with you in the hope they will help. Packing – Yikes! Something we all dread with any school trip! I pride myself in being able to travel light, and pack for a family of 5’s summer holiday into two large holdalls – yes for 2 weeks! This isn’t going […]
Read More
As I’m getting older I’ve had a total change in my mind set. It’s a combination of things that have got me to this point to be honest, most of which are way too personal for a blog post like this! However, more recently I have had a “grab life with both hands” approach to my days and a “you only live once so make it count” attitude. I am really fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends. One bunch in particular – my holiday crowd – a bunch of adults that met over the years on holiday, all with similar aged children and the same outlook on life – are a bunch I really look forward to spending time with. I don’t think I can imagine going on holiday without them again. If you’re reading this you lot take note!! Up until this year, we’ve all headed off to Greece for two weeks in the summer to spend our days sailing, playing tennis, sunbathing, drinking and to be honest, just being one crazy big family and I absolutely love it. This lot put the biggest smile on my face, with our crazy tables for 24 (or just […]
Read More
The past three days have been spent travelling up to London, in a bit of a “start of the Christmas holidays extravaganza!”. We’ve had a great time and I know how people are always looking for recommendations and reviews on places to go. We’ve been to Somerset House for ice-skating, The Ned for Sunday brunch (in a group of 24), Covent Garden, Wagamamas for lunch, London Zoo and their Christmas light trail, and finally today, BreadAhead, a Christmas cooking school for children. I thought I’d write a few words on each, in case anyone was looking for something to do! Somerset House As we are a large group, we booked this back in September and couldn’t wait to skate on their famous ice rink. It really is beautiful and very Christmassy. The outfit there is very efficient and the kids had a blast. A quick turnaround time sees people and machines getting the ice ready for the next session, while numerous hands-on-deck mean that people can easily exchange their skates for their shoes before heading on their way. Skate sessions last an hour and we paid £10.50 for children under 13 and £17.50 for children over 13. To book please click here. There […]
Read More
A half term trip to Ichiba – Europe’s largest Japanese food hall Half term – a time to put the school run behind you, for lazy starts to your day and no more packed lunches to make! Yes, there maybe no homework to be done but let’s face it – half term is not always plain sailing (that’s a blog for another time!) I was delighted to be invited to check out Ichiba – a huge Japanese food hall on a department store scale – at one of their biggest stores in Westfield, London for a guided tour followed by lunch. Me and J together with my friend Amanda and her son H, took the train into London and the tube across town and were soon just standing staring up at this pretty incredible shopping centre, as shopping centres go!! Having never been here before, I was blown away by this place. The stores reminded me of the great big shopping malls in America and the architecture and design of the place is something else. The boys soon noticed an interactive shopping map, which they really enjoyed (boys and their tech eh!) as we wanded through a tiny fraction of the […]
Read More
Film is not dead – it’s the name of a forum I tag into when I share images taken on film on my Instagram account. I have an absolute love for film, as many photographers do. I love the feel of it; it takes a totally different image to that of a digital camera and whilst I love my digital camera just as much, the results from the two are very different. When I was completing my photographic training in London, I spent 6 weeks learning from a guy called Bill Ling, an amazing tutor who I learned so much from. Bill is a photographer who grew up on film and inspired me to buy my first film camera. I loved spending time in the dark room learning this craft at Holborn Studios and also seeing frame after frame of polaroids of the artists of years gone by. Bill told me that photographers used to get a Polaroid back for their film cameras to test their settings and these were usually signed by the artist being photographed and these now adorn the walls of the studio creating a piece of history that’s so exciting! Of course, these cameras are only available […]
Read More
Vogue. The word alone is enough to conjure up all kinds of wonderful images. When you think of those sleek, glossy publications, you think of an iconic lifestyle . Over the past year, I’ve been working really hard to have my images featured in their photographers’ own section of Vogue Italia’s fabulous website and I wanted to share with you all my experience. I’ve now been fortunate enough to have a total of 4 images featured by them. The first of my images were taken on my family holiday to Mexico back in February and it took me a further 4 months to get two more images selected (back to back!) taken on a family outing to Broadstairs in May. Vogue has a particularly style and you need to find how your style fits with theirs. I’ve submitted so many pictures that have been rejected and it has taken me a while to realise how this fit would work. Going forward, I would really like to have my black and white documentary images featured as well and will continue to submit them in the hope that I can find the fit here too. Naturally, Vogue like your images to fit together […]
Read More
One last time – memories of our time at Mark Warner Levante 2013-2018 – with our little group of 24! One last time to see the sunrise and walk barefoot through the resort before anyone is up, to grab a coffee and and upload the previous day’s photographs. One last time for the boys to consume their own body weight in Nutella pancakes for breakfast and one last time to jump in the pool. One last time for Mum and Dad to have sun downers with their friends, staying way too long in wet swim wear before the 10 minute dash to get changed for dinner (we are getting pretty quick!) and one last time to sail a boat, ride the crazy sofa and wake board before you’ve even had your breakfast. One last crazy time to squeeze in a tennis match (really boys?), one last time to win at tipsy tennis (what happened team – we’ve been victorious for 3 years?!!). One last time to walk to the top of the hotel, collect a certificate from your 2 weeks. One last time to grab a bite to eat at the buffet, sitting with your friends that one last time. One last […]
Read More
I was delighted to be asked to review Ted Baker’s new AW18 Children’s collection which launched at the end of August. Kids clothes is something I feel I know quite a bit about; lets face it, I’ve now had 14 years of kitting out the boys and have tried lots of different brands and styles. My older boys now choose their own clothes, wearing the smallest men’s sizes but I still have my 9 year old to kit out, a fact we both really enjoy. He is quite a stylish fellow, one look at my Instagram feed will tell you that! He will often be seen in a pair of skinny jeans teamed with Ugg boots and a suit jacket. We frequently get comments of how “dapper” he looks on our many journeys into London on the train and I have to say, he does have a great sense of style! Of course, he is just as happy in a pair of jogging bottoms and bare feet, messing about in the park or in the garden! We both had fun looking through the older boys’ clothes and making a selection of something that suited J’s style. We picked a pair […]
Read More
Clarks AW18 collection and Wonder of Wisdom campaign launch. Friday 20th July. I was delighted to be invited to the launch of the Clarks Kids AW18 collection and ‘Wonder of Wisdom’ campaign. This exciting event was hosted by Reggie Yates and was held at the Barbican in their stunning conservatory. Full of trees and plants, it proved a stunning venue for this event. I hadn’t been to The Barbican for quite some time. Back in my late teens, I had attended The Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a Saturday student, albeit for only a year. As I approached the underground station, the memories of those days of commuting there from Bishops Stortford (where I then lived) came flooding back and instinctively I knew exactly where to go, despite it being over 20 years since I had last been there. As always, I’d left a bit of extra time in case of travel problems so this was a golden opportunity for a trip down memory lane. I soon found myself standing outside the sign, which hadn’t changed a bit and looking into the main door I’d walked through so many times. The area really hasn’t changed at all and it […]
Read More
If you, like I, live on London’s door step, I count us as being very lucky. We have so many wonderful activities, right at the end of a train, tube or bus line. Hamleys is the world’s oldest and largest toy store and since I attended a Lego launch there a couple of weeks back, my smallest boy has been desperate to head up with me for a visit (he had been at school the last time I went). With nothing but rain forecast this weekend, we thought it would be the perfect time to head up to London and show the small person round again. He has been several times in his life, but not for a few years as I’m often working at the weekends. I’d purposely booked this one off and was really looking forward to spending some time with the family. A short tube ride to Bond Street and taxi over to Regent Street and we were standing at the door of Hamleys. The place was buzzing; a hive of activity! There were people – big and small, old and young – absolutely everywhere. Hamleys staff were at every corner, handing out bags, dressed up in […]
Read More
