Thank you to the beautiful and fabulous Christina from Fashions Most Wanted for the Super Comment Blog Award....
To express myself and to share the things and people that I enjoy, love and admire....
To give myself a little voice in this big old world....
I blog because I love the feeling of creating something beautiful - and the fact that others read it is the most amazing bonus :)
And really.....because I just love doing it, simple as that!
* I am the eldest grandchild and have always felt a special connection with all my grandparents. I was born in Wales but we moved to London when I was 6 years old. We left behind a very close family who lived literally minutes from us....it must have hard for my parents, particularly my mother who had three children under the age of 6. My parents separated and then divorced when I was 8....and every summer I would be sent on the train to Wales to spend 5 or 6 weeks with my mother's parents....I absolutely loved every minute of it!
My nanny was quiet and kind and my grampy was the nicest man in the whole world and I loved being with him, he was so much fun......they would take me to the beach and the funfair and let me stay there until it seemed we were the last people on the beach....they'd take me to the market in town and I'd hide behind Gramps while he bought fresh cockles at the seafood stall (even now the smell of them makes me think of him!)....I'd do the crossword with my Nanny - although I'm sure she probably fed me the answers! Gramps would walk down to the village at night for a pint of beer...and I'd be allowed to stay up and he'd bring us back hot chips!
It was just a really lovely time and I felt very very loved and really special....those summers were definitely some of the happiest days of my childhood and I really feel that they helped shape the person I am today. I think that the benefit of the love and security of a grandparent can offer is immeasurable, I know I was very lucky.
* I spent my second year at Uni studying in France. One Friday night it seemed like a very good idea to go to the south of France....we ran back to our various halls of residence....grabbed a handful of essentials and jumped into a friend's car. Eight hours later, after he drove through the night, we woke up in Cannes. One guy and four girls.....with just 4 hairdryers, lots of suncream, way too many pairs of knickers and probably not very many French francs between them = fabulous!! We went to Cannes, Juan les Pins, Nice and Monte Carlo, sitting on the old rattly train that used to run along that route with the train doors open and our legs dangling out! (I take that same train now on the same route with my children and now the train is a double decker TGV train!) I am still very good friends with two of those girls now and we still say it was of our best week-ends ever....and it was probably then that my love affair with the French Riviera started. Oh for the spontaneity of those days!!
....so many good memories here....
* My first trip to New York City. We have very good family friends in NYC and when I first dated my husband we would visit once or twice a year.....on our very first trip, we spent 2 weeks there, it was probably one of our best holidays ever....I love the city and I watched my husband fall in love with it too....it was autumn, NYC was beautiful, we explored the city all day long and shopped til he dropped....wonderful!
3. If you had to change your name, what would it be?
I love my name now and would never change it.....you don't meet that many Simones....altho funnily enough another mother in my daughter's class (and now a good friend of mine) is also called Simone!
When I was younger though, about 8 probably, I can remember being on the top deck of a red London double decker bus and telling everyone that from now on they should call me Barbara....no idea why whatsoever....thankfully they probably ignored me :)
4. Name five things you couldn't live without?
I do like beautiful things but I'm not a materialistic person....so this is quite hard for me....lots of things I would miss if I didn't have them....hmmmm....
* My children and husband
* My friends
* Books**
* Holidays....essential for one's sanity, for family quality time and just for a little reflection...worth waiting for definitely
* Music.....I have music on all the time when I am home, I listen to everything....
** I stayed up til 1.45am on Saturday night reading "The Help" and finished it yesterday afternoon....I loved it and would definitely recommend it, what a great read!
3. Name the four best books you've read?
Impossible to name just four, I just can't do it!!
This was the most amazing read about a world that I quickly realised I knew nothing about, it really stayed with me for a long time after I had finished it - and is one of the few books I have read that really made me cry, defiinitely one of the best books, if not the best book, I have read in recent years.
4. What do you love best about yourself?
I am good and loyal friend and once I become your friend, you are unlikely to be able to get rid of me.
I stand up for people and am not afraid to voice my opinions.
I laugh easily and often....I'm a good audience!
5. What is the best movie ever made?
Impossible to choose one.....I go to the cinema a regularly and have seen so many. Movies that I have loved, enjoyed, cried at and been just amazed - and could watch over and over again - include:
Singin' in the Rain, Gone with the Wind, Sleepless in Seattle, Big, It's A Wonderful Life, Schindler's List, Atonement, West Side Story, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Man who would be King, The Godfather, Some Like It Hot, White Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, Brief Encounter, High Society....
7. If you had a "Freaky Friday" experience, who would you change places with?
Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, Vanessa Paradis just to be able to spend a summer in France with the delicious Johnny Depp, Patrick Dempsey's wife....and Tom Ford, the most stylish and well-groomed man in the world.
Thank you for asking me to do this Christina!
I have many wonderful commenters so I am passing this award on to anyone who feels they would like to accept it!
Happy Monday!
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