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| The pic that was used in the ad! |
Today being Valentine's Day, I've been reminded of something a bit random that Tom and I did a few years ago now!
Did I ever tell you that we were in an advertorial for Romantic London in 2010?
It was a Valentine's Day travel promotion for London as one of Europe's top romantic destinations. It was featured in marie claire, I believe! In it we told the story of our meeting, courtship and proposal, all of which happened with some of London's most famous and popular spots as a backdrop (purely by coincidence, I might add!). The ad ended with Philippa and Tom live in Westminster and plan to be married in London in the summer of 2010. At that point we were still waiting for the Home Office to approve our union, so it was all up in the air and that was very optimistic! But we ended up hearing at the end of March 2010 that we were approved to be wed, and then it all came together rather quickly!
I still think London is a very romantic city. But when you're just rushing from the train station to the office and back again most days, with no energy to go into the main arteries and check out what's going on, it's easy to ignore the beautiful buildings, the hidden laneways, elegant bridges, charming parks and gardens, the bright flower stands bursting with colour outside every tube station. Sometimes we need to inject a bit of romance back into our relationships with the places we love :)
And so I went in to London yesterday, and even though it was cold and it poured with rain most of the day, I sat in a lovely cafe at twilight with a pot of tea and looked out over Sloane Square at the bare branches of the winter trees, the fountain and the Royal Court theatre sign bright red against the wet grey, and still thought it was beautiful.
Romance can be found everywhere, even in solitude, and especially on rainy days :)
How do you rekindle the magic with your favourite cities/places?
Have a happy day my friends xx
I think one of the most romantic things is having dinner by myself at a fancy restaurant (or a not-so-fancy restaurant). I think romance is all about the atmosphere and your personal perception of things. I love to just leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee and sit by a window with a good view. Great picture of you and Tom!
ReplyDeleteI love having dinner by myself too! It's nice being alone with your own thoughts and people watching :)
DeleteI have my favourite coffee spots where I take a stack of magazines, my current book and indulge myself with frothy hot beverages, maybe a cake and hours of people-watching and browsing / reading. One of my favourite things to do ... or the same in the park in the summer. My friends think I'm bonkers, as they can't imagine anything worse than spending time alone .... I know the value of it for clearing my head :o)
ReplyDeleteOh I love doing that too. A stack of guilty pleasure mags and a huge mug of chai, and I'm happy for hours and hours! A lovely way to romance the self :)
DeleteHave a wonderful Valentine's. Its the simple things in the end that make life special.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's!
DeleteGorgeous pic Phil, yep I've been lurking around here for many years since meeting you in NZ all that time ago...
ReplyDeleteGot a couple of questions for you as I think I'll be marrying my English bf at some point (Scary!)
Why does the home office have to approve the marriage? Was this down to your visa?
And you decided to keep your own name didn't you. Its something I've always thought I'd do but my bf is very adamant that he would want me to take his name. He basically said he'd give me anything I wanted if I'd only take his name. What was your reasoning keeping your name, and how did you convince Tom?
Thanks, have a great valentines x
Heh heh! I remember you Leo :)
DeleteWhat interesting questions! Tom really didn't mind me not taking his name so there was no convincing needed. He understood my reasons for wanting to keep my name, which were:
1) When I divorced my first husband and changed my name back to my maiden name it was a long, painful and hideous process. During that time, I vowed and declared I would never, ever change my name again!!
2) I'm very proud of what I've done and the identity I've forged under my maiden name - I didn't want to let go of all that.
3) Practicality, more than anything. I would have had to get a new passport, etc. When you're living in another country and aren't a citizen yet it's far too much hassle for my liking! But that's just me ;)
But having said all of that, and especially despite reason 1, if it had been really important to Tom to have me change my name to his, of course I would have. But luckily Tom understood how I felt. He actually said he thought it would have been out of character for me to have changed my name again ;)
Is your boyfriend's name really that bad?! Could you double barrel? ;)
And the home office needs to ok the marriage if one of you is not a British citizen (or if you don't have indefinite leave to remain). You just fill in a COA form and send both of your passports off. It took about 2 months to get the certificate and our passports back. Then you take that certificate along to the registry office when you register your intent to marry. As well as that, we also had to have a meeting at the registry office to make sure we actually knew something about each other! Heh heh.
It wasn't that bad, just formalities. Once you get them out of the way, it's very exciting! I would double check what you need to do closer to the time as the guidance may have changed (as I found out when I rang the Home Office about something the other day - it's always changing!)
And as for the name thing, I think it's a very individual thing these days and you should do what is right for you :)
Thanks for that. I tried to convince him he should change his name to mine but apparently thats emasculating or something...
DeleteHis last name is fine (kinda), my reasoning behind keeping my name was with 4 sisters and no brothers, someone should carry on the family name. And I've always liked my last name.
However I'd do pretty much anything for him and I guess if kids ever come along, then a double barreled name might be confusing.
Thanks for the visa info too, haven't even taken that into consideration before now.
xx
If you have any more questions Leo, just email me :)
DeletePhil, you look so so pretty in that photo! your hair looks lovely curly! happy valentines day, enjoy your evening!
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you Emmy, I like my hair curly too - I even bought a special wand...but I keep burning my fingers on it! ;) Happy Valentines! x
DeleteWalking through Fed Square and up Swanston St in the late afternoon on a sunny day always rekindles my love of Melbourne! There's always stuff going on and the city feels alive. I am sure people think I'm a bit crazy on those days because I'm always walking along with a huge grin on my face!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely picture of you two!
Oh me too. I think my love affair with Melbourne was rekindled big time when we were back there last month! I miss it so! x
DeleteI always choose a walk in Kings Park in Perth to rekindle my romance with this city. The view of the water from the War Memorial look-out, past where I got married at the Botanic Gardens or through the bush in spring searching for spider orchids. All remind me why I choose Perth as home.
ReplyDeletePerth is a lovely place :)
DeleteA lovely post as usual Phil and what a gorgeous photo of you both :) Was reading your comments regarding your visa and thinking how easy it all sounded. Now I have a story to tell you... My fiancé and I decided to get married in Scotland for a number of reasons (mainly Michael's parents find the long haul flight to Aus a bit much and my parents had never travelled to the UK and had always wanted to visit). We decided to to hire a beautiful country home called Assynt House near the Highlands for a week where our families could stay with us and celebrate. During wedding preparations, Michael was offered a 12 month work contract in Edinburgh with the company he works for. What a wonderful opportunity but unfortunately caused havoc with our plans. The company started my visa application which was made all the more difficult because we were getting married. We had to provide 2 years worth of paperwork proving our relationship was real! The company hired a visa specialist for us and the application was placed i'n 3 months befor ethe wedding - plenty of time one would think. We got our visa but unfortunately was 2 months after our wedding date had been and gone! My family all flew over for the wedding as they had all organized other, trips whilst over in Europe and the plan was for us to meet up with everyone. They all had a lovely but tinged with sadness time at Assynt House. The reception went ahead as planned, everyone enjoyed a lovely meal and wedding cake and my Dad even made a speech. Michael and I were licking our wounds on holiday in Palm Cove and Port Douglas whilst this was going on. As you could imagine I was so upset at the time and wished we had never agreed to this work assignment. The good news is we had a wonderful 15 months in beautiful Edinburgh, my brother and his wife fell pregnant with their baby who is now 11 months old whilst in the UK and we are now living back in Aus (Geelong) in our beautiful new home and planning on wedding take 2 for August! I think the worst bit was waiting everyday for the post man to deliever our passports, especially in those last few days when it was viable to make it over in time. But anyway, my dress is still waiting at mum and dads house and i'm determined to wear it in August and finally get married to my Michael who I just adore. Katie McFarlane :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow Katie, that's quite a story! It must have been very stressful, and very sad, to miss the original wedding day. That was why, admittedly, I didn't book anything or make any plans until I had my certificate of approval in my hand :) I hope that your wedding in August is everything you've dreamed of. Send me a picture? :) xx
DeleteAlways makes for an interesting conversation that's for sure and at least we can laugh about it now ;) Will definitely send you a photo. Have a great weekend, xx
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