Living in such a nice little community here in Southfields its great to have so many cool places to eat. This amazing pizza restaurant gets a big thumbs up from us as its totally delightful and serves up exceptional and unusual dishes. It was the first time we have come across sweet potato pizza. Yep you read that right…Sweet potato slices nestled on top with bubbling mozzarella made this possibly the best pizza I have ever had. We will totally be recreating this at home.
We ate amazing freshly cooked food and drank perfect coffee. Sat and chatted about work, social media and all the new and exciting projects lined up for 2 Boxes Photography. We have some rather brilliant events coming up, and we are getting very excited about shooting at Chester races for Chi Chi London this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for a rather fabulous article coming next week!
One last feast before a diet starts to slim into those stunning dresses….Just take a look at that beautiful pizza. Have you ever seen something so delightful? And yes I ate the lot! I really can’t tell you how delicious it was. I am going to have to avoid this place for a while if I want to get into my wardrobe! Buffalo mozzarella and cheese ravioli was incredible. I was way too busy with my amazing pizza to even try it sadly. One reason to go back don’t you think…but not too often as I really could be busting out of my skinny jeans!!
If you live near Southfields Francos is well worth a visit and we are sure you will leave very satisfied and keen to go back time after time.
Eylure has joined forces with vlogger Fleur de Force to create a new lash collection, launching into Boots August 2015.
The Fleur de Force lashes by Eylure feature ‘stone-ground lash tips’, a brand new technology that softens the tip of each individual hair to create a much more natural look.
In keeping with Fleur’s brand profile the collection reflects her style and the packaging is decorated with her signature stars and pastel colour palette.
The collection comprises Fleur Loves (£5.25), a ¾ length lash adding definition to outer edge of the eye
Simply Fleur (£5.95), a subtle lightweight lash for daytime wear
Fleur & Fabulous (£5.25), a full yet lightweight lash to build up the glam factor
Couture Fleur (£6.95), knot-free individual lashes with tapered tips available in short, medium and long length.
The Fleur de Force Lashes by Eylure are available from August, prices start from £5.25 – £6.95 and the range is available exclusively at Boots stores nationwide and eylure.com.
Vegan food options are some of the healthiest recipes around. We love this veggie burger and its packed with delicious, savoury and healthy ingredients. We normally make a double batch so we have them for a few days! These burgers really easy to make and don’t need hours to set up in the fridge before cooking. They are gluten free, dairy free and quite frankly amazing.
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups cooked peas
1/2 cup of corn meal
1 tbsp vegan mayo
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
Spices of your choice, we love adding curry paste
Heat the oil in a medium non-stick pan over medium heat.
Add the shallots, sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic
Season very generously with salt and pepper.
Sauté for about 8 minutes until onions are cooked through
Remove from heart and set aside.
In a food processor or blender, blend the peas
In a large mixing bowl combine the pureed peas and corn, vegan mayo, lemon juice, and cornmeal.
Stir to combine well. Season with a touch more salt and pepper to taste.
Form into 1/3 cup pattys
To cook: cook on 3-4 minutes on each side on a well oiled grill pan
Serve with a crisp salad or fries, add a bun if your feeling the need to fill up a little more.
Leroy Dawkins, editor of popular blog Diary of a Clotheshorse, US fashion Editor and celebrity Blogger at LaPalme Magazine today signed with the Grey model Agency.
Grey Model Agency is a niche agency that specialises with the representation of mature models.
Leroy will continue in his other roles as a top model judge in Europe, the Clotheshorse blog, editor at Laplame and freelance work as a stylist and DJ.
When The Gates of Evangeline arrived – kerplunk – on my desk and I read the blurb, ‘Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cates, a New York journalist and single mother mourning the recent, unexpected death of her young son … my first thought was – not for me. I don’t do grieving mothers. They tear me to shreds.
Thankfully, I flicked through the first page, and was hooked.
Hester Young handles her material with aplomb, and though we are aware of Charlie Cates’ loss we are not manipulated by it. Instead, Young, who writes in the first person present, with spare and finely edged language, takes us on Charlie’s journey -from the urban New York to small town Louisiana.
It is here, in the sultry state with its swamps, and evocative history, that she takes a commission to write a true-crime book based on the case of Gabriel Deveau. Gabriel is the young heir to a wealthy and infamous Southern family who was kidnapped thirty years ago and it is a crime that has never been solved.
Charlie ‘witnesses’ events through hallucinations, which drive her onwards. She uncovers long-buried secrets of love, money, betrayal and murder. The facts appear to implicate those she most wants to trust.
The Gates of Evangeline is gripping, with a tremendous sense of place, (I need to put Louisiana on my list of places to go). It is a sense of place that I found reminiscent of James Lee Burke, one of the most atmospheric authors I have read, and whose work I love.
Young has created a Gothic epic, a great whodunit with a slightly but ‘in context’ supernatural bent. I couldn’t put it down, and found myself trying to work out who indeed ‘dunit’. I was half right, but that’s the thing with Young, there’s always another twist, an unpredictability that is in keeping, but surprising.
In The Gates of Evangeline, Hester Young, who lives with her husband and two children in New Jersey, has created a carefully crafted and fantastic literary debut.
Read it, but don’t expect to be able to put it down. This is a new crime series, which is great news. Can’t wait for the second to hit the bookstands.
Frost is publishing Hester Young’s A Day in the Life in a week.
Last time we discussed sunburn and sunscreens. But what if, despite all efforts, you get sunburned?
First reduce inflammation. Take anti-inflammatories (eg ibuprofen) and apply bland moisturisers. Cool the affected skin with wet cloths, and keep hydrated. (Pure) aloe vera may help.
Vitamin E may reduce on-going skin-cell damage, which can continue even after sun-exposure. Burnt skin should be protected from further sun. If the burn is severe and covers a large area, or you feel unwell, you may need medical advice.
After several days, your skin will appear recovered, albeit somewhat browner. But this isn’t the end of the story. You will have some permanent damage, which will make your skin look older, and put you at more risk of skin cancer.
Sun UV is responsible for 80% of skin-aging – reduced elasticity (causing sagginess), skin texture changes, wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation and yellowish discolouration. A recent study has shown that regular sunscreens significantly reduce these effects.
More worrying, it is estimated that, in the UK, sun is responsible for 70-90% of the main skin cancers – malignant melanoma (MM), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
Intermittent severe (blistering) sunburn, particularly when young, is probably the major cause of MM. In fact, five severe sunburns between ages 15 to 20 years increase risk by 80%. Conversely, SCC and BCC are related to chronic long-term sun. Fair-skinned people are at greater risk as they have less protective melanin. Some people are also genetically susceptible.
Our immune system always attempts to remove damaged skin-cells, in order to prevent cancer, so any immunodeficiency increases risk. To help your immune system, eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
MM arises from melanocytes (melanin-producing cells). MM may look like a new mole, or a change in a pre-existing mole – such as increased size, irregular edge, colour changes, asymmetrical shape, itching, pain, bleeding or crustiness. Melanoma is aggressive, but can be cured if caught early, so do see your doctor if you notice any skin changes. It can develop from melanocytes anywhere – any skin and, rarely, even the eye.
MM is the most dangerous skin cancer, but BCC is the commonest (75%) and SCC is next commonest. Unlike MM, which can appear on skin anywhere, BCC and SCC generally develop on sun-exposed skin. Either may resemble a sore, which won’t heal, a reddish patch, sometimes with crusting or bleeding. BCC sometimes forms a shiny bump of various colours, or an irregular scar. SCC can look like a wart, or a raised growth with a central dip.
Most BCC and SCC can be removed successfully, but if ignored, they can invade deeply, causing serious disfigurement and sometimes can spread elsewhere in the body, particularly SCC.
The best solution is to avoid sunburn and prolonged sun exposure. However once the damage is done, do maintain a healthy immune system and watch your skin carefully for any changes, or odd lumps or bumps which won’t going away – early treatment can cure.
Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice
Britain’s Paul Bonhomme was crowned the winner of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship stop at the famous Ascot Racecourse on Sunday, flying brilliantly under pressure in the world’s fastest motorsport series.
Bonhomme’s final run was flawless and he stopped the clock in 1.06.416 seconds. Australia’s Matt Hall took second place in a time of 1:09.024 while Yoshihide Muroya got his first podium of the season with third.
With the hard-fought victory in the Final Four, Bonhomme picked up 12 points to widen his lead at the top of the Red Bull Air Race Championship to eight points (46) ahead of Hall (38 points) in second going into the final three races.
Reigning Red Bull Air Race World Champion Nigel Lamb of Britain, who last year finished second at the race over the historic Ascot Racecourse, finished back in 5th place, a result that destroyed his chances of defending his title.
It was the second time the Red Bull Air Race was staged in Ascot, just west of London, that has quickly become one of the most attractive air race locations in the world and a favourite of the pilots who relish taking off and landing on the lush green turf in front of the big crowd.
Austria’s Hannes Arch, who struggled in the training session and was last in Qualifying on Saturday, finished a disappointing eighth after winning the last two races in Budapest and Rovinj, Croatia.
Arch had a great run in the Round of 12, just beating Bonhomme, but Bonhomme was the “fastest loser” and advanced to the Round of 8.
Arch was unable to get his engine started before the Round of 8 and was forced to retire. “It’s frustrating if you can’t race but that’s life,” said Arch, who slipped to third overall with 30 points.
In the Red Bull Air Race, which is the official world championship of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world’s top pilots hit speeds of 370 km/h while enduring forces of up to 10G as they navigate as precisely as possible through a low-level slalom track marked by 25-metre high air-filled pylons.
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship moves to its next stop to Spielberg, Austria on September 5-6.
Results Ascot:
1. Paul Bonhomme (GBR), 2. Matt Hall (AUS), 3. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN), 4. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA), 5. Nigel Lamb (GBR), 6. Peter Besenyei (HUN), 7. Martin Sonka (CZE), 8. Hannes Arch (AUT), 9. Michael Goulian (USA), 10. Matthias Dolderer (GER), 11. Juan Velarde (ESP), 12. Kirby Chambliss (USA), 13. Pete McLeod (CAN), 14. François Le Vot (FRA)
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is an international series of races with the participation of at least eight pilots at each race. The objective is to navigate an aerial racetrack featuring air-filled pylons in the fastest possible time incurring as few penalties as possible.
Pilots can win World Championship points at each race and the pilot with the most points after the last race of the season becomes the Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
The Red Bull Air Race consists of the following flying sessions: Training, Qualifying, Round of 14, Round of 8, Final 4. In all sessions, only one pilot races in the track at a time.
TRAINING: Takes place on the days preceding Qualifying Day.
QUALIFYING: Takes place on Qualifying Day, the day before Race Day. It includes two mandatory qualifying sessions. Best time counts. Results of the qualifying session determine the order of racing on Race Day.
ROUND OF 14: Takes place on Race Day. This flying session is completed in head-to-head heats; the seven winners plus the fastest loser move forward to the Round of 8. The head-to-head pairings are based on the qualifying session results.
ROUND OF 8: Seven winners from the Round of 14, plus the fastest loser, race in head-to-head heats again. The four winning pilots advance to the Final 4. For the losing pilots, their time in the Round of 8 will determine 5th to 8th place race positions.
FINAL 4: Four fastest from the Round of 8 compete in the Final 4 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place race positions. The slowest winning pilot from the Round of 8 will fly first in the Final Four. They race individually and victory is based on the quickest time recorded for the session.
STARTING ORDER FOR FLYING SESSIONS
The starting order is the order in which the pilots will race in each flying session. The starting order for Training is defined by the results of the current Red Bull Air Race World Championship standing. The highest ranking pilot starts first, new pilots start at the end. If there is more than one new pilot, the starting order of these new pilots is determined by a draw.
The starting order for all sessions on Race Day is determined by the results in Qualifying. The order is reversed so that the slowest pilot from Qualifying starts first.
RACE WINNER
The winner is the pilot who is ranked number one in the final flying session.
RED BULL AIR RACE WORLD CHAMPION
The Red Bull Air Race World Champion is the pilot who achieves the highest aggregate score in the given Red Bull Air Race World Championship season.
The winner is crowned Red Bull Air Race World Champion at the last stop in the World Championship.
Red – outbound lap, Grey – return lap
The Ascot crowds were treated to breath-taking displays by an Apache Gunship – a four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter and a Chinook – a twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter, its primary role being troop movement, artillery placement and battlefield resupply.
One of the world’s leading paraglider aerobatics pilots, Pal Takats, took to the air, wowing the Ascot audience with a vast selection of tricks and stunts.
Pal is a Red Bull show regular and if you get a chance to see him in action… grab it!
The Breitling Wingwalkers, the world’s only formation wing-walking team, displayed astounding sequences of loops, rolls and turns whilst wingwalkers waved and performed handstands against 150mph wind pressure… even releasing themselves from their cradles and sitting on the wings whilst the aircraft were still in flight!
Behind the scenes…
During the media hangar walk, I spent some time with the Master Class pilots ahead of the race final…
PAUL BONHOMME…
I’ve just been talking to your team about conditions, is there a possibility we’ll see a couple of seconds disappearing from qualifying times achieved yesterday?
It could be, yes, I think the wind is forecast to get up a little bit but not as strong as yesterday, so it could be a bit faster.
I’m in my early 50’s and so are you, but when you think of sport at the highest level, it’s driven by youth, sport is dominated by youth and yet this is a high-level sport, there’s of factors to consider like G-force, how do you keep fit to withstand such impact?
I think, for this, the main fitness factor is not really the flying, although you do have to be fit for flying, but it’s the length of days and the other bits. Having said that, the G-force is the main physical drain on us, if you like, and for me, I just go for general fitness… cycling, I don’t run, I don’t think that’s good for my lower back, but cycling, a bit of walking, maybe a bit on the rowing machine. But you don’t have to be Charles Atlas, you don’t have to work out in the gym, but good general fitness.
And when you think of older sportsmen and women, typically, they excel in a less physical type of activity, but amazingly, the age range of the competitors in the Red Bull Air Race is higher than average and the physical impact is more intensive on the body, to say the least…
Yes, and a lot of people say “Why are there a load of old farts here?” (laughs) and I think the main reason is, you can’t learn to fly until you’re 16, 17 or 18 anyway and then if you look at the cost of flying, you’re not going to be able to get into this sort of machine until your late 20’s, probably, it depends on your circumstances. So that’s why you’ve got a more mature bunch here, whereas if you look at motor-racing, you can get in a go-kart when you’re three and by the time you’re 18, you’ve got 15 years of race experience so you’re good enough to go out and mess about in the big leagues.
Just touching on finances, we can see that the publicity surrounding the Red Bull Air Race is building, more media coverage, what does it cost to run a team like this for a year… ballpark?
Ballpark… it’s impossible to say, where do you start? When I bought my first aeroplane, somebody said to me “Whatever you do, don’t work out how much it costs an hour” and I think that’s a very wise thing. I suspect the same would go for horse-owners, if you actually sat down and worked out how much it cost to own a racehorse, you’d probably give up there and then.
Is it easier now to get sponsorship?
It is, it’s a major factor in this series that it needs more sponsors, for this sport to go forward, it needs sponsors to come in. There’s the Red Bull factor there, a lot of people, I think, think Red Bull is such a dominant brand, they’re going to get swamped by the Red Bull brand, so there’s all sorts of ideas being bandied around, whether any of them will ever happen or not, I’m not sure, but for certain, we do need more sponsors.
We covered the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and that was one of the questions that came up, their whole branding is perhaps not quite as it should be, it’s starting to lax in some way, people are starting to lose the momentum of F1, whereas we can see that Red Bull Air Race and the marketing machine is gradually building. So it’s quite a fine line in keeping that balance of building up a brand, building up a whole race image and not knocking it like, perhaps, is happening in F1.
Yes, it’s not easy, but the analogy that I use is it’s ‘starting a sport’… this is now twelve years old now, I reckon you need to be a bit like a new coffee shop, you need to put a sandwich board outside saying ‘cheap sponsorship this week – come on in’ get people in, get them interested, get them tickled and then when it’s built, then you say ‘look, this is actually costing us more than we’re charging you so we need to up the ante’. I don’t think that’s happening at the moment, I think the price is still a bit too high and I know if I was running it, I’d get a load of big people in and get them tickled, get their interest tickled and then, hopefully, it would take off.
So, yesterday, (qualifying), disappointing with the DNS (withdrawal due to technical issues), how are you feeling today, especially with the conditions… are they good for you or is it just a little bit too good?
No, actually, I’m feeling strong, I don’t know why but it’s just a good day today, no matter what happens.
Mentally, you’re in the right place.
Yes, I’m going in there and, to be honest, I’m not racing against Paul today, I’m racing against myself, so that’s a little bit my task. Also to not getting distracted too much by all the talking and everything. The only bitter thing for us is… and I’m talking for Paul and me, that we both know one of us two is not in the final because of this stupid system. And that’s frustrating because… just imagine, both of us are really fast out there and you can’t be in the final, that’s not cool, you know so I hope that the organisation thinks about that because it’s so hard to communicate, it should be raised now. Instead of asking the guys who are doing it, living it, the passion, you know, for the sport.
I asked Paul about his fitness regime… what’s yours?
Sport. I love sport, I’m living in Salzburg in Austria where it’s just the right place to do sport, you’ve got the mountains, the lakes, biking, mountain biking.
A lot of sportsmen, at a high level, aren’t just good at their specialised sport, if you talk to a F1 driver, some of them have turned round and said “Well, I was going to be a professional footballer, but I did this instead”… what would you have done had you not become a pilot?
Actually, I can’t tell you because I did already four different sports at a high level sponsored by Red Bull so I just go with the flow. This fits exactly to my age right now, you know, what I did before, I was base jumping, paragliding, I also did world tours all over the world and mountain climbing at the highest level. I think I am done now, after this, I could imagine to enjoy just living without the pressure of always trying to be the best. (Laughs).
So conditions good today for slicing a few seconds off the best times?
Oh my God, yes, I’m miles behind! I won qualification here last year and then went on to come second so yes, a big disappointment for you and me yesterday, way off the pace but yes, I can catch some of it, for sure, I’m sure of that but lots of work to do today. Conditions are maybe too good.
You think they’re too good?
It was all blustery last year so the track is very benign so everyone is going to be really quick.
Just looking at the track, it’s a superb venue, as opposed to previous UK venues, this is much, much better.
Oh, it’s unquestionable, yes, we did love Longleat, from a piloting perspective, we like Longleat because it was even more three-dimensional so you had everything that’s here but also sloping ground so you were up and down and in and out of trees, so that was nice, but flawed in many other respects. Here, you’ve got the start in front of the crowd and it’s very special and everything is lower so this is the best.
And also the team and hangar areas are closer to the track…
Yes, for sure, everything here is really, really good, it’s fantastic, this is one of the two good tracks of the season and the other one is Spielberg in Austria, which is similar because everything takes place in front of the crowd. There are two like that in America but they’re not so pretty, they’re not green and full of trees, they’re ‘concretey’ and full of rocks.
So a track like that from a pilot’s perspective?
It doesn’t make much difference from our perspective but it’s from an aesthetically-pleasing perspective.
I’ve been talking to Paul about the marketing and branding of the race. F1 has reached a peak and it’s now starting to wane, there needs to be a new injection of thought, new ideas coming to really vamp up the image. Whereas the Red Bull Air Race is raising its profile…
Yes, well I think it’s much easier with a new sport. The Air Race has been going since 2004… 2005 was when it really took off, I would say, but yes, I’ve been following the fortunes of F1, I guess they have much bigger challenges and it’s much more complicated. The advantage to having a high-profile sport will be that the appeal grows, then more money comes in and then you can do more. And they are probably more able to change, there are some things in F1 that are a lot simpler than ours, you think of the infrastructure and the challenges of the Red Bull Air Race, you’ve got to set up a track somewhere. But the good thing about that is, when you find the right location, you can take a track right into a location like this, so you’re not bound by having the track… but when you have that infrastructure of the track, everything is there once you get there, so the challenges, once you’re there, are much easier. That’s complicated but this is a sport with a different appeal, I think.
I’ve been talking to the other Master Class pilots about fitness regimes, especially when you’re an older competitor. The world of sport is normally dominated by youth, this appears to be an exception.
Well, two answers. The reason that everyone is older is that you can’t jump in an aeroplane aged six years old, so just as when watch a camera-ed up car going through Monaco and how close they’re putting it to hard obstacles, the fences, the kerbs, for me, it’s awesome. It commands such amazing respect but I do understand it, I understand it, it’s such a connection with the machine that actually, just like as we strap wings on our back, they’re just making their body mobile. And it’s the same with us, you have to be at a level where you don’t even spend one millisecond thinking about what you’re doing with the controls, you’ve just got the means to elevate your body into the air and then putting yourself through the lines. And in aviation, you can start at 18 and then the path is much more difficult. One of my sons is into go-karting and you can take a kid at five years old and you put them in a little go-kart and it’s very, very simple because there’s tracks everywhere, there are go-karts, it can be relatively inexpensive at first. And look at Verstappen (Formula One), he is 17 years old, but I get it, he’s done it since he was five, he’s got a father who is an ex-Formula One driver, so he’s got 12 years and many thousands of pounds. Because you can sit in a go-kart, in the wet and dry, night and day, and hone the skills to be able to have it as an extension of your body, whereas, in aviation, that takes until… I would say, actually, I don’t think you could do it before you’re 30 really, I know Pete McLeod came in at 25, but you just need that level of experience, that’s important. But secondly, you’ve got to keep fit, you’ve got to take great care of your back, your core and your neck, so that’s what I work on, and you need to be relatively aerobically-fit, but very G-fit and that comes with spending time in the cockpit. There’s no machine, other than a centrifuge, which is horrible, a centrifuge is not like an aeroplane at all because you’ve got all sorts of vestibular problems with the way the gimbals work so it’s not like flying an aeroplane. But you learn the technique of anti-G, of combating G, in an aeroplane and you need a lot of time and you need a lot of experience to make that reflex. But here, we have to focus really hard on it for gate number two because you’re not warmed up, you need to get the circulation going and that’s the first pull and it’s not the highest G, it’s only probably 8 or something. You’ve got to be ready for that one, that’s the one you think about a bit in this track but the rest is kind of pretty instinctive.
Celebrities in attendance included presenter, Charlie Webster, Lucy Watson and James Dunmore, Diana Vickers and Rannvijay Singh, along with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Richard Jones
As you all may know I’m a Professional Photographer and work with my husband at 2 Boxes Photography. Well we went to Holi One 2015 recently and here are a selection of our favourite shots from the day. We partied and painted Wembley arena all shades of the rainbow.
Holy One is a festival of colour that celebrates each and every one of us as equals. By the time you leave this amazing festival you will be the same skin colour as everyone else. Its quite frankly one if the best days out you could possibly imagine. Messy but serious fun.
If you are a fellow partier please remember that your camera could be a little stressed out by the end of the day. We took our Canon 1D bad boy with us. He’s a tough cookie and water, dust, bomb and Holi One proof!! If you do decide to take some snaps make sure you wrap your camera securely in a clear plastic bag before you enter.
Here is an idea of what a day at Holi One is like in pictures. We feel that sometimes (nearly all the time) images speak louder than words!
For more information regarding our photography services from Weddings, portraits or events please visit www.2boxes.co.uk, email contact@2boxes.co.uk or call 07792852233.
Celebrities in attendance included presenter, Charlie Webster, Lucy Watson and James Dunmore, Diana Vickers and Rannvijay Singh, along with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Richard Jones
