A little while ago when visiting my boyfriend, we went for a wander around Bournemouth's home of all things retro, vintage and unique... Boscombe. We discovered a quirky little restaurant and lounge bar with a hint of vintage called Monty's Lounge, which I knew was my sort of my place! We decided we were going to come back and that's what we did this week, two and a half years together was definitely an excuse to eat out. It's cosy (with it's cute fairy lights) and chilled, and due to it's small size I would recommend booking a table beforehand.

I started with a jam jar cocktail (I just had to have one) and went for a 'Summer Breeze'. Despite it being autumn, I still loved this fruity and fizzy drink.

Tasty burgers served with homemade rustic chips are currently on the menu and they were oh so delicious. I can be a bit of a critic when it comes to meat, no dry boring meat for me please, but the beef was juicy and flavoursome.

I really wanted the chocolate mousse in a vintage teacup but when warm brownies were an option, I couldn't say no! I also sadly couldn't finish the last bit of my yummy brownie.

We went home with our tummies full, feeling happy.

Yesterday my mum and I were feeling fit and healthy (until our usual piggy Sunday roast and dessert). After going to a weights class in the morning (yes on a Sunday morning) we decided to make a nutritional and energy boosting juice. My mum saw the perfect juice for cleansing your body in a Prima magazine using diuretic foods to reduce water retention and help de-bloat your tummy.

For one glass (and some leftover) you will need:

Two apples

Two carrots

A few sticks of celery

Some parsley

Any alternatives or extras you want to throw in such as tomato or cucumber

Shove it all into a juicer (ours looks pretty ancient) and be careful of your fingers. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the taste of this concoction, but strangely it tasted nice as the apples sweetened it. 

Drink up to feel refreshed!

Happy Halloween (for tomorrow)! It's that time of year when we can have all have some scary fun wearing fancy dress and filling up on sweeties and toffee apples. It was definitely an excuse for me to enjoy myself baking and decorating these Spooky Halloween Biscuits for kids or big kids. Keep reading for a quick and easy recipe adapted from here.

You will need:

For the biscuits...

100g unsalted butter (softened)

100g caster sugar

1 egg

275g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

To decorate...

Icing sugar

Food colouring

Strawberry or raspberry jam

Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5 and grease or line baking trays (how many you need will depend on the size and shape of your biscuits). Beat the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract a little at a time. Stir in the flour (the mixture will start to become sticky and hard to stir), until it comes together as a dough.

Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and use Halloween-style or normal cutters (or just improvise) to cut biscuits out of the dough and place onto your baking trays.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until your biscuits look a pale golden-brown, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Then it's time for the fun part! You can decorate your Halloween biscuits however you like, but make sure they're super spooky (I know, mine are terrifying). 

I used icing sugar mixed with a little water to decorate the skull biscuits and added blue food colouring for the monsters. I also made holes in some of the biscuits for the eyes and sandwiched them together with jam for a creepy twist on Jammie Dodgers. 

Boo! Muahaha....

Last weekend, I went away with my parents and boyfriend to West Sussex and stayed in a lovely country cottage. Last year was the first time we went on a UK weekend away in October and now I hope our autumn weekend breaks become a yearly tradition. It's so nice to get away and explore new places, I know Candy (that happy fluffy dog above) loves her little holidays. Our excitable big soppy kid just couldn't wait and wanting to make sure she wasn't left behind, jumped into the car boot over 20 minutes before we even left. What a sweetie pie! 

The owners didn't realise a Golden Retriever was coming to stay...

After a more muddy and dangerous walk than we'd expected, walking down the side of a busy road dodging cars, we went out for some pub grub. We all treated ourselves to a burger and chips...

And then I treated myself again to a sticky toffee pudding with a bit of help from my boyfriend (I had that pudding on my mind before we'd even ordered the main course).

Then we went back to the cottage to snuggle up and I showed off my cosy new slipper socks from Primark. It was mild for October but I get cold easily, especially my tootsies.

The next day we went for a very windy (and wet for Candy) walk along the beach in Bognor Regis.

Of course we had to stop off at a seaside sweet shop to buy some rock to take home.

After a hot chocolate and slice of my Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, we went to explore Amberley Castle, a unique luxury hotel which I would love to stay at!

"Lord of the manor!"

A shy peacock...

Have you ever seen so many different kinds of pumpkins?

We carved our own pumpkin when we got back to the cottage, being slightly more ambitious this year. I always forget how hard it is to carve one though.

We had maple syrup flavoured pancakes with golden syrup and blueberries on top for breakfast before setting off for another walk, a safe one with no busy roads this time.

What an action shot!

I look forward to our next countryside adventure!