One of the big decisions in any renovation is heating. So many people these days seem to go for underfloor heating so as not to have to worry about taking up wall space with radiators. But we've never been a fan of underfloor heating. My parents have it and it seems to be either boiling hot or cold, it takes a while to respond so if you're too hot then it takes ages to cool down. We're not people for a boiling hot stuff house either. There's the risk of it going wrong too and you having to dig up your whole floor. Obviously a lot of people do like it, and I'm not saying not to go for it. In a lot of houses it's the right option and it would be lovely to have toasty warm feet {side note - it's not great for plants on the floor or any food, my parents can't put food christmas presents under the tree because the floor gets warm}. It's just we much prefer old fashioned central heating with thermostatic valves that are easy to control. We recently had Hive installed too which means we can control it from our phones and switch it on before we come home etc. But what I wanted to share today is our love for old fashioned radiators. 

Summer dresses are my very favourite thing to wear on holiday/when we have warm weather in England. I don't think you can beat a dress really, there's nothing else to think about, just chuck it on and you've got an instant outfit. I guess you could call it lazy dressing yet when you wear a dress it just feels like you've made an effort. They're feminine and there are so many different options, mini, midi, maxi. Sundresses, shirt dresses, floaty dresses, fitted dresses, with sleeves or without, plain or patterned. You may have guessed that I wear a lot of dresses when on holiday and it's something you guys on Instagram seem to comment on a lot. One of you lovely ladies requested a summer clothes update on the blog and whilst I appreciate that in fashion terms all of the shops are transitioning into Autumn already, I wanted to share what I've bought recently for the rest of the summer and to wear again next year. I try and buy things that will last for a good few years at least or it seems like such a false economy. This is part one with Fat Face's gorgeous new transitional collection to take you into August/September but again will be great for next summer or any summer holidays you have coming up. They're killing it this season I think, there are so many things I adore! Part two up next week with the rest of the high street. 

Mmn, pavlova. It's a pudding that everybody loves in the summer and is a perfect get-ahead pudding that you can leave in the fridge until the last minute. Great for BBQs and the hot summery days we've been spoilt with so far. A Great British summer after all! Walker's Shortbread asked me to come up with some recipes for their meringues and I decided to go tropical for this one. You can see my mini pavlovas with berries and a rose white chocolate cream here. This recipe is dairy free {not because I'm avoiding dairy but because I love coconut and all of my friends did too} yet I don't think you miss the cream in this one bit.

I've got a new secret addiction. He's French, very delicious and will have you dreaming of summer nights with his company. His name is Boursin and I don't know why it's taken me so long to discover. Of course I'm being silly and talking about cheese but this is a cheese like no other. I will start by saying that this is a sponsored post. BUT as I've said before, and truly stand by the fact, that I will never promote anything I don't truly love {In fact I would hate to promote anything I didn't love, what would be the point?}. And honest to god I'm head over heels in love with this cheese. Garlicky and full of herbs, it's not something I ever would have expected to work with a cheese. But this just goes together so well and has become a new favourite for summer snacking. Ben is just as addicted as I am and it's become our go to for picnics or quick lunches. If you close your eyes when you eat it you could just imagine that you're in France...

I've been dreaming of the day that our patio is finished enough to set up a table and chairs on to sit out in the garden. We moved into the house last August and had to endure a crazy paving area and ugly rear of the house that we didn't even try to pretty it up for the end of last summer as most of it was getting knocked down. Then over winter we had the kitchen extension done and now it's mid summer 2017 and we have the outdoor area I've been dreaming of! I'm going to share the full patio/gravel/landscaping transformation soon but for now I'd love to share some quick accessories I've used to make the garden feel more summery for outdoor living with my favourite - The White Company {and most of the below is in the sale right now with an extra 10% off sale here with code - AR050 -  go go go!}.

I go through stages of cooking. Sometimes feeling really inspired and knocking up new exciting dinners, a spring in my step as I go. Other times I feel at a loss for inspiration and just can't seem to think past three or four regular dinners on repeat or it feels like a real chore. Not having a proper kitchen for about 6 months certainly took it's toll so since May and us having a brand new sparkly place to cook, I've felt my love for food come flooding back. It's also coincided with my favourite time of year for cooking, summery al fresco light dinners that don't take forever slaving over a stove. I feel like I'm so much healthier at this time of year too. It's been perfect timing with the allotment just coming into her prime with courgettes and kale suddenly coming out of our ears! Recipe blog posts are probably the most requested type of posts at the moment through Instagram stories where I share snippets of what I'm cooking most nights. So here's a quick post with some of our favourite things to eat right now;

I'd never heard of Sintra before we started looking into our Lisbon weekend but once I started reading about itineraries, it was clear that everybody should put aside some time whilst in the city to head out to Sintra for a day. I still wasn't 100% sure, I mean in the photos it looked incredible and everybody seemed to love it, but I'd also heard just how crowded it could be. Especially at a weekend. Would we really want to spend some of our anniversary trip navigating queues/crowds of people in the heat? In the end though we decided it would be a shame to miss it being so close so planned out our day and managed to avoid nearly all of the crowds! Some top tips below and photos from our last couple of days;

Day two was probably my favourite of the whole trip {you can find part one here}. The weekend that we visited was pretty hot {36 degrees!} so we decided to escape the city and hop on the train to Cascais. I think that's the real beauty of Lisbon, it's such a great city in itself but also for the fact you're able to do some half day/full day trips out to nearby Sintra or Cascais/Estoril. The trains were cheap, v easy and reliable and it was just a 35 minute journey to the insanely beautiful coast.

We spent last weekend in Lisbon for our third {!!} wedding anniversary. I'd heard a lot about the city in the past couple of years, everybody suddenly seems to love it, but it wasn't until we were there that we realised exactly what the fuss was about. It was just the perfect city break and great in so many ways. Pretty streets where if a building wasn't covered in tiles, it was pastel coloured, easy to get around both on foot and with straight forward public transport, sunny almost year round {it's Europe's sunniest capital}, cheap {the supermarkets especially. It's Europe's cheapest western city}, a quick flight away, amazing food and has the beach and beautiful Sintra just a short train ride away. Oh, and did I mention the tiles already?! 

When we first viewed our house, we instantly fell in love with the sweeping staircase, an original feature - over a couple of hundred of years old - that we couldn't wait to bring up to date a little. The staircase itself luckily was still in good condition, it just needed a little makeover. You'll see the lovely green carpet in the photos below that we instantly ripped off, planning a classic stair runner with rods instead.

Let's talk cars! Do you like driving? I actually really do. I can't pretend that I'm especially good at it or parking {although I can reverse park really well since my husband taught me to use my mirrors, just don't ask me to parallel} but I'll happily be the designated driver on even the longest of trips. Music on, foot down and vroom. I think it's because I don't like trains so I even don't mind driving through London, my husband and friends are always amazed at how I can keep calm driving yet freak out at the thought of going on the underground. So why all of this car talk? Well last month Mini leant me a new Mini Countryman to have some summer adventures in. My thoughts on it below...

Hello! I'm back blogging. Sorry for the little hiatus, we were in Lisbon for the weekend and this weather that we've returned to makes it almost impossible to sit inside on a laptop! But I have a million blog posts to write so I'm seeking shade today and getting back to it. First up, the best beach in England. Our trip to The Witterings a couple of weeks back.