I'm fairly new to Bournemouth (well, going on six months now!), but Vesuvio was one of the first restaurants I visited in the area. I went there for the first time for a leaving do for one of my ex housemates, but I have returned, countless times.

Vesuvio is an Italian restaurant, located right on the beach at Alum Chine. You can be sat there, enjoying a glass of chilled wine, eating delicious pasta and looking out onto the ocean. Amazing. It is the ideal location.

This review is based on a visit with my friend, Danny. He was visiting from Hull, so I decided to show him the south coast in all it's glory.


Drinks ordered and arrived, we sat back and reviewed the menu. At all my previous visits I'd never gone for a starter and always opted for pasta (which by the way- is insane!), so I thought I'd mix it up a little. This visit, I decided to try their namesake pizza, the Vesuvio, and I opted for the burrata to start. If you don't know already, my love for buratta runs deep. IT IS MY RIDE OR DIE STARTER. Danny had the Ndjua (bless you!) and Dolce Latte (a bit like gorgonzola) bruschetta to start, followed by the Vesuvio also.


The burrata was incredibly tasty, and paired with the fresh cherry tomatoes it was a perfect combination (pictured at the top of this post). Danny enjoyed his starter too. Next, onto the Vesuvio pizza. I loved it... and I got all of Danny's olives too! It was quite spicy, so I was glad for my wine to help cool my mouth down. It wasn't a really doughy base either (which I hate), it was nice and thin.

The one thing I would say, is that although the staff are super friendly and make fantastic recommendations, they can be a little slow. We asked for the bill but it took so long, we ended up having to go up to the counter to pay, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as you have to walk that way to exit, but it would've been nice to not have to sit waiting for 15 minutes before making the executive decision to just get up and pay at the counter. Our waitress did apologise though!

I'd 300% go back, and in fact, I already have! I love this place and would recommend.

Another month, another Netflix Picks post. Like August, I've mostly been watching re-runs of old things but I've watched a few new things. As usual, I'll share my recent watches and my thoughts without giving any spoilers...

Friends
I am a self confessed friends addict. I love watching friends. I've been watching re-runs on Comedy Central for years. When they released friends on Netflix, I was buzzing. This is my second re-watch. I love watching the gang at Central Perk, and I've even picked up some merch recently. Such a fan girl! If you've never watched Friends.. have you been living under a rock? I'm also going to 'Friends Festive' in London.. CANNOT WAIT. 25 years, can you believe it?!

Derry Girls
Right. I loved this series. I couldn't believe when I finished watching this, that there was a second season which isn't even on Netflix yet! I hunted it down and watched it on BBC iPlayer. Watch it, watch it, watch it. That is all!

A Simple Favour
I know this is a 2018 release, but I only watched it this month. I usually am not a fan of dark comedy- I get freaked out soooo easily. I really enjoyed this film though. I love both Blake Lively (of Gossip Girl fame) and Anna Kendrick (of Pitch Perfect fame) and they are the perfect combo!

I moved to Bournemouth back in April. I accepted my job, and that was it, within a week I had organised somewhere to live via SpareRoom. This story is a bit of a tale of two sides, as I found both my initial place to live on SpareRoom, and the place I currently live, on SpareRoom. Both experiences are in direct contrast to each other so to give a fair chance to SpareRoom, I'll give you both stories...

PSA. A wall of text is coming at you.

April- Mid May: First Room
I'd just accepted my job and I was buzzing. First things first, organise a place to live, I thought to myself. So I downloaded the SpareRoom and began my search. With a smaller budget, I was fairly limited with regards to rooms. Most were £400 - £500 per month, and my budget was £350 (at a stretch £400). I found one, it looked clean, light and airy and score! It was £350 per month with a £250 deposit.

I went down with my Auntie to view it and I met the live in landlord. She seemed nice enough, a little stressed if anything and she immediately showed me my room. She asked me two main questions, almost immediately, did I have a boyfriend and what type of food I cooked.. I thought nothing of this at the time, as far as I was concerned a) I don't have a boyfriend and b) I don't cook offensive food unless you count a stir fry as offensive and, it's her house, of course she doesn't want strangers just wandering around.

The room was a little small and 80% bed but at the end of the day... I spend 80% of my time outside of work in bed, so not really an issue. She asked for me to pay a 'good-will gesture' towards the room, as I couldn't move in for a further two and a half weeks. I said, I needed to think about it and would let her know by the end of the day. I decided, why not, I needed somewhere to live and the room was adequate, and well priced. So I paid the £100, with the remaining £150 deposit and £350 first months rent to be paid when I moved in. I obviously put adequate references whilst paying these into the landlord's account, just in case, as I'd never rented a room this way before.

April rolled around, and I moved in. I was essentially told I could use my bedroom, the shower room, and kitchen only. The landlord and her live-in boyfriend helped me with my stuff and all was dandy. I was given half a fridge shelf to share with the other lodger (and once the new lodger moved in this was essentially reduced to 1/8th of a shelf) and half a shelf in a cupboard. To me, this was very little space when I was asked to bring my own cooking implements.

I asked for a key for my room, to which it was replied that the other lodger didn't have one but she gave me one nonetheless. I don't like the idea of strangers rifling through my things. It fills me with unease. I'd also like to point out, I didn't meet the other lodger until 3 weeks in... which in itself was quite confusing. I can understand why he made himself scarce though. He moved out after a month.

The second night I slept there, I put my phone on charge, and when I woke up in the morning it was on 2%, I was lucky the alarm went off. I was slightly confused, but thought I must've accidentally turned the power off whilst sorting out my fairy lights. I soon realised, the landlord, was unlocking my bedroom and turning off my power sockets (located behind my dirty washing). Bizarre.

I soon started to notice things moving in my room, and my door being unlocked. The landlady told me she had had a house viewing (she was open about the fact she was trying to sell the house). I just said oh right, next time, just let me know and I'll make sure my room is super tidy and left unlocked. Not a problem. So, the next time she had a viewing, she told me and I cleaned my room. I'm a very tidy person, so I tidied further. SHE TIDIED OVER MY TIDYING. Weird.

Writing this, this doesn't seem like a lot.. but it was constant invasion of privacy, moving my stuff and just feeling genuinely uneasy where I was living. She also constantly fought her live-in boyfriend, and took showers at 11.30pm which was right next to my head whilst I tried to sleep.

I began to feel very isolated with just having this one room, and in a way, quite depressed as I just felt like my personal space was constantly being invaded. Don't get me wrong, I don't think she meant any harm in what she was doing, and was a nice lady, but I don't think renting a room in your house out works if you have serious control issues and you need to set your expectations accordingly.

I gave my notice after one month (I gave the excuse I was moving back in with my parents), and had another month of feeling isolated/ depressed to endure. I'd found my next place, they'd accepted me and I was due to move in on 1st June.

However, it all came to a head one evening, I came home to find what little space I did have outside my room had been whittled down to virtually nothing (as someone had moved in, replacing the old lodger), and my room was unlocked.. AGAIN. I packed 70% of my things that evening and moved back to my parents. I commuted for 3 weeks (the rest I moved out a week later).

When it came to the end of the my 'tenancy', I once again, felt uneasy. At no point had I signed a contract (rookie mistake), and I was left terrified that my deposit wouldn't be returned when I returned the key. I ended up asking for my deposit to be returned in cash- which she duly did and even said I could return again should I find myself in a different position. Luckily, this has not been the case thus far...

Congrats on making it this far.. onto the second room!

1st June- Onwards: Second Room
So, I  decided I needed out and as I knew no one in Bournemouth, I found myself back on SpareRoom again. Tentatively, of course. I found a place, the rent was higher than my previous place, but the 'social atmosphere' drew me in! I was desperate to get out of essentially, isolation.

I messaged the landlord, who gave me one of my housemates numbers to arrange a viewing. I loved the room, and it was a cute quirky attic type room with a large window (perfect for me!) and the housemates I met (Christine!) was absolutely lovely. I was up against someone else, so I waited to find out if I was successful. BOOM! I was successful and found out I got the room in my current house on 1st May and accepted immediately!

I have to say, my housemates are great, the landlord lives abroad (but recently came to visit us- and he's fab!), the house is perfectly suited as we are all social people and will have a chat, or watch Friends together, or bitch about boys, or have a few drinks. It's also only 5 mins from work (winner winner). I've been living here happily now for 3 months and I love my cute little room.

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to try out the newly revamped Bills in Southampton, with Southampton Bloggers. I hadn't been to a Southampton Bloggers event in almost a year, and I love Bills so I jumped at the chance!

Bills, along with many other Southampton restaurants, are taking part in an initiative organised by Go!Southampton called Foodie Fortnight. Essentially, for two weeks, beginning 23rd September (this Monday!), a whole host of restaurants participating in Foodie Fortnight are providing special deals.

For Foodie Fortnight, Bills are doing a special menu, 2 courses for £15 or 3 courses for £18. This is what we sampled!


We started off ordering drinks, as I was driving, I opted for a small cocktail. I had the Rhubarb Rossini which was delightfully sweet and light- the perfect start to the evening!


For starters there were lots of choices, especially for a smaller menu! I was stuck between the chicken sesame dumplings and the pea houmous. I ended up opting for the Rosemary, Pea houmous and Garlic Sourdough! It was delicious and really fresh. I loved the strips of raw rainbow carrots, courgette and fennel. It was presented in a stunning fashion too!



Next up, it was mains.. before we even sat down I had looked at the menu and already decided I wanted the seabass. It was served on a bed of crushed rosemary and garlic potatoes (which were crunchy and delicious!) complete with pea shoots and a pea and basil pesto. Big fan of the peas, as you can see!

Considering the seabass alone on the main menu is £15.95- the deal is such great value for money! Overall I had a great evening, fantastic company accompanied by great food and lovely service. I left a very happy bunny!

Bills in Salisbury shut down a while ago now, so it was great to experience their food again and the service, as usual, was great. I'd definitely recommend taking advantage of Southampton's Foodie Fortnight deals and in particular, going to Bills!

This time however, we decided to meet at a mid-point. The mid-point happened to be Coventry- a 2/3 hour drive/ train for all of us. None of us had been to Coventry before, so we booked a hotel and went for it.

We stayed at the Days Hotel, which was only a short walk into the City centre. Ideally located, a great price (£105 for a 3 bedroom room- worked out £35 each!) and included breakfast. The only thing I would note, is that although it's clean, the room we stayed in was particularly run down but more than adequate for the night we stayed. The staff were also super friendly, and happy to help with any requests we had.

I did some research beforehand, and had made us a reservation at Bayley Lane Kitchen (you can read my review here) for dinner, and the rest of the time was at our disposal.

Kerry and I went to Las Iguanas for lunch on the Saturday whilst we waited for Liv to arrive. We wanted somewhere quick, easy and somewhere we could enjoy a cocktail.

As some of you may or may not know, I went to Coventry for the August bank holiday weekend with the girls. I'm a proper keeno, and I like to research good restaurants to go to wherever I go- whether it's abroad or in the UK.

So, before our Coventry trip, I had a google of nice restaurants in Coventry and Bayley Lane Kitchen came up top. I booked a table for us online and that was that.

When we arrived at 7, there was only one other table taken, usually something which gives off warning bells, however, when we left at about 10, the atmosphere was electric and most tables were full!

The restaurant itself was well decorated, clean and had some flairs of style to it.

We sat down and were given our menus, including the specials menu. Just a quick side note, ur waiters and waitresses were ever so lovely, giving us tips on the best places for cocktails afterwards and just generally good service.

We ordered our drinks, an espresso martini and a bottle of wine for two, and got down to business- choosing our food!



The moment I saw Burrata on the specials menu as a starter I instantly knew I'd be choosing that. For anyone who doesn't know me, burrata is my favourite starter in the entire world. I could eat it all day, everyday. It's essentially a ball of mozzarella with a gooey soft inside. DIVINE. For main, I chose the Salmon, which is unlike me, but I fancied changing it up a little.

Kerry chose the marinated aubergine for starter, and lamb rump for main. Liv chose the Duk Suk Sung for started, and the caesars tower burger for main.


I was super impressed with all the food. The burrata (obviously) was my favourite. Both Kerry's and Liv's starters were delicious too! My salmon was incredible, well cooked and it was served with chantenay carrots, broccoli, sautéed new potatoes and the piece de la resistance, a curried cauliflower puree.

Kerry enjoyed her lamb rump, and Liv enjoyed her burger. The portions were well sized, and I couldn't fit in a dessert- although they did look delicious!

All the food was really well priced I thought, starters range from £3.95 - £6.95 and mains are well priced too, my salmon was £14.95. In terms of drinks, cocktails were £7.95 each, however, I thought the wine was particularly well priced. Mine and Liv's bottle was £15.95 which for restaurant bottles is a very decent price!

I'd definitely recommend Bayley Lane Kitchen to anyone who is visiting Coventry. The food is really delicious, it's well priced, the service were received was great and has a great vibe.

I know that technicaaaally, this post is coming to you in September, but it was written in August, so, still counts! Most of this months picks are series which have come out with new episodes, but it's what I've mostly been watching! As usual, I'll share my recent watches and my thoughts without giving any spoilers...

Suits- Season 9
I got into Suits at the beginning of last year and binge watched the entire thing, and loved it. I still miss Mike and Rachel... but yanno.. Meghan Markle decided she fancied becoming a princess and all, so that was the end of that. I don't think Suits has recovered from the loss of them, I wasn't overly fussed with Season 8, but Season 9 is this final season, and I'm not a quitter! I would still recommend watching it, but having had the royal wedding splashed all over the papers, you know you've already been dealt a spoiler alert..

Orange is The New Black
Another final season. Aaaaaah. I love OITNB. Another TV programme that I was late to the party on, but my sisters raved about it. I loved this season, I laughed and cried along through the season, and I personally think the way they dealt with this being the final season was fantastic.

Queer Eye- Season 4
In the words of JVN, YAAAAAS QUEEN. I am queer eye obsessed. If you read my March Netflix Picks, you'll know it also featured there. This time round, my favourite episode was 'Soldier Returns Home'.