Biscuiteers

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Biscuiteers is a shop and cafe that specialises in beautifully iced cookies. You can buy a ready-iced treat for someone or you can ice your own biscuits in the cafe. We spent a cosy couple of hours icing silly faces and outfits on to gingerbread men and 'Day Of The Dead' style patterns on to cookie skulls.

It made me remember last Christmas when I had a lovely afternoon icing gingerbread cookies. It's such a simple pastime but something that gets you away from screens and gadgets and absorbed in creating... and eating : )

Hygge

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Yesterday hygge was announced as one of the 'words of the year' by the Collins English Dictionary and if you walk into any bookshop in the UK at the moment you will see books on the subject piled high ready for the Christmas season. Like many others, I've noticed the word tip-toeing into our collective consciousness and I feel like hygge is exactly what we all need. A bit like how mindfulness reminds me to be in the moment, hygge reminds me that simple pleasures and a feeling of cosy contentment and security is important to our wellbeing. Hygge is all about the feeling of absolute peace and warmth which we sometimes forget in our frenetic world. It can be anything from curling up with a good book to enjoying a hot chocolate under a fluffy blanket or a cosy, wine-fuelled dinner with friends, all preferably by candlelight, although I think fairylight would do the trick.

Monday Movie - Serendipity

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You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died, "Did he have passion?"

Serendipity is the perfect film for when the clocks go back. Yes, it's a romcom and yes, it's totally predictable but as the days get shorter, I love a cosy movie and this one manages to be romantic without being totally saccharine. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale have great chemistry but Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon as their two friends really make it for me. Plus there's a great soundtrack including this beauty by Nick Drake.

Monday Movie - When Harry Met Sally

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"But I'd like the pie heated and I don't want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side. And I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream but only if it's real. If it's out of a can, then nothing." - Sally

Time Out listed their 10 best Autumn films a few days ago and When Harry Met Sally was number three on their list. It really is the perfect Autumn film, cosy, clever and cute. And every time I'm specific about my order in a restaurant I think of the quote above and imagine I'm Meg Ryan : )