MISS HOLLY P
A BIT OF ME . A BIT OF FOOD . A BIT OF WINE
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The Bay at Jarrold

It’s been a while since my last post but I’m extremely excited to share with you the newest and most fabulous eatery in Jarrolds called The Bay, a gorgeous open plan wine bar and seafood restaurant!

I have visited 3 times already, once for the launch night too where I got to sample many canapés which gave me a taste of the shape of things to come and a couple of times to have a nibble and a drink!

The decor in itself is so beautiful, its situated on the second floor and has launched along with the new look homewares department and The Bay gets its name because of the stunning bay window that the restaurant wraps itself around and the design is that of hanging industrial lighting, exposed brickwork, cool toned neutrals and grained wood with lots of foliage scattered around, its modern, classy, airy and just gorgeous. It’s a great addition to not just Jarrold but Norwich and has really filled a gap for me especially.

Food wise the menu is heavily focused around salmon and has sharing platters, a caviar menu and other hot dishes and brunch style dishes too. I tried the gorgeous salmon sharing platter which for £10.50 per head is an absolute bargain in my opinion for the quality, selection and quantity you get.

They are planning on doing various seasonal specials and have an oyster bar as a special too! In addition to all of this there is the most lovely and carefully curated wine list too with champagne by the glass and one of the loveliest house reds (a pinot noir) which would not feel wrongly paired with fish for the red lovers out there.

I hope I have tempted you in for a visit! Currently The Bay is only opening for lunch but I think it’s a bit of a case of wait and see how it takes off to determine the finalized open times but please if you are a seafood fan put it top of your list to visit!

 

Thanks for reading, H x

beauty

The Style Show

Hey readers! It’s been a while! I’ve been really active on Instagram but not so much on the site so apologies for the break but I’m here, I’m back and I’ve got just the post to share to end this hiatus!

Several weeks ago I was invited to an evening at The Style Show in Eaton, Norwich. The Style Show is a a boutique where you can shop but it’s not just your regular clothes store! The lovely team in store are qualified stylists and can really give you some incredible, styling recommendations and advice!

That’s not all! They are also available to book in for full colour and shape analysis which you can do privately, off the shop floor. Chrissie the owner did a mini session on the evening to give us a taster of the kind of info that they share and how it works and what is involved in determining what suits you best.

With the colour analysis, I particularly love that the team will not say to you “you can’t wear ***”, if you really want to wear a colour that isn’t on your palette, they will advise you how to style it and make it work for you! Working in beauty, I see a lot of ladies who are told they can’t wear a certain colour and it almost puts them in a box which they are afraid to deviate from but Chrissie and the team won’t do that.

For example, I am ‘light/cool with a touch bit of bright’ so neutrals like camels and beiges are not on my palette, however I have a beige blazer which was my mums and is vintage Cerruti and to make it work they advised colour blocking with a black top to break away from the camel and add a statement lip which is from my palette to lift it and it works!

With the shape analysis they really teach you how to make clothes work with your shape and discuss length, cut, style, accessorizing, how to accentuate and minimize too, its extremely fascinating!

 

Clothing wise in the boutique they have some lovely items, age range they say would be 30+ but for any of my younger readers (and even me too as at 31 still trying to dress like I’m 21) if the clothes aren’t your style the specialist and detailed advice will cater for everyone who wants to take their fashion knowledge and ability to enhance their own personal style. I would highly recommend a visit. I know it’s certainly made me think very differently and look at things in a new way! It’s so so interesting!!

Thanks so much to the team for inviting me, educating me, opening my eyes and for the lovely goody bag too!!

Head over to their instagram here and check it out and give them a follow!

Thanks for reading all!

 

I’m back! Hx

Travel

10 things about Secrets The Vine that you won’t know until you get there

  1. They are super environmentally aware, they encourage people to not use straws but the straws which they do have are biodegradable. They also advise people on the impact of washing their bed linen and towels daily and encourage not to do this.
  2. Every single restaurant has a full vegan menu! 
  3. All of their toiletries and cruelty free and have the leaping bunny logo 
  4. When you order room service for 2 during normal hours (i.e not late night dining) they bring your food up on a table which you can sit at! There’s also the option to have breakfast in your room and the same goes for this so you can eat on the balcony! I saw load of photos of people eating on their balcony on instagram and we had a junior suite so I thought we should have all bells and whistles and this is what I was seeing! 
  5. I read quite a few posts enquiring on whether to tip in pesos or USD and we asked our butler, they 100% do not mind what you tip in, we had both, anyway point 5- there is no pressure or obligation to tip in this hotel the staff will still give you amazing service either way! They are so incredible we wanted to tip but don’t feel pressure! 
  6. If you aren’t one to read through things there is a pillow menu, however the pillow on the bed is amazing either way! 
  7. The gym provides earphones if you forget yours, there is yoga daily in the morning, a super mini spin studio in the gym and the equipment in there is pretty up to date! 
  8. The hotel is only 6 years old so everything is quite brand spanking new as far as the lifespan of a hotel goes.
  9. All of the a la carte restaurants are first come first serve so no need to worry about booking, they have a beeper system if you have to wait. You can eat at them all as many times as you want! The sushi is absolutely incredible and I had 3 fillet steaks that week at the grill! Tacos daily on the lunch buffet and the guac is NOT extra and it comes by the barrel! The food is incredible here! 
  10. There is USB connections in the rooms for charging so do not fret if you forget you plug adapters! 
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Top Tips for Travelling from Gatwick Airport- South Terminal

Going to the airport can feel like a real chore sometimes, get up at an ungodly hour, sit in the car for ages and then spend a few hours in a crowded airport feeling restless to reach your destination! I hear you! That’s how I usually feel too but this time round I made sure that was not the case and my unwinding and relaxing started the second we arrived on the airport tarmac and I want to share my top tips with you guys too!

Before your trip download yourself the Gatwick airport app, it’s free to download and has so many handy features from where to eat and shop, live flight updates and reminders like on the day when its time to head to the gate so you don’t have to keep checking the boards, it has exclusive offers to take advantage of in and before the airport and links to book other airport services too!

I’m a bit of an obsessive planner as I hate stress and things not going right so I’m always one for being super organized when going away. I booked my parking way in advance and even got a discount code too. There’s often codes in the Gatwick app for parking discounts, allowing you to get the best parking for the best price! Of course we went for valet parking so all you have to do is drive in, drop off your car and jobs a good ‘un! It literally could not have been any more simple! Leaving the car for valet parking for 8 days and an add on of premium security only cost £62 with our discount code which I think was amazing value, so, top tip one- book in advance and look for discounts before booking anything- do your research! Ease and luxury does not need to break the bank when you’ve already shelled out for a holiday and if you are like me will be watching the pennies!

As I previously mentioned we added premium security as an add on in advance, for £5 per person we do this every time we travel anywhere, you can book this beforehand or do it on the day at the airport though if you just are not sure, you get more private and separate fast track lanes with little to no queue, it is much more swift and slick than normal security! An absolute must for the impatient and easily restless! There is also the option to do this for fast track passport control on the way home too so you can make an efficient airport experience go full circle. This too can be booked on the app and often has an offer active!

So once you’re through security what’s next? For some people its grabbing those Duty Free bargains, this airport has some lovely shops and shopping options with all the usual airport classics, Boots, Dune, Superdry and even a mini Harrods, but more me it’s getting a bite to eat and something to drink! There’s some kind of time/space continuum in the airport when you feel like you have no boundaries and anything goes regardless of time, all those travelers from over the world, it’s deffo 5 o’clock on someones watch! 6am, glass of wine? Totally acceptable.

You have your choice of eateries and watering holes here in the South Terminal, I had to narrow it down to a top 3 out of Nandos (they do a brekkie in the Airport alternate universe and it sounds awesome), Caviar House and Prunier (oysters and champagne are always a good idea) but I opted for pic number 1 – Grain Store. They have a really big and varied breakfast menu with so many options which spoke to my nutritionally conscious, gym bunny soul that I’m leaving on British soil so we decided to give it a go! NB- For all those ‘Spoons fans, the Wetherspoons app for table service works in the airport too so no queuing!

The service was amazing and the decor is lovely! It doesn’t feel like you’re in an airport with the rustic decor and low lighting! Add 2 Bloody Mary’s to the mix and we were feeling positively relaxed! (Just to add this was 44 minutes after pulling in to the car park! That’s how speedy a morning it was)

To eat I went for mushrooms on toast with poached eggs and J had the full english with added chorizo, the food came out really, really fast and was nicely presented and very tasty! I would recommend for a great spot to eat!

With all of our express services in tow and a 3 hour check in requirement we had quite a lot of time to kill so it was my good girlfriend to find my travel buddy and trusty chauffeur a good spot to rest his eyes so I went a did a little exploring or the airport lounges. I’d not used them before as I’m not usually traveling long haul but there are several different lounge options available for a charge and they a like a little piece of cosmopolitan luxury behind the scenes of the airport hustle and bustle. We looked at the No1 lounge and Clubrooms which has a couple of different options of £40 and £50 (less in advance online) and you get drinks, a beautiful setting, food and more, as we had already eaten this seemed like a waste on this occasion but the decor was extremely tasteful like boutique hotel bar and the Clubrooms brunch sounded lovely so this will be on our to do list for next time. Check out more info here

Instead we went to the My Lounge which was in a different area and had a little of a more relaxed vibe, with its scans-hygge style, it was cheaper which mades sense as we were using mainly for relaxing as we had full tummies and had a big empty squishy sofa with Jamie’s name on it. This one was £30 and you get to help yourself to a lovely breakfast buffet and bar, full equipped with the necessaries for Bloody Marys and Aperol Spritz’ in addition to all the classics from wine by the glass, draught beer and premium spirits to serve yourself with. I settled in with a cocktail and browsed the complimentary copy of Grazia and waited for my Gatwick app to tell me when it’s time to head to the gate!

Overall this was the most stress free airport experience I have ever had, easy parking, amazingly efficient service from the baggage check in with BA, speedy and security with a smile, a delicious meal, a morning washed in vodka and finished in the luxury of a premium lounge. If you have a holiday booked and you are traveling from Gatwick I hope some of these top tips help make you special experience start earlier and even more memorable.

Thanks for reading, safe travels and happy holidays, H x