Ah, meetings. Inevitably I get invited to quite a few, but when an invitation pops into my inbox to come to a meeting AT A GORGEOUS HOTEL AND SPA? Well, naturally, I’m all over it. So this is how I came to be enjoying the gorgeous spa at Pennyhill Park in Surrey. The lovely chaps at Kissimmee, Florida, invited me and a few fellow travel folks to The Spa to hear more about the area and meet with some of the representatives from the area.
Naples was the last stop on our Alternative Florida tour of the beautiful south western coast of Florida with Virgin Holidays. After pretty Sarasota, and the heavenly beaches of Fort Myers, it was time to head even further south to Naples. Here, we stayed in my favourite hotel, La Playa, an idyllic retreat right on the beach, and explored the coastline by boat.
Yesterday was a nightmare. After waiting up until midnight to pick Charlie up from a party (aren’t I a nice mama?), we were then up at the crack of dawn to get Mr English back to Heathrow to go back on duty after his week off. Then there was a van fire on the M25 so we were stuck in traffic for two hours, nearly missing the flight, and THEN on the way back I realised that not only was I dangerously low on petrol after all that hanging around, but I’d also forgotten my handbag. ARGH.
As you might have read, back in April, Mr E and I were lucky enough to visit Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s deliciously decadent hotel in Oxfordshire. I’ve also visited before and been lucky enough to be shown around the gorgeous gardens, too. If you watched Kew on a Plate you’ll know that Raymond Blanc is really keen on gardening and cooking with his own produce. It obviously runs in the family, because his son, Olivier, along with Charlotte Salt, has created a lovely little character, Henri le Worm to show children where food actually comes from and encourage them to learn more about nature and the important role it plays in our food.
Ahhh, Dads. They’re legends aren’t they? My own Disreputable Dad has been there for me through thick and thin, dispensing cash and wisdom at various stressful points in my life, and making me laugh through most of the other bits. I definitely inherited my love of travel from my Dad. I also learned quite a lot of what NOT to do from him too. Here are my top travel hacks, inspired by the ol’ fella.
I was sent this recipe recently by Bacofoil, who have teamed up with Dean Edwards to create a series of really nice, easy family recipes. And although I don’t generally share things like this, I actually think this is a really great dish. It’s super healthy, nice and easy to do and I love the idea of mixing the sweet and spicy flavours together with something like couscous that can be a bit bland if you’re not careful.
Firstly, can I just say that the apostrophe issue with Father’s/Fathers/Fathers’ Day and Mother’s/Mothers/Mothers’ Day really niggles my inner pedant. Apparently the OFFICIAL term is Father’s Day, as the original meaning of the two days was to celebrate your own parent rather than parents in general. But… bah. Anyway… I’ve got some lovely ideas for your favourite dad this year, so whether he be chocoholic, alcoholic or shopaholic, I’ve found the perfect pressie!
I think really good basics should be the foundation of everyone’s wardrobe. A well-fitting tee is just so effortless. I love the hush summer sheer crew tee. They’re so soft and drapey (that’s a word, right?) and look fabulous on (I’m about a size 12 and go for the s/m size). The silver is such a lovely colour and seems to go with everything. A great basic (£35):
If you’ve been following my Alternative Florida series, you’ll know that I spent a few days in the gorgeous south western coast of Florida, exploring with the lovely lot from Virgin Holidays. Waving goodbye to beautiful Sarasota, we jumped in our bus and headed down the coast towards Fort Myers. Here, we stayed at the Virgin Holidays 4V rated Pink Shell Resort, walked in the footsteps of Edison and Ford, and even went shelling!
I’m still mad about everything blue this summer. If you base your wardrobe around one colour when packing for holiday, it makes everything so easy! Here’s a little roundup of all the beautiful summer blues I’ve been adding to my wishlist recently.
So as I mentioned recently, I’ve just spent several days with the gang from Virgin Holidays discovering the sunny south western coast of Florida. Our first stop after landing in Orlando was Sarasota. Sarasota County is a gorgeous destination on Florida’s laid back Gulf Coast. We stayed at two hotels here, the Virgin Holidays 5V rated Resort at Longboat Key and the 3V Sandcastle Resort (an old favourite of mine).
Every time I go abroad, I come back with a little ‘holiday baby’ - a couple of extra pounds due to all those yummy dinners and cocktails. I find it quite hard to eat healthily and I never know whether a couple of dog walks a day is enough exercise, so when Kiqplan asked me if I’d like to review their digital training coach app, which promises to change the way you look and feel in 12 weeks, I jumped at the chance. Here’s how I got on.
I love, love, love travelling, and I’m so lucky that my job involves visiting all sorts of wonderful places and eating all sorts of amazing food. If there’s one drawback (there has to be one, right?) it’s that I tend to put on a little ‘food baby’ every time I go. There’s so much scrummy food, it’s find it impossible to resist. So when I’m at home, I try and cook delicious food that cuts down on the ol’ carbs and focuses on colourful, healthy, tasty ingredients. This ratatouille with spiced, roasted chicken is a good start!
We’ve been having a little try of a very clever new toothbrush. The Nano-b toothbrush is very different to ordinary toothbrushes, and we’re all quite addicted to the lovely feeling they give you after brushing.
So last week I spent a gorgeous few days with the gang from Virgin Holidays discovering the sunny south western coast of Florida. Plenty of people fly into Orlando for fun and frolics at Disney and Universal theme parks, but we went further afield and discovered wonderful resorts, stunning white sand beaches, some great fun activities and food, food, food! Look out for my Alternative Florida series over the next few weeks. First, though, we headed to Gatwick Airport and spent some time in Virgin Holidays’ v-room - their private lounge with brilliant facilities - for a stylish start to our holiday!
This weekend we were really lucky to be invited to Disneyland Paris for the opening of the brand new Frozen themed Summer celebration, Frozen Summer Fun and to see one of the very first performances of the new Frozen sing-along show in Frontierland. From today until 13th September, guests at Disneyland can experience lots of new Frozen-themed fun, with characters from Frozen appearing all over the place!
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