Sometimes the best way to break up the working week is to step away from the desk, head into town and spend an hour somewhere local.
Rachel and Hana from our Holt team recently did exactly that, popping along to our friends at Eric's Pizza after being invited to try their new Express Lunch menu. Found on Fish Hill in the heart of Holt, Eric's is one of those places which feels very much at home in the town: independent, full of character and surrounded by many of the local businesses that make Holt such a lovely place to spend a few hours.
The pair had a great time catching up over a Black Truffle Chicken pizza and a Vesuvio, and the new Express Lunch proved a very good excuse to swap the office for a table at Eric's for an hour.
And if Tuesday happens to be your day for a midweek treat, there is another reason to visit, with two pizzas available for £20.
For us, supporting businesses like Eric's is an important part of being part of the community. Our offices might deal in homes, but what makes somewhere a wonderful place to live stretches far beyond four walls. It is the coffee shop you call into on a Saturday morning, the pub where you meet friends, the independent shop where you always find something unexpected and, occasionally, the promise of pizza at lunchtime.
Make a little more of your midweek
North Norfolk certainly doesn't need to wait for the weekend. A quieter Tuesday or Wednesday can be one of the nicest times to explore our towns and villages, whether that means lunch somewhere you haven't tried before, a wander around the independent shops or simply taking the slightly longer route home.
We're lucky to have an enormous number of brilliant independent businesses across North Norfolk and, in classic BBC fashion, other excellent local businesses are of course available. But we couldn't possibly include everyone, so we've picked out a handful of friends and favourites that have also appeared in the pages of our at home magazine.
At The Ship in Brancaster, good food and Norfolk produce meet a relaxed coastal pub atmosphere. It's already a favourite with our Burnham Market team and recently featured in at home.
Over in Blakeney, Havn is another one for the food list. Its seasonal offering puts freshly landed seafood firmly on the menu, alongside sharing plates and low-intervention wines. It was among the new Norfolk openings highlighted in the latest magazine too.
A little further east, The Gunton Arms at Thorpe Market combines food, art and its extraordinary deer park setting. The autumn issue picked it out particularly for its seasonal game, much of it sourced from the surrounding estate.
And a day in North Norfolk doesn't have to revolve entirely around food, although we're quite happy when it does. Back in Holt, Norfolk Natural Living is well worth a browse. Its fragrance, wellbeing and home collections have become a familiar local name, and founder Bella Middleton also features in our latest at home magazine.
Supporting the places around us
One of the things we love most about working across Norfolk is getting to know the people behind its independent businesses.
They help give each town and village its own identity. They are part of the reason people fall for places like Holt, Blakeney and Brancaster in the first place, and part of what makes living here feel special long after moving day.
So, if the week is feeling a little too desk-shaped, consider this your invitation to reclaim a lunchtime, explore somewhere nearby and support a local business while you're there.
As for Rachel and Hana? We suspect this won't be their last lunchtime trip to Eric's.