One year!

Doesn't time fly by? One year ago today I thought "oh why not" and wrote my very first blog post on Ever So Juliet. Happy blog birthday to me!

I took this photo at my desk, with a hastily scribbled post-it and a bit of clip art. I feel so professional.

I'd been thinking about blogging (and reading loads of them) for years, so I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to get started. I guess it's easy to view the blogging world as big and scary and judgemental - and then it's even easier to get disheartened when absolutely no one reads it!

But once I stopped worrying about what people did or didn't think about me, it all got a lot easier. And fun! I love this little space I've got on the internet - I love that I've got somewhere to show off the cakes I've made, or the daft things I paint on my nails. Even Riley gets a lot of love! I don't fit your typical skinny/stylish/stunning fashion or make up blogger, but I don't really care. I like rambling away in here (and if nothing else, it has finally taught me how to control my mane!).

So hiya to all of my lovely, lovely readers who have appeared along the way (and somehow there's now over 2,000 of you a month? Crazy. Hello!). Hi to the bloggers who are inspiring, lovely and very funny to read. Here's to another year!

Snickers cheesecake

Mmmmm. Look at this ridiculous thing.

 

You can see a recipe for this totally-over-the-top-and-indulgent Snickers cheesecake over at Aimee's blog (I'm guest-posting while she's on holiday). It's based on the very easy vanilla cheesecake I made a few months ago, but is about a billion times more unhealthy!

Riley

Aw, look at Riley. All chilled and snoozing, and not aware that life as he knows it is about to change. Since he was twelve weeks old Riley's home has been our wee flat, and he's never been allowed outside (although he was born on a farm!). I read up LOADS about keeping cats indoors before we got him, but didn't really have a choice in the matter - we're currently in a first floor flat with no garden, on a very busy street. There was no way I was letting my tiny cat (who had just recovered from cat flu) into the big bad city!

But over the last year or so my guilt levels about keeping him indoors have absolutely ROCKETED. Whenever we have a window open he does his absolute best to climb out onto the window ledge, and will happily sit with his paws over the window just sniffing the air. My poor cat prisoner!

Not for much longer though! I'll need to keep him indoors for a few months once we've moved to make sure he's settled in the new house and knows it is his, but bit by bit he'll start to get outside. Eeek!

I've been reading up on loads of websites (and a hilarious cat magazine) for advice on how to get him used to outdoor life, but secretly I am hoping that he'll be happy enough sunning himself in the garden and not wander too far. I can hope, at least!

The Manna House

As Craig & I are soon to be moving (have I mentioned this enough? ha), we have been trying to make the most of the lovely places in our neighbourhood that will be missed when we are on the other side of town.

One of these is the wonderful Manna House Bakery - a French bakery and patisserie on Easter Road. This is a favourite with many of my Edinburgh pals, and it's not hard to see why.

For our indulgent "bye Manna House" lunch we had....

Mine!

 .. a potato quiche (which was SO good)...

Craig's!

.. a fancy pizza slice (which I assume was also good, it disappeared pretty quickly).

YUM

AND a lemon meringue pie and chocolate mousse/cake thing (I told you it was an indulgent lunch!).

Fingers crossed that another artisan bakery will be just round the corner in my new neighbourhood! If you are in Edinburgh and near Easter Road I'd highly recommend that you pop in and have a look here. It's a tiny café so table space is very limited, but you can always take food away and eat in a sunny park (assuming we actually get summer this year!).

Ombre scallop nails

Models Own - red alert, 17 - pink grapefruit, Models Own - pastel pink, Crayola - white nail art pen

I wasn't sure what to call this post - they aren't quite ombre nails and the pattern definitely isn't a clear scalloped edge, but they fall somewhere in between!

I painted this freehand (in a similar way to these stripey nails from last summer) by starting with the lightest colour, and then adding the darker layers in a sort of zig-zaggy shape. Fun.