Bye 2012!

I can't quite believe that is 2012 over - it doesn't feel like a whole year has passed since I wrote this post! In the last year so much has happened... I learned how to cook (which was my new year's resolution); we bought a house (!!!) & I love it so much I want to hug it sometimes; we went to the olympics (awesome awesome awesome); and I had loads and loads of fun with my very brilliant friends & family (who are very brilliant indeed).

It was also the year that blogging took over my life. I'm so pleased that I decided to start a blog all those months ago... it's been such a brilliant way to document my life, it's inspired me to try new things & do more DIYs & I've met so many nice people & had awesome opportunities because of it! If you are swithering over starting one yourself, I highly, highly recommend it - you won't look back!

To round up my year, I thought it would be fun to look back at my most popular posts from each month. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who reads this blog... I really appreciate it so much! 

January - How to: make a vegetable pie

February - Valentines cupcakes

March - Topshop make up

April - Home owners

May - How to: rolled hair updo

June - Pixar 'Brave' nail art

July - How to: do the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

August - A trip to the Olympics

September - How to: apply liquid eyeliner

October - Halloween how to: zombie make up

November - Christmas shopping: gifts for gals

December - Synaesthesia at Lush Spa, Edinburgh

For Hogmanay Craig & I are going to be super lazy and stay in, but it's pretty much my perfect evening. We'll have good food, good wine, champagne & a mega pop playlist. Perfect! 

Have a lovely New Year whatever you do, and I'll speak to you in 2013.

December sponsors!

Time to take a look at the lovely people who have been sponsoring Ever So Juliet this month! If you are looking for a new read or nice place to shop, then this should hopefully provide some inspiration....

Kel Loves...

Kel is a lifestyle blogger that ticks all of my boxes - baking, beauty, books & shopping (plus check out her awesome yellow duffel coat - I have jacket envy!). 

www.kelloves.blogspot.co.uk

Studio 336

Studio 336 is a blog with a passion for supporting handmade goods, sharing DIY ideas, a little everyday life, and the inner workings of the maker's mind.

www.studio336.com

Jess Buckley

I blogged about Jess a couple of days ago - she's a graphic designer who blogs about a little bit of everything, giving you a glimpse into her lovely life.

www.jessbuckley.com

If you would like to sponsor Ever So Juliet then you can do so here! This site currently reaches just under 10,000 unique users per month, who are all very lovely. Adverts start at only $5 (which is £3!) for a month on site & a spot in my monthly sponsor feature. 

I am also always up for a button swap, so just send me an email (thisisjuliet @ gmail.com) or comment below if you fancy it. Thanks!

Book love

Here's the second instalment in my monthly Book Love feature - a wee recap of what I've been reading over the last month. December was pretty busy, so I didn't go through that many books, but I am looking forward to a chilled out January curled up on the sofa with a good read.

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) - Lemony Snicket
I'm reading quite a lot of kids & young adult books at the moment, as I'm working on my second draft of my novel (which is aimed at 12 year olds). I love the narrator in Lemony Snicket, it's so cleverly done. Annoyingly, because I'd seen the film a few years ago I knew exactly what was going to happen, but it's still a really fun read.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman
Hmm. I wasn't expecting much from this book, but found it quite flat & was quite disappointed overall. Oh dear! The book retells the story of Jesus & apparently is quite scandalous, but I just found it boring. Perhaps it's better if you are religious (I'm not at all). Still, Pullman remains in my very favourite authors list because of the absolutely wonderful His Dark Materials trilogy (if you haven't read that yet, get it bought!).

The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
As I'd recently had to drag myself through a couple of books (Good Man Jesus & Tommyknockers) I thought I'd treat myself by re-reading an old favourite. I don't think I can quite sum up how much I love this book. I think it might be my very, very favourite. I love the narrator (so clever and so perfect), I love Sugar (the main character), I love how quickly & utterly you fall into the world they are in, and how tied up you are at the end (I cried at the end... partly because I didn't want to stop reading about her!). It's a pretty gritty read & a little bit sweary (she's a prostitute after all), but I couldn't recommend it more. LOVE!

Nail polish collection

I'm not usually one for showing off Christmas presents, but I couldn't resist blogging about this - Craig got me an ace (and very, very useful) nail polish holder!

Nail varnish display from ebay

It fits my collection pretty perfectly (and gave me a much-needed push to clear out loads of the old clogged up polishes I had been hoarding for far too long). It's so nice to see all of them in one space, and know what colours I have without having to root around in a massive box for ages! 

There's also space underneath to fit another display in (which I think I'll have to do fairly soon, I'm pretty addicted to buying polishes!).

I'm a pretty huge fan of Models Own - they make such a lovely range of colours and they always go on really smoothly, which is important! I've got a few by Barry M - I don't think they are as consistent in terms of quality, but they are really affordable and I love their glitter polishes. I also love 17 - they always seem to be on special offer, or be part of free gift sets which is nice! 

I couldn't resist sorting them by colour either, which means it (sort of) matches my library too! 

Jess Buckley illustration

I feel like I am always tinkering with my blog in one way or another, and my recent mission has been updating my blog pages (the about ever so juliet, how to, blog roll, contact & sponsor links above) to make them a little more interesting. 

For my about me page I really fancied using an illustration (I figure there are enough photos on here of me already!) so I asked Jess to put something together for me and she came up with this! 

I love it! I think my favourite bit is Riley just casually lounging in my hair, how cute!

Jess put together a post on how she came up with the drawing (which you can read here) & you can order a custom illustration here if you fancy.