January instagram

January has felt like the LONGEST month ever! Here's what I got up to:

Instagram username: @eversojuliet

1. Eating healthy after all the excesses of Christmas! This is a salad box from the Veggie Baked Potato Shop on Cockburn Street. If you are ever in Edinburgh & looking for lunch, this is well worth a visit!

2. Clique clique clique. Look how tiny Riley looks!

3. I had a brilliant long catch up lunch with my mum at Urban Angel. They believe in only using seasonal, fresh and sustainable food, and it's always super tasty.

4. I went to see Pitch Perfect at the cinema, not really expecting much from it & ended up LOVING it. I've been listening to the soundtrack on repeat & ending up seeing it again (I have a cineworld card, which means  I can see unlimited movies each month!). So good!

5. My nail polish storage has already doubled in size (couldn't resist getting a second one), which means I can organise each row by colour & I have loads of space for new polishes.

6.  Krispy Kreme are opening in Edinburgh on February 13th so they have been popping up around town giving out free doughnuts. We got a few boxes for the office & were in sugar highs all day.

7. Best Monday ever - we had a puppy in work for the morning! This is Elsie, a gorgeous wee whippet pup who was waiting to be collected by her new owners. There is nothing better than puppy cuddles to start the week.

8. We finally got snow! This is my little garden looking all pretty & white. We've put loads of food out for the birds (you've got to think about them when it gets all frosty!) so there's been loads of robins, blue tits, blackbirds & more hanging out in the garden.

9. I was invited to the launch of Benefit's newest blush & lip product, Fine One One & this is it on my face - I really like it! I've been using it almost every day since I got it & am a big fan, it takes just two minutes to make a nice rosy glow.

10. The newest love of my life arrived - a satchel from the Leather Satchel Co. I will be blogging about this in more detail very soon...

11. Riley is a little radge! He was snoozing next to me on the sofa then decided he wanted to play, so lay on his back with his paws in the air. Look at those little teeth!

12. The Lion King is coming to the Edinburgh Playhouse this year & I got to go to the launch. It was really interesting - we heard all about the history of turning the film into a stage production, with detailed looks at the set design, costumes, songs & dancers. I saw the Lion King on Broadway a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it, so will definitely be getting tickets for this. They're on sale now & it'll be at the Playhouse for 14 weeks from October 2013.

Book love

Each month I chat about what books I've been reading in my monthly Book Love feature.

World War Z - Max Brooks
This feels a little like cheating as I first read WWZ a few years ago, but I thought a reread was in order before the movie comes out this year! (Fun fact - part of it was filmed in Scotland AND my best pal worked on it). I really love this book - it's written as a series of reports by survivors of the zombie war and parts are seriously scary! It also made me realise just how hopeless I'd be in a zombie apocalypse...

The Children of Men - P. D. James
Oh, I loved this book! Children of Men is set in the near-future, at a time when infertility has swept the human race, leaving an aging population to struggle in a childless world. I saw the film & assumed the book would have an identical plot, but no! It's a very clever book, and quite disturbing in places. I absolutely raced through it. Definitely recommended!

Contact - Carl Sagan
I knew that Carl Sagan was an eloquent fellow (have you seen this? Love love love it), but I hadn't expected him to be such a good fiction writer. This is a pretty good sci fi novel, but I did find that every now and again the science got pretty intense & a bit difficult to read (meaning I had to battle to power through the technical theory parts, without giving in and skimming over those pages!).

The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
After the intense astrophysics chat in Contact I fancied something a bit lighter & went for this sugary book by The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks. I don't normally read chick-lit as I find it all a bit cringey, but this was an easy, sweet novel. Good if you're looking for something simple to get lost in.

The Percy Jackson Collection - Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief | The Sea of Monsters | The Titan's Curse | The Battle of the Labyrinth | The Last Olympian

I've mentioned a few times before that I'm reading quite a lot of young adult fiction these days to help inspire my writing, and I'd fancied Rick Riordan's books for a while. I wasn't prepared for how much I would LOVE them though, or how fast I'd speed through them! They are based on Greek mythology and are wonderfully epic and lovely and funny and sweet. Hand them to the closest 12 year old you know & insist they read them (or if you are a child like me, get on it!).

January sponsors!

Here's a little round up of the lovely folk who have been sponsoring Ever So Juliet this month! If you are looking for a new read or a nice place to shop, then this should hopefully provide some inspiration....

What Peggy Said

I love Kim's blog so much - it's almost a perfect mix of everything I like to read about (just a wee side-note  Kim is the blogger & Peggy is her gorgeous pup!). What Peggy Said is full of DIYs, colourful photos & super cute outfits. Kim also offers custom illustrations on her etsy shop.

www.whatpeggysaid.com

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

Freya in Space!
Something a little bit different - I work with Freya, and she is DESPERATE to win the Lynx competition to get a trip to space (so much so, she got our work designer to make a fancy flashing advert for her!). So if you'd like to vote for her, you can do so here...

www.freyatheastronaut.com

If you would like to sponsor Ever So Juliet then you can do so here! This site reaches 10,000 unique users per month (which is very exciting!), so it's an ace & very affordable way to show off what you do. 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 please feel free to send me an email (thisisjuliet @ gmail.com) or comment below if you fancy it. Thanks!

How to: make a rolo chocolate brownie cake

Let's talk Valentine's Day. I fall very firmly into the do-something-nice or make-something-yourself camp of Valentine's day presents - it's a day for celebrating love, not celebrating presents after all!

So I reckon it's the perfect excuse to bake something nice. Here's the key to any chocolate lover's heart - how to make a ridiculously decadent rolo chocolate brownie cake! The valentines day recipe is from Baking Mad.

You'll need the following ingredients:

• 125g self raising flour
• 60g cocoa powder
• 185g butter
• 225g dark muscovado sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 100ml milk
• 3 packets of rolos (roughly 150g)
• 50g dark chocolate chips
• 50g white chocolate chips

& to start, heat your oven to 180 degrees (C). 

As this is a valentine's treat, I made the cake in a heart shaped pan (mine is from Ikea, but there's loads on amazon too). Grease the pan with butter (this means it'll come out smoothly and not stick to the sides).

Measure out the flour, cocoa powder & butter into a bowl and mix together until it forms a bread crumb consistency (I used a food processor, but you can mix it together with your fingers). Then stir in the sugar (mine looked a bit clumpy at this point, but that's okay!).

In another bowl beat the eggs and milk together, then add this into the dry mixture. Stir all together until you have a smoothish batter).

Pour the brownie mixture into the tin, smooth it over so it's pretty even (try not to splatter it everywhere like I did!) and add the rolos on top. Bake for 30 minutes (keep the oven closed while it's baking), then check to see if it's firm in the centre. If it's not, pop it back in for another ten minutes and check again.

When it's out, leave it to cool for a while, so you can take it out of the cake pan without burning yourself / the cake falling apart!

Then melt your chocolate chips (either in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water) and drizzle this across the cake.

I went a bit mental when drizzling - a less is more approach may have been a bit classier! But I challenge you to try and control yourself with gooey chocolate - it's so much fun!

I surprised Craig with this (his eyes lit up when he saw it), and we both were so pleased with how good it was! The sponge is super moist & chocolatey, the little caramel splodges of melted rolo are brilliant & it's just so good! Yum. There's also more valentines day baking recipes here if you fancy giving it a go.

Outfit: One dress - three styles

I've been meaning to do an outfit post like this for a little while. Partly because I love reading them on other blogs, but mainly because despite all the MILLIONS of dresses in my wardrobe, I tend to wear the same ones over and over and over and over again (I really need to do a clear out!). So here's how I wear my very favourite dress - a black skater-style number from H&M.

Look 1: Night out

Dress - H&M
Shrug - From New Zealand (can't remember the shop name, sorry!)
Necklace - Hannah Zakari
Shoes - Buffalo glitter flats*

My idea of a night out is a bit more grown up than when I was a daft student - so it's normally dinner, the theatre, work parties or the pub with pals. I've never been a glitzy dress & heels gal, I'm pretty scruffy in most walks on life, so this is my take on dressing up. I think the shoes add a welcome bit of sparkle though!

Look 2: Work wear

Dress - H&M
Cardigan - New Look
Belt - New Look 
Necklace - Hannah Zakari
Boots - Dr Martens*

I work at an events magazine, so there's no strict dress code in my office (thankfully! I couldn't imagine working in proper business dress...). This is a pretty typical outfit for me - a dress, cardigan & stompy boots (my favourite boots ever!).

If I don't have time in the morning to style my hair properly, I normally stick it up in a big bun (you can use a hair doughnut to make a top knot if your hair isn't quite thick enough).

Look 3: Lunch with mum

Dress - H&M
Shirt - H&M
Belt - New Look
Shoes - Primark

This is my take on smart/casual - I'm not very good at being smart! I'm wearing a super cute sheer polka dot shirt, which I've tucked into a leopard print belt. It's really comfy, but makes me feel like I'm making at least a little bit of an effort - so perfect for going out for lunch with my mum.

I've just tied my hair in a very loose plait, which is another super speedy style to do. I also like that it shows off the blonde stripe in my hair!

For fun, I thought I'd also share this sketch I made when planning the post! I couldn't get my hands on a Frankie diary, but I reckon I've got the next best thing - the Little Otsu annual planner by the very talented Lizzy Stewart. It's full of Lizzy's illustrations (which I feel a bit guilty for doodling all over), but is proving perfect as a work AND blog planner!

This has been my first time taking outfit photos with a remote & tripod - hence the slightly awkward poses (I am still learning!), so thanks for bearing with me!

p.s. If you liked this sort of post then head over to Bee Waits - Claire is taking part in "One Month One Dress" to raise money for charity - awesome!