Geeky posters

I've posted before about how I'm on the lookout for cool prints and posters for my new house (can I call it new anymore? Probably not!) but I haven't really got much further, other than adding more and more to my pinterest board.

But the new year always brings a nice bit of new motivation, so I'm determined to put some of my decorating plans in action, and I reckon I'll start by buying this Luke Skywalker print - it's AMAZING. It also opened my eyes up to the huge world of geeky posters out there - I'm a huge sci fi/fantasy fan & love love love all of these! 

Top row

Star Wars - Luke Skywalker 

Star Wars - R2D2 minimalist poster 

Game of Thrones - The Night's Watch Oath 

Lost - Textbook

Middle row

Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back 

Star Trek - Enterprise

Jurassic Park - Isla Nublar map 

Harry Potter - Wizarding subway sign

Bottom row

Lord of the Rings - The Hobbit

The Princess Bride - Vintage movie poster

Legend of Zelda - Kokiri Forest

Star Wars - Obi-Wan Kenobi

All posters are from etsy, which is an absolute treasure trove of unique & handmade items (as well as some horrors, ha ha!). I know I've gone a bit Star Wars heavy in this wishlist, but come on, it's Star Wars. A totally valid homeware choice. 

How to: make a pavlova

I know it's January & everyone is trying to be super healthy, but I couldn't resist sharing this recipe (it's worth breaking your resolutions for!).

I made a pavlova for the first time at Christmas & was quite nervous about it - I know how tricky meringues can be! But my mum gave me the recipe she's been using for years & it was so quick (& easy!) that I made it again two weeks later when my lovely pals came round for tea. I think it might even become my new pudding-of-choice for dinner parties!

You can put basically anything on top, but I think it tastes best with loads of berries. Here's what you need:

• 4 egg whites
• 225g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 level tsps cornflour
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/2 pint of double cream
• fruit to go on top

First, start by heating your oven to 150 degrees (C) & measure out the sugar into a bowl.

Then seperate the eggs and whisk the egg whites in a large clean bowl. Egg whites can be very temperamental  so it's important that the bowl is spotless & no yolk has snuck in. 

 

Keep whisking until the egg whites are stiff and standing in peaks (see photo above) - as soon as they look like this stop mixing (otherwise you risk over-mixing, and having the egg whites collapse in on themselves).

Now start to slowly add the sugar and whisk until it's all mixed in, and then add in the vanilla, cornflour and vinegar. 

Once all of your ingredients are stirred in, start to spoon the meringue onto a dish. To make things easy I used a round oven dish  which was also going to double up as the serving dish (you can bake it on a piece of non-stick baking paper, but it's a faff to get off!). 

This is a really fun bit - spread the meringue all over your dish and pile it up around the edge to form a case. Pop in the oven for 60 minutes (and DO NOT open the oven door during this time).

Once it's finished prop open the oven door slightly, and allow the pavlova to cool for at least an hour without taking it out of the oven. This will help prevent the pavlova cracking in cold air, which makes for a very impressive pudding (it'll crack a little bit, but that's okay!).

When it's cool whip your cream, pile on fruit (I used strawberries, brambles and raspberries which were delicious) and enjoy!

December instagram

Even though we're only on day four of January living, it feels quite strange looking back on the excesses of December! As with everyone else, I am back at work, choked up with a cold & struggling trying to get my body out of holiday-mode and back on a normal sleep pattern! Still, December is one of my very, very favourite months, so I'll forgive it.

Here's what mine looked like...

Instagram username: @eversojuliet

1. And the December diet begins! We were in London for the first weekend of the month to celebrate Craig's exam being over, party for his birthday AND see my wonderful pal Steph (phew!) and I tried my first Krispy Kreme at the airport. I am generally a fan of doughnuts, but was pleased to see that they lived up to the hype.

2. When I was waiting on Craig to finish his exam I went for a wander round London & found the nicest little  Japanese takeaway, itsu. Super tasty.

3. Back in Edinburgh & out for dinner to celebrate Craig's birthday. I normally don't get pudding in restaurants, but strange things happen in December. This was sticky toffee pudding & it was delightful!

4. It was Craig's birthday! Happy birthday darling!

5. This is where I work - a very old building in a lovely courtyard in Edinburgh. We share the building with a book publisher who had a Christmas tree with very sparkly lights in their window, which made walking into work on freezing cold mornings that little bit nicer.

6. My new necklace by my very talented pal Lucy, who also designed my blog header.

7. Riley being adorable. He has been loving the holidays as it means he's been allowed out to play everyday (he's only allowed out when it's light, so usually just gets out at the weekend).

8. Presents! These days my favourite part of Christmas is getting gifts for my pals & family & wrapping it up all fancy! This year I used paper from Paperchase, candy canes & tiny baubles tied to each present.

9. Muzz, Amy & I at my work's Christmas lunch. Each year I organise the Secret Santa (with military-like gusto, ha) which gives me a good excuse to charge around with a santa hat on all day! We went to Spoon, which is one of my favourite restaurants in Edinburgh - I highly recommend it! 

10. I got Craig a LEGO Lord of the Rings set for Christmas (because come on, you are never too old for lego!) and it was SO much fun putting it together.

11. Trying out my new Mirrorball polishes from Models Own (which you can see in action in yesterday's outfit post). Photos don't do them justice, they are so sparkly!

12. Planning out adventures on New Year's eve with a scratch travel map that my dad kindly gave us. I thought I was quite well travelled but was appalled with how little of the map I got to actually scratch off! So here's to more travelling... starting with a long weekend to Athens THIS MONTH (eeeeek), thanks to Craig surprising me with a trip for my birthday. What a super star!

My new year's resolutions are going quite well so far & I am keeping instagram updated with pictures of paintings in progress, so feel free to add me if you'd like to stay in the loop.

Outfit: Very lazy days

I am a huge fan of hibernating over winter. As soon as my Christmas holidays start I like nothing more than zooming home, putting on my comfiest outfit & watching endless movies with lots of popcorn!

So I'd thought I'd share my current favourite cosy outfit (although it's worth pointing out that I only brushed my hair because we are actually - shock horror - leaving the house today... on proper hibernation days I scruff it up to the maximum!).

Cardigan - Joe Browns*
Dress - H&M
Leggings - Joe Browns*
Slippers - Primark

Joe Browns very kindly offered me to pick some things from their site, and I was immediately drawn to THE cosiest looking cardigan in the world (plus some leggings too, for super slouchy days). I cannot stress enough how warm and lovely it is - I have basically been carrying it around like a blanket as it's so soft and nice! It's also a surprisingly good length too, and looks really cute when teamed up with a skater style dress.

Necklace - Hannah Zakari

This locket is one of my birthday presents from Craig (I am a very lucky girl) & I am in love with it! It's a gold bird on a starry sky & is exactly my cup of tea - the boy did good! 

Polishes - Models Own (p.s. promise I actually have ten fingers).

I also got a set of the Models Own Mirrorball polishes for Christmas (thank you thank you thank you) which look amazing painted over a black base coat. I couldn't decide which colour to go for so I now have a different shade on each finger (of which I do have ten, sorry for the odd photo!).

And for maximum laziness, I've got these ridiculous but super cute slippers that I got in my secret santa at work. As I'm about to go out into the real world, I'll just swap these for socks & boots & I've still got a perfectly good outfit to slouch around the cinema. Perrrrfect!

Hello 2013!

So it's 2013! I hope you all had a really good Hogmanay & aren't feeling too blurry-headed this morning (this post is scheduled, so chances are I am still asleep when this goes live!).

I love New Year Resolutions. I know they aren't for everyone (I asked Craig what his would be, and his response was "snowboarding... but I do that already" & "running... but I do that already" etc), but I really love setting myself a goal and using the new year for motivation. Last year I decided to learn how to cook & it went really well. I went from only knowing how to use a George Foreman grill to making a proper Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, and am a much more confident cook!

This year I want to be more creative. So I am promising myself that I will work on my novel regularly & start to draw again.

I've posted about writing a few times already - my biggest challenge is keeping going, not getting frustrated when it gets hard & taking criticism well!

Drawing is a little different - I used to draw ALL the time (I've  blogged about this before) but it must have been over a year since I last picked up a pencil. So I rooted around in boxes that haven't quite been unpacked yet, & found a motley bunch of supplies... broken bits of charcoal I've had for over ten years (!), blunt colouring pencils & a couple of tiny sketch pads.

I'm definitely super rusty, but I drew a rough self-portrait (based on the photos from #tachebooth) & it was really fun! I've ordered some pencils and brushes, and am keen to get started properly and get some practice.

I'd love to do a series of portraits of my favourite bloggers, but I'm not there yet... still, it's a nice goal to work towards!

I'm going to sum this up with one of my favourite Neil Gaiman quotes:

I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind. 

 Happy new year all x