WAH LONDON NAIL ART KIT

I've been so good in the January sales this year (partly because I hate the shops during the sales, and mainly because I'm skint), but I could not resist the WAH LONDON Ultimate Nail Art Kit from Boots, which currently is on sale for £25 (down from £80). Whaaaaaaaat.

I've been a big fan of WAH Nails for ages. A few years ago, when I was down in London for work, I popped into their Topshop salon for an impromptu visit, which started my love for nail art. Recently they launched a range of polishes and tools, inspired by fashion, street style, art and technology for all of your nail art needs.

I've been really lazy with nail art recently, so it was so much fun to have new nail art pens to play with!

The set contains loads of stuff, and comes in a super shiny, but really nice case.

There's tutorial cards to show you a few different nail art looks (including leopard print), a nail file, buffer, scissors, clean up brush, cuticle pusher, jewel tool, two pots of jewels (gold studs and little sparkly ones), instructions on how to use all of the tools, and four nail art pens (usually £7 each) and eight nail polishes (usually £9 each). Phew!

The polishes include: Biter's Beware, an acid yellowy green shade; Love My Team, a classic red; Mating Surfaces, a vivid lilac colour; Wifey4Lifey, a jelly pink; An Even Bigger Splash, a bluey green; No Nails No Life, a cool pink; I'm Real, a pinky brown nude; and Classy Glassy Glossy Topcoat, a super quick-drying glossy topcoat.

I used Mating Surfaces, Wifey4Lifey and An Even Bigger Splash, and I'm really pleased with how nicely the colours work together.

The nail art pens come in black, white, hot pink and yellow, and are ace - each pen has a double function, so you can either pull the cap off and use the pen nib (perfect for little details), or unscrew the lid to use the thin striper brush (which lets you paint graphic lines).

It's such a good kit, and I can't believe that there's still some left in the sale! If you're interested in nail art, I would hugely recommend this - it's such a bargain!

RECIPES TO TRY

One of my not-quite-a-resolution New Year's Resolutions is to try and do things that will give me more energy... and part of that plan is to cook good food, from scratch, using wholesome and healthy-ish ingredients.

I've been getting better at cooking recently, but I can be a bit wimpy about trying new things, so this year I'm going to change that! I've been pinning food inspiration on pinterest for a while now, and here's a few of my favourites so far. I can't guarantee that my versions will be anywhere near as pretty, but hopefully they'll taste nice!

Top row 

Courgette and lemon spaghetti

Roasted eggplant with spinach, quinoa, and feta

Beetroot and feta tart

Bottom row

Herb roasted chicken and wild rice

Spicy thai noodle soup

Spicy fish tacos

Follow Ever So Juliet's board Cooking on Pinterest.

ROULOTTE RETREAT

Just before Christmas, Joshua & I decided to go on a trip for my birthday. I knew I wanted to find somewhere a bit quirky that wasn't too far from Edinburgh, so I was delighted when I came across Roulotte Retreat - six French roulottes nestled in a wildflower meadow in the Scottish Borders.

The roulottes are spaced out around a tiny loch, surrounded by fields and trees and farmland. The six roulottes are all decorated in different styles - there's Indian, Celtic, Spanish and Himalayan themed caravans so you can pick whatever best fits your mood.

Each roulotte has a woodburning stove (so you'll be super toasty, even in the depths of winter), a mini kitchen with a Baby Belling oven, living space, fancy shower and bathroom, and an original-style roulotte bed.

We booked two nights in Karlotta - a Celtic and Moroccan-influenced caravan, decorated in rich purples, reds and golds, with sari curtains and velvet touches.

Each night the rain poured down, and it was just so nice to feel completely switched off from the real world, reading books, playing cribbage and drinking wine by a toasty fire. During the day there's loads to explore nearby (we were lucky and the sun came out while we went for a wander along the river).

It's only £95 per night to rent a roulotte, and I'd highly, highly recommend it - I had such a relaxing time, and I'd love to go back in the spring when the wildflower meadow isn't quite so wintery and soggy.

BEING HAPPY

I remember this time last year - a whirlwind of stress and excitement and nerves and hope. I had just returned from a much-needed adventure and was attempting to readjust to the real world. My house (that I was living in with my ex) finally sold, giving me only a couple weeks to find a new home in the city. I started a new relationship, and I interviewed for a promotion during one of my busiest month's at work. It was exhausting. 

And twelve months on? I'm sitting in my flat, coffee in hand. The sun is streaming through the windows, and my little windowsill garden (which has just been tidied up and replanted) looks happy. I booked a couple of extra days off this week because it always feels so lovely to have a secret holiday when the rest of the world goes back to work. I've got a pile of new books to read, and the flowers my boyfriend bought for our anniversary are yellow and bright and singing of spring. It's peaceful.

I remember the day I wrote this post. I was scared about life and what was going to happen, but I was determined to hold on, and not give up hope. So when things FINALLY started falling into place at the start of 2014, I was completely drained. Over the last twelve months I've had to learn how to breathe again, to let go of putting on a brave face, and trust my instincts. And it seems to have worked.

So, for 2015 I'd like more of the same please! I'm not going to set myself super specific resolutions, instead I'm going to continue to make choices that make me happy. I want to go on more adventures, I want to be kind to people, I want to get more energy in my life (which I think I can fairly easily solve by eating breakfast in the morning - I am terrible about missing meals). Really I just want to feel happy in the small moments that make up my life - whether that's doing something super exciting, or a day in my pyjamas playing video games.

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, and every now and again he writes a really beautiful New Year's Wish. This is his for 2015, and I think it's pretty perfect.

Be kind to yourself in the year ahead.  

Remember to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. It's too easy to be outraged these days, so much harder to change things, to reach out, to understand. 

Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.  

Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them.    

Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love.

Neil Gaiman - New Year's Wishes 

Happy new year everyone. I hope it's a good one.

DECEMBER INSTAGRAM

Hello! I hope you all had a lovely festive season, and are feeling refreshed and ready to take on the new year. I took a few weeks off blogging to eat, drink and be merry and it was just so much fun. Here's what December looked like for me...

1. At the start of the month I went along to the opening of Cambridge Satchel Co's new Edinburgh store, which is packed full of beautiful bags and satchels in a rainbow of colours. I have a brown satchel which I got several years ago, and I still use it almost every day. They are such perfect bags!

2. I also was sent a bouquet of beautiful Christmassy flowers from Debenhams, which have helped make my house feel suitably festive! These (the cinnamon spice bunch) were sent three weeks ago and have held up so well - I've picked out a few wilting blooms, but the majority of the bouquet is still going strong! Debenhams are also offering you all 25% off a luxury bouquet - just use the code DFBLOG25 to get money off a flower delivery.

3. One of the best things about December? Mince pies! I caved early this year, and mince pies became a pretty staple part of my diet from late November on. They're just so good! I will miss you, flaky pastry pals.

4. Here's a good treat cheat I learned from Nikki McWilliams' blog - make mini christmas puddings super quickly, by drizzling icing over tunnocks teacakes. Perfect if you have no time (or are, ahem, feeling a bit worse for wear after a festive night out).

5. Joshua went full hipster this year, and embraced beard baubles (stealing all of my kirby grips in the process). I went full christmas with a velvet red dress and massive glitter bow.

6. For the Science Festival's christmas lunch, my lovely pal Amy & I took charge of the organised fun (the best kind of fun), and made everyone do a big singalong, with the words from 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' turned into 'Working in a Science Wonderland' (see what we did there?). It was TOO much fun, and luckily our colleagues went along with it!

7. It was my birthday just before Christmas, and Joshua painted the cutest card for me. I love cacti! (He's alright too).

8. We went on a birthday adventure to stay in the most amazing romany caravan in the Scottish Borders (I'll blog about this in more detail soon), and went on a big explore of the countryside - finding this amazing abandoned saw mill. It was totally untouched (the saw blades were still in position!) and was such an exciting (and spooky) place to discover.

9. Another favourite thing about December - wreaths! I wish they could be up year round, it's so lovely to see them everywhere.

10. In the season of excess, it's totally appropriate to drink massive bloody marys, garnished with king prawns AND boiled eggs AND bacon, yeah?

11. This was our christmas pudding which was super appropriate for an Australian/Scottish Christmas, as it was half panettone, half ice cream (plus millions of fruit, dessert wine and dark chocolate, mmmmm!).

12. And this was my new year look! I went super glittery with a Crown & Glory crown, and used Urban Decay glitter to line underneath my eyes (I'm not sure if you can see that clearly, but it was so sparkly). I spent Hogmanay surrounded by wonderful friends, singing Auld Lang Syne and watching the fireworks from Edinburgh castle.

2014 was a good one. Bring on 2015!