Beautiful Obsessions

Huxtaburger

Posted on April 25, 2014 by thejulietreport

BURGER 001

The best idea I ever had was to make a burger list.

It is so much fun. They are the best thing that you could order. Almost every place you go offers at least one menu item as a burger. And I don’t think you could ever go wrong with ordering a burger, even a bad burger is still ok.

They are so incredibly delicious. Before making this list I knew people loved burgers but I had no idea they loved burgers this much. I have had all my friends contacting me and asking when we are going out to try a place on my list. Fun. And you would be impressed by the quantity and quality of burger conversations I have had and also other additions to my list.

I was trying to figure out how you would judge how good a burger is. I noticed the people at Burger Adventure use; ‘If you’re in the area’, ‘Don’t expect much’, ‘Don’t bother’, ‘Definitely’, ‘Go Now!’. And that’s quite a clever scale, I think over time I will try and develop my own.

I asked my friend Alex ~~he is my official burger quest partner~~, and he said that a burger is either good or bad. You like it or you don’t. I also realised people have different tastes and expectations, some like sweet buns some don’t, some like saucy burgers some don’t. My other friend Matt thinks it’s all about the bun to meat ratio, and I think he is spot on. Anyway, the only way to find out how good they are is to go and eat them. Eat them all. Eat burgers every day. Forever.

The photo’s below are from Huxtaburger, 203 High Street Prahran.

I went with Alex, it was my second time I’d had Huxtaburger Burger ~~I’d already been to the CBD store~~ and this time I had the Huxtaburger ( beef pattie, mustard, mayo, tomato sauce, tomato, cheese, lettuce, pickles) $9.00.

Alex and I both enjoyed it. This was one of the sweet buns I mentioned, it is actually a sweet glazed brioche bun which is toasted before they put the burger together, which makes it crunchy and tasty.

Jx
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Link:

- Huxtaburger

- Burger List

Black Boots and an Imposter

Posted on April 22, 2014 by thejulietreport

I feel like black boots are a must, must, must have. I love wearing them throughout the whole year.

Melbourne has funny weather, Winter isn’t always Wintry and Summer isn’t always Summery. So this means you can pretty much wear what ever you like whenever you like. You just find ways of making it work, so basically in Winter you will wear your black ankle boots with pants, or with opaque ~~high denier~~ tights. And in Summer you just take away the tights and add a fun pair of socks and bare legs. Easy.

My friends and I tend to fall in love with our boots, so we make them last as long as we can by getting them re-soled as many times as we can until eventually you just can’t wear them anymore. So here I am, looking for a new pair.

I spent some time looking at the usual suspects online and came up with the selection below. My favourite are the first pair, the Acne Studio’s boots. They’re also the most expensive. I will have to go and try them on and see which ones look better on my feet.

1. Acne Clover – Black. 516Euro

2 Gorman, Buckle Boot. $329

3. Jeffrey Campbell, Chelsea. $195

4. Paolo Sartori. $295

5. Cari, Black Suede. $169.95

6. Supra. $136.12

7. Devon. $169.95

8. Florence. $179.95

9. Regency. $179.95

Book Giveaway

Posted on April 21, 2014 by thejulietreport

Hello. I am super excited to introduce this post.

I am having my first ever blog giveaway. My super lovely, generous friend Baz is replacing some of his books and has donated six books from his collection that I will giveaway. The giveaway is only open to people in Australia, sorry to anyone who is outside of Australia.

There are 6 books.

1. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

2. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

3. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

4. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

5. Emma by Jane Austen

6. In One Person by John Irving.

So I will have one draw for each book, you guys are welcome to enter all six draws if you please. Basically add a comment below, stating the number/s (eg 1. for Brideshead Revisited) and why you want to win. I’ll be picking them at random to make it fair.

Entries are welcome from today; Saturday 21.04.2014 and will close at the end of the day on Friday 25th April 2014. Hopefully I can announce the winner/s on Saturday.

PS. The skulls and other objects are not part of the prize, just the books :).

What I Read in March

Posted on April 19, 2014 by thejulietreport

March was not a good reading month for me, Uni got much too busy and the only reading time I had was on the train on the way to and from Uni. After the third week that didn’t even work out because I was so tired that I would fall asleep.

Anyway I did finish reading ‘The Wrong Girl’ by Zoe Foster and I started reading ‘Haunted’ by Chuck Palahniuk. Haven’t quite finished Haunted yet but almost there.

The two books couldn’t be anymore different but I love reading so I will read anything. That doesn’t mean I love everything I read but I will give everything a chance.

The Wrong Girl really surprised me. If you have followed the previous books I have listed here and read you can tell they are mostly classics, and not really romance or as they are often called ‘chick-lit’. However reading this was really nice. It was nice, light reading and a nice break between all the others. It was also relevant and dealt with similar issues that I am actually dealing with in my daily life, so I liked it for that.

Haunted on the other hand was suggested to me by my friend Rhys. This book is insane and intense. I think that if I hadn’t read American Psycho that I wouldn’t be able to stomach this one. The part I’m currently up to is so crazy, and involves cannibalism. I actually like it’s craziness, but I always wonder when I read things like this, I wonder how on Earth did this guy, Chuck Palahniuk come up with this, like seriously.

Ps. Book Recommendations are welcome.

Touchwood

Posted on April 18, 2014 by thejulietreport

Touchwood

480 Bridge Road Richmond VIC

T O U C H W O O D

I had a break this week from uni so I had time some spare time to spend with my friends and go out and check out some new cafes. I hung out with my friend Baz on Monday and he suggested Touchwood, he had been there over the weekend and said he wouldn’t mind going back.

It was great because there was not queue, ~~I think you can wait up to 20 minutes for a table on the weekend~~ not that that would have been a problem for me anyway because I always carry around my book with me and waiting time equals reading time, so I am always happy.

There is so much space in Touchwood, and it’s filled with light which creates a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Baz and I sat up near the counter on the long communal table which was nice, I like sitting in places that give me a good view of everything around me.

Baz ordered the Morning Grain Salad – Quinoa, freekeh, wild rice, rocket, toasted almonds, chai soaked raisins, cumin yoghurt, poached egg $16, and I ordered the Banana and blueberry wholemeal waffles, organic maple syrup, banana ricotta and strawberry dust $16.

Both great choices and very satisfying. I enjoyed the waffles especially because they were wholemeal, so they were lighter and healthier ~~so no bloating~~ than usual waffles and all the ingredients worked really well together. I had two coffees and enjoyed both.

We also had some interesting conversation about social media; what we think about it, what platforms we like to use, how we use it, how much we should/share, how it makes us feel, the importance of it, etc. We both felt the same way in that we actually do love to use it, that it is fun sharing what we’re up to with our friends and ‘followers’, that it is great being able to connect with so many more people, and that it actually does add value in our lives. I would love to continue a conversation on social media with anyone and would love to know your views.

Links:

- Touchwood Website

- Touchwood Facebook

- Photography by me

Emporium Melbourne

Posted on April 17, 2014 by thejulietreport

The Emporium had its soft opening yesterday and most of the stores had their new store launch parties last night. I went in specifically for the Alannah Hill and the Superdry launch party. I also, ~~obviously~~ had a walk around and explored this new ‘reimagined’ space. It reminded me so much of Westfield in Sydney. And that’s a good thing because I love Westfield in Sydney. From what I can already see and what I have heard, Emporium contains not only a great selection of fashion stores, but also a great selection of places to eat, which is perfect because I do love good food just as much as I love shopping.

Only about half of the stores have been opened so far and the rest are expected to be opened in time for the official launch in August. I am really curious and super excited to see what the official launch will entail, especially since the creative director is Baz Luhrmann. I am really hoping for a Gatsby style party. What fun that would be.

1. Celebrating the opening of the Alannah Hill store in style. Champagne, cupcakes and roses.

2. Gorgeous Alannah Hill employee and her amazing hairstyle. Now I want to go get a perm too.

3. I was admiring the painted roses on the wall the whole time I was in there, they definitely add to the stores ambience.

4. Roses, beautiful roses everywhere. I was lucky enough to get a perfect red rose in my gift bag.

5. The entrance, you can also see Fashion Hayley in the pic wearing that incredible Gorman raincoat that I wish I had bought.

1. Just about to enter the fun Superdry launch party.

2. My beautiful friends Steph and Misha.

3. Cool light fixture in the middle of the store.

4. So many people and so many celebrities, I spotted the twins from My Kitchen Rules, Miss Australia, a guy from Big Brother, and I’m sure there were so many others.

5. Tunes by DJ Andy Murphy.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

List: Best Burgers in Melbourne

Posted on April 15, 2014 by thejulietreport

So I finally took the time to compile the best list of all time. The Best Burgers in Melbourne List.

The list is a compilation of Place’s nominated by a Herald Sun article, The Burger Adventure Website, TimeOut and Broadsheet. I’ll add the links at the bottom for you. A few of the places appeared a few times such as; The Merrywell, Belle’s Diner, Fat Bob’s, Nshry and some others so I’m assuming those are the best of the best.

I’m going to try and tick them all off. I don’t know how long that will take because there are so many but I plan to document my progress through the list here on The Juliet Report. If you find any that aren’t on the list please share, and if you go to or have been to any on the list please share that too.

I also made THIS, it’s a Google Map where I’ve marked almost all the places on the list, this will make it easier to navigate myself through all these burgers. Haha.

Wish me luck!

Links

- Herald Sun – Melbourne’s top 10 Best Burgers

- The Burger Adventure – Melbourne’s Top 10 – 2013

- TimeOut – Melbourne’s Best Burgers

- Broadsheet – Burgers in Melbourne

- My Burger Treasure Map

Massive Wieners

Posted on April 15, 2014 by thejulietreport

Massive Wieners

226 Chapel Street Prahran

If you’re a vegan/vegetarian don’t read this paragraph *but read the rest because there is a vegetarian option*… I love minced meat, I don’t know why. I love anything that is made with it, like burgers ~~i freakin’ love burgers,~~ sausage rolls, bolognese sauce, meatballs, meatloaf and sausages. YUM. I really love sausage sizzles.

So when I was talking to my friend Alex and he mentioned his current obsession with hot dogs I got excited. Then he mentioned that he had seen a hotdog and milkshake place on Chapel Street I was totally interested. We (Alex and me) were like trying to beat each other and be the first to try it, until we decided it’d be only fair to try it together.

We went on Saturday and it was fun. As you have probably realised the place is called “Massive Wieners”. They call themselves a “Hot Dog Stand”. It’s very American and reminded me of an American 1960′s? diner. Alex wasn’t very impressed by the interior (It’s quite simple) but I thought it added to the experience. Alex did say the actual sausage was better than the ones he uses at home. So I couldn’t have the normal wiener because it was mixed with Pork and Beef ~~I don’t eat pork~~ so I had the vege option and it was good. I love that all the options come with “The Basics”; Mustard, Ketchup, Onion and Cheese. I also had a Vanilla and Malt Milkshake. YUM!!

If you want to be cool and stuff you can try the challenge and get your photo taken and put on the Wall of Fame. You basically have to try beat the best time which is about 2 minutes to eat a 25 inch hot dog. DO IT!!

The staff were really nice, I had a nice conversation with the girl that worked there.

If you know of any other places that sell hot dogs in Melbourne, please share!

- Massive Wieners Website

- Massive Wieners FaceBook

- Photography by me.

Doughboys Doughnuts

Posted on April 11, 2014 by thejulietreport

So can you imagine the best doughnut you have ever tasted? Times that by a billion and then another billion. Okay? How amazing does that imaginary doughnut taste?

Well that’s what a Doughboys Doughnut tastes like. Complete doughnut perfection.

The doughnut pictured above is one I sampled for free as part of a competition Gecko’s Adventures ran with Doughboys Donuts, which I think required people to send in entries of what flavour combinations they thought would be amazing.

The winner was: ‘The Turkish Doughlight’ ; Pommegranate-infused vanilla icing and small chunks of turkish delight.

I think some of what makes these doughnuts taste so good is that they are so big (so, so much yummy doughnut) and they are made to order, so they are still warm when you eat it.

You can add them on Instagram @doughboysdoughnuts where they update where they are selling, (usually at the Mercat Cross Hotel 456 Queen street CBD) what times they are open, what flavours they are selling and when hey are sold out (They usually close early because they always sell out).

Nose Casting – Aesop

Posted on April 9, 2014 by thejulietreport

“Do not hover always on the surface of things; but penetrate into the depth of matters.”

- Isaac Watts

Aesop will be occupying the Myer Windows in Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall for about three weeks in April and presenting a seven-part installation to the fortunate passers by.

The windows were revealed last night as part of Aesop’s Nasotheque campaign and I was lucky to be a part of it. Not only for the excitement of something new ~~and also yummy sparkling wine and a thoughtful goodie bag~~, but because places were available to be one of about 1500 people to have my nose cast.

Yes, nose cast. In my photographs below you can see Aesop have set up a Nose Lab where you can make an appointment and have your nose hand-casted and then have the cast displayed along with other casts in the Installation Lab at the Aesop Nasotheque.

If you can’t get an appointment ~~or don’t want to~~, you should still go and have a look and experience the performance and information in the windows.

Through this installation Aesop is exploring the human olfactory sense in a clever way through performance art.

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