Insta-Life Update #3

After yesterday's My Favourite Instagram Accounts post, I realised it's been a ridiculously long time since I did one of my insta-life update posts! So I decided that's what I'd do today.

Instagram is just the nicest (and quickest!) way of capturing a moment. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I definitely think it makes you appreciate the little things more. I wish I'd done one of these posts back at Christmas time - I went on an instagram binge in December, because everything just looked so lovely all decked out in Christmas lights and festive decorations. Alas, I did not, so we'll have to make do with a few snaps from February/March!

Top row L-R - Rory, Radley, Ice Cream
Middle row L-R - Shopping, Dylan Moran, Quotes
Bottom row L-R - Harvey Nics, Catch Ups, Movie Night

Back in February we got a new hamster - his name is Rory and he is a mad little ball of fur who is constantly entertaining us. He started off seriously timid, and he still occasionally jumps at his own shadow for no apparent reason, but he has also mastered climbing the wallpaper and curtains, like an intrepid explorer. This means you really can't take your eye off him for a minute, but he's so cute he can get away with anything.

Roisin and I went along to an event at the Radley store in Edinburgh, which was lovely - my post on that has been totally delayed, but look out for a full post on that soon! The handbags were absolutely beautiful. We then met a few of our lovely Edinburgh blogger pals for dinner and a catch up, which is always fun.

This is a random one, but this photo proved to be far more popular than I had expected! I took a snap of this Cadburys Marvellous Creations Fairground Candy Crunch Ice Cream, and people seemed to be very excited about it. It is absolutely delicious, by the way.

I went for a browse in New Look a couple of weeks ago and they had so many lovely things I wanted to buy!! Sadly I had to think about my bank balance and went home empty handed, but I did instagram this snap of me in one of the dresses I really liked, and people were very, very nice about it. I'm not one for posting any sort of fashion related photos, I don't do OOTDs or anything, but I can't lie - I definitely got a wee ego boost on this occasion, so thank you to the lovely people who left lovely comments!

Emma and I went to see Dylan Moran last week in the Clyde Auditorium and he was just as funny as he always is. He is my favourite comedian. Black Books is one my favourite TV shows of all time, and I have a boxset of his stand up shows which I dig out any time I need a good laugh. I'd only seen him live once before, so it was a total joy to get to experience his amazing humour in person again. We laughed till we cried: my personal favourite bits included the line "there are only four ages of human - child, failure, old and dead", and his reading of his own version of Fifty Shades of Grey. It was genius.

I've still been keeping up with my Sunday night quotes as a little bit of inspiration for the start of the week :) I'm so pleased I've kept this up.

Roisin and I went along to Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh for a beauty event a couple of weeks ago, which was all very lovely and sophisticated! We sipped lots of bubbly, lusted after too many bronze/neutral eyeshadows and I went home with a gorgeous MAC eyeliner, which I showed in this beauty haul over on my channel!

Nikki and I FINALLY caught up for dinner on Saturday! Having not seen each other since December, this was well overdue, so we spent a good few hours eating, drinking and catching up on all the gossip which had accumulated in the space of three months! I do love a catch up with that girl!

And finally, Emma and I had a wee movie night last night - I was desperate to watch Hitchcock's Rope, which I hadn't seen in ages! I love this film, I really do! If you like creepy, suspenseful films, and haven't seen this, check it out as soon as possible! It is based on a true story, which always blows my mind, about two college students who try to execute the perfect murder. They believe themselves to be intellectually superior to others, and think this means they can get away with whatever they want. It is SO GOOD.

So those were just a few highlights from the past few weeks! What have you been getting up to lately? :)

Thanks for reading!

My Favourite Instagram Accounts | March 2015

If you're subscribed to my YouTube channel, you might have seen that last weekend, I uploaded a Top 5 Current YouTubers video! I had so much fun filming that video, and it always feels good to give a shout out to some of the people who produce content you really enjoy. It's what I love most about Twitter - I feel like it has brought together such a nice blogging community, and gives us a place to let people know when we're loving what they're doing!

So I decided that in addition to the Top 5 YouTubers, I'd do a couple of other current favourites posts, and this one is dedicated to Instagram! This is by no means an exclusive list, but these are some of the people who, lately, have been making me want to raise my insta-game, and who I'm forever pressing that little heart "like" button for

The Lunar Lights

First up is my gorgeous pal Nikki. Nikki's instagram is the place of dreams. A beautiful stream of pastel perfection, with photos of the cute things she decorates her home with, the lovely things she wears, her favourite beauty products and everything in between. What Nikki continues to create is a really seamless, easy on the eye page with some really lovely images. I could scroll through her instagram feed all day - it's just so soothing!!

Miss West End Girl

Another Scottish blogger who has a beautiful instagram is the lovely Lynsay from Miss West End Girl. Her instagram is like a little burst of sunshine on my feed - so many gorgeous pops of colour that instantly catch your eye! Lynsay posts such a fun, varied lot of photos that it really feels like you're being invited along on her adventures. With fashion, beauty, food and fun lifestyle posts, I just love scrolling through her colourful little world!

A Lady in London

I've mentioned before that I'm absolutely in love with A Lady in London's beautiful travel blog, and her instagram provides me with a daily hit of wanderlust! As she travels the world she uploads beautiful photos, from amazing city architecture to beautiful lakes and mountains - if travel instagrams are your thing, and you haven't checked hers out yet, you are missing out!

Being Erica

Erica's instagram is a favourite for reasons quite similar to my love for Miss West End Girl's - it's a lovely mixture of travel adventures, outfit of the days, bold lipstick choices, and snaps of London. There's something really nice and consistent about Erica's instagram - rarely a day goes by that we don't get to see what she's picked out of her amazing wardrobe to wear and she documents so many fun trips and weekends away that there's a steady stream of lovely new photos appearing every week!

gh0stparties

And finally, we have the lovely Kate from gh0stparties. Much like Nikki's, opening Kate's instagram is like stepping into a lovely, soothing world, where everything is soft and pretty and pastel, and you just want to jump into it. Her posts are a mix of beauty products, outfit and face of the day shots, home décor, and of course, her lovely cat, Mouse.

You can follow my own instagram over at @lynseymac1, and leave me a link to yours - I'd love to check it out!

Who are some of your favourite instagrammers?

Thanks for reading!

Insta-Update #2

Gill's Leaving Night / Commonwealth Games / Fancy Looking Cider
Barry M Sugar Apple / Barry M Mini-Haul / Barry M Waikiki
Eyeliner Art / Girls Night In / Meerkat Family

My pal Gill moved to London a few weeks ago for a new job, so we had a wee night out to celebrate - this involved cider in fancy glasses and dancing till 2am.

The Commonwealth Games came to Glasgow and they were amazing. Sadly I didn't actually go to any of the events, but I watched it unfold on TV and the buzz around the city was incredible. It made me really proud of where I come from. Not that I wasn't already!

I love Barry M - that is all. I did an updated Barry M collection video recently if that kind of thing interests you!

A bit of eyeliner art always soothes me, as bizarre as that sounds. I was recently thinking about what I'd do if someone told me I could only ever use two makeup products for the rest of my life (shock horror) and I really do think it would be concealer and liquid eyeliner. Everything else would have to go.

I had a lovely girls night in with three of my besties recently, where we ate too much food, laughed too much and watched Frozen. Pretty perfect, if you ask me.

We got a new member of our ever-expanding meerkat family - welcome to the gang Yakov :)

TGI Friday's Blogger Event / Strawberry Daiquiri / Party Party Photo App
Sanitise at the Edinburgh Fringe / RIP Robin Williams / Pizza Time
Hair Colour Booth app / Dissertation Organisation / Smokey Purple Eye Makeup

A few of us went along to a blogger event at TGI Friday's a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed an amazing Strawberry Daiquiri the size of my head, and a cheeseburger (what a surprise).

I've become addicted to the Party Party Photo App lately - in particular, the little stop-motion videos you can make on there are brilliant, but the little collages are great too.

Iona, Lynne, Gillian, Laura and I went for dinner and then headed to see Sanitise at the Edinburgh Fringe last week. I would definitely recommend going to see it if you get a chance while it's still on!

The impact of Robin Williams's death on what seemed like everyone really blew me away. It's so sad, and I hope that his passing encourages more of an open conversation about depression. It just shows, you never know what struggles someone might be facing.

My friend Gemma (who has just started a new blog - check it out here!) and I went for dinner in Bunker recently and I had a pulled pork pizza with barbecue sauce. And yes, it was as good as it sounds!!

Another app I love to revisit from time to time is Hair Colour Booth - not only do I like to see what I'd look like with a variety of hair colours, I also decided to give blue eyes a go. It really doesn't look like me!

Just over a week until the dissertation goes in now - where on earth has the summer gone?!! I've moaned about this from time to time, but really I've loved it. I'm studying something that really, genuinely interests me and collecting and analysing my own data has made me feel like a proper researcher. What a big academic geek I am.

And finally, a selfie to show off some smokey purple eye makeup I was wearing last weekend. Not much more to say about that!

That's it for my little instagram update! Other than that, the past few weeks have involved celebrating Emma's 25th birthday, job hunting woes and binge watching Orphan Black. Hope you are all well!

Thanks for reading!

Insta-Life Update!

Happy Sunday all! I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I, for one, am avoiding doing anything dissertation related for the day and I'm lazing around with a cup of tea and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - which I'm reading for the first time, and loving! I've seen the films but had never read the books, so when Emma got me them for my birthday I've made the most of my currently unemployed student free time and been getting lost in Bridget's world!

I thought for today's post I'd just do a little instagram life update - making more use of instragram is something I've found has really been helping me keep track of what I've been up to!

Emma, Gill and Cassie on my birthday night out / Turning 25 Cake - the best part of any birthday! /
Summer hairstylin' / TBT to my first graduation / Binge watching Once Upon a Time.

The end of June saw me turn 25 (see my "getting older resolutions" here!), celebrating with a night out on the town with my pals. We hit Horton's for drinks, and then put on our dancin' shoes and headed to ABC, and it was great. Round about then, the weather had been looking up, so I started experimenting with some summery hair styles - unfortunately, as of yesterday, the sunshine seems to have gone into hiding again! The 28th June (the day after my birthday) also marked three whole years since my graduation from Glasgow Uni, which I cannot get my head around! And, as I've mentioned in a previous post, I've been binge watching the amazing Once Upon A Time.

Dissertationing / Hamster sitting / Experimenting with hair chalk.

June and July (so far) has mainly consisted of dissertation work. It's quite a process, but it'll all be worth it in the end, I'm sure! We're also hamster sitting my mum's friend's hamster while she's on holiday, and I tell you - I'm never going to agree to pet sit for anyone once I move out, because I clearly get too attached. We are totally in love with this wee lady (her name is Apple), she is the friendliest hamster I've ever met, and we've had a few over the years! I also took the opportunity to try out some pink ombre style hair with the help of some hair chalk from Topshop - an excellent, non-permanent way to experiment with colourful hair!

Saturday night catch-ups / Karaoke for Roisin's birthday / Dinner in Bunker

Last night I caught up with Nikki, Roisin, Gill, Gill's friend Lauren, Gillian and Laura, over a wee cider in town. This resulted in Nikki and I tearing up laughing over a discussion of our favourite childhood television shows - SMTV Live anyone? And Mopatop's Shop - just what was Mopatop, does anyone know?!

Earlier in the week, we headed out for Roisin's birthday, and had a brilliant night of cocktails and karaoke in Lucky Voice in Glasgow. The price was so reasonable for the amount of time you get, so we're planning another night there at some point soon! The above is an action shot of Lynne and Gillian belting out a karaoke classic, while the rest of us joined in behind the camera!

And finally - more food and drinks, oh dear - Emma and I caught up with our friends Louise and Cassie for dinner in Bunker last week. I've been to Bunker lots of times for drinks, but never for dinner, and it was fantastic! The quality of the food was actually really impressive - I had a pulled pork burger with chips and an amazing a chocolate brownie with ice cream and caramel sauce - so good I want to go back just thinking about it. They also have some really good deals (50% off food on a Sunday, and main meals for £5 on a Monday - I think!), so if you're looking for somewhere casual but with good food to try next time you're in Glasgow, I recommend heading to Bunker!

Reading over this before I publish it, it all looks very lovely. That's the thing with blogging, and YouTube - as a place to talk about nice things, it can sometimes look like you're floating along in some sort of glittering bubble, with nothing bad going on to speak of. As a sidenote, and a healthy dose of reality, not everything is cocktails, cakes and daft nights out! I'm currently job hunting, which I'm sure we all agree is the WORST, and I might do a little post on that at some point soon. I think it's important to always remember that what you see isn't everything that is going on in a person's life - it's a collection of moments, carefully selected, and just a glimpse into their world! Having said that, I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the fun parts of mine!

So that's it for my little insta-life update! Hope you're all well!

Thanks for reading!

Instagram #2

new hair / youtube giveaway / spring blossom
denim nails / FOTD / rainy night out
cake addict / bourjois150 twitter party / pop tarts


Look how well I did at remembering to instagram this week! I'm managing to get into the habit of doing it more regularly, so we'll see if I can keep up the good work next week!

Over the past week I had my hair cut for the first time since before I went travelling - relief doesn't cover it! My fringe was getting out of control and the ends were so dry after the heat of Australia, it needed a decent trim.

I also reached the halfway mark of my first giveaway on YouTube, you still have till Sunday to enter if you want to be in with a chance of winning! :)

My best friend and I took advantage of the nice weather on Friday and went for a stroll! It was warm and sunny and the blossom on all the trees looked so pretty... sadly the spring-like weather didn't last! Saturday saw me heading into Glasgow for my friend Gemma's engagement party, and then a night out with a couple of other friends, in absolutely torrential rain! It was unbelievable, honestly, it felt like the middle of winter! The engagement party was in the beautiful Arta bar in Glasgow though - check out the amazing decor at the end of the post (I thought it deserved a special mention!).

I also tried out a cute denim effect nail polish from George which my lovely mum bought me as a wee present, and I'm really loving it. I've added a top coat which kind of took away the real matte denim look, but it has kept it chip free for days, so it's all good!

I have eaten several of these caramel tart cakes from ASDA (bad Lynsey), they are so good. What you don't see in this photo is the ice cream I put on it after the photo was taken... I must control my sweet tooth...

says she who had Pop Tarts for breakfast today! It was just one of those days.

In other news, I was lucky enough to be one of the winners of a lovely Bourjois goodie bag after joining in the #bourjois150 twitter party on Sunday night. I was so excited to get this tweet yesterday, will definitely blog about it when it arrives :)

This week also consisted of more and more soul destroying job hunting - anyone else in the same boat, please feel free to comment below and we can console each other! - and an actual interview, which I won't hear back about for a few days (so let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that it went well!).

What have you guys been up to this week? Leave me your instagram names below - I'm lynseymac1 :)

Thanks for reading!


The lovely decor in Arta, Glasgow

Instagram #1

Cocktails with friends/Harvey Nichols+Grazia Beauty Parlour/Fifi Lapin Tote
Birthday drinks/Marvellous Creations/Les Mis on DVD

Since I've never done one before, I thought I'd do a little 'my week in instagram' sort of a post - only issue is I'm a nightmare at remembering to take instagram photos! Must sort this out for future posts!

Last Saturday I met up with four of my lovely friends, three of whom I hadn't seen since I got home from Australia. We went for a couple of cocktails in Hortons Bar in Glasgow, and had a great catch up.

On the Wednesday, I went to the Grazia Beauty Parlour in Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh (I will do a full post on this at some point!). There were lots of interesting beauty related talks, a glass of prosecco on arrival and I got to catch up with Roisin (Lost My Heart in Wonderland) and Laura (The Likely Lady). Had such a lovely night and came home with a cheeky wee purchase from MAC ;) They also sent us home with a gorgeous Fifi Lapin Tote bag with some lovely samples inside, all of which I'll show you in my upcoming post.

The following Friday was my lovely friend Emmeline's birthday night out, so we went to Bread and Butter in Glasgow, a bar I had never been to before. I really loved it though - they had such interesting cocktails. I tried one called an Um Bongo (yep, just like the kids fruit juice, but with a kick!) and will definitely be going back again!

Saturday night saw me immerse myself in the first Battle Round of The Voice UK, and it featured some amazing and some downright terrible performances. It also featured Danny O'Donoghue (Ok, fine, I'm one of those girls who decided she fancied him once he became a coach on the voice!), so I was happy. I demolished half a large bar of Cadburies Marvellous Creations (the popping candy and jelly kind!) in the process.

And that brings me to today, which included job hunting, blog giveaway prize buying (keep your eyes peeled!!!), getting drenched in Glasgow with my mum - where is the sunshine?!! - and being unable to resist buying Les Mis on DVD... I swore I wouldn't buy it on day one, and totally failed!

So that's it for my first instagram post - I quite enjoyed doing it, so maybe planning posts like this will help me remember to make more use of instagram! Hope you're all having a lovely week, and remember to enter my YOUTUBE GIVEAWAY over on my channel here!