Watch. Read. Listen.

Hello you lovely lot. I hope you're well and 2015 has been treating you kindly so far. Other than the crazy weather, I've had a perfectly nice couple of weeks :)

I thought that I'd share with you a few of the things I have been losing myself in at the start of 2015. As we all know, I love my films/tv shows/books and music, and I do enjoy having a good natter about them. I posted a lot of I've Been Watchings in 2014, which I'm planning on getting back in to, but in the meantime, here is a snapshot of my current viewing, listening and reading material!

I've Been Watching

House

I have devoured almost all of season one of House in a week, and my goodness, is it brilliant, or is it brilliant? I've wanted to watch this show for the longest time and just never got around to it/had the opportunity to watch it. Netflix, my beloved, helped me out with that.

House, if you don't already know, follows the work of Dr. Gregory House (played by the amazing Hugh Laurie), and his team of young doctors, Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) and Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer). House himself is a brilliant doctor, but an awkward and often difficult human being, and he just fascinates me. Each episode concentrates on the team solving an unusual medical case, while gradually drip feeding us information about the lives of the main characters in the quiet moments in between. There are some really lovely character dynamics and relationships building up through season one, and already there have been some of those "is my heart sort of expanding, because it feels like it is" moments for me. In a "this is really cute" way, not literally, of course. I won't say any more to avoid spoilers, but I would love for someone to start watching it alongside me so I can rave about it with them. And discuss the likelihood of Jennifer Morrison and I becoming best pals.

The Vampire Diaries

I finally made my way through my season 5 TVD box set over Christmas and New Year (okay, within the space of a couple of days - classic binge watching) and I really, really enjoyed it. Apparently ratings are dropping and the show is losing popularity, but I honestly thought this season was strong. Particularly the Katherine storyline - it was equal parts infuriating and mesmerising, Nina Dobrev is just so fantastic when she's playing Katherine. I also knew that the series had a traumatic finale, and despite preparing myself for something upsetting, I still cried for about twenty minutes. I am a loser.

Also, Ian Somerhalder is just fantastic, isn't he? Damon Salvatore is tv gold - extremely easy on the eye, brilliant one liners, genuinely interesting character.

I've Been Reading

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

I love Amy Poehler, so getting her book for Christmas was a seriously exciting moment. I've been making my way through Yes Please, which is one of those brilliant books you can just dip in and out of (much like Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?) because it doesn't have a firmly structured story to follow. It's more just musings about herself, her life, her career and the world around her, and in typical Amy style. If you are a fan of hers, you'll appreciate this. Her sense of humour comes across really strongly, as always, and she tackles what are some interesting things in amongst the more light hearted moments. There is a section where she talks in depth about the thin line between guilt and anger, and opens up about a time she apologised for something she had done years after the fact, and it was a really interesting chapter.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Alongside Amy, I'm reading Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell, one of the big YA books of 2014! I downloaded it onto my kindle a few months ago, and I've only just got around to starting it, but so far I'm loving it. We all know I'm a huge television geek, and so fandom/fanfaction etc all really interests me. I love to see how completely caught up in a bunch of characters we can get, and what an amazing platform the internet is to form these sort of communities. Anyway, this book is about a girl who has just headed off to college and been separated from her twin sister for the first time. She is extremely shy and hiding from the world in her fanfiction, and so far it has really got me hooked.

I've Been Listening To

Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding

This little number is from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, and while I doubt any of the content of the actual movie will be as sexy as the version of Beyonce's Crazy in Love they've used on the trailer, I am enjoying this song. It builds up really nicely, and I've always been a fan of Ellie's music. This has been on repeat for days!

Blame it on Me by George Ezra

I've loved this song for ages, but I got George Ezra's album for my mum for Christmas, and it's been living in the car since! I always mean to start listening to it from further on on the album to get to know the other tracks better, but I just love this song so much! There are a couple of lines that in all honesty, I'm not sure I even know the right words, but I belt it out nonetheless!

So that's what I've had on my laptop/tv, ipod and kindle of late - I'd love to know what you've been watching, reading and listening to so far in 2015!

Have a great week :)

Thanks for reading!

This Autumn/Winter I'll Be Watching...

Having just uploaded my Top Ten of Dexter video this week, I'm still in the mood to discuss film and television (when am I not!). So today I thought I would put together a little list of some of the shows and films I'll be watching this Autumn/Winter!

TV:

Breaking Bad

I'm FINALLY going to start watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. Yes, that's right, I've waited till right after it has finished to get around to watching it, which means spoilers are everywhere!!! Must avoid reading anything about it if that is at all possible...

The Vampire Diaries Season 5

We all know how much I adore this show - I can't believe season 5 is upon us already, how did this happen?! I also really want to start watching The Originals but I have no idea if there are plans to air this on ITV2 - does anyone know?! I get the feeling Elijah might not be around much in TVD from now on, so got to keep seeing him somehow ;)

Modern Family

I've been working my way through season 1 of Modern Family and loving it - I watched a few episodes when I was in Australia, my aunt, uncle and cousins regularly tune in, and it was the first time I'd seen it. If you haven't seen it and think ''typical, overhyped US sitcom'', you'd be wrong! It's really clever and funny and I'm thoroughly enjoying the first season.

The X-Factor

There is no point whatsoever in me pretending I'm not going to watch the X-Factor. Every year I say ''I will not be sucked into this again'', and every year I spot someone I like and that's it - I'm hooked. Also, there's a contestant from my home town in the live shows this year - IMAGINE he gets to the final three? We'll have the X-Factor parade marching through the town centre!

Films

Not Another Happy Ending

Looooooooook, it's Henry Ian Cusick, a.k.a Desmond Hume from Lost, one of my favourite characters of all time! Also, this film stars Karen Gillan who I really like, and from what I can tell it's a cutesy rom-com with a bit of a twist - this is a no brainer for me. I haven't read any reviews, so it might be dreadful, but I'll go and see it anyway!




Veronica Mars

I know this one doesn't come out till 2014, but I'm just too excited not to include it!! Veronica Mars is one of my favourite tv shows of all time, and Kristen Bell is quite possibly my favourite actress (she, Emma Stone and Sandra Bullock would probably tie!). I am so thrilled they finally got to make a movie out of such an incredible show, and I can't wait to see the cast back together again.



AND FINALLY...

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I can't even tell you how much I am looking forward to this film. I am a huge, huge fan of The Hunger Games series and Catching Fire is an amazing book. I loved the first film, and think the casting was spot on, so I've been looking forward to this since last year!



Hope you enjoyed that little run down of my viewing material for the next couple of months - I'm sure other shows will pop up on tv that I'll love, and there will more than likely be trips to the cinema to see more than just these three movies, but I'll just have to keep you posted on that!

Thanks for reading guys, and thanks so much to everyone who follows my blog - I hit 200 followers here on GFC today and I'm so thrilled. A big, big thank you to each and every one of you ❤

Favourites of the Week #17

It's Sunday again and I thought I'd do another weekly favourites!

Track of the Week
Bastille - We Can't Stop (Radio One Live Lounge cover)

I am not exactly what you would call a Miley fan - the less said about that in this post, the better I think. Anyway, when I saw that one of my current favourite bands covered her song ''We Can't Stop'' last week I had to have a listen, and I have had it on repeat ever since. Love the cheeky little reference to her relationship with her dad with the wee bit of Achy Breaky Heart they included!



Album of the Week
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon

I've had this album for ages and it's appeared here before, but I keep finding myself putting it on when I'm in the car, or out with my iPod on. I just love the variety of sounds on it from proper dance anthems to really chilled out tracks.



TV Show of the Week
The Vampire Diaries

I'm currently devouring season four of The Vampire Diaries, and whoever it was who told me this season wasn't as good as the previous ones lied! It's just as good, just as intense and with just as many twists and turns. I just filmed a The Vampire Diaries tag for my YouTube channel, so I'll link the video here once it's uploaded!

Film of the Week
About Time

Emma and I went to see About Time this week and absolutely loved it. We both cried bucketloads, so be sure to take some tissues with you if you're going to see it - I cried into my scarf because I neglected to do so! Richard Curtis has really outdone himself with this one. Bill Nighy and Rachel McAdams are both brilliant as always, and I thought Domhnall Gleeson was fantastic in the lead role. This is a nice, philosophical sort of film and while it's romantic, I wouldn't really say romance is the main theme. It's very much about family, making the most of the time you have with them and living each day to the full - it really gets you thinking!

Beauty Product of the Week
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

A product everyone knows about and I have repurchased I don't know how many times, I've been very grateful for my Lasting Perfection Concealer this week since my skin hasn't quite been blemish free - it's a life saver for a bad skin day!

Book of the Week
Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus

I read the back of this book in WHSmith a couple of weeks ago and was instantly intrigued. When I looked it up on my kindle and saw that it was under £3 (I think it was about £2.65) I decided to give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. I'm not too far through it yet but it's really good so far, quietly building suspense and giving us access to quite a few characters.

YouTuber of the Week
Nikki Phillippi

I really like Nikki's themed months on her YouTube channel, and think her Change it up Spetember theme is a great idea. It's really easy to get stuck in a rut, and deliberately challenging yourself to try new things or make a change in your life whether it's as big as moving house or going back to univerity - the latter of which I am on doing Thursday, ahhhh! - or as small as changing your regular lipstick colour, making changes can make a big difference to your life.

Website of the Week
Itison

I get daily emails from Itison but rarely bother to spend any time checking out the deals - this week however, I've found a couple of amazing offers and will definitely make the time to read these emails more thoroughly in future!

Style Icon of the Week
Dianna Agron

source

Okay, so I'm cheating a wee bit here, but this shoot actress Dianna Agron did for US Beauty website Byrdie is so stunning I couldn't ignore it. This is more of a makeup icon than style, but I love the colours used in this shoot so much that I'm letting that slide. Check out the full shoot here at http://www.byrdie.com/the-dark-side-of-dianna-agron/

What have some of your favourite things been this week? Let me know in the comments! :)

Thanks for reading!

Life Update

Hi guys! Hope you're all well! I thought today I would just do a little life update post telling you about a few things I've been up to/enjoying lately :)

No.1. Chocolate Factory Hot Chocolate / Nachos at Edinburgh Festival / TVD Season 4

On my lunch break at work I've recently discovered this amazing hot chocolate in The No.1. Chocolate Factory in the West End. They do lovely soups and paninis too (I've sampled a couple!) but I love how pretty the hot chocolate is, I almost didn't want to drink it!

Next we have the nachos I enjoyed for lunch a couple of weeks ago in Edinburgh with some of my favourite blogger ladies. We had just attended the Appointedd launch in Hotel Missoni (vlog coming soon!)and decided to wander through the bustling streets with all the excitement of the Fringe around us and find somewhere to get some food. We sat outside in the sunshine and had a lovely wee afternoon to ourselves.

My Season 4 boxset of The Vampire Diaries arrived on Friday, much to my excitement. I had pre-ordered it from Amazon and forgot when it was due to arrive. I've watched two episodes so far and have really enjoyed them, but I have heard that this season isn't as good as the previous ones... I'll just need to keep watching and decide for myself!

Kirsty, me and Lynne / Dinner is (finally) served / Blogging pals

On Wednesday night I headed into Edinburgh again after work for what was initially going to be a blogger trip to a show at the festival, but that plan fell through. We ended up going for dinner in Candy Bar, which was lovely but the service was ridiculously slow! We were eventually given our second round of cocktails for free because they had taken so long to serve us throughout the night! However, the food was good (I had a cheeseburger and chips - typical!) and we enjoyed couple of lovely cocktails. Best of all, we just had a good chat and catch up, my favourite thing about nights like this. Apologies for the dark photos, there wasn't much light in there and the second and third photos were taken on my phone (the first I stole from Lynne!).

New Hair (and some of my best expressions from my latest video!

Aaaand finally, I got my hair cut and highlighted! Today it's a bit of a mess because I couldn't be bothered washing it (who needs to wash their hair for a lazy Sunday blogging and drinking tea?!) - so the photos are screen shots from my latest video (which you can watch here - shameless plug!). My hairdresser had been on holiday for three weeks and it was so desperately needing cut I couldn't do anything with it! It had also been looking really dull recently, so I bit the bullet and got some highlights. I haven't coloured my hair in six years (eeeek, where has the time gone!) but I felt it needed something to give it a wee lift. So I went for some very subtle golden highlights to brighten it up!

What have you lot been up to lately? Let me know in the comments below!

Jumping on the 'Top 5' Bandwagon!

I have been watching and reading a lot of 'top 5' or 'top 10' posts recently and it put me in the mood to do a little mini series of my own! I still hadn't got around to it though when I read the lovely Gillian's Top 5 Books post the other day and decided this was the push I needed to film this video!

As I've mentioned about a million times before, I'm a little bit obsessed with TV, particularly of the American variety (although not exclusively!). With my dvd boxset collection continuing to expand, I thought I'd do a top 5 of X genre series, inspired by this video here from Michelle from SweetBookReviews on youtube - I found her top 10 characters in X genre video really interesting!

So, here is the first instalment - my Top 5 Teen/Post Teen TV Dramas! Sorry it's a bit lengthy - this is a subject I love to ramble on about!! What are some of your favourite shows from the teen tv genre, or some of your favourite teen films? I'd love to know, recommendations are always welcome round about here :) The next video will either be my Top 5 TV Comedies or Top 5 TV Dramas (not of the teen variety!).

For now I'm off to hit the shops to get a card and present for one of my oldest and best friends who got engaged at the end of January (eeeeek, proper grown up stuff happening people!) and is moving to Russia for a year with her fiance - she and I are both jetting off on our adventures just three days apart! Hope you are all having a great Friday and looking forward to the weekend and hope to see some of you Scottish Bloggers at tomorrow night's SBValentines Party in Edinburgh, I can't wait!!


Finally, a custom thumbnail!!

Some 2012 Favourites...

Hi guys! There are lots of 2012 Favourites tags and posts doing the rounds just now, but as a spur of the moment thing, having glanced around my room (which is in desperate need of a clear out before I head to Australia!) I thought I'd make one of my own simply listing a few of my personal favourite things from last year! I'm a little late on the bandwagon with this one, I know!

Favourite Makeup Product: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - I absolutely LOVE this foundation, and considering it is under ten pounds (sometimes only £5 when Rimmel have their special offers on!) it's a total bargain! The only downside for me is that as it is a drug store foundation the colour range isn't quite wide enough, and the palest colour (Ivory) isn't quite pale enough for me! But a bit of Illamasqua white foundation (or Barry M White Cream Foundation for a High Street buy!) sorts it out perfectly!

Favourite Nail Polish: This is a tough one but I've gone for Golden Green from the Models Own Beetle Juice collection. It's such a lovely colour, which isn't bright enough to really clash with anything, and would be equally suitable for daytime/office wear, or for a night out.

Favourite Bath/Shower Product: For the second year running, this goes to the amazing Original Source Raspberry and Vanilla Milk Shower Gel. All I'll say on this one is I'm still amazed I haven't tried to drink it. It honestly smells like some sort of delicious milkshake!

Favourite Film: Again, a tough one, but I've gone for The Artist. Technically I think it actually came out in 2011, but I didn't get to see it till January, and I adored it. It's the first film in ages that I went to see and genuinely though I could go straight back in and watch it again the minute it finished!

Favourite TV Show: I'm going to cheat here and say two different ones, because they are totally different types of show and I've loved both equally. First is Being Erica, which aired it's final episode this year at the end of season 4 *sob*. This is definitely a contender for my all time favourite TV programme (which, coming from a TV Drama obsessed Film and TV Studies Graduate, is saying something!), and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend picking up the dvds when they are cheap on amazon. You won't regret it! The other is The Vampire Diaries, featuring the sexiest cast ever on TV, and gripping storyline after gripping storyline. Need I say more?!

Favourite Book: Like so many others, I got caught up in The Hunger Games fever this year, and I absolutely loved all three of the books. My favourite, however, has to be the first book, The Hunger Games itself (by Suzanne Collins). It is one of the most unbelievably enthralling books I've read in a long time, impossible to put down and definitely one that gets you thinking.

Favourite Album: My favourite album of 2012 goes to Electra Hart by Marina and the Diamonds, who (as I mentioned in my last post) I saw on tour in June! Her lyrics are amazing, the music incredibly catchy and I just love her style. I got Taylor Swift's Red for Christmas though, and it's fantastic, so a special mention must go to it too!

Favourite Gadget: While like most people I can't imagine life without my phone, I have really loved my Kindle this year, which I got for my birthday. I never thought I'd like reading something that isn't an actual book, but I have to say my wee Kindle totally won me over, and within a day or so of having it! It's so convenient and has definitely helped get me back into reading more, which I am so pleased about. It's going to be seriously handy when I go on my travels!

Well, I think I will leave it there! Hope you enjoyed this little favourites post, let me know what some of your favourite things from 2012 were! Have you used/watched/read and loved (or hated!) anything I mentioned in this post?!

Lynsey xxx