Michelle in a Nutshell

I'M BACK?

beauty February 26, 2016

Hello blog world!

I can't believe I haven't written a post since August 2014...that's crazy. I guess many people who blog have phases of blogging more or less. It's hard work to juggle life and to keep up a blog - I'm always amazed by bloggers who work full-time jobs or who are in school. Props to them!

My life has gotten kind of crazy! My 2-year relationship with my ex ended in April 2014 and I moved back in with my parents (I know...). But I'm so grateful to even have the possibility to live with them! So the year 2015 wasn't one of my greatest. I was going through a breakup, I was in school part-time (which was hard) and I got a new job where I wasn't doing any tasks that I actually enjoyed (and my commute was 4 hours a day, which kills!).

I recently went on a mini vacation to Mallorca over New Year's and somehow that trip changed my whole perspective on my life. I came back totally rejuvinated and finally over my ex. I quite school after having finished 3 semesters. I decided to quite my job. And I decided I wanted to live in beautiful Lucerne (a small city which is about 20 minutes away from where I live now with my parents).

Ya, I know! Life is definitely keeping me on my toes. It hasn't been boring, I can tell ya that much!

So, now I'm looking for a new job, looking for a new apartment and just basically trying to figure out my life. Have any of you made any big life changes lately? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below :)

By the way, I've started reading the book unWorking -- has anyone read this? Oh my god, it's amazing so far. It's definitely the right timing in my life right now to read this kind of book. Maybe I'll talk more about it in another post?

For now, I'll leave you with a phote from Mallorca. Maybe I'll do a blog post on my trip as a part of my (old) Travel Diary series. You can check out my other travel posts using the link at the top of the page, if you're interested :)

Thanks for listening! Have a good one.

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Travel Diary: Miami Beach, Florida, USA

travel diary August 06, 2014

Well, hey there! I'm baaaack :)

I enjoyed two wonderful weeks of summer vacation and am back at the office now (boo!). But vacation was awesome. I went to Miami Beach, Florida with one of my best friends. This was our fourth vacation together, so she's basically my travel buddy. We had a great time and enjoyed the hot weather, the palm trees, the beach, the pool, the cocktails, the food and the shopping!

Here are a few impressions, all shot by my iPhone unfortunately, but you get the gist of it. I actually did take my big DSLR camera with me but I didn't end up lugging it around everywhere. I guess that's one major downfall of those big cameras.

This is on our first day in the lobby of our hotel. We spent 10 nights at the Red South Beach Hotel, located at 30th & Collins Avenue. It's not the most luxurious of hotels but we also didn't pay what one would pay for a luxurious stay. So we were satisfied with the value for our dollar. We had breakfast included (the choice of bread basket or eggs & bacon with toast) and we were very close to the beach (across the street past the row of hotels which were directly at the beach). The biggest downside was that our hotel didn't have beach chairs and umbrellas available to use. So we weren't able to survive at the beach for very long, since the sun and heat were very intense. We spent more time at our hotel's pool lying on very comfy chairs and having the option of using umbrellas to hide from the burning sun. Unfortunately, there was some construction going on next door, so that got a bit annoying on our last few days. But we were able to block it out somehow.

These delicious nachos are from the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami. It's situated right by the ocean at Biscayne Bay and both times we dined there we sat outside and had gorgeous views of the harbor. Before devouring these nachos and the delicious watermelon cocktail, we did a city and boat tour of Miami with Half Price Tour, which was pretty good! I'd definitely recommend the boat tour, which is always funner than a bus tour. We saw pretty views and got to see some celebrities' mansions - ooh la la :)

Ahh, the sight of those shopping bags makes me smile (haha). One of the best shopping experiences was at Sawgrass Mills Mall, which is the largest outlet mall in the USA made up of 350+ stores. I was seriously in heaven. The receptionist at our hotel recommended the trip, which cost $30 per person and included the transportation by bus and a coupon booklet. I think the trip from our hotel to the mall took about 45 minutes, so not too bad at all. We left around 10:30am and the bus picked us up at the mall at 5:00pm. I could have stayed longer (obviously) but the next pick-up would have been at 9:00pm so that would have been a bit exaggerated to have stayed another 4 hours! But I definitely bought enough stuff, as you can see in the picture. I'm so happy with everything and the prices were really great!

While at the Sawgrass Mall, we took a breat around 1:00pm and had some lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. It was our first time eating there and it was scrumptious! I had the quesadillas and for dessert, we shared this delicious piece of cheesecake which included chocolate cake, caramel, peanut butter and peanuts. IT WAS SO GOOD. The two of us couldn't even finish one piece though, it was so filling.

We did a little impromtu photoshoot while walking down Ocean Drive, the view of the beach and the palm trees - we couldn't resist!

One night, we went out to Ocean Drive and had drinks and some nachos at Mango's Tropical Cafe, which was recommended to us by our hotel receptionist. It was very loud, happy and energetic. They had girls in cute (*cough* slutty *cough*) outfits dancing around and live singers and it was just a fun atmosphere.

Our second impromtu photoshoot :)

This was our second visit of the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami. We did a bit of shopping in the area and then enjoyed a yummy meal and this gorgeous view.

Seeing as we were proper tourists, we made a trip to the Everglades. I wouldn't necessarily say this is a must-see, but I guess it's such a typical thing to do that everyone goes there anyways. The boat ride was fun and our "captain" was a hilarious guy and told us some stories of him catching snakes and alligators at the Everglades since he was a child. In high school he would catch and kill snakes, then take them to school in his backpack and sell them (my whole body literally cringes at this thought since I'm so afraid of snakes). It was a hot and sunny day so all the alligators were hiding out in the shade. We only spotted one baby alligator and I only spotted his tail haha...

The DASH store! I'm a fan of the Kardashians (guilty reality-tv pleasure) so I naturally had to hit up the DASH store. I was totally disappointed though. The store was almost empty, the prices were very high and nothing even really stood out to me. But hey, at least a got a picture in front of the store!

And last but not least, the best donuts in the world, from Krispy Kreme. I love them! But I think it's definitely safer for my waistline that these aren't sold in Switzerland. Otherwise, I'd be in big trouble.

Hope you enjoyed my vacation pictures!

Have you ever been to Miami Beach? Can you recommend a great place to visit in the US? I'm definitely thinking about going to New York / California / Vegas next :) But since school is starting school and I'll be on a tighter budget, who knows when that will happen (ugh...what a hard knock life... hah!).

(By the way, stay tuned for some makeup and fashion haul posts! I got some really good stuff.)

*This blog is NOT sponsored. All opinions are my own.*

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L&C Book Club: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

books July 17, 2014

There has been quite a lot of hype around this book lately and I even heard there will be a movie made based on this book, so I finally decided to join the bandwagon and I just finished it this morning. HOLY COW did I love this book...

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Makeup Haul: Chanel, MAC and more!

haul July 14, 2014

So, I recently stepped into Manor (a department store in Switzerland) with the sole plan of picking up the Chanel bronzer. Well, as fate would have it, the MAC counter is right behind the Chanel counter and I naturally gravitated over to check out some products. And the rest is history, obviously....

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YSL Babydoll Kiss & Blush

makeup July 07, 2014

In April 2014 YSL released this line of Babydoll Kiss & Blush products which are meant for your lips as well as your cheeks. What definitely intrigued me was the consistency of this product, so I decided on purchasing two shades.

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Neutral Face for Saturday Morning

makeup July 05, 2014

Good morning! I'm at work for a few hours this grey and rainy Saturday morning and I thought I'd share my neutral makeup. This look is perfect for every day, for work, etc.

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