New Beginnings!

Wow. I haven't written a blog post in so long, it almost feels exotic to be doing it now.
But this time, I didn't take a break from blogging for no good reason - like I usually do when my only excuse is that I simply lacked the motivation to write a post - no, this time it was because I moved to an entire new country - the Netherlands! The reason? I'm going to be studying at the UvA (University of Amsterdam) starting from next week! And I honestly can't tell you how excited I am to finally be going back to something like a daily routine by doing so. The gap year I took was an amazing experience, but I am almost certain this is going to be one, too!

But this post is not intended to be a story of what's going on in my personal life or of finding yourself,  "lifestyle" would be a better category because, as a proud owner of my very own, cute little place in one of the most vibrant and beautiful cities in the world (duh!), I almost feel obliged to show you what my studio apartment turned out to look like, now that it's all furnished and personalised!

A good 80% of what you're looking at is from IKEA, living very near one, it just came in handy to buy the furniture from them plus I love the DIY character of the Swedish furniture chain.
So that's what I've literally been spending days doing, just getting all the stuff from IKEA and then bringing it home to build it - so much fun but also incredibly tiring!

^ it's a lamp

The most important part is THE BED of course! My holy grail ~~

And looking at these pictures would you believe that it's the inside of a container?
Because it is! Because of the shortage of housing in Amsterdam, the city has come up with this innovative idea to create affordable housing space, especially for students.
I'm actually living on a campus with over 600 students all owning their own container-studio!
I was so amazed with how well isolated the container is, once you close the window you literally hear nothing of what's going on outside, I also love how light and friendly it is, mainly thanks to the big window, the parqueted floor and the white walls. And personally, I think I've made myself a cozy and cute little home :3

What do you think of my apartment in Amsterdam and what do you think of the container idea?

Let me know in the comments below and thank you for reading!

xx ♥️ Micky

"My Melbourne"

Opening my eyes to another day in Melbourne, my now official favourite place in the world, this morning I grunt, turn in bed and decide to sleep a little longer.
Rain. It's raining. And that happens to be a rare event here in Melbourne!

After finally having gathered enough power to get myself out of bed I immediately start packing.
I'm moving today! Another place, not far from where I've been living for the past few days, I'm gonna be living with a couple of friends I've made over the past weeks in Australia – it's funny how quick you can meet new people in a destination so far away from your original "home", but coming to speak of "home", I feel like Melbourne has grown more and more into such for me since I'm here.
It's no longer just "Melbourne", "Melbourne, the capital of the state Victoria" or "Melbourne, one of Australia's most favourite tourist destinations", no! – it's MY Melbourne now.

I find it really hard to describe my affinity for this place in words but never have I felt so content, settled and "home" before and I think for somebody as well-traveled as me, admitting this says quite a lot about this city!

I glance through my old apartment one last time before I take a deep breath and close the door behind me. This is it, new home I'm coming! And although I have already extended my stay, looking at the date on my phone or in my calendar kind of hurts me because it's a painful reminder that my time here is only temporary and will eventually come to an end. I don't want it to end. Not yet, and probably not on the day I will have to leave either.

And even on rainy days like this one, Melbourne still hasn't lost one bit of it's charme for me.

xx ♡ Micky

Perfection is OVERRATED

Perfectionism can be an amazing advantage but it can also be your downfall.

I used to want to be perfect. I used to look at celebrities and hate myself because I didn't look like them, because I wasn't as talented or simply because my life wasn't like theirs. 
I'm sure you can guess that I was very miserable. So miserable that it eventually ended up in an eating disorder that I'm still struggling with even today.
 
I won't go into long details, but I felt compelled to write this blog post as encouragement to anyone out there that might be feeling like they're not good enough. Too often do we pick ourselves apart and over criticize ourselves. Society has set its standards so high that they're pretty much unattainable.
 
Everyone has flaws. Those flaws are what help to add to our uniqueness. In fact, it's often that what we think our biggest flaw is, may be the thing that someone else really adores about us. That's why embracing them is important. Another important thing to realize is that not everyone's definition and interpretation of perfection is going to be the same. Which makes it even harder to be exactly that; perfect. 

I'm not saying that perfection is a bad thing. I just feel like instead of striving to be something that is pretty much impossible, we should strive to the best that we can be. Your most perfect self, if you want. People will probably disagree, but I think that striving for perfection in any aspect is basically setting ourselves up for failure. There are SO many people out there that are damn near to killing themselves to look like a distorted image of a celebrity that we see on TV. Kids getting bullied because they don't have the top name brand clothes or just don't fit into the other children's closed-minded idea of what's "normal".
 
At the end of the day, no one is perfect because perfection is an illusion. So if you feel like you need to be perfect, do it on your own terms. Be your own version of it. Not what someone else tells you it is. Be who you are. Own your flaws. Flaunt them. Don't apologize for being yourself. And don't ever be ashamed to be you because guess what? There's no one else on the planet that can do it better!

xx ♡ Micky 

The autumn blues and how to fight it

 The smell of rain and soil is in the air, sunsets look like paintings and the colorful leaves turn the world into a real existing impressionism. No doubt, autumn is a festival for our eyes, if only there wasn't this bad weather and the gloomy, short days!

If you live in a region where the seasonal changes are quite big, say Scandinavia or Canada you will most likely have heard of this or even experienced this yourself – autumn depression or "autumn blues", as experts like to call it, can have many symptoms that stress humans physically and mentally with the most common ones being mood swings, tiredness and sluggishness. 

Now to really fully fight or, in the best case, prevent any kind of depression you need to trigger the cause first, right? 

So why do so many people suffer from the autumn blues?

Well, with this kind of depression this has primarily turned out to be the lack of sunshine in our daily lives and the rapid change of it in comparison to the much brighter summer days.
Darkness in combination with bad weather reduce our body's production of serotonin, the 'happy homone' and could even trigger SAV (=seasonal affective disorder) leaving you really feeling even worse. This is also why autumn blues mostly affects people living in areas where this lack of sunshine becomes really obvious with the change of the seasons

Now what can you do against this?  
  
The first measure you can take against the autumn blues is, obviously, daylight: 

• Try to spend as much time outside as possible while the sun is still up, take a walk or go to jog in the park rather than the gym. According to neuroscientists the daylight, even on overcast days, is still 500-1000 times brighter outside than in your home, so this should already have a really positive effect on how you feel. 

• Of course you can also consider traveling to a warm and sunny country like Egypt, for instance, to soak up some sun. 

• However, if you don't have the time to do all this during day time, daylight lamps could be your salvation. These lamps are especially popular in Scandinavia where autumns and winters can be very gloomy, they are very bright and have a similar effect as daylight does. 

 Next to enough exposure to light and exercise, the right diet is also key to keep you feeling happy. Especially in the gloomier seasons you should pay more attention to what you eat because the lack of serotonin might make you crave serotonin-boosting carbs which can quickly make you gain weight if you aren't careful. 

• So instead of the usual pasta, rice & potatoes, try to switch to delicious pumpkin, sweet potatoes and swedes sometimes, these orange vegetables are all great sources of Vitamin C, antioxidants and fibre. 

•  Apples and pears might also help lighten up your mood on the darker days because they contain heart-healthy flavonoids and soluble fiber which helps reduce cholesterol and boosts digestion. 

• Of course you can also treat yourself with a piece of chocolate sometimes since this is known as a 'happy maker' as well. ;)

I wish you all the luck for fighting the depression this season and, honestly, if you do work against it using some of this advice, you should have some pretty good chances to win this fight! 

xx ♡ Micky

Veganism 2.0

Sooo, with the end of this month the end of my little vegan experiment has come and here are some of the experiences I made during this time.
It wasn't always easy to shop for groceries since you always have to keep a very close eye on the actual ingredients of that product, I noticed that 'traces of egg or milk' are literally contained in the most absurd groceries that you would never have guessed. However, I was also equally surprised at how some foods that I would have sworn contained milk or egg, don't. Did you for instance know that dark chocolate is often vegan? Most noodles you can buy in the supermarket also are vegan!
But don't be fooled here! When I did some research on vegan snacks that I could still eat in the beginning of my experiment I often ended up on websites praising 'Oreos' but when I actually went to the official Oreo website and checked the suitability in the FAQ it was strongly pointed out that it wasn't suitable for vegans... shame!
Anyways I didn't give up, especially since I'm not really a fan of salty snacks, which are vegan most of the time btw., and after a while I found that there are actually vegan substitutes to almost any snack you could think of. 
There is even a 100% vegan chocolate made with soy milk and since I'm an absolute chocolate lover I decided to try two of those soy milk chocolate brands out..

The vego bar was one of the bars I tried together with a bar by Cuor Di Soja chocolate.

These chocolates, however, didn't really have me convinced - they were more brittle and really tasted different from the usual chocolate. They did the job to stop my cravings for chocolate though so I think, if you just need a piece of chocolate once in a while and as long as you don't love it absolutely passionately, these chocolate substitutes will do.

The raspberry snack was my favorite here.

Another tasty snack to replace jelly babies, were those dried pieces of fruit for me - they're healthier than their non-vegan alternative and, quite frankly, they taste way better and more intensive!

I have also tried vegan cheese! One pizza topping cheese and one with peppers that you could eat right away.

The vegan cheese I loved so much was the pepper one by violife.

The pizza topping, didn't really melt in the oven and tasted a little too sweet to really confuse it with the actual cheese. The normal vegan pepper cheese was great, though & I ended up absolutely loving it (which is weird because I'm usually not really a big fan of cheese)!

The most important main-meal vegan substitute turned out to be tofu and of course I was already familiar with this since, as a vegetarian, this is something I like to have on my plate here and then, too. I actually came across a lot of tasty and quick tofu recipes in my time as a vegetarian that I really loved so I might be publishing a post about my favorite tofu-recipes on here very soon. ;)

Although these are all great snack- & food substitutes my ultimate lifesaver during this month was Soya for sure! The milk and dairy products that you can get from this bean are all 100% vegan and, since I couldn't properly start into the day without my müsli or a tasty yoghurt, Soya products were definitely a must for me here! 

My favorite brand for Soya products is definitely Alpro.

For those who, like me, didn't quite make friends with the natural taste of the soy milk, there are different taste variations such as coconut and almond - I LOVE the coconut flavored one & the vanilla flavored soy yoghurt to which I like to add some fresh berries, too!
So healthy and so delicious!

So if you are really trying, it's nowadays not hard at all anymore to find vegan replacements to your ordinary foods with many of them tasting really good and authentic, too! Eating out in restaurants hasn't been a big problem either since I was usually simply able to order vegetarian dishes without the cheese or other dairy or egg ingredients and whenever this wasn't possible you could always still order a tasty salad!

Apart from the obvious changes in my diet, however, I honestly didn't notice much of a difference – Quite frankly, I was expecting I would feel a lot healthier but maybe I didn't notice a difference here because I've already been a vegetarian, so already been living pretty healthy before.. 
Oh, I didn't lose any weight either btw. not like that has been my intention but it would have been a nice extra, too! I did notice my skin becoming better, though! It seems to be more bright and there are less impurities! 
Maybe I should have done the vegan experiment for a longer period of time to notice more of an effect or maybe the improvement of my skin was the only thing I would have noticed even then... 

Anyways it was definitely worth the experience! But I am also happy it has ended now and I can go back to my delicious dairy yoghurts & actual chocolate of all kinds but one thing I will definitely keep in my food repertoire is the delicious coconut flavored soya milk for sure!  

Are you vegan or have you tried it before? 

What were the changes you noticed? 

xx ♡ Micky

Veganism

Ok, so I'm planning on starting a little experiment very soon..
After having integrated the vegetarian lifestyle for about 6 years now I actually think it is time to conquer new frontiers. I feel like after all these years of eating veggie, I've just become too convenient in my eating habits - and admittedly they are still not always healthy - that it's time for a change. 
I decided to go vegan because, well, vegan food is very healthy and sooo delicious! 
– also a little out of curiosity..  
I don't know how hard it will be for me to eat vegan only and for how long I will be able to keep up with a vegan diet - I also wanna watch the effects it will have on my health so I'm intending on starting a little experiment of only eating vegan for the whole month of August. 
By the end of August I will then post another follow-up post on my experiences with veganism. 
My expectations however so far are pretty positive. I know it won't be easy for me though, especially since I tend to be quite a yoghurt- and chocolate-addict so I think dairy products will definitely be the hardest to cut out of my daily diet but I will have to find the soya replacements and honestly some of them aren't even that bad.
For information, tips and food for thought I visited vegansociety.com , a website all about veganism. I especially liked their page to why go vegan? where they are stating some interesting information about the benefits of going vegan, so check it out if you're also interested in trying out the vegan lifestyle!
I think this is going to be very interesting and I'm actually intending on including some of my favorite vegan recipes by the end of August, too.
I'm glad I now have something to look forward to for the beginning of next month. :)

Are you vegan or have you ever tried being vegan for a while? 

What were your experiences? 

P.S. I'm going to be in Switzerland from tomorrow until the 2nd or 3rd of August so I'm uploading this a little early but I'm still trying to stay as active as I can on here during this time. 

xx ♡ Micky

Letting go of negative relationships

Since this vacation started I've just surprisingly noticed how good and balanced I finally feel again. 
For a while I thought it was just the fact that there is much less stress in my life at the moment and surely that will have been one factor but another, more interesting point I've noticed is that I stopped worrying about the negative people in my life so much. I'm not gonna lie about it, I've spent the past months surrounded by some really egocentric and narcissistic people and I'm pretty sure them being out of my life is one of the reason for me feeling so much better. . .

"Human beings are social creatures. We are social not just in the trivial sense that we like company and not just in the obvious sense that we each depend on others. We are social in a more elemental way: simply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people." - Atul Gawande

Like you just have read in the quote above from Atul Gawande we all know we are social creatures and we need each other. We need relationships. Unfortunately no matter how much you want them to work, some relationships just don’t... Relationships can be real obstacles to a happy life. I've found some people I've encountered in the past (especially ones that turned into friends) to be surprisingly bad for me and my self confidence. I'm sure we've all known this one person that secretly hated us for no apparent reason at all and constantly tried to make us feel self-conscious by talking us down. 

Is a relationship of any kind filled with negativity or does it trigger you in some way? 
If, then you should consider to let this relationship go.

In a romantic relationship you can come to a point at which you have to think about whether you should continue or end the relationship. But ending non-romantic relationships isn’t something we think about that often.

There’s nothing easy about letting go of a relationship. However, getting rid of negative or triggering influences is crucial for living a happy life.

Here are some tips if you might find yourself facing an unhealthy relationship to someone:

#1 Create some space

By distancing yourself from a negative person in your life you can easily find out if they are really the reason for your unhappiness. If you notice you feel a lot better whenever a specific person isn't around, you can be pretty safe so say that this person is impacting your life negatively! 

#2 Be honest but realistic 
Try, if possible, to be honest with the other person. If there is something that really bothers you about them but you suspect they might be doing it unintentionally, just tell them about it.

#3 Celebrate the positive
Positive influences can make it easier to let go of the negative ones. So if you have just decided to distance yourself from a friend who had a negative impact on an area of your life, try spending more time with people that make you feel better.

#4 Focus on yourself 

 I've found this pretty important; The more you love, care and respect yourself the easier it will be to cope with letting go of someone. If you don't respect yourself, how do you expect other people to do so? 

I believe life is a journey and we are going to encounter all sorts of people on our way but in order to be perfectly happy we need to ensure that only the positive ones stay in our lives!

 I hope this entry was helpful for some of you :)

xx ♡ Micky

Feeling down? Here's 5 ways to use body language to make yourself feel great!

We all have those days, when you just feel like staying in bed all day with internet connection and food. Social interactions? No, thanks! You feel way too low to even fake the happiness and there's absolutely nothing you could do to change the way you feel today.. Wait - What? The title of this post is about how to make yourself feel better inaspects as simple as body language? Yes! And trust me, it's really simple! 

Need a quick pick-me-up? Skip the coffee, and instead, stand straighter, 
smile and even try imitating a cheerful walk to lift your spirits. 

So here are 5 easy ways to transform a 'using-bad-mood-as-an-opportunity-to-be-a-hermit' kind of day into a 'I-really-feel-like-going-out-today' kind of day! 

taken from:http://thespiritscience.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/happiness-is-a-butterfly.jpg

#1 

Increase Your Body Space

When you’re feeling nervous, uncertain and or afraid, you may find yourself crossing your arms or legs or may be putting your hands in front of our face or mouth. That’s called “body blocking,” and it’s a universal sign of discomfort, Carter says. To feel better, he advises flinging your limbs out and taking up more space. Making yourself and your space bigger conveys confidence, not just to those around you, but also to your brain.

#2
Walk like you mean it

Scientists at Canada’s Institute for Advanced Research had two groups of study participants walk on a treadmill, one with their shoulders slumped and with a slow gait, and the other in a more cheerful fashion. As they walked, the test subjects were shown a list of positive and negative words.
The depressed walkers recalled more negative words, while the cheerful walkers remembered the upbeat words on the list, suggesting that their body language during the test had affected their moods and memory. The lesson here? Lift your head and stand tall, and you may just see your spirits look up as well.  


#3
Flash those pearl whites!

You know the saying “If you fake it you can make it”? Well, it’s actually true when it comes to smiling. Since the 1970s, research has shown that even a manipulated smile can boost your mood. A genuine smile - one that involves both the mouth and the eyes - does all kinds of great things for you, like releasing endorphins into your bloodstream and boosting your immune system.
What’s more, researchers at the University of Kansas found that people who smile have better heart recovery rates after stressful events. So, if you find yourself in a stressful situation, a smile could just be what the doctor ordered.


#4
Pose it up

Try a power pose to restore your confidence. Either raise your arms in the victory pose or put your hands on your hips like Superman, and then hold for a few moments. “Power posing” can help reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels while increasing feel-good hormones.


#5

Laughter really is the best medicine

Laughter is a great mood booster—it allows your muscles to relax, improves blood sugar, and raises and then beneficially lowers blood pressure levels, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because laughing is a social thing (you’re 30 percent more likely to laugh with others than alone), it decreases isolation. But that laughter better be the real thing: It turns out that the brain can easily detect the difference between real and fake laughter.

You might find that some of these tips might work better than others on you but I can promise that you'll feel at least a little better if you try to integrate some of them in your daily routine. :)  

Keep smiling, it makes you look beautiful! 

xx  ♡ Micky

My personal Top 10 foods for healthy eating!

Recently, I have become more health conscious and decided to introduce new and healthier foods into my diet. Not because I'm trying to lose weight or anything, but because I want to take better care of my body, as a whole. There are some foods I have found to be very healthy, make me feel good, and taste good too. So, here are my top 10 foods for healthy eating.

1. Dark Leafy Greens

Leafy green vegetables tend to be low in fat, high in dietary fiber, and rich in folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium. This can help promote heart and bone health. I'm not a huge fan of green vegetables but I love taking leafy greens and incorporating them into smoothies with ice, some water, and fruit. It's healthy and simply tastes like whichever fruit I chose to use (such as bananas or strawberries).

2. Nuts

Natural, unsalted almonds and walnuts for instance make a great snack. Nuts are rich in vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and potassium. They can be great for weight maintenance. The fiber, protein and fat content of nuts means it only takes a handful to keep you feeling full so you won't have the urge to overeat. 

3. Watermelon

Watermelon is a perfect snack for those of you that are maintaining a 'calorie'-oriented diet since they are very low in calories and are even said to be "negative in calories" which basically means the body burns off more calories digesting them then they actually provide. And of course they are also perfect to keep you hydrated throughout the day.
I love to add some salt when I have them since this usually, believe it or not, adds to their sweet taste.  


4. Berries

Blueberries, strawberries, rasberries, and blackberries are delicious and they're also good for you. Berries are packed with antioxidants which can help protect your hair, skin, and prevent certain diseases.

5. Yogurt

Plain yogurt can be a very healthy snack. It contains probiotics which can aid in gastrointestinal health. It may even boost your immune system. I particularly like mine with some oats, fruit and syrup as a natural sweetener. 

6. Fish

Fish are high in protein and low in fats. However, some types of fish are high in Omega-3's which is known as the "good" fats. Omega-3 fatty acids can help maintain cardiovascular and neurological health. These types of fish would include salmon, sardines, tila pila, rainbow trout, or albacore tuna.

7. Pomegranate Seeds

These sweet seeds are loaded with Fiber, key vitamins and and minerals such as Potassium and Vitamin K and can even help your skin to look better and aid in overall making you look prettier and more refreshed! They are also high in phytochemicals that can help to prevent cancer and promote heart health.

8. Avocados

Avocados are rich in satisfied fats and are proven in one study to lower cholesterol levels by about 22%! Like pomegranate they can also help to dramatically reduce the risk for heart diseases.
Avocados are a food that I just love to eat pure - just cut them in half, remove the core, add some salt, pepper and lemon juice and eat the soft inside of the avocado with a spoon. Yum!
But for those of you who don't like them pure I have also found them to be very tasty with bread (I use wholegrain), for breakfast or brunch, for instance, or in a salad.

9. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is full of fiber which can be very beneficial to our health. Oatmeal can help in lowering "bad" cholesterol levels as well. This is one of my favourite food when I need an energy boost right after I get up. I love having them for breakfast, simply add milk and syrup, pop them in the microwave and put bananas (or berries) and or some nuts on top when it's ready. 

10. Dark Chocolate

I know, chocolate is typically not seen as a healthy food. However, this is one of those things where moderation is important. Natural, unrefined, and high quality dark chocolate in small amounts can actually be quite healthy. It's loaded with minerals and packed with antioxidants which can be very beneficial to the body.


Are you hungry, yet?  
These were my personal favourites for healthy eating and some yummy snack ideas. 
What are some foods you like to eat to stay healthy or give yourself an energy boost? 

xx ♡ Micky 

Long time no see!

Hello everybody, 

Phew, it's been a while.. But here we go again. Lot of things happened. Lot of travelling also, Amsterdam was amazing so I'm defo going to upload a blog post all about that soon! 

But first of all the most recent personal news, I finished all my exams and returned to Luxembourg for the summer. However I am still intending to do some work and travel during this time. I really wanna go to Canada or Australia since these are two countries I've always had an interest in and have never had the chance to go to.. 

It would be great to use the opportunities this summer gives me to travel 

and make some more great experiences living abroad. :) 

Another thing I really wanted to tell you that might be interesting for those of you with a tumblr account is, there's this really awesome website that offers free minimalist blog themes! They're awesome! I just updated my blog as well and this is what it looks like now: 

It just looks so much cleaner and organised (other than my life) now, I love it! 

The name of the website is Zen Themes & if you're also looking to 'minimalise' your tumblr you should definitely check them out! Hope this entry was helpful and keep looking forward my travel posts! 

xx ♡ Micky 

美拍！

美拍 (Meipai) is a new video editing app, 

or actually rather a 'social network' such as instagram but only for videos.

you might have heard of it already or seen videos 

that were created in meipai on your instagram or Facebook. 

so basically this network makes it really simple to edit your videos, 

trim them, apply filters and add music 

so they look really professional and cool when you're done!

I love this app and use it a lot which is also the main reason I want to recommend it. 

You can even fit the outlook of the video to your mood 

or the theme of the content so it can represent emotions

like happy, funny, angry, sad or send the viewer 

straight into a magic world like a fairy tale! (*^_^*)

since meipai is a chinese app the main option to register an account 

is via connecting it to your weibo but it also offers Facebook 

in case you don't have a weibo account (like me = =).

The videos you share in meipai are automatically saved to your phone 

from which you can post them to any other social platform you like, 

such as tumblr or instagram. 

The use of this app is really easy and fast and it allows you 

to straight away share created videos to chinese networks : 

WeChat, Qzone & Sina Weibo and of course Facebook 

The app itself works in a very similar way to instagram actually;

you can like & comment on posts of others, explore, follow & be followed 

and have a home timeline with posts of the people you follow. 

The only negative point I could find about it so far is that 

it limitates the lenght of the video to 10 seconds and the 'tips' for advice are in chinese haha 

but it really didn't bother me since the use of the app

 is really so simple so you won't need help for it. 

If you're interested, check it out here or download it straight from the app store 

These are some of my videos from Meipai: 

(quite stupid to be honest :p)

feel free to add me if you have meipai ～(´･ω･`)
『みみお姫様』

By The Way! - the Meipai equivalent for photos is called 

MeituPic and also offers many beautiful filters and is available in the app store as well. 

xx ♡ Micky

Do you like posting videos on social networks?