Top *TOURISTY* things to do/see in NYC!

 Hey guys!

So continuing on with my series on my time spent in New York, I wanted to share with you a few of  my favourite quintessentially “touristy” things to do either when you first move over or if you’re just going on a vacation to the great city. Just a quick tip, personally I found that the longer I lived there, the less likely I became to go and see these undeniably must-see sites. Purely because you get so caught up with other things going on such as work, settling into your apartment and discovering other things in the vast areas of the city and other boroughs so I’d recommend if you move over on a graduate visa, try and see these sites as early as you can.
Let’s jump into it!

5) Brooklyn Bridge/DUMBO            

     

               

                  

What can I say? The views from the Brooklyn Bridge are second to none. I walked from the  Manhattan side over to Brooklyn and then spent some time wondering around the delightfully picturesque DUMBO area, which if you’re a fan of Gossip Girl like me, you’ll recognize as being an area for many scenes, and also the location of the Humphries apartment on the show (see picture above) There are also a number of stunning thrift stores within walking distance around the area which are in my opinion a must see even if you don’t buy anything, the vibe around the area is so chill. When you’re tired of walking around and in the mood for a snack I’d recommend checking out  the famous Grimaldi’s Pizzeria here located in a small spot right under the bridge, however give  yourself plenty of time as there is always a line to get in.    

4) Shopping in Macy’s/Herald Square

Unfortunately I don’t have any usable pictures of Macy’s or Herald Square which is weird considering I worked around the corner from there for almost  2 years but ANYWAY, this area is simply a Mecca for shopping lovers. The Macy’s in Herald Square is the flagship location of the chain and one of the largest department stores in the world. Even after living and working in New  York for a significant amount of time and visiting Macy’s frequently I still to this day don’t know my  way around the massive store. It takes up the whole block with an entire floor dedicated to beauty and skincare brands. You can literally pick up anything from a microwave to foundation in the superstore  so if shopping is your thing then I would really set aside a good bit of time to see every section OR have a well thought out plan of exactly what you want to buy and the brands you want to browse before going in as it can be very overwhelming. If you happen to be lucky enough to be visiting  around Christmas time they put on the most beautiful display in the front windows and the front hall of the beauty floor is decorated magnificently. Stepping outside then into Herald Square you have all   the you’d need such as Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21 and Sephora. The only thing that’s not there or in the close by area Times Square that I personally missed was Topshop, however the closest store still isn’t that far, located on 5th Avenue between 48th and 49th Street.

3) Coney Island  

 

So this is definitely more of a popular location in its peak Summertime season as the parks and rides  only open for June, July and August. However you can still visit the area off season, it’s just more of an eerie and ghostly experience as a result of the rides being turned off and the lack of people  walking around. Just be warned if you are there in the Summer, it gets crazy crowded and messy. So keep your friends and/or kids very close if you don’t want to lose them in a sea of hundreds of  tourists and holiday makers. 

2) Loeb Boathouse Central Park                

Central Park goes without saying as being one of the most famous tourist attractions and home to the most beautiful views the city has to offer. From the Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (pictured below) to the beautiful Bow Bridge in the Autumn, but my personal favourite site in the whole park is the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain and right across the water from there, the stunning Loeb Boathouse restaurant. This insanely popular dining spot gets extremely busy in the Summer and it’s  understandable why as you get a beautiful view of the water and everyone renting out the row boats while sipping on a glass of wine or your cocktail of choice. Now bare in mind, this place is pretty expensive but honestly, I think to experience one of the most incredible and relaxing, romantic settings in the city it’s a small price to pay, even if it’s just a once-off.

    

1) Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

   

            

Need I say anything else? The picture pretty much speaks for itself. The tree goes up usually some time around the last week in December until the first week in January and I know everyone tells you it’s amazing and a must-see, and honestly, it really is. I literally can’t put into words how beautifully  decorated this tree is and the amount of work that goes into the assembly and organization of it all. A picture really speaks a thousand words in this case and you’ll thoroughly enjoy the whole atmosphere of you happen to be in New York around this time. Just be aware, while the pictures are all lovely and serene looking, don’t be fooled into thinking there’s aren’t massive crowds of people lining up to get the same picture behind the scenes. Nonetheless the view and all around atmosphere is absolutely electric.

So there you have it, just a handful of some of the amazing sites NY has to offer, but simultaneously that are no stranger to a lot of hustle and bustle from the crowds that they attract. Please don’t let the long lines or crowds discourage you because the experiences and INSTA MOMENTS (lol) you gain from these are unmatched by any other city. In my next post I feel like I want to focus more on some slightly more intimate and perhaps less obviously “touristy” spots in the city because being crowded by a lot of people all the time just isn’t for everyone and if any place has something for everyone, it’s New York City.

Until then <3

Michelle xx

2 Years in NYC: Part Two

Hi!

Welcome back to the second part of my series on my time living in the greatest city in the world (in my opinion), New York City.
In this section I’m gonna focus more on securing an internship/work during your time on the j1 Graduate visa and supporting yourself while there.

With my particular sponsor, CIEE, you have 90 days to secure an internship, with an emphasis on the fact that it must be an internship and not a “job”. This internship must be related to your field of study or they would cancel your visa. Whether or not they are actually able to do that I’m not sure but the threat is enough to scare you. The trouble with securing an internship in the US, is that many of them are unpaid which makes living in New York almost impossible to do which is another reason I receommended having quite a bit of money saved before leaving home. If this is not an option for you then what many people end up doing is getting a part time job in a bar or restaurant to help support them financially throughout their time there.

Now TECHNICALLY you’re not supposed to get a job that is unapproved by your sponsor, however I know from personal experience and from the people I met while in New York that it is possible to get a part time job as long as you have a valid work visa and your sponsors don’t find out about your second job. I just personally think it’s impossible to work an unpaid internship in New York and have no other form of income, but whether or not you decide to get a bar job is compleftely up to you. I’d recommend using sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed and Go Abroad.com to
help narrow down your search for an internship but just keep in mind you’ll need to have patience. You might go on ten interviews and only hear back from one, but if you keep with it eventually something will work out for you.

As for my actual internship, after months of going on interviews and being told that a j1 visa was not favorable to hire from an employers point of view, I ended up getting a job at the Emerald Isle Immigration Center (Website here) in Woodside, Queens. It tied into my degree nicely as I had studied English and Irish and learned a lot about Irish immigration into the US at a very interesting time in US Political history, Trump’s Presidency. I’ll be honest it wasn’t an easy job to get and took a lot of perseverance and persuasion on my part to prove to them that I would be an asset to them considering my areas of study in college. That was definitely a hard time for me as I ended up having to spend the majority of my time working. I worked there 3 days a week, unpaid unfortunately, and so had to spend most of the rest of my time working in an Irish bar in midtown to cover my cost of living. However, that’s not to say you can’t make time to have fun because you definitely can if you’re organized enough, I just wasn’t LOL, but I really loved my bar job and made some of the best friends I’ve ever had there.

So that pretty much covers a lot of the more boring stuff behind going on the graduate visa. I’ll be covering tourist attractions, things to do and see, my favorite places and everything I’d recommend doing while over there in my next part that I’m most excited for! :)

Any questions just comment or tweet me @michelley_mc.

All my love
Michelle x

2 Years in NYC: Part One

Hello lovelies!

Like I said in my previous post I wanted to write an entire piece on my time spent in NYC (which is in no way intended to distract from the fact that I was MIA from here for the last 4 years). I’m going to have to do this in a few parts as I don’t want to leave any important information out but I also don’t want one post to be a thousand pages long. It really is the experience of a lifetime and I’d recommend for anyone that is able to go to seize the opportunity. You can always come home whenever you like if it turns out it isn’t your thing (which is highly doubtful) but I think it’s something everyone who is able to should try. Having said that, I will say it’s not cheap so I’d definitely recommend saving a bit beforehand to not only cover the cost of the visa and flights but to cover you for at least the first month of your stay as it can take some time to secure a job and accommodation when you first get over. So let’s get straight into it!

HOW DID I GET THERE?    

Shortly after graduating from the National University of Ireland, Galway with an Arts degree specializing in English and Irish, I was kind of at a crossroads in my life. At the time I was working as a retail artist for MAC Cosmetics in Brown Thomas, in Galway but I was hearing of a lot of my friends from my graduating class applying for the 1 year USA Graduate Visa Programme. This was intended for people who have graduated to, within a year of graduating, intern in their field of study in a place of their choice in the United States. New York is generally the most popular for people as there would be the most opportunities to find work but I know of people who picked  Chicago, Florida and San Diego, it’s really up to your own personal preference. While I LOVED my job at MAC, I felt I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend a year (which ended up becoming 2) in New York City. So, with a heavy heart but a lot of hope I left my job in Galway and packed my bags for the US.

SETTLING IN/FINDING ACCOMMODATION

Upon my arrival in JFK, I got straight into a cab to Sunnyside, Queens to stay with a very good friend of mine from college for a while. Now, I’m not gonna lie, finding accommodation without a previous credit score or a US Guarantor was very difficult. I had joined a Facebook group (I think it was J1 Graduate NY) and ended up meeting a girl who was also looking for a roommate and after countless viewings and near selling our souls to the devil for shelter, we were able to convince a landlord we got in contact with from Craigslist to let us rent the apartment above his mothers in a 2 story house. To avoid the hassle we had to go through, I would recommend looking for a room to rent rather than trying to lease a whole apartment, especially if it is your first time renting in the city. Also, if you end up going through a broker to find a place, please keep in mind most of these charge a fee to find housing which can start at anything from $600 per person onwards, plus whatever the rent of the place is, a deposit and the first couple of months rent if you do not have a US Guarantor or credit history. This is why I recommended to have saved quite a bit before going over as you can end up paying up to $2000 upfront for an apartment.   

That’s it for this post but here are a couple of links that you can use to get information on the visa and also some sites I used to find accommodation over the 2 years. In my next post I’ll focus more on securing an internship and supporting yourself throughout the duration of your time in the States.

Useful Information

Starting an application

https://newyork.craigslist.org/i/apartments

https://www.spareroom.com/newyork

Until next time!

Michelle xo

Where did the time go??

HORRIFIED with myself that I haven’t posted since creating this blog 4 years ago. I guess with school and college and everything I really just lost the passion for it and I’m eager to get it going again. I also recently moved back to Ireland after living in the beautiful NYC for 2 amazing years and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

Detailed post to follow!! :)

Until then <3

Makeup Geek Cosmetics Haul!

Hey everyone!

So I finally got my Makeup Geek delivery earlier this week and was so happy with it :D I posted this photo on my Instagram (michellemc_mua) a couple of days ago and got such a good response I thought I would share what I got, what I think of the products and my overall experience with the brand.

 
Isn't the personalized thank you card so cute?!

The company ships internationally and so to Ireland, the delivery took about 3 to 4 weeks which is totally understandable. Delivery was about $16 but what I didn't expect was the added VAT fee that they collected upon delivery. I spent roughly $170 (I know, it's a sickness I can't help myself) and got charged a VAT of €30 which sucks BUT needless to say I got over it very quickly.


I got 14 eye shadows and 4 blushes so this is what the completed palette looks like now.

                                             With Flash

                                         Without Flash

I have to say I am 100% satisfied with the quality of these products. They're very pigmented and so easy to blend. Not to mention how gorgeous the colours are! They're almost the exact same as MAC eye shadows, the only difference being that they're literally half the price, and if you're converting into €'s you probably save even more. Either way it's a steal for such high end, great products!

Take a look at some of the swatches below and bare in mind, this is with only one swipe from the pan! It really shows you how pigmented these shadows and blushes are!

                                            L-R Peach Smoothie, Ice-Queen, Shimma Shimma

                                           L-R Burlesque, Bitten, Cupcake, Unexpected

                                       L-R Creme Brulee, Frappe, Cocoa Bear, Chickadee

                                      L-R Mango Tango, Envy, Corrupt.

That's all of the eye shadows that I got and can I just say, corrupt, the black shadow is probably the easiest of all the black eye shadows I've ever used to work with. Just putting that out there.

So finally, here are the blushes that I got.

                                                L-R Bliss, Romance, Summer Fling, Infatuation

One thing I want to mention is that in the pan, Bliss and Romance look very similar but honestly they are so different. Romance has a little bit of shimmer in it while Bliss is completely matte so its down to your personal preference, if you like shimmer or matte blushes as to which one is better to get.

As far as my favourite out of the lot goes, I cannot pick! They're all amazing and all worth getting if you're a total makeup junkie like me :)

I hope you enjoyed and if you are thinking of ordering off the website I hope this helps you with your decision making. :)

                                                                          ♥

Welcome to Amethyst Amour!!

Lets just get it out of the way first.. What does amethyst even mean? Well, it's a really gorgeous purple crystal and I love purple so I decided to incorporate it in when I was thinking about the name I would make for my blog, naturally. Also, I love French language so that was just a must! :)

Pretty, right?? Anyway I wanted to just give you a quick intro to the blog, a bit about myself and what you can expect to see here :)

First off, I am currently a student of NUI Galway in my final year studying Arts with English and Irish. I am also a qualified Makeup Artist and honestly, makeup is my baby. It is my love, my passion, my addiction and to be quite honest.. the reason I'm so broke.

I love to write, When I was younger I used to write little 1 page short stories about God knows what! If only I could find the Tesco copybook I used to record them all, it would be entertaining to read. So as I'm going to be finishing college soon I decided to start up this blog to keep me busy and share my own makeup tips and tricks and overall things I am passionate about. Not only that but I think it's a great way to improve my writing skills especially since I'm studying English and am considering doing a Postgrad in Journalism, there's no harm in practicing!

Primarily I will probably write about makeup, such as tricks that I've learned, Makeup of the day, Celebrity inspired looks, Favourite products, reviews etc BUT that's not all. I'll definitely be posting other beauty and lifestyle related posts and all that fun stuff. I would love to say I can write about my own homemade recipes but unfortunately, I'm no Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen, I'm not even a Rachel from Friends type of cook, remember the episode when she made the trifle? "It tastes like feet"

Oh yeah, I'm obsessed with Friends!

                                                  NBC / Via lackofgravitation.tumblr.com

No that is literally me. 

It's short and sweet but I don't wanna bore you with details lets just jump straight in and I hope you enjoy it! Here's to an exciting, fun and hopefully informative and helpful blog! :)

Michelle xoxo

♥