Author Archives: Jessica

Seattle Weekender

Posted on by under United States, Washington

Lake of the Angels

Two and a half years ago, when the first of our American-crew left Ireland we made a promise to meet up once a year, no matter where in the world we happened to be. Last year, everyone traveled for our wedding, which is a pretty solid reason for a reunion. This year, three of us, Ashley, Lindsey and I managed to find a weekend that worked for us to all visit Seattle, where Lindsey is attending medical school. I’m so thankful to have these women in my life, they feel more akin to sisters, and no matter the time or distance, we always fall immediately back into the ease of great friendship. It is hard to see them, because then I’m reminded what I’m missing most of my year.  Continue reading →

A Mini-Southern Road Trip: Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta

Posted on by under Georgia, USA

L1030616

The one and only time either of us have been to the south was in 2011 when our flight was grounded in Atlanta due to a freak winter storm. We braved the ice and took the tram into the city to stay in a hotel. That was, until now, our only exposure. We’d always wanted to do a southern road trip through the US, but it always ranked pretty low on our list compared to other trips. So when Alex found out he’d be at Emory for the month we jumped on the opportunity to go on a mini-road trip, and tie it in with our 1-year anniversary. Of course, we have our…perceptions of the south, which we knew were likely very far from accurate. So flew from Cleveland to Charleston excited for our first southern experience.

Continue reading →

Cleveland: Final Notes

Posted on by under Ohio, United States

11800303_952093809388_310945763253951077_n

Cleveland: not so bad.

While I certainly am not necessarily interested in moving here permanently (or even more than a few months), partially due to the fact that their winters sound horrendous, Cleveland is not remotely as terrible as a lot of people told us it would be. Or in the case of one friend, who just laughed hysterically when we told her we’d be here for a month, it was not hilariously awful. It was in fact, perfectly pleasant. Perhaps a bit…vanilla at times, it was by no means an unpleasant stay. Which, I’m counting as a win.

Continue reading →

On Learning to Run

Posted on by under Running, United States

It seems like everyone is a runner these days. And not just running a few times of week for health, but training for their third marathon, or an ultra, or a triathlon.  My social media is littered with photos of people training for serious races, just this morning I saw an 18-mile post and a trail run from a future ultra-runner (current multi-marathoner).  And those are just the one’s posting on social media, I know there are plenty more quietly putting in the miles and not announcing it. Running really is trendy right now. Which, I should first point out, means I clearly know some awesome individuals killing it in the athletic department. But also as a result, prior to starting to run I was a bit intimidated by these athletes. In my first few weeks of running I was just excited to break a 30min 5k. And while I’m still many months away from being able to run something like a marathon (if I decide I want to do that), I’m finally feeling like a legitimate runner. I drank the kool-aid and am fully infatuated with my new sport. Continue reading →