Top 18 Moments of 2018
It’s that time of year again where we’re plump full of love from our families and friends, regretting the second and third plates of food at every Christmas gathering we had to attend, and getting inundated with everyone’s “Best 9 of 2018” on Instagram. It’s the end of the year, which means it’s time to reflect on the best memories from the past twelve months and look forward to fresh beginnings in the new year. For Chris and me, this year is special in that it was our first full year living in Dublin, Ireland. It has brought a lot of ups and downs, but we are thankful for every second. In honor of those good times, here are our Top 18 Moments of 2018. Enjoy!
18. CELEBRATING MY 30TH BIRTHDAY IN COPENHAGEN
At the beginning of January this year, I hit the milestone of turning 30 years old. I was incredibly fortunate and got to celebrate it not only in one of Europe’s greatest cities, but with my husband, best friends David and Hanna, who flew in from NYC and Amsterdam respectively, and new friend Nico, who flew in from Germany. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off this new decade.
On top of the Round Tower overlooking all of Copenhagen.
17. VISITING STONEHENGE
Chris and I traveled to London back in February for a long weekend to explore the city and to check-off a bucket list item in seeing Stonehenge. Located about an hour and a half outside of London in the countryside is this ancient wonder and it is totally worth the visit. Some people find it underwhelming, but for us, Stonehenge was as mindblowing as scientists have found for centuries.
16. CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK’S DAY IN DUBLIN
What better place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day than in Ireland! Chris, best friend Jeremy, who flew all the way in from Chicago, and I were very excited to see how Dublin whoops it up on the National Holiday. It turns out Americans have made St. Patrick’s bigger, flashier, and rowdier. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by that, right? Don’t get me wrong, the city was alive and crazy, but mostly because of tourists. We still had a blast, kept warm with Irish whiskey, and cheered on the Irish Rugby team, who defeated rivals England, to win the Six Nations Cup.
On our way to the parade on O’Connell Street!
15. HIKING GLENDALOUGH
One of my and Chris’ favorite places in Ireland is Wicklow. Glendalough [pronouched Glen-duh-lock] National Park is located in County Wicklow just an hour’s drive South of Dublin and is stunningly beautiful. Back in March, Chris and I rented a car and drove down ourselves with Hugo and hiked the entire upper pass. We hiked through pine forests turned barron snow land, descended boulder by boulder, and ended with walking along the upper lake. It was not only a gorgeous way to spend a day, but a physical accomplishment.
14. SEEING THE TULIPS IN AMSTERDAM
Another item on our bucket list was to see the fields of tulips in bloom in The Netherlands. In April, Chris and I visited Hanna in Amsterdam and were able to go outside of the city to see the fields upon fields of tulips. Seeing all the different colors was the perfect way to kick of Spring!
13. VISITING STOCKHOLM & HELSINKI
We rounded out our “Scandanavian Tour” by checking off the capital cities of Sweden and Finland in early May. My favorite part of Stockholm was riding around on the subway to see all the different subway station art and the best part about Helsinki was taking part in a traditional Finnish sauna and taking a bone-chilling dip in the Baltic Sea.
Allas Pools & Sauna
12. VISITING ISTANBUL
Our June visit to Istanbul is in our Top 5 favorite trips of all time. The history, architecture, and food make the capital city of Turkey a must-see. We have so many fond memories from our jam-packed stay and hope to return someday. For now, we enjoy a touch of Turkey with the two rugs and beautiful lamps we bought on our trip.
![Promenade between the Blue Mosque [pictured] and the Hagia Sophia.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596e936b725e25fb89adced5/1546205975440-8J5442HMGJWO9DQ8VVB5/DSC03198.jpg)
Promenade between the Blue Mosque [pictured] and the Hagia Sophia.
11. VISITING KRAKÓW
When Chris’ brother, Shawn, visited us for a couple weeks in July, he wanted to travel to Poland to get a touch of WWII history. We found ourselves in the former Polish capital city of Kraków admiring the medieval architecture, dining on pierogis and cheap beer, and getting a sombering guided tour of Auschwitz. I would have loved to spend a little more time in Kraków, and like Istanbul, hope to make it back again some day.
In front of Wawel Castle
10. FILMING HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL
SURPRISE! Chris and I got the opportunity to film an episode for House Hunters International at the beginning of August! We have had to keep it under wraps since filming, but now that our episode will be airing shortly, the cat is out of the bag. Our episode is titled “The Liffey Runs Through It” and if you are in the States, it premieres on Wednesday, January 9th at 9:30 CST on HGTV. The fact that I’m going to be on the same network as Joanna and Chip Gaines warms my heart. There is a high probability that I am going to look like a snot who doesn’t care about money and Chris may or may not look like a cheapo… lol we are going to look like such dorks. So please be kind and laugh along with us, not at us. :)
Our crew was the best!
9. SEEING HAMILTON IN LONDON
One of the hottest tickets on Broadway made its way across the pond to the Victoria Theatre in London and there was no way Chris and I were going to miss it. What made the experience 100x better was that we were able to take Chris’ parents to the show to help them celebrate their 40th Wedding Annivesary. It was so fun to get dressed up, have dinner in London, and see the incredible performance by the Hamilon cast. The soundtrack for the show has since made my top played list on Spotify.
8. VISITING FRIENDS AROUND EUROPE
One of the greatest benefits of living in Ireland is getting to meet up with friends elsewhere in Europe! In September, I was able to meet up with Jeremy in Paris for a long weekend, and more recently at the beginning of December, I flew back over to Amsterdam to hang out with Hanna for a long weekend. Cheap flights and lots of laugh are a recipe for a great time.
7. FIRST WEDDING ANNIVESARY
Chris and I had originally planned on heading back to Bavaria to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, but after some late planning and an unwillingness to pay $300+ to fly to Münich, we went to the next best place that has mountains and beer — Switzerland. We started our visit with a day trip to the 6th smallest country in the world, Liechtenstein and ended it with hiking the Swiss Alps in the Jungfrau Region. It was by far one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited and was the perfect place to celebrate our first year of marriage. Oh and we summited our first mountain together.
6. GETTING OUR 2ND FRENCHIE VICTOR
After a lot of deliberation, Chris and I decided to get a second fur baby and little brother for Hugo. Since I’m not working and able to take care of the boys, we thought it was the perfect time to get our second Frenchie. Enter Victor. And yes, the two of them are now named for French novelist and dramatist Victor Hugo. :) Victor is the happiest and most fearless little guy and has come into our family with a bang.
5. CHRIS’ SURPRISE BIRTHDAY TRIP TO AMALFI
Since we spent Chris’ 30th Birthday in Dublin last year, I thought I would surprise him with a weekend getaway somewhere warm and relaxing, which led me to the Amalfi Coast of Italy since not many places in Europe are still too warm in late October. He knew we were going on a trip, but had no idea where until the day we left. We rarely take vacations where we actually get to relax, so having two full days on the Mediterranean eating all the Italian food and drinking all the Italian wine made for one incredible birthday weekend.
4. THANKSGIVING IN BUDAPEST
There are two American holidays that are particularly hard to be away for: the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. Last year, we went to Oslo over Thanksgiving, which was a great distraction from not being with our families eating turkey, gravy, and stuffing. We had such a good time that we thought we’d get out of town again over Turkey Day. This year, we flew to Budapest, Hungary to take in the sites and peruse the Christmas markets. Goulash isn’t turkey or stuffing, but it made for a pretty okay holiday. :) Stay tuned because my post about all things Budapest is coming soon!
The famous Chain Bridge connecting Buda with Pest.
3. GROWING FRENCHIES & ROSÉ
What started as just a way to keep our friends and families in-the-know of what we are up to while living in Ireland has turned into something that I actually really enjoy. As hard as it is some days to not work, getting to travel around Europe and write about those experiences has given me purpose and a creative outlet. I hope you all have been enjoying reading as much as I love writing and sharing. The most humbling part of this whole blog is seeing how far and wide my posts have reached. These posts have graced people’s screens in 40 different countries around the world and that is truly one of the coolest feelings ever. So thank you to everyone who has read and shared my posts — it means a whole lot. Cheers to its continued growth!
2. HOSTING FRIENDS & FAMILY IN IRELAND
Chris and I are so lucky because our family and friends are always up for an adventure. We had 18 people come to Dublin this last year to visit us. We were fortunate enough to be able to host most everyone, which made it so easy to show them around to all our favorite places. We absolutely love living in Ireland, but one of the hardest part is being away everyone we love, so it meant the world to have people come from so far to experience our new home with us.
GOING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Coming in at #1 for the second year in a row is going home to Minnesota for the holidays. Since we are only in Ireland for two years, we have chosen not to go home very often since we want to make the most of our time here. It had been a full year since we had been home and it felt so good to be back. It was chaotic running around seeing as many people as we could and eating all the comfort food we missed, but it was worth all the exhaustion to connect with those we love most. And surprise! I went blonde!
Here's to 2018! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season with loved ones. Cheers to what 2019 will bring!
Until next time…
xo,
