“This cannot be happening to me right now”, I murmured as I stared at the bumper to bumper traffic in front of me.

I had left my house three hours ahead of my flight time, how on earth was it possible that I was facing the reality of missing my flight to Ireland?

Because I’m Christena that’s why?

Between calling my mom in a panic, witnessing 3 accidents, and generally loosing my mind… I managed to make it onto my plane minutes before the door whooshed shut.

Special thanks to my sneakers for the support while sprinting through the airport and no thanks to the car in front of me for 3 hours, that played his rap music WAY TOO LOUDLY the entireeeee time.

After the nearly disastrous drive to the airport which, to be honest, isn’t all that disastrous when you look at the general theme of my life. I snuggled up in my first class seat bound for a girls trip in Ireland.

I have been to Ireland several times because… it’s the land of my people? Duh! Haha but this was the first time going for fun instead of with Delta. Together, with my four favorite ladies, we had a “Game of Thrones” tour scheduled for our first adventure.

To be honest, “Game of Thrones” isn’t exactly my thing considering it doesn’t have Audrey Hepburn, Joanna Gaines or a tutorial about fashion (generally my criteria for a good show AmIRight?)

But let me tell you, if you’re in Dublin, book the freaking tour! It’s an incredible incredible way to see vast amounts of the Irish countryside, Northern Ireland, National Forests, castles and houses Oh MY! 

The first few pictures are of Tollymore Forest Park, which looked more like a screensaver on a computer than real life. For my GOT peeps, it’s also where the first scene was filmed where apparently, some handsome guy on a horse rides through the snow. Did you know they had a medic on set because girls kept fainting?

Then we were off to Ward Castle Estate. AKA where my future home (below) is located.

Our last stop was “Inch Abbey” where some guy in GOT is crowned “King of the North”. Isn’t my description of the show eloquent? 😉

Our guide told everyone that it was mandatory to wear cloaks and wield period specific swords. Not that I complained all that much because essentially it was an excuse to play dress-up as an adult.

Ireland is truly magical. There were moments, walking through an almost completely silent forest, seeing the sunlight filter through the trees, that life seemed more like a dream than reality.

But while Ireland was/is magical, what is more magical is the friendship I have developed with these four beautiful ladies. Michigan has never been my forte and honestly I don’t know if it ever will be, but what has been my greatest joy about living in the Arctic is the light these ladies bring to my life.

There were brunches where we all oo’ed and aww’ed over a little Irish girl, we danced our hearts out to “Go Lassie Go”, had long conversations about the up’s and down’s of life and shared snacks on the long bus rides… they are memories I will forever cherish.

To be honest I always used to think you had to have friends that were similar to you in almost every way. However the older I get the more I appreciate the many differences I see in my friends, particularly these gorgeous lassies. We’re all from different walks of life, different style senses, different movie preferences and different tastes in men (Ha!), but oh is there so much we can learn from each other and it’s such a genuine honor to be surrounded by women in my life who will speak truth into my life, encourage me at my lowest and celebrate the highs.

Stay tuned for another Irish adventure where we all almost get blown off of a cliff.

XOXO,

Christena