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Salem, Massachusetts
“You sure you want to go to Salem?” Matt asks me, staring at my all-white Padmé Amidala outfit and then giving a pointed nod at the downpour outside. I clutch my cape-blanket closer to my chest and nod resolutely. Halloween awaits us on this chilly Saturday night.
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Moments of Bravery
I’d like to give a warm and sincere thank-you to all my new (and not-so-new) readers as I transition into a new blogging sphere! Thank you for your support. If you’re new to this space, hi, hello! I’m Elise, a twenty-seven-year-old Nashville-based lawyer with a heart for serving others. If you read my Instagram bio (which my beloved millennial generation knows to be a definitive guide to a person’s essential self), you’ll encounter three descriptors: Advocate, Adventurer, Atrévete. [1] A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone that went a bit like this: Friend: I want to travel, but the whole idea of it makes me anxious. What if…
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Salt Lake City, Utah
How many of you are window seat travelers? If I don’t get a window seat, I am usually pretty petulant during the flight as a result. It may seem strange, but some of my favorite trip memories are getting that first astonishing glimpse at the place you’re visiting. I could spend (and have spent) hours watching landscapes change through a plane’s window. In fact, books are completely wasted on me during flights because I spend the whole time glued to the window. It’s such a grounding experience that gives you such a strong sense of where you’re headed. Ireland is bright green, dotted with farm animals and stone ruins; Phoenix…
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Concord, Massachusetts
Name something that’s spookier than Boston at Halloween. I dare you. In October, as the leaves started to change and a chill settled into the air, Matt and I did something we haven’t done since college: we took a trip to Boston with friends! My best friend Kelsey (of Kelsey Prater Photography) and her husband lived in Boston for a few years after college, and they know the city like the back of their hands. When Matt expressed a desire to go somewhere “that screams fall” for Halloween, Boston immediately came to mind, and the four of us whipped up this vacation. Together, we chose the absolutely cutest Airbnb in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a…
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Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona has the cutest nickname: “The West’s Most Western Town.” When you walk down its charming streets, peering into shops selling Native American artwork, prickly pear candy, and Pendleton blankets, you can’t help but feel like you’re halfway to being a cowgirl yourself. During our Labor Day weekend trip to Arizona, Matt and I spent an afternoon wandering through Old Town Scottsdale, popping our heads into art galleries and admiring turquoise necklaces for sale at each boutique. As the afternoon faded, we turned our sights a bit further south, to Phoenix, where we purchased two tickets to the Desert Botanical Gardens just as the sun started to dip below…
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Arizona Architecture: Taliesin West
Every great architect is – necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” Frank Lloyd Wright There are a lot of attractions in Phoenix, Arizona that vie for your time and attention—meandering through the Desert Botanic Gardens, shopping in Old Town Scottsdale, hiking around Camelback Mountain. If you’re taking a trip to Arizona, allow me to add something to your can’t-miss-list: a tour of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home, Taliesin West. Much like the Grand Canyon, Frank Lloyd Wright really needs no introduction. Even to readers who aren’t interested in architecture or design, the name will ring familiar,…
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Grand Canyon: South Rim
What makes you come alive? What satisfies you at the same time that it urges you to do more, feel more, be more? If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you probably know that I am driven by a lust for adventure, always chasing after those sterling, shining moments of beauty that you hold in your heart for the rest of your life. There’s nothing quite as soul-expanding as a trip to the Grand Canyon. The place itself needs no real introduction, but I’ll set the scene: Our Trip to the Grand Canyon Matt and I wake up to a scorcher of a Sunday in Carefree, Arizona, just…
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Sedona, Arizona
Sedona crackles with magic. You feel it as you cross into Red Rock territory, as you watch the sun paint masterpieces onto the ruddy sandstone formations. At full sun, the rocks glow brilliant orange; in the shadows of a sunset, they take on softer pink and purple hues.
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The Cliffs of Moher
Inconceivable! The Princess Bride On our final full day of our multi-country adventures through Spain and Ireland, we decided to soak up one more day on Ireland’s west coast rather than catching an early flight back to Dublin. It was an unusual Saturday morning in Ireland—the sun was already beating down on the coastal town, and the temperatures were climbing into the 80s. We headed into the city to do some exploring and ended up at the Galway Saturday Market, a street market and trading post that sits in the shadow of St. Nicholas’ Church. Matt, who had visited Galway before with our good friend Caitlan, remembered the market as the…
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Galway, Connemara, and Cong: Ireland’s West Coast
We arrived in Galway around midnight, after a whirlwind trip to Spain and a three-hour bus ride from Dublin. The sound of our suitcases rattling against the cobblestone streets sounded like gunshots in the quiet neighborhood where the bus station was, but as we passed into the main square towards our hotel, the noise from the bars began to drown out our little caravan. We checked into our hotel, right off Eyre Square, and collapsed in bed almost instantly. Before I closed my eyes, I told Matt how funny it was that this morning, we’d been lounging on a beach in Barcelona, and now we were sleeping next to a…
