Month: January 2019

Costa Rica has taught me that a simple life can be a good life. You don’t need a lot to be happy.

So in 2019 I really want to focus on the things that make me happy, bring me joy and spend less time on the negative.

To spend less time focusing on what others have that I don’t.

As an Aries it’s hard to think that life isn’t a competition. I am constantly reminding myself to appreciate all I have – the family, the friends, the love that fills me up and propels me forward. That that is really special and I am so lucky.

This trip couldn’t have come at the more perfect time. I hope to someday visit Costa Rica again and I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store.

“most importantly love

like it’s the only thing you know how

at the end of the day all this

means nothing

this page

where you’re sitting

your degree

your job

the money

nothing even matters

except love and human connection

who you loved

and how deeply you loved them

how you touched the people around you

and how much you gave them”

-rupi kaur

 

xx
michelle

Our final full day in Tamarindo was spent on a sunset cruise. Don’t let the name of the cruise fool you it was actually more like an afternoon cruise considering it started at 1pm.

We were transported from the beach to our boat to start our afternoon. When we arrived at the boat I was a bit shocked, I thought we’d be cruising on a catamaran but it turned out to be a true sailboat.

When we got on board all of my bean bag chair dreams came true. My co-workers know that all I’ve ever wanted for the office is a bean bag chair. The entire boat was lined with bean bag chairs for lounging.

We settled in and were immediately served fresh fruit juice yum! Once abroad we set sail. They trip included live music on the boat, an open bar and 5 gourmet courses.

Courses:

1. fresh green salad
2. salmon crustini
3. tropical ceviche
4. thai coconut curry
5. churro cake

A few hours in we anchored by a beach, “playa huevo,” (egg beach – I think because it was shaped like an egg) only reachable by boat and had time to swim around and do some snorkeling.

I immediately jumped in and headed for the beach, once there I searched around for some good shells and even found a piece of coral. From there my plan was a swim over to the snorkeling area.

For those of you that don’t know me, my greatest fear in life is of fish. Especially being in the same body of water as them where they might touch or bite me. I kept trying to hype myself up to actually do it but upon the first sign of something that looked like a fish I freaked out, had a mini panic attack and high tailed it back to the boat. So snorkeling is still a work in process for me.

After our swim we headed back and it was finally time to enjoy the sunset. It was a such a pretty one too with not really a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect way to end our time in Tamarindo and my trip as a whole.

xx

michelle

hello bean bags…

the owners of the boat adopted/found/rescued this cute little kitten who’s name is kitty…

our live entertainment…

We reached Tamarindo just in time for lunch. Stopping at this outdoor market with a bunch of different food vendors. Chicago friends, it was very much like the French Market or even the Wells St Market expect for the fact that is was all outdoors (I loved the indoor/outdoor aspect of virtually everything in Costa Rica).

lunch spot…

Bonus – I made a lizard friend, ok jk not really cause he ran away when I tried to get close but it still counts right?

my lizard friend…

After our lunch we headed to our airbnb and had a bit of a mix up that resulted in us almost lodging in the wrong complex. Once we got to our actual airbnb we dropped our stuff and walked down to the beach for a relaxing afternoon by the water.

Of course the child in me came out to play and I had to go crashing through the waves a few time in the water before looking around the beach for some cute seashells to bring home (free souvenirs!!).

Once I’d had enough of that I settled in and got some reading done while enjoying the passerby and start of the sunset. It was so pretty, I always forget how much I love watching the sunset on the beach and it’s a shame I don’t get to do it in my every day life. I suppose I could watch for lake Michigan but it’s just not the same.*

*Correction, the sun does not set over lake Michigan in Illinois so I actually can’t even watch it at home. Thanks for reminding me mom, oops!

From there we headed back to the airbnb to shower and relax before dinner.

Dinner was at an indoor/outdoor sushi club and was amazing. It reminded me of a tiki bar. Lots of much needed girl chat and a cute kitten roaming the restaurant filled the rest of the evening. Was definitely feeling all the feels.

xx

michelle

some beach pics…

 

Before I get started with this post I’ve got a funny story to share. I was at lunch with my girlfriends from study abroad and we were talking about how I’ve started blogging about my travels again. My one friend says “I saw that, I get the notifications on Twitter” and I was like “Uh, I don’t have a Twitter,” idk how but my blog posts somehow find there way to Twitter… Should I be concerned? Probably. Do I care? Not at all.

Anyways back to Costa Rica. After our few days in Arenal we packed up and headed for the beach, yay! I think I mentioned this but if not I’ll mention it again. My friend has a car so we were able to drive from place to place which was nice because we didn’t have to follow a set timeline and could go as we please.

The drive from Arenal to Tamarindo was about 4 hours and it did not feel like four hours because the scenery was just that beautiful. The drive takes you north of Arenal and then West towards the Pacific ocean. Just north of Arenal is a man made lake that I think (don’t quote me) generates 46% of the electricity for all of Costa Rica. This lake is stunning and about an hour to an hour and a half of the drive was spent around the perimeter. It was so picturesque. At a certain point I made my friend pull over so I could get out of the car to take some photos (if you know me, this should not come as a surprise, ha!).

It’s was probably one of the best road trips I’ve been on in a long time. The windows were down, the music was going and the wind was whipping through our hair. It felt so easy and so pure. In those moments I truly felt free. Like I could do absolutely anything and everything.

xx

michelle

some photos from the drive…

photos from the spot I made my friend pull over…

for a brief time we were driving behind a truck full of cows, the one was just staring straight at us, you can see in the photo below it was so cute. but, it made us sad to see that all the cows were crammed into the truck with nothing to keep them from falling or crashing into one another. it was hard to watch them struggling to stay afoot amid the sharp curves in the road.