tumblr?

dear readers.
i'm thinking of moving my blog over to tumblr...and for now i'm posting to both to see what i like best.

check out @ http://agirlwhohadalittlecurl.tumblr.com/

what do you think? i'm taking votes.

xo.
me

viva italia

after years of talking about visiting Italy, my mom and i are keeping our new tradition of being thankful for other countries and heading to ROME for thanksgiving!! this is kinda of a dream for both of us, i can’t wait to see the history there, is also too much to even wrap my head around…

the city with her will definitely be an adventure because we both have like zero sense of direction and don’t speak Italian except for my papa’s slang but i'll think we will do just fine. :) i'm more than happy to sit down eat some pizza and drink some red wine and stare at the italian men. viva italia!

octubre: october

the month of my birthday. i just realized i have spent every birthday for the last 31 years in new york state. now i'm seriously considering heading to CR for a long weekend. have i lost my mind? maybe.

but kristen, jenn and kim will be here and i could head down with them. jenn and i even have the same birthday, is that a sign or something? tickets are about $230. another sign? tbd.

kickin it in Connecticut.

i had a great girly weekend in suburbia with kerry and sasha. we went to the beach, had lunch on the water, hit up a great acoustic show in the park with a sweet picnic, even made it to the mall and CPK...and we did all of the above while drinking vino and/or driving around to some dirty, dirty hip hop. it's how we do.

it was just what i needed, a real house (which is amazingly cute), a lawn and some QT out of the city with a great friend. thanks kerry, love you!

bastille day: day of the french

some of my favorite people came over to my hood last sunday to celebrate the french on bastille day, none of us are actually french so we actually kicked off the day a very American way, pitchers of beer and wings.

outside the wing bar, smith street is lined with sand and there is petanque tournment (kinda like bocce ball) and drinking, hanging in the street. it's a good time.

now this...

is a funny blog.

10 years.

this june was my ten year anniversary living in NYC, they say that makes me a real new yorker. when i moved here amazed by the idea, i walked around in awe that i was living in the place i saw in the movies, the place at the bottom of the designer ads, the Big Apple. and i had a job just like Angela Bower on "Who's the Boss".

now ten years later, i can't imagine having lived in another place. i witnessed and lived through 911, played in the streets during the black out. i have made AMAZING friends, lost some, learned a million lessons. been in love, been out of love. been on some remarkably bad dates. moved apartments about 6 times. had two surgeries. lost a job and found traveling.

tonight i'm celebrating with some of my favorite friends in a bar crawl to our favorite old bars, where we spent hours dancing, laughing and causing trouble. tonight will we be reminding each other of all the things that we've probably blocked out and that only good and long time friends are meant to remember (and torture you with).

from latvia with love.

my friend marcis is from latvia, i met him in costa rica, we traveled together in nicaragua and now he's in brooklyn for a week. it's a small world....but big too because i had no idea where in hell latvia was? i'm still pretty confused. kerry? ;)

dear jersey.

you aren't so bad.

my friend stark flew in from wisconsin for the 4th and we had a blast on the jersey shore. i love that girl, she's the people whisperer...friends everywhere and easily. we stayed in ocean grove. its a cool little town with a big religious history, methodists have been coming here for retreats for years so it's a dry town with a huge cross you can see from the beach, scripture at the beach entrances, impromptu prayer sessions...interesting for sure. but right next door is asbury park (obviously named after wendi) with a great boardwalk full of booze and a good handful of the gays. it was a good time.

"it's like jurassic park over here..."

so the hills episode just aired and what can i say the girls whine most of their way through the trip but god damn it's so good to see my love, my second home all again...watch! watch! (without sound might be preferred)! ;)

headed home.

i used to write a lot and then i stopped. but sarah gave me this amazing journal for my trip and seeing santa last night made me look back through it and i came across something i wrote in nicaragua....

note: citibank 800# is very important when you lose your card about every other month. ;)

headed home.
this journey is a voyage
of experiences,
locations,
friends,
loves,
joy and sadness,
gains and loses.

the miles may be measured,
the days counted,
but the change,
self evident
and the subtle shift
will change the course of this life
long after the plane has landed.

kelly's bar - granada, nicaragua. 6 May 2010

auntie trin.

besides having kids of your own is there anything better than hearing this..."Judah loves reading little hoot and little pea. We always read your dedication in the beginning and we always say 'love auntie...' and he finishes with a cheerful 'Trin!' every night."

....and the best part is that i bought that book because his mom, who happens to be one of the people i love most in this world, refers to her "hoots" as something only us girls have. ;) kapes and OMD (old man dave) just had a little girl too! how lucky am i to help teach Bea all about her own "hoots", i swear there is nothing better than seeing two people you love, in love, and making a baby...i feel really lucky to be around that a lot lately.

i missed this.

local beers. a girl loves pilsen and imperial but a draft of local beer is rad. i know one girl who agrees...kristen?

mi gente: my people

missing people, places, things and the me i am in costa rica. now, i know it’s not as i left it and i know i need to be present but i can’t help feeling homesick even in situations or places i used to love here. i’m working on it…but it’s nice to talk to friends (thank you girlies) who get it too and make me feel a bit more normal for feeling not normal.

here's a sampling of the cast of characters i miss, some as dear friends and some are just pure entertainment...

el telefono: the telephone

today i found myself once again an iphone addict, and as i waited in line for hours in soho for i had to laugh at myself....i just spent 4 months in central america sans cell phone and loved the freedom but here i am "needing" one now (like i'm 5)!! i guess almost everything is relative, huh?

lunes: monday

in a land that seems pretty far away, monday was my favorite day of the week. monday = reggae night at D&N in santa teresa. it also means a night of dancing and hanging with friends under a thatch roof steps from the ocean. you've prob heard me talk about it, so here it is...i dare any bar to compete! ;)

tinta: ink

i got some while in costa. :) i've talked about it for years but like most things there, this just fell into place. the flower is plumeria, it's my favorite! it is white and yellow, the blossoms cover the ground in may and it gives off the most amazing smell at sunset.

my tattoo was done by a friend named guy mark (amazing name for a tattoo artist, huh?), he is israeli and travels around central america tattooing people like me! having it done there was something i didn't think i'd do but once again i proved myself wrong. it was definitely memorable, i got it while lying on a couch with friends around and when the pain started to get to me a friend kyle picked up a guitar and played to ease me back into zen.

el regreso: the return

besides my own personal hard transition to this change of living, it was interesting and a bit surprising to see the reactions of others, specifically my family and friends at home.

i'm the niece, grand daughter, cousin, etc. that doesn't have the cute kids and can't tell you about the little ones first day at school, i don't have the job that everyone understands, etc. so i thought this adventure would actually give me something to say, something they would be interested in. but not so much.

sure i got a couple questinos or comments about my time on the "island" but nothing more. i have to think it's because they just can't relate? or know what questions to ask? hmmm.

back to the grind.

believe it or not, today was my first day back at my old job. they actually waited for me to come back and I even got a raise. so here I am again freelancing as a Project Manager at Porter Novelli, a PR firm. being back here is pretty awesome and just what i need…i like the people and i know my way around, the hours are good, the money is good and will be piled away into my “Pura Vida fund”.

day one back is going OK but pretty slow since i had too much fun with wendi last night and the fact that i haven’t sat in an office since January…i’m a lucky girl. now if i could just take the good fortune i’ve had with work into other parts of my life, like maybe dating ;) this blog could get a lot more interesting!! ;)

jungle to concrete jungle.

well i'm back. leaving was not easy, i basically lost it my last night...it was hard to leave behind my life there, the way of life, the friends i had.

so here i am and there have been some funny adjustments...
1. i keep speaking to people in spanish
2. i clean off my feet expecting sand when i climb into bed
3. i keep looking at people on the street expecting to know them like i know or atleast recognize them
4. my instinct is to hide my computer when i leave
5. figuring out what to wear or where my clothes are is almost impossible
6. little things like grocery shopping make me terribly miss costa rica
7. everything seems extremely expensive
8. i'm kinda freaked out by the amount of stuff i still have in this apartment, summer cleaning begins again
9. i'm still throwing my TP in the garbage (no system in CR) - tmi? ;)
10. hot water, it's really hot.

but i am loving...
1. seeing my favorite people and their babies
2. my sheets and comforter
3. bloody marys, vino and dark beers
4. thai food
5. heading home to see the rents
6. full length mirrors, it's been 4 months without one (maybe that's how i got dressed so quick?)

goodbye santa teresa.

last night was my last night in santa teresa and it was a unique one, not what i imagined but that's usually the case. i went for a run and walk on the beach, then had plans to meet my friend amy for dinner, grab drinks with the girls before dancing it up at D&N...but the rain came and the power left. after hanging in the dark for awhile, jamie and i made the venture into town with hopes of getting to see some friends. when we got to good vibrations it was quite a scene...only candlelight and chad sitting on the bar playing his guitar and singing along with the whole bar.

i didn't get the chance to say goodbye to all the people i wanted to but it was still a really good night with good friends. in the morning, jamie let me drive the quad out of town to keep my mind of the fact that i was leaving for more than a drive.

a few of my favorite verbs

well in the last few months my spanish has definitely improved but i still have lots of work to do. these 10 verbs have helped me through a lot so i thought they were worth sharing. who wants to practice with me in NYC? ;)

conocer - to know
viajar - to travel
recordar - to remember
poder - be able to
regresar - to return
hablar - to speak
visitar - to visit
viviar - to live
hacer - to make
ir - to go
ser - to be

mi ultima semana| my last week

wow, it's my last week. it's hard to believe and harder to imagine actually leaving...i've already shed a few tears at the prospect. i can not wait to see all my favorite people (like you) but i'm also leaving behind a life here. well i'm gonna go back into denial, get off this computer and soak this place in.

p.s. save saturday night the 5th for some drinks, place tbd. xo.

overheard in costa rica

people say some interesting things here that kinda of help sum it all up. there are a million but here are some of my favorites (and the ones i could remember):

"i can't remember the last time i didn't drink before 7pm." - kristen, friend & yoga instructor

"montezuma is a special place that god set aside" - esteban, tico who visits from san jose once a year

"it's the jing and jang of life, ya know?" - juan lewis, restaurant owner in town

"your circle and my circle can not touch." - lori "but our circles touch in a nice way" - lucas

"retire as soon as you can" - doc, 60+ neighbor who spends 6 months here every year

"definitely does not exist here" - stephanie, friend

"i lived in new york for 3 years...i ended my life, then came here." - chad, good vibrations bar owner

"there was a scorpion in the chalk tray, 4 crabs in the classroom and a beetle that dive bombed me til it died" - jamie, friend & english teacher for adults

"this is the hammock chapter of my life" - joe, friend, neighbor and chef

"my first name is i like you, my last name is i love you" - michael to amy at good vibrations

f%c&

i'm leaving soon.

rain: lluvia

i've wrote about the rain before but the last few days have been something unusual for this time of year...typically the rain comes and shows you what it's got at night with thunder and lighting and wraps up in about 3-4 hours. but i've gone to bed to rain and woke up to rain for the last 2+ days. it kinda of feels like a snow day...the surfers couldn't surf because all the recent rain is messing with the waves, there's nowhere to go so everyone was just kind of stuck.

at night, i try to manage a run in the light rain and head home with grand plans of going out to see friends. but the rain seems to get stronger, and stronger as the night goes on. i wish i could describe this rain but it's let's just say it's impressive. it was so loud on the my roof that i couldn't even hear the movie i was trying to watch with speakers or headphones. sometimes i even find myself talking to it, "come on already" "just give me a 10 minute break please" "how much water do you have up there?". on monday night, i attempted to get out and put on the poncho that jamie was so awesome to bring me back from the states, walked about 20 feet out of my apartment and right back. i'm a pretty determined girl but this rain showed me up. so back to cabina i went, shut off the fan, put on a hoodie and leggings (that's a first) and attempted to watch another movie with my speaker pressed against my ear. i think they call this bed rest. ;)

correr: to run

i'm running again and i can't believe how happy that makes me, this is the only place that i actually smile while running and it feels soooo good after being hurt and a week off. i have to wrap my wounds in saran wrap (almost like a pedicure) ;) but it's worth it to be out there again and feel like part of the beach and ocean again. this track beats a treadmill everyday.

las colinas: the hills

you'll never believe who was here this past wednesday...the entire cast of The Hills (minus Heidi & Spencer). needless to say they turned this place into a shit show but it was pretty entertaining to watch. justin bobby still was rocking his combat boots, brody had on a wool beany, some other chic was wearing a silk dress...classic.

anyway, keep an eye out for me on the season finale...although i doubt they want the real reality of a banged up girl on show! ;)

el pescado: fish

fish is pretty amazing around here and amazingly cheap, shocking i'm sure since we are on the ocean but the way it's sold is a bit different than the cooler at Whole Foods. of course, you can go to Product C in the what we've coined "gringo plaza" (the mall like thing at the crossroads of Mal Pais) or my preferred method is off of the back of a pick-up truck that rides up and down the main road...just walk up and get some fish. 2 mil (or about $4.00) will get you a kilo of corvina or sea bass. pretty amazing, huh?

cacique a.k.a. guaro

since alexis gave me a shout out on her fab blog, a thirsty spirit which is the best blog for all things drinkable i figured i should feature the liquor that is pure costa rica...cacique or guaro.

guaro is basically costa rican moonshine made from sugar cane. it's hard to describe the flavor cause there isn't much of one, it's just plain strong. a bottle like the one in this pic will cost you about $3 which is why it's a fav at a lot of bars and with a lot of people. and rumor has it if you can have some pretty bizarre dreams after a night of hitting the guaro...

most commonly it's drank with fresca, because it's the best at cutting the bite or served as a shot with a lime. i'm gonna try and get a bottle home with me...shots for everyone. ;)

el paciente: the patient

a quick update on the last few days of recovery...and this pic is a a sampling of what is covering my other leg, left arm, back and butt. good stuff. :)

day one:
woke up in a lot of pain. went to the grocery store (about 20 meters from my house) and made it almost to the door before blacking out. the woman working there helped me get back to myself. people here are so nice. then i headed back to my place and laid in bed, my neighbor brought me ice for my bruises, aspirin and water and lunch. did i mention people are nice? then later that night my friends amanda and kristen came by to clean my wounds and check on me. wine and pain meds were prescribed prior to my scrub down. amanda is an ER trama nurse so she gave me the once over and lead the charge on the cleaning. it was almost more painful then the accident. first there was the scrubbing to get any remaining dirt out, then the hydron peroxide (which i mentioned can suck it), then the aloe.

day 2:
better but uber stiff, swelling of ankle and knee have gone down. was overcast so i was able to walk around during the day and found that moving was a lot better than laying, the stiffness when i attempt to move again cracks the scabs and i want to punch something. ;)

day 3:
the wounds are sticky and on every side of me so sleeping continues to be rough and so is finding clothes to wear that don't hit my wounds so today i spent most of the day in rolled-up shorts exposing my left butt cheek to most of mal pais and santa teresa. but amanda and victor picked me up and took me out for a bit so i felt less sun and sand trapped. good peeps.

the days continue to get a bit better so no more talk about this until you hear i hit the beach!

un accidente: an accident

well, i think i have been officially hazed by costa rica because this friday i got in my first and hopefully last quad accident. quads are basically open 4-wheelers that people drive all over this area.

we had too many people on and i was holding on in the back when we hit a pot hole that was large enough to kick me off. i fell off and rolled down a hill. i was scared, mostly that someone coming up behind would not see me and hit me.

i wwas very, very lucky that my injuries were basic road rash over almost 50% of me, some serious bruises and a lot of pain. my friends are awesome and came over with ice, food, some vino and pain meds to help with the pain of the cleaning of my cuts. hydrogen peroxide can suck it but much love to the friends, especially to amanda and kristen.

since then i've been a walking target of "what happened to you?" and once i tell my story it seems like everyone here has their own story too. i guess it's a part of life here and if i had to experience it, i'm extremely grateful i did and walked away.

my beach.

i love this beach, it's huge, beautiful and with the recent rains, the colors of green are amazing. the tourist season has really slowed down so at any time i can usually have 200 meters or more of private beach all to myself. paradise.

well done surfers.

just a quick blog post to give props to the surfers i see everyday. wow, you are good at what you do and you are also really good looking...i never get tired of watching you. :)

mis pies: my feet

my feet are a willing victim of costa rica. they are well worn, used and abused. my toes have not seen polish in over 3 months, my heels are callused and i feel for the poor women that gets the unfortunate job of my next pedicure.

bueno noche: good night

last night was bar olympics at good vibrations in mal pais. it was a lot of fun, there was shuffleboard (which i am addicted to), beer pong and bottle cap checkers. i had a blast and unlike the 4th grade i was not the last chosen, i actually had a lot of options for partners. ;) the night was kind of like a party of your friends but these are all just people that live here, that become friends in their own way.

i lost a beer pong, won at shuffle board and got a t-shirt from one of the champs that will be a halter top before it knows it!