Pura Vida-Costa Rica-February 2010

Love, love, LOVE Costa Rica.  I wasn't sure what to expect as we hopped on our direct flight to San Jose, CR, and I must say that I would go back in heartbeat.  It was full of stunning beauty, wonderfully kind people and a relaxed energy that was contagious.  I would recommend our resort specifically, to anyone who was planning on vacationing in CR.  We stayed at The Club Del Mar in Jaco, Costa Rica in a 2 bedroom condo that was newly redone and FABULOUS.  We were on the second floor and our balcony opened up to the ocean. Every morning we enjoyed our cafe while listening to the birds and smelling the ocean air.

We picked Costa Rica as our destination for many reasons.  The first and most important reason was my wonderful Mother-in Law, Mariana, wanted to take Jason and I on a trip this year.  We had never been to CR and it ended up working out perfectly because our great friends Kate and Scott were getting married in CR in February-so what better reason to head to the tropics! 

We truly enjoyed every moment of our trip and cannot wait to go back again.  Here are just a few highlights from an amazing vacation-thank you Mariana! 

HIGHLIGHTS-

We arrived a bit blurry eyed from our red eye flight to CR and got started right away on our sight seeing.  On our way to the hotel we stopped to look at the alligators that live in the rivers. Even though we were VERY far away from the gators they were SCARY.  

We arrived alive with all of our limbs to our home for the week and immediately started adapt to the lifestyle in CR-Pura Vida.  We got into our board shorts and tankinis and headed to the pool.  And that basically describes the rest of our days while in CR. We headed into town a few times, bought some groceries for our condo, some tasty mixers for our Adult Beverages, worked in some time for exercise a couple days during the trip, but basically we lived in our beachwear and just relaxed. It was perfect.

My Mother-in-law relaxing by the pool

One of the many beautiful sunsets we enjoyed-GORGEOUS-

Enjoying ourselves at Wishbone-our favorite restaurant in Jaco.  We had dinner here the night of Kacey's birthday and it was delish.  Kate hadn't joined us on the trip yet, so it was a little strange to be celebrating Kate and Kacey's birthday minus Kate.

Ziplining!! I only took 2 pictures from that day because it was a bit difficult to whip out the big Nikon while Ziplining through the rain forest hundreds of feet in the air.  It was a fun experience, and not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.  I was a little bummed that we didn't see any monkeys. *sigh*

The night of the wedding party's rehearsal dinner we headed out to a fun dinner of our own.  We went to a tasty sushi restaurant and then went out on the town.  It was the only evening we "went out" and we found ourselves in a club.  There are details that are not blog appropriate-but let's just say there were some VERY scantily clad "professional" chicas in the club.  And yes by professional, I do mean prostitutes....which apparently is completely legal in Costa Rica.  I digress----dinner was fun and the sushi was fresh and delicious.  Let's just leave it at that :)

Jason and me with the beautiful bride Kate

Kate and Kacey prior to taking their flaming birthday shot

Kate after trying her flaming birthday shot

Rossi and Billy doing what they do best ;-)

The next day we lounged around the pool and then it was wedding time.  Kate (not my sister) and Scott got married right on the edge of the beach at sunset-it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have attended.  Simply gorgeous.

My hair was RIDICULOUS the entire trip. SO FRIZZY :-)

We had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica and cannot wait to go back. Thank you Mariana for such a fabulous trip and thank you Kate and Scott for inviting us to such a beautiful wedding.  Pura Vida!