May begins the rainy season in Costa Rica – a time when pretty much all it does is downpour. “Ticos,” as the locals are called, classify this time as their winter. I just came back from a nine-day stay.
Landing in the capital city of San Jose, my boyfriend and I headed straight to Hostel Bekuo, which was located about 20 minutes outside. If I remember correctly, it was drizzling that night but no matter, it felt great to be at our destination after a 10-hour travel day complete with layovers and delays. Thus, it was the beginning of our Costa Rican adventures.
Costa Rica is an absolutely beautiful country with lush green flora in its rainforests and on its hillsides...

CATEGORY: General Society

Permalink Comments (View)

Food – isn’t that what summer’s about? Come to think of it, winter, fall and spring are, too. What’s a season without its seasons? Summer offers corn on the cob, strawberry pie, pasta salads and lots of grilling. Whenever I read the paper, look at a magazine or surf the web for recipes, I’ll cut (or print) them out, put them in a “safe” place, then forget about them. Am I the only one?
There have been a few though, that have made it to the kitchen and become my mainstays. One is the Tuscan Bread Salad.
The best way to serve this very colorful dish is to first shop at the regional market where you’ll find all the fresh vegetables you need at a fairly reasonable price – and you get to support the local farmers on top of that – always a good thing...

CATEGORY: General Society

Permalink Comments (View)

Even though discussions have subsided and referendums have already come and gone in multiple school districts this year, turf still seems to be a hot topic and one that most people have based a definitive opinion. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no expert on turf, but lately I’ve been reflecting on the stuff more often than I’d like to admit.
There are benefits to turf; however, sometimes strengths are known to reflect weaknesses. In turf terms, I believe the advantages may very well echo the detrimental effects it can also bring, not necessarily to the “community,” but rather, to family.
The pros: Turf will allow for a significant increase in practices, games and sports being played on the field. Essentially, it will allow for longer playing seasons...

CATEGORY: General Society

Permalink Comments (View)

Ah, the benefits of lemon juice. When I googled two key terms – freckles and lemons – at least two pages of the same question jumped out from the screen: Can lemon juice really fade freckles?
That’s what we’ve been told for years, anyway. Some say it’s true, others say don’t bother.
Five minutes in the sun will pop out any and all of my freckles for all to see. Make-up can’t even diminish the blotchy patches that cover my face. Some think it’s cute, I think it’s somewhat annoying.
Remember the episode of “The Brady Bunch” when Jan was having a horrible time accepting her “cute, little discolored” cheeks?
She rubbed and rubbed her face all over with the acidic lemons in hopes those darn freckles would lighten up, but alas, they didn’t...

CATEGORY: General Society

Permalink Comments (View)