Travel Photo Essay: Costa Rica

If there is one day in the distant future where I have not yet died a young death from skydiving, eating blow-fish, running with the bulls or doing any other of the many dangerous things on my bucket-list, I suppose I would be forced to slow down and retire. And IF that day comes, I choose to retire in Costa Rica. This tropical country located in Central America is dense with foliage and beautiful landscapes.

"Pura Vida!" is the motto of the land, and you'll be hard pressed to not hear someone greet you in this manner or read it somewhere at least 3 times a day during your visit. It translates literally to pure life, and Costa Rica definitely lives up to their motto. Life is so simple here, especially inland. We stayed by the Arenal Volcano where many of the locals get around by walking and where it's hard to get your hands on processed food. The locals are quite relaxed and very comfortable with tourists since a majority of the economy is dependent on tourism. One thing I found out about Costa Rica is that they don't have an army! You know your country is relaxed when your government doesn't think it's necessary to fund an army. Gotta love a country like that.

Our diet during our stay was simple yet delicious. Rice and beans is a staple of Costa Rican cuisine, with fish and chicken being the main sources of protein and fresh fruit like plantains, pineapples, and strawberries. Much of the cows raised in Costa Rica are for milk, not meat, so it's very rare to find red meat on your plate. As a result of this wonderfully fresh diet and the wonders of tropical humidity, Costa Rican people are naturally beautiful! I found that everyone had nice glowing skin, and by the time we left, Shaun and I left the country looking like we blew a bunch of money on facials.

The first day we were there we met some great people while white water rafting. The first duo was Nicole and Erica. These two pals are from Seattle and were at a yoga retreat prior to coming to Arenal Volcano. The second duo was Kenn and Lisa who were on their honeymoon! Coincidentally, they are photographers too and come from southern California as well! We were all in the same raft with each other and the chemistry was so great we all hung out with each other for the rest of the trip. We felt so lucky to have met such awesome people during our trip and we plan on traveling with each other again next year! Hopefully Peru!

This first set of photos is from my waterproof film camera. Glad I brought it because I was able to get one or two one of a kind shots.
These are pictures from our first excursion, white water rafting. This is the first time the six of us all met and bonded as a group. Canyoneering! Hands down, best excursion of the trip! Hot springs adventure, zip lining, and our last night on the town.


Pura Vida!

xx, LC

Fall Back Into Routine

Alas, another summer has come and gone. Summer came and stirred up my life in familiar fashion, another crazy (almost 51/50), spontaneous (so down), and death defying (quite literally!) sunny season exponentially exceeded expectations in the midst of mini shorts, sunblock and the infamous uneven bikini tan. Yuck. And like clockwork, school is back in session. And like clockwork, here I am to tell you I'm back and I'm writing regularly and I'm never leaving again! We'll see how this pans out this year.. anywho..


In case y'all forgot, fall is quickly approaching. There's something so romantic about this time of year when everyone's had enough of summer and it's antics they start getting back into routine of things. Here's a couple things I look forward to in the next couple of months:

-lighting candles
-jackets, scarfs, BEANIES, dark nail polish, nice slacks and basically fall fashion en genereux
-HOT coffee and HOT tea
-crispy mornings (not so excited for the condensation on the windshield though)
-cooking stews and roasts that will warm the whole house
-baking cookies and pumpkin pies
-cooking again in general
-running outside at noon
-saunas and bikram yoga

Of course, I hope I'm not getting too ahead of myself here. After all I still live in California and even though it's been overcast a couple of days this week, it still somehow managed to pull about 80 degrees (F). Ick.


That's it for now!

xx, laura

endless summer

Seems like I've been missing for a while, huh?

After school ended, I've been using summer as an excuse to do stupid shit to my body.

"Hey, wanna rail this with me even though you're way drunk and there's no way we're getting into this packed club?"
"Fuck it, it's summer."

"Wanna roundtrip it to Vegas for the night?"
"Fuck it, it's summer."

"Hey, wanna buy some goodies off your friend and take it even though you have work at 11AM the next day?"
"Fuck it, it's summer."

"Hey, how about working five hours, running on a treadmill until your toe knuckles bleed, then prancing around in heels allll night? How does that sound?"
"Fuck it, it's summer."

"Wanna drink for literally 12 hours straight (half of this being in the sun), then smoke a lot of weed then hop on a treadmill for four miles the next day?"
"Fuck it, I'm so down. It is summer, after all."


Really though, it IS summer, and I'm going to keep doing fucked up shit as long as I'm breathing. I'm starting work on my double majors this fall, and I need moments I can look back upon and ponder "What the fuck was I thinking?" so I can giggle to myself in the library at 2AM.

Hey, so remember that time I went to Vegas and back? No, I didn't just go to drink (although that's what I did the majority of the time). Once the margaritas had cleared our cups and the sun began to rise, Justin, Hara and I traveled to red rock, and g*ddamn. That shit was beautiful.

Hara's probably going to kill me for posting some of these, seeing as we just finished a six hour alcohol binge on no sleep and all'a dat. But I think she's beautiful, so I'm going to post them anyway (sorry Hara).



















xx, LC

one by one

Summer Check List:

1. Eat (thoughtfully). Drink (moderately). Be merry.
2. Read more.
3. Save money.
4. Create. Create. Create.

xx