Interview with The Black Expat!

One of our goals for my Aspiring Expats site is to motivate and provide information to black people who are considering making a move to a new country -- so we were extremely honored to have been asked to share our journey to Costa Rica in feature interview with The Black Expat!

The Black Expat, is a digital platform that focuses on the experiences of black expatriates/immigrants and international living.

You can Check out our interview here

If you haven't visited their site please jump on over and check them out. They have lots of helpful information as well as videos and interviews with people who have made the move! Enjoy!

This is what 68 looks like (on me)

My 68th birthday was yesterday and although I do not share my age on Facebook, I am proud to share it here. And, in addition to that, I even took some photos wearing a swimsuit.

I NEVER do that. 

but here goes!

oh, first let's start out with a photo of my granddaughter & great granddaughter

and here is me

Our First Christmas in Costa Rica

Lots of parties up on these ridges during the holidays. When its all over I think we will have attended 10 different events.

Here is a video of the Annual Solstice party hosted by our friends Jim & Irina. It was held on El Cajon which is the next ridge over from ours.

It was an awesome party. And what a lovely home they have!

Annual Solstice Party Dec 2016 from Devon on Vimeo.

Pink Linen in the Rain

We had big plans on Sunday to attend Barrio Escalante's La Luz outdoor food festival in downtown San Jose -- but we woke up to rain. (BTW-the rainy season was supposed to be over in Nov -- we are more than ready for the beautiful summer dry season!!) We were going to the festival with a group of folks in a rented 21 person van. The instructions were to meet at La Terraza B&B for breakfast at 9am and leave for San Jose at 11. Usually the rain here is intermittent and a shower in the morning is not indicative of rain all day but as luck would have it, once we arrived, we found out that the forecast for Sunday was for rain -- all day! So, our event was canceled -- however, since we were already there and a couple of folks had cameras, we decided to take some photos of the beautiful grounds. 

Also one of the ladies is a videographer and was shooting film for an upcoming ad for the B&B which I just might have a bit part in (stay tuned).

While cameras were out I had my other half take a few pics of me in my pink linen and also a couple of video clips of me using the bridge as a make shift runway. 

Canceled due to rain! from Devon on Vimeo.

Hotel Atitlan - Panajachel Guatemala

I LOVE a nice hotel!

Our stay at one of the best!!!

A First Class Hotel - for more information on rates etc contact Hotel Atitlan, Panajachel, Sololá Guatemala

The view speaks for itself and the service was superb!!

Let the photos do the talking...

below is our personal video with photos of our stay! Four days in paradise! (BTW the prices are very affordable)

HOTEL ATITLAN from Devon on Vimeo.

(click video ink above for email subscribers)

Easy like Sunday Morning - Life in Costa Rica

Lily & Lola chillaxin as the sun come up over our ridge

I cast my vote for Friendsgiving!

Friendsgiving is a growing trend, but one I had not heard of until recently.

The genius of Friendsgiving is in its name—before now, Thanksgiving has always been about the gathering of family members, dissimilar people from different generations with different philosophies and attitudes who only share a last name and receding hairline.

The idea behind Friendsgiving is to have a relaxed and enjoyable meal with friends  it's a celebration with people you consider another type of family to you.

While Thanksgiving can often be a stressful day,  Friendsgiving should be fun and stress free. 

I picked up these 2 guys in Guatemala - aren't they cute

Not sure what we will be doing for the holiday but I vote for "Friendsgiving"!

The no fashion, fashion shoot in Guatemala

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday. 

I didn't get around to doing any fashion shoots while in Guatemala

so I thought I would substitute some pictures of our hotel and the grounds along with a few pics of me.

Have a great day!

Breakfast @ Hotel Atitlan 

Lake Atitlan, Panajachel Guatemala

Seven Days in Guatemala

For those of you following our journey:

I know it's only been 5 months since we arrived in Costa Rica, but... when the travel bug calls, we gotta answer!

As it turns out, we would need to make our 2nd "border run" around the 3rd week of November. Since Lily & Lola will be arriving today we decided it would be better to make the border run a little early and give ourselves more time with the girls before we had to deal with leaving them with a pet sitter.

So the big question became "where should we go?"

We studied our bucket list of favorites.

We both enjoy traveling to historic sites. The cost of a round trip airline ticket from San Jose Costa Rica to Guatemala City is about $168 and the travel time is less than 2 hours. (BTW - the cost of living is also lower in Guatemala than it is in Costa Rica) We had also seen a couple of episodes of HGTV's House Hunters International where expats had settled in Lake Atitlan and the beauty of the lake and the volcanoes was something that stuck in our minds.

We checked airline and hotel prices and made our decision from there.

It was not a very difficult one.

And the winner....Guatemala

We planned to visit the beautiful, vibrant old Spanish cobblestone city of Antigua -- and no trip to Guatemala would be complete without a stop at what has been called, and is (IMO) the most beautiful lake in the world, Lago de Atitlán! Its shore is dotted with 12 small towns and villages, each with its own unique personality,  

Our trip would be for 7 days Wed 10/19 - Wed 10/26

First up Antigua -- and a local tour recommended by a friend

Tour Elizabeth Bell 

Thursday, October 20^th 2016 – National Holiday

9:30am            Meet your Antigua Tours guide at Hotel San Rafael for a private Cultural Walking Tour around this World Heritage Site. The tour focuses on the city’s history, cultural trends and restoration efforts. Walk to the central park to visit the City Hall Palace, focus on the Royal Palace, visit the Cathedral with its majestic ruins, and learn about Maya archeology at the Maya Jades Museum. Complete the tour at the best museums in town at Paseo de los Museos (Hotel Casa Santo Domingo) at about 12:30pm

$30 per person for the private tour includes entrance fees and beverages x 2 people = $60

(minimum 2 people)

About Antigua 

Antigua Guatemala means "Ancient Guatemala" and was the third capital of Guatemala.

Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or la Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala at an altitude of 1470 meters (or roughly 4,800 ft), famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque architecture of Sevillan style roots, as well as a number of ruins of colonial churches. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

During colonial times it was known as "Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala" and was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, between 1541 and 1776, when the capital was moved to the newly established city Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción (Guatemala city) after the earthquakes of Santa Marta ruin the city for the third time in the same century and civilian authorities will use that as an excuse to weaken ecclesiastical authorities -following the recommendations of the Bourbon Reforms undertaken by the Spanish crown in the second half of 18th century- forcing the regular orders to move from its majestic monasteries to fragile temporary structures in the new city.

Antigua Guatemala serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It also serves as the departmental capital of Sacatepéquez Department. source 

Antigua has a flourishing and diverse expat population. We enjoyed our stay very much and plan to go back often!

Please check out our video below

I like it! from Devon on Vimeo.

What your clothing says about you

Things are a changin!

but...

one of the things that has not changed, is my love for fashion and design. 

We moved into a furnished house in Costa Rica. I brought very few of my personal belongings and the space did not feel quite like "me". After living with what we had for a while I decided to buy a couple of Costa Rican Rockers and also some pottery from Nicaragua. Next I added some other odds and ends like lamps, a few pictures and some kitchen items. Although it still isn't quite "me" it's coming along. We are planning to make a trip to Guatemala soon and I am eager to bring back some of their beautiful textiles for our home. 

My next project...

my clothes

Since we were not bringing a lot of clothing, I downsized my wardrobe and then selected the clothing I thought would be most appropriate for our new life and a very different climate (mostly based on what I had read from other expats).

Since we have been here almost 5 months I have learned quite a bit about how I want to dress and it turns out that I brought many of the wrong items.

It is next to impossible to have packages shipped into Costa Rica so I thought I would have to live with what I had brought, until, an expat friend told me that she makes trips back to Houston a couple of times a month and would be happy to bring back some clothing items for me.

So I set out to find myself some new clothing.

YES!!!!

(thank you Deborah!!!)

BTW - up until now I have NEVER ordered clothing online (unless it was something I had already seen and tried on in the store) 

So this was completely new to me.

I took to Amazon, reading the reviews and checking each piece very carefully as I knew that it would be very hard to return any of the items that I did not like or that did not fit properly. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a site that specializes in 100% natural linen (the perfect fiber for the hot Costa Rican weather)

I want to feel comfortable and confident in my clothing

My new favorite place to shop online is Vivid Linen!!

Vivid's linen apparel is cool, stylish and comfortable. The boutique meets the demand from both men and women on linen wear.

link  Online Store

I found so many pretty things on their site that I went a little overboard (I bought tops only) and I was super happy when my friend delivered them to me.

I might also note that the packaging is 1st class. They are individually wrapped in plastic and then slipped into a very nice linen bag (picture below does not do it justice).

The clothing quality is amazing!!

I plan to take some photos of me modeling the clothing (I also bought linen slacks from another retailer) and will share them here at some point in the near future. Stand by

link this is the yellow top pictured in the photo

It might be late in the year for some of you in the U.S but consider for warmer weather.

The styles are also very comfortable for those of us who like a looser fit.

They have a physical store in Hong Kong but thank goodness you can shop them online! 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!