First Week In our New House

The vacation feel is starting to wear off – slowly. And that’s such a good thing! Nikk and I keep wondering aloud to each other how this is our real life, how we get to stay here and not go back to the “real world,” and – of course – how lucky we are.

We moved into our little place in Surfside, a town on the outskirts of Potrero, about 30-minutes north of Tamarindo. It’s quaint and perfect. The beach, several restaurants/bars, and a couple of small convenience stores are all within walking distance. Since it’s slow season, some of the houses on our street seem to be unoccupied, so it’s quiet and peaceful… except when the cows walk down the street! The other night, as we were getting ready for bed, we heard mooing and looked out the window. Sure enough, a herd of cows were trekking right down our street, heading to who-knows-where!

Among the other gems within walking distance of our place is a fruit stand. It’s modestly-sized and they carry all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce is something that Nikk and I were really looking forward to when we moved to Costa Rica. We have not been disappointed!! Not only are we experiencing and trying new things, it is so much less expensive than the US! The picture below was our first haul from the fruit stand… for a grand total of $18!! Including the cookie!!

For our first full night in the new house, I decided to make a delicious (if I do say so myself) shrimp pasta dish. If you know me, you know I love a good pasta. I was curious to see how it would go trying to buy everything needed for a recipe. I had to substitute green beans for asparagus, and cream cheese for whipping cream – but overall, it turned out fantastic. Add in a couple glasses of wine, and we had a wonderful celebratory meal!

And for dessert… lime cream Oreos!

There are two other things within walking distance of our new place that we could have never hoped to have: a brewery and a place that offers yoga classes! It’s like we were meant to live here. The brewery, Cervecería Independiente, is wonderful. We’ve been there a couple of times already and met the brewer, TJ, from California.

The yoga is actually offered at a boutique beach-side hotel down the street. They offer one class a day, so there’s not a ton of variety, but the view can’t be beat!

It sounds trite, but living here has really been a dream so far. We are sure there will be times that are challenging, but for now, our motto is “sin mal días” – no bad days, and walking to the beach almost every day is sure helping us achieve that!