Costa Rica - Beach Week -Day 2

Costa Rica is one of those places we've always dream about going to but haven't been able to cross it off our list quite yet. Guest blogger Danae Danta recently vacationed there with her two besties from college Laurie and Tracy. (Shown above, Laurie, Tracy and Danae) Danae gives us the scoop on everything we need to know about traveling to Costa Rica.

Why did you pick Costa Rica for your trip?

My girlfriend Laurie went to Costa Rica 10 years ago and raved about it ever since. When it was time to choose a destination for our girls' getaway, we wanted to go somewhere tropical (and affordable) where we could experience both adventure and relaxation. Costa Rica fit all our criteria.

How did you plan your trip to Costa Rica? Did you stay in the same area the entire trip?

Luckily, Laurie had a lot of time on her hands so she was able to do research online and read trip reviews to plan our trip. She organized a great itinerary where we got to explore several parts of the country (with a personal driver taking us to each location). We flew into San Jose, then went to Arenal/La Fortuna , Monteverde, Tamarindo and finally Montezuma.

How did you pick your hotel? Was it word of mouth? Internet research? A travel agent?

We have several friends who had been to Costa Rica so we asked for recommendations, as well as researching reviews online. We also enlisted the help of a great FREE service called Anywhere Costa Rica. This was an amazing resource for organizing our transportation and activities, in addition to giving hotel advice.

Would you recommend the hotel to fellow travelers? Why or why not?
We visited several hotels during our trip and all were unique in their own way! While in Arenal we stayed at Los Lagos Resort & Spa. Located at the base of Arenal Volcano, we had breathtaking views of both the countryside and the volcano from our spacious, clean room. There were hot springs, pools and waterslides; not to mention an amazing buffet breakfast which was included.

In Monteverde we stayed at the Tree House Hotel. We actually ended up here because of a reservation mix-up, so it wasn’t what we expected. Let’s just say the room was so creepy that only one of us was willing to brave taking a shower; the other two decided not to risk catching an illness! On the bright side, the included breakfast made up for our sleepless night. The food was fresh and flavorful, and our pleasant waiter even made animal faces in our cappuccino foam.

Our hotel in Tamarindo, Tamarindo Diria, was by far the most touristy (and luxurious) of all the places we stayed. It was a beautiful resort right on the beach, that again boasted an amazing buffet breakfast & helpful staff.

Our last hotel in Montezuma was the Ylang Ylang Beach Resort , a hidden paradise only accessible by a 20 minute walk or 10 minute drive on the beach (literally). Surrounded by lush greenery, monkeys and birds, we felt totally secluded and completely relaxed in our seaside bungalow. Both breakfast and dinner were included - and these were 4-star meals we’d pay a fortune for in NYC! On top of everything, the hotel staff was incredibly accommodating and went above and beyond to make our trip special.

What activities did you do in Costa Rica?



While in Arenal we hiked to La Fortuna Waterfall (picture attached). As the only people swimming in the lagoon of this powerful, natural wonder, it was an experience that literally made our hearts jump out of our chests. In downtown La Fortuna the spa treatments were plentiful, so we indulged in a one - hour massage with a mud mask facial for only $30 US dollars. Possibly the best part of our stay in Arenal was the white water rafting. A half-day excursion, our rafting adventure included a break for fresh fruit and a hearty lunch. Our instructors were very friendly and eager to teach us about their country.



In Montverde we zip lined through the rainforest and even tried the “Tarzan Swing”. This was essentially a large bungee cord tied to a tree high above the rainforest canopy - it was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. In Monteverde we also went on a 3.5 hour horseback riding tour with Sabinas Smiling Horses. A rugged trek through the beautiful countryside, this tour was physically and mentally challenging for even the brave at heart, but it was definitely worth it.

In the beach town of Tamarindo we all surfed for our first time (a 2 hour lesson from local surfers was $25). As a reward for actually getting up on our boards, we enjoyed frozen cocktails while taking in a breathtaking Pacific sunset.

Finally in the tiny, hippie, surfer town of Montezuma, we ended our trip with more low-key activities. We enjoyed morning yoga overlooking the beach and some self- guided hiking where we stumbled upon everything from an impressive waterfall to monkeys throwing branches at us from the trees above…it was perfect.

What was the nightlife like in Costa Rica? Did you meet cute boys?

We didn’t go out very much at night, with the exception of the beach towns. In Tamarindo, we went to a bar recommended by locals where we were shocked to witness some real Dancing with Stars moves on the dance floor. In Montezuma, we mingled with the locals at the main bar on the beach. And everyone we met treated us like their best friend, even the cute boys….

What are some must-pack items (clothing and toiletries)?

Sunscreen, bug spray - because you WILL get attacked - and motion sickness pills for the long, bumpy car rides. Also, a small calculator for figuring out the exchange rate (we didn’t have this, but it would have been nice). Definitely bring sneakers for hiking and a light jacket because it can get cool in the rainforest and at night.



Parting thoughts?

Every moment of our trip in Costa Rica was an adventure. We still can’t decide what we liked best because everything so wonderful. From the welcoming locals, picturesque scenery, exhilarating activities to the fresh cuisine- Costa Rica was the trip of a lifetime.

Marissa Tomei in The Wrestler

JSG saw The Wrestler over the weekend. Two things surprised us about the movie: Mickey Rourke really can act and Marissa Tomei still has a slamming bod, especially for a 44 year old. She plays a stripper in the movie so you get to see a lot of Marissa. We hear that Marissa likes to hula hoop and is a fan of the Hoopnotica videos. We're willing to give it a shot, if it means looking like her when we get to that age. Now, if only someone could tell us how her boobs stayed so perky...

Read about our other favorite hula hooper.

Jimmy Choo and Dior Sandals

As long as we're dreaming, here's a shoe we'd take to the Cayman Islands:

The Jimmy Choo Thong Sandal with its diamond cut-outs could be the gladiator's successor and would look great with all our flowy dresses and short-shorts.

Of course, nothing looks better than coral against tan legs, especially the Dior Klimt T-Strap Sandal. A girl needs more than one pair of shoes at the beach, no?

Beach Vacations - Cayman Islands

This is the time of year when Wanderlust settles in: the holidays are over, the dark, cold days of winter are starting to get to us and spring is still far too many days away. But we’re feeling the pinch of holiday bills and the recession, so a 5-star vacation isn’t exactly in the cards at the moment. Indulge with us in some vacation porn as we embark on “Beach Week". We’ll bring you a fantasy destination everyday this week.

If money wasn’t an issue, we would head on down to the Cayman Islands for the Cayman Cookout January 16-19. Held at the Ritz Carlton on Grand Cayman, the event is hosted by hottie chef and fish man extraordinaire Eric Ripert (shown below). Eric is the owner/chef at Manhattan's Le Bernadin and also runs the restaurant at the Ritz in Grand Cayman. If we were going to the cookout, we would definitely attend Laurent Tourondel's cooking demonstration (he of the Steak BLT, Fish BLT, etc. fame) and the Champagne tasting. But we would spend most of our time soaking up rays and sipping banana daquiris on the beach.

New Year's Resolutions 2009

Oh, yes! It's time to set our resolutions and sharing them with you makes us that much more committed to keeping them.

1. For the JSG blog: to do more and better videos.
2. No more typos!
3. To go to one major event that we haven't been to before (Sundance, Super Bowl, Miami's Winter Music Concert or SXSW in Austin).
4. Figure out how to get our nail polish to stay on for more than 2 days when we paint them ourselves. (This may involve purchasing a pair of rubber gloves for the sink. Not sexy!)
5. Find the perfect pair of nude heels.
6. Pay off the credit cards.
7. Get on a healthy sleep schedule (this will help with losing the pounds we gained over the holidays and lighten up our dark circles).
8. Organize our desktop.
9. Go to more places with the letter "L" in them.

On Our Radar: New York Hotels Offer Third Night for Free

Listen up fashionistas: New York Fashion Week is around the corner (February 13-20). Have you booked your hotel yet? Now's the time: Nine hotels, including The London, The Loews Regency, the New York Palace and the Plaza are offering a third night free when you book for two nights. The offer runs from January 9 to February 27 so if fashion week isn't your thing, you can still take advantage of it for those MLK Day sales, to possibly see the Giants repeat their phenomenal win in the Super Bowl (the next best thing to being in Tampa is watching it at any bar in NYC), Valentine's Day with your main squeeze or -- our favorite -- no reason at all.

Our pick is The London (shown above). Not only do the rooms suites start at $259 for a weekend (averaging out to $172 for the three nights), scenes from the Sex and the City movie were filmed here, it's within walking distance to the tents, Bergdorf's and Central Park and it has a rocking breakfast buffet with all the raspberries and salmon you can eat (not included in the room rate).

Foodies will want to take advantage of the hotel special during the super-sized restaurant week: January 18-23 and January 25-30. More than 250 restaurants are participating this year, offering 3 course lunches for $24.07 and dinners for $35. This is the first year the prix fixe menus are being offered on Sundays. Restaurant week starts taking reservations on Monday, January 5. Take our word on this: Book EARLY!

Free hotel rooms, discounted meals, New York is practically a bargain!

New Year's Resolutions

Oh yes--it's that time of year. Before we set our new ones, let's take a look to see how JSG did following last year's:

Never be hungover again! Not to mention no more flying drunk or shopping drunk: Big fat F! That was a lofty one to start with.

Eat more orange food: Does the OJ we're having with our breakfast count?

Visit more cities that have an A in them: Vail, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Austin...we set ourselves up with an easy one.

Always take the stairs: Pretty good, believe it or not. Though it helps that we live on the second floor.

Wear metallic whenever possible: Annie is still championing the sequins for daytime movement as morning after chic.

Worry a little less if our outfit matches (a la Sienna, NOT Britney): We're still working on losing our fashion inhibitions.

Meet more bloggers: Rocked this one out! From Yuli and Drew at MyItThings to the Smashing Darlings to Johnny Jet all our friends at TotalBeauty, this is one resolution we were more than happy to keep.

Bring back better souvenirs for our friends and families. See ya, magnets! We did get our boyfriend jewelry. Does that count?

Learn to be a better flirt: Lord. We're as hopeless as ever!

Make some new playlists so we're not forever listening to the same songs on our iPod: Slacking on this one, too, and it's even an easy one.

Experiment with makeup more. We'll look to our friends at Makeupbag.net and All About the Pretty for advice: From mastering the smoky eye, learning how to do a cat eye to experimenting with gray nail polish, we nailed this one.

Delete e-mails after we read 'em. No more in-boxes that top 718 for us! We're at 184 as of today!

Use fewer napkins. We've been good about turning down plastic bags now for years, but still take a handful of napkins whenever we go to Starbucks or Pinkberry. Must save those trees! Doing ok on the napkins. Our new eco-enemy is plastic utensils with takeout or delivery. We always try to remember to say we don't need them and emailed Mayor Bloomberg to suggest he make it a law that restaurants have to ask before just dumping them in the bag.