Updates and Celebrating Labor Day!

So, what do you think?  What are your opinions on my new design for Viva Cindy?

(If you are receiving this via email, please click here to see my new design at the top of the site)

I bought these letters in a market in Nicaragua, I love all the bright colors with the white background. 

I do have a "comments" area at the bottom of each post....I would love to hear your thoughts! 

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Today is "El Dia de Trabajador" thats Spanish for "Day of the Worker"  ok really it is just Labor Day, but doesn't 'Day of the Worker' sound better?  If you are anywhere in Latin America they are celebrating it on the first Friday of May, which is TODAY!  I didn't know this until I went to work yesterday.  Ahhhh, there is nothing better than an unexpected long weekend.   I wanted to follow the tradition of "no labor" today, but I did start to pack a little bit.  You would be surprised in how much stuff I accumulated over the last year.  (or maybe you're not surprised?!)

My time with Habitat is coming to an end here in Costa Rica.  Actually, we will be leaving Costa Rica in a few weeks, and leaving our apartment even sooner than that.  I will be sad to leave, but we have so many exciting things coming up in the next few months, I can't be too sad.

1.  Our last 2 weeks in Costa Rica will be spent traveling to a few places we MUST see before our departure. 

2.  I will still be a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, at least until I hire my replacement.  If you or someone you know would be interested in volunteering for a great organization and living the latin life as I have done the last year. Please check out the job description here and send me an email if you are interested.  (wink wink)

3.  First stop in the US? The ATL baby!  We will be staying with Smita for a week while Ernesto completes a lighting job.  If you are in need of some landscape lighting this summer  just contact  him.   If you are in need of seeing your friend Cindy, just contact me:)  It will be a short window! 

4.  On June 7, my niece Kelli is GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL!!! OMG!  Im so proud of her!  She will be heading off to my alma-mater, The Ohio State University in the fall!  Im sure she will be successful wherever her big heart takes her.  She already has a list of successes a mile long.  One being her shop on Etsy.  Check it out!  Anyway, I will be with my family in Ohio for a couple weeks and life will be so good!  I can't wait to hang out with my siblings, hit some yard sales, ride bikes with my dad and "tour the estate" with my mom! This is what I call it when we walk through her huge, beautiful garden and talk about all the flowers and plants.  She is an amazing gardener and a constant inspiration.  

5.  Onward to San Diego! Yes, the next month or two will be spent with Ernesto's family, and Im really looking forward to it! (no really, I love love love my in-laws)  We are going to really dig deep into San Diego and try to do new things.  Not that the "old things" aren't fun.  Mexican food, family and beach!  Ernesto is already searching on Craigslist for our beach cruisers!  Look at the one he found for me here! Yes please! I know the perfect basket for this bike!  

6.  Ernesto and I will start a project together.  I'll give you a hint: it has to do with Mexican food and blogging! That's right, Viva La Cocina will come alive and we are going to kick it off by testing the recipes in his mothers [hand written] recipe book!  Oh my!  (this still needs to be approved by his mother)

7.  The most exciting news of the summer is happening in Wooster, Ohio on (or around) August 10.  My brother Bill and his wife Barbie are having their first baby!  They have been together something like 14 years?! They are going to be such great parents. 

8.  That leaves us about 2 months before we have to be in Atlanta again for Ernesto’s Xmas lighting season.  Our plan (although subject to change) is to go to Mexico. Stupid Swine Flu!  Ernesto is planning to take some Mexican cooking classes.  I would like to take jewelry (metal smith) classes and also take a photography class.  I need to learn how to use my camera better. If money doesn’t permit us both taking classes, I will sacrifice and just work on my own.  We are considering San Miguel de Allende, which is 4 hours north west of Mexico City.  It is a gorgeous colonial city and has a huge artist community. (although muchos gringosL)  Very picturesque.

9.  By mid October Ernesto's business will be in full swing in Atlanta. I have committed to helping Ernesto grow his business this year by marketing to commercial properties and of course using the blogging community to get the word out.  Im sure it will be his most successful year yet! 

By January 2010, we will have to be decided on where we are going to live. By then, I know, I will be dying for a house!  Ok, truth be told, I am already dying for a house.  Maybe I will have found a job by then.  The hunt begins in October when we are back in Atlanta, unless a I stumble across my dream job before then.  You understand that it wouldn’t make sense for me to look for a job now, right?  All of the above “plans” would be out the window, and it just sounds like to good of a summer to mess with, agreed? Agreed.

Ok, back to our Labor-less day yesterday.  For the past week, we have been kitty sitting for Kate, who is in Bolivia.  We have her car, which gives life here in San Jose a different spin.  During the week, we still walked to the grocery store, and to the gym (which is all we do) but yesterday, since I had the day off, we went for a “Sunday drive.”  We didn’t have a destination, but ended up in Santa Ana, which is a beautiful little town built into the mountainside.  The streets are really cute and a lot of trees are blooming. 

We also cruised up into the mountains of Escazu, and found this beautiful cemetery

 and some gorgeous houses...

We also came accoss  a restaurant called Valle Azul, which I had heard of before.  It’s a fine dining Italian restaurant with killer views of the whole city, this is a corner of the dining room.

it was a bit hazy , but the manager promised us that watching the sunset and  then the city lighting up was not to be missed.  We believed him.  We made plans to eat there for Enresto’s birthday… which is right around the corner!  When I got home I looked up a picture for the view at night from Valle Azul and here is what I found on someone's Flickr ... I can't wait!