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The Bella Blog
- Jan 30
- 2 min
It's Summer in Costa Rica!
Hey everyone! I know it's been a minute but it's been pretty quiet in our life and since we are staying home most of the time, I haven't had much to report -- but I'm back today with a few pics. Still loving our new city even if we rarely get out! The rainy season ended around the end of November and with it came the "dry" season and the wind! The winds can really get gusty during this time of year. Time to secure your plants and patio furniture!!! Its now offically summer
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The Bella Blog
- Nov 13, 2020
- 4 min
Black Hair Care Products and Services in Costa Rica
*Special Post Today's post is directed to those women (black & brown - w/curly/kinky/tightly coiled hair) currently living n Costa Rica and/or relocating to Costa. When i set out to research the availability of products and services in Costa Rica specifically designed to address the needs of hair care for the black community, I was cautiously optimistic. After having lived in Grecia, (a small agricultural town in Costa Rica's Central Valley), for 4 years I was aware of the d
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The Bella Blog
- Nov 11, 2020
- 1 min
Life on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica (video)
Below is a recent interview we had with expats, Penny & Paul McPherson, as we sat down to discuss their travels and their life in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica!! Be sure to check Penny out on IG #plantbasedpennylife Big Thanks to Paul & Penny!!! #ThatBellaLife #BlackInCostaRica #BlackExpatsinCostaRica #BlackExpatsLivingLifeAbroad #PlantBasedPennyLife
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The Bella Blog
- Oct 24, 2020
- 1 min
Our Interview with International Living Magazine - Our Life in Costa Rica
Blaxit: 5 Black American Expats Share Their Experiences Living Overseas BTW - After the article was published we discovered that we happen to know 2 of the other couples who were interviewed for the article. Riley & His wife who live in Grecia and Michelle and her husband who we visited on our trip to San Miguel de Allende - Congrats to both!!! Please check us out (small error - Some of you may know, but the above photo is actually in Escazu) #ThatBellaLife #BlackExpatsLiving
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The Bella Blog
- Jul 16, 2020
- 1 min
Good Bye to Our Casa in Grecia Costa Rica
Hey guys, This is a short video of our house in Grecia. For security reasons we've never filmed our exact location, but since we no longer live there... Here it is! It was our 1st home in Costa Rica. We called it Casa de Coffey (a play on words using Lavanson's last name) and we lived there for 4 years, so we will definitely miss it. The views and the sounds of nature were a perfect introduction to this beautiful country. We also enjoyed the peace and tranquility of being sur
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The Bella Blog
- Jul 14, 2020
- 3 min
Just in the nick of time! Our Life in Costa Rica
We are finally in our new home!! In the midst of a "pandemic" With the number of Covid cases on the rise and both our city locations on "orange alert", I figured I better change our move date while things were still partially open. I moved the date from Sunday July 12 to Friday July 10. Very happy I did, because on Saturday July 11th, Costa Rica instituted the strictest Covid measures to date! The new restrictions for areas on orange alert cut driving down to one day during t
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The Bella Blog
- Jun 22, 2020
- 2 min
Let's Take A Ride! - Atenas Costa Rica
I shared this video on one of my Facebook groups but thought you all might enjoy it as well. The TOPIC -- HOUSING - Where should we live? This is always a HUGE decision as we discussed in the real estate series. I think the decision is also complicated by the fact that Costa Rica is different from the US in many ways. First - It's not connected by "freeways" - as we know them in the US - "freeways" that take you up and down and across the country with well lit signs and offra
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The Bella Blog
- May 29, 2020
- 1 min
And The Winner Is
We're back with an update on which property we chose! It was a difficult decision but we finally made up our minds. In the video below we will discuss the pros and cons of each location which led up to our final decision. While we were in the selection process I thought this might also be a good time to educate people on exactly how real estate works in Costa Rica as it is different in so many ways from real estate in the states, and I figured...you all just might want to kno
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The Bella Blog
- May 24, 2020
- 1 min
Real Estate in Costa Rica
We'll be posting our next video very soon - In it, we are announcing WHICH rental we decided to take and why. In that same video we'll have our Real Estate Agent on to discuss buying/selling/renting in Costa Rica. Many of you have sent me messages with questions about real estate in CR (which I cannot answer), this is your opportunity to get answers from a professional. Comment below or send me a message with questions or comments. Deadline is this Wednesday May 27th. Thanks
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The Bella Blog
- May 20, 2020
- 4 min
Why We left the US - Looking Back
Note - WARNING -This is an opinion post. If you are currently satisfied/happy with the situation in the states you might want to pass up reading this post. One reason that I am writing this post today is because lately, I have been deluged with incoming requests from people in the states, begging for help as to how to "get out" of the US! I'm serious! Since I moderate and administer at least 3 different sites on FB I am getting their desperate pleas! I think the constant 24/
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The Bella Blog
- May 12, 2020
- 2 min
Looking for a New Home in Costa Rica
Since we have put our move to Mexico on indefinite hold, it's time to find a new home in Costa Rica! I've found at least one positive result of the Corona Virus, and that is - it's a pretty good time to look for a new place to live if you are interested in a good deal on a rental. Since there will be a new normal once we are lifted from quarantine, people will more than likely not be doing as much travel. And in a country like Cosat Rica where... Tourism has been one of the f
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The Bella Blog
- May 9, 2020
- 2 min
Two Month Rona Costa Rica Update
HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY!! We celebrated both of our birthdays on my birthday. Since things have loosened up a bit, we went out to dinner with a couple of friends. Lavanson & I each had a slice of cake with candles. He had the "happy" candles, I had the ones that said "birthday." “In a world where we overcomplicate things, sometimes there are moments that are stand-alone that still bring smiles.” OK I did the research and 70 is the new 50 or at least the new 60!!! Health-wise, old
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The Bella Blog
- Mar 21, 2020
- 3 min
Shelter in Place - Day 10 -The New Normal
Yesterday we received a message from the State Dept Come home. Now. That was the message from the State Department, which announced that U.S. citizens abroad should either return home or stay where they are as the coronavirus pandemic grows.
The department raised its global travel advisory to Level 4, the top warning level, which is usually reserved for nations with war zones or beset by serious disruptions. The announcement is a recommendation, not a requirement, and many of
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The Bella Blog
- Feb 24, 2020
- 2 min
Mardi Gras Costa Rica Style
A quick weekend update. For those of you NOT on FB, here is a pic of the sweet potatoes from our recent harvest - YAY. These are U.S style sweet potatoes (yams), which we don't get here in Costa Rica. We grew them in our yard and this is our 2nd harvest. The first one netted only a few very tiny potatoes. At this time, (along with editing the video from yesterday and writing this blog post), I am also cooking some of the potatoes to make a sweet potato loaf (similar to zucchi
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The Bella Blog
- Jan 21, 2020
- 1 min
Black Girls CAN Learn to Salsa!
Can you Salsa? I have to admit it. I can not! I posted this on Facebook today but for those of you who do not have FB here's what I said. Sunday we took ourselves over to Sarchi (next little city over from Grecia) to "Viejillos" a bar, restaurant/discoteque (I didn't know discoteques were still around 😉) For those not familiar, Viejjillos is a HUGE place and every Sunday they have dancing with a live band, from 1-6pm. People of all ages come to dance. It was my 2nd time goin
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The Bella Blog
- Jan 20, 2020
- 2 min
Looking Back at Four Years of Living in Costa Rica
YAY!!! I have finally completed our look back/4 year Costa Rica wrap up video!!! Or, I guess I should say, vide-O's -- as it turns out that I had to split the original video into 2 parts. In the end, a 1 hour video was just a little too much for my poor laptop to process. Even with the 2 video split, part 2 took half the day and all night to upload! Yes my friends, those are some of the joys of video making and uploading in Costa Rica!!! I will keep that in mind for future u
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The Bella Blog
- Jan 2, 2020
- 2 min
It's been one whole year!
Happy New Year Everyone! Just a quick check-in to wish each of you the very best for the the new year! Hope you all have something special to look forward to. Celebrating Our One Year "That Bella Life" Blogoversary/Vlogoversary!! Yep, that's right, how time flies. This time last year I was putting the final touches on this website and preparing to launch! The website will remain the same but as I do every year, I am redesigning our videos a bit including some changes to our i
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The Bella Blog
- Dec 19, 2019
- 3 min
The day we sat down to dinner with a member of the Ku Klux Klan, in Grecia, Costa Rica?
Let's see, where did I leave off? Last I posted, I was giving you the rundown on the interesting week we had, and I left off with Feria Friday. Well, on Sunday we were invited to La Terraza B&B to attend a birthday party and to meet a "special guest" writer who was visiting from the states. We love going to La Terraza. It's a beautiful place and we always have a lot of fun. The food is great and we meet some very interesting people. So of course, we were excited to go. As we
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The Bella Blog
- Dec 16, 2019
- 2 min
Better Days Ahead
Although we had a pretty frustrating several days last week, the end of the week turned out to be much, much better. Thursday was an absolutely gorgeous day. I even hung some clothes out on the line to dry in the Costa Rica sun. Really! I mean who gets to have such a beautiful view? I am always in awe of the beauty here. On Friday, I also picked up our homemade holiday tamales! Yum! Tamale Making - A time-honored and delicious holiday tradition in Costa Rica. For generations,
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