One Gardener’s Holy Grail

By | 2018-06-08T16:16:15-04:00 June 8th, 2018|Categories: Garden, The Happier House|Tags: , , , |

Bougainvillea

Costa Rica Cost of Living Update: Beef Casado at a local Soda (rice, plantains, salad, beef, and beans) — Six Dollars

“This is gross,” I say while opening a Zip Loc bag.

“Why are you messing with that? It’s a germinating mango seed. Did you touch it?” my husband asks.

“No,” I reply, while clearly holding the evidence in my hand. It would seem I have the same half-witted mind of a thief who falls asleep at the crime scene.

“Give me that. It likes carbon dioxide for development!” Rob proceeds to blow into the pouch. I hope that if I’m ever in need of resuscitation, he’s as ambitious with me as he is with this freezer grade sandwich bag.

“Please, leave this alone,” he scolds.

“What about this one?” I ask, holding up another bag filled with gooey mush.

Rob glances before sadly turning away. “That one didn’t make it.”

There is no resuscitation.

I used to think gardening was an amicable hobby, with responsible folks wearing knee pads and suede gloves planting petunias around their mailboxes. They look happy and well adjusted. They take their families to Disneyworld on vacation. They may even buy two boxes of Thin Mint cookies from the Girl Scout troop stationed in front of the Jiffy Lube.

But not Rob. He is not a well-adjusted gardener. He doesn’t plant anything around our mailbox. Okay, we don’t have a mailbox, so instead, he decides to recreate the gardens of Versailles using banana peels and a leaky hose. (more…)

A New Yorker Gardening in Costa Rica

By | 2018-04-15T18:19:12-04:00 July 14th, 2017|Categories: Mountain House, The Happier House|Tags: , , , |

Happier House Garden

Costa Rica Cost of Living Update: A Thousand Bougainvillea Plants—Free when your husband is a lunatic

The weather has been beautiful in Costa Rica with the perfect mix of rain and sunshine. We have amazing lightning shows at night, with claps of thunder so loud it rattles the windows. Mornings begin with misty clouds drifting across the hilltops; temperatures so cool it feels like I’m still living in the mountains.

I think often about my time in Grecia, where this whole journey started. Rob and I didn’t know what to expect when we moved to Costa Rica. The idea was risky, ridiculous, and romantic. Little did I know, it was the beginning of something great

Below is a chapter from Happier Than A Billionaire: The Sequel. It chronicles the move to the beach and the beginning of our next adventure, one which included a truck full of plants.

Rob knew we would have a garden one day. He has a way of seeing into our future. (more…)

Editing Has Begun: The Fourth Happier Book is Well Under Way!

By | 2018-04-15T18:19:12-04:00 June 10th, 2017|Categories: The Happier House|Tags: , , |

First Chapter Happier House

Costa Rica Costa of Living Update: Price per Gallon of Super Gasoline — $4.15 (And there was nothing super about it.  My car immediately stalled after filling the tank)

As many of you know from following my Facebook page, I’ve been diligently working on my next book about building The Happier House. Why am I not entering the culinary profession after my smash video, How to Screw Up a Mango Salad you ask? I stay in my lane folks, and for me, that means documenting the stupid things my husband gets us into. This is the perfect profession since it requires minimal effort from me. Like right now, as I’m writing this, my husband is pruning a palm tree with a weed wacker. All I need is eyesight and an elementary school education to predict how this day will end.

I’m so excited to share with you the first chapter of my fourth book. You’ve all been so wonderful to me, and I often think of you as I write. I imagine that person in bed who only has ten minutes to read before falling asleep. Or that individual who loves armchair travel, and dreams of moving abroad one day. Taking you on this journey with me has been a dream come true. I can’t thank you all enough.

Burrito Man

“I’m starting a burrito business,” Bobby says while standing under a palm tree. “I’m calling it … are you ready… Bobby-ritos.” He splays his hands in the air as if revering a neon-lit Vegas marquee. To seem polite, I look up as well. I do not splay or revere.

Tonight, people are approaching me with the very first thought on their mind. They pick me straight out of a crowd or corner me in the bathroom. It appears I wear an expression of someone who is keenly interested in what others have to say. Most times I am. But not tonight.

(more…)

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