Avenue78

Photo Album Online

www.fotopic.net is an excellent way to categorize, share, download and print your digital pictures. Since jumping on the digital bandwagon a few years ago, I have been at a loss as to how to sort out my pictures. So many of them were just sitting on my computer's hard drive and I never saw them again. I have tried different ways of sharing such as Msn groups and Kodak but Fotopic is the best I've seen so far. It gives you a personalized web page and tons of storage space; all of your albums can be viewed at any time. It has a variety of services for ordering your photos in printed form too. Upload your photos today!

Best Housekeeper in Toronto!

To all of you who live in Toronto or the GTA (the majority of my readers at the moment), if you want the best housekeeper around, please call Beverley. Not only are her prices very reasonable, she does a bang up job when it comes to cleaning and organizing. Give her a call and I promise you won't be disappointed: 647-221-0865.

A Must Read

Smart Women Finish Rich is an excellent read for those of you who just don't understand how to sort out you and/or your family's finances. Although I have a financial advisor(something the book's author David Bach recommends) who is great, I still like to understand what he is doing with my money - it is mine after all! Bach writes in a straight forward and understandable way. He makes all the confusing terms make sense. The Finish Rich Series is a group of books that you will want to keep at your finger tips and refer to time and again. Since it is that time of year again when people are beginning to file their taxes I thought I would recommend that all of you who haven't already read any of these books to do so immediately! For all the Canadians reading this, there is a Canadian version of this book too.

Yummy Yummy Recipe

I love to cook but rarely do it. When I do cook, I like to experiment and try to re-create my favorite restaurant dishes. The other night I made my version of mushroom and goat cheese quesadillas. They turned out to be quite tasty if I do say so myself. My cooking companion loved them too (at least this is what he told me!)

Here is the recipe:

8 Quesadillas

6 portabello mushrooms chopped

4 green onions chopped

8 tablespoons of goat cheese

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

*Preheat oven to 425 C

*Cut chicken into small pieces

*In a frying pan on medium heat, cook chicken until tender and juicy

*Remove chicken from heat

*In another frying pan, sautee mushrooms and onions until soft

*Add in chicken and cayenne pepper

*Spread goat cheese on one side of each quesadilla

*Sandwich chicken, mushrooms and onions between the goat cheese coated quesadillas

*Put quesadillas on cookie sheet and cook in oven for 10-12 minutes

*Remove from oven and use pizza cutter to cut each quesadillas into 4

These make fantastic appetizers or, if you are like me who only ever eats apps, then they are a great meal!

Let me know what you think once you've tried these... Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Costa Rica

  Costa Rica, Manuel Antonio in particular, learned from other vacation destinations' mistakes when it passed a law prohibiting any beach front property to be built. The beaches are untouched and the hotels and restaurants that do exist must be at least 300 meters away from the beach. They are tucked away in the trees and blend seamlessly into the landscape. Wherever you look you will find examples of Costa Rica’s well kept, eco-friendly atmosphere whether it is the lush rainforest or the abounding wild life.

Getting There

We arrived in San Jose’s International terminal and rolled our suitcases over to the Sansa Airline terminal to take our domestic flight to Quepos on the Pacific coast. See www.flysansa.com or www.travelair-costarica.com. If you only have a week, it is recommended to fly rather than take a cab or a bus which can take over three hours. The 18 minute, picturesque flight over the mountains, rainforest and plantations is well worth the US $100.00 return fare. Most hotels in Manuel Antonio will pick you up and drop you off at the airport in Quepos as long as you make arrangements ahead of time. Taxis are safe and inexpensive and the Sansa staff will call one for you if you haven’t already arranged transportation.

Getting Around

We do recommend renting a car if you want to take day trips and see as much as possible of what CR has to offer. Your hotel can arrange for a car to be dropped off at the hotel. If you decide to use a guide, you can ask them to arrange the car and they can pick you up and drop you off.

                                                               Where to Stay

The Mariposa Hotel www.lamariposa.com is on a sloping property perched atop one of the highest points of Manuel Antonio. It has panoramic views of surrounding areas and a tranquil atmosphere. The property is beautifully maintained and each room or villa has an incredible view. The service is top notch and the staff is very professional and friendly. Since we were so busy, we only spent one full day at the hotel but the pool side service was excellent and the view of the sunset at the end of the day was incredible. In fact, anywhere along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica is an amazing place to see the sunset, which happens every day at 5:45 pm.

What to Do

Going for only one week will limit the amount of sightseeing and activities to be done; however, you can always go back for a second trip or stay for two weeks. In order to maximize our time, we had an excellent guide, Oscar, who showed us around and kept us busy for most of the week. Here are some activities that Oscar can organize for you: Surfing lessons, surf trips to Jaco or Playa Hermosa, white water rafting, canopy and jungle tours, a guided tour of Manuel Antonio’s protected park, deep sea fishing, snorkeling and trips to Costa Rica’s active volcano. We spent a couple of days just enjoying the sun and relaxing on the beach. For $5.00 you can get a lounge chair with a table and an umbrella. Be sure to try the fresh and tasty “jugo de pipa” (coconut juice) and freshly cut fruit from the vendors on the beach.

Where to Eat

Oscar had some excellent recommendations on where to eat. Before going to Costa Rica we had been warned that the food was bland and unappetizing however we were pleasantly surprised. In particular, Bamboo Jazz in Manuel Antonio had great service, and some of the tastiest appetizers and main courses. Be sure to try the Red Snapper and the Sushi Grade Tuna. On the weekends there is a live band and the place is packed so be sure to make a reservation if you plan to go on a Friday or Saturday. Another great place for dinner is Ronnie’s Place in Manuel Antonio. Try to get there for 5:30 pm so you can see the sun go down while you have a pre dinner cocktail. After dinner, things liven up and everyone is encouraged to dance salsa and meringue! It is a great way to spend the evening and make new friends. If you want to try something other than the hotel (and save some money) for breakfast, go to Café Milagro where you will find an assortment of much more reasonably priced options or El Gran Escape in Quepos. If you are looking for more nightlife, check out the beach disco on Saturday nights and the Lounge on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your hotel will let you know where to find these places. If you are renting a house, please contact me in order to get more details.

Tablet PC

I absolutely adore my tablet pc. It is made by HP and weighs less than 4 lbs. I love that I can take it anywhere with me and that it fits in my handbag. It has voice recognition and it will record and type out what you dictate to it and you can swivel it around and make it a regular laptop (as seen in picture above) or put it in tablet form and use the special pen to take notes in your own handwriting right there on the screen. Very cool. The only complaint I have is that the keyboard is quite small so if you have big burly fingers, this might not be the computer for you. Have a look at the specs etc. on the HP website.

Cool Website

Etsy is a Cooler Version of Ebay

If you are sick of sorting through all the junk and mislabled stuff on Ebay, check out www.etsy.com. Most things are one of a kind and hand made. You can find everything from jewelry to t-shirts to art on there. You can search by category, geographical location and even by colour (this is my favourite search because you can quickly find a variety of matching tops for that lime green skirt that goes with nothing in your closet). They now have a cool new feature that allows same time viewing so you can shop with a friend! Check it out.

Must Have Product

Dior Skin Flash is one product you won't be able to live without once you've tried it. Use it under the eyes, on the brow bones, and on the corners of the nose and mouth. It evens the skin out and makes a flawless finish erasing fine lines and redness. I guarantee you'll love it! You can find out more at dior's website.