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Revisiting Costa Rican Paradise at the Andaz Papagayo

by Kenan Hill | Feb 8, 2017 | Central America, Hotels, Travel, Travel Tips + Reward Travel

  Last year, we uncharacteristically booked a long weekend trip to Costa Rica with only one week’s notice. (We’re usually planners.) This year, we uncharacteristically decided to go back to the Andaz Papagayo. (We usually like to try new places.) But getting a...

Year in Review

by Kenan Hill | Jan 4, 2017 | Central America, Europe, Golf, Lifestyle, Personal Reflections, Restaurants, Travel, United States

2016 The past year was a difficult one personally.  The loss of my mother-in-law to cancer and the continued decline of my dad to early-onset Alzheimer’s were not things that my husband, Nick, and I expected to face in our twenties.  (You can read more about how I...

Luxury Retreat at the Andaz Papagayo, Costa Rica

by Kenan Hill | Jun 14, 2016 | Central America, Golf, Hotels, Travel

Good for: Families, Couples, Romantic Getaways, Honeymoon, Spa Retreat   How to get there: Airport: Liberia, Guanacaste (LIR) Direct flights from Atlanta, NYC, Houston, LA, Miami, and others (also San Jose, Costa Rica and Panama City, Panama). The roads between...

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I don’t know about y’all, but the last year ha I don’t know about y’all, but the last year has tested the limits of my cooking fatigue. Preparing three meals a day for three people (plus snacks and all. the. dishes.) is a lot. Obviously it’s a privilege, but it’s also tiring. One of few things keeping me (a little) sane is a “cook once, eat twice” approach. Sometimes that means literally eating straight up leftovers. But more often I like to use leftover elements from a meal for a head start on making something totally different. I’m convinced almost any leftover meat or vegetables can go in a soup, on a salad, or even in an omelette (hellooooo breakfast for dinner!). Tonight we had last night’s chicken on greens with roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, panko bread crumbs, and @notjustco lemon miso dressing (an excellent multipurpose condiment!). Photos of said dinner are a result of lawyer husband having conference calls scheduled at dinner time. 🙃
A couple weeks ago, @nicholas.g.hill got the oppor A couple weeks ago, @nicholas.g.hill got the opportunity to go to a different law firm with some of his partners. He’d been at the same firm for the entirety of his nearly 9 year legal practice, and he thought he might stay there his whole career. The opportunity was exciting, but unforeseen. The interesting thing was that it triggered a lot of grief for both of us. We had to mourn the vision we had for the future, which is different than the present course forward. It also made my late mother-in-law’s absence so apparent. She wasn’t there to provide her wise counsel. She wasn’t there to throw a celebratory dinner when he accepted his new job offer. And we had to come to terms with shedding one more piece of our lives that overlapped with her. It’s a similar type of grief as when we moved into our current house (which happened to be 3 years ago this week). We knew that this was our first home that she or my dad would never get to visit. It feels like we’re moving on without them, which is important and healthy. But also difficult. I guess all big life transitions and events might be bittersweet after losing someone close to you. Maybe it won’t always feel so acute, but that current of grief will always be there to rise at these moments. Tonight we said one final goodbye to my MIL Penny’s last house, which sells tomorrow. We chased her grandson (Griffin) that she never got to meet, and we marveled at my SIL’s growing belly that holds another grandson. We ate perfectly underbaked brownies that Penny would’ve declared were “the best thing ever.” It was good, sweet, sad, weird to be masked and not hugging family, and everything in between. And life keeps moving on.
Today would’ve been my dad’s 62nd birthday. It Today would’ve been my dad’s 62nd birthday. It’s often difficult to figure out how to celebrate and remember him, but this year I had a clear answer: to help fill a @free99fridge. This network of free, community-supported fridges go beyond the typical food pantry by providing prepared meals and fresh ingredients to anyone in need. Today we focused our donation on individual serving-sized foods and drinks, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer and warmers, and baby essentials (puffs, food pouches, diapers, and wipes). It reminded me of how privileged we are to just have access to a kitchen and utensils, let alone never having to worry about from where our next meal will come. When I was in middle school, the textile mills in our NC town closed permanently, leaving hundreds jobless. My dad turned our church fellowship hall into a community food pantry. I was too young to realize how special his leadership was at the time, but it leaves me with no doubt that he would be a big fan of the @free99fridge network! If you live in Atlanta and have food/money to spare, I’d encourage you to donate to these fridges. There are also similar things going on all over the country! Happy birthday, dad! I’ll always be your little girl. ❤️
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