Tamarindo, Costa Rica Sunsets-

HOT. Caliente. 105+ degrees. If you had snow this past week in your neck of the woods (yes, I know, snow in April), I envy you. April is the hottest month here in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and this past week the heat turned up a notch. Like, you can’t even step one foot outside without sweating HOT. Only a couple more weeks to go until the relief comes with the beginning of rainy season, but also the hottest coupe of weeks. Talking about raining season, this week Tamarindo was treated with a beautiful, rainy season-esque sunset. It just kept getting better and better! I couldn’t stoop oohing and ahhhing.

Ride into the sunset

Yea, last night was that good…sunset that is…

Glass-sea

XOXO,
Kristen

TGIF

Sunset in Savannah, Georgia –

Half and half. Half of the week finishing up my holiday visit in Savannah, Georgia and the other half back home in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Despite the 36 degree morning on the last morning of my trip, the weather in Savannah was gorgeous during my two week trip. I ate, I drank, I recharged, and most importantly, I spent time with my family. As always, every afternoon at 5PM I was chasing sunsets on Skidaway Island. And let me tell you, watching sunset in 40 degree weather (can you say brrrrrr!) is just as beautiful as it is in 90 degree heat in Costa Rica! Except for the minor detail that my fingers were a tad bit frozen!

Enjoy the sunsets in Savannah, a golden hour hike at Skidaway State Park, a sneak peak of Trey’s surprise proposal in Tamarindo, AND of course SUNSET in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whispers of old trees.

XOXO

Kristen

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

I like to longboard – a lot. 99% of the time I can be found surfing the Tamarindo Rivermouth with my 9’4″ longboard. Too much in fact that my 6’2″ “Fun Dip” short board was starting to feel neglected. So this past weekend when I packed up my rental car to visit a couple of surf buddies staying in Playa Guiones two hours South of Tamarindo, I decided to ONLY bring my short board. Almost a week later, I still have not picked up my longboard for a surf session and I have been stoked on riding my short board.

When nothing is going right, surf a left. || Somewhere lost in paradise. Magic Stick by ROBERT AUGUST SURF COMPANY , Mermaid Bikini by MI OLA

So what has gotten into me?! On Monday my friends and I surfed with a surf coach and after our session we reviewed with video analysis. Yes, I knew going into the session that I was privy to have a narrow longboard stance while surfing my short board. But then there is the ugly truth of video analysis – the reason why I am not able to complete my backside turns is my narrow stance, etc., etc. Being the self-competitive person that I am, the very next day out in the water I was even more aware of my narrow stance dilemma and started working on moving my front foot forward on the board. AND bada-bing, bada BOOM! There it was, just by moving my front foot a tad forward, my short board game has been turned up a notch. Backside turns and frontside cut backs, Step Gilmore watch out!

She smiled at the ocean because the waves told her story. – r.m. drake

Happy Friday y’all – it’s almost Thanksgiving!!!

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

What happens when it starts down pouring during the middle of a wedding your are photographing? You laugh it off, get a little wet, and keep photographing! It was a refreshing challenge though as I am so used to photographing weddings here in Tamarindo during beautiful sunsets. I have to admit that I was quite worried as the rain shortened the photo session with my awesome couple Courtney and Justin, but I could not be happier with the results. Working under pressure!!

No rain, no problem.

So yes, it has been just a tad rainy in the afternoons here in Tamarindo, Costa Rica the past week, but we sure do need the rain! Thankfully, the sun managed to make an appearance twice this week and give a little show. Enjoy the sunsets from paradise from the past week!

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

So instead of TGIF, this week’s Sunsets from Paradise post is TGIW – Thank Goodness it’s the Weekend. I know, I know y’all look forward to the weekly Tamarindo, Costa Rica sunsets every Friday, but my Thursday and Friday this past week consisted of a bunch of work crammed into 48 hours. Contrary to what you may think, life can’t be all Pura Vida, surfing, and chasing sunsets all the time. Yes, I suffer sometimes just as much as you do!

Well, this week we have had more rain than sunsets and that means some pretty cool rainclouds Kinda like this:

Da na naaaaa

Pretty wicked, huh?! Anyway, I will keep this post short and sweet since it already is the weekend – and my slavedriver boss known as Gidget the Chihuhua is begging to go on her beach walk.

Nothing like your boss (Gidget the Chihuahua) watching you work over your shoulder…

Enjoy the sunsets from this past week! AND if you need some Tamarindo sunset love all day, every day, why not bring one of these beauties home? It only took months of planning to get this print (“Daydreaming”) to Tamarindo to mi casa – and I am ever so happy. Peace.

Daydreaming || That feeling you get when you hang your own photographic work in your home —> p r i c e l e s s |

TGIF

Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Four years ago Facebook reminded me that it was snowing in New York City. Yes, snow in October. Y’all are gonna hate me when I admit this, but I haven’t seen snow since that Winter. But seriously, would you like to start sweating every.single.time you step outside?! Tamarindo, Costa Rica’s temperature year round is hot and H-O-T-T-E-R! Yeah, yeah, my ears are ringing from y’all cursing me under your breath.

She was a beautiful dreamer. The kind of girl, who kept her head in the clouds, loved above the stars and left regret beneath the earth she walked on. – r.m. drake

Have a safe and uber fun Halloween! Sunsets in Tamarindo this week certainly didn’t disappoint.

TGIF

Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica –

What would you do if you could go back and take the road less travelled?

Back in the early Summer of 1969, fresh off a degree from the University of Pittsburgh, my mother stepped on her first flight as a Pan America Airways stewardess. Sure, my mom could have entered the corporate world upon her graduation, but my grandfather had influenced her to pursue a different route. As a result, she travelled all over the world, from flying on the first 747 flight from New York to Paris and visiting now-war torn places such as Beirut. It was the Golden Age of flying and my mother’s stories are oh-so-amazing.

Pan Am reunion in Savannah, GA. My mother is the one in the center with the PanAm bowler bag – and she still fits in her uniform!!!

Flash forward about 40 years later, and off I went on my own adventure. I packed up my New York City apartment, left my corporate job, and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. Little did my mother know, the love for travel, culture, and new experiences that she had exposed me to ever since my first birthday runs deep through my veins.  Sounds a little like mother, like daughter, right???

Enjoy the sunsets from this past week!

Dance to the song of the Sea

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Four years ago I hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. It was my first trip to this beautiful country and my first surf trip. Little did I know, this week long vacation full of surfing and pouring rain was that “road diverged in a yellow wood”.  A year later I was back on a plane to Costa Rica, this time to live full time in Tamarindo. Fast forward three years later, I am in awe and disbelief.

Do what makes your soul shine || Taking the oldie but a goodie NIKKOR 50mm 1.4 circa 1960s for a test drive with @emshoegrams

Samba to the Sea has always been about following my dreams and living life to the fullest. What has resulted is being able to surf everyday, a growing photography business (with photo sessions for a glowing Kara, Justin, and their baby bump this past week), and over 7,000 postcards/ cards/ mini cards sold with Samba to the Sea Designs. Oh what a couple years it has been! Thank you to my supporters, critiques, and disbelievers; Y’all have made me stronger and wiser.

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

She’s a dreamer, a soul searcher, and a wanderer. She drifts along, deep in thought, her mind craving exploration and her eyes telling tales of mysterious adventures.

Surf, eat, work, chase sunsets, eat, repeat. Yep, that pretty much sums up my week. Waves have been small, but fun. Mother Nature has been putting on a show during Sunset. And I finally am catching up on my to-do list from way too many months ago. Gotta love the slow, rainy season here in Tamarindo, Costa Rica – uncrowded lineups, empty beaches, and time to catch up!

AND if you missed the Gilt sale for Samba to the Sea x Two Palms Art Bazaar, head on over to Two Palms Art Bazaar because it just so happens the Samba to the Sea Collection is 50% off! No discount code required. Another very, very Happy Friday indeed!

Buenos Dias, Buenas Olas. Photo by Kristen M. Brown (me!), Samba to the Sea Photography. Plexiglass print by Two Palms Art Bazaar.

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

“I dream my paintings, then I paint my dreams.” – Van Gogh

MY-ami, Your-ami!

Y’all are in for a special treat…Miami sunset AND sunrise photos + good ole sunsets in Tamarindo all in one week! Every once in a while this American girl needs to step foot on home soil for some good USA lovin’. Lovin’ as in family, old friends, good food, AND love at first sight aka my new camera. Enjoy the photos from the past week from the machine, the Nikon D750!

AND guess what?! A selection of my photographs, in collaboration with Two Palms Art Bazaar, went live on Gilt.com today. A very Happy Friday indeed!!!

XOXO

LIVE on Gilt.com NOW!

TGIF

Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica –

I asked for Rainy Season and I got some this week in Tamarindo. A double whammy of Rainy Season to be more specific – epic sunsets to the West and dramatic approaching rain clouds to the East. To top it all off, on my three year anniversary of leaving the Corporate Banking world behind, Mother Nature put on a show that made it to the Top 10 Sunsets in Tamarindo list – and quite possibly the top three. Yea, it was that good and quite a nice celebratory affirmation.

Bliss

Dance in the dark of night, sing to the morning light. – Led Zep

TGIF

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

They say it’s rainy season here in Northwest Costa Rica, but it ain’t raining! So when the storms come, it seems like us rain deprived folk start dancing…and posting to Facebook. Except for yours truly – I like to go on refreshing rainy hikes. Not only do storm clouds make for epic sunsets, but they put dome drama into a sunny day. Because there is so much beauty in a storm…XOXO.

She acts like Summer and walks like rain

AND if you haven’t heard, a selection of my prints are now 50% off via Two Palms Art Bazzar. They do some wicked work…check it out! Use code “artlovers” at checkout.

TGIF

Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Yea, yea, yea – another week, another email full of beautiful Tamarindo, Costa Rica sunsets.  But last week, in between these two TGIF posts, I witnessed a sunset that was postcard worthy – it had that magic touch. The following night, in the midst of watching the sun set, I happened to turn around and witness the gorgeous full moon rising in between a grove of palm trees. Two days in a row and two magical, but so different, scenes. The sun and the moon.

Summer Nights

Little did I know, during these very same two days, a beautiful and loving friend was going through something so terrible that when I found out a couple days later my eyes teared up and my heart ached. In a world where we receive  so many updates, from engagements, weddings, births, vacations, sunset photos…to even what someone ate for breakfast, via the plethora of social media outlets, my friend’s post to Facebook certainly stood out. My friend’s unborn son, little Gordie, had passed away.

They say that, “Every time an artist dies, God lets them paint the sky.” Well, looking back on those two special days of the magical sunset and the full moon, I had this feeling that something special was happening. Brianne, in the midst of something so horrible,  I truly believe that thousands of miles away here in Costa Rica, Gordie was putting on his show – not one, but two nights in a row.

Sending lots of love.

XOXO

Kristen

TGIF

Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica –

“Sometimes the littlest things take up the most room in your heart.“

If you happened to tune into Facebook, Instagram, or any type of social media on Wednesday, you most likely were greeted with a plethora of dog pictures in celebration of #NationalDogDay. But, ‘wait’ you say, “Isn’t everyday National Dog Day for our spoiled dogs?”

As a fur child mother, I would like to think that I am the one with the final say, but my five bound ‘beast’ Chihuhua, Gidget, certainly does not think so. Gone are the days that I surf at sunset, traded in for sunset walks on the beach. Lucky for you though, because without Gidget begging me every afternoon at approximately 5:05PM to go on our walk, all of those pretty sunsets would just be filed away as a beautiful memory. Seriously, your cubicle wall or computer screen would be that much grayer without one of these Tamarindo sunset beauties.

So here is to Gidget, and all of our crazy fur babies. Happy National Dog Day…everyday!

TGIF

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Tamarindo, Costa Rica –

Some sunsets I can’t find enough angles to capture the beauty that is unfolding in front of my eyes. Others I patiently wait for that one magical moment, like a stand up paddler or a sailboat crossing paths with the setting sun. This past week’s sunsets here in Tamarindo was a combination of both, plus a beautiful elopement session I shot for such a lovely couple, Kara + Noel, at Pangas Beach Club. Enjoy!

TGIF