garden

Costa Rica Part II: Poas Volcano Tour

After the wedding in San Jose, we had a couple of days to explore the surrounding landscape. If you ever find yourself in San Jose, there are some great tours to take advantage of. We decided to make the most of our free day and opted for the “combination tour,” consisting of Doka Estate coffee, Poas Volcano, and La Paz Waterfall Gardens. It was a full day of sight-seeing and walking, but it was totally worth it.

We started the tour at Doka, where we had a traditional Costa Rican breakfast (and coffee, of course) and walked through the roasting process. Almost a century old, this estate still produces some of the best coffee in Costa Rica. After the tour, we made a couple stops along the way to Poas, one being a rest stop selling fresh cheese and coffee and where we met the sweetest mountain dog.

It was an incredibly misty morning, so we only got a few glimpses of the volcano as the wind blew the clouded cover. The national park was gorgeous, though, and we took an hour-long walk through the forest and saw some amazing plants and flowers. The beautiful scenery continued on our drive to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, where we encountered orchids, butterflies, tropical birds, wild cats, and a series of majestic waterfalls – the perfect end to our day.

Photos also taken by Bryan Wallace

Vintage Garden Bridal Inspiration

Last summer I participated in a fun styled shoot at the historic Oatlands property in Virginia with some very talented vendors, and our work was featured on Magnolia Rouge in March! It was a fairly hot day, but Lissa Ryan Photography beautifully captured all of the intricate details of the vintage crown, veil, and gorgeous gown from Gossamer.

The perfect mix of floral colors and textures arranged by Succulents and Saffron highlighted the bright purple hues of the garden, and my classic hair and makeup by Phenomenal Faces and Georgetown Bride created a delicate look for our ethereal bridal shoot.

Leopard + Brights

Spring is finally here! Although it may not seem like it quite yet, it’s time to pull all those cute dresses, bright flats, and fun prints out from hiding from under your bed and the dark corners of your closet. I had a taste of spring in Mexico with their delicious 70 degree weather, so I just couldn’t help packing one of my favorite bright and breezy coral blouses and my leopard Steve Madden flats to wear strolling the beautiful streets of Colonia Roma. One of my favorite destinations was a local park with a pond full with ducks, great paths in the shadows of tall trees, and lots of happy dogs of all types: Great Danes, Labs, Terriers, mutts and mixes, and the dog of our dreams-a darling white Bull Terrier.

Outfit details: coral blouse similar // Levi’s light wash jeans similar // leopard flats: Steve Madden similar // black leather crossbody: Coach similar

Photography also by Teddy Wolff

Spring is not only an opportunity to shed some light on our forgotten clothes, but to also dust off our goals, plans, eagerness, and excitement that may have been hibernating during those cold months. Through the winter I thought about my blog and what my goals should be for 2014, the biggest of which was to purchase a domain and get serious. It’s been one year since I started my blog and, even though I had no idea what I was getting into a year ago, I realize now I couldn’t have made a better decision. Having this blog has been such a positive outlet for my creative endeavors, SO, I’m happy to say that I finally “did it”: my url is now officially jackietara.com!

Thank you to Teddy Wolff, my partner in crime, for helping me create photographic content for the past year [and for teaching me how to use a camera along the way!] and to all my readers who make this process even more enjoyable. Keep reading and don’t forget to follow my adventures on Instagram @jackietara, too!

Jackietara

Aqua + Gold

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season with family and friends, and for those of you who celebrate it, I hope you had a very merry Christmas! Between the boisterous game nights, delicious meals, services, singing, and cocktail drinking, T and I were able to escape for a couple peaceful hours at the Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens in Northeast D.C. It’s a hidden gem on the other side of the National Arboretum [both just minutes from our apartment] in Anacostia. You would never know it’s there… and unfortunately I think a lot of people don’t. We visited on a Thursday afternoon and the entire park was empty, save for a few mallards splashing in the ponds and a couple of frisky doe romping in the woods.

It was absolutely gorgeous out. We didn’t need coats and I was glad to get outside for some fresh air in this little pocketed sanctuary of the city. T and I were heading to his brother’s holiday party later that evening, so I was already dressed in a new gold lace cocktail dress with an aqua cardigan for a pop of color. I’ve been legitimately obsessed with this color palette this season – I even wrapped all my gifts in gold paper with aqua and neutral rafia and ribbon!