Nochebuena is coming and everyone's invited!

We Cubans celebrate December the 24th. It's our BIG Christmas celebration with the extended family. And when I say celebrate, I mean we pull out all the stops.

It's a PARTY.

The meal is usually roast pork (lechón asado), white rice, black beans, plantains, yuca con mojo. And a great big flan (and assorted sweets) for dessert. It's a fabulous time to celebrate with family and friends. We always celebrate on December 24th. Always.

And everyone who is invited knows this, and yet...an invitation is always sent.

Always.

For some of my past Nochebuena invitation designs: Click here.

This year, I decided to step it up a notch and make the invitation a cheerful one. I made labels and pasted them on bottles of Martinelli's. Frankly, I was quite pleased with myself.

Here's the label. It says:

Please join us for some Christmas Cheer and Cucufate at the Darby Home. 6:00 pm. Nochebuena, Monday, December 24th, 2012

I handed them out at Thanksgiving and mailed just the above postcard to those who were not present that day. I'm kind of pleased with myself.

If you got an invitation to a party attached to a bottle of sparkling cider, wouldn't you make it a point to get there?

Yeah, me too. ;-)

It's Nochebuena! And everyone's invited. Again.

My big, fat, Cuban family consists of pretty much the same people year after year. Except for the occasional birth, marriage, or divorce, I'm still related to the same people.

It's still just "us." (Sometimes "us" can get to upwards of 40 people, but that's not important right now.)

We Cubans have our BIG Christmas celebration on December the 24th. Nochebuena. (Which translates to "Good Night.")

For as long as I can remember and many generations before me, my family, like most other Cuban families, look forward to roast pork and black beans and white rice and yuca con mojo and fried plantains on December 24th.

Every year, on December 24th, we celebrate our Nochebuena with that grand-there's-nothing-like-it Cuban feast.

Every year, on December 24th, we get together as one big family and exchange gifts.

Every year, on December 24th, we stay up late and drink Crema de Vie and enjoy the Christmas festivities.

Every year. On December 24th. For as long as I can remember. The date has always been the same. The menu has never varied. Neither has the guest list.

And yet......

I always make invitations. Which I send to the same people I've been related to all my life. Who have been celebrating Nochebuena on December the 24th for their entire lives, too. And who all know we'll be getting together for our annual Nochebuena Celebration on December 24th.

Chances are, we've even already discussed where the party is going to be held, too. (This year we're going to my sister, Alina's house.)

And yet.....

I send out invitations. Every year.

Nochebuena, 2006:

Nochebuena, 2007:

Nochebuena, 2009:

Nochebuena, 2010:

And now.....(drum roll, please)......

Nochebuena, 2011:

I'm quite proud of this year's invitations. Aren't they just beautiful? I'm so into the whole "subway art" thing right now. I created them in Photoshop CS5 and uploaded the file to my local Kinko's (excuse me, FedEx Kinkos) so they could print it on coated cardstock.

I'm seriously so very pleased. =D

I just mailed these out to all of my big, fat, Cuban family. Who live just a few miles from me. With whom I've been celebrating Nochebuena for all of my life. On December 24th.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~Albert Einstein

Honestly, I know it's a little insane. But it's Cuban Christmas Insanity.

And to me, that's the very best kind. ;-)

Everyone's Invited!

I can't remember when this started, but as long as I remember we have been making invitations for our Nochebuena Celebration on December the 24th.

It's always the same people (with a few added guests). They all know when and where the party is because we have been discussing it for weeks. And, Duh! We do this every, single year. But still, the invitation must be sent out.

And of course, because I can't just go to the store and buy a cute invitation, because that would be way too easy. I always end up playing a game of "One Up" with myself. As in "What did I do last year?" (This is last year's invitation.) I have to go "One Up" from that and take it to the next level. (Please don't ask about the logic of this. There obviously is none.)

So, here's this year's NocheBuena invitation. (drum roll please.....)

It's a long tag. The gift-giving directions are on the back and there's a snowflake attached. (I am just feeling the snowflake love this year, but that's not important right now.) It's got a red velvet ribbon, making it suitable for hanging on the nearest Christmas tree.

If you decide to come, just please remember to RSVP. We will be happy to move some furniture around, set an extra place and make room just for you. =D

Do you send invitations? Phone calls? Emails? Texts? Tell me.

Just in case you were curious, here are our invitations from 2006, and 2007.

And because I'm still in the giving mood, there are some cute Spanglish Gift Tags I created that are FREE for you to download over at the Tiki Tiki.

[Creative Notes: The tag itself is from Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals and it's called Remembering December. The scrolling typeface is called Mutlu Ornamental and the smaller curly print is appropriately called Santa's Sleigh. Both are from dafont.com. I inked the edges of the tag to give it some character.]