Celebrating Gratitude

In my family of origin we have the custom of always sending out invitations to events that people already know about and are coming to anyway. Welcome to our own special brand of crazy.

Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday of November. My sisters and I are pretty much in constant discussion for weeks ahead of the party. Who will bring what? Who is coming? How many? All those details that I'm pretty sure everyone's family discusses before major events.

Now, having all this information, we dial up the planning to include invitations to the people we already know are coming. Like I said, our own special brand of crazy. But it's our crazy and we like it.

I have also been one-upping myself every year when it comes to setting the tables and creating the atmosphere for the last few Thanksgiving celebrations. Here are the links: 

Styling a Quick and Easy DIY Thanksgiving and The Cuban Hipster Thanksgiving.

I went to Pinterest (where I spend way to much time collecting inspiration and if you don't already, you should totally be following me, but that's not important right now) and found an invitation design I liked well enough to copy in my own fashion.

Also, I've been throwing a lot of parties every month for the past few months that I haven't even written about. (Imagine!) I think I'll just have to write about all of that now that I have time to sit down before the Cuban Christmas Crazy begins around here.

I am now officially declaring that this first week of December will be:

Over-Sharing About My Parties Week. (It has to be done.)

Let the Over-sharing begin!

The Invitations

Here's my preliminary sketch:

Here's the finished invitation:

I was quite pleased with how they turned out. Also, if you care about these things, the fonts I used were Market Deco and Thirsty Script, thankyouverymuch.

So, I sent out the invitations the first week of November and everyone who was able to attend responded happily. We only had 20 this year because the people who usually travel, didn't this year and the ones who trade off holidays with other families went elsewhere. It felt more intimate than usual.

If you can technically call a sit down dinner for 20 intimate. Hello? It's a Cuban thing.

Paper Chain Garlands

I know. What??

Paper Chain Garlands. I became kind of enamored with paper chain garlands this year. You know, like the kind you used to make in school out of construction paper? Only in 2014, scrapbooking is a thing and there are a bizzillion choices for decorative papers.

For my color scheme, I chose oranges and purples, with touches of green and teal blue.

And in case you've forgotten, here's how to make paper chain garlands:

1. Cut strips of paper into 8" x 1 1/2" strips.
2. Create a loop and close it with tape, overlapping just the ends.
3. Link the next paper strip into the first loop, again closing with tape and overlapping just the ends. 
4. The finished chain is determined by how much paper and effort you want to put into it.

I recruited the fam and we created and hung yards of chains in less than an hour. As you can see, I hung the Give Thanks banner we made last year. Before we even got to decorating tables the place already had a really festive air. 

The Tables

When I'm entertaining in my freakishly small cottage-like home, we usually have to move furniture to fit the tables into my front room. We're getting so pro at this, I swear. 

We remove two big armchairs, the coffee table, a side table and lamp to make room for the two 8 foot long tables we put together to seat 14. Our regular dinner table seats 6. If we have more guests we "create" a room in the back, but that's another story. Because we only had 20, we were able to host everyone in one room. (Yay!)

I was originally going to use burlap tablecloths that I found online from a place that will remain nameless because when we opened up the package it reeked of petrolium. I decided to address that problem at another time and just pulled out my classic white tablecloths (which I have in multiple sizes, but again, not important right now) and grabbed some beautiful runners from Pier One. 

I used gold chargers for the base, my most favorite white dishes from Pier 1. They're called Antique Scroll and I have been collecting a few every few weeks until I had at least 14 to set the big table with. These are everyone's favorites and because they're white I tend to get lots of great mileage from them.

Once the gold chargers and dishes were in place, it seemed purple cloth napkins were ideal to pull off the look. 

I designed menu cards to be used as napkin holders. Mostly because I did a version of them for an event last month for a completely different group. I'll blog about that one later this week. All that to say that the whole menu-cards-as-napkin-holder-thing made me really happy, so I decided to use it again.

I created them in Photoshop, using the Market Deco font from the invitation and the cute silverware graphic. 

I was not in charge of the menu at all this year so we went with a very traditional all-American menu with a few add ons. 

I printed the menus on cream cardstock and cut them in half horizontally. We folded, taped the back, and slid the napkins and silverware in each one. I liked how striking it all looked. 

The place cards were simple. Everyone's names in the Thirsty Script Font with the fork-knife-spoon graphic to the side. These were also printed on cream cardstock. (I do all the printing on my home color printer, an Epson Artisan.)

On the smaller table I used some beautiful square white plates (that totally match my other plates except for they are square!) that I found at Home Goods. (Win!)

For the centerpieces, I grabbed a few bouquets of fall flowers from Costco and hastily (read, "sloppily") trimmed and put them into gold and silver vases and threw some eucalyptus leaves down and called it good. (Don't look too closely at the centers. I have other skills, I swear.)

 The overall effect felt elegant and warm. The paper chain garlands added a whimsical touch. Very much the effect I wanted.

The Meal

We had two turkeys. One roasted, one barbecued. Both crazy-delicious.

The sides were the usual suspects. I love using the disposable chafing dishes to keep the food hot. Not as pretty as serving dishes, but when you're feeding a hungry crowd they seriously appreciate the meal served hot.

The Photo Booth

Our dear neighbor (and fabulous photographer), Rafael always generously lends us his photo-booth-making gear and we set that up in Jonathan's room with a white sheet for a background. 

Then we march each person, family, couple, kids, whoever, in front of the camera and let the magic happen. 

While informal candids will always have their place in our celebrations, I usually have a very low-light situation in the dining area, so the photo booth setup gives us the photos we are wanting with the people we care about. We have so much fun taking turns having our silliness documented forever.

Also, it's becoming more difficult for me to host and document. The photo booth takes care of that for me. Thanks to Lucy for making it happen every year.

Plus, my mom, Luza (yes, she's 100!) totally gets into this part of the evening because she gets to spend at least a few moments with each and every person present.

Yet another way to track the growth of the kids. All of them.

Me and my grandson, Asher. *sigh*

I'm extremely grateful that I have to get to do all of this work to celebrate the gratitude I feel for all the good things in my life. 

What a gift.

The Cuban Hipster Thanksgiving

When I host family or friends for a big, elaborate dinner, my delight is in designing the tablescapes.

My job, as I see it, is to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere, but not get too hung up on making things so department-store-perfect that it feels too cold and impersonal. It's fun for me to set a pretty table. It's much more fun to make the people who come into my home feel that they are truly welcome.

Originally, I wanted real chalkboard tablecloths so that we could write on them or play tic-tac-toe or whatever. My daughter, Amy Kikita and I spent a good long time on Pinterest, getting ideas and pinning inspiration. (If you're on Pinterest and you're not already following me, you totally should! Here's my link.)

We found that a roll of chalkboard cloth was a bit too pricey, so we attempted to paint sections of kraft paper with chalkboard paint. The result was not at all satisfying.

I ended up going with a 50 foot roll of black, glossy paper that I found at Hobby Lobby that we then cut and pieced together to cover the tables. We used Simply Tacky to hold them in place.

(Note: They just opened a Hobby Lobby in our area code recently and I am super inspired every time I go in there. They have everything! Who knew?)

I was originally going to tag the glasses with each person's name because it's super important to me that everyone has their place at the table, so place cards are always at the top of my list. Amy suggested we just paint "plate circles" and write their names right on the chalkboard tablecloth paper. Genius.

I used one of my plates as a guide and just drew a circle at each place, then wrote in the person's name in the center. I used White Chalk Markers which dried quickly and looked really fun and friendly. So here we were on our way to the most Hipstery Thanksgiving ever.

I didn't worry too much about making the circles perfect, as you can see.

On each table for the centerpieces, I put the silverware and napkins in caddies and dropped the forks, knives, and spoons in mason jars with tags to finish off the cool look.

I had 32 people here. THIRTY-TWO. Of course, we had to move furniture to fit them all into our freakishly small cottage-sized home.

I had three tables set. One was our regular dining table which seats six. The second was actually created by putting two eight foot long tables together which seated fourteen. (We had to move furniture out of our living room to do this, but that's not important right now. Did I mention my house was freakishly small?) And my beautiful farm table, which lives outside on the patio, seated twelve. The kids were seated alongside the adults. No kids table for them this time.

I added some succulents in baskets next to the caddies. And added a gratitude quote in a decorative mini picture frame. We cut some branches from the green belt across the street and added those for color and texture. So hipster, no?

We set out the tall altar candles (I picked them up at our local Target store). We put the napkins in tin buckets and tea lights in mini mason jars and tin cans. Tin cans, people! I actually washed out tin cans to use on my table!

I was worried my mother was going to have a stroke when she saw this whole set up, but she was delighted and amazed at how elegant the whole thing looked in spite of the simple (read "barbarian") touches. (Win!)

There were two (!) turkeys and lots of delicious sides and plenty of desserts. I opted for just a plain white cloth for the food table and made the chalkboard menu board the focal point to keep with my chalkboard theme.

My family came early and stayed late. And there was sooo much food left over, as there always is. We Cubans are "exajerados" when it comes to food, am I right? (I'm right.)

So, I had made sure everyone was able to take home some leftovers. I ordered the take out boxes from an online supply place and added chalk tags.

 The consensus was that a good time was had by all. Even the not-so-hipsters.

It's Not About the Meal

There's a trend that happens in the month of November. People are sharing (on social media) something they're grateful for every day of the month.

I've heard the arguments that everyone should just be grateful all the time and not just as a "trendy meme" for the month that the Thanksgiving holiday falls on. I guess that's true. But I like it. I like anything that makes us stop and think of just how much we all have to be grateful for. As trendy memes go, I think this is a good one.

Around here we've had a bustle of activity because we're expecting 32 people for dinner tomorrow.

For me that means decorating and planning and making room in my freakishly small cottage-like home for all these friends and loved ones. That means Eric and Jonathan are moving furniture and hauling in tables and making sure there's a place for every single person.

My sisters, Ofie, Helen, and Alina are doing the cooking this year.

Lucy is my Stage Manager and Amy is my Set Designer as I take up the position of Creative Director. I have lists and sketches and a timeline. And we are all working shoulder to shoulder to make sure that we pull off this shindig with as few glitches as possible. (Of course, that's not always possible, see this post., but that's not important right now.)

I have been working on the creative touches (like the chalkboard menu) that I hope will surprise and delight my guests. We're setting up a photo booth as we do every year. This is what that will look like.

And our dinner, as you can see on the menu board will be pretty traditional, but it's not about the food.

I'm grateful for the creative time spent today and tomorrow with my people as we pull together to make this big gratitude party happen.

I'm grateful for the delicious gift of their enthusiasm and abilities.

I'm grateful that my extended family and close friends will be with us tomorrow to share the day.

I'm grateful that my mom will be here for her 99th Thanksgiving. Although, technically, we didn't really celebrate Thanksgiving until 1961, but you know what I mean.

Speaking of 1961, those were dark and difficult days for us. Our family, like many others had been separated by the growing threat of communism on our island home. My dad had left the country a few months before and we weren't sure we'd be reunited. See this post.

So my gratitude must always include the fact that we will be together. Like the Pilgrims before us, we are grateful for this great land that gave us a place to survive and thrive. The meal is secondary. The main event is the coming together to break bread and to share our home and our food and even our talents. The focus will be the laughter and the sharing and the warm smiles of those we love best.

That we get to eat an amazing turkey dinner as we do all this is just, well...gravy.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

Everyone's Invited

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving lands on the 4th Thursday of November. So, it's not like it's a big surprise that Thanksgiving this year will be celebrated on the....4th Thursday of November.

This happens every single year. 4th Thursday = Thanksgiving. We have already discussed and decided that the Thanksgiving celebration will take place at our home this year. Again.

And yet, my family needs wants really likes to receive formal Thanksgiving invitations. Which is fine because I'm happy to do it and it's a key part of our family Thanksgiving tradition. Because I'm only inviting family (with a couple of close friends) I don't need to add the address or an RSVP. (Also, my people are on Cuban time. That means they'll just start arriving around 5pm, but that's not important right now.)

I kind of like this quirk about my family. It's not a big thing, but it's ours. And isn't that what makes us cherish our traditions? I have 32 coming this year, so I'll be spending the next few days moving furniture and "set designing" our Thanksgiving to make sure everyone's got a place.

I think it's important for everyone to feel welcome and to have a place. Don't you?

{Full disclosure: I took an online class from Carina Gardner to learn how to do the digital chalkboard look. The fonts I used for the invitation are: Handy George, Pointedly Mad, Bergamot Ornaments, Road Movie, Return to Sender, Housegrind, KG Skinny Latte - all can be found on dafont.com.}

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is obviously a very uniquely American holiday. Which is the perfect time for us to celebrate because we're a uniquely American family. Cuban-American, that is.

I have the privilege of hosting my big, fat, Cuban family here in my home this year. It's going to be a smaller group than usual. Only about 20 of us, because not everyone will be here.

So, we're busy moving furniture (did I mention that our home is freakishly small?) and setting up tables. My sisters and I are texting, emailing, and calling each other to coordinate the menu and the details of the thing.

It's a wonderful excuse to get together and say thank you to God collectively for the many blessings we enjoy.

I'm grateful to all of you who regularly read my blog and let me (over)share the day-to-day happenings in my little world. I thank God for each and every one of you faithful readers. I'm grateful also for all of you who follow me over on my Facebook page. If you don't already, please click here and join the relajo over there.

I'll be taking the rest of this week off from blogging to feed my people and to enjoy some down-time with my family. If you're new here, feel free to look around and if you've been here for a while, check out some of the Linked Within posts at the bottom of each entry. You might just see something new.

I'll be back very soon with some fun giveaways and I'll regale you with stories of my oh-so-interesting-real-life adventures.

I sent out these invitations to my family who have already told me they were coming before they received them, but that's not important right now.

Wish you could make it! You're always welcome here. My blog-casa is your blog-casa.

Also, Japi Sanguibin! ;-)

The Kids Are Alright

My kids are all gone this Thanksgiving weekend. And I'm okay with that. No, really. I am O-KAY.

I don't know when this cataclysmic change happened inside of me. But I know that it did.

Adam, whom I haven't seen for months because he moved to Northern California, was here for a few days and took Lucy and Jonathan back with him and Stephanie to Redding. They are spending Thanksgiving there and flying home on Monday.

And I'm okay with that.

Amy is spending Thanksgiving with her aging grandparents (the biological's folks) and is cooking an entire Thanksgiving feast at their home.

And I'm okay with that. In fact, I love it. I love that she wanted to bless her grandparents and do for them what they can't easily do for themselves anymore. I am quite proud of her.

I'm delighted that Adam wanted to have Lucy and Jon with him and that he took the week off to spend time with them and show them off to his new friends and introduce them to his new town. And I love that they were so happy to get to spend time with their big brother.

"This is sooo not Cuban,"  I thought to myself. I should be guilt-tripping them into being with Mami on This Most Glorious of All Holidays.

But instead I am happy. And proud. (WHO AM I??)

I got to have all four of them with me for breakfast on Wednesday before they all took off and commenced with their Thanksgiving plans that do not include Eric and me.

And it was enough.

Amy, Lucy & Jon.

Me, Adam, and Stephanie.

Weird, right? It was quite a surprise to me, too. I think that what I'm feeling might be peace. It's a new and unusual (and not very Cuban) feeling and I'm still sorting it out.

Eric and I will be spending Thanksgiving with his family and I will miss the fabulous comelata (loosely translated: eat-a-thon) that will be happening with the rest of my big, fat, Cuban family.

And I'm okay with that, too.

Of course, this may be just a passing phase. It may be seasonal. Or it may just be because I'm just tired. I don't know. And frankly, it doesn't matter.

So what if we won't be sharing a turkey one day of one year?  My worth as their mother doesn't come from the photo-op around the table. (Don't get me wrong....you know I love a beautifully set and bountiful table and I love when my house is full and noisy, but that's not important right now.)

I will definitely miss them, but I'm quite pleased with the people they have become and are becoming.

And for that I am truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.