Old Ladies in Hats and Royal Weddings

If I were to write about The Royal Wedding, I’m sure you’d be (rightly) thinking about the wedding that took place just yesterday, April 29, 2011 in England between Prince William and his lovely bride, Kate Middleton.

Back in the day.... July 29, 1981, the Royal Wedding was all about the young (19!) and beautiful Diana marrying Prince Charles.

Back then, I lived in a tiny apartment that was a block from the beach in San Clemente, California and it was July and everyone loved coming to the beach and so, The Royal Wedding (televised live starting at 2 am) became A Reason to Have a Slumber Party at Marta's.

My mom and sisters all came over and we opened up the hide-a-bed and unrolled sleeping bags and made copious amounts of food that included a homemade wedding cake to watch the festivities - “Wasn't her dress just amazing? Is it really only 5am?" *yawn*- from across The Pond in the middle of the night.

Wedding Malfunction 1981: Remember when the archbishop said, "Charles Philip Arthur George," and Diana flubbed the name, "Philip Charles Arthur George?"  No? Well, I do. That was the highlight of the ceremony. ;-)

Here's a commemorative box (do you know that I collect boxes?) from the Big Event that I got in London. There was obviously no online shopping in 1981:

*momentarily wonders what Commemorative 1981 Royal Wedding souvenir would fetch on ebay in 2011*
My mom was 67 then and Queen Elizabeth II was 55.

Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Wedding 1981:

I remember my mother proclaiming (in the authoritative manner that an older Cuban woman possesses):

“I look much better than she does. And I would definitely never wear that stupid blue hat.”

I don’t even have photos of our original Royal Slumber Party because well, we didn’t document everything. Photos still had to be developed and we just didn’t take as many. (I’m sad about this.)

Remember that this was 1981. The notion that every home would have multiple or portable (!) computers, cordless mobile phones with built-in camera and video recording capabilities would have seemed absurd to us.

The words internet, laptop, and Google didn’t even exist.

So, the idea that thirty years later, in 2011, there would be another Royal Wedding and that I’d be watching it with my 97 year old mother, and my teenage daughter, and that 85 year old Queen Elizabeth would still be reigning (and that I'd be writing about it for public consumption), well, the whole scenario seemed completely absurd.

And yet... there we were.

Wedding Malfunction 2011: Remember the moment when Wills is struggling to slide the ring onto Kate's finger? Of course you do. It was only yesterday. =D

So, I’m hanging with my mom, and she and Lucy and I are watching what we will now refer to as The New Royal Wedding, (Or La Boda Real on Univision - with commentary from Luza's favorite, El Gordo, of course. And no, we didn’t do the Royal Slumber Party this time - it’s been 30 years, people. We are all 30 years older, but that’s not important right now...) when suddenly she spots QE2 entering Westminster Abbey.

Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Wedding 2011:

My mom, Luza: "¿Quien es esa vieja en el sombreron?" Translation:“Who’s that old lady in the big hat?” (I have to interject here that my mom is 97 years old. I don’t want to have to point out the obvious, so I decide to just answer the question.)
Me: “The Queen. She’s 85.”
Luza: “I look much better than she does.....and I would definitely never wear that stupid yellow hat.”

Why Kikita thinks Spain Will Win the World Cup

Kikita here.

At some point I'm sure Mami has mentioned that we don't have TV. If you didn't know that, well, now you know. We live in a valley, so we can't even get basic channels without basic cable. We watch movies and are big Netflix fans, but that is not important right now.

Not having cable has made watching the World Cup games quite an adventure.

I have had to go to great lengths to support my Top 3 picks (USA was in my Top 5, but not Top 3) and get my fill of soccer (aka "fútbol").

I took my laptop to a local cafe so that I could work and support Uruguay against the Netherlands.

I have exploited various friendships for their television and recording capabilities.
(Thanks Atkinsons! Thanks Michelle!)

I was up and at a German pub (wearing Argentina colors) at 6am only to watch in horror as Argentina was led to a slaughter.

I changed into Spanish red and relocated to a Spanish bar to scream at the top of my lungs as Carles Puyol made World Cup history.

Of course, it is 1000 times more fun to watch a game on Univisión because when any team makes a goal there is that classic "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!" sound that only the Spanish announcers know how to make so I have tried to make it a point to see the games at places showing them in Spanish.

I am ready for Spain to win on Sunday. They HAVE to win.

Since the Germans couldn't score against them, we know that Spain must have a great defense, but here are the Top 5 Reasons why I KNOW Spain is going to win:

Reason #1:Xavi Hernandez

(I like to call him Xavi Hotness)

Reason #2: Sergio Ramos

(Oh, I'm having a surge alright!)

Reason #3: Fernando Torres

(Fernando TorYES!)

Reason #4: David Villa

(According to FIFA "David Villa is currently one of the world's hottest striking properties." See? Even FIFA understands what I am talking about!)

Reason #5: Iker Casillas

(Every great time needs a gorgeous goalie.)

And while I've heard people complain about how obnoxious the sound of the vuvuzelas are, I can't help but love them. They look like so much fun! I haven't been able to get one of my own, so instead I got an app for that!

VIVA ESPAÑA!! GO SPAIN!!

With reasons like these, how could we lose?

MY Que Rica Vida - or Orange is the New Black

So, Marta, what were you doing in Miami, anyway?

I was visiting family and meeting blog-friends and working the Babalú booth at Cuba Nostalgia and of course, celebrating my birthday. (If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you would know exactly what I was up to moment by moment.) But the real reason I was able to go, was because of the generosity of General Mills.

I was invited, as part of a group of 34 Latina mami-bloggers and tons of newspaper and magazine folks (ie. real journalists) to celebrate the re-launch of  their Que Rica Vida site and this was a promotional junket.

It was a press event like no other, (at least none that I've ever attended. Maybe they're all like this and I just don't know it, because this was my first big one, but that's not important right now) and General Mills along with Hispania Public Relations pulled out all the stops for this two-day party.

There was an amazing all-female mariachi band, Damas de Jalisco, which were delightful to listen to. (Female mariachis....who knew?)

They were just so impressive and had that gorgeously rich mariachi sound. 

They wined us and dined us and showered us with some SWEET gifts (Yeah, Flip Video Camera!)

The Que Rica Vida people treated us to a fabulous dinner the first night at the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne (along with lots of mojitos).

Two Cuban blogging girls + a dozen Mexican mariachi girls = A Really Good Time. ;-)

The next night was the Que Rica Vida launch party which was crazy and fun with guest appearances from some of Univision’s top personalities like Javier Romero, and of course, the gorgeous Karla Martinez and the impossibly cute Adamari López.

 

The launch was classy and fun and interactive. I loved the cooking demonstration with all the Univision personalities (read "supermodels).

And I loved their logo. Everything was decorated in these gorgeous, glowing oranges and browns (I was tempted to steal this pillow, but that's not important right now, either.)

 

We got to meet and greet some other familiar characters.

 

And Amy Kikita (dressed here as Miami Barbie) got to poke the Pillsbury Dough Boy (if you're her Facebook friend, you know she takes her poking very seriously.)

But the highlight, by far, of all of this crazy and interactive fun was meeting up with the other invited "Blogeras." (<--is that a word?)

We (Carrie and I) were interviewed by Manny Ruiz of Hispanic PR Blog and a Papi Blogger in his own right. We gave him lots of Tiki Tiki, of course. ;-)

I am proud and privileged to be counted as part of this amazing group of Latina Blogeras. (<--Seriously, is that a word? Because if it isn't, it really should be...) I am in the process of collecting their names and sites to add to my blog roll.

 

So a great big Thank You to General Mills for inviting us to be a part of the Que Rica Vida event. 

I'm delighted I got to go. But honestly, I'm glad to be home.

And in the morning, I'm making waffles!

It just so turns out that Bisquick is a GM product.  Who knew?  ;-)

I've got some stuff to give away, too:

1. An extra Que Rica Vida mug
2. A cool tote bag and
3. A Betty Crocker cookbook that YOU WANT.

Let's do a comment drawing!

Tell me about any General Mills products you regularly use. Like, Green Giant, Bisquick, Cheerios, or maybe Haagen Dasz ice cream? (I'm partial to the Dulce de Leche one...) Leave your comment on this post only.

I'll choose a winner on Friday morning, June 4th, 2010 at 10:00 am.

Talk to me! Tell me about YOUR Que Rica Vida.