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. ;-)

Classic.

My dad and most of the Verdés side of the family grew up playing multiple instruments. He loved, loved, loved any kind of music, but was an afficionado of classical and played both the piano and the cello.

As much as I love my salsa music, oldies, and classic rock, I love listening to classical when I'm working on an art project. I think it soothes the nerves and helps me relax enough to tap into my right-brain creative self.

So you can imagine my delight when I received an invitation to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to hear the LA Philharmonic (that's the LA Phil to us cool people) perform Mendelssohn's Mystical Landscapes. This concert is part of their Toyota Symphonies for Youth series at the hall.

The LA Phil advertises this family-friendly series as one that makes symphonic music come alive for kids.

From the LA Phil website:

When the young Felix Mendelssohn sets out on his first adventure to Scotland, his beloved sister Fanny is heartbroken that she has to stay home. Fanny breathlessly awaits Felix's letters, which sometimes include lines of new music. And through his music -- inspired by crumbling castles, lively bagpipes, violent ocean waves, and the enchanted Fingal's Cave -- Fanny is transported to her brother's side. If we really listen, we get to go to these mystical lands, too.

The ultimate family event, combining fun and fantasy, makes the LA Phil part of your child’s wonderful world. Led by the LA Phil’s Dudamel Conducting Fellows and directed by theater artists, this series of captivating orchestral concerts will give your children (ages 5-11) the opportunity to create memories they’ll never forget.

My "youths" are 15 and 18, but they were completely delighted (as I was) with the entire program.

Before the concert there were art, dance, craft, and storytelling workshops.

But our hands-down (hands-on?) favorite was the Instrument Petting Zoo where the kids were encouraged to touch and play (Hey! That works on two levels!) with the musical instruments.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is that crazy, space-age, jaw-droppingly-beautiful building in Downtown Los Angeles.

It would be worth a trip to LA just to experience the magic and majesty of the place.

But the music. Ah, the music...

My kids were definitely the two oldest at this event, but they're both musicians so they were able to appreciate the beauty of it all. They were captivated by the program, by the hall, and of course, by the Instrument Petting Zoo. ;-)

Could this boy look any happier?

Mendelssohn's Mystical Landscapes will be performed again this coming Saturday, November 12th, 2011. Click here for details and tickets.

We are already making plans to return for other events at the hall - Hello, Handel's Messiah Sing-along (!) Extra coolness points - the concerts are awesomely affordable for families.

And the exposure to such beautiful music in such an amazing setting definitely impacted us personally.

Jonathan: "Mom, I might need to get a violin."

See what I mean?

{A special thank you to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil, the Toyota Symphonies for Youth, and alPunto Advertising for the wonderful musical memories.}

No "El Tri-co-tri" for you!

My mom calls.

"Van a ir al tri-co-tri?" She's asking if the kids are going out and Trick or Treating.

El Tri-co-tri. You have to say it phonetically, TREE-COH-TREE. It's what Trick or Treat sounds like with a Cuban accent. The "El" is just to make it grammatically correct. 

El Tri-co-tri. Noun. (Or verb?) The act of dressing up and begging for candy from your neighbors. (Must be a verb.)

No, I sigh. I think they're too old for El Tri-co-tri.

But I love the decorations and I love a good party. And one of them suggested a Nightmare Before Christmas Theme and then it kind of took on a life of its own.

I was in charge of food and decorations, because that's what I do best, but that's not important right now.

I decided to do it all in Tim-Burtony-inspired black and white.

I created the Nightmare Before Christmas silouettes as Photoshop Brushes and pasted them onto paper plates. I think they look very cool if you don't get too close.

I went to a local thrift store and grabbed some black picture frames which made me happy because I was feeling lazier than usual and didn't feel like painting them. (I know. Shut up.)

Then I made the Halloween Subway Art in Photoshop and just printed it out to fit the 8 x 10 frame.

And I messed with a photo of our black cat, Bastet. I really like the look in her eyes.

I painted some pumpkins with black acrylic paint, because again, I was too lazy to carve them. (Don't judge me.)

And voila! Insta-Halloween decorations! *takes bow* 

Here's Jonathan explaining what they decided to do instead of El Tri-co-tri.

It makes me happy to see them all dressed up and having fun.  

Sally and Jack Skellington:

Amy Kikita as a Golden Goddess. Here she is in her Divine Form:

The Mayor and the Corpse Bride:

Edward Scissorhands (pretty awesome, no?):

Lock, Shock, and Barrel:

Victoria (the live bride from the Corpse Bride):

Here they all are in all their black and white glory:

So, a good time was had by all, and even if they didn't get to go do "El Tri-co-tri..."

They did get to enjoy some fabulous Cuban food. ;-)

Japi Jalouin! Have fun with El Tri-co-tri!

Exact change.

I've homeschooled my kids for years now. Ever since Lucy and Jonathan were both in elementary school.

Last semester they both went to the Cooler-Than-Thou Local Art School. But the days there were way too long for people who were used to having lots of time to do their own creative stuff and they both independently decided they wanted to come home again. (This, of course, made me deliriously happy, but that's not important right now.)

And so they did. Lucy came back to finish her senior year and Jonathan his freshman year. They came back so much more appreciative of what an alternative home education has provided them. Both of them plunged back in to their new (old) environment with lots of energy. Lucy especially.

Yesterday was graduation.

Commencement is already such an emotionally charged event. The graduates are excited. The parents are nostalgic. And for one brief and shining moment, your teenager can do no wrong. ;-)

Lucy was chosen to give one of the two speeches at graduation. She chose to do it in a "spoken word poetry" style (of course, she did). She didn't leave a dry eye in the house.

Please enjoy, "Exact change."

As she spoke I quietly wept in the dark auditorium. I had done my job well and this moment was my reward.

In this moment, Eric and I knew that our homeschooling "experiment" was a resounding success.

God speed, my girl.

Congratulations to all of the members of the Pacific Coast High School Class of 2011. You did it!

Here's the full transcript of Lucy's speech:

    Change. Exact change.

    Stepped onto the bus for the first time, handling the weighty stack of quarters my mother had given me the day before. The bus driver smiled not because I was new but because I was welcome. Light blue carpeted floor and walls that slid back and forth to create new rooms. It was smaller than I had expected but more spacious than any bus I had entered before. A subterranean hum of conversation played tag with the necessary silence.    

    Wide-eyed and comfortable as long as my lips remained pressed together, I spotted the older passengers, the ones who had been there for ages already, fidgeting because their stop was fast approaching. Absent-minded and exhausted, they offered me their charmingly sarcastic advice, ready to move on to their next adventure. My small hands were tempted to draw faces in the chill of the windows but I restrained myself because I felt too new.    

    I sat myself next to the girl who wrote poetry on her hands and drew pictures of dinosaurs on her guitar like the dozens who found their freedom and their passion as soon as they took their seats. She pulled me aside by the arm introduced me to Santa Claus, who wore a blue-buttoned shirt and ironed trousers. The tour guide described the economy of the English language while encouraging respect and responsibility, familiarity and friendship, patience... and enthusiasm. I once sat next to a boy whose hair was far too long and I played games with the actors. To them, everyday was Shakespeare and the evenings were his sonnets; our world was a small stage and all of us were merely players, constantly ad-libbing our lines. I paid appropriate wonder to the ones smarter than myself and nudged the quiet ones out of their corners, asking them who they were and why they chose this curious mode of transportation.   

    Three times on our journey we stopped, each time was as long and memorable as seventeen sand-coated summers. I admit we had our favorites, like the restaurant surrounded by palm trees which served only burgers or the two patriotic cafés. Different drivers took their turns and the familiar faces left the bus, quickly replaced by the wide-eyed expressions I once wore.    

    The hot days leaked through the glass and stained our clothing with the heat, inciting frustration and self-doubt. But even amid the gray sunrises when our breathing was visible and painful, we still took photographs and danced as we changed seats. The drivers who had chosen to take cars instead were struggling with maps, distractions, backseat drivers, and meetings they were always late for. The same destination; just a different way of getting there. Accused of becoming lonely, the term “socialization” was thrown at the windows often.   

    By the time I knew everyone as well as they’d allow me, we were sitting near the front of the bus. We knew where we were headed and which stop was ours. The new visitors shuffled towards the back, warily observing the rest of our eccentric, chatty, absurdly lovable and thoroughly modern family. When our drivers questioned us about the trip, we wrote on colored post-it notes and decorated the windows. We had learned how to be honest with ourselves and we learned how to ask for help with our baggage.    

    As we finally step off the bus, in tasseled caps and ill-fitting robes, we may stumble over to the ones who have been there our entire lives. We are able to raise our heads, look them straight in the eyes and thank them. Even though we’re older and a bit worn, almost too exhausted for expressions, we manage to turn and smile at the bus drivers as they each offer a large wave goodbye. On a Wednesday afternoon, in the year 2011, we’ll remember that these drivers got us where we needed to be when we needed to be there which happened to be every Friday before 3 o’clock. But I implore you to recall that the ones standing outside paid for our fare and were always waiting for us to get home safely at the end of the day. After some tearful goodbyes and hugs that aren’t tight enough, you will board your next bus, heading towards somewhere only God knows. And wherever you may be going, please remember that you got to be where you are today because of change. Exact change.

Thank you.

Celebrating Abuela

I never knew my grandparents.

We left Cuba when I was so very young that I barely remember my grandmothers. I think my dad's parents had already passed away by the time I was born. And I have just the few mental snapshots that a five year old can retain of my mom's mother.

Here's a beautiful old photo of her, my maternal grandmother, Osmunda Perez-Puelles when she was pregnant with my Tio Fernando. (Incidentally, Tio Fernando will be turning 100 in Miami next week.)

The only abuela I have ever known is this woman in this 100 year old photograph.

My mom says that maybe that's why I have always loved old people. And it's true. I am very aware of the richness of life that most older people have to impart to us "youngsters." That attracts me tremendously.

I hope to be that wise old woman myself to my (as yet, unborn) grandchildren someday.

It's from this perspective of not really ever having had a grandmother in my life that I worked on this beautiful project for Tiki Tiki Blog.

It's a fabulous collection of stories by seven women who fondly remember their grandmothers and share their reminiscences.

Tiki Tiki readers submitted photos of their grandmothers and I am extremely proud to say that I designed this cover and created this E-book, Celebrating Abuela. (I know. Shut up. Get the sandpaper...)

Of course, I also added the photo of my mom, Luza (left-hand side of cover), because she is the Quintescential Cuban Grandmother.

Please download your free copy of this 40 page book by clicking this link: Download Celebrating Abuela with Tiki Tiki.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you from me and my big, fat, Cuban family and from my good friend, Carrie at Tiki Tiki Blog. She's completely genius when it comes to collecting and editing these wonderful stories. (My job is just to make it all look pretty, but that's not important right now.)

And to those of you who still have her with you, celebrate your abuela.

Besos! ~Marta

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.]

Make it and Take it

I'm a giver. I give. (You could possibly call me a bit co-dependent, but that's not important right now.)

Anyway, back to giving. I'm giving away my personal label designs for Creme de Vie (recipe here) and for Homemade Dulce de Leche (recipe here.)

Here's the Crema de Vie ~ Feliz Navidad! Label.

And this one is in case you'd just rather have a tag.

Also, I made and packaged some Dulce de Leche and those tags are available too.

If you just pop on over to the Tiki Tiki these downloads are all yours completely free of charge.

After all, it's Christmas! And I'm a giver. ;-) Ho! Ho! Ho!

Curses! Foiled Again!

**The following post of daring ingenuity and all-around cleverness has been brought to you by the one and only Kikita.

I've been temping.
'Nuff said.

Actually, there's so much more to say.
I've done temp work before. I've worked all kinds of places. In fact, there was even a time when I worked as a "Staffing Agent" (AKA "person who sends temps to companies"). All that to say, I've worked with and for all kinds of companies.

Temp jobs usually get the same kind of credit that temps do; they are the lame and mundain things that no one else wants to do, so let's hire a dingbat to do it because monkeys are just too messy. Of course, that is not always the case, but it never ceases to amaze and amuse me when my temporary boss is surprised at how quickly and well I learn and do things. I can't help but think, "Isn't everyone like this?" Apparently, NOT.

(If you thought THAT was horn-tooting, wait 'til you read the rest of this post!)

So, I've been at my current company since October. The job was only supposed to last until Thanksgiving, but they loved me so much (How could they not?) that they found other reasons for me to stay. And the reason they found has me working the beautiful hours of 11am to 8pm. Perfect hours for a salsera like myself, but that's not important right now. ;-)

I was even invited to Thanksgiving at the Head-Honcho's house, but I declined to go hang-out with my Grandparents.

Before I go further, let me explain that Head-Honcho's Wife works there, and she was my boss for the first part of my assignment. As I continued to prove myself as Awesome, the other managers started requesting the honor of my presence for whatever projects they had going. The Office Manager won and blessed me with the fabulous hours and a key to the office. 

About a week ago, the Office Manager came to me and asked if I'd be willing to stay a couple of extra hours for a special project one night. It was "The Big Boss's Birthday." That's right. The Head-Honcho had the misfortune of having his birthday fall on a workday and a mischeivious Office Manager who knew what temps could help with the Best Boss Birthday Prank EVER!

She wanted to fill his office with balloons, but it was too expensive. I suggested covering his office in Post-Its, but it was still too expensive.

FOIL, on the other hand, was only $1 for one 200 foot roll... BUAHAHAHA!

She bought 10 rolls.

We only used 4.

It took three of us about 4 hours to acheive these wonderous results.

We covered two walls.

We individually wrapped each can of soda in his mini-fridge.

There wasn't much we left uncovered. If you look closely, you can see we even foiled his plant.

In case there was any doubt in my mind that I was working for the Best Head-Honcho at the Best Company EVER, it was put to rest when I saw this:

The Biggest Foil Ball of All Time.
(and he hasn't finished unwrapping everything in his office yet.)

Not that anyone has actually Foiled his office before, but I'm told after numerous exclamations of general shock and awe the Head-Honcho was finally heard to have said, "CURSES! Foiled again!"

(Shortly followed by, "Kiki! Ju've got some 'splaining to do!")

The Christmas Card Photo Shoot of 2010

It will go down in family history as The Year We Hauled the Red Chair Down to the Park.

Here's how the whole thing went down:

Eric and I went on a pre-Thanksgiving cruise (on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, which I still have to write about, but that's not important right now). That very same (pre-Thanksgiving) weekend, my son, Adam and his girl, Stephanie came down from Redding.

Eric and I got home on Tuesday night. Adam and Steph were taking Lucy and Jon back to Redding with them on Wednesday. And they were driving so they had to leave relatively early in the day. Amy Kikita had to work but she didn't start until 11. And so, exhausted and bleary eyed, all of us managed to get ourselves out of bed because I wanted my Christmas Card Photo Shoot, please.

Our next door neighbor, Raphael (the amazing pro photographer) agreed to get up and shoot us. (That works on multiple levels...)

And because I didn't want us just sitting there being all "Hey, look-at-us-with-our-just-for-the-photo-shoot-Christmas-card-faces on," I insisted he attempt to get the Real Darbys.

Which is why we were NOT wearing coordinated outfits. We don't coordinate in real life, so no coordinated dressing for the photo shoot.

I had Adam and Jonathan haul one of our red leather chairs down to the park. That was quite fun for the neighbors. (Actually, I think they're used to the UDB* - *Unusual Darby Behavior.)

Adam got into it right away. Big red leather chair in the middle of the park? Let them talk.

Here are my men. I love this.

Then me with my girls. (My eyes were more swollen shut than usual, but whatever...)

Then Rafe did a few of the kids.

How cute are they? And then....the silliness began.

We couldn't help ourselves. It was too tempting.

We were having a blast, but none of them sang out and said "Christmas Card is me!"

Until we hauled the big red chair out into the middle of the street. That's when we really dominated the  neighborhood. These were pretty much the favorites. I liked the element of surprise it adds.

But we finally all agreed on one that represented us best.

Even with Jon melted, we felt like this was ....US!

Your thoughts? Do you have a favorite? Tell me.

Also, if you click over to TikiTiki, you'll see this same card on another post, we have a wonderful offer over there. One lucky Tiki Tiki reader will win a $50 gift certificate to Snapfish.com. It's a pretty sweet deal! Go now!

Fambook - like Facebook....but not...

My big, fat, Cuban family is made up of a ton of people. As you can probably imagine, we ditched having every single family member buying Christmas gifts for every other person a long time ago. The only exemption to this rule is my mom. Everyone buys her a little something.

We tried drawing names, but after a couple of years, we ran out of ideas and if you drew the name of someone you didn't see often enough, buying them a gift became awkward and difficult.

Gift giving, I decided needed to be fun again. Simple. Not crazy-making and stressful.

So, for the past few years, I've been making photobooks. I usually use Shutterfly to make my books, just because I like them and they turn out a good product. And no, they are not sponsoring this post (I wish!), but that's not important right now.

Given that most of the family was already on Facebook, I had a brainstorm.....

I give you:

FAMBOOK

It's a 12 x 12 digital scrapbook and there is a page for each family member. Each page is organized alphabetically, by first names.

I first sent out an email questionnaire to each person. I asked them for a favorite quote and some favorite photos. We even created one for the kids.

It took a lot of coercing and convincing, but I got most of them back in plenty of time to do the book. The ones who didn't respond, I just grabbed their photos from Facebook and made up stuff. (I know. But I was on deadline. Don't judge me.)

Here's my page:

Pretty genius, right?

To be crystal clear, they sent me the info and photos and I created the entire thing myself. I also had them send me $35 via paypal, which took care of their "family gift obligation," only I did all the grunt work.

I should add here that I am quite pleased with the outcome.

As you can see, each page resembles a Facebook Wall.

And includes a favorite quote, and favorite photos, and their personal details, such as birthdays and anniversary (if applicable).

I was quite pleased with the construction (I created each page in Photoshop Elements and saved all the images as .jpgs for easy loading), and everyone was delighted with the finished product. Their personal stress was reduced and when they left the party, they each had this fabulous gift in their hands.

There's also that very satisfied feeling I get knowing that this will quickly become a keepsake that they can enjoy forever. And everyone's $35 went to something they really, really wanted. Win-win.

This year I'm making a Family Calendar, also through Shutterfly. (Oh, why aren't they banging down my door to represent them? Why? *sigh*)

I just finished that today so I could take advantage of a sale they were having: buy one calendar for regular price and get the others for half-price. They have deals like that all the time, which not only motivates me, it makes me happy to feel a little push to finish the project.

Anyway, here's a sneak peek at the photo of the calendar I finished and ordered today. The beauty is that I just have to create one! Ah, Digital Photography gods....I bow down.

I'm so excited to see them open these on Christmas. I also feel quite accidentally cool for coming up with the idea. (Get the sandpaper!)

I'll be sharing more of our personal family traditions in the next few weeks. I thought I'd share this now in case someone wants to tackle the project themselves for their own family.  It took me about 20 hours (a lot of time!) because I had to hunt down the photos, but I seriously don't regret a single moment. It was indeed a labor of love.

So tell me... Do you make gifts? Do you buy? Do you order online? I do a little bit of everything....because I can.  =D