Let the Noche Buena Preparations Begin!

It's time to get ready for Noche Buena at the Darbys!

 
I wish you could all come. It's going to be such a fabulous event!

We've been up to our eyeballs in party preparations and I'm totally excited.

This year we are hosting my big, fat, Cuban family. And our house is small. Freakishly small when I think of the logistics of serving 30 people at a sit-down event, but that's not important right now.

So we are figuring it all out, or as we say in Spanish, "resolviendo."

Me (a little distraught and a little whiny): "But it's just going to look like our little house is just over-crowded. I want it to be magical!" *sigh*

To which my family responded by jumping into action. (I can be very persuasive when I'm whiny. =D)

Amy came up with the idea to cover all the pictures in Christmas wrap to make them look like gifts. And that made me happy. I think it's starting to look pretty festive.

 

Eric added greenery and lights to every corner of the room.

It's coming together quite nicely. It seems that every spot downstairs (including the bathroom and kitchen) has been touched by Christmas and this makes me totally happy.

Today is the day I send the boys out to pick up the extra tables and chairs from my mom's garage. We are enclosing the back patio with a heavy canvas curtain. And we'll have to move out all of our living room furniture to have room for the tables. (When I say we, I mean Eric. =D)

And no, there's no room for the Christmas tree. (I know. Shut up.)

But my Creative Team made the executive decision that we will put it out on the front lawn and bring it in on Christmas morning. I kind of like the craziness of that. At least this is one Christmas we won't soon forget!

[Side note to all of you who start decorating back in November: I have nothing against decorating your home early, if that's what you like to do. I, personally, don't. I prefer decorating a few days before and turning it into An Event. It keeps me focused on Christmas itself. But that's just my way.]

Meanwhile, I'm in the kitchen with Adam cooking up batch after batch of our fabulous Creme de Vie. (Click here for my famous super-secret Creme de Vie recipe.)

 

I finally gave up buying the beautiful bottles at Pier One (plus it was getting a little expensive). The local wine shop was glad to give us (as in free!) their empties and I just made personalized labels for the recipients. (I like how the snowflakes on the tablecloth reflect onto the bottles and enhance the snowflakes on the labels.) Pretty sweet, no?

I have found that after a few cups of this wonderful stuff, everything seems so much more....I don't know...magical?

How are your preparations coming along? Do you host? Do you travel? (Do you drink?) ;-)

He Danced With Me

The following post has been brought to you by the lovely and talented (and oh-so-humble) Kikita.

About 10 years ago, when I was an adorable teenager who didn't remember much of the Spanish she'd spoken as a child, I saw the movie "Dance with Me."

It was magical. There was a beautiful Puerto Rican guy (Chayanne) who was playing the part of a beautiful Cuban. He went to a dance studio and taught a "professional Latin dancer" how to "feel the music."

He took her dancing and they ordered mojitos.
That was the moment I decided that: "one day, I want to try a mojito."
At this nightclub they went to, there was a live band that I just loved.
I remember thinking, "I would love to see that guy in concert."

Later in the movie, they go back to the same club.
It's a longer scene and there is a different singer.

When I saw it I thought, "I would love to dance with people like that. Ooh, that guy in the vest is cute! I would love to dance with him."
And I thought, "She's awesome. I would love to see her perform live too."

Secret wishes, hopes, and dreams that I never dared to tell anyone. I just kept them deep inside and they would bubble up every time I watched the movie.

As I got older, I moved some of those secret wishes to the "it's never gonna happen" shelf. Yes, when I turned 21 the first drink I ordered was a mojito.

Yes, I HAVE been dancing in places where I felt like I was in that scene in that movie, but most of the time I don't feel that way. Most of the time, I'm just happy to be dancing.

And then it happened.
The guy singing in the first nightclub scene is Ricardo Lemvo and I got the chance to meet him when he played at the Conga Room. I couldn't believe my luck!

About a week later, I got an email from my dear friend Ziva. Having had so much fun at the Andy Garcia concert last year, she took me up on my offer to join her and Henry at another concert . . . This time, it was Albita.

Who is Albita? Aside from a fabulous and fun Cuban singer, she also happens to be the lady who was singing my favorite dance scene from "Dance with Me."

SHUT. UP.
I KNOW!

So, tonight is the night. Tonight yet another of my secret wishes is coming to life. Tonight is a dream come true.

Does it stop there? OF COURSE NOT!

Earlier this week, I decided at the last minute to go out dancing "just for an hour or two." While I was there basking in the music, someone taps me on the shoulder and says, "May I have this dance?"

This "tipo" looks vaguely familiar, but I can't place him. Regardless, I wanted to dance so I accepted.
"I'm Rudy."
"Hi Rudy, I'm Kikita."

As soon as we started dancing I knew this guy was good and was just hoping I could keep up. I did. He looked a little surprised that I did (and I don't blame him, I was a little surprised too, but I'm not the one who got thrown off by the blond hair).
We thanked each other for the dance and got on with our lives.

(For the record: This is NOT Rudy. Rudy is beautiful. This is just a representative photo of me dancing. This person couldn't really dance, but I could! Look at my lovely arm extension. But, as Mami would say, that's not important right now.)

What's your point, Kikita?

It turns out that this "Rudy" guy was one of the dancers in my favorite scene, the scene with Albita singing . . . he was the guy in the vest.

It's official. Dreams CAN come true!

At least that's what Disney always says.

Thankful - November 25

Today I am grateful... to my parents for having made the difficult decision to leave everything and everyone they knew behind in order for their children to have a better life in this incredible country.

I'm a proud Cuban American.

And trust me...my life is good.

Thankful - November 19

Today I am thankful for... Guava Cheesecake. (I know. Shut up.)

 

In keeping with my personal celebration of National Guava Month, (it's kind of lonely out here on this limb - *crickets chirp*) I made this to-die-for Guava Cheesecake.

And because I'm generous and cool that way, my recipe for this guavalicious wonder is posted today over on Babalú.

And furthermore, because the main ingredients in this guava-fest are guava and cream cheese, I happen to think this dessert goes particularly well with Kaña Cuban Coffee Roasters' Hialeah Blend.

(I guess it's a Cuban thing.)  =D

Magno and me - A love affair.

There's a little island in Galicia, off the coast of Spain called La Toja. (Lah Toh-HAH) I have never been. But I know it is there. And I dream about it.

One of the items on my Bucket List involves visiting the legendary health spas in this beautiful spot (I've seen photos).  The actual line item on my list begins like this: "When I am wealthy...." but that's not important right now. 

My fascination with this spot began years ago when, as a kid in Cuba, I found a bar of Magno soap in our bathroom.

Ah, the fragrance. It is the smell of my Cuban youth. Of abuela. Of opulence. Of pampering. Of abundance.

Magno, for the uninformed in matters of Spanish bathing, is an amazing black soap that makes the most incredible white, frothy, it-could-be-whipped-cream lather. And that fragrance! It has an intoxicating woodsy smell like nothing else I've ever known. 

 

It's hard to come by Magno. They don't sell it at any of our local stores, although a few years ago there was a snooty, way-out-of-my-price-range bed and bath shop in Newport Beach that carried Magno. I made the pilgrimage to this shop about once a month to stock up and to buy bars for each of my sisters.

And now, they make a surely-I-have-died-and-gone-to-heaven Magno Bath Gel.

I go out of my way to get Magno for my dearest friends and of course, my family. One drop is all it takes to make that are-you-kidding-me-with-this foamy white lather and to perfume the bathrooms in the house in the most delicious way.

"You found Magno?!"  They cry with excitement and delight. (Seriously, it's almost a religious experience for us.)

So, back to La Toja and My Bucket List...

I continue to dream of that far away day when we can get to that tiny island and its health spas and amazing lathering black soap with the incredible, inimitable fragrance. 

Until that day, I have to console myself with the internets and the beauty that is Online Shopping and just step into my shower and close my eyes. 

I'm back in Cuba when she was still the Pearl of the Antilles. When crisp linens and laden tables were the norm. When my family was very extended. When there was abundance and wealth and all those other lovely perks of capitalism. ;-)

Magno and islands. It all works out in my head.

"Magno, take me away!" (<---a reference to an old Calgon commercial, but that's not important right now.)

Is there a fragrance in your memory that makes you remember and dream? Tell me.

I do not think it means what you think it means...

Adam was looking pretty great the other day.

But there was some confusion over a conversation he had with my mom.

We had a good laugh over it. But we also had a great meal.

Click on over to Babalú today and see the most gorgeous Roast Chicken ever - Pollo Asado.

That's where you'll find the whole crazy-mixed-up story.

Totally worthy to be put on a platter. Yes, and the chicken too. ;-)

Go check it out today. You won't be sorry.

Gonna buy five copies for my mother...

It started out as a piece for Hispanic Heritage Month.

The OC Register asked me to write something about my family leaving Cuba. They were looking to feature Cuban-Americans, they told me.

I had procrastinated on this, so I barely made their deadline. I cobbled together pieces of things that I had already written here on my blog and pieced together a semi-coherent story and hoped for the best.

They liked the piece.

No, wait. They loved it.

In fact, they sent out their photographer to do a photo shoot of me and my family. (Thanks again, Leonard. It was great fun!)

But then today...

The story appeared on the front page of the Register. The FRONT PAGE, people! (Just below the photo of the winning Angels, but that's not important right now.)

And then my neighbor came over to tell me they had mentioned the story on one of our local radio stations. (I know! Shut up!)

The story is posted over at Babalú today, too.

Here's the article in its entirety. Be sure to click over and look at the slideshow where it says "more photos."

It's kind of disconcerting to open the newspaper and find our own old family photos splashed all over.

 

Even better than all of that?

The byline. =D

"SHE EMBRACES U.S., TREASURES CUBA." ~ BY MARTA DARBY. 

("Yes," she says, with feigned modesty and a face-splitting-ear-to-ear grin, "that's me.")

Savoring these 15 minutes of mine...

"Rolling Stone OC Register
Wanna see my picture on the cover
Rolling Stone OC Register
Gonna buy five copies for my mother 
Rolling Stone OC Register
Wanna see my smilin' face

On the cover of the Rolling Stone OC Register."

UPDATED 10/13/2009 - I am just floored by the awesome response to the article! Thanks, everyone! I will try to answer all your emails this week. *her face splits into enormously proud ear-t0-ear grin.* Wow. Just wow. =D)

Just shoot me.

The good people over at the OC Register (our local newspaper) had asked me to write something for Hispanic Heritage Month. We've had a relationship for a while now because my blog is listed in their Latino Life Section.

I was happy to oblige because, well, here on my blog I celebrate my heritage just about every day. =D

Then I got a call from the Features Editor (Shut up. I know.) who liked my piece and asked if they could print it and could they please send a photographer over to do a photo shoot with me and my family?

Umm....YES!

The photographer, Leonard Ortiz, was just delightful and pulled it together beautifully. He spent two (2!) hours lighting and shooting us.  He was very easy to work with and pose for and seemed to enjoy working with the Darby clan. 

So he took photos of us in the living room under one of my favorite Cuba posters. In my tiny stairwell (yes, all six of us!), the one with all the family photos on the wall. I think it took him so long because we were totally laughing together and being goofy (but that's not important right now).

There were quite a few of Photogenically Challenged Me standing in front of the American flag holding a framed photo of Papi.

Of course, Lucy had our camera on hand to document the documentation....

I'll let you know when (if?) the piece runs.

Meanwhile, I'm getting out the sandpaper....pa' darme lija.** ;-)

**"dar lija" (pronounced - "dahr lee hah") is a Cuban idiom that means someone is a little vain and so they "sandpaper" themselves. Like polishing wood.... 

I'm hoping to get one of the group shots he took to use for my Christmas Card this year. Is that resourceful? Or just lazy? (Either way, I feel sooo accidentally cool.)

Mas café, por favor.

My mom is back from Miami.

She spent the entire summer there and she has stories.

Lots of stories.

A plethora of stories. (I know. The acorn does not fall far from the tree. Shut up.)

So we've been talking.

Or should I say, she's been talking. And talking. And talking.

My job is to keep food and drink on the table in between stories.

My mom, like any good Cuban, tells a great story.

And because she's 95, she tends to repeat her stories at times. ;-)

I'm a little burned out on my-summer-with-Fernando-in-Miami stories.

But she's here for the entire weekend.

So now, it's Sunday morning and I have another full day of we-went-to-the-Palacio-de-Los-Jugos-a-few-times stories to look forward to today.

There's only one way to get through this. Happy Sunday, people! =D

H/T Mica. Thanks, amiga!

We The People

On April 17, 1975 I became a proud naturalized American citizen. I was almost 20 years old.

[UPDATED NOTE 9/18/09: Imagine my Naturalization Certificate right here with a cute photo of me with short, feathered 70's hair in the upper left-hand corner. I was advised by my Favorite and Most Awesome Immigration Attorney (and you know who you are, Abe) that I shouldn't have posted this so publicly. I stand corrected. The rest of the post still remains.]

Before I got to the moment in the U.S. courtroom where I pledged my allegiance and was sworn in as a Citizen of the United States of America, I had to learn a few things.

I had to learn about American history.

I had to learn the names of my representatives in my state and in our country.

I had to learn how Congress worked and what the chain of command was in Washington.

I had to learn about the Constitution.  And I fell in love with it.

Having come from what was once a free country that was taken over by communists, I felt a much deeper appreciation for the gift of liberty.

I wondered then and I still wonder now if the birthright of citizenship here in America is taken for granted by those who did nothing more than make their entrance into this world in a delivery room on U.S. soil. But then again, that's the beauty of this amazing country.

When we visited the National Archives in DC back in May, we stood before the Constitution and let the awe of that historic document wash over us.

 

It was especially emotional for me to read the first three words: "We, the people..."

 

I stood there and thought how awesome it was that this document included ME, a Cuban refugee, in that WE. And I wept.

Many Americans don't know American history. Or the names of their representatives. Or how Congress works. Or what the chain of command is in Washington.

Can you pass the Naturalization Test that allows you to become an American citizen?  (click on the link and tell me how you did. I got 90%. =D)

Today marks the 222nd anniversary of the signing of that historical document. Thirty-nine brave men who, by signing their names to this document changed the course of history.

Some have never read the Constitution or even learned the Preamble.

Let me help you with that right now....  ;-)

Happy Constitution Day.

(H/T Babalú)