Marta's Birthday Month®

I know.

Everyone else celebrates their birthDAY. And some clever folks even celebrate Birthday Week, which I did, too, until I said to myself, "Self, we should try to see if we can drag out this birthday celebration stuff for the entire month of May."

No, I don't really talk to myself that way....or maybe I do, but that's not important right now. ;-)

And so I scheduled coffee with friends and mani-pedis and saw movies and went to fun places and ate fabulous meals. And I celebrated. And celebrated. And it all made me happy.

So here's a recap of the fun stuff I got to do in the month of May, which will henceforth be known as Marta's Birthday Month®.

For starters, I got to bake in the Nestlé Kitchens in Glendale. I know. Shut up. I was beside myself with excitement. (More of that story plus a generous giveaway from Nestlé coming up later this week.)

Lucy and I went up to Universal City Walk and had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Buca di Beppo.

Then we got to attend a preview-screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. (Thanks, Disney Pictures!)

We saw it in IMAX 3D. Here we are looking appropriately nerdy in our 3D glasses. (Totally enjoyed the movie, by the way. And this is now the 2nd photo of me in 3D glasses that I've posted on my blog. Is this going to be a trend?)

And we just happened to be in L.A. on the Clearest, Most Beautiful Day Ever. (Incidentally, that's the Warner Brothers studio lot in the foreground. Do you recognize it from the beginning of WB films? Note to self: Take the WB Studio Tour one day very soon.)

All that piratey fun happened on the night of the full moon. (Which was sooo amazing and here I was trying desperately to capture the magicalness of the moment with my iPhone 4G, which I love, but which couldn't quite do the Magical Scene justice, but that's not important right now, either.)

Sometime this month I also made my famous Arroz con Pollo, which happens to be my favorite Cuban food on earth. (At least, when I make it.)

And we went out to breakfast a few times. Breakfast, by the way, is my favorite meal to eat out.

My beautiful and talented friend, Tamera took me out for coffee and let me choose a bracelet from her awesome new jewelry collection. She has finally started blogging and sharing her awesomeness with the world. (Yay!)

You can find her online at Tamera Beardsley.com. Go visit her blog and be prepared to be totally inspired by her incredible creativity.

Close up of the bracelet. It says: Live out loud. Yes, that's my plan. Thanks again, Tamera!

As if things just couldn't get more festive, my gladiolus finally bloomed.

And so did my Stairway to Heaven. Jonathan is 6'2". The bush tree is about 15 feet tall and blooming prolifically, which just makes me fall in love with it every single day.

We celebrated my (actual!) birthday with dinner with close friends.

And my BFF, Pam sent me this gorgeous necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs that I may or may not have been secretly coveting. (Love you MORE!)

And her granddaughter, CJ made me this cute video:
"The birds are angry because it's your birthday and not theirs." Isn't she adorable?

We enjoyed another breakfast (did I mention it's my favorite meal to eat out?) out in the canyon close to us. Seriously excellent home cooked meals. Particularly breakfast. =D

Eric and the kids chose these beautiful climbers for the arch in my white picket fence. (Note: we have been looking for and not having any luck with finding a hardy climber to do what I want it to do, but that's not important right now, either.)

It's called Piñata. Isn't that apropos for a birthdaymonth gift?

My friend, Wanda got me these gorgeously intricate measuring spoons. I promptly announced that I would hang them in my kitchen, to which she replied that I must actually use them. Often.

I kind of have to work through that concept of actually using cool things in my real life. (Anyone else struggle with this? No? Never mind...)

Of course I got a pedicure. That goes without saying.

Plus I got lots of Birthday Love on Facebook. (If you don't already, please feel free to "like" My Big, Fat, Cuban Family on Facebook.)

All in all, Marta's Birthday Month® (Wait! Is that an oxymoron?) was a huge success.

I feel very loved and very cherished.

And I've managed to celebrate my fifty-six years in epic form.

Did I mention I lead a charmed life? ;-)

Lighting the Menorah and Spinning the Dreidel

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the parties and celebrating with friends.

What's different is that not all of our friends do Christmas Trees and Nochebuena.

Tonight, my son will be wearing a yarmulke and my daughter will help light the menorah.

There will be a wonderful matzoh-ball soup made by a Genuine Jewish Grandma.

And for dessert we will be treated to the Amazing Chocolate Fountain of Doom. (That's what Jonathan calls it, but that's not important right now.)

After dinner, we will spin the dreidel. Guess who usually wins the pot? ;-)

I love celebrating special holidays with our Jewish friends. And they always go out of their way to make me feel at home.

Happy Hanukkah, mi gente! =D

El Palacio and me. (It was love at first sight.)

I've been home for a week now and I'm still processing all the wonderful things I got to do and experience in Miami. I'll be writing about the trip little by little as I sort through my stuff and check my mental rolodex to remind myself of the stories I want to tell.

This particular one, I videotaped. (I know! Shut up!)

I'm starting to get more things on film and I'm finding that I enjoy telling my stories this way. I have even stopped cringing when I hear my voice on tape. Weird, right?

My Tiki Tiki blog-partner and Cuban friend, Carrie, took me to the Palacio de los Jugos on Flagler and 57th when we were in Miami last week.

Usually, I hold out for Versailles or La Carreta, but Carrie convinced me that the best "comelatas" are to be had at the Palacio.

What I found: All Cuban food is not alike. (The thing about Cuban food, though, is that it's sooo affordable, wherever you go.)

We managed to eat our way around the building (very cheaply!). Don't judge us. We both live far from Cuban restaurants (and La Dieta empieza mañana).

But can I just say....THIS over-abundance of Cuban food on every corner is why I could never live in Miami.  (Well, and the humidity, but that's not important right now.) I have no self-control when it comes to Cuban food. And I couldn't be held responsible for my actions if I lived so close to all that deliciousness.

In my life I've never seen so much fabulous Cuban food in one spot..... except for maybe here, at my house, on Nochebuena. =D

Cuban girls "do" the Palacio: L-to-R - Amanda, Yllien (my cousin), me, & Carrie after we successfully tasted everything in the building.

Follow us, as Carrie and I explore the wonders of the Palacio de los Jugos....I miss it already. * heavy sigh*

When is a Pitbull NOT a pitbull?

It seems that lately I've been getting invited to all kinds of  "events"- apparently bloggers are the new press. Who knew?

Iwas invited by a fellow Latina blogger, Ana Flores from Spanglish Baby (Thanks again, Ana!) to come to the launch of the new Victoria's Secret perfume called Bombshell. It turns out that one of Ana's close friends, the lovely Susan Stipcianos from the Dream Team Agency was spearheading this event.

So I took Amy to L.A. with me, of course. The event was held at the enormous Victoria's Secret store at The Grove and there were all these gorgeous skinny semi-famous VS supermodels that we were supposed to interview. (I'm the new press, after all...)

But I got a little distracted because of all the fun we were having (but that's not important right now).

We got the Royal V.I.P. treatment. We had makeovers done by professional makeup artists

 

...and they had us do a glamour photo shoot...

 

...and they gave us swag bags with beautiful umm....things....

...and, of course, the new perfume, Bombshell.

In the middle of the craziness, I notice a handsome young man having his photo taken with the supermodels (whom we have yet to interview.....because....Hey! Is it my turn for the photo?)

So Amy says, "Mami, that's Pitbull." He's getting his photo taken with the supermodels and then he leaves.

In slow-motion, I went Wait! (or more like W-A-A-I-I-T-T!) I'm the CUBAN BLOGGER here!

So I grabbed Amy and we head towards where Pitbull was last seen and he is now exiting the building - *sigh* We missed him. (Sad faces.)

Right at that moment, the very-on-top-of-it PR gal, Susan (that I told you about earlier, who was in charge"OMG! Come on!" And she proceeded to run down the internal alley of the mall, in her stilettos, yelling, "Wait! Pit!"

And here come Amy and Marta chasing Susan who is chasing Pitbull through the bowels of the Grove. (Talk about a surreal moment.)

When she finally caught him, she said to him, "This is the Most Important Person At This Event!" (If you look at the photo, you can tell we were far away from people and totally in the bowels of the mall.) And Pitbull was treating me like I was, well... The Most Important Person At This Event.

Of course, I spoke to him in Spanish, and I may or may not have called him a muñecon.

I think because of that awesome introduction he was very charming. (Amy was upset that he barely looked at her and paid me so much attention. I quickly reminded her of my Most Important Person Status. =D)

We chatted briefly, took our photos and he was delightful and charming and funny and when he turned to leave, he left behind a small puddle of what was formerly The Most Important Person There and Her First Born.

We regrouped beautifully and made the executive decision to skip the supermodel interviews. After all, we just had makeovers and got to meet Pitbull. (Which proves the existence of God.) Our evening was pretty complete with the added plus of the Pitbull meeting. I had my story. I came strutting back into the store and showed the photos on my camera to the swooning, skinny girls. They were staring at me with a total "WHO ARE YOU?" vibe. I loved it.

I decided it would be wisest to skip the supermodel interviews and focus my story on meeting Pitbull. Yeah, I'm shallow that way. =D

I do have a comment giveaway today, but you'll have to travel.

I want you to go over the TikiTikiBlog and follow this link to the Pitbull story post.

To be entered in the drawing for the new VS Bombshell perfume, (I promise you...you want this!) go over to the Tiki Tiki and leave a comment on that post. Instructions and deadlines are over there.

Also, be sure to watch the video I put together. Then come back and tell me your opinion of how I'm handling my mid-life crisis. Or how jealous you're feeling right now. Bring it. =D

Of IPhones and Bracelets and Best Friends Forever

Every summer there's a ton of art festivals held here in nearby Laguna Beach. The Sawdust Festival is one of our favorites. My niece, Natalie, actually works there and gets us in for free. (Win!)

So, last year I found this beautiful silver bracelet that I fell in love with and so I bought it.

 

Mine has white fresh-water pearls and Swarovski crystals. I continue to wear it almost daily. I swear, I seriously love it. It's become my signature piece of jewelry.

My best friend, Pam's birthday is in September and last year I kept meaning to get her a bracelet just like it, knowing she would love it as much as I did mine. But our busy summer got away from us and the Sawdust Festival closed down for the year.

This year, when I went to the Festival, my first order of business was to hopefully find the booth that had the beautiful bracelet so I could get one for my BFF. Indeed, I found the booth and was practically crowing because I was so proud of myself for buying her birthday present months in advance. (Can I get an Amen to that?)

We were talking one day back in August and she was a little down, so I mentioned that I had gotten her the most fabulous birthday present EVER, and that in fact, I had one just like it, but she'd have to wait until her birthday in September before I would send it to her.

Big mistake.

Pam's given name is Pandora. And she is just as curious as her namesake.

So, after much badgering, I promised to send the gift early, but then I made her promise to give me Birthday Credit. (<--That's code for "I didn't get you anything else." =D)

With the Birthday Credit promise secured, I sent her the bracelet.

When she received the bracelet, she immediately send me a photo and a gushy thank you text on her IPhone.

 

That's when the craziness started.

I sent her a photo (from my IPhone) of my matching bracelet to let her know I was thinking of her, too.

 

So now we just send each other photos of The Bracelet as we go through our days.

Here's Pam with her coffee.

Here's me driving. (No worries. Lucy took the photo.)

 

Here's Pam wearing other bracelets with it.

 

I like to wear my Cuban "esclavas" ("slaves") with mine.

 

And so it goes. Sometimes we just send the photos without a text.

 

Because when you are lucky enough to have a best friend like mine, you don't always need words to say, "I love you and I'm thinking of you."

 

Today is Pam's birthday. I know she's wearing her bracelet. Of course, I'm wearing mine. I feel so, so very privileged to have such a wonderful, crazy and silly lifetime friend. (35 years!)

Happy Birthday, BFF! I love you MORE.

(Remember.....I get Birthday Credit, but that's not important right now.) =D

Gleeks in Training

Lucy is a senior in high school this year. We've been talking about college options for a while now. But our conversations began in earnest at the beginning of this year. She's already taken a few courses at the community college level, but what did she want to do? Where would she be interested in going? What schools best provided what she wanted?

The questions were coming fast and furiously.

Obviously, because we homeschool, we're very proactive about our kids' education. So together we began our research.

Lucy's high school experience to date has been through the Orange County Department of Education. The high school provides online classes and supportive classroom instruction as well as varied programs and clubs that meet on campus.

They have a yearbook (which she worked on last year) and they host a prom each year. There is a wonderful full drama program, which we've enjoyed immensely.

But now both Lucy and Jonathan began to want more.

As much as I love homeschooling and as much as I think people who have the temperament for it should do it, I am not "militant" about homeschooling.

Like I've said before, my highest goal has always been to raise decent human beings who have "learned how to learn." Homeschooling has been one of the richest, most rewarding experiences of my life. It's been the best educational choice for our family.

So, what to do with homeschooled kids who are curious and talented and ambitious?

In January both of them applied to the Orange County High School of the Arts. (OCHSA - pronounced "OH-SHA").  Think "Fame" but without the hoodlums. =D

Their best friends (and beloved neighbors) also put in their applications.

From January to March there was a lot of waiting and fretting and hand-wringing while we waited to hear back from the school about audition dates.

Beginning of March ALL FOUR OF THEM (!) received auditions for their respective conservatories.

Final decisions were made and letters of acceptance received in May. Again, ALL FOUR OF THEM got accepted. (A lot of happy dancing ensued, as you can imagine, but that's not important right now.)

Lucy, Jon, Tessia & Tori waiting for the train on the first day of school.

I've homeschooled both Lucy and Jonathan for most of their formative school years. (Read about our homeschooling exploits here.) And while I was happy for them and so proud, I went through a weird sort of grieving.

I just realized that I had worked myself out of my own job. But, I think this was a very good thing. ;-)

As of this week, Lucy is commencing her senior year of high school and Jonathan is a freshman at the Orange County High School of the Arts. (<--I can't believe I just wrote that. I know. Shut up.)

They get to take the train to school each day, along with their best friends, and take creative classes. They are out-of-their-skin excited. (Eric and I are out-of-our-skin proud.)

[Fun Fact: Famous OCHSA alum, Matthew Morrison plays Will Schuester on the hit tv show, Glee.]

So, I'm technically very happily "unemployed" now.

As we went through the new student orientation on the campus, I giddily kept hearing Irene Cara singing "Fame" in a loop in my head. All the kids were so happy to be there. They had worked hard for admission and were excited to start school.

To my everlasting delight, one of the veteran parents actually said to me, "You should come down at lunch sometime. It's like 'Fame' but without the drugs and the dancing on the cars."

What am I going to do with myself? Well, for now, I've suddenly become a "Lady who lunches." This pleases me.

As for Lucy and Jonathan Darby....all I'm saying is.... remember their names. ;-)

 

How to Turn 55 While in Miami

The following post has been brought to you courtesy of Kikita.

Greetings from Miami!

Yesterday was Mami's 55th birthday (it's ok, she told me I could tell you) and the celebrating started early in the morning and went late into the night. (Ok, technically I think she will be stretching her birthday out through the weekend, but that's not important right now.)

This is how I found her this morning:

Sharing a cake with her blog-friend the Modern Mami.

A couple of hours later Mami was enjoying a Dulce de Leche cupcake from InStyle Cupcakes.

After a quick stop to visit Tio Abuelo Fernando (yes, the 99 year old one I went to Cuba with in March)...

Mami had lunch with her cousin Yllien at the Gables Diner (yes, I got to go too).

Next it was time for the main event.

It was time for the big, fat, Cuban birthday party.

And we made it happen!

We had such a great group of people show up! And from all over the United States!

Lea & Vidal made it from New Jersey (and yes, we're going to pretend that the only reason they were in Miami was to say hello to Mami on her birthday).

 

Scott and his daughter Daryn came all the way from Georgia.

Billy trekked in from New Orleans.

Carrie showed up for some Tiki Tiki.

My cousin, Michael, made an appearance along with his lovely wife, Kimberly.

Amanda from Brandon's Puppy brought her whole brood with her and even Abe was there with his daughter Alissa.

It was so wonderful to have such a mixed group come and share such a fabulous evening. To all of you who were there, thank you. Mami was incredibly touched and feels oh-so-loved (which was the whole point).

To those of you who couldn't make it, here's what you missed (beyond delicious Cuban food and fun-tastic conversation):

Since my Dad and the rest of my siblings could not be there with us, they sent a video. Ok, it was all my Dad's idea. He worked hard on his video slide show and couldn't wait for Mami to see it. It was really quite adorable.

When I set up her computer and started playing it, she burst into tears because the song he'd chosen was the song they had danced to at their wedding.

It was a very sweet moment and a very sweet video.

I hope you enjoy it:

The Art Corner

Once a week, I get to escape my real life and go play. (I know. My life pretty much revolves around playing already, but that's not important right now.)

My days are usually busy with homeschool projects, trying out new recipes (and feeding my family in the process, of course), caring for my mom, and general I'm-homeschooling-two-teenagers business.

But one day (technically, one morning) a week, I get to go play. With adults. (Somebody pinch me!)

We meet at Tamera's. Her home and gardens practically sing out her love of all-things-artistic.

 

Of course, she's a lovely and gracious hostess. And everything she does magically turns to art. Even setting up supplies...

 

Our other friend, Gwen is teaching us mixed media techniques and we're working on art journals - at least that was our original plan.

So with paint covered hands, we give each other ideas, or ooh and ah over someone's use of color.

And we talk. About kids and husbands. About dreams. About regrets. About things we love and things we hate. And even when we disagree, we find common ground.

The really delicious beauty of this time together is that not only are we sharing paint and stamps and ideas, we're sharing life.

And that's the best thing of all.

Birth of an Heirloom

There are things that I treasure, not because they have monetary value, but because they are special to me.

That's the way I decorate my home. I ask: Do I love it? Does it have meaning to me? If I waffle on the answer, it just doesn't make the cut.

I have a similar process with my jewelry. I confess that I own stuff that may not be "in style" but that I'm attached to for other reasons.

My friend, Pam (My BFF) sent me the most wonderful Christmas gift. It has great style and is already sentimental to me.

It's a dime. Yes. A dime.

Hammered and finished into the beautiful disk you see here. The date on it is 1955. The year I was born.

Here is where the story gets good....

She also got them for my daughters and for my mom:

 

The years are Lucy (1993), Amy (1983), Luza (1914).

And this weekend we all happened to be wearing them. Cool, huh?

"Let's send pictures to Pam!" I suggested. To let her know we were all wearing them and thinking about her.

So I sent her a photo (via my iPhone) with a text saying: "Thinking of you."

She sent back the following:

 

"Me too!" (I think hers is from 1956.)

This is a perfect illustration of how heirlooms are born.

Thanks, Pam! We love you!

Ab Fab

I've been helping my friend, Tamera (she of the Amazing Good Taste and Style) put together a blog. (I am super excited about this project, as I believe she is the Embodiment of Fabulousness and can't wait for her to share her amazingly creative lifestyle with the blogosphere, but that's not important right now.)

Well, technically, we're still in the embryonic planning stages, ("Baby steps, Darling!) and it may take a while to get it live, which is fine with me because that means that I get to spend a few hours each week with my Fabulous Friend, in her Fabulous House, being treated to her Fabulous Hospitality.

Tamera is not only Personally Fabulous, but she's amazing when it comes to doing research.

Look what was waiting for me today:

Bustelo has never known such Absolute Fabulousness!

Thanks, Tamera. This project is seriously MY pleasure. =D