Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium 2014 - A Giveaway

We're super excited to be a part of Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium again this year. And the Dodgers are super excited to host all of us loud, fanatical Cuban baseball fans. 

From the Dodgers site: 

Our Cuban-themed Viva Los Dodgers festival will begin 2 hours prior to first pitch, and fans can enjoy festive live music including performances by Alfredo Rodriguez and Charanga Cubana, player autographs and various activities. Admission to Viva Los Dodgers is free with a paid ticket to the game.

First, the details: The game is against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, August 17th, at 1:00 o'clock PM. If you haven't already, you can still get tickets at the Los Angeles Dodgers Site. 

Then, you need to get your t-shirts, of course from Habana Brand Clothing so that you can appropriately represent. 

But the best part is today's giveaway...

Sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers and My Big, Fat, Cuban Family, (Let's just take a moment to appreciate how accidentally cool this is. Thankyouverymuch) I'm giving away all the Dodgers Awesomeness pictured below.

• A Los Angeles Dodgers Blanket
• A Dodger Blue zip-up hoodie (XL). (Which I'm seriously tempted to keep, but that's not important right now.) 
• A Yasiel Puig Bobblehead (you know you want one.)
• A page of Dodger/Puig stick on images.  And......drum roll please......
• A pair of tickets (2) to the game! The coolest part of this is that you will be sitting with us! That's right. Come and enjoy a Dodger Dog with me and My Big, Fat, Cuban family. 

To enter this drawing for the 2 Dodger Tickets and All the Very Cool LA Dodgers Paraphernalia please leave a comment on this post and tell me:

• What's your favorite thing to do at a baseball game?

Is it the 7th Inning Stretch? The Kiss Cam? Heckling the batter? Do you look fabulous in Dodger Blue? Tell me.

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Sunday, August 10th, 2014 at 8 pm PST. 

BEFORE YOU ENTER, please double check your calendars and make sure you can attend the game on Sunday, August 17th. Thanks!

Say it with me: "It's time for Dodgers Baseball!" ~Vin Scully

Los Angeles Cuban Festival - A Winner

Me and Amy with Pitbull

I love doing giveaways here on my blog. I seriously love hearing from you folks and I appreciate that you take the time to write out some thoughtful responses to my questions. Thanks for all your input.

I'm delighted that I can now add to my growing list of "Best Cuban Restaurants in the LA Area." Thanks, guys!

So, the LA Cuban Festival is coming up in about 10 days, people! I'm hoping to see some of you there. I wish I could give you all free tickets, but The People In Charge Of These Things have limited me to giving away a set of two tickets. (For which I'm totally grateful.)

For those of you that are wondering how this is done, here's how I chose the winner. 

1) I took the number of entries and entered that number in the True Random Number Generator over at Random.org. 

2) I took a screen shot of the result so you could see how it works.

3) I gave each one of your entries a number and I did a screen shot of the winner.

4) I then write this post and congratulate the winner. 

The winner of the Two Free Tickets to the LA Cuban Festival on July 13th is Ed Nuhfer. Congratulations! I'll forward your email to the generous folks at Fiestalegre Promotions who will provide your tickets to this year's fabulous LA Cuban Festival.

For those of you who didn't win, please be sure to buy your tickets soon. I still hope to see you there! 

Again, here are the details...

Date: Sunday, July 13, 2014
Time: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Place: Rainbow Lagoon Park, Long Beach (Across street from Shoreline Village)

Performing

• Issac Delgado
• Timbalive
• Charanga Cubana
• MC Paloma Morales
• Super DJ Robby
• DJ Warapo
• y mas ...

TICKET INFORMATION

• Advance Online* (before July 12, 2014)
• Order directly from the Fiestalegre website.

Also, the photo of me and my daughter, Amy Kikita with Pitbull at the top of the post has nothing to do with the LA Cuban Festival. It's just to get your attention. No, Pitbull is not going to be at the LA Cuban Festival, but I am!

I just think it's a cute photo. And I like to randomly talk about That Time I Met Pitbull. There's an equally cute story about that photo. (This is a few years ago when I was still straightening my hair. Now I'm all-curls-all-the-time, but that's not important right now.)

Why do I even bring up Pitbull? Because if you come to the Festival (which I totally hope you do, because hello! Cuban music and food and dancing!), you must stop by and say hello to me. Then we'll have our picture taken together and you will be just one degree away from Pitbull. 

As you can see, my Cuban logic is completely intact. 

A Bright Summer With Pier 1 - Gift Card Winner

From the day we set up our new patio furniture from Pier 1, I swear we have been out there enjoying it Every. Single. Day. We find any excuse to get ourselves out to go sit on the comfy cushions and watch the world go by. 

I feel ridiculously proud of this. I thought we spent a lot of time out on our porch, but now it's become A Thing.

The other morning, I made cinnamon rolls. (Every now and then the urge hits, what can I say?) Eric was working outside digging and fixing up our new planters. 

"Can we just eat out here?"  (I have a feeling this is going to be happening a lot this summer.)

Which is how the Darbys of Mission Viejo ended up sitting outside decadently eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast on their new, beautifully re-designed porch. Look at me, living the lifestyle magazine life. This is the stuff my dreams are made of.

Every morning I can find Eric out there doing his morning reading. It makes me happy to see him so content.

All this to say that I'm super grateful to Pier 1 Imports for the awesome inspiration for our new outdoor living space. It's made a huge impact already on our day-to-day living. Also, the weather has cooperated beautifully. We're seriously on the cusp of summer and my plan is to spend as much time here as possible, thankyouverymuch.

I want to thank you all for entering the giveaway. If you want to be inspired, go through the comments on the last post: Hello, Summer - A Pier 1 Giveaway and see what everyone would choose for their outdoor space. You guys are kind of fantastic. 

Oh, yes! A winner. I chose one, of course.

I took the number of entries (not counting the doubles - you know who you are or maybe the website glitched on a couple, but that's not important right now) and entered them into the True Random Number Generator on Random.org which chose a number (randomly, of course). 

The winner of the $50 Pier 1 Gift Card is:

Congratulations, Laura!

Please send me an email that says, HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I won't accidentally delete it). Include your home address so I can get this gift card out to you ASAP. 

Thanks again to all of you for participating! A very special thanks to Pier 1 and Latina Bloggers Connect for sponsoring this really fun summer giveaway. The opinions are all my own.

Hello, Summer. - A Pier 1 Giveaway

Today's the day for the Big Reveal and a cool Pier 1 Giveaway. My patio is seriously so bright and inviting now. I'm so excited to share.

To see where I started, read my original post here: Making My Summer Bright With Pier 1.

My vision was to create a new, brighter and much more inviting space in the front of our home on our porch. Like I told you before, we spend a lot of time there and I knew I wanted something that felt super welcoming.

I also knew I wanted lots of color. I wanted it to practically scream, "Hello, Summer!" 

I trotted off to Pier 1 with my trusty iPad mini under my arm wtih all my Pinterest pins ready to feed my inspiration. Wasn't that super post-modern of me? I know. 

If you're feeling it, you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking here: Marta Darby on Pinterest

I chose the furniture first. I knew I wanted the rattan and I was totally drawn to the Pier 1 Coco Cove Collection. So the question then became: What color? 

We had just recently painted our home a bright yellow, so I decided the Mocha would add the most dramatic contrast with all the bright colors I intended to add, so I went for it. 

I ended up getting the Coco Cove Settee, the Ottoman (to be used as a coffee table), and the Armchair. All in that beautifully rich Mocha. 

I'm thinking I can now call this my Outdoor Oasis. Behold the awesome...

I confess that choosing the color for the cushions was much more of a challenge. I wanted them all. And while I love online shopping, is there anything better than seeing and touching and dreaming in person? 

Kudos to the friendly Pier 1 gal who was completely helpful and gracious as I was moving furniture and cushions around in the store. Because it's very difficult to commit to new stuff unless you establish a relationship. Am I right?

I opted for solid seat cushions in bright green for the settee and orange for the armchair. I chose the Kaeden pillows to pull in all those fabulous bright colors. 

If you've been following my crazy on Instagram (I'm Smrtqbn, by the way), you know that I have been a little bit on the obsessed side with these ceramic stools. I just couldn't decide between red or green. If you know me at all, you could have safely guessed I'd go for the red one, of course. Because....hello...RED.

I think it makes an ideal plant stand, don't you? I'm thinking that if I just had one Summer accent piece to choose, this would be the one. 

The ottoman is the perfect size for us to use as a coffee table, and of course to put our feet up when we're not. I added the red lacquer bamboo tray for when we serve drinks out here. I'm so looking forward to my Saturday Porch Time with my next-door-neighbor and friend, Debbie. See how wonderfully inviting this looks?

If you look a little closer, you will see that there's a $50 Gift Card from Pier 1 that could possibly have your name on it.

That's right. Today's giveaway is a $50 Pier 1 Imports Gift Card for you to do some mad summer shopping yourself. 

1) To enter this drawing for the $50 Pier 1 Imports Gift Card please click on this link - Pier 1 Imports and choose a few items you might like to have on your own Summer Outdoor Wish List. (Or maybe it's your Summer Entertainment Wish List, or your Stuff I Really Like Wish List. You choose. It's your List, after all.) Maybe you need a gift for someone special? 

2) Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you chose. 

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Friday, May 30th, 2014 at 11am PST. 

Hello, Summer! 

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign campaign in collaboration with Pier 1 Imports and Latina Bloggers Connect. The opinions are all my own.

A Falling Star - The Winners

I hope all of you had the chance to check out the Book Trailer for Chantel Acevedo's new Cuban-American novel, 'A Falling Star.' I love reading all your responses so much. There's so much shared history that we have being Cuban-Americans. Thank you all for your beautiful entries.

Sadly, (or happily?) I only have 2 copies of 'A Falling Star' to give away. 

Congratulations to the winners:

*********************************************************************

and

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Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete it) which contains your mailing address. Your books will be on their way to you ASAP!

Thank you again to all who participated and shared. 

This beautiful book can be purchased as an "Advanced Copy" via the Carolina Wren Press website exclusively. Here's the link:

A Falling Star - Carolina Wren Press

Also, if you're in the area of Charlotte, North Carolina, Chantel Acevedo will be doing a reading at Park Road Books on May 8th at 7pm. Here's the link: http://www.parkroadbooks.com/event/author-event-chantel-acevedo-falling-star

I'm so proud to support this project. Congratulations and a big thank you to Chantel. Please continue to share her awesome with all your friends. 

Gaviña Coffee Basket - A Winner

Before I tell you who won the giveaway, I want to thank all of you who shared your coffee memories. I felt like I was hanging out with you at a "ventanita" in Miami talking about that magical first time delicious coffee was introduced into our lives.

Thank you.

The winner of this fabulous Café La Llave Coffee Basket is (drum roll, please)...

Congratulations, gold digger! Please send me an email with HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line. Please include your mailing address so I can forward to my good friends at Gaviña and they will get your coffee goodies out to you ASAP.

A great big thank you to Gaviña Gourmet Coffee for their generous sponsorship. For those of you who didn't win, the consolation is that you can still order Café La Llave or Don Francisco or any of the other fabulous Gaviña brands and goodies on their website. Please click on the green link just to the right and remember to enter the code Cuban20 at checkout.

Gracias again to all who entered. And in case you've forgotten, here's the best way to get your "espumita" just right. You're welcome!

The Smell of Home - Gaviña Coffee Basket Giveaway

I remember being about 5 years old when I really took notice that my family brewed coffee a dozen times a day. It was almost a Sacred Ritual. This also happened, I took note, in every single Cuban home I had ever entered.

The daily brewing of the perfect Cuban cafecito is something that happens repeatedly throughout the day in Cuban households and ventanitas everywhere ("little windows" - these are mostly found in Miami, but that's not important right now).

I think one of my very first sensory memories has to do with the fragrance of a beautifully brewed, hot, sweet espresso. The aroma is something that evokes warmth and family and men in guayaberas and women in crisp aprons and lots of loud talking. The smell of home.

A few weeks ago I announced that My Big, Fat, Cuban Family had partnered with Gaviña Gourmet Coffee. I'm so pleased that they are my newest sponsor.

In light of this wonderful parnership, I think we need to celebrate, don't you?

And what better way to celebrate than to do a giveaway of a Basket of Coffee Awesomeness from Gaviña? Can I just tell you that my morning cafecito tastes sooo much better when drunk from one of these adorable Cafe La Llave tacitas. It does. I promise.

The Cafe La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket consists of the following:

• 2- 10oz. Cafe La Llave espresso bricks
• 1- 8.8oz. Cafe La Llave decaf. espresso brick
• 4- 1.75oz. Cafe La Llave espresso samples
• 4- "tacitas" - demitasse cups and saucers

1) To enter this drawing for this beautiful Cafe La Llave Cuban Coffee Basket, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

• Do you remember the first time you had a perfectly brewed espresso?
  
• Or is this a taste you acquired later in life? Tell me.
  

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Friday, March 28th, 2014 at 11am PST.

2) For an extra entry, please go "like" Cafe La Llave on Facebook and come back and leave me another comment telling me:  

• "I like Cafe La Llave!"

So that's not one, but two entries. De nada.

If you want even more coffee awesomeness, please click on the sponsored La Llave Coffee link to the right and be sure to enter Cuban20 at checkout for 20% off Cafe La Llave.

Also, please let them know that Marta from My Big, Fat, Cuban Family sent you. It doesn't make any difference to how I choose the winner. I just want them to know you are reading about it here, but that's not important right now.

"Move Over Mojo." - A Winner

I love when I get to partner with my generous sponsors to do giveaways on this blog. I do. Mostly because of the comments.

I read each and every one and it makes me feel like I get to know each one of you just a little bit better.

Thanks to all of you who entered this week's raffle for a case (six 12 oz. bottles) of Ana Quincoces' Skinny Latina Brand Million Dollar Marinade.

And the winner is...

Congratulations, Marta! Please send me an email with HEY MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG in the subject line and be sure to include your mailing address and I will send out your case of deliciousness ASAP.

Thanks again to everyone who participated and many thanks to my friend, Ana Quincoces for so generously sponsoring this giveaway. 

Mojo is sooo moving over.

"Move Over Mojo." - A Giveaway

I've been blogging since 2006. In that space of time and all across the internet, I've made some really wonderful friends.

One of those is the lovely don't-hate-me-because-I'm-beautiful Ana Quincoces. Recently seen on Real Housewives of Miami - she was the smart and classy one - Ana is a talented chef and quite the delightful personality. If you're curious as to how we met (and also want a killer, stuffed, Cuban French toast recipe) read that story right here.

Ana Quincoces is one of the most genuine people I've ever met and I feel privileged to call her my friend. In June when the Miami Heat won the championship and my daughter, Amy was also in Miami, I made sure she and Ana found each other at Versailles some time around midnight. (Just call me Mission Control.)

Ana has recently developed a new all-purpose marinade called Skinny Latina Million Dollar Marinade.

Last week, this package of awesomeness arrived.

You know how much I love shortcuts when I cook. This marinade is the perfect beginning to any sauce. Ana calls it, "Cooking for dummies in a bottle. Move over, mojo!"

To help celebrate the launch of Ana's fabulous Skinny Latina Million Dollar Marinade, I'd like to offer one lucky MBFCF reader a case (six 12 oz. bottles) of this amazing stuff. It's low calorie, glutten-free, and delicious. Win!

On her site, Ana has recipes for 8 different sauces using her MDM as a base. Find those recipes right here.

To enter this drawing for A Case of Skinny Latina Million Dollar Marinade, please leave a comment on this post and answer the following:

~ Tell me your favorite go-to recipe that's in heavy rotation at your house.

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose one winner on Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 at 8 pm PST.

Also, I feel like I have to add this disclaimer for the benefit of all my readers:

You don't have to be Cuban to enter any of my giveaways. That is all.

Habana Brand Clothing - A Winner

First of all, I'd like to thank Habana Brand Clothing for being so supportive of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family in everything I do here.

Secondly, I'm so grateful to all of you who faithfully read, and follow along with my blogging adventures and enter my fun giveaways. I'm grateful that you're the ones who have made this little corner of cyberspace such a great place to hang out. Gracias.

Congratulations to...

Martha, you won! Please send me an email with your mailing address and HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG! in the subject line (so I don't accidentally delete it).

I'll forward to my good friends at Habana Brand Clothing and you can let them know which shirt you want and what size and all that and they will send out your goodies ASAP. You will be sooo proud to represent. I promise.

Also, don't miss any of their new designs and promotions, follow Habana Brand Clothing on Facebook. And love them on Instagram. You can thank me later.

Thank you again to everyone who participated. You make me so happy.