My daughter, Amy Kikita has been working hard these past few months to lose weight. She has to date lost 30 pounds and the scale is still moving to the left every day.
I admire the courage it has taken her to face her own fears and presuppositions about what this will mean to her and her life.
Today on the Tiki Tiki, she shares her essay titled "The Fat Friend."
Please read. In fact, you should totally go hang out at the Tiki Tiki all week and enjoy this wonderful series on Body Image.
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.)
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.
WARNING: I've used a lot (!) of exclamation points in the following post. Such was my level of excitement...
In my family of origin and in the Cuban home where I grew up, we always had a couple of items in the pantry:
Cans of leche condensada (sweetened condensed milk).
Bars of guava paste.
I'm guessing that the way we used those two culinary (?) items might seem questionable to those outside of our culture, but they were staples in our home.
I'm also guessing that guava might be an acquired taste.
This doesn't, however, diminish my love for guava in any form, particularly when it comes to desserts.
The following exchange started when a fan of MBFCF posted the following photo on my Facebook fan page. (By the way, if you don't follow MyBigFatCubanFamily on Facebook, you really should. But that's not important right now.)
"Look!" My friend, Maria Prieto, tagged me in a photo:
They look like Fig Newtons, but made with guava?
GUAT?!!
I decided that I Must. Have. These. Sadly, this guavaliciousness is only to be found 3,ooo miles away... in Miami.
Then another friend posted this ad from Sedanos. Which I'm pretty sure only exists in Miami, which, again, is 3,000 miles away from me.
(I'm starting to take this personally...)
They're even on sale! Why, oh why, do I live 3,000 miles away from this guavaliciousness?
At almost the same time, I got an email from Reader Grace with the following photo:
And another from Geraldine raving about the guavalicious goodness of these forbidden treats. (3,000 miles away, people!)
And then this one from the lovely Christina Flores-Pina. Her blog is called La Cocina de Christina, and you want to go check it out. Trust me. (She can probably even tell you how many Weight Watchers points in these, because she knows stuff and is cool that way.)
The taunts photos were coming from everywhere. *heavy sigh*
But then, because MBFCF readers are fabulous that way....the offers started coming in, too....
My friend, Maria, who happens to live in Miami and near a place that sells the forbidden fruit bites, offered to send me some.
And another from Reader Gladys in New Jersey. (New Jersey, you might have noticed, is still 3,000 miles away from me. Just sayin.')
So now, I've got quite the stash of the fabulously amazing Conchita Guava Bites! (<--That exclamation point is actually part of their logo, but that's not important right now.)
And while we're on the subject, to the Conchita Guava Bites! (<--again) People, I'd just like to say that I'd really love a lifetime supply of these beauties for all this free press I'm giving you and also because the nearest store that carries these is 3,000 miles away. Just consider it, please. That is all. ;-)
And to those of you who have so generously offered to help me maintain my guava habit, muchisimos besos!
And for those of you who would like to join in on the relajo that is MBFCF fan page, please "like" us on El Feisbu. Even if you're 3,ooo miles away. =D
My beautiful friend, Ana Quincoces, has authored an equally beautiful Cuban cookbook. (I say equally, only because the pages are filled with fabulous photos of both her and her food, and I can't think of which is more gorgeous, but that's not important right now.)
I know what you're thinking. And yes, she is even more lovely in person. She also happens to be an amazing woman and a good friend. So when this Hottest Chef contest began and Ana asked me, I was eager to help.
So I quickly jumped on Facebook and asked a thousand of my closest friends (=D) to please vote for her.
Ana easily won the competition in Miami and came in second in the Nationals. Felicidades, mi vida!
I'd like to think it was the "embullo" of all the voting MBFCF readers that secured her win. Either way, true to her word, she sent me some of her autographed cookbooks as a Thank You to give away here. I know! Generous, right?
Of course, for those of you that don't know, Our relationship goes back to the day she found My Big, Fat, Cuban Torrejas recipe and asked if she could include it in this very same cookbook. ("Claro que sí!")
Very cool, right?
For those of you who don't know torrejas, they are a Cuban version of stuffed French Toast. (I have a sudden craving for Guava and Creme Cheese....)
So, I have, not one, but two cookbooks to give away today. (Thanks, Ana!)
In order to enter the drawing for a chance to win this gorgeous Cuban cookbook, please leave a comment on this post answering the question below:
If I was a chef, I would be famous for my _____________. (Fill in the blank.) Your answer can be a fantasy or an actuality, but please remember this is a family blog.
Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Thursday, March 3rd at 11:00 am Pacific Time.
Can you guess what my answer would be? =D
Also, if you're not already a fan of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family on Facebook, please click this link or the one up at the top right of this site and LIKE it. That way, you won't miss any of the relajo!
According to my friend, Amy Arnaz, the day that her husband was born, the news of his birth knocked the inauguration of President Eisenhower off of the front page of all the newspapers across America.
Can you imagine?
That was on Monday, January 19, 1953.
This same baby who created such a stir on Inauguration Day, 1953, was also on the very first cover of TV Guide that same year.
I'm privileged and proud to call this Delightful Disruptor of History, my friend.
Yes, Desi Arnaz Jr. (*sigh*) is celebrating a birthday today. And apparently, there's Cuban food on the menu. (*takes bow*)
Happy Birthday, my sweet Desi! (*sigh*) May you have many, many more!
Besos,
Marta
P.S. I still owe you that arroz con pollo, but that's not important right now.
Please go visit my sweet friend, Miss Amy's blog. It's called Insights from the Magic Tutu. Don't be shy. Go wish Desi Arnaz Jr. a very happy birthday. But be sure to tell them Marta sent you! ;-)
I reviewed my posts for the entire year (which was kind of interesting in a wow-is-that-a-train-wreck? kinda way, but that's not important right now) and picked a mix of some of my favorites.
These links are a pretty good representation of what it's like Living the Vida Loca, MBFCF-style.
If you've been a regular reader, I thank you for your time and attention and your cyber-love. You may enjoy going into my cyber-time machine and re-living this past year via the following blog posts.
If you're new to my blog, make yourself at home and enjoy this slice of my Cuban-American life in the O.C.
Besos,
Marta
1. The Writing is On the Wall - The one where I take you on a tour of the walls of my freakishly small cottage-like home.
2. A Living Legacy - The one where my mom turned 96 and had her photo taken with (almost) everyone in my big, fat, Cuban family.
3. Amy's Trip to Cuba - The one where Amy Kikita (my daughter) goes to Cuba and shares how she experienced the island and the people and how she ended up meeting Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez of Generacion Y. This link is to all the posts from her trip.
4. How Google Works - A Very Cuban Explanation - The one where my 96 year old mom explains how the internet search engines work. She calls them Cuco and Yayo (Google and Yahoo) and becomes an instant Youtube hit among Cubans everywhere.
5. How to Turn 55 While in Miami - In which I drag out my birthday celebration for days and enjoy a wonderful party and my husband's sweet surprise.
6. How to Throw a Virtual Birthday Party - In which I surprise and amaze my daughter by having everyone she knows post a birthday greeting. (*takes bow*)
7. Hasta La Vista, Baby! - In which my son, Adam, moves far away and leaves me sad. (*wipes away a tear*)
Lucky for me, I have lots of friends and family who bake many wonderful things at Christmastime.
My friend, Debbie makes the most delicious and beautiful pizelle (Italian waffle) cookies as gifts. Eric's grandmother makes incredible peanut butter balls. And we can always count on Eric's Aunt Rita for her famous and to-die-for homemade English Toffee.
Every year I look forward to receiving their gifts. (I hope they look forward to getting their annual bottle of creme de vie from me, but that's not important right now.)
One of the most special that we all look forward to receiving each year is the Pamagranate Jelly. It's made from pomegranate juice, but it's made my by BFF, Pam. So we naturally named it Pamagranate Jelly. (See how clever we are?)
This year, because I was in a tag-designing mood, I designed some tags for Pam to attach to her famous Pamagranate. (*pats self on back*)
When I emailed them to her, she was surprised. "It says Pamagranate."
Me:"I know. That's what we call it."
*laughter from the other end of the phone* "I never knew."
Apparently, we gave the famous jelly the name, but forgot to tell her. (Que Cucufate!) Pam's Famous Pamagranate Jelly Recipe can be found here.
The Pamagranate is particularly delicious on toasted Cuban bread. I'm just sayin.' ;-)
{Thanks, Pam! I love you MORE.}
Exhibit A - Christmas morning with the Pamagranate:
I love going to new places and trying new things. I also love going to old places and doing thing I've done before, but that's not important right now. ;-)
When December rolls around, I always look forward to having holiday-type experiences. Sometimes those include plays or movies or Disney Magic.
But yesterday, I had the happy privilege of being invited to enjoy Tea by the Sea at the Getty Villa in Malibu.
First of all, the Getty Villa itself is a magical place. And it just so happened that it was a perfectly beautiful, cool and clear California evening.
We stepped over the threshold (with our right foot first - in keeping with the Roman custom - for good luck) and into Rome in the First Century A.D.
We were treated to a tour of the authentically recreated first-century Roman gardens.
After the amazing tour, we were ushered up to the beautiful Founder's Room to enjoy Tea by the Sea, a special experience inspired by the herbs, vegetables, and fruits that grow in this beautiful replica of a first century Roman garden.
Is there anything I love more than a beautifully set and laden table? Okay, there are lots of things that I love, but this was truly lovely. Scones, people! And clotted cream and jam! Freshly made by their executive chef on the premises.
And then......Tiers of Culinary Amazingness...
At the bottom of which was hidden Mrs. Garrett's Carrot Cake of Awesomeness. (Okay, well...I kind of added the "...of Awesomeness" part, but that's not important right now, either.)
{NOTE ABOUT - Tea by the Sea and Mrs. Garrett's famous carrot cake:Tea by the Sea was inspired by the Villa's authentically recreated first-century Roman gardens—and by visitors' fond memories of the Villa's beloved Tea Room, which closed in 1997. In a further tribute to early days of the Museum, the menu features Mrs. Garrett's carrot cake, made by our pastry chef from the personal recipe of Jean Garrett, the late wife of the Museum's first director, Stephen Garrett.}
And because I want to share the entire experience with you (you know that I love you, right?) here's the recipe:
Mrs. Garrett's Original Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cup corn oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
1.2 cup crushed pineapple
Combine oil, sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon, soda, vanilla, salt, carrots, walnuts and pineapple in a large bowl.
Mix until blended.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Ice with cream cheese icing.
Cream Cheese Icing:
3 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/8 cup crushed pineapple
1.4 cup chopped walnuts
Mix cream cheese, sugar and butter until fluffy. Add pineapple and walnuts. Mix well.
You're welcome. =D
And thanks, Jana, for sharing the day with me.
It was the absolutely most perfect way to say, "Hello, December."
I feel so lucky to have been able to share my friend, Maria Soto Robbins with you all.
I think that for me, this is one of the richest rewards of blogging. I get to share, not just my life, but the people I've met along the way. I hope you all continue to enjoy Maria's art.
The winner of one of Maria's gorgeous art pendants is:
*************************************************
Maria Eugenia said...
I LOVE the Palms and tinajon oil painting. However, they are all beautiful. Ms. Soto Robbins in an excellent artist.
*************************************************
This is the piece Maria Eugenia said she loved:
Like many of you, I, too, have a hard time choosing a favorite.
Congratulations, Maria Eugenia! Please send me an email with the subject line: HEY, MARTA! I WON STUFF ON YOUR BLOG and include your snail mail address so that I can forward to Maria and she will contact you directly.
Thank you all again for participating and for supporting another Cuban artist. (Yes, of course, I'm wearing My Lucky Hibiscus right now.) =D
One of the benefits of living my life so publicly on the blogosphere is that I get to meet some amazing people online. (Yes, I know how it sounds, but believe me, the folks I meet through My Big, Fat, Cuban Family are wonderful!)
Maria Soto Robbins is one of those. Here is her blog. We had been friends on Facebook and she has been a faithful reader of MBFCF, so it was a wonderful treat for us to get to meet her in person at Cuba Nostalgia in Miami this year.
Amy, Maria, & Me. Cuba Nostalgia. Miami 2010.
She's Cuban.
She's an incredible artist.
Do you need to know anything else? ;-)
So back in September when I gave away the REDBetty Crocker Cookbook, Maria happened to be the winner, and it occurred to me that MBFCF readers would flip over her work......and you will.....so I asked..... (Shameless. I know. Shut up.)
Maria has a fabulous ETSY shop in which she sells her paintings and then she also has miniatures of her paintings made into pendants.
Amy Kikita, Lucy, and I went nuts when we received these.
Maria sent a pendant to each one of us! I would get a photo of the ones the girls received, but I can't because they're both wearing theirs as we speak. In fact, they have been wearing them daily since we got this incredible care package, but that's not important right now.
Here's mine:
Lucy's is the Sunflower and Amy's is the Miami Beach one, but that's not important right now, either. It's on an adjustable cord with a clasp so you can wear it as a choker or as a pendant (my personal preference).
Maria has graciously offered to give away one of these gorgeous and beautifully-made pendants to a lucky MBFCF reader. Here's how to enter:
Go to her ETSY shop, Art by MSR then come back here and leave a comment on this post, telling me which one of her paintings is your favorite. (You will have multiple loves, so it's okay to share that.)
If you'd like to be entered more than once into the giveaway, (Yes! More than one entry!) and you're on Facebook, please go request Maria as a friend. Here's the link: Maria Soto Robbins.
Then come back here and tell me you sent her a friend request. (That way, you can see what she's up to and won't miss any of her cool offerings, plus you get two chances to win the pendant.)
I'll be choosing a winner on Monday, November 8th, 2010 at 11 AM Pacific Time.
I'm wearing my pendant today. In fact, I already named it My Lucky Hibiscus. Did I mention it was RED?? ;-)
I celebrated my 4th blogging anniversary (blogaversary?) at the beginning of this month. I appreciate that so many of you sent congratulatory emails and posted here and wrote happy things on my Facebook wall.
It was very cool to receive all the good wishes and all that, but my friend, Cigar Mike took the congratulating up a notch.
He sent me this.....
It's absolutely breathtaking, even though it's tricky taking a photo of a Fine Art Photo and I'm sure my pic doesn't do it the justice it deserves, but trust me, it's phenomenal.
Isn't it gorgeous? There are three things I love about this print:
It's peppers, people!
The peppers are in Fiesta colors (yay!) that perfectly match my kitchen. (Actually, it matches my entire house, but that's not important right now.)
He says this print reminds him of me because I'm spicy and sassy. I like that. ;-)
Me:"Mike, I love it! And I love you! Gracias!!!" (<--you can tell how much I genuinely loved it by the amount of exclamation points I used!!!! =D)
Me (again):"I need to ask a huge favor....can I offer this print as a giveaway on MBFCF?" *crosses fingers*
The Very Generous and Talented Cigar Mike:"Absolutely."
Do you hear that, kids? Mike is graciously offering to give away this 11 x 14 gorgeousness. This brightly-Fiesta-colory-wow-look-at-those-peppers print will go to one lucky MBFCF Giveaway winner.
Before telling you how to enter the giveaway for this print (did I mention it's a Fine Art print?), can I ask you to please visit his website at Mike Pancier Photography and be prepared to be amazed. (Go to his galleries section and check out his breathtaking cityscapes. The man is seriously genius.)
Now, in order to enter the drawing for those fabulously lusty peppers, please just leave a comment on this post and answer one or all of the following questions:
How do you use bell peppers in your kitchen?
What sorts of things do you make with peppers?
Do you use red, green, or yellow (or all)?
Bring it. Share recipes or links if you like. (I live for stuff like this.)
Me? Hello! I'm Cuban. Peppers go into everything that is good and holy about Cuban cooking. It's the basis of all the sofritos of the Cuban Cooking Universe.
So, tell me about your relationship with peppers. I will choose a winner on Thursday, October 28th at 6 pm PST.
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*
Thank you all for your concern. I'm definitely home now and back to my real life which includes laundry and laundry and more laundry and I have some videos I have to edit - in between loads of laundry.
I'll tell you all about Blogalicious Weekend and what I did and the cool places I got to stay in and my visit to the Palacio de Los Jugos....next week.
In my mind I am still in Parranda mode, so while I'll be doing my best to scale Mt. Washmore* I'll definitely be moving my Cuban butt self to the delicious sounds of Celia Cruz.
I'm having one of those accidentally cool things happening that happens to me occasionally because I live in a fun bloggy world.
I am traveling to Miami for Blogalicious Weekend 2010. Celebrating Diversity in Social Media. (The words celebrating and social seem like they describe me perfectly. Am I right?)
My trip is being sponsored in full by the lovely folks at General Mills and Que Rica Vida. (This is the 2nd time they send me to Miami and I'm really loving them for it.Thanks GM & QRV!)
I have some fun stuff that I get to do and there will be conferency things and events and dinners and even a parranda. (<--Puerto Rican speak for party!)
But for now, just know that I'll be spending the weekend hanging with some of my favorite blog friends and hopefully making some new connections. And of course, there will be the mandatory pilgrimage with my Cuban peeps to The Palacio de Los Jugos in Little Havana.
I'm looking forward to the Parranda Party (also sponsored by Que Rica Vida <-- Do you see why I love these people?).
I get to wear my new parranda shoes (with a comfort sole in preparation for dancing all night).
I have great intentions of blogging from Miami. (I know about the road to hell being paved with those, but that's not important right now.)
Here's the recap of why I'm feeling sooo accidentally cool:
I get to go to one of my favorite cities.
I get to hang with some of my favorite people.
I get to eat Cuban food.
I get to wear my new parranda shoes. (<--I think everyone should start calling their party shoes parranda shoes from now on.)
I get to share it with you via my new iPad. (I know Shut up.)
Now, if I God would just answer my prayer and I could run into Andy Garcia somewhere on Calle Ocho, my life would be complete. *sigh*
(A big thank you to General Mills & Que Rica Vida for making me feel sooo accidentally cool.) =D
It seems that lately I've been getting invited to all kinds of "events"- apparently bloggers are the new press. Who knew?
I
was 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.
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
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
I'm excited to announce that My Big, Fat, Cuban Family is one of the nominees for Best Personal and Family Blog (I know. Shut up!) by Just Spotted 2010 Orange County Blog Awards. Thanks, guys!
Please go to their site (here's the link) and vote for My Big, Fat, Cuban Family. Please vote before Sunday, September 12th at 11:59 pm, because after that, the “polls” will be closed.
It's very cool to be nominated in my home town. Considering I'm only one of about 40 Cubans here in The O.C. (most of those happen to be a part of my immediate family, but that's not important right now).
Excuse me while I go get the sandpaper..... (Pa' darme lija!)
I'll be writing multiple posts (and sharing multiple recipes!) about the kitchens, the company culture and the fun we had, because there's just so much to share. (Plus, I'm waiting for a few Betty Crocker goodies to arrive so I can do a giveaway. Thanks, General Mills!)
[NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure: General Mills covered all the costs of my trip to Minnesota. Thanks again, General Mills!]
Today, I thought I'd whet your appetite (=D) by telling you about The Brownie Goody Bars. (Did you just hear the angels sing? Yes. Yes, you did.)
Of all the fabulousness that we mixed and stirred and cooked and baked, these beauties were my absolute favorites.
Here I am sticking my hand in the chocolate. I kept getting busted for tasting stuff out of turn, but that's not important right now. ;-)
Here's the recipe. Just trust me on the deliciousness of these Chocolaty Gifts from God Himself.
Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark non-stick pan). Grease bottom of a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray or shortening (for easier cutting, line pan with foil, then grease foin on bottom only of pan.)
Make and bake brownies as directed on box. Cool completely.
Frost brownies with frosting. Sprinkle with peanuts; Refrigerate while making cereal mixture.
Measure cereal into medium bowl; set aside. In 1-quart saucepan, melt peanut butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. Pour over cereal in bowl, stirring until evenly coated. Spread over frosted brownies. Refrigerate 1 hour or until set before cutting. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered at room temperature or in refrigerator.
Busted again!
(Video by blog-buddy and phenomenal photographer, Nika of Nika's Culinaria. Thanks, Nika, my friend.)
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