We've converted the garage space in our home so it serves as our office/classroom/studio. We spend most of our waking hours here doing all the stuff we do. And it's a perfectly habitable space, carpeted and painted a pleasantly neutral off-white, but I decided it would be much more fun to paint the walls all different and really bright ...
My Big, Fat, Cuban Family
Family is everything to me. I love them more than words can describe.
Salvador y Coca-Cola
This was how we celebrated birthdays back in Cuba. These are my sisters and me at different ages. (If you're really curious, just count the candles on the cakes) There was always a big, beautiful, almost-too-perfect cake from a fabulous bakery.We always got a fancy new dress (think linen, satin, ruffles). By the time I turned four (in the last ...
Making a Memory
My kids were all born here in Southern California. My husband is also a native Californian. So the only kind of churros they've ever known have come from a cart at Disneyland. But those are Mexican-style. They are hard and crunchy with lots of brown sugar. They are tasty enough, but I am used to light and fluffy Cuban-style churros. Oh, ...
It’s not enough . . .
I can't do enough.No, seriously.It is nothing that he demands.It is self-imposed.I can't do enough to show this man how much I love him. How much I appreciate everything he does for me and for our children.He has been the greatest gift in my life. He has made all the difference.Today is his happy birthday. And I can't do enough to show him ...
All you need is LOVE
Back in September, Eric had to go to Las Vegas on a business trip for 4 days. Yes, I know. That was my first thought, too.Vegas and business in the same sentence is totally oxymoronic. ;-) But they were putting him up at the Wynn, and I never say no to a chance to go to Vegas. Which is how I wound up having to "amuse" myself ...
The Man Cub
It is no longer safe for Mowgli, the Man-Cub to stay in the jungle. Bagheera, the panther has to take him back to the man-village. . . To Ben (my grand-nephew- almost 2), this scene from the movie, The Jungle Book is completely riveting. Every time. Every day. At least 6 times a day.How does this not get old?? We have a routine, actually.He ...
Take Your Place
I can be pretty rigid. I admit it.I would however, argue that I am just old enough to know what I want. Or maybe I'm just rigid. ;-) Last night Adam cooked dinner.He barbecued a beautiful tri-tip and made scalloped and garlic mashed potatoes. So we could choose. I guess it's kind of unusual for a 20 year old to be doing this for his family. ...
Where is the love?
How I got my grown kids to come home for dinner. . . I sent them this picture on their cell phones with the following message:"The food's brown, hot, and there's plenty of it."(from City Slickers) I'm cooking "Crockpot Ropa Vieja" today at Babalú. You're loving me now, aren't you? =D ...
L’chaim (“to life!”)
On a recent trip to Florida, I made Eric go with me to the bowels of southwest Miami to hunt down the places of my childhood. This is me in front of Silver Bluff Elementary where I went to school as a newly arrived Cuban refugee. It was here that I learned to read back in the See-Spot-Run days. And it was here in this public school ...
The One With My Face
Straight talk for mothers here: Let's talk about mothering and the potential for homicide. If you have grown kids, I really don't need to explain myself. Of my four kids, Adam is the one who makes me the craziest. Smart. Moody. Enthusiastic. Clever.He has boundless energy. That is, until he can no longer hold up his body weight from self-inflicted ...
