Welcome to the 2nd installment of Over-Sharing About My Parties Week. As you already know, I have a beautiful grandson who was born in August. His name is Asher David-Edmund and he is a gorgeous creature that we are all head over heels in love with. Behold the besotted grandparents: Before he arrived, we had a really fun Hipster Baby ...
creative stuff
Celebrating Gratitude
In my family of origin we have the custom of always sending out invitations to events that people already know about and are coming to anyway. Welcome to our own special brand of crazy. Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday of November. My sisters and I are pretty much in constant discussion for weeks ahead of the party. Who will bring what? ...
The Best Graduation Party of The Year
My son, Jonathan, graduated from high school a few weeks ago. As I've done with each one of my four kids, I asked what type of celebration he'd enjoy. The four of them have asked for completely different types of parties and I have tried my best to comply. in 2001, Amy wanted an All-Cuban theme, with all the family and her friends, ...
Finding Joy
There has been so much preparation leading up to this week. Of course, I'm sure it's been like that in every home that celebrates Christmas. And also, did it seem like December just vanished in a puff of smoke, or is that just me? We're not the people who put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. We take our time and ...
A Cuban Poster & Your Own Custom Subway Art!
I have often described myself as a Lover of Words. Just as often, I self-describe as a Lover of Cuban Food. Also, I'm a Serial List Maker. Just recently, all those worlds collided in my creative brain and the resulting explosion was this Cuban poster... Words + Cuban Food = Comida Cubana to create a subway style Cuban poster! I know. The ...
The Cuban Hipster Thanksgiving
When I host family or friends for a big, elaborate dinner, my delight is in designing the tablescapes. My job, as I see it, is to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere, but not get too hung up on making things so department-store-perfect that it feels too cold and impersonal. It's fun for me to set a pretty table. It's much more fun to ...
Give Thanks. I mean it.
I'm preparing to host Thanksgiving again this year. Of course, everyone's invited. I love traditions. But what I love more is making them my own. I had a vision. I wanted to hang a giant banner that read, "Give Thanks" that would be the first thing you saw when you walked into our freakishly small cottage-like home. I tried to ...
Everyone’s Invited
Everyone knows that Thanksgiving lands on the 4th Thursday of November. So, it's not like it's a big surprise that Thanksgiving this year will be celebrated on the....4th Thursday of November. This happens every single year. 4th Thursday = Thanksgiving. We have already discussed and decided that the Thanksgiving celebration will take ...
Styling a Quick and Easy DIY Thanksgiving
I love a beautifully set table. I do. It doesn't have to be fancy or elegant, although it could be. My preference is for fun and welcoming. Here are some examples of Thanksgiving tables that I've done in the past here, here, and here. Today I want to share how I went about styling my Thanksgiving tables last year. So, buckle in and welcome to my ...
The Things I Say
My dear friend, Jana has embarked upon an ambitious project. She is quite the accomplished hand lettering artist. Each day she chooses a thought, or a recipe, or a quote and works it into a beautiful piece of art and she's determined to do this for 333 days. I love visiting her portfolio site, janaleemiller.com. It always makes me ...
Summer Manifesto
The definition of the word manifesto from Dictionary.com: man·i·fes·to [man-uh-fes-toh] noun, plural man·i·fes·toes. a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization. I know from experience that unless I am very intentional about doing something, it just ...
“If you build it…”
I'm a sucker for lifestyle magazines. You know the ones where everyone is super well-dressed and chatting and dining in gorgeous surroundings? Sucker. Me. I'm the one who tears pages out of said magazines and puts them into an idea file. That's right, Pinterest, I was way ahead of your time. I'm not casting aspersions on ...
How to Make Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz
I've been up to my eyeballs in costumes, props, and set painting for my son, Jonathan's high school production of The Wizard of Oz. Unlike some of the other shows he's been in, this one has a lot of moving parts to it. (Which, I'd like to just say right here that the original creators of the old-school 1939 Wizard of Oz were genius. *bows ...
Jesus and My Hair
I've been letting my hair go back to its natural curl. That sounds like a really simple thing, right? It's not. I've been going to a specialty hair salon in Laguna Beach. The hair gal, Vickie (who happens to be Puerto Rican, which makes us practically related) runs a cute little shop called Curls on Top. She specializes in curly ...
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is obviously a very uniquely American holiday. Which is the perfect time for us to celebrate because we're a uniquely American family. Cuban-American, that is. I have the privilege of hosting my big, fat, Cuban family here in my home this year. It's going to be a smaller group than usual. Only about 20 of us, because not ...
