¡Ajuuuuuuuuuuua, bebé!

My sister Frances and her fiancé Estevan are having a baby girl. My niece Adeline Rose aka “Adi” aka “Florecita” aka “rositafresita” aka “muñequita consentida”... will be arriving early December.

Since it’s their first baby and the very first granddaughter for both sets of grandparents— everyone’s super excited and wanted to celebrate the mommy-to-be with a special celebration.

Frances chose to have a Mexican-themed drive-by shower where all guests would be greeted in their cars with Mexican food, music and the union of two cheery families from the Mexican states of Jalisco (The Marquez family) and Zacatecas (The Flores Family).

My dad Juan Marquez with his food set-up. The tamales were delicious!

My parents took care of the food, which included tamales and champurrado. My dad even made miniature pan dulce puerquitos (piggies).

We had mariachi and Frances booked our amazing friend Jose Celendon (Check out his Charitable Balloons foundation here) to create an artistic balloon installation to add color and festive vibes to this warm Saturday social distancing festivity.

A fun, festive morning it sure was! The mariachi began playing, the cars started pulling up, the soon-to-be-grandparents started dancing, I started drinking champagne and everyone was just happy and excited to see each other— even if it was just through car windows with our masks on!

We are living in some crazy, weird times, friends...but this drive-by was a major shower of love for my sister Frenchee and broski Estevan and our Baby Florecita, who by the way, is expected to arrive near my birthday (first week of December)... yay!

Here with my mamita linda, Lupe Marquez

Thanks for reading friends!

Xo,

-Anabel M.

As I get older, I find myself navigating through life wondering things like— “What would Mamá Lala think about this? and How would Mamá Gela have responded to that?

The impact these two women had in my life is very strong. I think about them often and I sometimes wonder if they’re souls have stuck around to help guide the family through different experiences. In any case, and in light of all the crazy, weird, unbalanced times we’re living through, I thought it would be best to honor my family’s matriarchs with a Dia De Los Muertos Altar.

I used natural flowers as well as artificial marigold flowers known in Spanish as Cempasúchil to decorate. I also stuck with classic black and white colors. In order to give this altar the look I was intending, I painted my own paper maché sugar skulls.

I also used the incredible black clay pieces that arrived in my MyCajita box subcription. Plus, I grabbed a lot of my rustic black frames and decor items to decorate. My ofrenda (offering) consisted of bread and fruit. Both of my grandmothers loved fruit. They taught me to enjoy such things as mísperos, holocuates, higos (figs), membrillos (quince), guayábas, chabacános (apricots) and they each had fruit trees in their homes.

I incorporated monarch butterflies since they are believed to hold the spirits of the departed. The belief comes from the fact that the monarchs begin arriving in Mexico for the winter each fall on Nov. 1, which coincides with Dia de los Muertos.

I lit my altar’s candles and shed tears thinking of these two loyal, loving and brave women that gave birth to my parents. Love never dies.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Xo,

-Anabel M.

My Baby Turned 3

Happy Birthday & God Bless Toby!

I keep reliving the moment Toby realized the mariachi band had entered the room playing “Recuérdame” from Disney Pixar’s COCO. My little boy was so moved by the familiar tune, that he looked over to us and asked to be held by Paul. Benny was on the verge of tears too.

This is my fondest memory of Toby’s birthday and baptism celebration held in early March.

We had heard Recuérdame hundreds of times but never heard the melody “live”.

Toby’s party preparations

were done on a last-minute basis because the church had many requirements of both the parents and godparents (Uncle Mikey & Tia Rosita David) and not until we provided all required documents were they able to confirm that the baptism would officially take place.

Toby loves COCO.

He has watched the movie dozens, upon dozens of times. He knows the lines, the characters, the songs and early in the year before we knew we’d combine his baptism with his birthday party, we asked him what type of party he wanted and he said: a COCO Party.

It rained pretty terribly on the day of his party.

It was pouring when guests started arriving at the small venue where the celebration was relocated to (it was initially supposed to be a big backyard event at our home). Fortunately, I had a lot of help from friends and family to make sure it all ran smoothly.

The warmth from our friends and relatives in attendance was magical.

Everyone was invited by email or text message. No time to have phone conversations about the party or send out paper invitations because time was of the essence (sorry to our friends and cousins who got a last-minute reminder text).

We enjoyed a delicious Mexican food buffet

prepared by my parents who previously owned a catering business. We enjoyed plenty of beer and tequila drinks, including pre-made chile & cucumber margaritas by Dragos Cantina (a company owned by L.A. #bossbabe and friend, Mina Trujillo). My lovely friend Marilyn served as a bartender and drink host (thanks beautiful):

My closest friends were all there—

from my bestie Sheryl to my girls from junior high, high school and college (a special shout-out to my fabulous 805 friends).

Preparing for a last-minute party

Friends, when it comes to event styling and preparing, we are very, very lucky to have Downtown L.A. and the Piñata District in our backyard!

I bought all the Coco-themed favors and decorations the week before. I ordered a huge Dante Alebrije piñata from my friend Crystal from Compton and she definitely delivered!! My sisters helped with flower arrangements and decorations.

For the kids’ favor bags,

I opted for Coco guitars made by the incredible owner of Busy Bee Designs who was able to offer expedited shipping. I filled them with Coco Wallets and other goodies and candy. Then my sisters decorated them throughout the dessert table where I also offered candy apples, Miguel-themed marshmallows and caramel popcorn.

My aunts danced.

They stomped and swung and moved to Zapateado and rancheras and cumbias and pretty much any music genre the mariachi played. Best of all, the young kids were also dancing and smiling and having a heck of a time!

Family is everything.

I hope Toby remembers this festive celebration for years to come. If you’re planning a Coco-Themed Party, feel free to send an email if you’d like information on the vendors and places where I shopped for stuff: mommyinlosangeles@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Xo,

-Anabel M.