We Italians are pepper fanatics, too! Sausage and peppers (green and red in my house) is a favorite, and of course stuffed bell peppers. I love this photo- Mike is a very talented photographer and still modest inspite of it. You should see his fireworks shots! (on his site, too) Claudia

I feel your pain, in a backwards sort of way. I had poker straight hair until I was 32. Then it got curly. Specifically, Jon Bon Jovi circa 1987 curly. Once I got it layered the day before I turned 40 it was a lot easier to tame. Otherwise, I get mobbed outside by the groupies. :-)

Boo, why couldn't your trip have coincided with mine? I hope you're having a blast! xoxo

First I love that pumpkin cake! Can you come here and do a giant mermaid cake for 100 for my daughter's quinceañera? The games. As a teen, my family and I used to play Balderdash- still my favorite game. My parents are vocabulary buffs so it was always so much fun! Now I play Apples to Apples with my kids. It's a hoot! I was a bit of a Yahtzee nerd, too. I've played a similar game online. What can I say- I majored in language!

What a nice thing to giveaway! My little Sicilian grandmother taught me to cook and bake(though I avoid the latter especially since my 15 year old loves to bake from scratch and I can't afford to even sniff what I bake) and my mom is my go to chef for pretty much every basic cooking question I've ever had. There's not much I can't make (or won't). Ps Chipper chicken was also the term used in Farher of the Bride by Martin Short. LOL!!

This is impressive work! I spent every summer of my childhood at the beach and we never made one of those gargantuan castles- I was always so jealous of the kids who could do that! But when I think about my beach memories, they all revolve around my dad- he was the one who body-surfed with me, built (small!) castles with me, took me in to the water to where we'd get whistled back in.... thanks for making me smile. Claudia

Happy belated to your little Lucy!

You're my favorite mom blog! ♥♥♥

Omg how beautiful is it to love and be in love like this!! Your devotion to each other and dare I say, mutual adoration, is inspirational. Thanks for the sniffles! May you have many, many more years of wedded bliss!

Congratulations Aida, I hope the print will look great in your kitchen! Marta, what a fun time we had over here laughing over the posts- so many variations of coffee! And sorry I made you cry but now we're even! :) Thanks for organizing this and to your readers for your kind comments and for sharing some of your cafe-related "cubanía" with me. Thanks also to those of you who have placed orders over the weekend for the print and notecards. un abrazo a todos, Claudia

P.S. There is a separate code for the 20% discount for greeting and note cards. Use E942AF61 for those and E8FD4B6E for the prints.

Marta Wan Kenarby you are great for my ego. (But you always have been!) I am so happy you like the print and honored that you would want to display it in your home, my dear friend. Thank you for the over the top comments and I hope the winner enjoys the print as much as you do. That cafetera I took the picture of used to belong to my parents. After Alberto (de la Cruz) bought me my first Cuban coffee (evah!) at the little Versailles window some years ago, I started drinking coffee for the first time in my life- but ONLY espresso. My parents gave me the cafetera, which they had for about 30 years. Now you can think of me every time you pass by the photo on your wall, in case our text messages aren't enough. :) Thank you to everyone who said they like this print. Shucks, and to think I took it just to show off my birthday present tacitas last year!