新年快樂

Welcome to the year of the rabbit!

Did you know today is Chinese New Years?  It is. We keep track of these things around our house. We like all things Chinese. Food, art, babies...

But we won't be getting a Chinese baby after all.  We are pulling our papers out of the defunct system.  We do not like Chinese politics.

And we have all the babies we could ever want or need.  We are full up with babies round here.

I'm hoping our local Chinese restaurant will be open for take-out tonight. I want to have a little family celebration.  I'm craving some fried wontons and spicy noodles.

I made The Sugar Daddy a little New Year's gift.

Can you see what that fortune says?  Here, let me zoom in.

That's what I'm talkin' bout.

He's half way there.  And in case you are wondering, he's not famous.

Yet.

Chocolate covered fortune cookies? I say yes to that.  Let the good times eggroll.

We have a family chop.  We had it made in China Town in San Francisco. If you are ever in the area, have one made.  It is worth the money just to watch them carve the block.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

You are a rabbit if you were born in 1951,1963, 1975, 1987 or 1999.

Cuddly, warm and affectionate are the attributes of the Rabbit. Mysterious and a great party-giver and host, the Rabbit enjoys being the centre of attention once in a while. The Rabbit is occasionally over cautious and can be a bit boring. He is also one of the luckiest signs in the Chinese Astrology chart.

In case you are curious, and I know you are, I am a Tiger. Naturally.

The Export Business

Ni Hao! Last Saturday was the FCC (Families with Chinese Children) big New Year's party. As usual, it was a huge production with food, music, crazy decorations and a million darling Chinese girls running around in their dance costumes. This is our second year with the FCC and we love it.

There seems to be some confusion in our house about where babies come from. Thomas is under the impression that all babies come from China and are then exported out, not unlike many, many other Chinese products. How do I explain that Mei Mei isn't like electronic gadgets and cocktail umbrellas?

Omen?

I started out the new year with a bang. My "New Year" necklace was featured on the front page of Etsy and so my sales took a nice jump. I spent two hours at the gym, boxing and spinning. I visited one of my favorite bead stores in San Diego and took The Boy to get some pho' for lunch. He had a strawberry smoothie, I had a "three beaner"* I was crafty enough to get out of making dinner at home by offering to take a sick friend's children out to dinner. I am such a giving, service oriented person when I can somehow work it to my advantage. Note to self: work on true selflessness, starting next year. I had movie night with Sugar Daddy and watched a documentary on the very twisted artist/novelist Henry Darger. It was a good day. I hope it is an omen for the year to come.

Illustration from Realms of the Unreal by Henry Darger

*See cucina chronicles

Rats & Traditions

Welcome to the year of the rat! Today is officially Chinese New Year. I was so happy to see that Nick Jr. has a new show starting today called Ni Hao Kai-lan celebrating Chinese culture. I hope The Boy likes it. It could be a great way to expose him to all things Chinese. I am going to San Diego to one of our favorite Chinese bakeries to pick up some yummy treats for dinner.

2008

secondsister.etsy.com


Last year I made a necklace in celebration of Chinese New Year, so I decided to start a new tradition and I made another one this year. This is the year of the rat, however, I decided to stick with using a dragon because, after all, it is hard to find a nice looking rat. Not that there is anything wrong with rats. Sugar Daddy is a rat (in the zodiac sense only).

2007