Gong Hei Fat Choy!

 

I have come to a point in my life where I've gathered enough courage and strength to say these 3 difficult words:

I.

GIVE.

UP.

 

I give up on the idea of marriage, and I give up on the thought of bearing my own children.

And so this Year of the Dragon, I am adopting a Chinese baby.

 

 

 

Her name is Snow Flower.

My cousin Frances got her from Spain.

I love her to pieces.

 

Got this in the mail today:

Hi Jin

I love your blog and recently have been reading it everyday

I am curious about 'how to do chinese new year' properly :-) food, practices, charms, etc

Hope you can feature this in your blog

Regards,

Leah

 

Dear Leah,

Aside from wearing red and having a BIG BIG family feast, my mom prepares the following things to display at home:

 

Pineapples big and small, giant tangerine, taro and ginger
In Fookien, pineapple is "ong lai" which sounds like "prosperity comes."
Oranges and tangerines mean good health and long life.
Tangerines with leaves intact mean long lasting and fruitful relationships.
The taro and ginger with many many roots symbolize many many offsprings.

 

 

Pineapple door charm for more luck to come into the house

 

 

And of course...

EAT TIKOY!

GONG HEI FAT CHOY!!!

Love, Snow Flower and Me