Lei Ann...Off Duty

*happy chinese new year 2013 ~ year of the snake!

unfortunately, winter storm nemo put a damper on a few chinese new year performances that we had scheduled this weekend.  oh well :(  still doing some small things though to ring in the new year, like:

1. surrounding myself with the lucky color, red

2. having lucky foods like oranges & candy (for a sweet year)

3. didn’t wash my hair (so all my luck doesn’t drain away)

4. worked out grudges i had with some people, so that negative energy doesn’t follow me into the new year

5. finally, wearing new clothes (thanks to prabal gurung & target…tee hee hee)

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY ~ YEAR OF THE BLACK WATER SNAKE!!!

*lei ann…ON DUTY ~ chinese new year 2012*

wanna know my typical outfit during chinese new year?  this is IT!  hahaha!  in all seriousness, this is the busiest time of year for my kung fu school as we’re hired to do various lion dance and kung fu performances to bring good luck & prosperity to whatever businesses, restaurants & establishments plus honored guests we dance for.  on monday, we got the (last minute) call by one of my favorite (& definitely one of the biggest) clients we have, chef ming tsai, to dance again at his restaurant, blue ginger!  this is *only* the beginning of what i’ll be doing the next 3 weeks O.O  buddha…help!  hahaha!

photo credit: blue ginger’s facebook page

*gung hay fat choy ~ happy year of the dragon!*

wearing: rodarte for target cardigan || thrifted belt || custom made dragon brocade skirt || glamourai neckplate || JC thigh high wedge boots

i was having a rough start to the calendar new year…so much so, that a client told me “well, the lunar new year is coming up. maybe that will be *your* new year” & you know what?  i felt much better after that!  sooooo…i will take her advice & look very much forward to the start of this upcoming year of the dragon january 23, 2012!!!

even though i didn’t wear red today, the traditional chinese lucky color, i still mustered up all the good luck & energy i could with wearing dragons on a skirt i had made in bangkok… plus, they’re gold dragons, so hopefully auspicious enough :)  also started the new year off right with some delicious dim sum at one of my favorite spots in c-town, china pearl, with blogger pals, cassie, amanda & nicolle! we ate a lot, sipped tea & then took fun, light-hearted pictures under the chinatown gate.  

all in all, it was a very relaxed & easy going day which will not be the case next sunday.  i will be returning to participate in the all day chinese new year celebration that basically shuts down chinatown.  so, if you’re so inclined, come on down to chinatown if you can brave the loud drumming, explosions of firecrackers in your ears & general craziness.  i will be under one of the lions dancing around to bring in the new year…my 16th year in a row; never missed one yet! gung hay fat choy!!!