Gong Xi Fa Cai & "Cold! Ice!"

Happy Belated Chinese New Year to everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai means "wishing you prosperity and wealth," which is a common Chinese New Year wish. It is now the year of the Golden Pig. Most people know that each Chinese lunar year is associated with an animal, but many do not know that there are also five elements/colors that cycle through as well. Twelve animals and five elements/colors make for 60 combinations. That means we won't have another Golden Pig year for 60 years! Julie was born in the year of the Green Monkey (aka Wood Monkey). I wonder what our next daughter's birth year was/is/will be?!?

We celebrated Chinese New Year this past Sunday by attending a concert at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago. The Chinese Fine Arts Society presented "Journey through the Silk Road from the Eyes of the Great Wall." Our favorite part of the performance was Kathy Hu playing the Guzheng, a wonderful string instrument. Julie couldn't sit for any of the concert, so she and Larry wandered around in the hallway outside, popping in and out to hear the music. We left at the break to head to our next stop: Ben Pao restaurant. It was beautiful and much fancier than our usual places. We had a gift card to use so we decided to enjoy ourselves! We had a satay sampler, lemon chicken, sesame chicken, green tea, and brown rice. It was quite yummy!

You've probably been wondering what "Cold! Ice!" has to do with anything. Well, as we were waiting for our food, Julie got quite antsy and hungry. The only thing we had available for her to eat was the ice from my water. I gave her a piece and she readily chewed it up. I said to her "Is it cold? It's ice!" From then on, she kept repeating "Cold! Ice!" and gesturing for more to chew. It was pretty funny to watch, since each utterance was accompanied by shivering and teeth clenching, as well as the signs for "cold" and "ice."

Now the part you've been waiting for: pictures! Enjoy!

The remnants of the ice storm from the day before.

At the restaurant.




We took these when we got home, in an attempt to get some more "formal" shots. Maybe we should not have waited until right before bedtime! Either way, isn't Julie just so pretty?