Greetings E-Trenders and Happy Chinese New Year! Recently I had an opportunity to attend a live taping of the Martha Stewart Show! As everyone knows, I have been a fan of Martha Stewart even before she was very famous.
I own many first edition books that she has written over the years and have been a subscriber to her magazine since the 80's! Martha was a huge influence in my career path and passion for food, crafts and hospitality!
I respect her attention to detail and creative thinking! Martha is the queen of branding herself and her business. Although I am not a star-struck person, the chance to see Martha in action was pretty exciting. While on a recent business trip to New York I took the opportunity to extend my trip for one day when I landed this last minute ticket to the Martha Stewart Show.
The studio set was simply perfection. There was an area for crafting, cooking and gardening filled with tools of the trade.
I was really impressed by the on-site industrial kitchen with a team of about seven people working behind the scenes. The theme of the show I attended was "Chinese New Year" and I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in a contest! Yes, Martha actually asked me a question! Check out my moment with Martha here! Needless to say I was over the moon!
Martha shared a cool decoupage project. She used chinese lanterns that you can purchase at Pier One or a local craft store, cut out shapes (dragons) and glued the shapes on the lantern with decoupage. What a brilliant idea!
You could actually use this idea for other party themes as well. I may try large flowers for a garden party (stay tuned)! Check out this link for the official Martha "how to"!
Martha continued to work on her projects even during the commercials. The show was taped live which surprised me since Martha is such a perfectionist! She was serious and focused during all segments and enjoyed interacting with the audience and her guests on set. It was great to see her in action as she is a true professional who does not miss a beat!
I wanted to share a bit of Chinese New Year info with you...Martha did a great job explaining many of the traditions and I found it very interesting...
People in China believe that as they enter a new year, they should drop the last year into the silence limbo of the past. Chinese New Year celebration includes cleaning the houses from top to bottom, purchasing new clothes, paying off bills – a fresh new life and start!
There is not a set date for the Chinese New Year as it is celebrated in accordance with the lunar calendar which is based on the time the moon takes to go around the Earth. The beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February.
The Chinese New Year Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. Tradition says that Lord Buddha had called for all the animals to come to him before he departed from the earth and only twelve animals came to offer him a fond farewell. As a token Lord Buddha named a year after each of the twelve animals in the order they arrived. According to the popular Chinese myth the animal ruling the year in which a person is born tremendously influences his or her behavior and traits.
Traditionally, celebrations for the Chinese New Year last up to fifteen days, wishing great fortune and giving red envelopes filled with lucky money!
Street celebrations include the performance of lion dance and dragon dance with exploding sound of fire crackers. The loud noise made by the fire crackers which signifies the release of sadness or bad events and the beginning of a prosperous new year!
Happy Chinese New Year 2012
The Year of Black Water Dragon
E-Trenders - stay tuned for a unique chinese cooking technique shared by our ET friend Gordy Filips who spends several months a year in Shangri-La and taught us how to host an authentic HOT POT party!
Here is a sneak peek...
PS: We also have some inventive Valentine's Day ideas we are posting next week!
You are going to "LOVE" it!
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