At-Home Lunar New Year Celebration

Happy Lunar New Year! It's the Year of the Dragon. Those born during the year of the dragon are said to be popular, happy, clever, compassionate, but also over-thinkers. They attract abundance or wealth, and the year is said to bring wealth and good fortune to all. Let's hope that's true, because we can all use a good year. 

We have done a mix of home celebrations and outside activities this year, since more places are doing things. I have loved doing our at-home feast though, so we continued with it this year. 

I used this year as an excuse to buy a new sparkly gold table cover and a fancy dragon table runner, which can be used every year.  It has a lot more color than the usual red and gold, so it goes with everything and gives a bit more interest and depth. I also found these gorgeous plates on sale through Crate & Barrel. They have the sign for "fu" in the middle, which can mean prosperity, fortune, good luck, blessing, or happiness in Chinese.

World Market always has a small, but beautiful Lunar New Year line of products. A few years ago I purchased the tea cups for Year of the Ox, so this year I bought the matching ones with dragons. They had a new line of jade green items, and I picked up the dragon chopstick rests (they also had tea bag holders and jars for your loose-leaf tea). You may recognize the juice glasses I bought another year. While I was there picking up my order, I also grabbed this year's Harney & Sons tea, which is delicious and a set of 3 decorated sugar cookies for dessert. (If you missed out on the chopstick rests, check out this metal set or this wooden set)

Unlike with other destination dates, I didn't order out for this dinner. I actually picked everything up from Trader Joe's (and one thing from Uwajimaya, a local Asian market). They have a wonderful selection of Asian foods of all kinds. I try to do something different each year, but still stick to the traditional foods. 

Our spread included Shrimp Boom Bah, spicy breaded shrimp with a sweet and spicy dip, chicken egg rolls, garlic noodles, and ube bao (not from TJs), then we had milk tea boba. You can buy the boba kit at TJs. You just open the packet and microwave, then add to your fave beverage for boba. They come with straws, if you don't already have them. There are 4 packets, enough for 4 beverages, but I split one between the two of us, because there are quite a lot in each. 

A staple for a traditional new year table is a whole fish. Well, I am probably never doing that, so instead I snagged this awesome gold fish platter. It was the perfect addition and size for the shrimps and dip. I also found the hammered gold bowl and platter from Home Goods. (You can get something similar on Amazon: platter/tray, serving bowl, soup bowls)

Round foods are abundant on a Lunar New Year table, including mandarins and dumplings, because they resemble coin purses, so I added a plate of mandarins to our spread, and another with some takoyaki puffs. If you find those, they're delicious. I also just tossed some gold coins that I always have on-hand around the table, for a little extra flair and wealth manifestation.

To cap things off, I put up a Lunar New Year garland and some light-up lantern firecrackers, plus we had to have headgear, so I found these funky dragon boppers that "breathe" fire. So fun! (I got mine from Oriental Trading, but these are also fun.)

When the meal came to an end and we were eating cookies, we also did some scratch-off fortunes. I love that they are in the shape of a dragon. 

This is an easy at-home celebration to pull together, whether you have 2 of you or 10 of you. It's also affordable, especially if you use things you already have around the house. You can see my last Lunar New Year celebration where I used more of my own things or our 2021 celebration that was a little more involved.

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I hope you have a year full of happiness and good health. Follow me on Instagram for more celebration pics and tips. What's your favorite non-American holiday to celebrate? 

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may be monetarily compensated. It's free to you to do so, and it helps me keep this blog running, to bring you more useful travel tips.

 

Stroll Through An Unusual Paris Neighborhood

"EVERYTHING is jazz:

snails, jails, rails, tails, males, females,

snow-white cotton bales."

- James Emanuel, poet

Paris has so many cool neighborhoods, but an unusual and unofficial neighborhood resides inside the walls of Père Lachaise, the city's biggest and most visited cemetery. We have gone two out of the three times we've visited Paris and are always in awe of the gorgeous tombs. And yes, while you can visit Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, and Jim Morrison, you can also visit some of history's most notable Black authors and artists there.

Père Lachaise is so large, you can pick up a map showing you where everyone is buried. It has streets and I was even able to use Google Maps to find gravestones I was particularly interested in. We stayed for several hours on each of our visits and didn't cover the same steps, nor did we see the entire cemetery. If you want to see particular resting places, it's important to make a bit of a plan, because you probably won't just stumble upon them while walking around. You can also join a tour, including one entitled Black Paris Pilgrimage by Entrée to Black Paris.

Black history is around every corner, so here are some notable names you might want to pay a visit to while you're there:

Richard Wright - An American who moved to Paris and called it home, Wright wrote novels and short stories with racial themes. He began writing at 15 years old and was an influential writer, especially for other young Black men. Critics believe he helped change race relations in the mid-20th century. You won't find him on an elaborate tomb or even a not-quite-as-fancy headstone. Wright was cremated and entombed in the cemetery's columbarium in niche 848.

William Gardner Smith - An American novelist who was thought to have written the first Black militant protest novel was born in Philadelphia and moved to Paris, just like Richard Wright. He, too, was cremated and placed in the columbarium, but his family did not renew the lease on his resting spot, so his ashes were exhumed and scattered in the Jardin du Souvenir, Division 77. 

Victor Séjour - Born Juan Victor Séjour et Ferrand in New Orleans, Victor spent most of his career in Paris, where his fiction and plays were written in French. He is credited as being the first African-American to publish a work of fiction. You'll find him in section 15, where a book is sculpted at the foot of his tomb.

James Emanuel - Known by some as one of the best and most neglected poets of the 20th century, Emanuel was born in Nebraska and wrote and published more than 300 poems, alongside books, an anthology, and an autobiography. He created the new genre of jazz-and-blues haiku, which was often accompanied by music. You can find him in the columbarium in niche 16412.

Patricia LaPlante-Collins - A traveler of the world, Patricia finally settled in Paris, where she hosted African-American Literary Soirées, introducing like-minded people  to each other and notable French figures, like Black poet and filmmaker Sojourner Ahébée. Her ashes were scatterd in the Jardin du Souvenir of the columbarium. 

Patrick Kelly - Born in Mississippi, Kelly was a fashion designer that infused exuberance, humor, and Black folklore into his pieces. He was the first American to be admitted into the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode, the governing body overlooking the French ready-to-wear industry. In his short decade of commercial design, he dressed a myriad of famous people, including Goldie Hawn, Bette Davis, and Cicely Tyson. You can find his tomb in Division 50, where a Black caricature and a red heart button artwork decorate the top, with the sentiment "nothing is impossible".

If you're looking for more Black artists in Paris, outside of Père Lachaise, you can find jazz trumpeter James Arthur Briggs in Montmartre Cemetery, the master painter Henry Ossawa Tanner in Sceaux Cemetery, Sidney Bechet - one of the greatest soprano saxophonists - can be found in Garches Cemetery, painters Beauford Delaney and Hugh Lawrence Potter can both be found at Thiais Cemetery (Potter's ashes were scattered in the Jardin du Souvenir). 

Jardin du Souvenir

I can't speak for the beauty of the other cemeteries, as I never made it to Montmartre and I had not heard of the other 3. I'm also positive that you will find even more notable Black artists and historical figures in each of these if you do a bit of research, but I wanted to give you a good starting point for a place that can double as a romantic day out and also allow you a look into American and Parisian Black history through figures who may have even been influential to you.

Have you ever taken a romantic stroll through a cemetery? Which one? (We actually first visited Père Lachaise on our honeymoon while we were in Paris for a few days.)

Destination Date Night: Parisian Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is already next week. If you haven't planned anything yet, it's okay, there's still time to get the most coveted reservation, the one at home with your sweetie. If that doesn't sound all that exciting to you, what if I told you that you'd be taking them to Paris (or really any city they've been dreaming of)?

In 2022, we took a vacation to Paris, and it was awesome, but not every year can be a Paris year. In fact, I know I'm privileged to have been to Paris once, much more than that. So, if Valentine's Day snuck up on you, I'm going to show you how you can pull together a romantic staycation over this week, if you get on it right now.

This is one of those times I decided to make all my own food, which is unusual, because I like to get a meal delivered, and you might want to, too, but if you don't, following is the list of foods I made. I wanted as much to be heart-shaped as possible and I wanted to do a tea time spread, as that is one of our favorite things to do:

• Mini Hasselback potatoes: loaded version
• Radish tea sandwiches - I cut the bread into hearts and froze and I also added a little radish heart on toothpicks
• Cucumber flowers with dill butter - I did these as open-face and cut both the bread and the cucumbers into flower shapes
• Sweet pea and leek tartlets - instead of using big tart pans, I used heart-shaped baking tins from Michael's
• Salmon petits toasts - I made the filling for this and instead of toasts, I spread it on tortillas, cut them into strips, and then rolled and used toothpicks to shape them into a sort of heart shape
• Curry chicken tarts - I actually purchased a container of curried chicken from Trader Joe's and put them in phyllo cups I had in the pantry
• Savory peach tarts - I couldn't find fresh peaches, so I used canned peaches that I dried off between paper towels, and used hot honey instead of cooking the peaches with chili flakes. I also cut my puff pastry into heart shapes

I set my coffee table with a pink sequin tablecloth that was actually a curtain panel, added a heart runner for an interesting look. I also got a 3D travel-themed Valentine's Day card, in place of my usual flower centerpiece. All my tablewear (runner, tiered tray, heart dessert server, heart plates) came from Target. I used red napkins I already had, mismatched teacups from my cabinet, and my bird teapot. We drank a chocolate raspberry tea that I received for my birthday, and I also had a mini bottle of rosé prosecco.

If you can't find these items at your local Target, don't have a local Target, or don't want to use what you already have, here are some items you can sub in and get before V-day:

• Heart shaped plates: melamine | paper | ceramic
• Tiered serving tray
• Cake/dessert display
• Heart baking tins | heart tart pans | heart ramekins
• Conversation heart napkins
• Heart table runner
• See-through, stovetop tea kettle with infuser (on sale right now!) | I love this affordable red polka-dot kettle | or if you're looking for a traditional teapot
• Tea bags - if you're using loose-leaf tea, I find that these (I actually use the Coffee Sock, but they won't deliver before the 14th) are actually better than every other infuser I've used.
• Mini cookie cutters | if you just want hearts, here's a set
• Barbie champagne flutes | or maybe these cutie floral wine glasses
• 3D Valentine's Day card | Paris themed card

As a background, I picked a Parisian river view with the Eiffel Tower behind it. If you've followed my destination date series, then you know I usually do two backdrops, and this time I did, too, but used the second one in a different way. I wrapped our TV stand with a rose garden backdrop, because we watched a few videos of a Seine cruise. 

You can pick up fun things like these ring pops or Valentine head boppers or glasses at your local dollar store. These glasses Eric has on are actually blue, which you can see in other pics, but somehow came out green in the pics where he's wearing them. Mine are pink, but almost disappeared in pictures.

I probably spent the equivalent of a fancy dinner out on this destination date, but I didn't have to hear a bunch of people's conversations, I didn't have to dress up (you can), and I didn't have to drive anywhere and wait for my table to be ready. We had a fun time and it was a nice, relaxing, and romantic evening in. I hope this gives you some good ideas for your own romantic evening in. If you want more tips for things to do outside of your home, here's my post on how to do a romantic staycation on a budget. 

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, if you celebrate. All of these ideas can also be used for a Galentine's or Palentine's celebration. Cheers!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may be monetarily compensated. It's free to you to do so, and it helps me keep this blog running, to bring you more useful travel tips.