What is your Chinese Zodiac sign?

In the west, we have horoscopes. In the east, they have Chinese zodiac signs. The idea of these zodiac signs are similar to horoscopes, except horoscopes are monthly in a year whereas Chinese zodiac signs each takes up an entire year. Therefore a whole cycle of these zodiac signs would be 12 years as horoscopes cycle in 12 months. Have you ever wondered which Zodiac sign you are? We have provided you a chart right below! Find the year you were born and match it to the "animal" that corresponds it. Share this with your friends and family members and see which animal they are and if you are compatible with each other with the graph right under it. Have fun!

Rat	1924	1936	1948	1960	1972	1984	1996	2008
Ox	1925	1937	1949	1961	1973	1985	1997	2009
Tiger	1926	1938	1950	1962	1974	1986	1998	2010
Rabbit	1927	1939	1951	1963	1975	1987	1999	2011
Dragon	1928	1940	1952	1964	1976	1988	2000	2012
Snake	1929	1941	1953	1965	1977	1989	2001	2013
Horse	1930	1942	1954	1966	1978	1990	2002	2014
Sheep	1931	1943	1955	1967	1979	1991	2003	2015
Monkey	1932	1944	1956	1968	1980	1992	2004	2016
Rooster	1933	1945	1957	1969	1981	1993	2005	2017
Dog	1934	1946	1958	1970	1982	1994	2006	2018
Pig	1935	1947	1959	1971	1983	1995	2007	2019

The 3 animals which are evenly spaced from one another in the zodiac circle are generally considered to be good matches. Rat, Dragon and Monkey ; Ox, Snake and Rooster ; Tiger and Horse and Dog ; Rabbit, Sheep and Pig are suitable for one another. Matching symbols on the Zodiac chart indicate compatible signs. 

The signs that are opposite each other in the Zodiac Circle chart are poor matches. Generally a Rat and Horse; Ox and Goat; Tiger and Monkey; Rabbit and Rooster; Dragon and Dog; Snake and Pig will not get along with each other. These signs make poor partners in love and in business. Family members who have opposite signs may experience friction and disharmony in the home.

 

Each person is a combination of the sign of the year they are born in as well as influences of the time of day and the larger cycles of the zodiac. You may find that even though a person was born in a year that would seem to make you a poor match, the other influences that you share balance the ill effects of incompatible signs and make for a very good relationship — or cause problems in even the most compatible signs! 

This year is the year of the Rabbit. Is this your sign? 

via Chiff.com

Origin of Chinese New Year

Do you know how Chinese New Year came about? We weren't quite sure ourselves, so we performed a small research to find out all there is about this holiday. 

The Origin 
Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar, so it is also called the Lunar New Year. And it is also referred to as the Spring Festival since it is the beginning of the Spring term, which is the first term of the 24 terms on the lunar calendar.
 
It was recorded that Chinese started to celebrate Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC, though the celebrations were held on different times under different emperors. They started to celebrate Chinese New Year on the first day of the lunar calendar based on Emperor Wu Di's almanac of the Han Dynasty.
 
Legend says the celebrations of Chinese New Year may be related to a beast known as Nian. The beast Nian came out to eat people on new years until an old man found a way to conquer it. Then people started to observe and celebrate Chinese New Year. The word "Nian" now has the same meaning as Chinese New Year, which is used as commonly as Chinese New Year. And people often use the term "Guo Nian", which may originally mean "passed or survived the Nian". Now everyone loves Guo Nian.
 
The lunar calendar is represented by twelve animals. Each year is represented by one animal. The twelve animals in order are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The Chinese zodiac is also based on the 12 animals.

Traditions and Activities

Preparation 
Usually the preparation starts a month before the new year. The preparation includes thoroughly cleaning and decorating the house, buying new clothes, preparing enough food for at least two weeks. The decorations are highly symbolic with a lot of lucky words, printed paintings and red colors everywhere. Kids are busy in shopping for different kinds of firecrackers. Everyone gets a haircut before the new year. So everything and everyone looks new and fresh on the new year.

New Year' Eve
The New Year's Eve is the time for families. The New Year Eve's dinner is the biggest dinner of the year, much like Thanksgiving dinner in the United States. The dinner is full of symbolic meaning, such as Chinese dumplings implying wealth since they have the shape of ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots. Everyone, even children, drinks a little Jiu (usually hard liquor), which symbolizes longevity since Jiu has the same pronunciation as longevity in Chinese. Then the family chats while watching national TV shows or listening to radio together until the coming of the new year. In China, the national TV shows have been prepared for a few months by a group of famous entertainers.

Firecrackers 
Firecrackers are set off as soon as the new year arrives. You can hear or see firecrackers everywhere and this usually lasts for a few hours. Some people will continue to play firecrackers occasionally through out the first half of the first month. Traditionally fireworks are the sign of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Fireworks are now banned in China, so this tradition is history.

 

 Red Packets   
Giving Hongbao or red packets during Chinese new year is another tradition. A Red packet is simply a red envelope with money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth. Red packets are typically handed out to the younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends. 

Dragon and Lion Dancing

Dragon and Lion dancing is another tradition of Chinese New Year. Traditionally, two people wear a huge lion or dragon costume and dance. The lion dance dates back to the Han Dynasty (205 B.C. to 220 A.D). It is an important tradition in China. Usually the dance is part of festivities like the Chinese New Year, grand openings of businesses, and weddings. If well-performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness. Let your children jump, bounce, hop and leap with a lion dance costume to help bring happiness and luck. Also, the lion head makes a unique Chinese New Year's decoration.  

via Party Details

H A P P Y 2 0 1 1 !!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope everyone had a blast last night during New Year's Eve and did not drive home intoxicated! I had a lot of fun myself and am so blessed to be around all my great friends and my family. Goodbye 2010, it has taken us on a lot of journey, through ups and downs. We welcome 2011, a new year that will give us new hope and renewed resolutions that we can hopefully stick by! May this year be as great as it can be for all of you. I wish you all the best!

Food for Luck- New Year's Eve

Cultures around the world have different beliefs that eating certain types of food will symbolize good luck for the next year. We have tracked down these interesting practices-- maybe you can try eating some of these food and see if your luck becomes even better!

In many Asian countries, long noodles are eaten on New Year's Day in order to bring a long life. One catch: You can't break the noodle before it is all in your mouth.

Due to pigs' dining habits, many countries, including Austria, Cuba, and Spain, view pork as a good-luck food. As pigs root for food, they keep their feet planted and push their snouts forward, signifying progress and future properity.

Thought to resemble coins, lentils are eaten throughout Italy for good fortune in the new year. Plus, the legumes plump (with water) as they cook, symbolizing growing wealth.

In North America, Asia, and Europe, people eat fish to celebrate the new year. In some countries, people associate fish with moving forward into the new year since fish swim forward. Other people think fish symbolize abundance since they swim in schools.

via delish

Classy New Year's Eve party ideas

Christmas has passed...now time to prepare ourselves for a grand new year's celebration! I have found some cute ways to celebrate this year's new year and party into 2011 with style. Some of these ideas are also great because you could recycle your Christmas decorations to make these!

Make Some Noise- Rattle in the New Year by dropping a few pink peppercorns, popcorn kernels or jelly beans into clear plastic ornaments.

Use those lights- For a festive New Year's night, hang strings of Christmas lights from the ceiling about a foot apart along a blank wall, using extension cords to plug each into an outlet. Hang semi-sheer fabric in front (not touching the lights) to create a light wall.

Blue Eyed- We never need an excuse to eat candy, which is probably why we loved those potted lollipops from Dylan Lauren (of Dylan’s Candy Bar). For a wintry version, just fill a small pot or planter with white gumdrops (or yogurt-covered candies) and “plant” some rock candy sticks. Your New Year's guests will love snacking on the candy all night.

via Rachel Ray mag

Wishing everybody a Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! Thank you for visiting our blog on Christmas Day! On behalf of our team at Home Seasons, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and thank you for all your support! We hope that our holiday decor has helped you make decorating a lot easier. Have a great Christmas Day with all your loved ones and we will see you soon!

Cheers, Rebecca


Cupcake Frenzy! Christmas Holiday edition Part 2

Hello again to Cupcake Frenzy Christmas edition! I hope you all tried out our part 1 of Christmas cupcake baking ideas, and are ready to tackle this one! I wouldn't say that this second batch of ideas are hard to implement, they are all relatively easy to try out! 

Since we don't want you to have to worry about baking three dozen cupcakes the day before the big family Christmas dinner, you can bake the cupcakes a week in advance and freeze them. However, do not decorate them until the night before. You have have your children or friends help you with this as a fun Christmas Eve activity! Remember that most of these cupcakes are Vanilla or Chocolate cupcakes, iced with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which is perfect for spreading thin layers or sculpting into thick mounts of icing-- whichever you prefer.

Snowman Cupcakes

Snowman Cupcake How-ToThis snowman wears a fine winter hat: a chocolate-covered mint beret. His plump figure is two marshmallows -- cut a slice off the top one and squish to make it smaller. Dabs of icing hold parts together. His eyes are chocolate sprinkles (poke holes first with a wet toothpick), and his nose is cut from a gummy fish.

 White Christmas Tree Cupcakes

• 12 waffle cones (2 to 2 1/2 inches wide and 4 to 5 inches long)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, perferably Dutch-process
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Frosting for Christmas Tree Cupcakes
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Serve this snowy dessert this holiday season. Cupcakes are shaped like trees, covered with Snowy Frosting, and sprinkled with sanding sugar. Save some sugar to create beds of "snow" for serving. Makes 1 dozen!

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Invert two 9 1/2-by-3-inch disposable round foil baking pans. Using a craft knife or a paring knife, cut six X shapes in bottom of each, spacing them evenly, to make 1 1/2-inch openings. Fit a waffle cone snugly into each opening, standing the cones upright. Line each cone with parchment paper, and then place a dried bean or a hazelnut in bottom to prevent batter from leaking. Place pans and cones on parchment-lined baking sheets. Line a 12-cup mini-muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Whisk together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl. With a mixer on low speed, gradually add egg mixture to flour mixture, beating until just combined. Raise speed to medium, and beat for 3 minutes. Carefully pour batter into cones, filling each two-thirds full. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons batter into each muffin cup (these will be the tree bases).
3. Bake until a skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes for cupcakes and 35 minutes for cones. Let cakes cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from cones and parchment. Let cool completely on the rack. (Cakes can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days before assembling.)
4. If necessary, use a serrated knife to trim top of each cupcake to create a flat surface. Place a dab of frosting on top of each cupcake, and position a cone cake on top. Insert toothpick through each cupcake base and into "tree" to support it (remember to remove toothpick before eating). Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip (such as Ateco #3) or a small plain 1/8-inch tip, and pipe frosting decoratively all over tree. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Trees can be refrigerated, uncovered, for up to 6 hours before serving. 

Snowflake and Wreath Ginger Cupcakes

• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup unsulphered molasses
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 recipe Butter Glaze
• 1 recipe Chocolate Glaze
• 1 recipe Meringue Buttercream

Use large cupcake papers and two jumbo muffin tins to bake these cupcakes. They are glazed with either a chocolate or butter glaze and then piped with meringue buttercream. Makes 10!

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 jumbo muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
3. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

via Marthastewart.com