2014: Year of the Horse

Hi all,

Happy Year of the Horse! This is the last chapter of our feature: {Get Ready for CNY14 with Sasha}. As you may already know, 2014 is the year of the horse. But do you know what does this animal sign signify? What are the astrologers predict about 2014? Okay, let's get into it!

嗨，亲们，

首先，祝大家在马年里，马到成功，龙马精神！这是｛与肖洒一起准备14春节｝特别专栏的最后一集了。今天呢，就想跟大家分享一下属马的人一般都有什么特性，而马年对于我们来说又有什么特别之处呢。好吧，让我们一起来探讨一下！

The Chinese zodiac, known as Sheng Xiao, is spread over a 12 year span. Each year is cycled among the following animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. 2014 is the year of the horse, and previous years were 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, and 2002.

People who born in the year of the horse are believed to be energetic, active and proud to entertain. They generally love to be the centre of attention and to delight audiences. 

For the people whose horoscope is horse, some feng shui masters suggest that 2014 is the year to play low key in order to avoid conflicts. For those who weren't born in the year of the horse, 2014 is believed to be a prosperous and lucky year.

Also, on the year of your animal there is a tradition that might seem a bit odd. It is believed that you should wear red underwear or lingerie to block evil spirits. haha funny eh?

I personally don't take these predictions or superstitions too seriously. It's just something fun to look at. I believe that the new year is going to be what you make it. 

生肖是怎么来的，有哪些动物是在12生肖中的，对于咱中国人来说，这些已经不是什么新鲜的故事了。但是据说由于今年是“木马”年，所以对于属马的朋友们，大师们建议最好保持低调，未免招来一些不必要的纠纷。而总体来说，2014年被预计将会是充满丰收和幸运的一年。属马的人呢，一般比较活泼开朗，也乐于逗别人开心。所有，要是有属马的朋友在身边，还是相当开心的嘛。

想必大家都知道，本命年的朋友们一般都会穿大红色的内衣，内裤来祛邪。属马的朋友们，你们会这么做吗？

我个人觉得吧，这些预测和迷信的说法仅空参考和娱乐罢了，新的一年怎么过，过得怎么样，还是要看个人的努力和心态。

Okay, this is a wrap for our Chinese New Year feature. Doing this type of feature for the first time really encourages us to showcase our creativity and allows me to share my culture. We really hope can hear some feedback from you (either positive or constructive). Looking forward to next year's special, year of the sheep! 

好了，这期的专栏就到此结束了。做这样的特别专栏还是相当有趣的，既可以鼓励我们充分发挥我们的创造力，还可以让我能有机会跟大家分享一下我们的中国文化。不管做得怎么样，我们都希望能听到你们的建议。那么明年再会吧！ 

Celebrate Chinese New Year with some Decorations

In the fourth episode of {Get Ready For CNY14 With Sasha}, I will be sharing some decoration tips for Chinese New Year with you. Please go ahead and check out the first, second, and third part of this special feature if you haven't already done so. 

Decoration plays a key element in holiday celebrations, and just like Christmas, Hanukkah, or other special occasions, Chinese New Year also needs that warm and happy atmosphere. 

1. Red and Gold are THE colours

As you may have already noticed, gold and red are the key players in Chinese New Year's decoration because gold signifies money and wealth while red is believed to bring luck and happiness. 

2. Why fish?

One of my friends asked me last year: "This is the year of SNAKE right? Why there are fish everything?" haha Well, you will continue to see plenty of fish as part of the decoration this year, next year, and the year after... The reason fish plays such a key character in Chinese New year is because its pronunciation is similar to "something left", so having fish every year at home means you have enough resources and are well prepared for the upcoming year.

3. "福"

Maybe some of you have already become very familiar with this Chinese character as it's literally EVERYWHERE. But what does it mean? Well, it means wealthy, but its referral is not only limited to money, but could also associate with happiness, good health, uplifting career, united family and more. Another interesting thing is that many Chinese would put this character up side down on the door since the pronunciation of "down" is the same as "arrival". 

4. Couplet

Usually Chinese would buy a couplet of two short sentences written on red papers, and then glued them on each side of the front door. The sentences are generally associated with good wishes and wisdom words. This is not only considered as a welcoming note to the guests, but also was hoped to bring good fortune in the new year.

5. Cleaning the house

Cleaning is part of the decoration as well. And trust me, it's actually the most important part. In Chinese culture, it's believed that cleaning your home inside out before the new year comes would get rid of all the bad luck. However, you should put all the cleaning equipments off sight after the new year countdown because cleaning on the first day of new year is believed will sweep your luck away. 

Anyway, you might think some of these are quite superstitious, but at the end of day, it's all about embracing a fresh beginning with warm and pleasant decorations. Hope after reading this post, you have learnt something interesting about Chinese New Year. :)

Celebrate Chinese New Year with Hot Pot

Welcome to the third episode of {Get Ready For CNY14 With Sasha}. In the first and second chapter we talked about Beauty and Fashion, and today, I'd like to share a very special kind of Chinese food with you- Hot Pot!

We went to a very popular Asian supermarket in Toronto to purchase all the foods, sauces, and soup bases we needed for this meal. Want to know what hot pot is? What do you need to buy? And how to cook it? You can go ahead and watch the video we put together. Hope you will enjoy it! :)

亲们，再过几天就是春节了，想必大家都想好年夜饭要吃些什么了吧？会邀几个朋友来家里吃火锅吗？还是会出去大餐一顿呢？不管你的大年三十怎么过，都希望大家在那晚吃得开心！：）

Usually during Chinese New Year, many Asian supermarkets would set up a special section just for Hot Pot. So you can most likely find everything and anything you need in that corner, including the special-made pot, meat, meat balls, seafood, vegetable, sauces and much more. I really hope this post will inspire you to give hot pot a try.

Good luck and have fun! :)

Celebrate Chinese New Year with RED

Welcome to the 2nd episode of {Get Ready For CNY14 With Sasha}. In the first episode, I shared a CNY beauty look that I created by using many of my favourite Benefit Cosmetics. Today, I'd like to continue to embrace the holiday spirit with the shade of red.

My original plan was wearing a traditional Chinese dress called Qi Pao. But then I figured the couture dress is not really practical for every day life, so I decided to let different layers and some hints of red play an ensemble. 

欢迎来到｛与肖洒一起准备春节｝特别专栏的第二集。在第一集里，我跟亲们分享了一个用我很喜欢的一些贝琳妃化妆品打造出来的妆容。而今天呢，我就希望能延续红色所带来的节日气氛。本来啊，我是想穿旗袍的，但是后来觉得太隆重了，不太适合每天的日常生活。所以就决定搭配一套比较适合冬天又有红色点缀的着装。

When I was little, my mom would buy a brand new outfit from head to toe for me before Chinese New Year as she hoped wearing something new and red would bring me some good luck in the upcoming year. Although I didn't really buy this superstitious thinking, I was still always excited about New Year since it was associated with new cloths, fresh beginning, and of course, some lucky money. 

  

当我很小的时候，我妈妈总是会在过春节之前就给我买一身新的红衣服，因为她希望这样能给我在新的一年里带来好运。尽管我不太相信这种迷信的做法会真的有什么用，但是因为过年总是有新衣服穿，又能拿到红包，所以我还是每年都很期待。

Thank you so much for stopping by!
感谢光临我的小博客！

Photography: Stephen Foks

Top: Haightand Ashbury (Canadian Design Clothing)
Blazer: Club Monaco (old, similar here | here)
Leather Jacket: Zara (old, similar here| here )
Skirt: Club Monaco (old, similar here | here)
Shoes: Payless Shoes (buy one get one 50% off)
Gloves: Le Chateau (current)

Celebrate Chinese New Year as A Benebabe+ {Giveaway}

Hi all,

Welcome to the first episode of our five-day feature: {Get Ready for CNY14 with Sasha}. In today's post, I'd like to share with you a glamourous Chinese New Year look that takes you less than 15 minutes with many of my all-time favourite products from Benefit Cosmetics.

And the most exciting part of this is that you could win ALL the Benefit products I used in this post and to create your own CNY look. Isn't it cool? Okay, let's get started!

亲们，

欢迎来到第一集｛与肖洒一起准备2014春节｝的特别专栏。在今天呢，我会跟大家分享一个只需要花费不到15分钟就能打造出来的性感妆容。而且，我使用的绝大部分化妆品都是来自我最爱的贝铃妃。更值得高兴的是啊，你们可以赢得这些贝玲妃的化妆品哦。诱人吧？好了，废话不多说，开始动工吧。

                                                            Primer

"That Gal" Face Primer gotta be one of my most favourite products from Benefit. Not only its lovely strawberry smell could lighten up your morning blues, but the silky texture could really smooth your face and get it ready for the next step. When I don't feel like putting too much make-up on, I'd just wear a BB cream on top of this primer. And trust me, the result is unbelievable.

贝玲妃的这款打底霜可谓是我的最爱了。不仅它草莓般的香味能让你郁闷的早上变得更愉悦之外，它细致的质地还能让你的肌肤充分做好下一步的准备。一般我就会在这款打底霜的基础上，涂上一层BB霜。相信我，这样的搭配绝对不错！

                                                      Foundation + Powder

I'm not really a heavy-duty foundation girl, so this Flawless Oil-free Foundation and Cover-up Powder perfectly work for me. 

因为我平常不太喜欢涂太厚的粉底和粉饼，所以这款贝玲妃的无暇系列特别适合我。涂上脸还是感觉相当轻盈的。

                                                              Mascara
I have been living and loving this Benefit "They are Real" Mascara for the past couple of weeks. As I don't have long and thick eyelashes, this mascara really does its job after 2 or 3 coats.
这段时间我一直都在用这款睫毛膏。由于我没有很浓密，翘长的睫毛，这款睫毛膏细致的头部很易适用，涂了两三层后，会很明显地感觉到睫毛变长了。嘻嘻


                                                                    Blush
Benetint and Dandelion Blush are my all-time fav. and the secrete weapons to a healthier looking skin.
相信很多亲都对贝玲妃的玫瑰胭脂水和蒲公英粉不陌生吧。你不仅可以涂在两颊，而且还可以涂嘴唇，甚至是全脸。能让你的脸有宝宝般晶莹透亮的感觉。总之，皮肤看起来嫩嫩的啦。

                                                                     Lip

Chinese New Year is all about the shade of RED. How can I resist this colour that represents luck, passion and celebration? So I choose to emphasize my lip by using the magical Revlon ColorBurst Lip Balm. 

中国的春节可谓是大街小巷都布满了红色。我怎么能对这种代表着幸运，热情和喜庆的颜色说不呢？所以我决定选择着重于唇部的颜色。

Voila! This is my Chinese New Year look. Do you like it? (Please say yes. LOL) 

You could actually win ALL the products below (Mr.Panda is not included though) to create your own masterpiece. Excited? Please follow the Rafflecopter description below.

好了，这就是我今年春节的妆容了。你们喜欢吗？（拜托说喜欢啦，哈哈）

你们只要根据下面的要求，就可以赢得以下所有的化妆品哦！对，你没有看错，所有的化妆品！（不过，熊猫先生不算哦！）

Moreover, not only you could win all these products, there are more than just that. Benefit Cosmetics will be celebrating Chinese New Year at five locations across Canada, and they really hope you can join them. Details here! 

另外，你不仅可以获得这些化妆品，而且如果你在加拿大的话，还有机会与贝琳妃一起欢度春节呢。详情在这里！

Have fun and good luck! :)

祝大家好运！

Photography: Stephen Foks
a Rafflecopter giveaway