CHINESE NEW YEAR--2013

 

 When a merry group like the Core Kids (Members of the Class of '67--and their admirers) decide that they want to enjoy the celebration of Chinese New Year, they do it in style (Chinese style).....

 The cast of Characters:  the party hosts--the Capshaws..........

 The spirited Waymundo.....

 The lovely Lady Annabelle.....

 Her handsome hubby--Adolfo.....

 Bob, the mighty warrior........

The Snow Blossom hostess, Diana..............

 

 Her brave husband--the host--Lord Dwight.......

 The harvest Goddess, Josina...

 The lovely courtesan, Linda..........

 And her gallant husband, Tim.........

 That Chinese bride, Eileen.........

 And the sensuous goddess, Louise........

 And her brave paramour, Dwight G...............

 The demure, Miss Terrie............

 And her formidable mate, Richie.............

 The delicate, Miss Theresa............

And the dependable, Randy.....

Finally the evening for the party arrives and a festive Chinese lantern greets the guests....

 

 As does a slightly less festive Topaz....

 The host and hostess are anxious for the guests to arrive....

 The decor of the home has been transformed to Asian style.....

And all the photo frames have been filled with photos of the gang in their Chinese alter-egos...

Like this warrior version of Dwight C......

Every guest will receive a framed photo as well as several other table card-photos of themselves in Chinese poses....

Dwight starts lighting the candles--which will be quite a job.....

Because his little wifey has arranged enough candles befitting......

A demure lady of the Royal Court.....

For the dining room is ablaze.......

And Dwight has to light a long "big" table for some guests.......

 

And a slightly smaller table for the remaining guests....

Oh, and the village is still up--so that the gang can spot their images from last year's "Midnight in Paris" party hidden among the tableau of the winter village.... 

 

This is my favorite shot of the party room because  Dwight looks like a specter lighting candles and our right-hand man, Giano is reflected in the mirror on the counter....(You might have to click on the image to open it up to full size to catch all the details.)

Now where are those party guests........

The Empress is waiting......

And here they are!  Starting with Terrie all the way from Albuquerque....

Via Kweilin..........

Richie brought delicious imported cookies for dessert.....

As befitting his royal tastes.....

This happy trio in previous lives were.....

Scholars....

Princesses and......

China dolls...............

Louise arrives in her elegant wrap bearing baby creme puffs and Chinese ice cream.....

Although she's already rocked this headdress in her Chinese dreams.....

Annabelle tosses her delicious salad in her magnificent lotus bowl--although it can't be quick enough for Josina....

Annabelle has already earned the title of Goddess of Hospitality with her fantastic cooking and fabulous entertaining.....

Waymon is a bit wistful remembering....

His glory days as a Dragon Slayer....

Eileen in her Tibetan tunic reminisces about her dreams of being...

The Goddess of Springtime....

Randy is all smiles.....

And his photo from his high school years shows why all the girls thought he looked like Johnny Carson--back in the day......

Since red is one of the colors of Chinese New Year, I am wearing a red blouse under my green jacket....

And pose wistfully in my high school picture..........

This trio of revelers is also recognizable as............

Ming royalty.....

Party boys..........

And parasol twirlers.....

And the masterful Dwight C was.....

A Boy Emperor in his high school years.....

Just as Bobert in his younger days morphed into....

A brilliant Chinese general............

Miss Josina who feted the party with her Chinese pudding.....

Can vamp alongside the other beauties of the royal court......

(Chinese) Girls just wanna have fun...........

The elegant Miss Linda--she of the beautiful and authentic Chinese salad--sports chopsticks in her hair, just like she donned...

This gigantic courtesan's headdress in her high school photo..............

Those clever Gonzaleses...........

Depict a romantic couple in this Chinese movie...........

No, Theresa is not wearing a fancy headdress, she's just standing in front of an elaborate thing-a-ma- jig on my bookcase,,,,,

But in honor of her kindness to animals, she is depicted as the Goddess who is the Protectress of Animals...............

Ah, the mystery of the Orient!--the subtle use of the fan......

 

Annabelle brought fans for the ladies and Chinese zodiac coins for everybody...........
"Here's to Chinese New Year!"....

"And to the Year of the Snake!".........

Shanghai at rush hour has nothing on us and the traffic jam in the kitchen.....

As everyone serves the first course--our delightful salads and my contribution--Hot and Sour soup.  Here I am starting the final egg drop....

While Josina seems fascinated by the egg dropping, Randy has his typical "What Me Worry" attitude....

"My God!  What all is in that soup?"
"Glad you asked, Bobert.  Why in addition to chicken and stock, there is shitaki mushrooms tofu, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, straw mushrooms, baby corn cobs, eggs, chile, green onions and eggs."

"Cheers!"...

"Wow!  Does this women ever stop talking?"

"Not really. No!"

Do you think someone is a little too proud of her soup?

Vamos a comer.......

With such close quarters, finding your seating can be a bit treacherous.....

Our handsome helper has arrived with the main course!  Actually, this IS one of the boxes that the carry-out from Ying Yang arrived in, but Zsa Zsa was not in with the food.  What we catered was actually sweet and sour pork, fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, beef with broccoli, fortune cookies and almond cookies--all delicious!

Let the feasting begin......

We passed a camera around the table to capture different aspects....

Like these folks on the Mandarin side of the table....

And we folks on the Cantonese side....

Linda checks out her scroll.  Every place setting included chopsticks and a "cash packet" with a shiny quarter for good luck, a chocolate coin, a packet of sachet to put under your pillow for sweet dreams and a scroll with information about your Chinese zodiac sign....

Tim sports one of my makeshift versions of what a Chinese lei might look like.....

Bobert helps Louise with the fine art of using chopsticks....

Of course, being the goddess that she is, she is probably practicing the womanly art of not showing off too much and she probably is quite expert at chopsticks....

Confucius say.......

That if Dwight and Louise were in Hong Kong they would probably dress like this for Lunar New Year....

"More SOUP, anybody?"............

What's for dessert?

Talk-Talk, Yum-Yum............

Dreaming of attending the Moon Festival for Chango--the Moon Lady.....

In the wee hours of the morning, the party has come to an end....

And the house is silent once more....

And the food and libation stations are empty......

Time for one last bit of "doggie dancing" before putting all the pets to bed.......

The walls of this little old casita are reverberating with all the fun and laughter and real love that we shared tonight and it is the end of a a night I'll never forget......

And we're wishing all you Gentle Readers a Lunar New Year filled with all the same fun, laughter and real love!