How To Prepare for Lunar New Year

 

February 12, 2021, marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox according to the lunar calendar. Due to the pandemic, Lunar New Year is a bit different for our family this year but we definitely made the best out of it by decorating our house with hoa mai flowers (I found out it's called Ochna integerrima). The kids had fun dressing up in their traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai and received lucky money in a red envelope from family.
 We all celebrate Lunar New Year differently but this is what I normally like to do:ONE:Before New Year Day, I like to deep clean the house. Do I believe that I will have better luck in the upcoming new year if my house is cleaned? Maybe not but I do believe in a clear state of mind with an organized clean home. TWO:Decorate our home with spring followers. Hoa Mai or just fresh flowers around the house to welcome the marking of spring according to the Lunar calendar.THREE:Buy fruits and display them on a tray. Fruits I normally get are bananas, a ripe pomelo, oranges, mangos, and persimmons if available. FOUR:Get all of the kid's traditional ao dais out of the storage and let them dance around in them. FIVE:Go to the bank to get some new money to put in the red envelopes. Who doesn't love new crisp 2 dollar bill?
My mom usually makes banh tet which are sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. It's a lot of labor of love but oh so delicious! I normally just go to the Asian market to buy a few. Banh Tet for Lunar New Year is like Turkey for Thanksgiving in my opinion. 
What I love about Lunar New Year is spending time with our family and close friends. Similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's all about the food and spending time with your loved ones. 
Thanks for visiting my little blog. I just need to update more often!