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February 1, 2014 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

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Happy Chinese New Year or Happy Lunar New Year or 恭喜發財 or Kung Hei Fat Choy or anyway that you want to say it… I wish to everyone a beautiful, prosperous and powerful new year.

This is a very important traditional Chinese holiday that is celebrated around the world, and in my home. I love this holiday for all the joy it brings and for all that it represents; and it does represent plenty.

Chinese New Year, also known in more recent times as Spring Festival, is a 15 day celebration honoring dieties, ancestors and scaring off a terrible mythical monster. During this time Chinese families clean their house thoroughly so as to sweep away bad fortune and welcome good luck. We decorate our home with red paper, signs and other symbols of good fortune and long happiness. We make offerings, eat traditional foods and visit festivals where firecrackers are the norm.

As the married elders, we give red envelopes to the younger generation. The red envelopes have been decorated with gold letters as these are colors of good luck. We present by using both hands and it should be received in kind. Both the husband and wife present an envelope, as opposed to American gift giving that would typically be one envelope from a family. These traditional envelopes are filled with crisp paper money and should never be opened by the recipient in front of the giver as that would not be courteous behavior. The amount of money varies but usually ends with an even number ($10, $20, $50 or more) as odd numbered money gifts are usually associated with funerals. The number four is to be avoided as it sounds too similar to the words of death. The money is crisp because to offer dirty, crumpled bills would be would be a sign of bad taste.

The foods of the Chinese New Year each represent something that is meant to promote luck. A whole chicken symbolizes being together as a family. Clams and spring rolls represent wealth and noodles represent a long life. Lettuce Wraps are commonly served as the word for lettuce in the Cantonese dialect of the Chinese language sounds similar to rising fortune. The word for tangerine sounds like luck, orange like wealth and a pomelo (very large relative of the grapefruit) signifies abundance.

Other foods served include a whole fish (head and tail intact) to symbolize a good end and a good beginning to the Chinese New Year. Round cakes signify the coming together of family, layered foods depict abundance and sweet foods portray a rich and sweet life.

The festival’s and parades that accompany this 15 day celebration that will end with the Lantern festival will include fireworks, lion dances and drums galore. Ancient mythology tell us that their is an evil beast named Nian who people feared greatly. Nian had the head of a lion and the body of a bull and we are told that each winter he would raid the human settlements to take all that he could. However, Nian is not fearless and in fact is frightened of three things. Nian is scared of the color red, fire and loud noise. In an attempt to scare Nian off villagers hung red papers and cloths wherever they could, set fires in front of their homes and stayed up through the night banging on drums.

Each Lunar New Year references a certain zodiac symbol represented by 12 animals. These animals are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.This cycle of animals interacts with the five elements of wood, fire, metal, water and earth. 2014 is the year of the wooden horse, a phenomenon that happens only once every 60 years.

In the Chinese tradition the horse is the strongest fire animal. This year is predicted to be a bit mixed for those born in this zodiac (Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta and my husband). Those working in fire element industries (restaurants, oil, gas and transportation) are promised a year of success but the zodiac also predicts a year of natural disasters and market fluctuations. The year of the horse is a year for all to act swiftly but only if they are certain of their choices.

There are also specific predictions for the experiences of each animal during the wood horse year. For instance, It is predicted that I, a rooster, will have a year full of challenges. I look forward to this as a year full of challenges does not need to mean something negative. A year full of challenges means that I will work through many issues and I intend to prove that this means that I will have a year of tremendous growth.

I wish to you all a wonderful Chinese New Year full of amazing power. Check out your zodiac sign by visiting this link and be sure to let me know how your year is progressing.

Resources:

www.theguardian.com

www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/

www.sbs.com

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/

October 27, 2013 | Posted in Elise's Blog , Inspiring Success | By Elise Cohen Ho

5 Comments

A life spent in hiding, a life spent in fear, a life spent waiting to be murdered. This was the life of the Jewish people, and many others, alive during the Holocaust. This was the life of the SIX MILLION Jews persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime. This was the life of the disabled, the Jehovah’s Witness, the homosexual and so many others.

I cannot help but look to my Jewish ancestry.

German, Russian and Polish.

Killed, killed and killed.

As a kid I remember meeting a relative and seeing the numbers tattooed across their arm. Many with these tattoos considered themselves lucky because they may not have to go to the sauna (gas chamber). It is said that with a number they may live. For a number showed that they were deemed good enough to be slaves, no number almost certainly meant death.

September 11, 2013 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

13 Comments

Each year on this day, I sit down to write a new post as I reflect on the events of this day 12 years ago. However, I find that it is quite difficult for me to write a reflection of my feelings on that day as I worried about friends, family and what would become. It is for this reason that I offer a repost of something that I wrote on September 11, 2011. Thank you for reading.

I think back on this day and I remember waking up to many phone calls telling me to turn on the television. I did this and felt a sense of disbelief like so many others. Then I felt panic. I live 3000 miles away from Ground Zero but I had family on their way to work in the city on that fateful day, and some already there. I grew up in New York and it is all a very big part of my history. As a girl, my mother would often take my grandmother, my sister and I into the city to see “a show” and explore. We always just said “a show” as people back east don’t usually say “we are going to see a Broadway play.” On these wonderful days we would explore FAO Schwarz, Central Park, and anything else that was of interest. I remember at FAO my grandmother wanted me to have a gift but I did not want her to spend the money. I picked out bubble bath in a fancy car container. I kept that container for years even after it was empty, dried, and cracked. We would eat at The Plaza, The Russian Tea Room or Tavern on the Green. I remember The Plaza for the beautiful lobby and how grown up I felt drinking Tea and eating croissants with fancy jams. At the Tea Room I remember my grandmother getting excited at seeing the actors of her “time”. I ate a bowl of sour cream with cucumbers because I did not recognize anything else on the menu. I loved Tavern on The Green for it’s location. I have no idea what I ate. We would see famous people in the streets and soap operas being taped. I remember a scene on The Plaza steps with Bo Buchanan and one of his many love interests. This was part of our life. It was what we did and it was wonderful. We did all of this with my grandmother. Later, I did all of this, and more, alone with my grandmother. The Rockettes were her favorite. My grandmother worked in The World Trade Center. I loved to go to work with her. I remember sitting in the window of her office and looking out at the city. I admired all of the activity that would happen 80 plus stories below. I would imagine wonderful stories for all of the people on the streets of one of the most wonderful cities in the world. My grandmother was afraid to go to work. She was a strong woman who was afraid to take the elevator to such a high floor. She hated that I sat all day in that window. She was afraid I would fall out, I loved that thrill of looking down even though it scared me, as well. More than that I loved watching my grandmother be a woman of the world. I loved to watch her in her office. I admired her and I always looked at that building with love of my grandmother in my heart. That building is gone. I visited Ground Zero many years after the attack. As I walked I got more and more nervous about what I would see and how I would feel. As I got closer I got more emotional. As I looked at the street, that used to hold the people that I daydreamed about, I was overwhelmed. It is so sad to think of all that was destroyed that day. It is awful to think of the 1600 people that lost their spouses. It is worse to think about the fact that over 3,000 kids lost their parent. I was lucky, my family survived.

The headlines were so difficult to read then and continue to be difficult to read now.

June 17, 2013 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

7 Comments

My oldest “baby” has turned 18 !!! In many ways he is still my little boy but then there are the other ways in which he is not…

1 -He will graduate from high school on Wednesday…where did the time go ?

November 7, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

2 Comments

Many people have contacted me today to hear what I have to say about the fact that Proposition 37 has been defeated, as well as to hear my thoughts on other matters concerning the election. This is what leads me to write this post.

November 5, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

It has been a full week since this natural disaster has blown through and left devastation in her path. Some areas have taken a much harder hit than other areas and it is hard not to think about the far reaching damages, but why should we stop thinking about it ? Many of us have the luxury of not having been in the eye of the storm, many of us do not even personally know anyone there. This makes it so much easier to go on with our daily lives but there are so many people suffering HERE IN OUR COUNTRY !!!

September 27, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

4 Comments

The anniversary of my father-in-laws death, which has been extensively written about in this blog, has just passed. The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur has also passed. This holiday began on the anniversary of my father-in-laws death. Yom Kippur is the holiest of the Jewish holidays and is a time for atonement and forgiveness. The combination of these two events is a lofty and difficult one. For both there are traditions, there are things to do and there are specific ways to act.

September 11, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

This is a repost of my 9-11 reflections from last year… Thank you to all who have given so much to try and protect our lives.

I think back on this day and I remember waking up to many phone calls telling me to turn on the television. I did this and felt a sense of disbelief like so many others. Then I felt panic. I live 3000 miles away from Ground Zero but I had family on their way to work in the city on that fateful day, and some already there. I grew up in New York and it is all a very big part of my history. As a girl, my mother would often take my grandmother, my sister and I into the city to see “a show” and explore. We always just said “a show” as people back east don’t usually say “we are going to see a Broadway play.” On these wonderful days we would explore FAO Schwarz, Central Park, and anything else that was of interest. I remember at FAO my grandmother wanted me to have a gift but I did not want her to spend the money. I picked out bubble bath in a fancy car container. I kept that container for years even after it was empty, dried, and cracked. We would eat at The Plaza, The Russian Tea Room or Tavern on the Green. I remember The Plaza for the beautiful lobby and how grown up I felt drinking Tea and eating croissants with fancy jams. At the Tea Room I remember my grandmother getting excited at seeing the actors of her “time”. I ate a bowl of sour cream with cucumbers because I did not recognize anything else on the menu. I loved Tavern on The Green for it’s location. I have no idea what I ate. We would see famous people in the streets and soap operas being taped. I remember a scene on The Plaza steps with Bo Buchanan and one of his many love interests. This was part of our life. It was what we did and it was wonderful. We did all of this with my grandmother. Later, I did all of this, and more, alone with my grandmother. The Rockettes were her favorite. My grandmother worked in The World Trade Center. I loved to go to work with her. I remember sitting in the window of her office and looking out at the city. I admired all of the activity that would happen 80 plus stories below. I would imagine wonderful stories for all of the people on the streets of one of the most wonderful cities in the world. My grandmother was afraid to go to work. She was a strong woman who was afraid to take the elevator to such a high floor. She hated that I sat all day in that window. She was afraid I would fall out, I loved that thrill of looking down even though it scared me, as well. More than that I loved watching my grandmother be a woman of the world. I loved to watch her in her office. I admired her and I always looked at that building with love of my grandmother in my heart. That building is gone. I visited Ground Zero many years after the attack. As I walked I got more and more nervous about what I would see and how I would feel. As I got closer I got more emotional. As I looked at the street, that used to hold the people that I daydreamed about, I was overwhelmed. It is so sad to think of all that was destroyed that day. It is awful to think of the 1600 people that lost their spouses. It is worse to think about the fact that over 3000 kids lost their parent. I was lucky, my family survived.

February 24, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

8 Comments

Spinach and Fruit Smoothie

When is a lie good ? When is lying bad ? What exactly is a white lie ? How does this all tie into food and what we feed our kids ?

I am all for adding vegetables in wherever we can. I am all for getting creative in preparing food so that everyone is getting as many vegetables as they possibly can. What I am not a fan of is lying to the kids and telling them that there are no vegetables in a dish that does include vegetable. Nor am I a fan of NEVER showing the kids what the vegetables look like when they are prepared beautifully, or what they taste like when they are prepared wonderfully. There has to be a middle ground. For our meat eaters I love, love, love the

January 1, 2012 | Posted in Elise's Blog | By Elise Cohen Ho

1 Comment

Happy 2012. This will be a fabulous year. Today is a great day for reflection on the year that has been left behind and the amazing year that is ahead of us. I encourage all of you to consider what you would like to accomplish this year and what the best plan of action is to get you there. This plan will make a great New Year’s Resolution. Instead of “I’d like to exercise more.” decide on a goal for number of days per week to exercise. Instead of “I want to organize my house.” try “I will organize one room per week.” or “I will organize one draw per day”. Instead of “I want to eat better.” consider “I will strive to eat between 5 and 9 servings of vegetables per day”. In other words, be specific. Find what works for you, check out my wellness page and send a private message to me if I can help in anyway.

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This next post in the sex series is about how exercise can improve your sex life... This next post in the sex series is about how exercise can improve your sex life. Enjoy :) Walking for Sex - Elise Cohen Ho, Naturally Yours www.elisecohenho.com How can exercise improve your sex life? What do I mean by walking for sex? Read on to find out... 1 hour ago

Elise Cohen Ho, Naturally Yours