China Will Celebrate Children's Day Tomorrow

Do you think children really deserve to have a day especially for them? We often see children as the 'protected' ones and isn't it everyday is Children's Day for them? I mean, they don't even cook their own food and wash their own clothes, right? But come to think of it, they very well deserve a day especially dedicated to them because they will only be children once in their lives. The later years, they will be faced with enormous circumstances that comes with being an adult.
In China, they know this very well that's why June 1 was appointed to be a holiday especially for children. The Chinese government celebrates the day with fun festivities both for children and adults. The children wear traditional Chinese dresses and perform traditional dances infront of their proud parents. Model students are also honored at this event, encouraging others to follow their footsteps.

For a much deeper thought, civic organizations launch Child Awareness programs at this event to strengthen child welfare. Which I think is the most important aspect of this celebration.

Nancy Drew & Supreme Court Justices

It seems the two lady's whom have been on the Supreme Court, and the current nominee all grew up reading Nancy Drew. So did my daughter! And guess who wants to study law!

Nice NY Times article, Nancy Drew and The Secret Of The 3 Black Robes

Chinese Wonder Girl

Because Chinese Children's Day is on Monday, I will dedicate this weekend's post for Chinese children.

Here's a video of a Chinese girl that shows exemplary performance in Cirque de Soliel


Isn't she amazing? She should be so light for that stick to hold her, noh?

Happy Children's Day everyone! Please pass a hug and a kiss to your kids. :)

Perfumed Pouch for Duan Wu

It's the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar.

For the Chinese, the fifth day of the fifth month is unlucky. It was believed to be so in Ancient China because as midsummer neared, the heat brought with it the influx of illness. As medicine had not yet established the cause of sickness, people believed the sickness came from evil.

Thus people had to do something to ward off the evil.

They made little bags and stuffed it with perfumed herbs. They put it around the necks of their kids to ward off evil spirit and over the years perfumed pouches evolved into smaller trinkets like these two in the picture:



Small enough to fit a pocket or purse. The pouches though small are often designed to match girls Chinese dresses such as the traditional cheongsam.

What comes after Dragon Boat Festival?- China's Children's Day!

Children's Day celebration

Some might be familiar with the Chinese holiday, Children's Day and some might not. It's celebrated every 1st month of June and it's one of the most important day for Chinese children. Apparently, the kids enjoy a day of free entrance on cinemas, amusement parks, museums, and palaces. Elementary schools throw parties for their students too and on top of all that, parents shower their kids with presents! I bet it feels like Chirstmas all over again!

China's not the only country that celebrates Children's Day. Korea and Japan celebrates theirs every May 5th. In India it's every November 14th, Taiwan helds theirs every 4th of April, New Zealand every 1st of March, Indonesia is every 26th of September and New York will have a celebration on June 13.

In line with the celebration, keep on peeking at our store, EliteDresses, for affordable gifts you can give your daughter :) and maybe just maybe you get to have a treat (you'll never know when it's gonna be).

Zongzi Day

Have you eaten Zongzi today? Here's what some of the famous chef has to say about their Zongzi experience: The Dish: Zongzi is a Dragon BOat Festival Treat

I have yet to taste my first Zongzi and I don't think there's someone I know who can cook it for me but I'm hoping that one day I get to taste the famous Zongzi! :)

Dragon Boat Festival in Long Beach

For those who want to start a team and join the Dragon Boat Race, the 2009 Long BeachDragon Boat Race will be held at Marine Staduim on August 1-2 2009. This is also to inform families near the Long Beach area who would want to watch and experience culture, competition and fun!

Long Beach Dragon Boat Race hosts the largest Dragon Boat competition in California. There will also be side entertainments such as Chinese acrobats, Chinese art demonstrations, perfomances such as hip hop dances, traditional dances and martial arts. It sounds so much fun and that your whole family will surely have a blast.

In line with this I suggest that you give your children another level of fun by making them wear the Qi Pao or the Chinese girls dress or Chinese traditional pants set.


For more information(schedules and application forms) please visit, 2009 Long Beach Dragon Boat Race.

Nothing planned for Dragon Boat Festival?

Just bring out any Chinese dress your little girl has, and your own. Put these on and romp around the house in your Chinese dresses. If family members ask why are you two dressed up? You can always say "We just feel like it." But really, you two share a secret that today is a Chinese holiday.


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Parents used to put perfumed pouches on their kids during the Duan Wu, or dragon boat festival. Duan Wu is remembered on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar, and is around midsummer. The heat brings on an influx of diseases, which people in Ancient China believed is caused by evil spirits.

The pouches are small pieces of cloth embroidered by the parents. Fragrant herbs are inserted into these pouches. It is believed that putting perfumed pouches on the children can ward off the evil.

There is modern medicine that takes care of diseases, but I think this is still a nice touch to do for our children. They can always treasure it as a keepsake, something that mom made for them long ago in an attempt to pass on tradition.

Dragon Boat Festival in Facebook!

Even Facebook commemorates Dragon Boat Festival, the Playfish game in Facebook called Pet Society allows you to choose a pet and design its home by earning gold coins to be able to buy furnitures and other cool stuff for your pet.




I find it really fun and entertaining. You can also "dress" your pet by buying clothes for him or her. The Pet Society clothes store also sells girls Chinese dress! ( and it looks exactly the one we sell over at Elitedresses.com)

The pets can have their own squeeky and stuff toys too! :)

Dragon Boat Festival is coming up: May 28 2009

Dragon Boat Festival is also known as Double Fifth Day because it's celebrated during the fifth day of the fifth lunar month which falls on May 28, 2009 (for this year).

The Dragon Boat celebration originated in commemoration of Qu Yuan, a wise man who was well loved by the common people during the Zhou Dynasty because of his passion for the poor. He was exiled because of his quest to stop corruption and avoid conflict to other Kingdom at that time. When his beloved Kingdom fell, he threw himself in the Milou River out of despair.
His last poem said:
Many a heavy sigh I have in my despair,
Grieving that I was born in such an unlucky time.
I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix chariot,
And waited for the wind to come,
to sour up on my journey

The people loved him so much that they made long boats and beat drums into the river to scare the fishes and threw zong zi into the water to feed the fishes so that it won't feed on Qu Yuan's body.

And so over the years, the tradition continues...

Even in the United States, Dragon Boat Festival is famous especially the Dragon Boat Race. To make your child feel the importance of the celebration, make her wear our Chinese dresses for girls for a very affordable price!

Memorial Day Poem

When The Warrior Returns

By Francis Scott Key

When the warrior returns, from the battle afar,
To the home and the country he nobly defended,
O! Warm be the welcome to gladden his ear,
And loud be the joy that his perils are ended:
In the full tide of song let his fame roll along,
To the feast-flowing board let us gratefully throng,
Where, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.

Columbians! A band of your brothers behold,
Who claim the reward of your hearts' warm emotion,
When your cause, when your honor, urged onward the bold,
In vain frowned the desert, in vain raged the ocean:
To a far distant shore, to the battle's wild roar,
They rushed, your fair fame and your rights to secure:
Then, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.

In the conflict resistless, each toil they endured,
'Till their foes fled dismayed from the war's desolation:
And pale beamed the Crescent, its splendor obscured
By the light of the Star Spangled flag of our nation.
Where each radiant star gleamed a meteor of war,
And the turbaned heads bowed to its terrible glare,
Now, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.

Our fathers, who stand on the summit of fame,
Shall exultingly hear of their sons the proud story:
How their young bosoms glow'd with the patriot flame,
How they fought, how they fell, in the blaze of their glory.
How triumphant they rode o'er the wondering flood,
And stained the blue waters with infidel blood;
How, mixed with the olive, the laurel did wave,
And formed a bright wreath for the brows of the brave.

Then welcome the warrior returned from afar,
To the home and the country he nobly defended:
Let the thanks due to valor now gladden his ear,
And loud be the joy that his perils are ended.
In the full tide of song let his fame roll along,
To the feast-flowing board let us gratefully throng,
Where, mixed with the olive, the laurel shall wave,
And form a bright wreath for the brows of the bravo.

What's important on your wedding? Photos or Videos

When I was still preparing for my wedding, I too was caught by this question. I was on a shoe string budget so I had to be wise with my decisions. My husband and I carefully weighed our options and came up with these:

* Photos will last a long time and can be preserved well
* When friends and family come for a visit they would not ask for your wedding's video but my wedding album.
* Photos can be edited *cough* photoshopped so I'd look thinner (remember I was 9 months pregnant!)
* We both appreciate quality photos and we are both NOT camera shy
* Don't you just love the drama of pre nuptial photo shoot (some call it engagement photo session)
* You can even do the trash the dress session with your photographer (of course with this one you don' t use the REAL wedding dress but cheaper and rented ones)
* We were offered unlimited shots for our wedding plus other freebies like coffe table book, guestbook, etc.
* Photos show minute details of the event such as wedding flowers, wedding dress, wedding ring, flower girl's dress and so much more.
*Photos will freeze precious moments and add dramatic effects to it.

I now professional photography and videography costs a lot so you can just choose one and get a cheaper version of the other. What I did was, I asked a friend to handle our video camera and had it edited by another friend who knows how to edit videos. And hired professional photographers instead :)

In times like these, we need to think twice or thrice before spending money. SO I hope you'll be wise in planning for your wedding!

Vietnamese Ao Dai Wedding Precession

Viet Huong Restaurant at 10727 Garvey Avenue in El Monte has a beautiful embroidered Vietnamese Wedding Procession. It has the red pig, two types of sticky rice, and so many people in Ao Dai's.

Food was also very good and service was great!

My daughter was in a Piano contest tonight and after it we went looking for a place to eat. So with the help of yelp I found this one. Later on we went to Fosselman's which has the best ice cream in the area!

Music of Taiwan

Today my family went to see the show the Music of Taiwan at the Taiwanese Culture Center in El Monte. My daughter's Piano teacher was part of it and he is amazing! Unbelievable power, speed, and ability to shift from loud to soft. It was great to see him perform, I have seen him play a little while teaching my daughter, but on state was amazing.

No Taiwanese costumes that I saw, all the ladies were dressed in formal dresses. May be next year my daughter will try out for the singing, she was not impressed by some of the singers ability.

American Wedding Customs and Traditions Part 2

Bridal Bouquet

The type of flowers the bride clutches during the wedding ceremony signify her emotions towards the marriage(Mine's orange tulips and star gazers, what's yours? And do you know that you can now preserve your bouquet?).

In olden times, the bridal bouquet has herbs and spices instead of lowers. It was believed that these strongly aromatic plants will ward off evil spirits intent on possessing the bride(and make your groom sneeze..kidding!).

At present there are a lot of designs of bouquet the bride may decide to clutch throughout the ceremony. Some bouquets are cascading(which I think is becoming out of date), others are pomander balls, some wrapped in delicate fabric. The designs are endless.

Some brides decide to carry a bouquet of other significant thing for her, such as rice stalks or small branches of a special plant. Here is more information on the Flowers Symbolism.

Just to add, I didn't want to give away my bridal bouquet during the bouquet toss so what I did was I created a mock bridal bouquet (smaller than my original bouquet) and used it for the bridal toss. Oh, and my bridal toss was not the usual gathering all single ladies and standing at the bride's back thingy---I created a fun game for the single ladies and whoever won got the mock bouquet and paired with the winning single guy. Fun fun fun!

The Veil and the Bridesmaids

The purpose of the bride wearing a veil dates back to when people believed evil spirits were around to try and ruin the wedding ceremony. The bride wore a veil to cover her face so evil spirits would not know she was the bride. Likewise, bridesmaid were made part of the ceremony to surround the bride, so evil spirits would be confused about who the actual bride was, and leave. Many couples today still honor these customs, but use the veil to hide the bride's face until it is first revealed to her groom. The bridesmaids are chosen to help the bride celebrate her happy day. This is also true for the ushers to celebrate with the groom.

(long veils or short veils? It doesn't matter as long as it's your preference)

Bridesmaid Dress Color

The bride can choose what color that the bridesmaids will wear. The color usually coordinates with the other themes of the wedding, such as similar to the color of the flowers chosen. The bride should also think what color flatters the bridesmaids. These days, it is customary for the bride to decide what color and fabric the bridesmaids will wear, and the bridesmaid will then choose the most flattering style for herself. Some brides choose the other way around, they choose what style the bridesmaids will wear, and the bridesmaids wear different colors of the same style dress. More on American Color Symbolism.

Rings

Rings, because of its circular shape, symbolize eternity, endlessness… thus a never-ending marriage. Rings can be made of gold, platinum and other metals. Some are encrusted with jewels to signify the value of a couple’s love. Some couples have their names or messages engraved on the rings before the wedding. During the wedding ceremony, the Ring Boy (also often called the Ring Bearer) takes the rings up on a pillow so the bride and room can exchange rings.

I know some rich couple who had two sets of wedding rings. The first one were made of silver and a replica of their white gold and main wedding ring. Their reason? If in case the rings got lost during the ceremony, at least it wasn't the real ring. And they actually wear the fake ones everyday so the real ones won't get tainted and scratched.

Flower Girl Hair Styles

Flower girls are naturally beautiful. More so if their hair is styled in such a way to complement and highlight their pretty faces.

The most common flower girl hair styles are listed below. Try the different styles before your little girl showers the wedding aisle. Let her choose what hair style adds to her feeling pretty.

A good rule of thumb for that final choice is that the hair style is comfortable for your little flower girl, but the hair style is sturdy enough to stay in place before the wedding starts, up to the time you arrive home later.

Basic Hairstyles for Flower Girl:

• Swept back away from the face with a pretty headband. Headbands can be blingy or matches the theme of the wedding.
• Pig tails. Comfy and practical especially for smaller flower girls.
• Pony tail. Near the top of the top of the head, can be curled after hair is tied up. Can also be tied low, near the nape for a more formal look.
• Bun. Buns are always formal and beautiful. Can be swept up at the top of the head, or at the back. Two buns at either side of the head can also be cute.
• Curled and let loose. Hold hair away from the face with barrettes or pins and let those curls bounce.
• Straight and loose. Just put some hair product to make it stay in place, away from the face. Better for bigger girls as smaller girls may look washed out towards the latter part of the wedding celebrations. Add some hair accessories.
• Braids. French braids look more formal but other braids are still pretty.
• Sculpted. Some hair stylists are more creative and may put some decorative twists and turns and miniature buns in your little flower girl's hair, combined with the other basic hair styles listed above.

Pretty Hair Accessories for your Flower Girl:

After your basic hair do, accessories are a must. Yes, a must. It's a girl and woman thing. Flower girls, their moms and the bride will agree yes, it's a must to further beautify the hair.

• Flowers. Can be entwined, pinned or attached to the headbands.
• Ribbons. Usually matches the wedding theme or the flowers' theme.
• Clips and barrettes, usually with faux pearl or stones, or even flowers
• Coronets are always pretty. Either of flowers or with faux stones.
• Tiaras can also be used, if it matches the theme, why not?
• Glitter. Just not too much, spritzed in tasteful amounts.
• Hats are great if these match the wedding theme and the season.
  
• Faux stones, etc. At a wedding I attended, the hair stylist rummaged through the spare (faux) bling for the entourage, broke a necklace apart and threaded it through the bride's mother's hair. Nicely done too.
  

On the wedding day, bring a lot of spare bobby pins for your flower girl's hair. It's always better to be prepared and have her comfortable, than fidgety and miserable because of hair gone astray.

American Wedding Customs and Traditions Part 1

Weddings in America are just as diverse as the couple who comes together to share their lives forever. American Traditional weddings take place in a church with family and friends in attendance to help celebrate the joyous occasion. Weddings in America also take place in chapels scattered throughout the U.S., most renowned in Las Vegas(how many celebrities can you name who were known to be wed on the famous Las Vegas chapels? Britney Spears comes in mind...). Some couples choose a wedding ceremony on a beach or in a garden(Today it's referred to as destination wedding). Whatever location you choose for your wedding ceremony, here is a look at some of the customs and traditions that seem to stay with couples no matter where they are.

Something Old, Something New

You have probably heard the saying 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, a silver sixpence inside your shoe.' No one is really sure when this custom started. It is believed by many to have begun during the Victorian era, while others argue that it started much earlier than that. Nevertheless, couples have honored this custom through the centuries, and even today. Something old represents the guests in attendance at the ceremony who are already married. Something new represents the newlyweds and the beginning of their new life together. Something borrowed signifies something that the bride must give back, such as her veil or her mother's own wedding dress. Something blue is associated with the bride's virginity and purity. Something silver is any type of silver coin that is tucked into one of the bride's shoes to represent wealth and prosperity(ohh I didn't know about the last line! If I have known I never wore slip on heels).

White Wedding Dress

The wedding dress nowadays is usually believed to have to be white or ivory, as this symbolizes purity. This is a newer superstition because white was started to be worn as a wedding dress only during the Victorian age. And that time, white was worn as an announcement of affluence because white dresses then will only be worn once.

A black wedding gown was considered taboo in the last decades, but recently, this is also becoming an option for brides. Black flatters a woman's figure and skin tone, and this flattery is best needed during a bride's wedding day.

The common superstition these days regarding the wedding dress is that the groom is not supposed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding day. There is also the superstition for the bride to avoid wearing the dress before the day and see herself in the mirror because something to prevent the wedding may happen. This is a problem for the brides who want to make sure everything should be perfect on the day. All brides deserve a perfectly-fitting dress. Some who still want to follow this superstition fit the lining of the dress, and leave all trust to the dress maker. Some dress makers leave some stitches unfinished and only do the last finishing stitches before the bride leaves for the wedding(now, that's cramming!).

A common rhyme regarding wedding dress superstition goes :

Married in white, you will have chosen right.

Married in grey, you will go far away.

Married in black, you will wish yourself back.

Married in red, you wish yourself dead.

Married in green, ashamed to be seen.

Married in blue, you will always be true.

Married in pearl, you will live in a whirl.

Married in yellow, ashamed of your fellow.

Married in brown, you will live out of town.

Married in pink, your fortune will sink.

More to come on Part 2! :)

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