Chinese New Year

The weather has been so bitter cold lately. The snow is so beautiful, at least when looking at it from the warmth of my apartment. Haha. But last weekend we had a little taste of heaven/spring! It was in the high 40s and we were not about to stay inside and waste such a gorgeous day!

I don't know why I've felt so compelled to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Maybe it has something to do with the time I spent in Japan (except thats Japan, not China) or maybe its because it always looks so cool in the movies... But, I have been dying to experience a real authentic Chinese New Year celebration!

Friday night was the big fire cracker festival, and Sunday afternoon was the dragon parade. Unfortunately for us, Saturday was the only day we could make it down there. I was so bummed out, thinking we would miss all the excitement!

Once we got into Chinatown I noticed the stores were selling a lot of traditional holiday looking things, but there wasn't really any sign of celebrations. We were meeting Ellen at her favorite Chinese place (Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles, it lives up to its name!) and as we turned down Mott street we found the party!

Everyone was shooting off fire crackers and there were streamers and confetti everywhere! There were a ton of cute little Chinese kids playing in the street and dancing. It was so colorful and lively! We met up with Ellen and had the tastiest hand-pulled noodles ever! This place is definitely a must-try!

We found our way back to the party and bought ourselves some fire crackers! This was like an hour PAST Gunner's nap time so he was not so excited about all the noise and flying confetti (but I was!) And it made for some awesome pictures!

After the police shut it down, we found our way to a cute little bakery in Soho (Little Cupcake Bakeshop) The cupcakes (and mini pies, and icebox cake) were heavenly. But, the company was even better. Guess who held the door open for us as we came through the door. You guessed it! Queen Latifah!!! (Did you really guess it?) She held the door open for us and then admired sleeping Gunner and his tiny little "Chucks". We all exchanged looks, confirming that yes, this was Queen Latifah and decided to play it cool!

Now, I'm seriously wishing we didn't play it cool because we have no proof of our encounter! Especially because meeting a celebrity is on our bucket list, but we can't cross it off without proof. Dang it! Next time, I'll just throw caution to the wind and go all star-struck/paparzzi!

Ellen and I are like good luck or something because we always see celebs when we're together. Like ever since we were kids! We've met Billy Crystal, Ryan Seacrest, Kathy Ireland, and NOW Queen Latifah. We really should spend more time together!! It is so much fun living close to her again. 

Happy Year of the Horse Everybody!
XOXO
SD