Chinese New Year Traditions

Elizabeth Tam February 18, 2018

Happy Chinese New Year!

2018 is the Year of the Dog!

Honest and loyal, those born in the year of the dogs are the truest friends and most reliable partner. Dogs include those born in: 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018

Chinese New Year is always a fun holiday and filled with lots of celebrations, traditions and the food of course!

Here is a quick 101 on all you need to know about Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Greetings

新年快乐 - Happy New Year
恭贺新禧 - Happiness & Prosperity
身体健康 - Enjoy good health

Traditions

Red Envelopes
Red envelopes with "lucky money" are given to younger generations
End of Year Dinner
While New Years Day is when the holiday technically begins, having a bountiful dinner the night before is just as important. You should have leftovers to bring into the new year as a sign that you will not go hungry into the new year.
Tangerines & Oranges
Tangerines and oranges are displayed everywhere and given to friends and family. Tangerines represent wealth and oranges are a popular symbol of good luck
Kick off the year with something SWEET
You should have a piece of candy or something sweet to begin the new year, it will show you will have a sweet year
Hair Cut
You should get your hair cute before the new year, but should absolutely NOT get your hair cut on the day of or during the 2 weeks following New Year Day
Showers
Do not shower Chinese New Year Day, it is believed that you will wash away your luck. If you are really courageous, it is suggested you do not shower for 8 days (I will not be taking part in that part)

Foods

There are a lot of traditional foods, here are some of the more traditional and my favorites

Fa Gao
Cakes are supposed to bring you good fortune (it also looks like a fortune cookie)
Sesame Ball Cookies
Cookies are supposed to bring you laughter into the new year and are symbols of family reunions
Nian Gao
Cake will bring sweetness into your life, asthe cake is very sweet

I could go on and on, but these are just a few of the traditions of Chinese New Year.

Let me know some of your traditions for the new year in the comments!

NYFW Spring 2018 - That's a Wrap

Elizabeth Tam February 15, 2018

New York Fashion Week - Spring 2018 has officially come to an end.

NYFW has changed a lot over the past few years, in fact this year a few major NYFW designers opted out of the official NYFW schedule, including Alexander Wang, Public School Rodarte, Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra and Thom Browne to name a few.

Budgets for NYFW have gotten smaller and smaller as have the crowds and celebrities attending. I noticed that the events open to the public and promotion events declined this year. Designers appear to be taking a stance and changing their marketing approaches through:

collaborations
direct to consumer marketing
digital media
off-cycle shows

I think these methods, will provide designers to reach their customers more effectively with more relevant/timely collections and brand ambassadors. Despite all of the changes, I still love getting glammed up and checking out all of the new designs and what everyone is wearing (on the runway and off)!

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend Sherri Hill's NYFW Fashion Show, where she showcased her new Spring 18 collection. Needless to say, her collection was filled with pastels and SPARKLE!

Sherri Hill and I on the runway after her NYFW show!

As a pageant girl, you could imagine how much I loved being there and seeing all of the new designs and all of the models, including the reigning Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters & Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach!

After the show, I head the pleasure of meeting Sherri Hill! She was so sweet and genuine, which was very refreshing!

Can't wait until next time!

Fashion Illustration with Holly Nichols

Elizabeth Tam February 13, 2018

As part of NYFW, Apple hosted "Live Art: Runway-Inspired Portraits with Holly Nichols" as part of their "Today with Apple" series at Apple Soho.

One of my favorite fashion illustration Artists Holly Nichols spoke to the audience on a range of topics from how to launch your business, social media and her favorite designers to draw. After the Q&A, Holly walked us through a hands on step-by-step lesson on how she makes her gorgeous sketches using Apple's iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and the Procreate app.

Holly's workshop was very informative, I learned a lot about her techniques, how to effectively use the Procreate App - from the brushes, to layering and how to draw hair! This was my first time trying out the new Apple Pencil, it was a pretty handy tool and great for drawing, painting & sketching my masterpiece with.

On a personal note, Holly is one of my favorite Fashion Illustrators. Her sketches are fashionable and stylish meets confident and bold.

I am not the best artist, but I really enjoyed the workshop and would definitely recommend taking advantage of the workshops Apple offers if you have time.

Check out Holly's fantastic sketch below on the left and my attempt at a sketch on the right.

Not the best, but not bad for my first attempt at a fashion sketch and on digital media, nonetheless! Now if only I could sketch as well as Holly does!

Motivation Monday w/ the Eagles

Elizabeth Tam February 5, 2018

Congratulations to the Super Blow LII Champions the Philadelphia Eagles!!!

If this journey does not scream MOTIVATION MONDAY, I do not know what does! The Eagles have come a long way as underdogs to Super Bowl Champs and it has been a long time coming (at least that is what my co-worker tells me).

In honor of the Eagles winning the Super Bowl last night, here is a shot from my photoshoot in Philly with Bill of Echelaeus Inc!

I was actually in Philly for a charity fundraiser for New Leash on Life USA. New Leash on Life, also a great Motivation Monday related non-profit, works to both save the lives of dogs at shelters by placing them with inmates, which in turn gives the inmates a chance at redemption, helping both the dogs and the inmates. It was a very moving cause.

But enough about football, what motivates YOU?

My goals & motivations this month are to:

Go to the gym more
Get more sleep
Just focus on being a better me

Share your motivations in the comments!

National Wear Red Day

Elizabeth Tam February 2, 2018

Today I wear red to support National Wear Red Day, a day to raise awareness of heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease in the U.S. kill approximately one woman every 80 seconds. The good news is that 80 percent of cardiac events may be prevented with education and lifestyle changes.

To learn more about Wear Red Day, visit: https://www.goredforwomen.org/wearredday

First Photoshoot of 2018

Elizabeth Tam January 27, 2018

Today I had the pleasure of shooting with Babs Photography and had my makeup done by Selma Makeup NYC!

We shot in studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Things to know when shooting, always be ready for anything, and know there may be a long wait time in between shoots!

Barbara and Selma were amazing, I can’t wait to shoot with them again!

Outfit:

Dress: JCrew

Shoes: Marc Defang

Jewelery: Swarovski

How I spent my weekend...

Elizabeth Tam January 18, 2018

This weekend I spent my weekend painting my NEW APARTMENT!!!!

First off, I want to say thank you to my parents and my friends (Torres & Brohan), who came out to paint with me this weekend!

Who knew painting would be so much work? We spent the entire 3 day weekend (we had MLK day off) painting and still have to do a second coat on the walls, trim and doors.

I think it will hopefully be done soon enough, but if anyone wants to come and help, I would greatly appreciate it!

For those of you who are looking to paint your house or apartment, here are a few tips/things I have learned:

Painting order: Ceiling, Walls, Doors, Trim
Spackle, sand & wipe down the walls (in that order) before you begin painting
3M Blue Tape & Frog Tape (Green Tape) are your friends - these are used to make sure you paint straight lines or do not paint over unwanted areas
- Blue Tape - is a bit stretchier and less sticky, this is good for ceilings and is a bit cheaper than green tape
- Green Tape - is stickier than blue tape, thus it is good for places where the lines are very important, such as trimmings

Stay tuned for more tips, as I am sure I will learn a lot more as I begin my journey as a homeowner!