Happy New Year!

Hmmm, wasn't there some sort of sporting event on television last night?  Oh right...the Superball, or something like that, right? According to my boyfriend, I have an "unhealthy hatred" of the all-American sport of football. I prefer to call it "a valid and legitimate complete lack of interest". It's probably why I got kicked out of Texas. They don't take too kindly to my sort there. That said, I was looking forward to Sunday, February 6th for a month just like every other American. Every other Chinese-American that is...

It was the Chinese New Year Lunar Parade! This is the year of the rabbit, so we bounced on down to Chinatown Sunday afternoon.

They were poppin' streamers left and right. Every time one went off, the crowd cheered as the confetti paper swirled around them.

It set the bar pretty high for future walks through the city. I am no longer satisfied to traipse across plain ol', gum-covered concrete. Once you've strolled through confetti-lined streets, there's really no going back.

The crowd was so joyful and the streets were so filled with color. The 40-degree weather felt like a dream compared to what we've been experiencing in New York lately. At one point, I looked over at my boyfriend and said, "I love the city. Let's never leave." He looked at me as if to say, "Duh, Jenn."

Toward the end of the day, I got a little verklempt at all the unbridled joy and happiness around me and felt the sudden urge to scream, "L'Chiem! To life!". Instead, I just walked around with a big Nikon strapped around my neck like any other tourist seeing the wonder that is New York City for the first time.