Link-Up to Giveaways Saturday

Welcome to another Link-Up Saturday! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I'll try to even if I got work all weekend. Here are some great giveaways and sweepstakes that I personally entered myself. Make sure to check them out to win some great stuff! Don't forget to enter the top one, it's my own giveaway. Good luck in any of the giveaways that you do enter! As usual, if you are from Hawaii, you are eligible for all of these!

Let me know if you want your giveaway to be featured next week Saturday!

Disclosure: I was not paid to advertise any of these giveaways/sweepstakes. I am not affiliated with any of them except for the one I'm running. This is merely just a post to share giveaways/sweepstakes that I really liked personally.

What is Lion Dancing?

I had nothing planned to post today, literally nothing. Then I realized that I have posts up about Bee and his lion dance students but I've never actually talked about his lion dancing. So here is a short post with some basic information on Chinese Lion Dance.

So this is what a lion looks like. No, that is not a dragon. It is a common misconception. Dragons are actually longer and attached to poles. Lion dances are usually requested for blessings and good luck. Giving money to the lion will also bring good luck. This is called feeding the lion.

The instruments are considered a very important part of lion dancing. The drum is considered the beating heart. Without it, the lion cannot live. There are some religions that actually consider lion dancing to be evil because they consider it an exorcism of sorts. In Chinese culture, that means they are bringing the spirit of the lion to life through their performance.

Here are some things to remember when feeding the lion:

• Giving loose change is actually considered rude. Seriously, they have to stick that money in their shirts. One performance, Bee's friend had so much loose change that he made noise from walking because it all fell to the bottom of his pants.
• Those little envelopes they pass out are for putting the money in. They make sad faces when they open the envelopes to find them empty.
• Wait till the lion takes the money. Sometimes the lion will play around before actually taking it so you get a good show.
• Don't smack the lions butt! Some lions have kids in there and well, you can imagine the kinds of legal issues that can come from doing that.
• If you have a kid that really wants to feed the lion but the lion isn't looking at you, flag down someone not performing that is wearing the club shirt. They are usually willing to direct the lion to your child.

There you have it. Some insight into the world of lion dancing. Maybe one day I'll get Bee to actually write a post himself. He's the expert on it. I'm the girlfriend that comes along as support and a bag carrier.

Learn anything new? Let me know what you thought or if you'd like to know more!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! It will be ending soon.

Congratulations Ryan! (3rd 2013 Grad Party)

A big congratulations to Ryan! I have to say, I felt so old going to this grad party. He played baseball with my younger brother. I remember when he was just a little thing running around our backyard. It was so great to see them again. Ryan and his family are basically part of my family, an extension. So it's always great to see them.

His dad was the first person I saw when I got to their beautiful house. Love my Uncle! He's so much fun and one of the nicest guys I know. He was cooking when we got there with that big wok.

I have to say, even though it was Ryan's grad party, it was so hard to find him! Like I literally saw everyone twice before I managed to find him. Of course, he was hanging out in his room with his friends. So I snapped a pic while he wasn't looking. Since his cousin was paying attention, she got in a pose for me.

My brother and sister were just chilling in the garage where the tables were set up. It was much cooler outside. Plus the pupus were in the garage. I enjoyed some chips and dip while Bee ate some fresh tako poke. Yum!

To say there was a lot of food would be an understatement. Then again, there was a lot of people. That's cause we know how to throw parties in Hawaii and we love to eat. The best grad parties have the best food. A lot of this was made in his house!

 

I almost forgot to take a picture of the dessert! This is store bought cupcakes. It wasn't a problem for me since the red velvet ones were delicious. Besides, with all the cooking they were doing, I doubt they would have time to bake. Doesn't it look so nice?

Eating wasn't all we did. There was lots of beer for the Uncles. Karaoke late into the night. A light show put on by Ryan's friend. Some late night skating down at the Hawaii Kai skate park. Lots of fun and I can't wait to go over their place again!

Do any of you have massive parties like my family does? Let me know!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway too!

3 Blogs I Love to Read #ChallengeToWrite

I know, I know, I'm kinda late in starting on this but I had lots of posts planned out before this. So this was kind of a fall back for when I either didn't have anything to write about or didn't have the time to write about what I want to. But don't worry, I'll tell you all about the grad party later. I felt like writing before going to work, so this is what you get.

Ramblings of a Suburban Mom

When I first started getting into reading blogs, Jen's was the very first one I read. A friend of mine had introduced me to subscription boxes and I got curious. So of course, I looked it up on the internet. Her blog was one of the top in reviews for subscription boxes. So naturally, I subscribed to her feed. Even though I follow a lot of blogs now, her blog will forever remain my top favorite blog to read.

Subscription Maven

I actually didn't find Amanda's blog till much later after I had already done some reviews on boxes on my own blog. I'm so glad I did though! She subscribes to so many boxes! I learn so much new stuff and she gives great reviews. For those that are serious about their subscription boxes or just addicted to it like me, this is a great blog to read.




I don't necessarily go looking for blogs specifically for fashion advice or ideas. But Miss Angie has this one post where there is a theme around which outfits are built. OMG! I love, love reading those posts. She has such great ideas and if I had the money, I would go run out and buy a lot of the stuff she posts up. Seriously, check it out. She also has loads of giveaways.

There you have it, my 3 favorite blogs! If you'd like to share your top 3, feel free to leave some links in a comment!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Father's Day Fun

I know this post is a little late but better late than never. Father's Day was great for me. I went to brunch with my dad's side of the family. For those that don't know, my parents are divorced. My family is really, really big. Both my mom and dad side of the family are big. Since it was father's day, this one was spent with my dad's side.

It was at Dot's Restaurant in Wahiawa. There was a special Father's Day brunch with Auggie T. and Mel Cabang, local comedians in Hawaii. I had to wake up at 7:30 am just to get ready for this. The night before I had a grad party that I stayed at till like 1 something in the morning so you can imagine how tired I was at the brunch. You'll hear about the grad party tomorrow.

Here is my grandma and grandpa as we waited for them to open the doors. I'm so glad that I have both of my grandparents around at the age of 23. It's always really great to see them and know that they are doing well. Though we all agreed that someone needs to start driving them around because grandpa is at that age where he shouldn't be driving anymore.

Here is my family enjoying their brunch. There was lots of food. I got some ahi limu poke, salad with ranch dressing, Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice. Yummy!

The comedy show was hilarious!! We had lots of fun and laughs. I couldn't get any good pictures of them onstage so I didn't want to post them. If you do check out either comedian, don't be offended by their content. There may be people that might think the content is discriminatory but it's not. In Hawaii, we all tease each other. It's just the way we are and what we find funny.

After a great show and lots of laughs, it was time to say goodbye to the family for now.

Here are my uncles. First one is the serious picture and the second is the silly picture. If you can guess which one is my dad, I applaud you. Just so you know, that is not all the uncles I have on my dad's side. There is way more than that, probably more than I can remember.

Overall, it was a great day and I had a blast spending time with my family. Hope your Father's Day was just as fun as mine!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!