The Lunar New Year 🧧🐂 begins this Friday, 2/12/21. The holiday is a two week festival celebrated with family and friends filled with delicious food and intentions for a prosperous new year. Lunar New Year decorations include calligraphy, plants and food to express a family’s hopes for the new year ahead. By filling the home with auspicious symbols, the family living inside will be surrounded by good fortune through the new year. Here are some helpful tips to help you get started: How to Prepare and Clear 2020’s Bad Luck •Clean Your Home: Sweep 🧹 and clean every corner of your home. Cleaning helps remove last year’s bad luck while also setting a positive intention for the upcoming year. •Clear Your Debts & Settle Conflicts: Resolve that disagreement with your partner, friend or family member. •Pay off your credit card 💳. If you owe someone money, Venmo them before the new year. Prepare Your Mind & Body •Get a haircut 💇🏻. Buy a new outfit (choose red for optimal luck). •Clear your head 🧠 and replace negative thoughts with optimism. Decorate Your Home •Purchase Fresh Flowers 💐: Orchids represent fertility while peonies are particularly auspicious for the Lunar New Year. •Place Fresh Fruit in a Bowl: Oranges 🍊 (with their green leaves still attached) symbolize prosperity. Place a bowl of fresh oranges in your kitchen or living room. •Fill Your Cupboards and Pantry: Abundance 🥘 🍱 🍲 at the Lunar New Year will carry forward into the new year, so make sure your kitchen is stocked! How to Celebrate •Plan a Covid-19 Safe Outdoor Dinner 🍽 : The Lunar New Year begins with a reunion dinner on the eve of the new year that gathers friends and family. Serve dumplings 🥟 for wealth in the new year. Noodles 🍝 symbolize longevity A whole steamed fish 🐟 represents abundance. •Give Red Envelopes 🧧: Giving and receiving red envelopes filled with money is a gesture of goodwill that builds relationships among family, friends and co-workers. Amounts in even numbers are generally preferred, except for the number 4. We wish you happiness and good fortune in the Year of the Ox 🐂!