Chinese CRew Year: The Year of the Snake

It was another relaxing and wonderful weekend up north at the beloved Love Shack! It was our last Chinese New Year celebration at the Love Shack, which is of course bittersweet. We all have excellent, fun memories at the Gress house in West Mansfield, (including mine & Mingus's epic road trip that started it all for us), but the departure from the Love Shack will also mean we get the Gress's back in Kentucky--Louisville to be exact--and we are all stoked about that news.

Ten of us traveled from Kentucky to make a crew of 12 for the weekend. While we had layers of ice in central KY, no snow to be seen, but luckily it was coming down in Ohio. No blizzard repeat of 35 years ago (thank goodness!) but enough for my Mingus to play from the time we arrived on Friday night (MIDNIGHT!) until 2am! The next day, after a delicious brunch at the Amish restaurant in Plain City, Der Dutchman, we got some disc sleds and Gress took us on 4-wheeler rides through the snow. We may have all come out with some bangs and bruises but all totally worth it.

At least they still get snow in Ohio! Had lots of fun playing outside!

Four Wheeler Rides = Excellent idea!
Except $5 disc sleds don't last long... we destroyed three!

Mingus getting me all safety strapped in for my turn!

We of course did the traditional Chinese feast, which this year's menu included: Orange Chicken, vegetable spring rolls, miso soup, and vegetable fried rice. We of course made an elaborate cupcake display in honor of the Year of the Snake and to celebrate BenDeisel's birthday. 

Host Sara-Boo working on delicious Orange Chicken for our Chinese feast!

The fumes were SO strong--which was great for the flavor
of dinner itself, but bad for the eyes. Miche improvised well!

Double Headed Wang for the Year of the Snake!

While the ladies took care of most of dinner prep, the men had an epic couch burning. The old yellow couch, originally belonging to Gress's grandmother, traveled with him from place to place through our party years in Louisville and we finally bid it farewell (as it's not something the two of them want to tote back to Kentucky in their move.) After the sharing of fond memories around the couch, the men took it outside for a giant bonfire.

Reminiscing Apartment and 1040 memories from the epic yellow couch that
lived through it all... The couch went out with a bang!

A great way to spend our last Chinese New Year at the Love Shack!

Fantastic group of friends! We are so blessed!

Chinese New Year 2012: Puff The Magic New Year.