Celebrating Asian Lunar New Year? Check out the @BestBuy #GiftCards with the Koi Fish! #bbylunarnewyear

#ad: Ascending Butterfly is a member of Best Buy's WOLF Blogger Program and is also a Brand Ambassador and Blogger Advisory Board Member and this is a Sponsored Post. Compensation in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or product/services at no or reduced cost has been exchanged, as always, all opinions are my own!

Best Buy is back this year with a themed Gift Card in honor of the Lunar New Year, and I love that Best Buy supports events they believe are of importance to their employees, customers and communities, and the upcoming Lunar New Year is one of those important celebrations.

While I know most of you still haven't taken down your Halloween decorations yet and are probably not ready to welcome November, the year 2014 is swiftly coming to a close butterflies. We turn the clocks back an hour this weekend for the end of Daylight Savings (Sunday, November 2nd) and as old man winter gets ready to settle in I for one can't help thinking of the new year ahead.

I learned of the Chinese Red Envelopes tradition, (known as Hong Bao) from an Asian shop while on vacation and absolutely fell in love with the idea and the tradition. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is said to ward off evil spirits, the amount of money in these envelopes will end in an even digit, according to Chinese belief odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. There is also a tradition that money should not be given in fours nor should the number four appear in the amount as the pronunciation of the word 'four' resembles that of the word for 'death' which would be thought to bring bad luck. I find it interesting that in Japan the envelope is actually customarily white and NOT red.

WHERE TO GET IT:

1. Go to E-Gift Cards
2. Scroll to the right until you see the Gift Card with the Two Koi Fish.
3. Prefer a physical Gift Card? Press on the image below:

Press on the image above to purchase a $50 Best Buy Lunar New Year Gift Card

 
My Take:

My zodiac sign is 'Aries', and in Western Astrology, red is the color associated with my sign so I tend to gravitate to all things red.

A very dear penpal started me on the tradition of sending New Year's Cards and wishes, as she is Jewish and doesn't celebrate Christmas she asked many years ago if we could exchange New Year's wishes instead of Christmas Cards, and I loved the idea and expanded it to additional friends and family and many clients who have always appreciated the gesture. This year the upcoming Lunar New Year falls on February 19, 2015 of our Gregorian Calendar and I can't think of any better way to honor friends who observe the 'lucky money' custom than with this E-Gift Card! I may even make this image my screensaver during the month of February for a bit of extra luck!

2015 is the year of the sheep and as an Aries in Western Astrology I am totally digging this Year of the Sheep Graphic (I hope this means I am in for a 'lucky' year in 2015!):

What is YOUR New Year Tradition Butterfly? Do you celebrate Lunar New Year? If so, tag us on a picture of your 'lucky money' envelope this year, we would LOVE to see it!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

FTC Disclosure: I am a Best Buy Brand Ambassador. This allows me to share information, sales, product reviews and deals on a regular basis! As a Best Buy Ambassador I receive products for editorial consideration, use affiliate links in my posts and am sometimes with compensated with Best Buy Gift Cards as well. All opinions are 100% my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may visit our full giveaway and disclosure page for complete policy information.

#ad: Celebrate 'Lunar New Year' with a NEW @BestBuy #bbylunarnewyear E-Gift Card Design! @BestBuyWOLF

#ad: Ascending Butterfly is a member of Best Buy's WOLF Blogger Program and this is a Sponsored Post. Compensation in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or product/services at no or reduced cost has been exchanged, as always, all opinions are my own!

Best Buy Lunar New Year E-Gift Card

I'm pretty sure it's no surprise to regular readers that I have a fascination with Asian Art and Culture. It traces back to a beautiful Asian Jewelry Box that belonged to my Grandma, I admired it so as a little girl and it started a lifelong fascination with a culture that seemed like a world away at the time. In fact one of my handbag review and giveaways that is still the most popular is one that boasts an Asian design (check out that review HERE if you missed, just bear in mind the giveaway component to that post is long since closed!)

I also like to collect cards with Asian themes, many Casinos put them out in advance of Lunar New Year and I always make it a point to get one, so when I found out that Best Buy was putting out a Lunar New Year E-Gift card I was pretty excited! (And when I'm pretty excited about something, I tend to want to want to share the news with my butterflies!)

I love that Best Buy supports events they believe are of importance to their employees, customers and communities, and the upcoming Lunar New Year is one of those important celebrations.

A former Vietnamese co-worker would share about her traditions and she would always bring in 'bánh phục linh' - a popular cookie during the Vietnamese New Year. And I learned of the Chinese Red Envelopes, (known as Hong Bao) from a favorite shop and absolutely fell in love with the idea and the tradition. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is said to ward off evil spirits, the amount of money in these envelopes will end in an even digit, according to Chinese belief odd-numbered money gifts are traditionally associated with funerals. There is also a tradition that money should not be given in fours nor should the number four appear in the amount as the pronunciation of the word 'four' resembles that of the word for 'death' which would be thought to bring bad luck. One year when I worked in the Banking Industry one of the Banking Analysts who had come back from a trip to China brought the team back these envelopes and I still have mine!

I find it interesting that in Japan the envelope is actually customarily white and NOT red.


WHERE TO GET IT:

1. Go to E-Gift Cards
1. Scroll to the right until you see the Gift Card with the Two Koi Fish

GIVE IT TO WIN IT:

There is also a great chance to win Daily Gift Card Prizes up to $10,000 in the Give it to Win It promotion, but hurry it ends SOON!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Take:

As my zodiac sign is 'Aries' in Western Astrology, red is the color associated with my sign so I tend to gravitate to all things red automatically anyway.

A very dear penpal started me on the tradition of sending New Year's Cards and wishes, as she is Jewish and doesn't celebrate Christmas she asked many years ago if we could exchange New Year's wishes instead of Christmas Cards, and I loved the idea and expanded it to additional friends and family and many clients who have always appreciated the gesture. This year the upcoming Lunar New Year occurs during January 31st 2014 of our Gregorian Calendar and I can't think of any better way to honor friends who observe the 'lucky money' custom than with this E-Gift Card! I may even make this image my screensaver during the month of January for a bit of extra luck!

What is YOUR New Year Tradition Butterfly? Do any of our readers celebrate Lunar New Year? If so, tag us on a picture of your 'lucky money' envelope this year, we would LOVE to see it!

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•●•٠·˙

FTC Disclosure: I am a Best Buy Brand Ambassador. This allows me to share information, sales, product reviews and deals on a regular basis! This is a compensated campaign brought to you by Best Buy for editorial consideration. All opinions are 100% my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR, Part 255 - Guides Concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, you may visit our full giveaway and disclosure page for complete policy information.