Chinese Dragon Celebration / Happy Birthday SPACES

This past Saturday evening, we were invited to a Chinese Dragon Celebration, "an occasion for driving off evil spirits and pestilence and for finding peace in one's life" -- sounded good to us! Other than said description, we were unsure what this celebration exactly entailed, however what we did know was that the invite was extended to us by (a woman about town blogger, fellow defender of Cleveland and Young Professional, and all around awesome girl) Genna Petrolla, and there was going to be good food, drinks and interesting people.

This particular celebration had two purposes: the first being to observe the Chinese Holiday of the Dragon Festival (which was started when Qu Yuan, a poet who was well known in Anicent China, and threw himself in the Miluo River) and secondly to rejoice in the fact that SPACES Gallery is turning 30 years old. You may or may not know that SPACES is the oldest artist run gallery in the United States located in the Superior Via Duct (the views from this area are lovely, and can be admired on our banner above). On this particular evening, the party was taking place at the supremely talented local artist (who also happens to be a culinary wizard), Qian Li's awesome loft.
We had soo much amazing food at this event, but the most memorable thing that we sampled and loved was Tsung Tzu, which is the main dish of the festival. The origin of this dish is that when Qu Yuan ended his life, the people threw balls of sweet, sticky rice wrapped in bamboo paper to keep the fish from eating his body. Some of you might find this slightly morbid, however -- this dish is quite delicious, below you can see Kelly mastering the opening of this Dragon Festival favorite.

Step One: Admire

Step Two: Unwrap

Step Three: Enjoy

Step Four: Repeat

Fortune Cookies displaying each hors d'oeuvre

Simply a gorgeous evening

All and all it was a great night. Special thanks again to Qian Li, Eric and Genna for this unforgettable experience*