In honor of 2013 coming to a close, I decided to link up with Neely and Lindsey to tell you a little bit about my New Year's traditions...
1. What is the best New Years Eve you’ve ever had?
To be honest, NYE is not my favorite holiday. I find the whole thing to be incredibly stressful and expensive. The cover charges to get into bars and clubs are ridiculous, and even if you go to a house party, it is inevitably absolutely impossible to get a cab home from any of these places. So you are forced to either stay sober or crash at someone's house for the night.
In general, the most fun nights I've had ringing in the new year have been when I've paid for a hotel somewhere. The one that comes to mind most is NYE 2006. I had been living, single and fabulous, in Seattle for less than a year. My very good friend Jeanna and I headed up to Vancouver, BC with a couple other girlfriends to celebrate. We got a hotel room right down the street from The Roxy, one of my favorite clubs up there. We drank a ton at the hotel beforehand to save money, and then used our pre-purchased VIP passes to waltz on in as only a group of single girls can. We were greeted by a live cover band playing '80s music, and we danced the night away, pausing only for the midnight countdown and champagne toast. And at the end of the evening we just stumbled back on down the road and into our waiting hotel beds.
No stress, low cost. Love it.
1. What is the best New Years Eve you’ve ever had?
To be honest, NYE is not my favorite holiday. I find the whole thing to be incredibly stressful and expensive. The cover charges to get into bars and clubs are ridiculous, and even if you go to a house party, it is inevitably absolutely impossible to get a cab home from any of these places. So you are forced to either stay sober or crash at someone's house for the night.
In general, the most fun nights I've had ringing in the new year have been when I've paid for a hotel somewhere. The one that comes to mind most is NYE 2006. I had been living, single and fabulous, in Seattle for less than a year. My very good friend Jeanna and I headed up to Vancouver, BC with a couple other girlfriends to celebrate. We got a hotel room right down the street from The Roxy, one of my favorite clubs up there. We drank a ton at the hotel beforehand to save money, and then used our pre-purchased VIP passes to waltz on in as only a group of single girls can. We were greeted by a live cover band playing '80s music, and we danced the night away, pausing only for the midnight countdown and champagne toast. And at the end of the evening we just stumbled back on down the road and into our waiting hotel beds.
No stress, low cost. Love it.
2. Are you doing anything for NYE this year and if so what?
Funny you should ask. For the past several years we've been attending a big shindig that our good friends host every year, but they're taking a break this time around so we're forced to make other plans. And frankly, we're not that highly motivated (I mentioned it's not my favorite holiday). I thought briefly about inviting a few good friends over to our house, but I'm hosting guests both tonight and tomorrow night so I'm not sure if I'll have the energy. Stew would like to go to a bar somewhere, even if it's local, and I don't blame him one bit seeing that he has a permanent sober driver right now. But yeah... we definitely need to round up some friends, I'm thinking. Old, lame ones like us who don't have any plans yet, either.
3. Name a book we should all read come January?
Let's see... the only book I marked with a rare "favorite" heart this year on my book club list was The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. Here's what I said at the time: "Oh, how happy it makes me when I discover an amazing book like this! I'm really sad it's over; I would love to be able to experience it for the first time, again." I've had another one of her books, The Forgotten Garden, on my shelf for a while now as well... I should probably read it before Baby Boy arrives, because I have a feeling he's going to be keeping me far too busy to read anything but Dr. Seuss...
4. What are your new years resolutions?
I don't actually do resolutions... I feel like they inevitably set people up for failure. It's just silly to sit down and write up a list of goals you're just going to end up re-writing next year, anyway. That being said, there are some things on my general life list that I'm constantly trying to work on...
Exercise routinely and eat healthy foods whenever possible.
Focus on the positive, not the negative.
Love others and treat them like I would like to be treated.
Smile and laugh every single day.
Adopt a "do it now" mentality -- no procrastination!
Read classic books from different centuries.
Cherish my friends and family, and tell them how important they are to me.
Invest in my marriage every single day.
Raise my son to be a happy, healthy and productive member of society.
But these are not just things that I'll strive to do in the upcoming year... they are goals for my whole life, from now until the day I die. I think everyone should constantly strive to be the best version of themselves, and for me these are just a few simple things that I'll try to work on as often as I can.
Care to share any of your resolutions, should you have them?
Look at what a hot B you were! Ow OW! ;) I'm with you on NYE... too many sloppys running amuck. I used to be one of them. haha :P
ReplyDeleteWe normally walk a couple blocks up to our "main" Downtown street to watch the Pelican Drop so I'm guessing we will do that again this year. I've actually never been drunk on NYE-- I'd love to know what that's like.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on all your resolutions!!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful New Year!
xo
christina
christinawhoblog.com
Thank you, I hope you have a wonderful new year as well, and a fabulous and sparkly NYE! :-)
DeleteI'm headed out with friends and yes it's going to cost me a small fortune but I hope it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteHave a good one!
I've had a variety of New Year's Eve celebrations from going to my aunt and uncle's house and playing with my cousins until midnight to sleeping through the New Year. A couple of years ago, we started going to a really nice restaurant with a group of our friends and then either going out with them afterwards or ringing in the New Year just the two of us at home. Scott actually prefers New Years to most other holidays. He even worked on Christmas Day to be off NYE!
ReplyDeleteI agree... NYE is not high on my list of holiday favorites. But, I do like the idea of a "new" year and starting making changes for the better :)
ReplyDeleteIt's just always seemed kind of overrated to me... but I agree, starting a new year all "fresh" is always a nice feeling!
DeleteNYE is too much pressure in my opinion. call it lame but we usually end up with some friends somewhere playing board games, eating, and just having a good time. but it's usually not my thing either!
ReplyDeleteI'm not huge on New Years either. I always stay up until midnight, but I'd rather just celebrate on New York time (watch the ball drop in Times Square at 9 p.m. then go to bed). This year should be fun though - our friends are having a fancy dinner party at their house and they have a view of the space needle so I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, resolutions set you up for failure. A list of life aspirations is the way to go and your list is great! Although, I will admit I live the feeling of a fresh, new year. Its strange, but I do. 😊
ReplyDeleteum, can I echo what you said about NYE, not a fan! we have no plans this year, and might just hang out at our casa while the baby sleeps and we toast with some champs. thanks for posting your 'resolutions', helping me to focus on a theme for the year ahead and what I want to accomplish. I think we should revive our book club and throw in some mommy books too!!!
ReplyDelete