New Year's Eve

Today is New Year's Eve.  Typically this is a night of celebrating the passing of another year, and making resolutions for the new year.

And a lot of eating and drinking.

For several years we've had a late dinner with friends at a local restaurant that provided party hats, noise makers, mardi gras beads, and a free champagne toast at midnight.  Last year we went somewhere different that had a live band, buffet, and champagne toast at midnight.

This year, we just didn't feel like staying out that late.  So instead we're going to dinner around 6pm and will ring in the new year in the comfort of our flannel pajama pants, on the sofa, with the dogs, watching the New Year's Eve coverage on TV.  If we stay awake until midnight we'll go to bed shortly after.

Yeah, that's how we're gonna roll this year... like ballers.

However you choose to celebrate New Year's Eve, I hope you have a FUN and SAFE time!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we tidied up house a bit, watched some TV, and had a generally nice/relaxed day.  We both showered, dressed, and then met Steven & Thad to drive through the holiday light show in the park. It was cute, and while geared toward kids, it was a fun Christmasy thing to do.

Then the 4 of us went to Bethany Blues to ring in the new year.  We typically go to Dos Locos but this year decided to do something different.  Thad had learned that a local band he likes a lot was playing at Bethany Blues so we decided to switch it up and go there.  We started out in the bar for drinks but quickly realized it would be WAY too loud once the band began to play.

So we moved to a table at the edge of the dining room which turned out to be perfect.  We couldn't see the band from our table, but its location allowed us to hear them well and still be able to talk amongst ourselves.  We all enjoyed our food and drinks, and then shortly before midnight the staff passed out hats, horns, and glasses of champagne.

We toasted the new year, then headed out into the frigid cold (13 degrees) and went home.  Spouse & I stayed up until shortly after 1am watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

Today we just relaxed and watched TV nearly all day.  The dogs loved napping under the fleece throws on our laps.  That evening we went to The Pond with Steven & Thad for their 1/2 price specials for dinner.  We returned home and watched TV until bedtime.

New Years Eve

As we've done the last couple years, we went to Dos Locos for New Years Eve.  We love the food there, the owners are always so great to us, and you can order off the regular menu rather than having to buy a 'New Years Eve dinner package'.  

We arrived at 9:30 and stayed until about 12:15.  We had a great time!

Spouse & me

Mike, Joe P, and Steven

Joe P, Steven, Marty, John

Yours truly

 

Dos Locos really decorated for the night!

John

Spouse, Marty, Joe Dos, me

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was a lot of fun!

John & Marty

My happy husband

Thad & Steven, who will never pose for a photo so I always have to sneak a candid one.

Yours truly in complimentary hat, glasses, and beads!

All the accoutrements of a festive New Year's Eve celebration

Just after midnight

 We went to bed at 1am so we slept in the next morning until 10:15.  I was surprised our little doggies didn't make us get up earlier to take them out!  We met up with Steven & Thad for brunch at the Crystal where our favorite server was wearing a festive New Year's hat with sequins and blinking lights!

Pau Pau

Not sure what else New Year's Day will hold for us, but I'm guessing there will be a lot of relaxing.  I wish much happiness, health, and prosperity to all of you in 2016.

New Years Eve

Tonight we are meeting friends at Dos Locos for a late dinner (9:00).  This will be our 3rd year in a row spending New Year's Eve there.  Unlike many restaurants that have special menus, a live band, and 'free' champagne toast for $100 per person, we like being able to order off the regular menu (at regular prices) and ringing in the new year with a champagne toast, noise makers, party hats, and good friends.  This year it will be Steven & Thad and Marty & John joining us.
 

Thanks to Sean for this adorable photo!

Here is a re-post of what I believe to be a helpful observation regarding new year's resolutions.  Enjoy!

A common New Years Eve custom (in the US at least) is to make New Years resolutions.  Many people find New Year's resolutions to be worthless, since most are not resolutions at all, but rather, wishful intentions that are forgotten within a week. Here are the top 10 most frequent New Year's resolutions:

1. Diet
2. Quit smoking
3. Exercise
4. Quit drinking
5. Quit procrastinating
6. Save money
7. Go to church
8. Wake up early
9. Quit cursing
10. Read the newspaper

I, on the other hand, like to make a few resolutions each year that I really work to achieve. For any chance at success one's resolutions must be realistic and measurable.  How else will you know for sure that you've accomplished them?

"Diet" is not a good resolution because there is no way to measure it.  If you loose 1 lb have you accomplished your resolution?  Technically, perhaps but "Loose 15 lbs" is a better resolution because its realistic and measurable.   

"Stop procrastinating" is not a good resolution, as there is no real way to measure whether or not you've done this.  Being more specific such as "do laundry every Sunday" or "clean the fridge on the 1st of each month" are examples of how you will stop procrastinating that you can measure.

"Save money" is not specific enough.  If you want to have $5K more in your savings account, make that your resolution.  If you want to go to Hawaii on vacation and you think it will cost you $5K, your resolution should be "Save $5K for Hawaii vacation".

One year my resolution was to entertain on a regular basis. Spouse & I picked a weekend in every month and invited friends over for dinner both Fri and Sat nights. The dinners were often simple but we had a LOT of fun. 

Another year my resolution was to sort, throw away, organize and file several bags/boxes of paperwork (ie: bank statements, paystubs, real estate documents, insurance documents, etc.) before April 15 when tax filings were due. What a relief it was to finally accomplish this!

So while you wait for the clock to strike midnight tonight and you ring in the new year with a toast, give some thought to a few realistic, measurable, new years resolutions and then work to accomplish them.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year!

For New Years Eve Spouse & I decided to go to Dos Locos again with Steven & Thad, Joe P, and Michael.  (Michael's partner Nathan is a nurse and had to work at the hospital.)  We rung in the new year there last year and had a great time.  Joe & Darryl own and run Dos Locos and they always make sure we have fun.

Michael & Joe P

We started with a pitcher of Spicy Mango Margaritas and chips with salsa and a large guacamole.  Honestly, I probably could have skipped ordering an entree with the number of chips and guac I ate.  But no, I ordered the Mexican Platter which consists of a beef taco, a chicken enchilada, and a cheese enchilada with rice and beans and about 7 lbs of melted cheese.  Don't get me wrong - it was delicious, but way too much food.  I wound up taking 1/2 of it home.

Me & Spouse

Part way into our meal Joe (of Joe & Daryl, the owners) passed out party hats, tiaras, Happy New Year necklaces, and noise makers.  Some at our table were slow embrace these accouterments but I forced them to put them on, at least for photos.

Steven & Thad

At some point Joe (of Joe & Daryl, the owners) came around with a tray of shots, passing 1 out to each of us.  I'm not certain of the ingredients but I think it was Cotton Candy vodka and cranberry juice.  Steven took a tiny sip and wrinkled his face, so I finished his.  Thad was unwilling to even try it, so I drank his too.  A 2nd pitcher of margaritas was delivered to our table so I freshened everyone's glasses.  (Isn't that a funny term?  "Freshened"??)

Joe P asked our group to make new years resolutions.  Most came up with silly things (ie: lose 150 lbs) which was funny and made us laugh.  Our waiter brought us champagne flutes and before we knew it, we heard the countdown to midnight.  I forced everyone to don their party hats and tiara (again) and we toasted the new year.

Afterward we hung around for about 1/2 an hour, then went home.  It was a fun way to celebrate New Years Eve.  Here's hoping all of you celebrated New Years Eve the way you wanted to (out or at home) and that your 2015 is peaceful, happy, and prosperous.

Saying 'Happy New Year'

So here we are, on the 10th of January, out to dinner with Steven & Thad and Joe P, and I see a friend/acquaintance I hadn't seen in a while.  So I said to the person "Hey, great to see you!  Happy New Year!"

Afterwards 1 of my dining companions (I won't reveal which 1) suggested that it was "too late to be saying that", which began a short yet I believe important conversation about when is it too late to wish someone a happy new year.

Someone suggested it should only be said during the holidays (ie: the days between Christmas and New Years Day).  

However, I believe that if it is prior to January 15 and you have not seen the person since before New Years Day, it is still appropriate to wish them a happy new year.  After January 15 it is too late, regardless of when you last saw them.

What do you think??

Happy New Year!!!

We had a really fun New Years Eve last night!!!

We met Steven & Thad, Joe P, and Michael & Nathan for dinner at 8:30 at Dos Locos.  (I enjoyed a delicious blood orange margarita with my dinner, by the way.)  We had fun talking, laughing, eating, and drinking as expected.  But then, the owners of the restaurant, Joe & Daryl, began passing out hats and noise makers and encouraging everyone to ring in the new year with them.  It was 10:30 and I wasn't at all sure our group would agree to stay.

Surprisingly everyone at our table sort of mutually agreed to stay, so we ordered another round of drinks and "practiced" with the blowers and hand-held noise makers.

Michael & Nathan

Joe P & Spouse

 

Our festive table

Thad & Steven

Me & Spouse

You may notice in the photos that Joe P and Thad are wearing hats that read "Happy Birthday".  Apparently they ran out of "Happy New Year" hats but didn't want anyone to go without a hat so they brought out the birthday ones.  They were festive none-the-less.

Shortly before midnight a large screen was lowered at one end of the dining room onto which a TV feed was projected so we could watch the countdown in Times Square.  Then the servers passed out champagne (in real glass flutes) in preparation for the big moment.  At midnight we all shouted "HAPPY NEW YEAR", kissed the person closest to us and drank our champagne.

Although it was completely unplanned, we had a really fun New Years Eve at Dos Locos!

New Years Eve

Tonight we are meeting friends at Dos Locos for a late dinner (8:30).  I'm guessing that will be the extent of our New Years Eve celebrating since we were not invited to any parties this year.  But we will be with our friends and eating good food, so it will be fun.  Perhaps when we get home we'll watch Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin banter back and forth until midnight.

A common New Years Eve custom (in the US at least) is to make New Years resolutions.  Many people find New Year's resolutions to be worthless, since most are not resolutions at all, but rather, wishful intentions that are forgotten within a week. Here are the top 10 most frequent New Year's resolutions:

1. Diet
2. Quit smoking
3. Exercise
4. Quit drinking
5. Quit procrastinating
6. Save money
7. Go to church
8. Wake up early
9. Quit cursing
10. Read the newspaper

I, on the other hand, like to make a few resolutions each year that I really work to achieve. For any chance at success one's resolutions must be realistic and measurable.  How else will you know for sure that you've accomplished them?

"Diet" is not a good resolution because there is no way to measure it.  If you loose 1 lb have you accomplished your resolution?  Technically, perhaps but "Loose 15 lbs" is a better resolution because its realistic and measurable.   

"Stop procrastinating" is not a good resolution, as there is no real way to measure whether or not you've done this.  Being more specific such as "do laundry every Sunday" or "clean the fridge on the 1st of each month" are examples of how you will stop procrastinating that you can measure.

"Save money" is not specific enough.  If you want to have $5K more in your savings account, make that your resolution.  If you want to go to Hawaii on vacation and you think it will cost you $5K, your resolution should be "Save $5K for Hawaii vacation".

One year my resolution was to entertain on a regular basis. Spouse & I picked a weekend in every month and invited friends over for dinner both Fri and Sat nights. The dinners were often simple but we had a LOT of fun. 

Another year my resolution was to sort, throw away, organize and file several bags/boxes of paperwork (ie: bank statements, paystubs, real estate documents, insurance documents, etc.) before April 15 when tax filings were due. What a relief it was to finally accomplish this!

So while you wait for the clock to strike midnight tonight and you ring in the new year with a toast, give some thought to a few realistic, measurable, new years resolutions and then work to accomplish them.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

Last night's party at Steven & Thad's was a lot of fun.  There was WAY too much food and plenty to drink and everyone had a great time.  Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper were on the TV as we counted down the final hour until midnight.  Spouse & I left at 12:30.

Today we met Steven & Thad and Joe P for breakfast at The Crystal and then we all went to see Joe P's new home.  On Fri he closed on the townhome/condo he was selling and on the home he had built.  The new home is absolutely beautiful and I'm sure Joe will be very happy there.  We were all brainstorming about new furniture for the new home, as he sold much of the townhome furniture to its new owners.

Spouse & I returned home, showered, and got dressed for yet another party.  We only stayed about an hour as both of us were tuckered out.  We returned home at 4:00 and relaxed for a little while.  We're about to head out the door yet again, to eat leftovers at Steven & Thad's from last night's party.

And because I know what you're thinking I'll go ahead and answer your question.  Yes, I'll be starting a diet very soon.

I saw this on facebook and thought I'd share it:

I think this is a neat idea and encourage you to share it with others in your life.

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve

Spouse was scheduled to work until 4:30; I was scheduled to work until 1:00 so the plan was for me to go to the grocery store and purchase the ingredients to make potato salad for Steven & Thad's New Years Eve party, then make the potato salad before Spouse got home.  That way we could both relax before going to the party at 7:30.  What is that saying, "The best laid schemes of mice and men"??

Although my office closed at 1:00 as scheduled, I had an unexpected visit from an out-of-state client and her friend who wanted to take a look at some homes.  (Luckily for them I did not have any other appointments AND the homes they wanted to see were all vacant/available.)  Of course I agreed to show them the homes, so I didn't get back to the office until 3:00.

After grabbing what I needed at the grocery store and taking Marvin Parker outside to do his business, I finally got started on the potato salad at 3:45.  Spouse texted me at 3:30 saying he was leaving work early.  I had washed and cubed the potatoes and poured them into the pot on the stove when he got home to 'take over'.  He had to put the finished potato salad into the freezer to get it chilled in time to take to the party.

Steven & Thad are hosting a potluck style dinner and I'm sure many of our mutual friends like The Bobs, Joe P, Jason, and Thatcher will be there.  I'm not going to wait until midnight to drink the bubbly.  I'm bringing a bottle of champagne and St Germain to drink throughout the night.  Yes, I do love a good Cosmo but in the spirit of New Years Eve I'm drinking bubbly instead.

Here's hoping you have a fun and festive New Years Eve!

However you choose to celebrate, please do not drink and drive. 

Weekend highlights

My office was closed Sat & Sun so I had a rare weekend off to spend with Spouse. We had a leisurely Sat morning. Spouse got his hair cut and picked up a few items at the grocery store while I drank coffee and watched back-t0-back episodes of "Sell This House". Afterward we stopped in at a few of the outlet stores looking for some good clearance deals, then had lunch at the Robin Hood diner. Then we went for a walk on the boardwalk! It was incredibly warm and sunny and there were tons of people on the boardwalk and on the beach. I had on a short sleeve shirt and no jacket. We ran into several friends who were also taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. Then we stopped on the way home at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients to make mac-n-cheese to take to Steven & Thad's potluck dinner. That evening we joined a bunch of friends at Steven & Thad's for a festive New Year's Eve celebration. We had a lot of fun, and then at 11pm we all headed to a local watering hole to ring in the new year with a champagne toast.

Sun morning we met Steven & Thad and Joe P for breakfast. That afternoon we walked over to our friend George's house for his New Years open house. On our walk back home, we were invited into our new neighbor's home which is under construction. They showed us around and told us about the energy efficient features, which really seemed to excite them. Then we walked over to our friend Lee Ann's New Years open house. It was kind of crowded and Spouse had a headache so we didn't stay too long. When we got home Spouse took a nap and I watched some TV shows I had stored on the DVR. Then later that evening we went back over to Steven & Thad's house with Joe P and ate the left overs from the previous night's party for dinner. We all vowed to stop over-eating starting the next day.

I have been over-indulging since mid-Nov and am NOT happy with the way my clothes now fit, or don't fit! So I'm now making a concerted effort to eat right and lose weight. Wish me luck!

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

I saw this on facebook and it gave me a chuckle!

I also saw this video on facebook and wanted to share it, although its NSFW. Its a great song, and the guy is super sexy. I got a real kick out of it!

A friend sent me this and I just had to share it.

Remember the old Herbal Essence shampoo commercials where the women washing their hair had orgasm-like reactions to the scent of Herbal Essence? Well, check out this spoof video for Herbal Essence for MEN!

My office is going to be closed Sat & Sun for New Years, which means I'll have 2 weekends in a row (Christmas & New Year's Eve) off work and with Spouse. How nice, since I always work on Sat and every other Sun.

We're going to a New Year's Eve potluck dinner party at Steven & Thad's tomorrow night. It should be fun! I hope all of you have a fun and safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2012!!

Weekend highlights

Fri night our friend Jody had a New Year's Eve potluck at his beach house. We met him at the beach this past summer, along with several other friends from DC and Baltimore who also came to the potluck. It was our 1st time seeing many of them since the summer and we had a great time. The food was amazing, too. Afterward most of us from the potluck headed over to the Double L bar, where we met up with several of our local friends too, to ring in new year. Even Spouse went to the bar, which is quite unusual. We talked, talked, danced, and had fun. At midnight we all toasted with champagne and wished each other a happy new year. At 12:30 we called it a night and went home.

We slept in until 9:30 Sat morning, then began preparing to have company. Steven & Thad hosted a retirement party at our house for our mutual friend Joe P so we cleaned the house and set up for party. In addition to Steven & Thad and Joe P, several other friend's of Joe's came such as Alisha & Jack, one of The Bobs, Chris & Jason, Allen, Deiter, Jim, Rick & Candy, and Rick & Nick. Thad brought balloons and made decorations out of 'vintage' photos of Joe P.

We had Spouse's cranberry/orange glazed turkey, pasta with meat sauce, pork and sour kraut, antipasto, potatoes au gratin, homemade cheesecake, pecan tartlets, and my cranberry/orange bundt cake. Everything was SOOO good, and we had a great time.

The last of the folks left just before midnight.

Sun morning we had breakfast at the Long Neck Diner with Steven & Thad. It was a rainy day so after we got home we just relaxed the rest of the day, watching TV and putzing around on our laptops. That evening we met up with Steven & Thad and Joe P for dinner at La Tonalteca. It was the perfect end to our holiday weekend.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget but too small to be their own post.

Spouse was off work today for New Years so we went grocery shopping at 8:30 this morning. We're having friends over for dinner tomorrow and we needed to get a fresh (not frozen) turkey to roast today. We went to 4 different grocery stores and only 1 of them even had fresh turkeys. Spouse roasted the turkey and it smelled/looked amazing! Others are bringing food too. I made an orange/cranberry bundt cake.

Tonight we're going to a potluck dinner for New Year's Eve. I made sweet potato shuffle and corn casserole, my no-fail dishes. After the potluck we might meet up with some friends at a local watering hole, and we might stop in at another friend's casual New Year's eve party. There's certainly no shortage of options for us this New Years Eve!

My friend Bob sent me this, which gave me a chuckle. (Click to enlarge.)
My friend Jared sent me this:

and this...

Did you hear/read about Pat Robertson's idiotic claim that the recent heavy snow is God's punishment for Americans who were traveling to do something gay? How incredibly stupid is that?!?! Doesn't he realize that many hetero travelers were on their way to celebrate the baby Jesus' birthday with their families? How is that 'gay'? Its amazing to me that anyone even pays attention to that nutjob anymore.

I hope everyone has a FUN and SAFE New Years Eve!!

New Year's weekend highlights

We had a terrific New Year's weekend! Although we hadn't planned a lot of activities in advance, our 3-day weekend was full of fun stuff!

For New Year's Eve we went to a potluck dinner at Chris & Jason's house. Many of our friends were there, including Steven & Thad, the Bobs, Rusty, Joe, and Art. I had simmered a crockpot full of meatballs all day long and took them to the party. We had a ham, potato salad, spinach balls, chicken balls, chips and dips, hot wings, my saucy meatballs, and everything was delicious. I had a mimosa and a glass of Prosecco at the party. Then around 10:00 the group went to a local watering hole where we hung out until the final countdown to the new year. We raised our clear plastic champagne glasses and at midnight we toasted and wished each other a happy new year. Earlier in the day I got a text message from my old friend David, indicating he was on his way into town so we arranged to meet up at the watering hole. The last time we'd seen each other was at my grandparents' funeral in Jan 1990, 20 years ago! I introduced him to Spouse and we had fun chatting and reminiscing.

On New Year's day most of the guys from the potluck reconvened for brunch at The Buttery, a beautiful restaurant in an old Victorian house. The food and mimosas were good, the homemade baked goods were great, but the company was the best. We ate, drank, and laughed for 2 1/2 hours. A great start to the new year in my opinion. Spouse & I stopped at a few stores to do some comparison shopping, then walked over to Jared & Merle's house. They'd invited us to come over for a little new year's nosh (we didn't tell them we'd just finished brunch an hour earlier) and we had a great time. Jared made a homemade cheese cake and homemade eggnog with spiced rum, both of which were out of this world. We visited with them in their parlor and I sat in the chair closest to the fireplace which added that extra umph to a warm and cozy afternoon. Jared sent us home with 2 huge slices of cheese cake, too!

Once home, Spouse took a nap and I watched some TV until it was time for our regular Fri Night Dinner with 'the usual suspects'. 12 of us ate at Miltonian Pizzeria and Wing House, and Spouse & I shared our favorite: Bodacious buffalo chicken pizza. (Its hard to believe we could possibly eat again after all we'd eaten earlier that day.) Afterward, several of the guys came back to our house for a little while before we all headed out to the MANDance, a monthly dance party at a local watering hole. Since Spouse doesn't really like going to bars, it was a real surprise to me that he agreed to go out 2 nights in a row! I only had 1 cocktail because the MANDance quickly got very crowded and hot. Simply getting to the bar was an ordeal, so we just danced and had a great time. We saw lots of friends there, including our old friend Kevin who moved to FL several years ago, then moved to MD last year, then moved back home to DC a few months ago. What a nice surprise to catch up with him again!

Sat Spouse & I had breakfast out, then did a little more comparison shopping. (He was looking for 1/2 sheet cake size pans and we are looking for a small chest freezer.) Once home again Spouse took a nap and I watched TV and played around on Facebook. We had dinner at Irish Eyes Pub with Steven & Thad. I had a tasty sandwich of turkey, cole slaw, and thousand island dressing on pumpernickel bread, with fries. Spouse had cajun chicken pasta. The 4 of us returned to our house and watched "Bruno". Like everyone else, we found it to be funny in parts but not as good as "Borat". Afterward we split the 2 huge pieces of Jared's cheese cake between the 4 of us.

Sun we had brunch with our friends Koset & Jim. I had french toast with a side of scrapple. Mmmm, good! We met them at the car club dinner and awards banquet last Sept, and learned that they live 1 block from where Spouse & I 1st lived together in VA. They also have a house in Rehoboth Beach and spent the New Year's weekend there. We had a great time getting to know them better and the time just flew by. Later Spouse (finally) found is 1/2 sheet cake pans at a good price, and then picked up some groceries for our new healthy eating plan. He roasted yellow, zucchini, and acorn squash, eggplant, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. He also roasted 6 boneless chicken breasts and a steak. Now that the cooking has mostly been done, for dinner this week we'll just need to heat up the meat and vegetables and season (if necessary).

We capped off our long weekend by indulging in some soon-to-be forbidden flavors, as our diet begins on Mon. We met Steven & Thad at Purple Parrot where I had an absurdly large platter of nachos and beer. And as if that pig-out wasn't enough, we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream on the way home! I was so full from dinner that I barely managed to eat my delicious combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter flavored ice cream. I felt as if I were going to explode.

Now, I will go ahead and say what I know you're all thinking: "It sounds like you ate the entire weekend!" I don't blame you; its basically true. We over-indulged the entire weekend because we felt like it was our last chance (for a while, at least) to enjoy these decadent foods and treats. See, Steven & Thad and Spouse & I all 4 started new eating plans today. Although using somewhat different methods, our shared goal is to reduce our portion sizes, reduce our consumption of processed foods, and increase our consumption of fresh, natural veggies and fruit. Along with increased exercise, we anticipate our healthy eating plans will result in weight loss and a better overall feeling about ourselves. So this past weekend - a holiday weekend - was our last chance to indulge our love for tasty, fatty, sweet, fried foods.

I'd say we took full advantage of that opportunity.

Crush du Jour: Ian Somerhalder