New Year's Eve
I have spent every New Years that I can remember with my best friends from grade school. OK, so maybe that isn't exactly true as I do remember two times where I didn't see them, but basically, it's not a New Year's celebration unless I'm with them. It's also usually not a New Year's unless it's the day before the big day and we still don't know what we're doing. But this year, we all surprised ourselves and managed to plan ahead.

The night started off at Fuego for some Mex food. I met Jen and Adam at their house and we headed off to the restaurant. Due to her work kidnapping her, Nadia was running a bit late but that was OK as it took a while for us to get seated and we were able to get some yummy tableside guac and drinks. I had two strawberry coladas that tasted like milkshakes and were the tastiest drinks ever.

Nad finally arrived with her husband Bryan and Joel in tow.

We exchanged Christmas presents. Nad really liked the Kobayashi trading card and cloud necklace I got her and Jen liked the photo frame and softest sweetest socks I got for her. Jen got me some hot cocoa mix and a Starbucks and movie theater gift cards and Nad got me a cupcake cookbook complete with a cupcake tester and spatula. The first cupcake recipe I turned to contained smoked salmon. Score!

Dinner came. Jenny's tostadas looked like they would feed ten people. I just ordered an appetizer (thankfully because I was pretty full on chips and guac) of shrimp and scallop tamales. They were OK, but the sauce on top was way too hot for my taste and the shrimp were those baby shrimp that come in fried rice that I don't consider to be real.

After dinner we headed down the block for our show. We went to see the Second City Dysfunctional Holiday Review. None of us had seen Second City before so that was kind of awesome, even though it was the touring group (how the first time I go to SC is a touring group when the real group is 12 miles away, I have no clue). The show was funny though! I wished that there was more improv, they only did two improv and the rest were sketches. Artificial insemination! Hopefully I'll be able to catch another show soon!

The show ended with 15 minutes before the big countdown. We grabbed some champagne and noisemakers and awaited the big moment. They brought out Father Time and Baby New Year and counted down. Come midnight I celebrated with my best friends, and toasted some toasts.

Soon after, Jen and Adam called it a night and Nad, Bryan, Joel, and I headed to a house party at one of her coworkers. The party was fun. The woman whose house it was sings with this guitar dude. So they played music and later it turned into karaoke style where we all got to sing. Then Joel told a joke and totally killed the party. Just saying. Bryan nicknamed me "Valgina" and I kind of hate him for it because I kind of like it. And then one of Nad's coworkers asked me "Are you seriously with him?" And then I said way way too loudly "OH GOD NO!!!!" And then the guitar player started hitting on me and told me that he thought I was a foreigner because of my broken English.

And then around 4:30 or so we called it a night and I went back to my car. I was frozen out of the front and so I had to crawl in through the back door, and scrape the hell out of all the ice that had frozen on my car. But alas I finally cleared it out enough and headed back home.

More New Year's Pix here!!!

New Year's Day
I slept entirely too little. I got home at around 6am then woke up at maybe 10am. :-( Then I basically bummed around until it was time to head to JoeJoe's for the Rose Bowl. Quite honestly, I don't think I've ever watched a Rose Bowl game in my life. But the Illini were playing so I was totally psyched.

I, of course, arrived at Joe and Alina's way too early and told Joe that I must not have taken his advice on a New Year's resolution. Then more people came and it was game time!

There was lots of yummy food like brushetta and dips people made. And Joe tried out his new drink pouring machine and it seemed to work.

The Illini...well...sucked. I guess that's enough said on that.

What didn't suck? The phenomenal cake I made! I spent three days on this thing and dyed my hands completely blue in the process. It was a 2-layer cookie cake with blue frosting, an Illini I made of orange rice krispies, and orange roses I made from gum paste. Everyone agreed that it was very sugary.

About three quarters from the game I leaned over to Joe to ask him what USC stood for. I really never had bothered to find that out. He said University of Southern California. It was a toss up for me between Southern California and South Carolina, but I had had no clue.

Whatever team they were they were much hotter than ours. Sorry Illini, it is true. Glen made fun every time the announcer said "John Davis Booty" and Julie was sad that there was no one named "Dick" on our team to tackle him and how it was too bad he wasn't the tight end.

Alas, the Illini lost. No, wait. The Illini were slaughtered. Throw the damn ball once or twice, will ya???

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year!!! Can't wait to see how this year turns out!

Posted by valry at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Do everything in moderation...but do everything!"
- a penned-in quote on the Green Mill's bathroom wall.

What is it about New Years that is so important? I mean, really, it's just an arbitrary day where we all stay up to watch the clock change from 11:59 to 12:00. To drink champage. to, if you're lucky, kiss someone you love madly. December thirty-first is really no different than January first. The day isn't like a birthday when you can measure your own life's journey. But here we are, New Years, a day when everything seems as fresh as morning snow as if our lives can completely change because the year has. We balance our accomplishments, our goals, our resolutions, our failures on what happens between January first and December 31. But that brief moment, between December and January, as that clock turns from 11:59 to 12:00 we are free and innocent and accomplished and fresh and given an excuse to start everything over.

I love that moment.

My New Years was fucking amazing. I can't imagine ringing in a new year with anyone other than my very best friends :)

We started off with some Merlot and pasta at a small but amazing local Italian joint ridiculously early at 4pm. We walked in and said we had reservations. The guy said "That's 5 plus a high chair right?" Ummm, was there something Jenny was not telling us??? Alas, he was just a little mixed up on the reservations. We shared an appetizer of crab salad, shrimp baked in crepes, and salmon and goat cheese crostini. Mmmmm. Then I had chicken ravioli with mascarpone and pistachio sauce. Mmmmmmagain. We forwent on dessert though so we could head out and get to the club early (and because the meal was getting pretty pricey already...)

So, off we went to Uptown to the Green Mill, which is an incredible little former mob-house jazz club that opened in 1907. From the tacky old-school Vegas-style lighted sign to the doorman with a thin little curly moustache, to the 7 songs for $1 jukebox that played records, who could not think this place was perfect? It's so nice to see some places that retain all that vintage charm.

Jenny and I had some sex on the beaches (although she had trouble saying her order to the waitress but later proclaimed that it "wasn't the best she ever had") and settled into a booth a little before 7 (we wanted to get in early so we could sit...good plan). We got a little booth right near the stage for a perfect view of the dueling saxes show that started at 8.

It was me and Jenny and Adam and Josh and Jennifer and Nadia and Bryan and a whole lotta people I don't know.

The show featured two saxophonists (Von Freeman and Edward Petersen), Willie Pickens on piano, Brian Sandstrom on bass, and Robert Shy on drums (who was totally awesome). They played three sets of jazz induced with the saxophonist's proclamation (before playing a slow one) that while he was as "straight as a curveball" he liked to play the ballad's for the ladies, but they were really for the gentlemen to "cop one." :)

Other than having plenty of sax-action, it was a night of great friends, great conversation, and lots of champagne (I drank at least half of a bottle myself).

We counted down to midnight...on the official watch...of the official center of New Years...and as the clock was ready to change I felt so wonderful knowing that I am a completely different person than I was last year at that moment, and that I was surrounded by the best friends anyone could ever ask for.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

More pics here!!!

Posted by valry at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. According to her eye doctor Nadia's eyes are allergic to her eyelashes. True story.

2. Jenny might be leaving Adam. (shush, not really)

3. We might try to go to the Green Mill for New Years for Battle of the Saxes. You know you want to go! I mean, it isn't LaLos! I can't wait!

4. If that New Years plan doesn't work out, we are skipping this New Years and going out for the Chinese New Year instead.

Posted by valry at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)