NYEDO

I'm not the most creative person in the world but I think I've started something and I'm pretty proud of it, I must say. Last night, some friends and I celebrated the Second Annual New Year's Eve Do-Over (NYEDO). (For those friends who missed out due to sickness, family circumstances, prior engagements, and Saturday afternoon drunkenness, see you next year.)

Anyway, I had crafted the idea last year after finding myself crying in a public bathroom right after the clock struck twelve. It's not like anything awful had happened. In fact, I was with some of my favorite people on earth that night. However, like many moments in my life, it was just an emotional time and I remember thinking, Oh God...I cannot ring in a new year like this!

So shortly after, I announced to some friends that I wanted to do it all over. Being the awesome friends that they are, they were up for it. So last January 31st, we met for dinner and drinks and on the cusp of midnight, we had our very own little countdown (and yes, there were hats and horns) in the middle of a Brooklyn bar. It was one of the best "New Year's Eve" I had ever had.

This year, after a death in her family at the start of 2010, one of my dear friends of this group emailed me and said, "I need a re-do." So last night, despite the arctic conditions, a small group of us hunkered in around our dining room table, passing around meatballs, chicken wings, cookies, and whiskey and toasted 2010 all over again. And despite having a little headache at the moment, I feel pretty psyched for the new year. No huge resolutions. Just a general commitment to be truer to myself, to seize the day, and to follow what makes me happy. And in this moment, that means a big cup of coffee. I think I shall seize it.

Happy New Year's.