All That Glitters is not Gold

"525,600 minutes... how do you measure a year?"

2010 was a year of challenges and adventures, laughter and tears, gain and loss. It was a year that demanded strides in patience, kindness, understanding and forgiveness. I would venture to guess that 2011 will be similar in those respects because what is life other than struggles and triumphs, conflicts and resolutions, loss and gain, learning from our mistakes, and, above all, love?

I put a lot of stock into New Year's Eve and how it will affect my year. I will admit that there is far too much pressure to have a magical New Year's Eve full of sparkles (it's no wonder so many couples get engaged and married on this night) that the expectations can be tough to live up to. While I think a black dress affair would be spectacularly fun to do once, I don't need glitter and fanfare to usher in a new year. Growing up, my family spent New Year's Eve at home because it was safer to be in our living room then on the roads and that's the philosophy I've kept with me. The perfect New Year's Eve is an intimate gathering of people I love, playing games, sharing stories and ringing in the new year with a few noisemakers and a toast of Asti Spumante (though I'm glad to say I've graduated to much finer champagnes in my 30s).

But this year I tried something different. Maybe it's because I was miles away from friends and loved ones or because last year Nicole and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home that was both lovely and lonely or maybe it's because it's a sign of things to come in 2011. This year we accepted an invitation to a party at an acquaintance's and rang in the new year with great folks. We played games, chatted about movies, families, and the holidays, and ran around the house frantically waving towels when the smoke from the fireplace set the entire house on alarm. We made fun of Jersey Shore and some of us valiantly defended a rapidly declining but nevertheless spirited Dick Clark. We watched the ball drop, cheered, sipped champagne and kissed our loved ones. It was a night of new friendships and new beginnings, the perfect sentiments as I began a year that is new in more ways than one.