Ah. New Year’s Eve: a night full of fun, festivities, and heck of a lot of glitter. It’s a holiday that celebrates nothing but the time and date, but boy do I love it! We always have such high expectations for the holiday, and many times they fall flatter than we’d hope, but even still, there’s beauty in it. So without further a due…Here’s my countdown for the 10 reasons New Year's Eve is my favorite holiday!
10. The sparkles
Everything. Has. Glitter. The dresses, the hats, the decorations, everything. My friend calls it "the herpes of arts and crafts" because two or three months down the road, you'll still be finding the stuff on your clothes, your car, everywhere. BUT. I firmly believe it's utterly impossible to celebrate the New Year without it.
9. The resolutions
Now bear with me…for the most part, I think we can all agree that New Year’s resolutions tend to last roughly a week. BUT. I think it's pretty incredible that people have the good intentions of starting the new year off right. Whether it be to stop a bad habit, get in shape or try a new hobby...even if it lasts until the end of January, it’s the thought that counts. I love the idea that people want a new beginning to match the New Year.
8. The food
New Year's is the only time I get shrimp with cocktail sauce and cream puffs and I’m obsessed with them. It’s criminal that I have to wait a full year to get it, but it makes the holiday even more worth it.
7. The cheesy jokes
“I haven’t seen you since last year!” Ha-Ha. Yes, I know that joke is terrible. But c'mon! It’s the only time of the year you can actually say them! You can survive listening to them for one day.
6. The party
The only word that you can describe New Year's Eve is festive. There's music, dancing, kissing, glitter, and FIREWORKS. The entire holiday is based around throwing a huge party for the turn of the year… literally. We’re celebrating a clock. However it's one of the few times of the year that almost everyone is celebrating the same holiday at the same time..or well..mostly the same time.
5. The champagne…er...the sparkling apple cider!
Champagne is the perfect drink to toast in the New Year. It’s light, it's refreshing, it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy…it's exactly how you hope the New Year will feel. For those who are on the under-21 side.. New Year's is the only time it’s acceptable to drink an entire bottle of sparkling apple cider…and I don't even regret a thing.
4. The midnight kiss
There’s something magic about ending one year and beginning another kissing the one you love…or a stranger…or your dog…whatever works.
3. Every year is celebrated in a different way.
Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to be filled with incoming family, a specially prepared dinner, and plenty of meaningful traditions. New Year's Eve, on the other hand, is all up in the air! For example, one year I spent the night at a water park in Wisconsin, another in Disney's Hollywood Studios, and this year I rang in 2016 by playing Pictionary with my family at home. Every New Year's is a different experience, each as unique as the years they cap off.
2. The countdown
There’s something about the countdown that really gets me. When I see the clock counting, my stomach gets all jittery and I can’t stand still. For some reason, the idea of the old year ending in a matter of seconds is such an exciting thing to me and it’s easily one of my favorite parts of New Year's Eve!
1. The optimism
Yes, this sounds cheesy, but it’s 100 percent true. Realistically, the difference between 24 hours doesn’t make a difference, but I love the connotation that New Year's has. It’s a time for new beginnings and a time to set all your wishes into focus. There’s nothing like the new year to help give you that extra kick start into doing whatever you aspire to do! To me, New Year's Eve brings hope and an optimistic outlook for the new year, because who knows what’s in store for 2016?
Bonus: getting to watch Alabama stomp Michigan State.
To celebrate New Year's Eve this year, the Fam and I watched the Tide roll over Michigan State, 38-0, and to say it was the icing on the cake would be an understatement. Here's to hoping 2016 brings a National Championship for Bama...ROLL TIDE!
