A New Year – Yet Again

Like Birthdays and assorted anniversaries, New Year’s Eve has the nasty habit of sneaking itself into the calendar year after year. For years I was looking for the perfect way to spend New Year’s Eve. In the old days there would be fireworks on the frozen lake of St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps at midnight. However the hotels nixed that since guests would go home after freezing their feet off at the fireworks – not good for sales. The fireworks are now on January 1st.

Then I spent a few years ‘running’ the midnight run in Central Park. One year my friends and I left a rather boring party and went for a long walk on the beach in Long Island. The worst year was when we had a nice party until midnight came around and all couples started either making out or slow-dancing and my also-single friend and I sat there feeling a bit left out.

A few years ago my sister and I decided to organize a sledding party with fondue dinner – also near St. Moritz in the Swiss alps (which by the way is where I’m from – so don’t think I’m jet setting around the world to St. Moritz for New Year’s eve – my family is there). We had all organized the evening to a “t” – when I double checked on a hunch with the sledding venue the day of December 31st around noon only to be told that “we’re closed today because of prior issues with alcohol and who ever told you we were open didn’t know what they were talking about”. I nearly fell out of my socks. I had a party of 15 people and no place to go and about six hours to reorganize.

We scrambled and finally saved the night with a combo of an early pizza dinner, sledding without the help of motorized transportation and a vicious game of charades. The night was such a success that this year – five years later - we had to curtail our list of guests. There’s no hangover, much physical activity, all ages (18 months to 80 years - no sledding there) and no slow dancing at the stroke of midnight… – a perfect way to start the New Year, I think.

I hope you have at least half as much fun as I have sliding into the New Year and don’t be shy sharing your favorite way to spend New Year’s eve.

Happy 2012!