Happy New Year!

I know I'm a bit late in actually wishing all of my readers a Happy New Year, but it's better late than never, right? I've been so busy wrapping up from Christmas that I've hardly even thought about it. But, I did actually ring in the new year with some very dear friends on the day of, so I thought I would share some of that fun with you! 

I started by decking the halls. Or hall, as it were. Behind the New Year's banner, I've got a piece of yarn displaying some of the Christmas cards I've received, along with some extra ornaments. 

I picked up the really terrible messes, but I left the place decorated for Christmas - consciously. There was a long time that I hosted a Christmas party every year. For a variety of reasons, that became impractical. It's actually pretty easy to have everyone over on New Year's Eve, and it's sort of fun that each year, the theme of the party is Christmas! 

Unfortunately, I couldn't do any better than this 4th of July tablecloth. Maybe next year! 

 This was the maiden voyage of the crock pot I received for Christmas. Meatballs for the win! (Also, I discovered BBQ sauce at SuperTarget that was Organicville Brand. It's not really "paleo," but it has fewer scary ingredients and less salt than most other choices. It tastes awfully good - need to buy more!)

I had a crazy spread going - and you can't really even make out the little wheel of brie baking in the toaster oven. I had asked the guests to bring something to eat, which was probably unnecessary given the amount of food I already had. But, the friends took heed and brought plenty to eat and drink. I'm not sure how everything fit into the refrigerator and on the tables, but it did and it was awesome! 

Once everyone was well-fueled, the kids settled into my bedroom to watch Matilda while the grown ups got serious and played Cards Against Humanity. I don't have photos of it, though I did discover this one loner under the coffee table while cleaning up the next day. 

 Shortly before midnight, we re-congregated to open the poppers. They were a 50% off after-Christmas clearance find at World Market. But, with their gold and silver paper, who'd have thought? Kids big and little alike had fun opening them. They were filled with prizes, like a whistle or a comb or a set of paper dominoes. Each popper also contained a tissue paper crown, which became the accessory of the evening.

 We also opened some fortune cookies - reluctantly. I still had the gigantic box of fortune cookies I bought last year. They didn't do very well. I had tried one before the party and had considered buying more, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew they'd wind up going bad or getting thrown away before they could all be eaten. So, we did the poppers instead as something actually special. And then most people opened a fortune cookie, and about half the people at it. Many of the cookies had two fortunes inside. Here are mine!

And with that, the evening soon came to an end. It was a total blast and a great way to kiss 2013 goodbye. Welcome, 2014. We're glad you're here!