This picture is actually from last time I was at Kira & Nino's, hanging out reading to Olivia-- "reading" to Olivia, since she mostly just wants to turn the pages-- but it is pretty representative of my New Year's Eve as well. Jenny & I went over there around five thirty & spent bulk of the night with them & Robert & Judy, but not the ball drop. Not the crack of midnight. Lets see-- Kira started with a course of gravlax with horseradish sauce & a pickled radish salad; after that was a pasta course, bucatini with spicy meat & onion sauce. The main course Robert made while Kira put down Olivia-- put her down to sleep, I mean!-- & was ribeye steak with a balsamic reduction drizzle & arugula. Desert was brownie sundaes with butter pecan ice cream & chocolate ice cream; Robert & I liked them with the balsamic reduction drizzled on them, too! We were there will about eleven, I think, before we left. Home, we cracked open a bottle of champagne & then Jenny & I rang in the New Year on the couch with New York One. The whole shared television experience is crazy, right?
The next day I wasn't feeling so great! All I've done this vacation is drink, & even though I was temperate at Kira & Nino's, a combination of splitting that last bottle of champagne & sleeping poorly really took a toll. Jenny & I watched the Fringe episode "Alone in the World" & it was alright. I'm anxious for Peter to come back just so we can stop messing around with this "reboot" timeline. Then in the afternoon-- or I guess the early evening, around three thirty or four-- we went over to Carmen & Tony's for a "traditional New Years Day dinner." Carmen is Jenny's pal, & I had met them at "Beers for Beasts", but I was a bit of a disaster case. That is fine! Everyone else was, too. I've never done the "black-eyed peas & collard greens" thing but it was pretty good comfort food for my hungover body! Plus, Tony & Carmen have been homebrewing a Honey Stout for the "hair of the dog" beverage, so things were finally turning up Milhouse! We didn't know anyone there, but the conversation was easy; there was a whole bit about greasepaint & mustaches-- Cesar Romero, Groucho Marx-- that cracked me up. Then home for Animal Crossing: City Folk & people yelling outside about stupid sports games while I tried to sleep.
