New Year's Evolution

1992-1998: NYE was spent at home, where my parents have hosted a big party at our house every year (since 1992... maybe earlier). Family friends would come over, eat lots, gamble and make a lot of noise. Not a lot of drinking went on, as far as I knew. There were few children my age, but I didn't mind because I thought it was more important that I was with my family.

1998-2001: As I grew older, I noticed the older children (my sisters and their friends) were partying at other venues. For these years, I ended up spending most of the night up in my parents' room watching MTV celebrate. I started getting that New Year's Eve was a holiday more traditionally spent with friends rather than family. But I still stayed home with my parents and their friends... partly because I still felt I should spend it with my family, but mostly because I wasn't allowed to go out (yeah, I was already in college, but my parents were a bit strict and still very much in control of me).

2002: My first New Year's away from home! I went to Vegas with some friends and friends by association. This was a lot of fun, but a lot to take in for my first venture out of the nest. The night before NYE, I went to one of those hotel clubs (I forget which one) with everyone and was so that girl. My friend had one of the waiters give me a lap dance, which included pouring a bottle of liquor down my throat. I blacked out (hence why I forget which club) and apparently passed out in the bathroom. The following day, NYE, I was so hungover, I couldn't drink at all. I still braved the crowd on the strip, though. It was so crowded that for a few blocks, my feet barely touched the ground as I was dragged down the strip, packed between strangers. Right after midnight, I went up to the hotel room and watched MTV. Also, being on west coast time for the ball dropping weirded me out.

2003: Miami! I flew down to Florida to meet up with some of my best friends from college. They had just graduated and/or moved away from DC; so, this worked as a bit of a reunion. We had sooo much fun... and I cannot report all of the happenings here... just because.

2004: The first time it occurred to me to stay in DC for NYE. This was also tons of fun. My friends had a party at their G-town house, lovingly dubbed the Brothel. We drank. And drank. And drank. By the end of the night, I had a picture of my friend's ass (we like to call him Balls-Out... so at least it's just a picture of his ass), a beer-soaked crotch (my friend spilled beer onto my lap... and then tried to clean it up), an injured hand (from punching said friend in his giant Asian head after he tried to clean up the spilled beer... from my crotch), and a boyfriend. Yup, my cheese and cracker boyfriend asked me to officially be his girlfriend on NYE.

2005: Back to the Brothel. This year, though, we tried to be a bit more classy. The boys suited up and the girls got all pretty. And we cooked! It was a potluck and much to my surprise this did not limit us to chips and dip. Who knew my friends could cook? I made crab puffs, stuffed mushrooms, and chocolate Kahlua truffle cups. We started the party off maturity style, but we kept it real by the end of the night. We're not all grown up yet. But how's this for progress: nobody took their clothes off (we miss you, Balls-Out!) or got punched in the face. I think some girl spilled a drink... but I don't know her; so it doesn't count... haha. And it was my one-year anniversary with the boyfriend! =o)

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's celebration!