i had every intention of doing nothing for NYE this year… i had gotten back from hot springs on sunday afternoon and pretty much went straight to a graduation party in mansfield for a family friend, which i didn’t get home from until later in the evening and then had to go into work the next day… and i knew that i’d be out of town for a wedding starting new years day.  and my house was needing to be tended to, and my personal sanity was needing to be tended to…

anyway, i decided to meet my friends linda and noel for dinner, and one thing turned into another… and i’m really really glad that i decided not to be lame on NYE because it was such a fun night!  maybe all my personal sanity needed was a good sparkly evening!  here’s how my whole day went:

: :  i stumbled up this in the morning before work outside one of my neighbor’s door, snapped a photo and posted it, because it made me happy:

{the caption was:  “this morning:  saw this and it made me happy.”}

: :  i had a half day of work – yippee!

: :  after i got off, i met my mom and mimi at northpark for shopping + lunch.

: :  we went to the nieman marcus cafe which i hadn’t been to for ages.  it was yummy and, as always, a fun time with good company.

{it looks full-sized in the photo, but this was actually a teeny tiny cup of broth + a mini biscuit that they brought out before the meal.}

{…and then the famous popovers with strawberry butter!  it’s the thing that i knew and loved about niemans when i was a kid.}

{seared sea scallops with meyer lemon parmesan risotto and green bean & herb salad.}

: :  i shopped with the ladies until i had to part ways to go to a doctor appointment.

: :  when i got home after the appointment [and after a busy day of work and fun], i found that someone had left these beauties on my doorstep, with a note!:

{whoever this darling anonymous person is, you completely made my day!  thank you so much for the kind words!  what a sweet thing to do.}

: :  i had to deal with a recall that was going on [OF COURSE i did – they always pop up on holidays and the most inopportune times, but luckily this one was fairly painless] so i logged onto my computer to take care of that…

: :  …and then HURRIED to get ready for dinner and the evening.

: :  met linda and noel for dinner at origin kitchen + bar and had a wonderful time catching up with them, drinking fun cocktails and eating seared escolar with corn grits, spinach, white asparagus and tomato basil concasse…

{you know the saying, “she leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes”?  well, on this night, i was LITERALLY leaving a little sparkle wherever i went…}

: :  then the three of us went over to mike’s apartment for a mini NYE party.  he had a small group over and we had a fun time popping bottles and hanging out with the youngsters. :)  priscilla had made a cute little photobooth wall and brought props to take fun pictures with!

{i stole some pictures from the partygoers… i hope they don’t mind! :)  …}

{good times}

: :  and then it was time to go out!

{elevator selfies!}

the group wanted to go to concrete cowboy, but we older folk [ha] didn’t feel like waiting in a long line to get in in the cold, so we split off and went to ginger man to ring in the new year there instead… it was certainly a bit more of our style of a place anyway.  they had a live band and we got a table inside so it worked out perfectly.

{i awoke the next morning just the way one should awaken on new years day…covered in sparkles.} ;)

 we made some great memories, and i’m thankful to have such wonderful friends and family in my life to celebrate with!  happy happy new year. xoxo