4 New Year’s Eve scenarios

Ask A Woman: What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

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I am a notorious New Year’s Eve Scrooge. I never, ever want to go out. Every restaurant and bar is crowded; every amateur who doesn’t normally drink is packing away the cran-vodkas (or spilling them on my shoes); every other car on the road seems to be driven by someone who should have taken a cab. But I’m no fool. I know the story of A Christmas Carol. If I don’t change my ‘tude, I’m going to be visited by the spirits of New Year’s Eve past, present and future. One of them will show me the time I got a flat tire and had my wallet stolen on the same NYE; one of them will needlessly remind me that staying up until midnight has lost its luster since I had a baby; and one of them will probably show me swigging Tom and Jerrys in the retirement home with all the other varicose-veined old biddies. Actually that last one doesn’t sound too bad. Thus, I cheerfully present you a variety of New Year’s Eve options, depending on your situation. Cheers (and please, take a cab)!

Other people tend to have this kind of New Year’s celebration. I am not one of them.

Solo

Heyooo! If you are perfectly content to stay at home by yourself on this overrated holiday, you and I might have been soul mates in another life. Just because you’re alone doesn’t mean you can’t indulge. A great movie, an engrossing book, a very expensive bottle of Scotch, a decadent meal you wouldn’t normally let yourself eat–do it. Enjoy.

With friends

My favorite way to spend NYE. I say, forgo the taverns and restaurants and have all your best buds over for a sleepover! Yes! Everyone brings a sleeping bag and pillow, a dish to share, a bottle to swill, a game to play, a movie to watch. No one has to be out on the roads after midnight or at a bar buying expensive, watered-down drinks, but everyone still gets to knock a few back and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a good excuse to make an enormous greasy breakfast the next morning, too.

With a first date

So you asked someone out for New Year’s Eve? Ballsy. (Or ovary, as the case may be.) The biggest party night of the year and you’re attempting to make it romantical. You know how people say, don’t go to a movie on a first date, because then you can’t talk at all? You sort of run that risk on NYE no matter where you go. To avoid the big crowds, after dinner find a coffee shop that also serves adult beverages and good desserts. You can be sure it won’t be filled with party-ers (more like nerdy grad students), and it’s an intimate and cozy setting in which to get to know someone.

With a long-time love

Go somewhere. The holiday has likely gotten a bit stale over the years, so mix things up and take a trip. You can go big, like a ski trip or the beach, or you can make it really simple, like a single overnight at a bed and breakfast in a nearby town or at a hotel in the nearest downtown metro. Order room service. Go for walks. Put away the phones and tablets and reconnect.

Got something brewing in your life? Send me an email’style, etiquette, relationships’I answer it all: askawoman@dappered.com