After All, Tomorrow Is Another Day (And Year)...

Happy New Year!! I recently bought and watched Gone with the Wind here so I had to use that quote somehow. 

       This year for New Year’s Eve, Sam and I had work from 1 until closing. Fox’s was having a Corona Beach Party theme so we dressed up in Corona colors – blue, yellow, and white - and wore a beachy outfit. I thought I would be really upset working New Year’s Eve and debated going out of my way to get fired before New Year’s Eve so I could go out and celebrate. I even called the New Zealand Government Employment Hotline to see if I could get deported for not giving two weeks notice and just never show up to work – Unfortunately, they didn’t answer because it was a holiday week. And as Michele advised me, “Don’t burn your bridges.” So I sucked it up and worked. 

It actually wasn’t bad at all and I enjoyed myself. Right before midnight, I snuck outside to see the fireworks from the Skytower and Harbour Bridge – I don’t care if I was working, I wasn’t going to miss that. It was amazingly beautiful! Sam had shown me a picture on the internet of fireworks coming out of the Skytower on New Year’s and we always said that we want to see that one day. It was amazing to actually see it in person and to think we actually did it when we were only kind of half joking about it. (I didn't have my camera on me so I only have pictures on my phone unfortunately!)

There was also a contest for who could sell the most Corona buckets, best attitude, and overall sales for the night and Sam won overall sales! She got two vouchers for a day of free surf lessons (so I won too - by default - because she’s obviously taking me). We ended up getting home around 6 in the morning after closing and passed out. 

I must say, it was nice to actually not be hungover on the first day of the New Year for a change. We decided since we didn’t do anything big on Christmas, we would go all out on New Year’s Day. We got a bottle of champagne and went out to dinner at Mecca which is a really nice restaurant near Fox’s. For an appetizer, we got bread with hummus, olives, and a roasted red pepper dip. Then for my main course, I got salmon fillet over cous cous and it was delicious! Finally, for dessert, we both got chocolate cake with pears, strawberries, and chocolate sauce. It was the perfect first meal of 2011. I haven't thought about New Years resolutions yet, but it would probably be to live more in the moment and take time to appreciate things in life and do what makes you happy - which I'm basically trying to do here anyway ;-). 

A Very Budget Christmas

Sam and I have perfected a lifestyle we like to call “homeless chic” – basically we come up with the cheapest ways possible of doing things while still making it look good. We plan on writing a book about it. Look for it at a Barnes and Noble near you. And now I present to you our quick and easy steps to A Very Budget Christmas:

1.)Buy pre-lit 6 foot tall fake tree four days before Christmas to enjoy 70% off (Whoever said the early bird gets the worm obviously never appreciated the benefits of procrastinating)

2.)Purchase some Glee Christmas music, the Mariah Carrey’s Christmas album, and a lovely assortment of the finest cheese, crackers, and chocolate almonds that the nearest convenience store can provide 

3.) Make a makeshift star for the tree out of an over-sized gold ornament WARNING: Ornament may be too heavy and cause tree to droop, making tree look sad 

 

4.)Consider making eggnog from scratch (since the entire country of New Zealand doesn’t do eggnog??), but then realize that it is too much time, money, hassle, etc. Buy chocolate liqueur instead. Enjoy over ice 

5.)Wrap presents and put them under tree. Use recyclable materials. Note the ice cream cone present I made for Sam out of a used fast food paper bag and tissue paper from a shoe box. You may also want to consider wrapping empty boxes just so it looks like you have more to open on Christmas day.

6.)Finally, go out drinking on Christmas Eve with people from work and sleep in the next day and just order Chinese food since everything else in New Zealand is closed anyway 

And that is how we do Christmas in New Zealand.