Ring It In
New Year’s Eve is a tricky holiday. It’s riddled with suspense, fueled by a sense of hopefulness, and (at times) weighed down by the unwelcome notion that time is moving too fast. But as the most celebratory—and frankly the sexiest—evening of the year, it’s full of potential. Champagne is the beverage of choice. Sparkly attire is everywhere. Where will you be when the clock strikes 12?
For a lot of us, ringing in 2021 was a bust. My partner and I ordered in fancy restaurant food and barely made it to midnight. Prior years, I’ve spent skiing with family and friends. Those intimate gatherings began with giant cheese-and-charcuterie platters, caviar, and bubbly, and ended with Party City confetti on every surface. Before that, I spent NYE in my hometown of NYC, strategizing down to the wire to end up at whatever mediocre party would have the highest number of friends.
This year, I’m hosting a party at my new place in LA. There is no dress code, there will be bowls of chips (specifically Kettle sea salt and vinegar and Have’a soy-sauce-and-lime tortilla), a forty-pack of Miller High Life, and the classiest pairs of 2022 glasses I can find. It’ll be low-brow, and hopefully very fun.
If I’ve learned anything over the course of almost thirty New Year’s Eves, it’s that the only way to ensure a grand ’ole time is by curating the experience you want to have, the one you know your friends will thank you for. Whether that’s inviting a small, close-knit group over for a dinner party, or playing dress-up and buying sparklers, here are a handful of items that may come into use.
