17 days later...

Howdy ho!  Hope your neck of the woods is a little bit warmer than it is here in Chicago!  Some of my co-workers and I took the bus to go eat some lunch and then had to walk back.  Terrible idea.  I'm just now regaining feeling in my fingers (which were gloved) and ears.  Brrr!  We took an hour and a half lunch break and I'm stuffed like a turkey though, so I can't say a little frost bite on the finger tips wasn't worth it.

So I just realized that it is January 17th and I have not done a post about what I did for New Year's Eve, and since I actually did something worth talking about that is surprising.  Introducing...the 'What I did for New Year's Even' post.  Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride (and prepare to be disappointed because I just hyped this up waaaay too much).

Let me preface this by saying that I have worked in a restaurant or bar ever since I was 16 years old.  Since New Year's is a big 'going out' holiday, whether it be out for dinner or out to get shit-faced, I have pretty much always had to work.  Last year I was working at a bar.  The bar I worked at was not really the type of bar you go to to bring in the New Year, it was the type of bar you go to to watch any type of sports game.  Needless to say it was dead.  I ended up getting off at 11:55 pm and racing home (luckily I lived close) where Vinnie met me at midnight on the dot so that we could have an official New Year's kiss.  We then drank cheap champagne and fell asleep by 12:30.  Exciting, I know.  This year I requested it off and we made some plans.

First, we had a semi-early dinner at a French Restaurant called Aquitaine in Lincoln Park.  I made the reservations kind of late (considering it was New Year's Eve) so the latest time available was 5:45 pm.  Since we normally don't go out to eat until around 8, this was kind of early for us, but it was a really nice start to our night and I'm glad we ended up going early. 

The restaurant itself was extremely small.  That first picture above literally shows you half of the restaurant.  I loved it though.  It was a romantic, quaint restaurant that gave off a comfortable vibe.  We choose from a pre-fixed menu that included 3 courses and a champagne toast.  The food was excellent and we were stuffed by the end of the meal.

Eeek our eyes!

After dinner we headed to the Palmer House at the Hilton where we met 3 friends (all boys, woo hoo).  The Palmer House was having a huge New Year's soiree that Vinnie's best friend Travis had purchased tickets to.  Our tickets included a VIP table with 2 bottles of Belvedere vodka and all the mixers you can imagine.  There were 6 different ballrooms with dance floors and dj's.  I have never done anything like that for New Year's so I was completely out of my element.  I must admit, I had so much fun!  

The Palmer House

Before we went into the Soiree

Waiting to go into the party!

Our VIP table

Boys will be boys

Me and Vinnie at our table

My New Year's kiss for 2 years in a row :)

We partied out little booties off until 2 am and then grabbed a cab and passed out at home, still in our dress clothes.  Since there are no good pictures of my dress, I have to include a picture of it.

The Olivia Dress

The Olivia Dress from Kiki La Rue.  It was super comfortable and (in my opinion) a super great party dress.  I wish I would have taken a picture of my whole ensemble.  Whoops!

Anyways, that was my New Year's Eve.  I can't say if I'll ever 'do it big' again for New Year's Eve but I am glad that I did this year so I can at least say I went to a huge New Year's Eve party in downtown Chicago once in my life!  New Year's Day was spent mostly in bed, recovering from our crazy night out on the town! 

So...Happy New Year's (17 days late)!

 XO. Tarah