Until about 6pm, Traci, Amanda, Ashleigh, and I didn’t have any set plans. We were really cutting it close, since most things-to-do required tickets or reservations, and we knew we didn’t want to stand in Times Square for hours to watch the ball drop.

Our ideal New Year’s idea was to go to a bar or a restaurant, have some dinner and a few drinks, and then somehow watch the ball drop (if possible) or at least some fireworks, preferably from a place that wasn’t too crowded.

We managed to get a reservation at Beacon, a really fancy, expensive restaurant on 56th between 5th and 6th. Since most restaurants in the city were charging upwards of $100 per person for buffet-style dinners tonight, we decided it was worth it to buy ourselves expensive dinner for any amount less than that. And instead of mediocre food from a place like Friday’s (which was charging $195 per person) or Planet Hollywood ($225 per person), we got AMAZING high-class dinner for about $80 each.

After dinner, we decided we would go up to Central Park so we could at least HEAR the ball drop (or rather, the crowd’s reaction to it) and see the fireworks in the park. When we got to the park, it had a crowd, but it wasn’t stuffed person-to-person like all of 7th Ave and Broadway were. There was plenty of room for us to move about, and… best of all… WE COULD SEE THE BALL IN TIMES SQUARE, ONE MILE AWAY!!!

So sure enough, we got our wish. We watched the ball drop, and we watched the big “2005” sign light up in Times Square, and we watched the fireworks behind us in the park and in Times Square. It was great.

Everyone’s doing the obligatory what-I-got-for-Christmas post, and I figure I might as well join in. This Christmas didn’t bring any gag gifts, since most of my friends are really far away. Well, actually, Chelsey got me some tortillas, but that was actually not a gag at all. I really wanted some tortillas.

Anyway, I got a striped button-down shirt and a bright green long-sleeve t-shirt from Gap, a Starbucks card, and a cool Kenneth Cole watch (a real one, not even from a street vendor!).

Tonight is Christmas dinner: turkey enchiladas!

Now that I don’t need it anymore, they finally came out with Craig’s List Orange County. Those of you who can still take advantage of it, I highly recommend this as a resource for finding an apartment, finding roommates, selling furniture, buying used electronics, hiring movers, etc. It was a bitch doing all of this through Craig’s List Los Angeles when I was living in the OC, because everyone who was interested in my ads was a few hours away during traffic hours.

During the holiday season, the only thing more amusing than reading A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner), a classic tale from The New Yorker, is to imagine that it’s being read out loud by Christopher Walken.

This morning on the N-R, it was very crowded and very quiet as usual. This one foreign girl (she was Scandinavian of some sort) was talking at normal speaking volume to her friend. Since she was the only person on the train who was talking, her friend shushed her and said, “Everyone can hear you!”

I don’t know why, but something about that was funny to me. Maybe it’s because “everyone” is a stranger and doesn’t care, or maybe it’s because there’s no real reason for the unspoken rule (no pun intended) of staying quiet on the subway in the morning.

I saw ice on the ground today. That’s almost snow, right?

The temperature dropped a lot over the past couple days, so I’m pretty sure we’ll have snow the next time it precipitates. I think that’s either tomorrow or Sunday. Actually, I think Ash said it’s supposed to “slush” on Thursday but snow on Sunday. Obviously I’m not Christian, but I’ve seen enough movies to want a White Christmas anyway.

Sure, now that I’ve left Southern California and don’t drive anymore, they came out with this. Since I’m not there anymore, I can’t have technolust for it, but I can vicariously lust for it through all of you who are still there.