What is it about celebrations that make them one-time deals? I guess it’s basically the fact that they are pegged on dates which, once they have passed, are good and gone.
So you mess up one or forego one, and although there will be another one in a year, it won’t be the same.
I just had my worst New Year’s Eve ever. Not for anything, it just came and went with nothing. I decided to turn in at 11:30 and I slept through the dropping of the ball so to speak.
I had bought cheese and crackers, had a $22 teeny-tiny quezo de bola like the ones we had in Manila — I had my 12 fruits in a basket as was our tradition back home. I had some special foie gras I was hoping to serve. I was looking forward to some bubbly and was getting ready to wash the special champagne flutes that have remained hidden deep in my dish cabinet. I had even started cooking the Spanish chocolate sent over from Manila by my friend Elvie. (That one needed to simmer and cook a while so I thought I’d get it ready for breakfast on New Year’s day.)
I puttered around the house by myself as everyone was asleep. At 11, I tried to remind Alan to chill the champagne. He was deep in la-la land. 11:30, he stirs. A few minutes later he tells me we should just drink the open bottle of red wine. Somehow, it wasn’t worth the bottle of champagne that has been gathering dust in his wine rack which he said we could open to welcome 2011. I could’ve bought a bottle of Corbell or Asti had he told me that earlier when I braved the last minute shoppers in the grocery to grab my cheese and hors d’ourves.
After all the preparations, I decided I would just turn in. It was just another new year’s eve after all — the second one where I was promised we would welcome the new year with a bottle of champagne that turned to nothing on the 12th hour. Last year, I got my champagne, but only because I celebrated it in Manila with the family.
I know that next year, I’m getting my own bottle of bubbly or maybe I just won’t get all the cheese and crackers and just settle for the noise makers… I’ll watch the ball drop and that’s it.
Pinay New Yorker 