Some say that the way you start the year determines how you will spend the rest of it.
I’m not sure how true the saying is, but we broke the usual New Year’s celebration tradition this time, and decided to celebrate in style and amazing abundance.
Traditionally, Juan’s mum usually cooks dinner for the whole family, but we wanted to do something different this time.
Since there were only three of us at home for New Year’s, it made more sense to eat and count down in a restaurant instead of cooking a huge meal for just three people. After some frantic online searching for restaurants which still had tables available and which didn’t charge ridiculous cover rates, we finally settled on celebrating the night at T-Bone, a restaurant nearby. Phew!
A curtsey & good-bye, 2012!
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At some point in the evening, I peered out of my window and saw the prettiest cotton-candy pink sunset overlooking our neighborhood , as if the sun were doing a little curtsey in its fairy tu-tu and waving good-bye to 2012. The soft color palette in the sky had me mesmerized, and I stayed staring for a while.
The last sunset of 2012, welcoming 2013
The new year deserved to be welcomed in style.
And because important occasions call for special clothes,
I pulled out a lovely chiffon dress from my cupboard,
to be used for the first time, on this special night.
Special dress for a special occasion
2012 had been a tough year for Juan’s family, as his grandmother Trini had suffered a terrible fall.
It was a hard, emotionally and physically stressful year, and as we looked at the clock, counting down the remaining hours of the leap year 2012, we literally breathed a sigh of relief, anxiously awaiting 2013’s arrival.
As I mentioned, we decided to celebrate the new year in style.
In abundance.
Partying.
Laughing.
Dancing.
Ready to feast & party the night away!
Dressed up and seated at the restaurant, we prepared ourselves to feast on the final dinner of 2012, and embrace the year to come.
A tingling of anticipation filled the air.
Like invisible fireworks and sparklers you don’t see
but can feel in your soul.
Juan & I waiting to feast the last night of 2012 away!
Juan’s mum contemplating the New Year
We began the night with…
A dinner of absolute abundance..
The attentive waiters served incredibly tasty starters, including a ceviche cocktail with tomatoes and avocado, chorizo crostini and freshly baked bread.
Ceviche cocktail with tomatoes and avocado
Chorizo crostini
Freshly-baked homemade bread
Proceeding with beef carpacio dressed with rocket salad, olive oil, vinegar and capers..
Beef carpacio with rocket salad, olive oil, vinegar and capers
Followed by grilled salmon and crispy potato slices, garnished with sauteed vegetables..
Grilled salmon and crispy potato slices, and sauteed vegetables
When we finally polished off dessert, vanilla ice cream with fresh berries, just before the stroke of midnight, we were ready to burst from all the richness and food.
Vanilla ice cream with fresh berries
And then the clock chimed twelve….and 2013 arrived, just like that!
Sweet treats to start the year on a high (cakes, nougats, nuts)
We entered the new year with a table overflowing with rich, delicious food, champagne & beautiful company.
Toast to the new year with me!
It’s still a little surreal that 2012 has passed by us, in a flash, and that we’re now firmly planted in 2013.
But celebrate we must, with style, abundance and fun!
With champagne coursing through our veins, toasting to the new year, looking back on 2012, and enjoying each other’s company, we shimmied on the dance floor, together with random German girls, Argentines, the waiters and everyone old and young alike.
Happy New Year!
Love from Buenos Aires!
We started the year on a high, with an abundance of energy and happiness, love and laughter.
And so shall 2013 be!
Juan & his mum, Susana
With my cool “mum-in-law”
Cheers to 2013, a year of abundance!
A HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!
(Not just as a conventional greeting, but because I really do wish it so,
from the bottom of my heart!)
This was how I spent my New Year’s.
How did you spend yours?
First off – you look lovely in that dress! And Happy 2013!! I think it’s great that you deemed this year as a year of Abundance – too often do we feel guilty or ashamed when we have much in our lives, but we always have so much to be thankful for, why not celebrate it every single day? 😀
Jess!
Thank you for the compliment on the dress! It was so comfortable to wear and I loved the colors! (can you believe that it was actually passed to my by a colleague who couldn’t fit into it anymore, and I’ve kept it for 3 years in my cupboard but only recently found an occasion to wear the dress??)
On a deeper note, I think starting our years right is important, cos 12 months is a long time, and when we look at these 365 days and think that they will be everything positive, it does make a year much more fruitful and enjoyable!
Celebrate each day with me!! 🙂