Happy New Year! I know it’s January 6th, but I thought it would be fun to show you how we celebrated the turning over of another new year. Since I have designated Friday posts as “fun,” I think this qualifies.

A little background: I love to read other blogs in my spare time. It’s interesting to see what other bloggers write about and how they style their sites. I get inspiration and motivation from these clever ladies. Even though I did post that one Stitch Fix review back in the fall, and I might do another one from time to time, I have absolutely no intentions of becoming a fashion blogger (you’re welcome), but I do really enjoy reading several other fashion blogs. It’s how I come up with great outfits like this. 🙂

Honestly, I didn’t set out to read fashion blogs. That seems way too hip for me. I came upon Living in Yellow because I was looking for Stitch Fix reviews, which she posts a lot of, and I happen to think she’s hilarious so I keep reading. The Pleated Poppy arrived on my screen as I searched for something homeschool related. Turns out she is a homeschooling mom, but is really known as a fashion blogger. I like her style so I keep checking back occasionally. I found Pearls and Sports Bras as I researched at-home workout videos, but I keep reading because I like how she pulls together classic looks and a lot of them are really affordable. And she does review a lot of workout videos. I’m sure she’s 20-something and I have absolutely nothing in common with her, but I enjoy reading her posts.

So now I have these fashion blogs I read on a fairly regular schedule and whereas I do learn some blogging tips from them, it’s really just purely for fun that I visit those sites. As I read all of their “getting ready for New Year’s Eve” posts, I couldn’t help but think about how my 20-something year old self would have responded to them. These girls were getting all dolled up in sequins and lace and looking fabulous and talking about all the parties they would attend. I’m sure back in the day, I would have been jealous if I didn’t have such fancy soirees to attend. But fast forward a few (or 20) years and I was able to admire those young ladies’ outfits and sweet words, but in no way whatsoever did I feel even a tiny pang of jealousy or lack of self-worth.

My New Year’s Eve was spent with those I hold most dear, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. For the past 10 years or so, we have spent the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s in a big house somewhere with my husband’s extended family. So, naturally, we always rang in the New Year with that gang. But for the past two years, we haven’t been able to stay the entire week, which meant we were home for New Year’s Eve.

I honestly can’t remember what we did last year, other than that the kids stayed up until midnight and what a milestone that was. They talk about it all the time. And even more importantly, my son waxes poetic about the fact that he slept in until 9:45 the following morning. He has always been an early riser so this was a notable event.

This year I decided to make a little more of a big deal of the last day of the year.

I bought party hats and noisemakers at the Dollar Store, planned a fun dinner and we got all dressed up. Thinking about my fashion blogger “friends,” I thought it might be fun to pull out our dressy duds, even if we were just staying in. Because of the arthritis in my feet, I cannot wear high heels, which severely limits the fanciness of anything I wear, but for this occasion, I was determined to try my best (I kept the heels on for about 10 minutes and mostly stood in one place!).

The kids and husband were given the instruction to simply dress up fancy. “Fancy” was left up to interpretation. As you can see from the pictures, my husband and I took a mostly traditional approach to fancy. The kids…well, not so much.

My son’s outfit is so crazy, he sort of blends into the Christmas tree. My daughter is some character from the Pokemon cartoons they’ve been watching on Netflix. I made it clear that she was never to leave the house in shorts that short!

Everyone tolerated the picture taking process fairly well, then we dressed down and got on with the fun. Dressing up always seems good in theory, but I’d much rather be in my pjs!

Back to reality here. The feathers had to go or we’d be eating them for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, we had nachos made with this taco filling, plantain chips and all the typical toppings (this yummy grass fed cheddar, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and a creamy salsa sauce that was simply salsa mixed with some coconut cream).

It was a fun, casual dinner and the perfect way to finish off the year. The kids got to drink soda, (Zevia Black Cherry) and the adults enjoyed a gluten free hard apple cider. I hardly ever drink any sort of alcohol, but these hard ciders are really tasty and it was the perfect occasion.

We finished off the night alternating between games, putting together a puzzle and chatting with family. Have you heard of the game, Settlers of Catan?

This is actually one of the expansions called Seafarers. My husband’s family is absolutely obsessed with this game. They’ve gotten the kids into it now and so we’ve started playing it at home. It has taken me a while to warm up to it, but it is pretty fun, especially if you have more people playing. There’s lots of trading involved and there are many ways you can win so it feels like a different game each time we play. If your family or friends enjoy board games, I’d recommend this one. (I know Heinzes, if you’re reading this, I actually said I like Settlers!)

So that’s how Our Paleo Family rang in the new year. How did you celebrate? Did you make any of the fun appetizer recipes I’ve posted recently? I’m obsessed with these sausage balls. We will most definitely be having them again for Super Bowl Sunday!

I hope your year is off to a great start. If you haven’t yet seen the recipe I posted earlier this week, it’s a really tasty one and super healthy too. It will work for paleo or autoimmune paleo diets. Be sure to check it out.

I’ll be back Monday with a Paleo refresher. This past Monday, I gave you some tips for getting back on the Paleo wagon if you fell off over the holidays, but this coming article will really be Paleo 101, a great place to start if you have friends who are curious about how you eat and maybe are tired of hearing you talk about it all the time. 🙂 Just send them to me! We’ll talk about some of the what’s, the why’s, the differences between gluten free and paleo. I think we’re about to get snowed in over here in NC, so I’m loaded up with groceries and ready to try some new recipes. I hope you are too!