Selfie in Times Square

It's New Year's Eve and the crowds are gathering around Times Square... Mom, Jenn, Val and myself venture out into the throngs, risking frostbite as well as a bit of claustrophobia as the clusters of people form.

OK, I will admit, it's only 4pm - eight hours before the magic moment of the ball dropping and the year changing - but we're adventurous, not crazy! The policemen were already out in force closing off streets and setting up baricades as the area filled with people. We managed our way all the way to Broadway and 42nd before hitting any major obstacles. We looked up at where the ball would drop - took a picture or two and decided that was sufficient.

We traversed back, navigating through the quickly multiplying numbers of people, and found our way to Empire Coffee where we got tea and coffee and hot chocolate and sat down to rest our half frozen toes. "Closing Time"! What?! It's only 5pm, yes on New Year's Eve, there are people who still have to get home. So we grabbed our cups and headed back out. It was all fun. We laughed as we took in the sites, the feel and the excitement in the air. It was quite magical.

So we didn't watch the ball drop in person - that would have required standing outside in the cold for over 10 hours. But we did the next best thing. We got out, took it all in and now we get to savor it all. It is a good memory to bring into the new year! Happy New Year Everyone!