Happy New Year! Wow, it is 2022. It is hard to believe how fast time goes.
Unlike most things you will read this time of the year, this is not about New Year’s resolutions. Instead, we are sharing our 12/31/2020 New Year’s Eve theme at home and a quick look into our 12/31/2021 New Year’s Eve night out. Let’s put the seriousness aside for just a few moments!
Normally we go out on New Year’s Eve. However, as we all know, NYE 2020 was yet another night of staying in. So, we had a theme at home! Surprised?
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2020
The night included dressing for the occasion, delicious food, drinks, some games, and of course pictures.
Family Time
Our son joined in as well. There was a also a brief appearance by our pup who usually finds a way to wiggle in. Although when asked to pose, it is rare to get the dog’s cooperation!
Decorations
The room was already decorated in the tropical colors for our First Christmas at Home, so I kept with that theme for our dinner. I didn’t have much to do. I simply added on to it with pink Happy New Year hanging decorations from Amazon. Our tropical tree, the first of our Trees for all Occasions, worked well too.
Oh yeah, that’s us with the decorations 😉😊
Attire
As with all themes, I try to keep the budget manageable. My dress was very inexpensive, fit the color scheme and it was fun for the occasion. You can find it here from Amazon.
It would also work for a Roaring 20s theme! You can check out our Roaring 20’s Theme for other ideas.
Both guys had coordinating ties. They are hard to see, but you can check them out here from Amazon. My husband’s was a pink paisley tie and our son’s a black and pink paisley tie. They can be worn for any other occasion!
The Food
We decided on a selection of appetizers. As with most of our themes, I like to try new recipes. In this case, the menu included 3. The food of course coordinated with the tropical vibe! Then I took the easy road and had a few add-on “out of the box” appetizers and for dessert.
Then, our table was adorned with candlelight and the centerpiece I made for Our First Christmas at Home along with pink and teal serving platters and plates. We also went the easy route again with (really cute) festive paper plates.
Menu
Hawaiian Ham & Cheese Sliders
Wow were these good! We really enjoyed them and have had several more times since then. I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for recipes to make ahead so that I am not working in the kitchen up until the minute we are are eating. For this one, I cut the rolls and assembled ahead of time. I also made the sauce and refrigerated in a bowl then took out to get to room temperature. Then brushed on the sliders right before baking. The only change I made to the recipe is that we use American cheese in place of Swiss.
Hot Crab Dip
This was not only my first time trying this recipe, but it was also my first time making a hot crab dip. I also never made anything in a bread bowl before. Can you tell? What can I say, my presentation skills need some work. But I will point out that they did not have any round bread! Regardless, it was delicious and turned out well.
Shrimp Salsa
The last of the homemade appetizers was a shrimp salsa. This recipe was easy to make, tasty and refreshing. We served again at a luau with friends.
From the freezer
Add-ons to the menu were shrimp cocktail, pigs in a blanket and franks in bagels.
No homemade dessert this time. Instead, we bought a cheesecake.
Almost Midnight
After dinner we changed into more comfortable clothes and moved to our family room where we played some games and rang in 2021! *Disclaimer: Our son is over 21!
More Decorations!
We added a few more in our family room. The tabletop decorations and candles added to the ambience. We use A LOT of candles. Here is a link for bulk candles as well as one for those that only need a few!
The fireplace already had our Christmas decorations, so I simply added to it with items we already had. I saved various useful items from previous New Year’s Eve parties and added our mid-night toast champagne and champagne glasses for a festive feel!
2021
Next we will share a couple of pictures from our evening out for New Year’s Eve 2021.
As the evening ended, I realized we didn’t take very many pictures. This is a good thing; it means I wasn’t focused on the photos for a change!
We had a great time dancing the night away at the beautiful venue where we’ve gone for a few years (but couldn’t last year) with a great band we have known for many years. They kept everyone on the dance floor all night.
What made it even more fun was that we were able to ballroom dance due to the smaller crowd.
It was interesting because the whole dance floor was filled will what were certainly experienced dancers. Some were no doubt professionals. While we have seen some there in the past, this year it was all ballroom dancers for most of the evening.
Normally I love to watch them. This is usually because we are at our table while they dance since we’ve never been good enough (in my opinion) to dance with them. But this year, all I had were glimpses because we were too busy dancing! Are we good? Nope! Did we care? Nope! Don’t get me wrong, we held our own, but we clearly were the least experienced.
It was just a wonderful night out celebrating with my love!
Attire
And if you are wondering, I danced all night in these shoes. My feet were not happy with me after that!
This Lulus dress was really cute and very reasonably priced. I happened upon Lulus over the summer. So far, I have found the quality to be decent for the prices.
Use this code and receive free shipping on orders over $50! Or this link for 15% off when you sign up for Lulus emails.
As for the shoes, they are from Macy’s and unfortunately no longer available. I realized when putting this together that I wore them last year too! At least I am getting some use out of them!
Have a Happy, Healthy New Year!
All the best to you!
43 thoughts on “Happy New Year!”
Looks like a fun night! Happy new year!
Thank you! We try to make the best of staying home.
2020: Beautiful pics, great costumes and an attractive setup…as always! And of course, an appearance by your sweet dog!
2021: The dress is to die for! And you look amazing in it!!
Thank you so much! You are too kind!
Looks like you had a great time!! This is so fun!! Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year to you!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Looks like a nice way to spend NYE. Happy New Year.
Thank you! Happy New Year!
What a great way to spend your New Years! Happy New Year!
Thank you! Both nights were fun! Happy New Year!
Have a fantastic new year! You get all the points from me for dancing on those heels! Let’s hope we’re heading to more normal times and will be able to go out for special occasions as we used to!
Thank you, same to you! The heels were clearly the wrong choice for dancing but I don’t get to wear them every day! Yes, here’s a new year of more normalcy!
Both years look so fun! I especially love that for the 2020 into 2021, you made a night in feel like a party. Great photos! I hope you have a great new year!
Happy New Year! Looks like you had a blast. 🙂
Thank you! We had fun! Happy New Year!
Really like that you did the roaring 20s theme to kick out 2020. And your night out for NYE 2021 looked like you had a ball and a lot of fun!
Thank you! Happy New Year!
I am such a homebody. I love being at home, but I would like to do more at home instead of being in bed ha! Thank you for sharing, and I hope 2022 is good for you.
I fully understand!! Lately I prefer staying in too. Happy 2022 to you!
This looks like you all had an amazing time! The shrimp dip sounds amazing was it easy to make?
Thanks! Yes the shrimp salsa and the crab dip were both easy to make!
You guys know how to throw a party. Here’s wishing you a prosperous 2022.
Thank you! Same to you!
Looks like you guys had an amazing time – such a fun party!
We enjoyed it! Thanks!
Happy new year to you. Your outfit from the latest new year is stunning. We didn’t go out this year, we stayed in watched movies and ordered a takeaway and it was great x
Happy New Year to you too! You night sounds wonderful!
Wow it looks like you all had a lovely time! I love the outfits before changing to comfortable clothing – but also love the idea of being comfortable at midnight as the new year comes in.
Thank you! The guys were happy to change and relax for the rest of the night!
Happy New Year to you and your family! The pictures are lovely, and you enjoyed a great time together. May 2022 bring plenty of more joyful times!
Thank you very much! Same to you!
Happy New Year! I absolutely adore everything you guys did to celebrate the holidays. The food looks delicious and the decorations are gorgeous!
Thank you so much!
What a cute family! Loved this and thanks for being silly and less serious, haha it was much needed! You have an adorable family!
Thank you so much! It was getting overwhelming with all of the New Year’s resolutions posts I was reading. I was hoping to lighten the mood!
Happy New Year 🙂 Omg, you guys know how to have fun! looks like you had a blast at home and at the venue, shows that when you’re with the people you love and doing fun activities, doesn’t matter where you are, you’ll have a great time!
Happy New Year! Thank you! Yes, I agree. It’s most important to enjoy the company of those you love!
You guys know how to party! Everything looked so lush!
Thank you! It was a nice time.
Happy new year ! Hope 2022 treats you well x
Thank you, same to you!