OUR FAVE NYE TRADITIONS

We love New Year’s Eve at Pitusa and it’s always so fun to hear about everyone’s plans to ring in the new year. One of the best things about that strange bewildering time between the holidays and New Year’s Eve, when no one quite knows what is going on or what they’re supposed to be doing or if they are supposed to be at work or not or if they should have another slice of pie or 5 more cookies or both is that you get to say continuously – “see you next year!” Or “happy new year!” It’s a time when you interact with people on the street that you just normally wouldn’t interact with, or you have a reason to be buddy buddy with your normally grumpy barista (warning: they may still be a bit grumpy) or–even better–it’s a reason to interact with that stranger working at the shop you’ve been crushing on all year long and never had a reason to speak to beyond “how much are these bowls?”. 

This limbo-like time (the few days in the lead up to the new year) is a special time in our books, time feels elastic, you lose hours easily and freely, you take time catching up with friends you may not have spoken to all year and the promise of a new year where you can set all your wrongs right is just around the corner. You nap all afternoon and stay inside more than is usually socially acceptable because it’s freezing outside and you have food and drink inside and the windchill slapping against one’s face is not enticing. This does not apply to all you cuties on beaches posting pics in your finest Pitusa (we still love you even though we hate you but really we love you deep down please keep posting pics). 

Some of our favorite New Year’s Eve traditions are those a little off the beaten path. For anyone who has ever experienced Times Square, Trafalgar Square or anywhere where large groups of people gather and the unfortunate nightmare therein (standing in the cold with no escape route sounds more than a little hellish in our humble opinion), this is for you. 

Cabin Life 

Renting a cabin with your best friends, toasting marshmallows by the fire, listening to amazing music you’ve spent ages putting together in the perfectly presented playlist and lounging about in your finest trackies, that’s the way to do it. If you’re near a lake or a pond go for a Polar Bear plunge! It’s an extremely refreshing way to WAKE YOU RIGHT UP on New Year’s Day (and get rid of that brutal champagne hangover (you can thank us on the 2nd when you go back to work). 

The Opera (in Vienna if you’re lucky!) 

Nothing sounds more glamorous and classy than a night at the opera with some of your nearest and dearest drinking champagne and listening to some of the most beautiful music to ever be created. The ballet is also a good option! In Austria, the time between Christmas and New Years is called “the time between the years” which we totally love and will be stealing from here on out, it so perfectly describes the feeling.

A Yoga Retreat

With the advent of so many thought leaders in the yoga world, so many yoga and meditation retreats abound over the new year – and it sounds like one of the most refreshing ways to celebrate and start the new year off on the right foot! 

A Concert

Famed musicians like Patti Smith and Billy Joel usually do a New Years show to ring in the new year and there is nothing quite as exhilarating as ringing in the new year with a bunch your closest strangers listening to live music! The feeling is electric, and there’s a love band to play the perfect song for your kiss at midnight. 

A Big Dinner With Friends 

Start it out as you wish to continue! There is nothing as fun as breaking bread with friends to ring in the new year and celebrate the triumphs and heartbreaks of the year gone by. Drinking amazing wine, talking about everything you did that year and pontificating on how you’ll take over the world in 2018 – all the while eating the most scrumptious food you can think of (go out with a bang). Whether you’re cooking or you’re out at a restaurant – it’s one of the best NYE traditions we can think of! 

And I mean, On A Beach, Any Beach (ok, not any beach)

Did you really think we would leave this one out? Never! One of the best traditions HIGHLY recommended to anyone in their right minds is to find a warm climate and head for the beach. The best New Years we’ve ever had? On a beach. Naturally. Wearing Pitusa, Mojito in hand – worry free. 

Wherever you are this New Year’s Eve, we hope it’s a happy and healthy one full of love.