This year (or, more accurately, last year) I have been hearing a lot about how the way you spend the first day of the new years says a lot about how the rest of the year will go. I’m not entirely sure how much I buy into the idea but I’m willing to fly with it.

I unfortunately had to spend the day working, getting up at 8am to be at work by 10 to sit in a dead office all day. I assume it’s similar for the rest of the world, but I can certainly say that for New York, you’re doing well if you’ve rolled out of bed by 1pm and that any time before then is the quietest you’ll ever see the streets- I swear, the first year I had to get up early on New Years Day I had been concerned there had been some secret plague that killed off everyone in the city.

The day started off with a lot of reading, and when lunchtime rolled around, with the notion of setting things right for the new year whispering in the back of my mind, I decided to go to the Italian restaurant next door. I’ve looked in multiple times but passed it up based on price and what I’m typically willing to pay for lunch.

Today is a day for occasion, I reasoned as I pulled open the front door. Walking into the dead restaurant, there was bachata music from one of the local radio stations filling the place and I knew I had made the right choice.

The manager, who was clad in a pressed white shirt, tie and dress pants was very kind and we talked about each other’s lives. He was Ecuadorian and had worked at the restaurant for 22 years and when other customers eventually started coming in, he greeted them by name and asked them how their holidays went. When I received my (handmade) pasta Bolognese and began eating, he advised me to get a second napkin so as not to ruin my white blouse. So, cloth napkin tucked into my shirt and another on my lap, carefully twirling the pasta onto the fork, I began my first real meal of the new year.

While I’m not usually a coffee drinker, I finished the meal musing about things over a cappuccino before getting a text from my coworker saying she needed me back and rushing off to work.

Now, I’m not hating on salads in any way, but a salad was just not how I wanted to start 2016. Fresh-made pasta in a quiet restaurant enjoying a meal by myself is exactly what I want to see.

I’m not sure I believe in the need to wait for the new year to make major changes so much as I think it ends up being a good time to slow down and organize your goals after the rustle and bustle of the continuous holidays from October to December but I look forward to new things, new goals and new changes.

This year, amongst other things, I want to focus more on myself and take more pleasure in the things that I do. With that being said, I’d like to start off January with a cocktail.

Whiskey Cider Cocktail

Makes 1 Cocktail

4 oz Apple Cider (about 1/2 Cup)
1 oz Whiskey (about 2 TBSP)
2-3 Dashes Cherry Bitters

Add ingredients and ice into a shaker glass. Shake until combined and drink is cool. Strain out into a rocks glass and add an ice cube or whiskey stone to the glass and enjoy!

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