What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

I can tell you what I'm doing New Year's Eve: playing games with the family, eating new foods, putting luminaries out on the front porch, and enjoying root beer floats!

My family has a few New Year's Eve traditions. We always put luminaries out on the front porch. The black one is new this year. We started the tradition with special store-bought disposable luminaries. We always reused them, though. Over the years we've collected different kinds of metal luminaries. My sister is a purist and always uses real tea light candles--unscented, of course. But we also use small battery-powered, flameless candles. I prefer the flameless kind since I don't need to worry about the wind tipping over the luminaries!

Another New Year's Eve tradition is each family member picks a new food to try. Usually we go to the store together, but this year my mom went to the store in the morning before the snowstorm hit town and got some new foods for us to try. Here in eastern Iowa there is incredibly beautiful snow! So today we tried baby back ribs, a new kind of pizza, and stuffed mushrooms.

Also, we always have root beer floats. I don't remember how that tradition started, but we've been doing it as long as I can remember!

One of the best New Year's Eve songs is a jazz ballad and I love it so much I released it on my first Christmas album Jazzy Christmas to You! So check out "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" from Jazzy Christmas to You! Happy New Year!