Today in my drawer I discovered a pair of cotton underpants whose tag I had apparently never read. It said "hand wash only."

Is someone kidding me? I'm gonna hand wash cotton underpants?

I am not. I'm not going to hand wash any underpants. And that is my only "new year's resolution." As I've told y'all before, I don't trade in resolutions, preferring to simply try and live well and do right all year long. That said, with today's finding, I enthusiastically resolve to never bother with hand-wash-only undies. That's like baby clothes that are dry clean only. Nonsense!

Although this may sound sad, one thing I continue to learn is that it is often better to have fewer expectations of any given thing than more. This is why I never read movie or book reviews until after I've seen or read said work. Let me go in blind and burden-free, thank you. It's why I'm glad I bought those cute cotton undies without reading their ridiculous laundry instructions.

New Year's Eve has come to fall into this category. Delightfully so. For a good fifteen to twenty years, I found NYE to be wildly overrated and, thus, perennially disappointing. So I gave it up for a few years. T and I just parked our pajama-clad selves on our couch with some kind of alcohol and meal and cared not if we witnessed any ball drop.

Two years ago, my dear friend, A, and her husband invited us over for a NYE party. Miraculously I found a sitter, and because why not, I donned a gold sequin skirt, tights, and heels, and Tom and I headed over for eighty-nine kinds of booze and chili. Friends, it was a blast.

This year, T and I received a different invitation, all gold, black and spangly, and because these friends happen to also be the parents of one of the kids' favorite pals, J and O were invited too. We assumed we'd stay for a few hours and then boogie home when the kids spazzed from fatigue.

People, the night was terrifically fun, included pals old and new, and we all made it well past midnight. Cocktails included The Barack, and The Michelle, and our friends planned a fabulous 2016 Burn Board, the additions to which we did later burn in their fireplace, a la Leia's spirit in this cartoon:

I must say that this was both a cathartic way to close 2016 out and a seriously fun means of ushering 2017 in. Don't get me wrong- I'm not thinking 2017 is going to be awesome, but perhaps since I have zero expectations of it, something therein will pleasantly surprise me. Like my newfound appreciation of great NYE parties and the fact that my kids are getting old enough to stay up super late and not wreak havoc on us the next day.

What do you think?