End-of-the-Year Exfoliation and Celebration

I have the week off from work and hope to do productive things like hit the gym to kickstart the oh-so-typical-but-much-needed resolution to get back in shape; walk the dogs; grocery shopping, and boring grown-up errands that I'm currently avoiding.

Also on my to-do list for this week is an end-of-the-year exfoliation to purge extraneous stuff from the apartment. There is no better time than just after the holidays, when we are flush with new gifts and must do a bit of "out with the old, in with the new" to make room for it all, to consider what things we really need and what is just cluttering our lives. Inspired by Jess over at Makeunder My Life, who diligently improves her life with weekly exfoliations, I have been lazily collecting various odds and ends over the past several months and hiding them away in the junk cabinet until I have time to properly figure out what to do with them. Even though we got rid of a lot of stuff before we moved six months ago, the process of packing and unpacking endless boxes only further drove home the benefit of having less to move next time around.

There are so many ways for your trash to become someone else's treasure that there is no excuse for your "trash" to actually end up in a landfill:
* offer unwanted items to friends and family
* or use it as an excuse to throw a party and invite your friends over for a clothing swap
* sell or give things away on craigslist and freecycle
* sell clothing to consignment shops like Buffalo Exchange and Beacon's Closet here in Brooklyn
* donate unwanted clothing to organizations like Salvation Army
* repurpose old clothing as cleaning rags or material to patch jeans
* bring worn-out clothing, bedding, and shoes to textile recycling drop-off sites - now available at many farmers markets here in NYC!
* if all else fails, put on your stoop with a "take me" sign

But right now I am lazily enjoying just sitting in my pjs sipping tea and dreaming about what foods I should make for our New Years extravaganza. I am renting a house in the Hamptons with a group for the whole weekend, and I want to take advantage of the huge kitchen. So far I am thinking of making focaccia and pumpkin cinnamon rolls and crackers to go with cheese and beyond that, the possibilities are endlesss, so I can't decide. Steak or seafood or an easy roast or an array of cute finger foods for New Years Eve? Maybe a hearty yet healthy vegetarian chili for New Years day?

Do you have any favorite New Years Eve food traditions? Can you suggest any great dinner party ideas? What will you be doing to ring in the New Year?

via kingpomba flickr stream