I love New Years Eve. I love that if you have no concept of time, or you’re out camping, it’s just another night. But on paper, it is the beginning of a whole new year. A whole new chance to turn over a new leaf, dust your boots off and try again!

There are always fun things to throw together for this special day; think about these little adventures and traditions:

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1. Pinecone Drop. In Northern Arizona, they began this tradition with a metal garbage can strung with lights. Now, eleven years later, it’s a bit more fancy, with an actual sculpted metal pine cone and gorgeous LEDs.

2. Champagne Toasts. Go to champagne school, get a Frenchmen to chug champagne in Champagne, and learn that champagne doesn’t have to be enjoyed just on special occasions. Check out this video for inspiration.Or, try this super-sweet sparkling wine as an alternative to plain old champagne.

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3. Jumping into nearly-frozen water. When  my friend and I jumped into our pool 12 years ago NYE, we had no idea there was a whole group of people that did it regularly! Apparently it has some health and mental benefits, too.

4. Banging pots and pans. Initially a cultural custom to scare away evil spirits, a lot of times now the banging of pots and pans are just another loud way to get excited about partying, and the new year beginning.

5. Sweeping. I love cleaning on New Years’ Day. Call me crazy, but the idea of finishing the first day of the year with a spic and span, uncluttered but perfect-for-me house/yard really appeals to me. Two years ago it was warm enough to do yardwork outside. This year if that doesn’t hold up, there are plenty of nooks and crannies to fix up inside.

6. Annual Twilight Zone marathon. The Beau and I do not have cable. Most of the time I could not care less about this fact, because not only do we have a monstrous Netflix queue to watch, all the shows on cable that we are interested in seeing will eventually be available to watch on Netflix or another way. The only time I miss cable is for this marathon. I started this tradition with my dad and try not to miss it, but unfortunately it was not meant to be this year. But still knowing that it is on is a great comfort to me.

7. Resolutions stink. I like to think that you should be continually trying to better yourself, not just because the new year has started. While I like the idea of having continuous resolutions (aka to-do lists), I would much rather burn resolutions. A while ago my girlfriends and I got together on a NYE and all wrote out traditional resolutions (“lose 10 lbs.” “meet Mr. Right” “drink less”). We then proceeded to throw them all in our little resolution outdoor fireplace. It was more magical, and made us all feel much better, than going through with those resolutions actually would. I need to remember to do this more.

8. Vicarious celebration. I rather enjoy watching the Eiffel Tower, Washington Monument, and Great Wall celebrations on TV. I like to imagine how crazy I would be if I got to be there, ringing in a new year under the twinkling lights of La Tour Eiffel.

9. Celebrate with sparkles.

Disco ball cupcakes,

perhaps even a sparkly piñata to finish the year with a big sparkle!

9. Think of a new theme or credo for your year. My theme for 2010 was “balls to the wall.” While I didn’t go insane with theme, I like to think I went a little bit crazy. I mean, I did eat three s’mores the other night…

So after much deliberation, my new theme is: “be excellent to each other.” That credo has held up since 1989, it’s good enough now.

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10. Here are many more traditions from all around the world that maybe you will want to start the new year with for two-thousand and heaven!

Let me leave you with a toast: “May your best day of 2010 be your worst day of 2011.”