Squandrous

I didn’t see any fireworks this New Year’s Eve, and that’s okay. I did something even better.

A few hours before the chiming in of a new decade, my best friend and I set off to Alinea for a New Year’s Eve dinner to be remembered. My best friend, stunningly-gorgeous in her purple dress, had the most adorable smile on her face as we walked into the restaurant, peered into the kitchen, and saw Grant Achatz, one of her favorite chefs, hard at work, focused.

The food was divine, creative, unusual, beautiful. The service was impeccable. The ambience, magical. At midnight, we toasted in the new year with smiles on our faces, celebrating with the other diners, the kitchen staff, and Chef Achatz himself.

We returned to our hotel with full bellies and happy hearts — dancing to Taylor Swift and fiddling with a faulty thermostat as we settled in for the first sleep of the decade. What a lovely sleep it was.

Any year that starts off with that much love and joy and happiness is bound to be a good one. Here’s to a 2010 filled with friendship and adventure and all sorts of amazing memories.

Photo: New Year’s Eve fireworks based on the theme “Awaken the Spirit” explode over the Sydney Harbour from six barges three hours before midnight on December 31, 2009. Over 1.5 million Sydneysiders and tourists were expected to line the harbour foreshores to watch 120,000 pyrotechnics usher in New Year’s Day. (KRYSTLE WRIGHT/AFP/Getty Images)