Whose house?

Started the New Year off right with some good friends in the Big Apple. Roshanna and I stayed at the Dream Hotel and it was just that. I love love LOVED my bed and maybe spent a little too much time in it watching MTV marathons (Laguna Beach, The Gauntlet, Run's House) on the 42 in plasma. No, wait. I take that back. I didn't spend enough time in it. I didn't get a chance to check out the yoga classes or the spa at the Chopra Center in our hotel, but now I've got a reason to go back! Roshanna said they were both great.

We started out the evening at the bar on the top floor of our hotel overlooking the hoards of people that spent all day out in the rain and snow to stake out a spot to watch the ball drop in Times Square. (Most of whom ended up watching it drop on a giant screen.) When they started charging $150/person to stay up there, we moved down to the lobby bar where we quickly made friends over some lemon drops and good beats. Just before midnight we stepped outside to join the masses and see what all the fuss was about. It was pretty cool. I didn't realize what a big part of New Year's Eve New York city is for so many people until I was there. I mean I grew up watching the ball drop (time delayed), but I didn't really realize how much I identified the whole night with NYC. It was cool to be there, but I'm glad I didn't spend the day out in the cold for it. At midnight, all the cops started hugging and kissing each other. Roshanna and I got a kick out of that.

We headed back inside for more lemon drops and dancing and Liam and his friend, Meghan, joined us. They came from the Big Apple Circus where Liam asked a clown to take a picture of him as he got down on one and knee and proposed to Meghan with a ring she had just gotten from her mom for Christmas. (Liam and Meghan are just friends, but they thought it would be funny -- it was.) It quickly escalated into a huge spectacle with everyone cheering them on. Tommy Tune himself offered his congratulations. They continued to tell people they had just got engaged at our hotel, but the illusion kind of fell apart when Meghan started making out with one of the djs...and didn't stop...for a while.

After a few more hours of drinking and dancing and running away from djs, I decided I would sleep for two hours before I had to head to the airport. Roshanna and I were just getting cozy in our beds watching The Goonies when Liam and Meghan showed up with one of the djs. When the dj climbed into bed with Roshanna and Meghan started to take off her pants I decided it was time to play the "I have a plane to catch" card and kicked everyone out. At that point I decided it was not a good idea to go to sleep, so I stayed up and watched TV until about 5am when I took a cab to Tara's.

I flew with Tara and her 1 year old son, Will. Will has an ear infection but he was really good. (About as good as one year old can be on a 12 hour flight.) I finally got to sleep on the plane. We flew from JFK to Dubai and then to Colombo. It was about 24 hours door to door and I slept really well when we finally got into our hotel. There are a ton of people we know here. A lot of my mom's friends from The States are staying in our hotel. It's funny because you can't walk through the lobby without running into someone you know from home. My mom has been here since just after Christmas and my dad gets here on the 8th. There is a sick complimentary breakfast buffet every morning. It's funny, 4 out the last 5 meals I've had have been breakfast. So, I started out the day with another breakfast and then some shopping with Tara and her sister-in-law, Michelle, and their two sons. Bought some clothes for myself and had my first Delifrance meal. We're supposed to go to Zam Gems later to design some jewelry and buy some gems. Then, there's some big party at one of my mom's friend's. I wish I was here with more of my (single, non-parent) friends (miss you guys!), but I'm not complaining. I'll go read my book by the pool now...