62. December 31st, 2010 Picture.

We woke up bright and early [as bright and early as vacation allows, which isn't really all that early to normal people], and went off to meet Chad, Christine and Emily for lunch.  They had suggested trying out the new Irish Pub in town, RiRa's, which was the bar Ratty and I closed the night out at the evening before.  It is very strange going to a bar at night and being there less than 12 hours later, when it's light out.  But that's what vacations are for, right?  I mean, kinda sorta.

The lunch was great, and I finally got to spend a little quality time with Miss Emily!  Chad and Christine live up in New Hampshire and most times we see each other are at non-kid friendly events, like weddings, where the don't bring Emily along.  We had a great lunch, catching up and picking up all the toys Emily threw on the ground.  Christine had to head into work that afternoon, so our visit was brief but still so much fun.

Once we walked the cute little family back to their car, Ratty and I headed off to walk through town and do some actual shopping.  Ratty still wanted to buy a Christmas gift for Eddie, Christine, Cassie and Abs, so we were on the hunt for something they might like.  He'd already bought them the Despicable Me DVD, since we took the girls to see that, but he wanted to add something to it.  While browsing through the most awesomest of home goods stores, we found a stove top popcorn popper.  Eddie and Christine don't have a microwave, don't worry, I make sure to tell them how weird it is any chance I get, so they usually make Jiffy Pop on their stove.  Ratty ended up buying them that, plus popcorn kernels, sprinkle butter, and adorable little individual popcorn buckets, so everyone in the family could have their own.  

We continued walking around town, it's pretty adorable, with lots of cafes, shops, and restaurants, all along the waterfront.  Not that waterfront property is ideal in the middle of winter, but it was still pretty gorgeous.  The whole town was getting ready for the First Night activities that were taking place that afternoon/evening, and it make me slightly sad that we weren't staying an extra night.

They were doing ice sculpture carving in front of the church in the town center.  All the children, and adults, were pretty much rapt with attention.  This is right where we bumped into my friend Shelby's brother Tommy - I saw him from across the crowd and he came over to say hi.  He went to school up there, and stayed in New Hampshire after graduation.  It was totally random but so nice to bump into him!

{Red Velvet Woopie Pie mix at the Stonewall Kitchen store in town.  MUST make these!}

Just before leaving, we popped into the Gaslight restaurant for a bite before hitting the road.  We got a seat right at the bar, and sitting right next to us was my sister's Arleen's brother-in-law Ed.  We were bumping into everyone in Portsmouth!  I swear, between Ratty and I, no matter where we are, we always bump into someone we know!

We finally had to pull ourselves away from our serene little town and head back to the city for Jess' New Years Eve party.  Jess was one of my new co-workers, and her birthday is New Years Eve.  This year she was turning 30, so she was throwing a huge bash at her still in the throws/newly renovated house.  Her husband and her had bought a slightly run down little house in Medford, and had spent the past couple of years fixing it up.  She had the most amazing spread of food and drinks, with a champagne cocktail station set up in the kitchen.  She had ingredients and instructions set out for two different types, a candied ginger cocktail and a Kir Royale, which is champagne and Chambord.  There were a few other co-workers at the party, along with a slew of friends.  We spent the whole night eating, drinking, playing Apples to Apples, toasting with champagne at midnight and closed out with a showing of the hangover.  No seriously, we left at 2:30am.  It was definitely time to go.  What a great, and exhausting day!