First Night for 2014

Yes ladies and gents, it is officially 2014 and the Paynter family spent our first New Years Eve in downtown Charlottesville with the First Night events. 

But first I had to put together a dish to take to the McIlwee Christmas gathering for today and earlier in the day I received this recipe for a black eyed pea dip. Even though I am not one to believe in superstition or even pretend to like the taste of black eyed peas, I figured, cheese, salsa, and sour cream tend to make everything taste better. As I was mixing the ingredients my eye took notice to this sweet fella...

Little boy with big plans. He melts my heart. Timer went off, and foil went on to Zannie's Black Eyed Pea dip 

And we were off!!!

We kicked off the night festivities with some entertainment provided by a hypnotist and a very gullable mommy. 

As the show started and the hypnotist was explaining an hour being hypnotized is the equivalent to eight hours of being asleep. So what does this momma do? Volunteers without a second thought. 

An hour later I wished that I could have  turned back the time as I remembered only bits and pieces of driving a sports car, winning the lottery and calling someone on my boot, and giving the audience a dance show. Yes, I did that. In a few weeks the video will be available to...no one! 

The remainder of the night we took in the Discovery Museum to get our faces painted... 

Consumed burgers and at one of my favorite burger spots, Citizen Burger, warmed up with some hot chocolate and lattes and took in a magic show. We finished up the night with a little Dance Party on the XBOX and actually made it to see the ball drop at midnight. Minutes, possibly seconds, afterwards we were all in our own fun filled First night induced trance dreaming about the endless possibilities that 2014 is going to bring. 

2013 is over and it was a year of self discovery for myself. We have so much to look forward to in 2014. New beginnings, new school, and new adventures to be discovered. We hope that all of our friends and loved ones had a safe and extremely Happy New Year! Raise your glass of your choice and CHEERS to an amazing 2014 and beyond!!