Making New Year’s Day Count

New Year’s Day is often a day of rest after an exhausting holiday season, and before heading back to work. But if you are looking for something fun and inspiring to do to start your 2025 off right, here are some ideas.

Food:

A southern tradition is to eat beans (especially black-eyed peas) and greens (collards, turnip, spinach, etc.) on New Year’s Day. Why? Because they are said to bring wealth and prosperity in the new year. Black-eyed peas roughly resemble coins due to their shape and leafy greens are thought to be similar in color to paper money. Some people add corn bread to the meal as it is gold in color. Even if it doesn’t make you rich – it is a delicious way to kick off a great year. Not into beans and greens? In Greece, pomegranates are traditional on New Year’s Day for good luck. In China and other Asian countries, long noodles are the food of New Year’s Day to symbolize longevity. And in Germany and Eastern European countries, it is pork that brings luck in the new year.

Your home:

Maybe you onboarded some wonderful new things over the holiday – clothes, jewelry, household items, art. Do you really want to add those to your already-full closets and drawers? Why not spend New Year’s Day continuing the tradition of “out with the old and in with the new” and go through your house collecting “donate, sell, and toss” piles. Yesterday’s castoffs for you could be something new and special for someone else. Challenge yourself to fill one box or bag in each of those categories before putting away all your shiny new things.

Get outside:

If you’ve been in your house over the holidays, eating snacks and watching movies, now is the time to get some fresh air and move your body before going back to work! Choose a park you haven’t been to for a while and take a walk (consider Hannah Park, The Timucuan Preserve, or the nature loop on Little Talbot). Walk the bridges downtown. Or just go to the beach and remember why you love living here…

Or, if it is too cold outside, take in a great movie:

Most of us are streaming our entertainment at home these days, but if you haven’t done so recently, consider taking the afternoon to go to a theater. If you haven’t been in a while, you might have missed the transition to reclining seats, incredible sound systems, and even a bar (!) Hollywood works hard to make sure there are great shows offered during this time of year so don’t miss them!

Live music:

How about something new and wonderful for the new year? Donna the Buffalo is performing at Intuition Ale Works on the 1^st and Alanis Sophia will be at Pierre’s Pub in St Augustine.

Donna the Buffalo is a folk/roots band from New York with a dedicated fan based called “the herd.” And Alanis Sophia is a Latin singer-songwriter known for her modern pop songs and head-turning performances on shows like American Idol and La Voz Kids.

Money:

Do you have savings or budget goals on your list of resolutions for the new year? New Year’s Day is the day to start. Take the 52-week money challenge starting today. Here is how:

• Set aside $1 today (in a bank account, a special envelope or wherever).
• Next week, add $2.
• The following week, it is $3. And the week after that, it is $4.
• Do this all year and by week 52 (when you make your last deposit of $52), you will have saved $1,378!

No matter how you choose to celebrate New Year’s Day, know that I will be thinking of you and celebrating you, my friends and clients. I hope to have a chance to see each of you in 2025!