I was torn about staying home for the New Year festivities or spending it in AZ. Obviously, I chose AZ. I missed my friends and wished we could have all been celebrating together, but regardless, I had an amazing time in Flagstaff (Northern AZ). The town was covered in snow but the skies were crystal blue. I couldn't have asked for better weather. And at night time, OMG, the stars are unreal. I swear I would get lost in them. It was definitely cold up there, but we had a fabulous cabin to keep us warm. Drew's family rented the cabin out for the holidays so that's where we all stayed. Chris and Dannielle also joined the fun! The cabin... gorgeous.
So on New Year's Eve, Drew took Chris, Danni and I to Sedona - my first trip to the town. On the way there, Drew surprised us by taking us to an overlook that was absolutely gorgeous (don't worry - I posted pictures below). It was unbelieveably beautiful. At the overlook, Natives were selling beautiful artifacts like dream catchers, jewelry and flutes. A lot of the jewelry was made with Jade, the turquoise rocks I have seen in Nana's jewelry before. And now, come to think of it, my suitemate from last year has a lot of jewelry like that, too.
Anyway, the views were amazing and definitely special. The rest of the drive to Sedona was fab. The scenery is stunning... certainly breathtaking. When we got to Sedona, we walked around downtown and went through some of the local boutique shops. You could tell it's a touristy kind of place because you see Sedona tees in EVERY store. OMG, I almost forgot! There was a super adorable Rotweiler puppy - 7 months old - sitting outside one of the stores. I about melted. I didn't want to stop petting him. His paws were SO big - he's definitely gonna be a beast when he gets older... a cute beast at least. We then had some lunch and drinks at this cafe-ish place that had awesome views of the red rock mountains that surrounded the town. We walked around some more after that and then left to go back to Flag to get ready for the New Year's celebration.
When we got back to the cabin, we started pregamin' (it saves money man) and got ready. After finally figuring out what we were gonna do downtown, we left. Ok, downtown isn't what I thought it was gonna be. There were streets blocked off and a live cover band playing (which was awesome). The bars and streets were crowded with people of all ages. Drew and I stopped by Maloney's for a drink and then met up with Chris and Danni afterward to go find another place to hang at. We ended up chillin' at this cafe/bar place that were accepting walk-ins. A lot of places have you reserve a table or something on NYE so it worked out. Not gonna lie, I was definitely feelin' good throughout the night. It was a great time just sittin' and chillin' and hangin' with Drew, Chris and Danni.
Oh, I forgot... at 10pm, the pinecone dropped to signify New York's midnight. The dropping of the pinecone is tradition in Flag, I guess (you'll see it in the pics too). So yeah, pinecone dropped, fireworks went off. I think they just do that for the kids' sake so they can go home and go to bed. But anyway...
When it got close to midnight, Drew, Chris, Danni and I walked to the main center of where the midnight pinecone was gonna drop again. It was 100% crazy crowded in this street. The live band was still playing, everyone was pretty much drunk or at least acting like it, and it was freezing cold outside. The countdown began, the pinecone dropped, the fireworks went off, everyone hugged, kissed, sang and then the streets cleared out. Haha! Just like that. It was SO much fun though. One of the best New Year's I have ever had.
The next morning, we got breakfast, went sledding and had to vacate the cabin. And no, I did NOT go sledding. My back and my ass are too important to me to be bouncing on a plastic saucer through dips and rivets. Ok... anyway... Drew, Chris, Danni and I went to Collin's, a local bar/restaurant place, to watch the Rose Bowl game. Drew and I left a little before half time to drive home to Scottsdale - we probably would have stayed through the entirety of the game if Penn State was winning.
Sad sad time having to leave Flag. It was just so gorgeous and peaceful. Definitely relaxing. Oh, and one of the things that I loved about it was that it's kinda of hippy. Like, PEACE and GO GREEN and HATE IS THE ENEMY and beards. Haha - yes, beards. So many men there have beards. And long hair. Whatever floats the boat, man.
Anywho, the celebration of the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 was undeniably fun. I wouldn't mind going up to Flag sometime again. Hopefully soon!
Happy New Year, everyone! Oh, and when looking at the pictures, please disregard my hair and accept my sincere apologies. I dunno what was going on with it throughout the trip, but it just was NOT agreeing with me - certainly problematic.
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