i keep a diary

December 30, 2010

Gatsby New Years Eve

When Tyson invited Meredith and I down to Florida to attend a Great Gatsby-themed party he'd been quietly dropping hints about for months, we jumped at the chance to leave New York for nicer weather.

Thursday, December 30th

On Thursday morning, Matt, Meredith and I all met up and headed out to LaGuardia together.
airport ˆ escalator
See you later New York winter!
airport
matt, me, meredith
We landed a little after noon! We picked up our rental car and in less than an hour's time...
matt ˆ me ˆ meredith
meredith
...we'd arrived! Meredith geeking out over the ridiculous ocean-view!
balcony ˆ excited ˆ ocean ˆ meredith
Snack selection.
treats
In all the rooms were custom snuggies for each guest!
snuggie
Amazing.
drawing ˆ skeleton ˆ snuggie
meredith
Meredith unfurls.
snuggie ˆ meredith
We were also given hand-drawn maps that pointed out various places of interest in the area...
drawing ˆ map
...including where we'd be having dinner for the big New Year's Party.
drawing ˆ map
Later that evening, all the guests that had arrived and gotten settled in went down to the beach for a camp fire.
beach ˆ fire
Around 10pm, we shoved sand onto the fire...
beach ˆ fire ˆ shovel
...and adjourned to the bar down the street!
walking
Makeshift reindeer!
deer ˆ xmas lights
gravy, seana
Lots of people from all over the place getting to know each other!
gravy ˆ seana
colleen, monkeybird, seana
All liquored-up and ready for...
excited ˆ colleen ˆ monkeybird ˆ seana
...the hot tub!
hot tub
meredith
Not a terrible way to wind down the year.
meredith

Friday, December 31st

In Florida, the last day of 2010...
ocean
...was a real peach.
clouds ˆ ocean
colleen, meredith, monkeybird
Mer with Monkeybird and Colleen, two of our housemates!
colleen ˆ meredith ˆ monkeybird
meredith
A little later that afternoon...
meredith
angie
...we headed over to another apartment filled with guests and found a team-breakfast in the making! Angie was cranking out...
breakfast ˆ angie
...a stack o' hotcakes!
pancakes
Radio on the TV.
tv
Rachelle and Jami.
My sensible (2:30pm) breakfast.
breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes
matt, meredith
Haha.
matt ˆ meredith
damian, erin, jon danovic, matt
Outside for photos!
ocean ˆ damian ˆ erin ˆ jon danovic ˆ matt
angie, erin, monkeybird
Erin, Monkey and Angie.
angie ˆ erin ˆ monkeybird
ethan, matt, meredith
Matt, Ethan and Meredith.
ocean ˆ sunglasses ˆ ethan ˆ matt ˆ meredith
After eating, we went down for a stroll on the beach.
beach ˆ clouds
Sandcastle.
beach
matt, meredith
Around 9ish, everyone started getting dressed up for the big dinner party. Mer & Matt in their Gatsby best.
dressed up ˆ new years eve ˆ matt ˆ meredith
me
Our invite was very specific about taking the Gatsby theme seriously and coming up with a good costume. Here's mine!
best ˆ dressed up ˆ new years eve ˆ me
Meredith even found me a pair of spats!
dressed up ˆ spats
meredith, monkeybird
Monkey and Meredith.
dressed up ˆ meredith ˆ monkeybird
tyson
And there was Gatsby himself. Per our host's request, we made it down to the parking lot by 9:30 sharp...
dressed up ˆ new years eve ˆ tuxedo ˆ tyson
..and headed down the street en masse to a local restaurant.
new years eve ˆ party
gigi, tommy
Gigi and Tommy
gigi ˆ tommy
Ladies class portrait.
best ˆ dressed up ˆ group ˆ new years eve
The gentlemens.
best ˆ dressed up ˆ group ˆ new years eve
After everyone had a few drinks, we were led into the dining room. Table for 60, please!
tyson
If I printed this in black in white it would be so legit.
best ˆ tyson
tyson
Our monocled host prepares to toast.
tyson
tyson
Happy New Year! Thanks, for having us down and planning such a special night, Ty!
cheers ˆ toast ˆ tyson
me, meredith
Mer and me.
me ˆ meredith
david g, jason e, tyson
Jason and David.
david g ˆ jason e ˆ tyson
matt, tyson
Coffee and dessert were presided over by Dashing & Handome.
moustache ˆ matt ˆ tyson
matt, tyson
1922's most highly revered comedic troubadours.
best ˆ get a load of this guy ˆ laugh ˆ shit teeth ˆ matt ˆ tyson
Last treat of 2010!
dessert ˆ food
meredith
After dinner, Meredith put her snuggie on over her party dress...
snuggie ˆ meredith
me
...I grabbed an extra bottle of champagne...
champagne ˆ new years eve ˆ me
...and we headed down to a dance floor that had been built out on the beach!
beach ˆ new years eve
Once the majority of people had arrived, they started with fireworks!
beach ˆ fireworks
With the party in full swing...
beach ˆ group ˆ new years eve ˆ party
...a crowd gathered along the windy waterfront to watch...
beach ˆ new years eve ˆ sparkler
jason e
...Jason getting the big fireworks ready!
fireworks ˆ jason e
jason e
Hand-held tubes are the way to go!
fireworks ˆ jason e
KABLOOEY!
beach ˆ best ˆ fireworks ˆ new years eve
Sparkler songs.
new years eve ˆ sparkler
meredith
It was so windy!
sparkler ˆ meredith
matt
Snappy.
beach ˆ hat ˆ new years eve ˆ tuxedo ˆ matt
Around 3am, we ran out of firewood and someone got the bright idea to round up a bunch of Christmas trees that were left by the side of the road and bring them down to the beach! MORE FIRE!
beach ˆ best ˆ fire ˆ new years eve ˆ xmas tree
meredith, tyson
Ty and Mer bathed in orange christmas fire!
new years eve ˆ meredith ˆ tyson
A wonderfully pine-crackling way to welcome the new year!
beach ˆ best ˆ fire ˆ new years eve ˆ xmas tree
matt, tyson
Ty, Matt & Jami
fire ˆ matt ˆ tyson
matt, meredith
Windy.
matt ˆ meredith
matt, me
Headed back up off the beach!
dressed up ˆ new years eve ˆ matt ˆ me
me, meredith
Happy 2011!
new years eve ˆ me ˆ meredith
A few weeks into the new year, Jon Danovic sent around this amazing video he put together with all of his sneaky 5D video footage. So perfect.
best ˆ new years eve ˆ video

Saturday, January 1st

matt
The next morning I woke up at 1:30pm to find this guy on the couch sleeping with sunglasses and a top-notch creeper-stache!
comedy facial hair ˆ moustache ˆ sunglasses ˆ matt
You know your year is off to a good start when you turn on the tube and Superman II is on.
superman ˆ tv
General Zod!
superman ˆ tv
Me and Monkeybird making a treat connection. (First treat of 2011!)
tattoo ˆ treats
gravy
By 3pm, even Gravy was up...
pajamas ˆ gravy
matt
...and we made a quick breakfast grocery run...
bacon ˆ elevator ˆ tongue ˆ matt
...before meeting up with the rest of the party goers for a nice, relaxing recovery day.
cards
matt, tyson
Ty and Matt back from a coffee run!
coffee ˆ matt ˆ tyson
monkeybird, pope
Pope and Monkeybird.
sandwich ˆ thumbs up ˆ monkeybird ˆ pope
oliver p
Later that evening, Oliver set up this table for anyone who wanted to get tattooed!
tattoo ˆ oliver p
meredith
Pizza run for dinner!
pizza ˆ rain ˆ meredith
kevin
Toad in the backseat!
pizza ˆ kevin
kevin
Four 1s.
tattoo ˆ kevin
kevin, oliver p
I could watch Oliver give tattoos all day. He is so fast and they appear like magic.
tattoo ˆ kevin ˆ oliver p
oliver p, tyson
Ty went next.
tattoo ˆ oliver p ˆ tyson
oliver p, tyson
Ty got a skeleton that had a lot of intricate detail.
tattoo ˆ oliver p ˆ tyson
This took him around 20 minutes start to finish.
tattoo
meredith, oliver p
Mer got her 2nd tattoo later that night!
tattoo ˆ meredith ˆ oliver p
meredith, oliver p
A memento mori fly on her wrist.
tattoo ˆ meredith ˆ oliver p
meredith, oliver p
Remember that you will die.
tattoo ˆ meredith ˆ oliver p

Sunday, January 2nd

gravy, monkeybird
Monkey V Gravy!
the bird ˆ gravy ˆ monkeybird
Dramatic clouds over the beach.
beach ˆ clouds
The sky cleared up and everyone helped clean up the last bit of rubble and party debris left over on the beach from the party.
beach
Then off to the Donut Hole for breakfast!
diner
meredith
This place is so delicious. They are famous for their...
diner ˆ meredith
...red velvet waffles. Whaaaaat?
waffle
After we'd gotten our fill, we drove down the highway to some awesome roadside amusement center...
ferris wheel ˆ rides
...that had a luxurious prize center.
mirror ˆ prizes
But we'd come for...
go kart
...the go karts!
go kart
You know you're at a fancy ko kart place when they've got a koi pond.
koi
I've seen whack a mole, but never whack a turtle!
hammer ˆ ouch ˆ turtle ˆ wtf
meredith
Monkey business.
gorilla ˆ meredith
colleen, erin, ethan, gaylor, gravy, monkeybird, romina, tyson
Our crew in line for the next race!
colleen ˆ erin ˆ ethan ˆ gaylor ˆ gravy ˆ monkeybird ˆ romina ˆ tyson
tex
Pole position face off with Tex.
go kart ˆ tex
And we're off!
driving ˆ go kart
The course was crazy!
go kart
me, tyson
It had all sorts of spiral-ramps build out of boardwalk decking!
go kart ˆ me ˆ tyson
meredith
Victory.
go kart ˆ meredith
ethan
The best part is that Ethan grew that moustache before he even knew about this thing!
ethan
Later that night, we drove to the town where they filmed The Truman Show (!!!) and went to a bar where...
sunset
...they give a free drink for the person who correctly guesses the time the sun sets.
sunset
me, meredith
Mostly it's a great excuse to get drunk and take photos with the sunset.
me ˆ meredith
colleen
Getting closer!
monkey ˆ sunset ˆ colleen
me, tyson
Almost there!
sunset ˆ me ˆ tyson
FREE DRINK! (4-5-6 = winning roll in cee-lo)
chalk ˆ sunset
What a shit hole.
sunset
tyson
Haha.
cake ˆ cry ˆ sparkler ˆ tyson

Monday, January 3rd

Monday was time to head home. Got to spend a little bit more time at the beach on a perfect day.
beach
monkeybird
Said farewell to all the new friends we made.
sunglasses ˆ monkeybird
...and headed off to the airport with a moped escort. Happy New Year! Thanks so much for having us all down, Ty!
driving ˆ rental car ˆ scooter

3 comments

  • elapril 6, 2013

    brian i bet you've been asked this ad infinitum but what camera d'you use?

  • brian battjerapril 7, 2013

    Hi,

    99% of the photos posted on this site in the last 10 years have been taken with Canon Powershot ELPHs. (I've used a ton of different models over the year.)

    Most recently, the last 3 or 4 cameras I've bought have all been Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS (~$170 on Amazon now). Hope that helps!

    I couldn't help notice your email domain. Are you student there? Professor?

  • gregg smithjune 13, 2013

    hilarious. i know those condos (Blue Mountain, right?). we stay there every year (and will be back for Independence Day).