Jonathan and I started the last day of 2011 with a run, a bike ride and a quick trip to Ikea. Out evening plans included meeting up with friends to go to the Fiesta Bowl Block Party, so until then I spent time outside with Mr Jackson enjoying to 78 degree weather. Sure we can have some above toasty summers but I will take 70+ degree winters as a more than a fair trade off.
Once Brad and Alicia picked us up we navigated to the Parlor for dinner before lightrailing to one of USA Today's "top ten new years eve destinations". The Parlor is a locally owned Phoenix pizzeria known for its delicious pizzas, mid-century style and fresh from the on site garden herbs and veggies. Before becoming the Parlor it was "the Salon de Venus beauty parlor". As part of a "the newly adaptive-reuse project" the architect and designers reused "the pre-existing materials from the old building for... main accents and features. The old beauty salon chairs became seating for the dining area bar, and what was once the old sprinkler system of Salon de Venus now becomes The Parlor’s lighting fixtures, wine storage sculpture, fire place / heater, and countless other details that allows the project to keep the essence of its historic past." (Experts taken from the following site http://www.archdaily.com/162319/the-parlor-pizzeria-pathangay-architects-with-aric-and-jennifer-mei/)
Ok, back to the evening at hand. After debarking from the train, we zig-zagged through the tightest weaved, yet completely empty, gerbil-maze/crowd control fencing I've ever experienced. Never before has reaching a ticket gate been so rewarding and slightly nauseating. Map in hand we navigated to the nearest beer garden which was one of about five, spread throughout the sectioned off streets. They had maybe two types of beer, one red wine option, and one white wine option, and seemed too expansive for their own good. Each beer garden abutted a concert area, which for our first stop was the country stage. Not much to see there. Back on streets we made a quick stop to heckle some mechanical bull riders before getting in some quality people watching at the techno dance area. We also walked past a military recruiting station complete with pull up bar competitions and opted not to participate and kept our heckling to a hushed minimum. 
Before we left the fiesta we were determined to find the "Chip drop", and boy oh boy were we disappointed. Seeing that this chip drop was compared to the ball at time square we were hoping for a massive tortilla chip, hopefully accented with nacho cheese or another appropriate chip accoutrement. FAIL. The only chip we could find, which no one working the event had even heard of, and wasn't located where it said it was to be dropped on the street map, was outright pathetic. You can see it here, a lovely pic taken from the highly over touted iPhone camera. As I re-read my post I realize its a bit on the negative side, but you'll have to believe me, despite the critique, we had a very fun new years eve with friends. We got home in time to see the NYC ball drop and headed to bed soon thereafter. I'm not one to believe that the new year brings about a fresh slate, but rather another year filled with new adventures, plenty of projects and maxing out my free Picasa capacity limit.
Oh and of course, Jackson advises everyone to stay healthy and safe and Toby recommends not working, or playing too hard.
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